More On the Bible and Bread

Last time I wrote about bread and happiness and the Lord’s Prayer.  This time I want to continue thinking about the Bible, Bread and Happiness.  Bread is big in the Bible.  Many of our favorite Bible stories include bread.  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).  That’s big.

Below I have listed some verses from the Bible about bread.  Do you remember the stories that go with them?

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.  He was priest of God Most High (Genesis 14:18).

Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah.  “Quick,” he said, “get the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread” (Genesis 18:6).

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.  He ate and drank, and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 26:34)

Rebekah handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.  He went to his father and said, “My father.”                                                                                                          “Yes, my son,” he answered.  “Who is it?”                                                                                           Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. (Genesis 27:17-19)

When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.  In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharoah, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” (Genesis 40:17)

And this is what Joseph sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grains and bread and other provisions for the journey. (Genesis 45:23)

That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. (Exodus 12:8)

“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt.  Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.” (Exodus 12:17)

When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.  Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.” (Exodus 16:15)

Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times. (Exodus 25:30)

Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast.  (Leviticus 7:13)

This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. (Leviticus 24:8)

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:4, Matthew 4:4)

Then the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand.  Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread.  And the angel of the LORD disappeared.  (Judges 6:21)

Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.”  (1 Samuel 17:17)

Elijah went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan and stayed there.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.  (1 Kings 17:5,6)

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid.  Go home and do as you have said.  But first make a small loaf of bread from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.”  (1 Kings 17:13)

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread.  (Psalm 37:25)

God makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.  (Psalm 104:14,15)

Give us today our daily bread.  (Matthew 6:11)

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  (Matthew 7:9)

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”  (Matthew 26:26)

“First let the children eat all they want,” Jesus told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  (Mark 7:27)

“It is one of the Twelve,” Jesus replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.”  (Mark 14:20)

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  (John 6:35)

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats this bread will live forever.  This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”  (John 6:51)

They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread  and to prayer.  (Acts 2:42)

Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  (1 Corinthians 5:8)

Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  (1 Corinthians 11:26)

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  (2 Corinthians 9:10)

For me, those are some of the most memorable and significant verses using the word bread in the Bible. It kinda makes me hungry for a slice of the homemade bread that my wife just made.  Until next time …