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(John 6:31-35) Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. “Then Jesus said unto them” Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. “And Jesus said unto them,” I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
By: E.M.Whittington August 28, 2007
Bread is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible, more times than any other food. The word can refer generally to all food, but most often it means the loaves, cakes, and biscuits we commonly recognize as bread. The Bible records many instances of brethren eating bread together, of a stranger being given bread, and of God providing bread to his people, as in (John 6:5-13) the original Barley loaves and fishes.
People of Israel were accustomed to hard times. In Egypt famine occurred if there was any change in the rainfall and the appropriate overflow of the Nile. The most devastating famine recorded in the Bible was in the time of Joseph, who predicted the coming catastrophe by interpreting Pharaoh’s dream of “seven empty ears blasted by east wind” to mean there would be seven years of famine (Genesis 41:27). Other tribulations plagued the children of Israel in Egypt when the same “east wind brought the locust….they enclosed the face of the whole earth….and they did eat every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt ” (Exodus 10:13-15). Before they reached Canaan and were wandering in the desert, their famine was severe. And God miraculously provided food: “And the children of Israel did eat manna for forty years, until they came to a land inhabited” (Exodus 16:35) they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Manna was probably an excretion from minute insects that ate the leaves of the Tamarisk trees. The Manna of Life
It could be gathered each day after the dew had gone and before the sun melted it (Exodus 16:14,15-21). If it had not been for this “bread of heaven,” they indeed might have perished. However there were good years when the fields brought forth plentiful crops of grain. Wheat and barley were the most important grains grown throughout the Holy Land, and they have flourished in Egypt and Palestine (“a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey” (Deuteronomy 8:8-9) since the dawn of time. In the Old Testament days, barley was more widespread than wheat, because it could grow in inferior soil and survive heat and drought better than any other grain. It was the common food of the peasant and was considered a symbol of poverty and humility. King Solomon seems to have taken advantage of its rich abundance, since the laborers who built his lavish temple required a daily ration of more than twenty thousand measures of barley. In Egypt and Palestine some wheat was trampled by oxen and pressed upon the ground by a cartwheel, just as described in (Isaiah 28:28). Barley and other grains were threshed and winnowed by the farmer, and were usually ground into meal and flour by the women of the family, whose long day began before dawn when they heated the first fire for the daily work of continuous baking. First, grain kernels from lentils, millet, barley or wheat had to be ground, usually with a kind of mortar and pestle approach, using a “rubbing stone” or a heavy handmill. The rubbing stone was really made of two slabs—one shaped almost like a saddle and often more than two and one-half feet long, and the second, a thinner, convex rock between which the grains were crushed. A hand mill could also be employed in grinding. Here the upper stone had a wooden handle in the shape of a peg, which was worn smooth and had a hole in the center through which the grain was poured. This upper stone was rotated in a full circle by the handle, crushing the grain on a second stone beneath it. So important was the handmill to the survival of a family, that in the Book of Deuteronomy a creditor is forbidden from accepting a household’s millstone as a pledge, because in doing so “he taketh a mans life in pledge” (Deuteronomy 24:6). A fairly smooth-textured meal resulted from all this demanding grinding. To produce “fine flour” favored by the palates of the rich or for sacred breads, this meal would be re-ground several times, or sifted through sieves until it resembled the packaged kind we buy today. Sometimes the wheat was not baked into bread, but boiled without being ground to make a thick kind of porridge, known as “burghul”. Kernels of wheat and barley just harvested might be roasted on an iron plate or in a pan, thus becoming parched corn. These crisp kernels were carried in the pockets of the nomads on their long treks into the desert or eaten with bread as part of the everyday meal. Abraham gives the first bread recipe in the Bible when he tells his wife Sarah to bake “a morsel of bread” (Genesis 18:5) for the three angels of the Lord who visit him:” And Abraham hastened into the tent Sarah, and said ‘Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal. Knead it, and make cakes upon hearth’” (Genesis18: 6).
The Manna of LifeIn Old Testament times, bread making was well established as a profession, and the Hebrews probably learned the basics of this culinary art from the Egyptians. Found on the tomb of Rameses II (he was probably the pharaoh whose oppression led to the Exodus) is an interesting story in pictures of an Egyptian bakery and confectionary. On one side are two men leaning on staffs and kneading dough with their feet. In the center, a baker is stamping out animal and geometrically shaped dough for the fancy cakes. In another area, a pastry cook holds a spiral-shaped cake, which he had just baked. The first baking ovens were portable, clay cylinders, much like oversized jars. A fire was made in the bottom of the oven and when it had burned down, the ashes were swept out and the bread placed in the cylinder walls to bake by the retained heat. This method was a substantial improvement over the one, which preceded it, the baking of bread on flat stones at the edge of the fires. Ancient papyri record over thirty different Egyptian breads. Stone carvings from the Egyptian tombs show loaves shaped to look like cows and birds, and coiled into spiral snakes. Triangular breads were stacked against each other on racks and small rolls were offered to the gods, two hundred at a time. The Hebrews did not trust the process of leavening learned from their Egyptian taskmasters (Exodus 12:15). They considered the heaviness of unleavened bread a sign of its purity and wholesomeness: the lightness of leavened bread was trickery, a sign of corruption. This perception endured in the early Christian writings (1 Corinthians 5:7, and Matthew 16:6). For the simpler Hebrews, however, the ordinary loaf of bread was round with a diameter from five to sixteen inches. Some were “as thick as a finger;” others were thin as paper. For offerings, the bread was often cooked in pans. Unleavened breads of wheat and barley sometimes referred to, as shewbreads were sacred and used only as an offering in the temple in the Old Testament. “Shewbread” or showbread” or “the bread of the Presence” consisted of twelve loaves of unleavened bread that were always found on a long wooden table in the holy part of the temple open only to its priests. A symbol of God’s abundance and grace, each week a fresh supply of this holy offering was baked and placed in the inner sanctum. It was this shewbread that the hungry David persuaded the keepers of the temple to feed him and his soldiers: “So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord” (1 Samuel 21:6). Later when the Pharisees accuse Christ and his disciples of eating food unlawfully and working on the Sabbath, Christ tells the story of David’s taking of the holy offering: “Have ye not read, what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him…How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread” (Matthew 12:3, 4). Mixing flour, salt, and water in a wooden basin or “Kneading trough” made unleavened bread. This dough was then molded by hand into a flat discs and baked. These unleavened cakes were called “matstah” or “mazzah.” It was just such bread, which the Hebrews baked in haste on the night of their escape with Moses. (Exodus 12:39) And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough, which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry. The Manna of Life
Today, during the eight days of Passover which commemorate the Hebrew’s escape from bondage and the coming of the spring harvest, no bread or other leavened baked foods may be eaten in homes where this holiday is celebrated. Typically, however, bread was allowed to rise, and a small lump of “starter dough” from the last day’s baking was added to the new batch. This mixture was then set aside and allowed to ferment. Biblical bakers even had the equivalent of our commercial baking powder, which is made of soda, cream of tartar, flour and cornstarch. Soda was obtained from ashes of plants, and tartar from the crude substance found adhering to the sides of wine casks. The tartar was ground up, dissolved in boiling water and then filtered through charcoal. For a thickening agent, which resembled our cornstarch, wheat starch was used. This was refined from three-month wheat that was very light in weight. For flavoring agents for their cakes and sweets, biblical individuals had a choice of ground almonds, pungent grasses, seeds, herbs and fruit flavored with spices. Sometimes the dough was mixed with olive oil and cumin seeds, with honey, cinnamon or saffron to add a little extra flavor and color. Once the dough had risen, whatever its ingredients, there were three different ways to fire the bread. The “cake baked on the coals” for the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:6) was prepared by the first and oldest method, of using flat stones, building a fire upon them, and after the stones were red-hot, placing the bread on the stones and covering with ashes. After a while turning the bread over and baking on the other side. When the demanding prophet Hosea rebuked the people of Israel for their wickedness, he used this baking method to describe the Israelite’s leader: “Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned” (Hosea 7:8). And so, the next time someone comes forward with a “half-baked” idea, you’ll know that the phrase comes piping hot from the pages of the Old Testament! Another way bread was prepared was by placing a curved bowl-like iron plate directly over a small fire built into the ground. The unbaked bread was then placed on the metal and fired into steaming cakes. Even to this very day, the nomads of the Holy Land still bake their bread this way as they journey through the wilderness of the desert. Once the people of Bible times settled down to become farmer’s farmers and artisans, they used a oven called a “tannur” for their baking. In one type, heated stones were piled up and a large clay bowl oven was placed over them, the bread was then baked inside the clay oven on the stones. A large cone-shaped jar oven, and later a pit oven were also used for baking. Here the oven was heated by burning shrubs, twigs, dried roots, and animal dung, which were placed at the bottom of the oven. As the fuel burned, the cake dough was slapped onto the inside walls of the oven where it was quickly baked by the intense heat. The professional bakers who flourished in those times used this last oven mentioned. The services of these men were in such demand that there was a street in Jerusalem especially set off for their special trade. When the prophet Jeremiah was given royal protection the King Zedekiah commanded that he should be given “daily a piece of bread from out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent” (Jeremiah 37:21).
The Manna of Life
The bakers who once marketed their goods in old Jerusalem prepared a wide range of “bake meats” as described in the Old Testament—from the pancake loaf and flat barley cake to thin, wafer like disks of bread coated with honey or oil. For lighter confectionary treats, they whipped their dough and added eggs to their batter, often sweetening it with dates or raisins or flavoring it with pistachio and almond oils and nutmeats. During the time when Christians began to worship openly in Rome, dough was made consisting of flour, salt, and water. Bakers fashioned the dough into thin rolls, formed each into two arms crossed in prayer. They were called bracalle, the Latin word meaning “little arms.” Many years later the Germans referred to them as brezel. We know them today as pretzels. Bread was closely associated with Christ, not only because of His miracle of feeding the masses with five barley loaves (John 6:9), but from His birth. He was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.” Apparently, its name came from its location in the center of a productive rain area. Whether baked at home or brought fresh from the market place, bread was never cut, but always broken by hand. Christ often “breaks bread” with his disciples. Hot, savory bread rounds were served in light wicker baskets and morsels of the bread were given by the head of the household to the rest of the family and to guest. Bits of the broken bread were used almost like spoon to scoop out the hot food at mealtime. Most often this hot food was eaten from the communal bowl made of earthenware, wood, leather or copper. The Last Supper shared by Christ and his apostles began in just a way: (Mark 14:22) And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them. *Interesting note: In doing a search on bread in the King James Version of the Bible, there are four hundred and eighty-one passages with bread in the scripture.
All scriptures in this article are from The Illuminated Bible, authorized King James Version. Copyright 1941. The Manna of Life Recipes
Sarah’s Bread:
(Genesis 18:6)
The Manna of Life Recipes
Abigail’s Toasted Grain:
Abigail lost no time. She took about a bushel of roasted grain. (Josh 5:11)
This was the easiest and quickest way to eat wheat, and also preserved it longer. It was especially popular for taking on journeys.
1 pound, whole-wheat kernels 1 teaspoon, salt Water 1 teaspoon, olive oil (optional)
Directions: Heat a wok or frying pan and pour in the seeds and salt. Stir constantly until lightly browned. Sprinkle a little water over while toasting, to soften the seeds. Eat as you would popcorn.
Matzah, the Unleavened Bread:
They baked unleavened cakes of the dough, which they brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait. (Exodus 12:39)
Unleavened bread is considered the “Bread of affliction” and is the only bread permitted to Jews during the week of Passover. * Very easy to make, and many people find it extremely tasty.
2 cups, whole wheat flour or 1 cup, whole wheat flour and 1 cup, barley flour 3/4 cup, water
Directions: Combine flour and water thoroughly with wooden spoon. Dust the top of this mixture with a small amount of flour. Flour hands and knead the dough lightly for 3 minutes. Divide into 6 to 8 balls, rounding them with floured hands. Oil a cookie sheet or use a heavy one that does not require oiling. Place balls on cookie sheet. Press down each ball with hands to make a flat cracker about 5 inches in diameter. Prick with a fork, to prevent swelling. Bake for 10 minutes in a hot preheated oven 500 degrees Remove matzahs and serve soon if they are to be eaten soft. Otherwise, turn off the oven and leave the matzahs in until the oven is cool. They will now have the consistency of crisp bread.
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