Feeding of 4 & 5 Thousand Update
A perfect God knew exactly how many baskets of food would be left over!
One of the most amazing stories in the Bible had to do with the feeding of the 4 & 5 thousand. As we searched over the years what we were finding absolutely amazed us as we dug into the original language.
When the Lord Jesus
was quizzing his disciples about the bread, we knew he was talking more here
than the yeast of the Pharisees. Can you picture the Lord saying as in example
Mark 8:17-21. Why are you talking
about having no bread? Do you not see or understand? Are your hearts
hardened? Do you have eyes but fail
to see, and ears and fail to hear?
Then he wants to know if they
remember how many baskets were left over when he fed the 4 and 5 thousand? First
they replied with the right answer for the feeding of the 5 thousand with 12
baskets!, then correct answer for the feeding of the 4 thousand with 7
baskets.
Then he said, “Do you not
understand”.
What was the significance of
the number of baskets left over? And what were they to
understand?
Our first finding was in the
English versions concerning the word “baskets” The feeding of 5000 is found in 4
gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Feeding of the 4000 is found in Matthew
and Mark. In every case where the word basket is mentioned for the feeding of
the 5000 the greek word “kophinos” is used, and the greek word “spuris” for the
basket in feeding the 4000. This is
consistant in all the gospels as well as in when the Lord was questioning his
disciples.
Kophinos
1)
a
basket, wicker basket
There
are 6 instances of verses containing Strong's number 2894. Here they
are:
Mat 14:20 And 2532 they did
5315 0 all 3956 eat 5315 , and 2532 were filled
5526 : and 2532 they took up
142 of the fragments
2801 that remained
4052 twelve 1427 baskets
2894 full 4134.
Mat 16:9 Do ye 3539 0 not yet 3768 understand
3539 , neither
3761 remember
3421 the five
4002 loaves 740 of the five thousand
4000, and 2532 how many
4214 baskets
2894 ye took up
2983 ?
Mar 6:43 And 2532 they took up
142 twelve 1427 baskets
2894 full 4134 of the fragments
2801, and 2532 of 575 the fishes
2486.
Mar 8:19 When 3753 I brake 2806 the five
4002 loaves 740 among 1519 five thousand
4000, how many
4214 baskets
2894 full 4134 of fragments
2801 took ye up
142 ? They say
3004 unto him
846, Twelve 1427.
Luk 9:17 And 2532 they did eat
5315 , and 2532 were 5526 0 all 3956 filled 5526 : and 2532 there was taken up
142 of fragments
2801 that remained
4052 to them 846 twelve 1427 baskets
2894.
Jhn 6:13 Therefore 3767 they gathered [them]
together 4863 , and 2532 filled 1072 twelve 1427 baskets
2894 with the fragments
2801 of 1537 the five
4002 barley 2916 loaves 740, which 3739 remained over and above
4052 unto them that had eaten
977 .
Spuris
1) a reed basket, (a plaited basket, a lunch basket, hamper)
There
are 5 instances of verses containing Strong's number 4711. Here they
are:
Mat 15:37 And 2532 they did
5315 0 all 3956 eat 5315 , and 2532 were filled
5526 : and 2532 they took up
142 of the broken
2801 [meat] that was left
4052 seven 2033 baskets
4711 full 4134.
Mat 16:10 Neither 3761 the seven
2033 loaves 740 of the four thousand
5070, and 2532 how many
4214 baskets
4711 ye took up
2983 ?
Mar 8:8 So 1161 they did eat
5315 , and 2532 were filled
5526 : and 2532 they took up
142 of the broken
2801 [meat] that was left
4051 seven 2033 baskets
4711.
Mar 8:20 And 1161 when 3753 the seven
2033 among 1519 four thousand
5070, how many
4214 baskets
4711 full 4138 of fragments
2801 took ye up
142 ? And 1161 they said
2036 , Seven 2033.
Act 9:25 Then 1161 the disciples
3101 took 2983 him 846 by night
3571, and let [him] down
2524 5465 by 1223 the wall
5038 in 1722 a basket
4711
We found it also significant he had 7 and 12 baskets left over! We wondered if the 7 stood for the churches and the 12 for the twelve tribes of Israel. Was the Lord telling us about 2 separate events of the resurrection and prophecy to be fulfilled? Or the timing of 2 different groups--Jews and Gentiles?
The study on where the events
took place have always been debated by scholars, but we feel sure the feeding of
the 5000 were jews. But the question of the 4000 appears to be gentiles.
We noticed Paul was let down
in a “spuris” (gentile) basket (Acts 9:25) when he was in Damascus, which is a
gentile area for sure. The area of Decapolis was a section near the Sea of
Galilee which was given to the greeks by the Romans for their help in securing
this area during the conquest in approx 65 BC. Consisted of 10 cities at it’s
beginning and Flavius Josephus records they had their own coins, courts and
army.
Leading up to the feeding of
the 4000 when Jesus was rejected by the Pharisees, he went to vicinity of Tyre
and Sidon (Lebanon), then to area of Decapolis. Mark 7:31. The flow of
scriptures lead us to believe the feeding of the 4000 were gentile people. This
is why the apostles exercised the use of two different words for baskets. One
was a jewish basket ( kophinos), the other a gentile basket (spuris).
Our God is a Holy God, and a
Holy God is a perfect God, and a perfect God has a perfect plan. Jesus when he fed the 4 & 5
thousand, knew exactly what was going to be left. Exactly how many baskets! I
feel reasonably sure the 7 baskets stands for the 7 churches and the 12 baskets
for the 12 tribes. Together with
this information makes even more important the timing of events.
The Lord took 5 loaves and 2
fish to feed the 5000, with 12 baskets left over. The miracle that took place was the
“multiplication” of food!
5 loves times 2 fish =
10
Bible said he divided it among
the 5000
5000 divided by 10 = 500
500 times 12 baskets left over
= 6000
( represents years from creation)
The Lord took 7 loaves and a
few ( 2 ) fish to feed the 4000 with 7 baskets left over. The miracle that took
place was again the “multiplication” of food!
7 loaves times 2
fish=14
Bible said he divided it among
the 4000
4000 divided by 14 =
285.714285
285.714285 times 7 baskets
left over = 2000 (years)
Jesus does have a perfect
plan