"And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children." Matthew 14:19-21

"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." Matthew 15:36-38

"Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Matthew 16:6

Greetings, friends! This day may the Bread of Life be your great sufficiency, and that it certainly will be, if you have and use the KEYS to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ for the here and for your NOW!

Previously, I shared how the two miracles performed by our Lord in feeding 5,000, and then of 4,000, were far more than dramas-in-compassion that He wrought for the people. They were also highly important prophecies measuring the eras of time during which world Jewry would remain in Gentile nations before their REestablishment in Palestine, as well as the prophecy for His Own Church of how long it would be before He would call them over to the other side of life.

This time I want to share with you further about the same matter, both for your own good as well as showing forth prophecy unto the world. Repeatedly I have shown you how the parables and miracles by the Lord distill into pure prophecy, but this time I want to show you how the works of our Lord were so marvelous that not only were they individually prophecies wrought in drama, but that we can take two of them which were of the same nature, and put them together, and still have them reduce to marvelous prophecy for our day.

For this occasion we are going to turn to the 8th chapter of Mark's Gospel. We may surmise that this particular instance was not too long after He had performed the miracle of feeding the 4,000 with 7 loaves of bread and 3 small fish. We are told that the Pharisees had been questioning with Him, and that they had asked Him for a sign from heaven, which He had refused them. And then we are told that once more He entered into a small ship with His disciples and crossed over the lake. In Mark 8:14, we are told that they had but ONE loaf of bread with them. Repeatedly I have shown you how the Sea of Galilee was symbolic of the entire world-soul of humanity. Or, we might say, of the human masses throughout the Gentile world. And I keep reminding you how everything that our Lord did had a significance – every bit as much so as His clearest words.

Here, then, His crossing over the lake with His disciples symbolically portrayed how His close followers would preach Christ unto the Gentiles. But what do we find? They had but ONE loaf of bread in the boat with them. The number ONE is the basic number of God; more specifically, the number "1" is LIFE and LIGHT, for, God IS LIFE, while God in action emits light. And that situation of the disciples having but the one loaf of bread with them is precisely that which I keep sharing with you: that all which the best of our churches have today is that of the ONE, or LIFE. This is what many of them are still preaching, and correctly so, that there IS LIFE for whomsoever accepts Jesus Christ. But aside from that, they have the doctrines of man, and the traditions out of the past, together with dogmas and ideas and inventions by man which have not the faintest Scriptural backing for them. And what is still more lamentable is the sad fact that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ for the here and for our NOW is not being presented unto the people.

Surely you can understand that the Son of God would not come to earth to suffer what we might call the "tortures of the damned," and then leave the world behind for a period of over 19 centuries. Clearly did He say that He would not leave us "bereaved" but that He would come to us (Jn. 14:18). And again He said, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20). Here may I draw to your attention that according to verses 13 and 14, although they had but one loaf of bread, which symbolized the Lord of Life, they did have the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ with them. HE had demonstrated that on various occasions He was their great Sufficiency. When there were 5,000 men, besides women and children, and when there were 4,000 men, besides the women and children – and that in the wilderness – He had proven that a few loaves of bread and fish were far more than ample to feed them to an absolute fullness – even to the extent that there was far more left over than what they had to begin with! And when a tempest at sea had threatened to fill their boat to their destruction, He had arisen and spoken to the raging storm, which immediately died out, leaving a great calm. I repeat: whatever situation or problem developed, He was equal to that occasion, and their great Sufficiency.

THAT is the joyous news I have for you today: that regardless of the situation, IF you are one of those who belong to Christ, then is He in person with you in your little "boat of life," as you are traversing its "sea" in this Gentile world.

It is good to know that you have that one loaf of bread which typifies the LIFE He grants, yet a far greater joy is it to know that you have the very Spirit of Jesus Christ with you, Who is equal unto every occasion; that, regardless of the problem, is both able and willing to meet the situation!

IF you are short of bread, and possibly have no fish; if you are short of clothes or money, or short of this or that which you truly need, then does the Spirit of Christ the Lord stand by you, saying unto your soul, "Fear not: only believe, and you shall see the glory of God!" (Lk. 8:50; Jn. 11:40). But to arrive at that stage where His Presence and power is always our great sufficiency for the immediate moment, we must have and know how to use the KEYS to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ for our HERE and for our NOW.

Now let me quote to you from Mark 8:15-21:

"And He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.
And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto Him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And He said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?"

By this you will see how He linked the two miracles together – that is, the feeding of the five, as well as that of the four thousand. And by His questioning of the disciples, He brought out from them the answers which again link the results of those two miracles into one unit, as it were. This, then, becomes a prophecy where the two miracles are treated as one unit. But first I want to dwell with you briefly on that which is even more important unto yourself.

HE told them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees as well as that of Herod. The Pharisees of His days were a religious sect, which overemphasized the letter of the Law – as it was called. They not only recognized the Law of Moses, but had added thereto that which Jesus termed the "tradition of men" (Mk. 7:8) – namely, countless additions to the Law: recommended observances such as the careful washing of the hands before eating, and countless other details which made life a burden.

The word Pharisee means "set apart." They were a class of people who had set themselves apart from the rest of the people, because, through their strict code, they considered themselves more holy than others. The Church of Christ is one which has been "called out" by God: it has been set apart by God. But these Pharisees had not been set apart by God, but had set themselves apart from their own brethren. And as shown us by this prophetic drama, that is precisely the situation which has obtained down through these many centuries, while Christ was being taken throughout the Gentile world by His close followers: all they had in the boat was the "ONE loaf of bread." Therefore, let the words of His warning ring in your ears: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod" (Mk. 8:15). That is: pay no attention to the doctrines of men who profess to teach you; and beware of those who are hero-like (the meaning of Herod), who claim that man is the greatest intelligence in the cosmos. But look to that ONE loaf of Bread, which is the very life of God through Jesus Christ, and KNOW THAT YOU HAVE His Presence with you – regardless of the situation, as well as an absolute deliverance as and when you have and use the KEYS to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ for the here and for the now!

Now, briefly let us look at the prophecy: He had fed 5,000 men and also 4,000 men, besides women and children, which we add together to get a total of 9,000 men fed besides the UNcounted ones. On the first occasion there had been 2 fish and on the last occasion 3 fish, making a total of 5 fish. While the loaves of bread were 5 and 7, making a total of 12 bread. Now, the same as we did before, we consider the fish and bread as constituting a fraction, and it becomes 5/12. Therefore we multiply the 9,000 x 5 and divide by 12, and we find the result to be 3,750, which, prophetically speaking, we are going to call years.

The total number of loaves was 12: the Israel number. It is also of interest to observe in Genesis 46:27 that "...all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten" – that is, a total of 70. And similarly in one of these miracles there were 7 baskets of 10 units each gathered up, making a total of 70 (when multiplied). So here through these 12 loaves of bread and the 70 units, God is speaking to us of the House of Jacob-Israel, as well as of the spiritual and end-time House of Israel (which is Christendom of our day).

Now we have seen how this prophecy linked up with the House of Israel, and with the particular time of Jacob going down into Egypt with the entire family. When we figure that out carefully from the chronology given us in Genesis, we find that it took place in the year 2,236, which we add to the prophetic number of the miracle, which was 3,750; so when we add them together we get the year 5,986, which corresponds to 1986 or 87 A.D. But as before, we see that there were many basketfuls left over which were gathered together that nothing be lost (Jn. 6:12-13; Mk. 8:8). The total of the baskets were 12 and 7, making 19, which we subtract from 1986 or 87 A.D., netting us the year of 1967 or 68. (How remarkable that this time period saw the Jews capture the old part of Jerusalem, thus uniting that great city under Israeli control!) Need I remind you that this final equation is in precision agreement with that of the two separate prophecies wrought out through His feeding the multitudes of 5 and 4,000? Or that it is in precision agreement with a multitude of other prophetic measures which are set before you through The Voice of Tomorrow, and in more detail through my multitudinous writings?

Wherefore I say, our time is SHORT! The remaining sands of time in the hourglass of the House of Israel, as well as for the Gentile world, have almost run out and but a few remain. Therefore you have no time to lose to get into a closer fellowship with Jesus Christ, that even though you might have nothing more than ONE loaf of bread left in your house, you could still use the KEYS to the Kingdom of God for your here and now, and suddenly behold the glory of God and His wondrous power as He supplies and delivers, unto His Own everlasting praise and glory.

IF through the power of God and in the Name of Jesus Christ you receive instantaneous and perpetual deliverance here and now, can you believe that He is going to condemn your "soul" in a future world? How ridiculous! "God changeth not!" THAT is Scripture (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). IF He will hear you now, then you know He will forever do the same, for the "now" continues forever!

The disciples in the boat with but one loaf of bread, and their concern over that apparent shortage, were a parallel to the Christian of today who has so little, and is in a perpetual stew over how he can get by, or meet his needs.

We must ever remember that the ONE loaf of bread which symbolizes Life, was and is also the needed nourishment for the moment. THAT IS CHRIST.