Let us return now to the main theme of the 20 barley loaves which saved, i. e., delivered, the brotherhood of the 100 prophets from famine. To refresh our memories here is the passage:
2 Kings 4:42 And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
43 And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD [Yahweh], They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD [Yahweh].
We have now seen barley not only as a food, but also as a savior-deliverer for the ministers and ministers-in-training in the case of the poison soup.
Let me ask you this, brothers and sisters. If you believe that you have potentially been placed by God in this Barley Company, are you personally preparing by prayer and by diligent study of God’s word to be a savior-deliverer? In that regard, let us recall the prophecy which I believe will be fulfilled in our day.
Obadiah 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S [Yahweh’s].
Note that “saviors” is plural. It is not talking about the return of Jesus Christ individually, although that may be a simultaneous event. I am not going to be dogmatic about it. But the plural saviors must refer to a body or company of Christians who will have a part in saving latter-day Zion from the Edomites. Could this be the Barley Company? I certainly think it fits.
Or look at it another way. Are you preparing to be a deliverer of truth to your kinsmen; one who will “feed my sheep,” as Jesus told His apostles to do. Or at a minimum, are you able to bring the barley firstfruits tithe to ministers, as we saw foreshadowed in this story. Surely any Christian should at least be able to do that much.
But as I mentioned earlier, even among the Christian ministers themselves, I think I would be embarrassed to learn how few actually follow God’s laws on tithing. And then we wonder why we are not being blessed. Read Malachi 3:7-11 in this regard.
This miracle of the 20 loaves, of course, also points forward to Christ’s miracle of feeding the multitudes. By the way, the number 20 in Bible symbolism is the number of expectancy or anticipation, which here can be seen as pointing to or anticipating what the Messiah would do with a handful of barley loaves in a future fulfillment.
Christ performed this miracle twice. On one occasion, He fed 4,000 and at another time, He fed 5,000 men. There are different details in the two different incidents. I am sure you have heard the story many times, so we will not read them both verse by verse. But let’s examine this much symbolically.
John 6:4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
This tells us that this is the spring feast, the time of the barley harvest.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove [test] him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
Incidentally, this is one place where the number 200 is associated with the concept of insufficiency.
Philip is not saying, “Well, my Lord, two dollars’ worth (200 pennyworth) is not even enough to buy bread for all these people. He is not talking about two dollars’ worth. It is more properly translated two hundred dinarii, which was a unit of coin in those days. A dinarius was equal to one day’s wages.
So what Philip is saying is that two hundred days’ wages is not enough to buy bread for all these people. That is quite a difference, isn’t it? That gives us a good idea of the size of the crowd who came out to see and hear Jesus.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Notice that only the men are counted in the numbering. I presume they had their women with them and probably some children, too, which could have made the total number exceed 10,000!
11 And Jesus took the loaves [the barley loaves]; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Another way to look at this is that those who comprise the Barley Company are those who are willing to be broken (as barley bread) in the hands of the Savior, so that we can be spiritual food to the rest of the followers of Christ. And when the job is done, “nothing was lost.”
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
At this point, let me link to a song called “Broken Bread and Poured Out Wine.” It is beautiful and so very fitting because he based it on this passage of Scripture. The singer-songwriter is Johnny Christopher who was a Nashville studio musician for 35 years.
Johnny worked with many of the legends in Nashville. He co-wrote and played on the song, “You Were Always on my Mind,” sung by Willie Nelson and which won three Grammy awards in 1983. Its enduring popularity has rendered it a classic which crosses musical genres.
After retiring, Johnny began coming to our Stone Kingdom Fellowship meetings in the Atlanta area in the late 1990s and we have remained close friends ever since. This is from a demo disk of his songs which have never been published and he has graciously given me permission to use them. Enjoy the song!
If we look deeper now, we realize that barley is symbolic of Christ. We also know that with the Bridegroom (Christ), there is a Bridegroom Company. They are the friends of the bridegroom. The Barley Company is also synonymous with the Overcomers. We will get to that a little later.
Further in this same chapter, Jesus said:
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all [the people] which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it [them] up again at the last day.
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all
Jesus said he would lose none that the Father has given him. In verse 12 we saw that they gathered up the barley fragments so that—as Jesus said—so that nothing may be lost. Now let us look again at the Bible numerics here.
Notice that the remnants of barley filled 12 baskets. Twelve represents divine government, twelve represents the twelve tribes of Israel, twelve represents the twelve apostles; and did God not say in Isaiah 9:6 that “The government shall be upon his shoulders…”?
Those shoulders are part of the Body of Christ. Therefore, Christ will rule, He will govern; and yet the Overcomers will rule with him, as, figuratively, part of His “shoulders?” Notice this in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Moreover, did He not say to the twelve apostles?...
Matthew 19:28 … ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Furthermore, did not God purpose in Scripture for the twelve tribes of Israel to administer His kingdom on the earth? Indeed, the very name Israel, given to Jacob and his descendants, can be translated in several ways: “he shall be a prince of God,” “ruling with God,” or “God prevails.”
God does rule over all, but He does that through His Son, Jesus Christ, as the King, and as the Head of the Body, and with Him and subordinate to Jesus the Head is the rest of the Body of Christ. Twelve is the number of Israel, twelve is the number of government.
Next there are the five barley loaves. Five is the number of grace. Any questions there? By His grace and everlasting lovingkindness, He feeds the multitudes.
Now let’s look at the two fish. How do they fit in the symbolism? Well, there is a book by a Christian archeologist who also knows his biblical identity as a descendant of Jacob-Israel. The book is called The Glory of the Stars: A Study of the Zodiac.
The author is E. Raymond Capt. He was a personal friend of mine and he authored many books on our Israelite identity. We carried all of them at one time or another. Ray passed away at the age of 96 in 2008.
Now before some of you plug your ears and start accusing Ray Capt and myself of being pagan New Agers because we are “getting into astrology” here, I caution you to remember one thing: Just like in every other realm, satan has his counterfeit of the original.
The gospel is written in the stars, but satan’s people have perverted it to the level of astrology. I am not into astrology. I am into the gospel. I believe that the gospel is written in the stars. I challenge you to read this book and tell me otherwise. The whole story of salvation and redemption is all there—from Virgo and the virgin birth, and all the way around the zodiac to Leo, the Lion, i.e., Christ, the Lion of Judah who rules the nations.
And here is where the two fish are tied in symbolically here, in the sign of Pisces, one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. We excerpt this from Mr. Capt.’s book.
QUOTE: The figures which represent this constellation consist of two large fishes. One is beaded toward the North Polar Star, the other is parallel with the path of the sun. They are some distance apart but are bound together by a Band or ribbon, which is also fastened to the neck of Cetus, the sea monster ...
In the fish shooting upward is pictured the heavenly calling of Israel and her functioning as His kingdom, fulfilling its spiritual requirements. The other, keeping on the horizontal, answers to the fact that the kingdom is established on the earth and [Israel] is inheritor not only of the spiritual blessings but of the material blessings and the promises made to Abraham and his seed.
Being two in number expresses the potential of multitudes because as we see in Genesis 48: 16; Jacob blesses the two sons of Joseph saying Let them grow into a multitude [as fishes, marginal note] in the midst of the earth. This was a continuance of God’s covenant with Abraham, that in blessing, I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven ... END QUOTE
The sign of Pisces was ushered in at the time of the first advent of Christ and we have been in the sign of Pisces ever since. This is not astrology; those are astronomical facts, and we don’t have the time to explain all the astronomy at this time; but there is no doubt that the gospel IS written in the stars.
Do you remember the song that was been made popular back in the 1960s or thereabout? The musical group called The Fifth Dimension sang, “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” They were absolutely correct! There has to be some truth in what the New Age philosophy is teaching, otherwise it wouldn’t suck so many people into its paganism, would it?
The adversary doesn’t tell 100% lies. People wouldn’t fall for it. But he mixes it with so much truth that even it were possible, the elect would be deceived. We are coming into the Age of Aquarius. The Age of Pisces is ending. The symbol for the Age of Aquarius is a man holding a jar from which water is being poured out.
Biblically speaking, water is symbolic of God’s word and His Holy Spirit. God’s Word and Spirit are going to be poured out upon the earth in a measure that we have never seen or heard of previously. We read of this being foretold in Isaiah
Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD [Yahweh], as the waters cover the sea.
That will begin to happen shortly as we now commence the Age of Aquarius. We are coming into a new age. I am a New Ager in the sense that I am looking for and longing for the day when God’s Word and His Spirit are poured out as the waters cover the sea. HalleluYah!
Now using Bible numerics, let’s interpret this story of Christ’s multiplication of the barley loaves and fishes. Twelve baskets stand for Israel. Five stands for grace. Barley loaves stand for Jesus Christ or the truth of Jesus, His Word. And the two fish signify the Age of Pisces.
So we see that “Israel has grace from Jesus in the Age of Pisces.” Therefore, Christ’s miracle was also a prophecy. Haven’t we Israelites had the grace of Jesus Christ for 2,000 years? Even our Judeo-Christian brethren identify this as the age of grace. But this age is about over and Christ is coming again into a new age when the water of His Word and His Holy Spirit will be poured out across the entire earth and every knee will be bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord indeed.
With this miracle of the loaves and fish, Jesus may have been setting the stage for what transpired the following day, as we see in the sixth chapter of John. We won’t give that entire passage here, but from verses 22-66 we find what happened on the day following the great miracle of multiplying the loaves.
The passage recounts how Jesus gives some very hard sayings; Scriptural meat, not the milk of the Word. This is such heavy duty meat here which Jesus is speaking to all the multitude, as well as His close disciples, such tough meat that many of them can’t handle it. And the same thing happens in our day. Not everyone is called to digest the heavy meat at this time.
John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
This incident is what theologians call the collapse of the Galilean ministry. They ceased following Jesus because He had said, eat my flesh. They mistakenly interpreted His words literally. But our Lord was not referring to cannibalism, of course, He was using figurative language.
When I was raised as a Catholic lad, I was taught that I was eating the flesh of Jesus by letting a little wafer of unleavened bread melt in my mouth. In John, chapter one, it tells us that Jesus is “the Word made flesh.” Therefore, when you hold your Bible in your hands, you are holding the Word. Figuratively, you are holding the “flesh” of Jesus in your hands.
How then do we “eat His flesh?” We eat His flesh by making his Word part of our very innermost being. We assimilate His Word into our souls and spirits. This is the meaning of “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27). Yet, just like at the collapse of the Galilean ministry, many today can only follow Jesus to a certain point.
They can handle the milk but when He says you need to eat this barley bread which came down from heaven, to “eat my flesh,” these Christians want to stay only in the New Testament. “We are New Testament Christians,” they say. They can handle that portion of the loaf.
But when Jesus says eat my flesh, He is talking about the whole loaf. Then they balk and many choke on this hard truth. Some even fall to the wayside to a point where they reject the Bible for being full of contradictions and full of myths, or they say it is simply rehashed versions of the old Chaldean and Egyptian legends and so forth.
I feel sorry for them. They sometimes lose the faith they once possessed because they would not study further. They refused to grow. They wanted to camp in the desert of Sinai, as it were. They found an oasis and said, “We like it here and we do not wish to go on.” And so they stay there, but eventually that oasis will perhaps dry up. As a result many will fall away from following our Lord.
So brothers and sisters, I encourage you to partake of the bread, the barley bread, the whole loaf, to partake of the flesh of the savior, as it were. Meditate and study on His Word and in His Word. When you do that, it (He and His Holy Spirit) gradually becomes part of your very fiber and total being.
Indeed, for then you will come to possess the Christ within you. For Jesus told us this in…
John 6:56: Who so eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
When you have the life of Christ in you, then you can feed and give drink to others of that same “water” and Spirit, for again Jesus tells us in
John 7:38 ... out of his belly [innermost being] shall flow rivers of living [life-giving] water. So let it be!
(To be continued.)
Note: You can obtain E. Raymond Capt’s The Glory of the Stars from the publishers, our long-time friends at Artisan Publishers. Here is the link directly to the page with this book.
~END~
