Isaiah 58 Ministries December, 2015
Pastor: Leah "Faith"
WHAT'S THE BASE OF GOD'S FOOD PYRAMID?
I'm going to list these foods in the order that hits home to me... Really, everything God provides is a blessing from the Divine Hand of God and to be taken with gratitude and thankfulness in whatever quantity the Lord provides at the moment! Can I get an Amen!!
Today, modern farmers, thanks to a push from the FDA and government programs, have distorted any recognition of real food.
As I list these foods, especially this first one, it's important not to just know WHAT foods God has provided for us but HOW WE ARE TO PLANT, HARVEST, AND PREPARE THEM!
Alright... there's a lot going on in the Word of God when it comes to food. Seriously, if you look at all the times God pronounces blessings, curses, feasts, sacrifices, tithes, offerings, it is a feast for the soul!!!
The Word of God-----------IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD AND DRINK YA'LL!! Whether Physical or Spiritual, but we're here to focus on the blessings of the field and flock and fork!
BREAD BREAD BREAD!!!
(with emphasis on DAILY MADE bread)
The word " BREAD " occurs 361 times in 330 verses in the Old Testament!!
This is amazing to me!! If, at the end of this blog you are still not sure of bread and grain as God's "staff of life..." I encourage you to do a Strong's Concordance search. Actually, I encourage you to search it out yourself and read all the verses around bread...
You Can Check them All Out HERE
When we talk about bread, I need to be very clear that God's bread, the staff of life, is NOT the American store bought bread or restaurant bread. Just to be clear... Here are the ingredients to a popular restaurant's "healthy wheat bread..." Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Whole Wheat Flour, Sugar, Palm Oil Shortening, Special Blend (Organic Wheat Sour, Whole Wheat Flour, Guar Gum, Defatted Soy Flour, Malted Barley Extract, Soy Lecithin, Microbial Enzyme, Wheat Gluten, Ascorbic Acid), Honey, Salt, Molasses (Unsulphered Molasses), High Heat Milk Solids (Milk Protein Concentrate, Non-Fat Dry Milk, Lactose), Yeast (Yeast, Sorbitan Monostearate, Ascorbic Acid), Bread Base (Calcium Diphosphate, Malted Barley Flour, Dextrose, Distilled Monoglycerides, Rye Flour, Sunflower Lecithin, Wheat Flour, Fungal Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid).
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| NOT THIS KIND OF BREAD!!!!! |
Compare this to the ingredients to God's showbread, which we shall get to later:
fine flour, oil, water... THAT'S IT! http://www.hope-of-israel.org/showbred.htm
fine flour, oil, water... THAT'S IT! http://www.hope-of-israel.org/showbred.htm
https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/overview.html
Bread is more than just a food. Just think of how the word is used: A person’s “bread and butter” is his or her main source of sustenance, while bread or dough can be cash, plain and simple. When people “break bread” they share more than just a meal: They come together in body as well as spirit.
It's going to be a tough sell in today's state of rage but despite what you may have heard, whole wheat is HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS!
nutrition of whole wheat
more nutrition of whole wheat
and even MORE health benefits of whole wheat
MANNA=BREAD
What was Manna? The jewish encyclopedia says:
The miraculously supplied food on which the Israelites subsisted in the wilderness. Its name is said to have originated in the question
("What is it?" Ex. xvi. 15, R. V.; comp. Rashi ad loc.), asked by the Israelites when they first saw it. According to George Ebers ("Durch Gosen zum Sinai," p. 236), the name comes from the Egyptian "mennu" (= "food"). The manna is also designated "bread" (Ex. xvi. 4); it is called "the corn of heaven" and "the bread of the mighty" in Ps. lxxviii. 24-25, R. V., and, in a depreciative sense, "the light bread" in Num. xxi. 5. The manna descended in the night in the form of coriander-seed of the color of bdellium (Num. xi. 7), so that in the morning the ground looked as if it were covered with hoar frost. The grains were ground or pounded into flour, and then the flour was prepared and baked in the form of cakes, the taste of which was like that of "wafers made with honey" or "as the taste of fresh oil" (Ex. xvi. 31; Num. xi. 8).
Soo, Manna= Bread with the Taste of Honey or of Fresh Oil
I know there is a lot going on today against gluten and bread... our previous blogs covered white flour as wheat's evil twin, void of nutrition and deadly as poison. Many people think that even modern wheat is bad. I do not hold to this view. God is not vindictive and would not make it impossible to obtain the most life giving nutrition in the world. While possibly not as nutrient dense as ancient wheat, modern wheat, when prepared in an ancient manner, beats any modern food hands down. And by modern I mean processed, store bought, and packaged.
When the Israelites collected manna it was not in bread form.. they had to gather it in grain form, grind it, and bake it everyday...
When the Israelites collected manna it was not in bread form.. they had to gather it in grain form, grind it, and bake it everyday...
Bread was so sacred to God he had Moses create a special table over layed with Gold on which 12 loaves continually sat as holy before God.
One of the central Temple vessels is the golden Table for the Showbread, which stands within the Sanctuary itself, on the north side. This table is constructed of wood overlain with gold, and the specific instructions for its design are described in Exodus Chapter 25.
The priests are commanded to see to it that 12 loaves of bread are constantly displayed on this table before the presence of G-d, hence the name showbread: "And you shall place showbread on the table before Me at all times" (Ex. 25:30).
"These 12 loaves were baked in pans which gave them a specific form, and when done they rested on golden shelves upon this table. The loaves were replaced every Sabbath with new ones.
It is said that bread is the staff of life, and represents man's physical sustenance. This is certainly so, and it is important that G-d's blessing for goodness and bounty be found in the bread which we partake of... for without His munificent blessing, all of man's efforts would neither satisfy nor satiate. https://www.templeinstitute.org/table_showbread.htm
David actually took from this bread when he was hungry... and Jesus quotes this story when explaining this was not a sin for David to do as his disciples gathering grain on the Sabbath was not breaking the Sabbath... Matthew 12
So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 1 Samuel 21:6
So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 1 Samuel 21:6
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| Egyptian hieroglyphic of bread making |
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| How to get the most out of your grains |
While well meaning, her Biblical grasp is not only not complete but sadly, misguided by current cultural trends. One misnomer she had put forth was
"God does not command us to eat bread..." This, actually, is not true in the Least! Even if you try to rip out the entire Old Testament you've still got Jesus saying "take, eat...as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me..." and this was while he was breaking bread and passing it around.
The entire Old Testament is about God taking care of his children, the law, the feasts, and his blessings. I would ask you to sit down and read your Bible cover to cover. If you do, I mean every book, you will find wheat, barely, bread are a common thread of blessing.
I will point out a few:
1.Most of the Old Testament offerings and sacrifices included bread offerings or grain offerings. These offerings were of the first fruits of God's BLESSINGS!
There are many ways bread was offered up as a sacrifice...as flour, flour mixed with oil, flour mixed with oil and frankincense...leavened, unleavened... even fried! Lev 7:12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.
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| Jewish priests offering up the grain offering |
2. One of the #1 Blessings God said he would bestow upon his people was "fine flour..." and was considered integral to Temple worship... Only that which was a blessing and pure was to be offered up..."fine flour" occurs and ASTOUNDING 36 TIMES in the Old Testament..
"And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:" Lev 2:1
"And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil." Lev 2:4
"Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels, and all the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices." 1 Chr 9:23
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. Gen 14:18
The FIRST FOOD Abraham prepared for the men of God who visited him was BREAD!6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, get ready three [c]measures of fine meal, knead it and bake cakes.” Gen 18... He then grilled some amazing steaks and brought out butter (or cheese) and milk
You'll see the VERY BEST FOOD was mentioned first... FINE FLOUR... along with fine linen, silk, embroider cloth, honey, oil... with these God's beloved was the most beautiful... fine flour as a part of a beauty regime and MAJOR Blessing from God!!
Hosea 19
“And I will betroth you (Israel) to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and loyalty, and in compassion.
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“I will betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness.
Then you will know (recognize, appreciate) the Lord [and respond with loving faithfulness].
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“It will come about in that day that I will respond,” says the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they will respond to the earth [which begs for the rain],
“It will come about in that day that I will respond,” says the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they will respond to the earth [which begs for the rain],
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And the earth shall respond to the grain and the new wine and the oil [which beg it to bring them forth],
And they will respond to Jezreel [My Israel, who will now be restored].
23
“I will sow her for Myself in the land.
I will also have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
And I will say to those who were not My people,
‘You are My people,’
And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
"Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom." Ez 16:13
My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD. Ez 16:19
As far as God 'commanding' to eat bread...well, as Christians, we are not obligated to keep the feasts, but those Old Testament feasts were the lifeblood of the Israelites with WHOLE FEASTS surrounded around bread. The Passover was all about unleavened bread but this is actually a celebratory feast... Remember, the ONE FOOD God started out feeding the Israelites was manna... Manna was a light bread that they made from gathering grain in the morning and grinding it each day to bake a loaf. God only gave them meat, reluctantly, after they complained. Manna was said to taste of honey...
Passover- God's people are literally commanded to eat unleavened bread...
Ex 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) Exodus 23:15
The Feast of Weeks was completely surrounded around the wheat harvest... a bountiful celebration..
In fact, God's entire calendar is surrounded around seed time and harvest and that seed time and harvest was grain..
"And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, (Pentecost) of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of in gathering at the year's end." Ex 34:22
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| Celebrate with fine flour made into Bread! |
Lev 23:15 ‘You shall count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf (tied bundle of grain) of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths (seven full weeks). 16 You shall count [e]fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring in from your places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven unblemished lambs, one year old, and one young bull and two rams. They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. 19 And you shall sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs, one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the first fruits and the two lambs. They are to be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 On this same day you shall make a proclamation, you are to have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
One of the laments of Revelation would be that Babylon would fall and there would not longer be "fine flour"
And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. Rev 18:13
Yes, the garden of Eden was full of fruits and vegetables...possibly grains, we don't know. However, nothing like it exists. We are all still in a fallen state until Jesus returns.
When Joseph saved the land he did so by storing up grain for 7 yrs of plenty and then an entire civilization was saved from starvation through bread.
Proverbs even shows how bread can be used to tempt men away
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Proverbs 9:5
Ecc 9:7
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Isaiah talks of God's blessing the righteous as they return to him with the whole seed time of grain and harvest
Isaiah 30
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| Wheat the easiest food to grow, just cast it down! |
Most of what really shook me to the core has come from the Old Testament but the New Testament, too, is FULL OF God's blessings of Bread
Jesus said "I am the Bread of Life..." John 6:35
-The Our Father Prayer specifically calls us to ask God for OUR DAILY BREAD...
-the Greek word for bread is artos and it is mentioned 99 times in the New Testament...
-"if a son asks for bread will his father give him a stone?"Jesus said "man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God..."
-"if a son asks for bread will his father give him a stone?"Jesus said "man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God..."
Remember, when Jesus said "take, and eat, this is my body...." that was pretty much a commandment. Why would he encourage his disciples to eat something unhealthy? Matthew 26:26
The truth is, those ancient wheats had the life giving force in them to sustain entire cultures for 1,000's of years... The widow who Elijah came across, had just enough flour and oil to make a cake for her and her son one more day and then they would die... But here's the kicker... after Elijah asks for this last cake, her faith made it so the flour and oil overflowed... this was a blessing from God.. 1 Kings 17
Every Israelite family had a small grinding stone and they made their bread daily, which is why Jesus said to pray "give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6
I love Job when he says " If I have been unfaithful, then may my wife grind another man's grain..."
Grinding daily grain was the job of many women of the Old Testament.
I will leave you with this: IN THE BIBLE BREAD IS ROMANTIC!! :) Ruth was sent to glean Boaz's field to which she came home with wheat that she and Naomi made into bread... Alas, Bread was part of the courtship of Boaz and Ruth!!
Ruth 2: 14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here and eat some bread and dip your bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate until she was satisfied and she had some left [for Naomi]. 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz ordered his servants, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. 16 Also you shall purposely pull out for her some stalks [of grain] from the sheaves and leave them so that she may collect them, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 She picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Ruth also took out and gave to Naomi what she had saved after she [had eaten and] was satisfied. 19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not ceased his kindness to the living and to the dead.”
Ezekiel's Life Sustaining Bread: Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt..
Of note, while we tend to think of wheat bread, there is much to be said of other kinds of breads mixed with grains. While the showbread and offerings were made with wheat, God has many grains and they are all to be enjoyed!
Ez 4:9 “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel and make them into bread for yourself. You shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days. 10 The food you eat each day shall be [measured] by weight,[c]twenty shekels, to be eaten daily at a set time
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| Fresh out of the oven! |
I have made several bread posts in the pasts, but I hope that this new one I'm working on will be like honey to your lips... ha... no pun intended...In writing God's Food Pyramid... this thing...bread.. it's a facet all of it's own. I cannot cover it all, there is too much. The Bible, in essence, is really about BREAD... bread being known as the life force of mankind... Jesus, the Bread of Life... man not living on bread alone (food for his body) but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (food for the soul)
I truly believe we have utterly distorted God's design for this life giving force but by no means can it not be redeemed. Even in today's modern world. We just have to take our food, spiritually and physically, back into our own hands! History: ancient people almost all had home grinding mechanisms. You read over and over in the bible how the women ground the wheat and baked bread as needed... Abraham had Sarah do this for their Heavenly visitors baring good news...
Spiritually we've come to rely on Sunday sermons and Christian music, movies,and books to supply our spiritual needs
Physically, we've come to rely on giant farms, factories, grocery stores, and restaurants to supply our food needs
Isaiah 33:15
He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity,
Who rejects gain from fraud and from oppression,
Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;
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He will dwell on the heights,
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks,
His bread will be given him;
His water will be permanent.
Stay tuned to see what bread is coupled with... wine... new wine to be exact...and oil... and milk.. and honey... and so much more!!!
1. That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
The double team of "milk and honey" occur 22x in the Old Testament.. usually proceeded with "land overflowing with!!!!!!!"
Healthy Bread Recipes!
My FAVORITE SOAKED WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE:
http://www.weedemandreap.com/easy-soaked-whole-wheat-bread/
http://blueyonderurbanfarms.com/3513/fermented-corn-bread-what-the-staff-of-life-is-made-of/
easy starter bread recipe: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/experimenting-with-whole-grains-blender/
http://www.weedemandreap.com/prepare-grains-properly/
http://www.weedemandreap.com/guide-soaking-sprouting-grains/
Breads from around the world: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/08/is-fermenting-grains-traditional.html
traditional sourdough bread
http://urbansimplicity.net/2012/06/26/whole-wheat-ezekiel-bread-recipe/
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/kefir-soaked-sandwich-loaf/
Can't make bread at this time? What to invest in your health? Here is a bakery that will send you traditionally prepared breads. Yes, they are more expensive than regular Wonderbread but they also contain life! Better to make it yourself, but this is the next best thing:
http://www.shop.oldworldstaffoflife.com/
http://en.polishvillagebread.co.uk/sourdough_bread_the_staff_of_life.html
Healthy Bread Recipes!
My FAVORITE SOAKED WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE:
http://www.weedemandreap.com/easy-soaked-whole-wheat-bread/
http://blueyonderurbanfarms.com/3513/fermented-corn-bread-what-the-staff-of-life-is-made-of/
http://www.weedemandreap.com/prepare-grains-properly/
http://www.weedemandreap.com/guide-soaking-sprouting-grains/
Breads from around the world: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/08/is-fermenting-grains-traditional.html
traditional sourdough bread
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| ezekiel bread |
http://urbansimplicity.net/2012/06/26/whole-wheat-ezekiel-bread-recipe/
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/kefir-soaked-sandwich-loaf/
Can't make bread at this time? What to invest in your health? Here is a bakery that will send you traditionally prepared breads. Yes, they are more expensive than regular Wonderbread but they also contain life! Better to make it yourself, but this is the next best thing:
http://www.shop.oldworldstaffoflife.com/
http://en.polishvillagebread.co.uk/sourdough_bread_the_staff_of_life.html
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