“Bread, Wine and Oil” by Paul Block

“Bread, Wine and Oil” by Paul Block

We can survive 30-40 days without eating food, 3-4 days without water, and 3-4 minutes without air.   Our body’s survival time without water is one tenth of the time of that without food, and without air is less than one thousandth of the time we can survive without water.   Yet you can’t argue that any one is more important than another even though you can see the impact of lacking one versus another much differently.   If you have air and water, but no food, the result is the same as if you have food and water, but no air.

Why is air more impactful than water and that more impactful than food?

Asked a different way:  Why is oil more impactful than wine and that more impactful than bread?

And yet another way to ask: Why is anointing more impactful than teachings and that more impactful than the word?

Over and over, the writers of the bible used symbolism and parables to explain the picture or events they were seeing in the spiritual realm.  For example: lakes, rivers and seas are referenced many times, yet from past studies we understand that water has more than just a physical meaning.  When we read about water, it can be a reference to spirit, while seas can be a reference to ignorance.  Understanding these parallels and alternate meanings for physical elements can help us interpret deeper messages in the scriptures.

We live in multiple dimensions.  We have a physical body that carries us around on earth, a soul that holds our memories and personality, and a spirit that is eternal (1 Thessalonians 5:23).   Our soul and spirit are not the same.  They are different and have different functions (Luke 1:46-47).

We live on earth in our physical bodies, which need to eat, drink and breathe (among other things), yet our spirit is present as well (Ecclesiastes 12:7).  Our spirit isn’t trapped in our body trying to get out, it existed in God with a purpose before we were born in flesh (Jeremiah 1:5).  Our spirit can interact with our body and vice versa (Romans 1:9).

Because we live in multiple dimensions, we have to understand bread, wine and oil in multiple dimensions.  We need to be able to consume them at levels other than simply for physical sustenance.

Bread – Food, Word of God, Life (Jesus)

Bread is a symbolic representation of God’s life-sustaining provision.   Bread is food, it is the Word of God, it is written on our hearts.  He has given us everything and we have it within us.

God used bread or mana to keep his people alive while they were in the wilderness.  It was temporary sustenance and they were not to gather more than they needed for the day.  When Jesus was in the wilderness and hungry, he was tempted to turn the stones into bread.  His reply was that “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

There is more to bread than just physical nourishment.  We need the proceeding word of God.   We ingest the word of God by reading, studying and putting into practice what we learn.

Where do we find and hear God’s proceeding word?  It’s in us.  We already have it.  To consume it, we need to allow the leading of God’s spirit within us.  I’ll use this excerpt a few times.

Hebrews 10
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The byproduct of consuming the bread/word, is that our life will be ordered by his principles.

Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35).  When He broke physical bread with his disciples and told them to eat it, “this is My body” (Matthew 26:26), what was he giving them?  Physical leavened bread, his physical body?  Or was he symbolically giving of himself to them.   He was giving a sensory reminder of himself so whenever they eat this bread or wine, they will remember him.

To consume the bread of life to sustain us spiritually, we need to start by giving it away.  God’s spirit is in us and we are heirs to the Father.  So by giving of ourselves to others, are we not giving away the bread, or the body of Christ to those around us, thereby allowing others to consume the body of Christ?

Since the word is in us (because his spirit is in us), we are a walking representation of the word of God, or bread (Scripture).  So how do we give of ourselves?  How do we get others to “consume our bread”?  Jesus gave of himself as He walked among the people sharing and teaching. 

Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper.  A man who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

How is that possible?  If I give myself away, don’t I have less of myself left?   Just like the loaves and fish, when you give of yourself and are breaking bread (word, life) and giving it away, you don’t become less, you actually multiply.  After Jesus divided the loaves and fish, they collected what was left and they had twelve baskets left over.  Twelve is the number of government.  You don’t just have more leftover, you have order and you have government.

Wine – thirst quenching, teaching/transformational, blood of Jesus (forgiveness, transformational)

On a physical level, wine was a staple of the Israelites.  It was used as offerings (Exodus 29:40), medicine (1 Timothy 5:23), as well as a cleanser for wounds (Luke 10:34). 

The symbolism and use of wine in the Bible is significant.  Wine is representative of teaching or transformation as well as the blood of Jesus.  

Luke 5:37 implies that the old teachings were not complete.   They were based on the law and not life.  The new wine referenced in that verse refers to the new teachings or doctrine of Jesus.  Our lives are transformed by the teachings and truth.  We are no longer under the law, but under the new covenant.  

Back in Hebrews 10,

Hebrews 10
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Follow me through these verses. 

1 Corinthians 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

1 Peter 1:18-19  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Hebrews 10
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

To walk in his fullness, we must consume the blood of Jesus.  The blood meaning his teachings, transformation, forgiveness and life.   We consume these things when we understand our identity in Him, and the depth of His forgiveness outside of the spectrum of time.  Forgiveness is timeless.  We have been forgiven yesterday, today and forever.  When Jesus said “it is finished”, he was seeing in the spirit from beginning to end.  Our sins physically committed 2000 years after Jesus died, have already been forgiven in the spirit.

Oil – physical, anointing(order), Spiritual anointing or Holy Spirit

Many times when the bible mentions oil, it is referring to olive oil. Oil that was pressed from the fruit of olive trees had many uses in biblical times.  It was a dietary staple, it was spread on bread, used in cooking, mixed with flour to make bread, rubbed on the skin for cleansing or burned for light.  Suffice to say, it has a natural value to the people of Israel. 

When making perfumes, olive oil was often used as the base, or carrying substance for the scent of the perfume.   Scents and herbs are ground into the oil, then when rubbing the oil on the skin, the oil is absorbed and the scent is left behind. 

Oil was also used for anointing and represented order.   The process of anointing puts things in alignment with God’s spiritual order.  It marks the completion of a transformation.  A specific recipe is given to Moses (Exodus 30) for creating sacred anointing oil.  Anything this oil touches becomes holy and anyone who touches the anointed article becomes holy.   This holy oil was used to anoint the tabernacle and its furnishings (Exodus 40:9).  It was poured on the priests and their descendants (Exodus 28:41) and was used to anoint new kings (1 Samuel 9:16).

The symbolism of oil anointing is also linked to the Holy Sprit’s presence.  When a person is anointed, the Holy Spirit descends on that person.   When David was physically anointed with oil by Samuel, “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David”. 

Anointing is the finishing or completion of a transformation.  When the tabernacle was anointed, it was no longer just raw materials, it was ready to be used for a new purpose.  When priests are anointed, they can start their work with the authority of God.  King’s assume their duty to their people. 

Jesus was anointed with oil at his last supper.  There were some complaining of the “waste” of fragrant oil, but Jesus said, “she has done good work for Me”.   Her “work” was anointing him.  Aligning him spiritually with God’s plan and marking the completion of his transformation into a new work… to be the slain lamb taking away the sins of the world.

Anointing isn’t just a physical act that triggers something spiritual.  It’s a physical representation of something happening in the spiritual realm for us to walk out. 

It is God who anoints us and establishes us together in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:21).  John says we have been anointed by the Holy One and we have all knowledge within us (1 John 2:20).  How does this happen?  The answer takes us through Revelations which is the revealing of Christ in us and understanding our identity in Him.  This revelation of Jesus in us will give us sight into spiritual happenings in and around us.  The result is being able to walk and see fully in the spirit as Jesus did.  Since the spirit doesn’t operate in a timeline like our physical bodies, when we see in the spirit what is to come, we can speak it into existence.  Jesus showed us this multiple times leading up to his final supper and crucifixion. 

Thank you Lord for the revelations of your spirit in us and the space to walk into our true identity in you.

Paul Block
blockp@gmail.com