“What’s the significance of the five loaves and two fishes the Lord used to feed the multitudes (Matt. 14:15-21)?”

The significance lies not in the actual number, but in the fact that loaves of bread were smaller in Bible days, with three loaves being about the right amount for one man’s meal (Luke 11:5,6). This means that the boy who shared the five loaves and two fishes (John 6:9) had packed just enough to feed himself, with a little left over to share with another. But it also means that he was willing to share his provisions even when it became evident that sharing them among so many would likely mean that he himself would go hungry.

This is a prophetic picture of the Tribulation saint who will be willing to help others who are hungry after the beast issues his mark and God’s people cannot buy food without it (Rev. 13:16-18), but who may fear that in so doing there may not be enough for himself. Faithful Hebrews in that day will trust God when He said that “there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth” (Prov. 11:24,25), a proverb that perhaps motivated the boy in our text. When the lad gave all that he had to the Lord, and the apostles distributed the loaves and fishes (John 6:9-11) “unto every man according as he had need,” it typified what Tribulation saints will have to do to help one another (Acts 4:32-37), and it proved that you are never too young to serve the Lord and His people!

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