Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #32 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read Genesis 14:18-20:

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

In our last study, we were discussing the timing in which Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine and we saw that it had to do with Judgment Day, the prolonged period of time in which God plans to judge the world over the course of several years. At this point, it has already been several years since Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011. In our last study, we saw that God has always had “bread” to spare for His people. The Lord taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” In Luke 11, the Lord delivered the “Lord’s Prayer” in the first four verses and it was very important and it would be in effect for the many centuries of the church age and into the Great Tribulation until the end of that period, but it would not be applicable in Judgment Day, which is a prolonged period of time that may be as many as 22 full years or 23 inclusive years. And, yet, God’s people would be alive and remaining on the earth, so what were they to do? We saw in this parable that Christ is providing a framework for coming to God (in prayer) during the prolonged period of Judgment Day. It says in Luke 11:5:

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

The Greek word for “loaves” is the identical word for “bread” used in Luke 11:3: “Give us day by day our daily bread.” You could say, “Give us this day our daily loaves,” but it is awkward in the English to say, “Friend, lend me three breads.” It does not sound right. Then it goes on to say in Luke 11:6-8:

For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Again, in this parable, God is speaking of the door being shut. If we look elsewhere in the Bible, like the flood of Noah’s day, God shut him in. God shut the door of the ark. No one else could enter the ark, indicating that no one else could be delivered from the flood. Also, it says in Luke 13, “When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door,” there will be many trying to get in, saying, “Lord, Lord,” but they will not be able. It is Judgment Day.

Some people who understand that a “shut door” represents Judgment Day do not want to deal with Luke 11and they see that in the following verses it says: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? f ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Then these people say, “See, God can give the Holy Spirit after the door is shut.” However, they are acknowledging that there is a time on the earth when the door is shut and that is a problem because you must go to all the other verses that speak to this in the Bible and harmonize them to reach a right conclusion. And they do not want to go to Genesis, chapter 7 where God shut the door of the ark. They do not want to go to Luke 13 or other places in the Bible that clearly indicate that a shut door is a very bad thing for unsaved people, nor do they want to get involved in this kind of discussion because of their “theology” or understanding that it is the “day of salvation” all the way to the end until Christ comes at the end of the world. However, the parable in Luke 11 speaks of a shut door and then there is conversation or discussion between those on the earth that now must face the consequences of a shut door and the “man” who shut the door, who would be God. There is this back-and-forth discussion in which they are pleading for three loaves for a friend. At first it is refused, but then it said in verse 8, “He will rise and give him as many as he needeth.” This means that there will be “time” on the earth after Judgment Day has come and Christ has come as the Judge of the world. It is not an instantaneous destruction. It is not an immediate end of the world. That is obvious from this parable, but that is also an area they do not want to get in to, so they back away. So, what do they do with it? Nothing – they just do not address it. They go elsewhere in the Bible and find other verses to enjoy that do not present difficult problems or dilemmas where they are forced to harmonize things to come to a proper conclusion.

People in the churches and many professed true believers and ministries that profess to be true ministries want nothing to do with this because they want the circumstances to be under their control. They want the day of salvation. They want the sun to shine, the moon to give its light and the stars to be in place. They want things to be as they have always been traditionally. If that is what you want, you cannot go in to any great depth in the Bible or else you will find things you do not want to hear. Therefore, there is a dismissing, ignoring and a moving away from all kinds of verses that deal with “time and judgment” and the Great Tribulation and Judgment Day. There may be a reading of them or a casual skimming of the surface, but there will be no true digging in to the Scriptures. Anyway, that is a whole other subject.

Here, the important thing is that God is indicating that there will be “bread” after the door is shut. By the way, as this passage goes on in Luke 11 notice in the example Christ gives, the person who is asking bread and receiving it is the son of his father; that is, not an unsaved individual that is far from God, but someone that is already in a father/son relationship or a child of God. He is the one that may make the request, as it says in verse 11: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,” and then it concludes in verse 13: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” It is His children,” the same children that were said to be in bed with Him in verse 7. They are the elect children of God and, yes, the elect children can come to the Father and ask bread. He is not going to give them a stone or something evil. In fact, it says, “how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit.” Some might say, “Well, does that not mean salvation?” No, because it is the Holy Spirit that guides into all truth and it is God’s plan to reveal much truth in the Day of Judgment. And that truth will serve to feed His people. That is the “bread” the man in the parable is making a request for and, again, it is “three loaves” he is requesting at a time when the door is shut. That would be at the end of the 23-year Great Tribulation after God has saved everyone that was to become saved and that is when there is an emphasis on “three loaves” or “three breads.” Let us go to John 21:9-13:

As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.

We have the great catch of fish, which points to the great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation. When the great catch of fish is brought in it means that the Great Tribulation was completed because that is when the great multitude was gathered. The bringing of the fish to Jesus on the land indicates that they have been safely brought into the kingdom of heaven. And there is bread.

Notice the number “three” in the verses that follow in John 21:14-17:

This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Notice the strong emphasis upon the number “three.” It was the third time Jesus showed Himself to the disciples and the phrase “third time” is stated three times in these verses. Not only that, but in addressing Peter, Jesus asked him three times, “Simon Peter, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” Three times Simon Peter responded, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” Then Jesus makes the concluding remarks, “Feed my Lambs. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep.” It is a series of “threes.” There are three questions, three responses and three concluding remarks. It is the third time that Christ had showed Himself.

You cannot emphasize the purpose of God any more than what has been done in this passage because the number “three” is a number that points to the purpose of God. Furthermore, this emphasis upon the number “three” matches the timing in history of the parable in Luke 11 that speaks of a shut door. The fish are brought in at the end of the Great Tribulation and the end of the Great Tribulation is the time the door shut. When the door shuts, the great catch of fish are brought to Jesus. He has bread available and three times He commands to “feed sheep.” How do you feed sheep or God’s elect? You give them bread. You provide bread for them after the great catch of fish. In Luke 11, there is bread given after the door is shut. That is God’s purpose for this time.

If we go to Psalm 37, there is an interesting verse in Psalm 37:25:

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

This verse is telling us quite a lot. It lets us know that God’s people always have spiritual food. Yes, there can be times of famine of hearing the Word of God and there was famine in the churches during the Great Tribulation, but God provided for His people. God provided spiritual “bread” for His people throughout the Great Tribulation. As a matter of fact, that was the time He began to open the Scriptures to reveal much truth. It is pointing to this in the historical parable in the days of Joseph’s when there was a grievous famine in the land of Canaan and, yet, God brought His people (Jacob and his family) into Egypt under the care and protection of Joseph who had stored up much grain against the time of famine; and they were nourished throughout that famine, which typified the Great Tribulation: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” This is from a Psalm of David and David was young at one time, like all people, and then he grew old and died at age 70, but there is a much greater meaning to this statement than meets the eye. When David says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread,” it means there was “bread” or spiritual food when God’s people are young and when God’s people are old.

If we go back to John, chapter 21 where we saw the great catch of fish had come in and we know it identifies with the end of the Great Tribulation and the completion of the salvation of the great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation. Then there is “bread.” They came to Jesus and there was bread; there was the insistence on feeding sheep, which related to God’s purpose after the great catch of fish. But notice what comes next in John 21:18-19:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

Is that not interesting? This is the same kind of language David used when he said, “I have been young, and now am old,” and God made the point that He always feeds His sheep or His people, no matter what the age. Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep,” in the context after the fish had come in and we understand that it points to what comes after the Tribulation, which is Judgment Day. Peter was representative of the people of God and Jesus tells him, “When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” We see that in “youth,” there is agreement for the way they would walk; that is, we would say they were fully on board and in agreement with the program to evangelize the earth, for example. They were in agreement with it being the “day of salvation” and sending forth the Gospel message with the possibility that many would be saved. Yes, we all loved that and desired that, but there would come a time, it says, “when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.”

Some people have applied this language to being stretched out on a cross and to Peter’s death, which is not recorded in the Bible, so we will not go in that direction, but it could relate to language of the cross, especially since Jesus concluded with the command, “Follow me.” Jesus had said before, “Take up thy cross and follow me,” so it may go along with that idea. But the language seems to relate a displeasure or dissatisfaction with the way one must go when one is old. Again, do not think of this in terms of an individual man’s stages of growth, like youth, middle age and old age. This is the Bible and God presents types and figures and He uses language to express deeper truth. Here, Peter is representing the people of God who once where young and enjoyed the bright shining of the “sun.” In speaking of the literal sun, everyone loves it when the sun is shining brilliantly and it is day, but he night comes and the night can bring difficulties, troubles and sorrows. So, the “old age” of the people of God on earth comes with the “darkness.” I am saying this intentionally when I tie the “youth” to the sun in its brightness and to “old age” in the darkness of night because God does the same thing in Ecclesiastes 12:1:

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

In other words, spiritually, the days of youth are not the evil days. The evil day had not yet come. And remember it said in the Lord’s Prayer, “Deliver us from evil,” and it was a request to be delivered from Judgment Day, a prolonged period of time that is full of evil. Something evil is that which is very bad for mankind and, certainly, God’s judgment of shutting the door of heaven and ending His salvation program is very bad for mankind. They are evil days.

Then it says in Ecclesiastes 12:2:

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

These are the days of “youth” when the sun, moon and stars had not been darkened. When were they darkened? The Bible says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”

It also said at the end of the verse, “…nor the clouds return after the rain.” You see, “rain” fell in the day of salvation. There was the early righteous rain of the Old Testament that produced Christ; there was the early rain of the New Testament church age; and there was the Latter Rain during the second part of the Great Tribulation. There was rain, rain, rain. This was in the days of “youth” while the “sun” was shining, but then came the evil days when the “sun, moon and stars” were darkened, spiritually. That is the implication when it refers to the days “when thou shalt be old.” That is why Jesus made the point to say to Peter, “When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest,” because it was a wonderful time for the world and a wonderful time to be a Christian and true believer when we could pray for (the salvation) of our loved ones with hope and expectation that God might save them that day because it was the day of salvation.

Is that not wonderful when we contrast it with the days of old age, the evil days when the sun, moon and stars are darkened and the “clouds return after the rain.” Christ came in the clouds of judgment – it is Judgment Day – and these are the days “when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” It is certainly not our desire. Remember the parable where Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham and the rich man made the plea that Lazarus might come with just a drop of water to touch to his parched lips, but the response was, “They which would pass from hence to you cannot.” Those that would come from the kingdom of God with the Gospel cannot. There is an inability. It was not our choosing or our decision, but it was “another that girded us,” who is God, and brought us whither we would not desire to go.