Prophecy in the miracle of the feeding of the five-thousand

They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”  And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets.There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.  Matthew 14:17-21

When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”  But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?”  And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”  And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.  They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.  And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.  They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.  There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.  Mark 6:35-44

Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.”  But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”  (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.”  They did so, and had them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people.  And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.   Luke 9:12-17

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.  Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?”  This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.  Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”  Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.  When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.”  So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  John 6:4-14

The gospel accounts of the miracle of the five loaves and two small fish are an inspiring story of Jesus providing material needs for His followers through a miraculous means, providing a sign to them that He was more than just a good teacher (Rabbi).  But, it is more than that.  Did you know that this is the only miracle mentioned in all four of the gospels besides the resurrection?  What is the significance of this one miracle that it should be included in all four of the gospels?  Does the account contain prophecy hidden within the story?  Let’s look at it more closely and see what prophetic clues we can find.

The first thing to take note of is the mention of five loaves and two fish in the story.  In the account written by John, he even adds that they were five BARLEY loaves more specifically. The Bible is very detailed, and when specific details and numbers are included, there is more often than not a reason. We know from the Old Testament that barley is symbolic of Israel (Jews).  We see that in Judges 7:13 for instance:  “When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.”  As to the fish, it is symbolic of the church, or Christ followers.  In the New Testament, Matthew 4:18-19 equates Christ followers as fish:  “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Also, historically the symbol for the church is the fish.  It is symbolized by the Greek word for fish: “ICHTHUS”.  The Greek words in the acronym translate to “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”.  

Now, as to the specific number of loaves and fish.  Five barley loaves are mentioned, and two fish.  What is the significance of these specific numbers?  I believe that the Bible teaches that there are seven thousand-year periods in which God deals with man.  In five of these, God deals with His chosen people primarily, which are the Jews (and the patriarchs such as Adam, Noah, etc.).  Those five thousand-year periods are the first 4000 recorded years in the Old Testament, and the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ on earth after the Tribulation period.  The two thousand-year period correlating to the fish would be the 2000 year church age period we are now living in.  It began with the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and will end at the rapture.

The next thing to take note of is the mention of leftovers.  The accounts detail that when everyone had eaten until they were satisfied, they picked up the broken pieces and it equaled twelve baskets full.  All four gospel accounts point out that it was only the "broken pieces", the barley bread, that was leftover.  This is important because it points to the rapture and the tribulation period.  At the rapture, the church will be removed from this world.  There will be no leftover fish.  But, there will be leftover barley bread.  The Jewish people will again be the focus of God’s attention during the tribulation period.  Twelve tribes of Israel will be “leftover”, and will come to accept Jesus as their Messiah during the tribulation period.  “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.”  Zech. 12:10.  “And I heard the number of the sealed:  144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites.”  Rev. 7:4.

Lastly, we get a little bonus prophecy not related to end times prophecy, but from Jesus Himself about His sacrificial death for our sins and His true nature.  John in his gospel account notes that the Passover was near.  Jesus asks one of the disciples where the people will get bread to eat.  John notes that “This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.”  Jesus knew that He was going to perform a miracle, He was going to feed the five thousand with a boy’s lunch, and He was going to provide His disciples with a lesson on faith.  But, Jesus also knew what He was intending to do on Passover next year...He was going to offer Himself up as a sacrificial offering in our place.  You see, He was not only the "Passover Lamb" offered up in sacrifice in our place, but He also referred to Himself as the "Bread of Life."  And, He proclaimed that those who partake of Him will never hunger again, He is the food that endures to eternal life.

“Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”  ... “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”  Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”  John 6:26-35