Matthew 15: 29-39

Seven loaves and two fish

And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala(Matthew 15: 29-39).

 

"Seven loaves and two fish" mentioned in Matthew 14 and "five loaves and two fish" in chapter 15 are interrelated. It is about Israel and the Gentiles. loave is the word of God. In the seven loaves, the five loaves refer to the Pentateuch (the Law), and the other two loaves refer to the Old and New Testaments. So Seven loaves means the whole Bible. If the five loaves were focused on Israel, who was in law, the Seven loaves symbolized that Jesus' disciples, through the diaspora around Israel, would preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The pieces left after eating loaves were twelve baskets in "five loaves and two fish". The small basket is a small loave basket. Israel (12 tribes) had heard the word, but very few people realized the truth.

In "Seven loaves and two fish", there were seven baskets containing pieces left over from loaves. The big basket has a large capacity that can be stored differently from the small basket. The seven symbolize the seven churches mentioned in Revelation. Except for some people in Israel and the diaspora that lived around Israel, all the nations are objects of evangelism. Jesus' miracle of "Seven loaves and two fish" after "five loaves and two fish" represents the work of the Gentiles through disciples.

So, in Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter appears. However, even though the woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter, Jesus said, "but he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the Canaanite woman said, "and she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Jesus praised the faith of a Canaanite woman. All of this can be seen as a process for Jesus to train his disciples. The gospel had to be reached to the Gentiles through the disciples.

In "five loaves and two fish", about 5,000 people ate loaves. In "Seven loaves and two fish", there were about 4,000 people. In total, nine thousand people ate loaves. Those who ate this loave of life were very few of the disciples and the Israelites, and diaspora. After Jesus was resurrected in 1 Corinthians 15: 6, he showed the body of the resurrection to over 500 brothers at once. And the disciples spoke to about 120 people in Mark's attic.

And, as Peter preached in Acts 2, about 3,000 diaspora accepted the word. In Acts 4, about 5,000 people accepted the word at once. In Acts 6, the number of disciples increased. The number of the disciples who preached to Diazaphora around the Antioch Church reached approximately nine thousand.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 11: 25-27『For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 』 Luke 21:24 speaks of God shining light on the Gentiles and bringing them back to God.『And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 』 Luke said, "It is the time of the Gentiles." Even now, Jerusalem is dominated by Muslims. It means that Jerusalem will return to Israel when the time of the Gentiles is full.

The Apostle Paul said, "that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."
Gentiles' time has the same meaning as above.