This lesson discusses the biblical concept of “figurative food” which represents the word of God. There are two types of spiritual food – God’s life-giving word which leads to eternal life, and Satan’s deceptive words which lead to spiritual death. Discernment is key to distinguishing between the two.

The lesson explains that just as physical food nourishes the body, God’s word nourishes the spirit and soul. However, the Bible warns of a coming famine of hearing God’s word (Amos 8:11), requiring discernment to recognize the true, life-giving spiritual food at the proper time (Matthew 24:45-47, Revelation 2:17).

Satan attempts to counterfeit God’s food by making his deceptive teachings appealing, as seen in the example of Eve being tempted by the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). Careful listening and comparing teachings against Scripture is necessary to discern truth from lies (Job 34:3-4, Acts 17:11). The overarching message is the importance of feasting on God’s true word while rejecting Satan’s poisonous counterfeits through the exercise of spiritual discernment.

 

Study Guide SCJ Bible Study

Secrets of Heaven: Figurative Food

What is a figurative food?

 

Food = The word

 

The seed represents the word of God. It also represents spiritual food that gives life. The parable shows how God’s word, when planted in a person’s heart, can grow and transform them. Just as food nourishes the body, God’s word nourishes the spirit when we read and apply it.

There are many parables in the Bible that illustrate this concept. We will explore several of them to understand the power of God’s word to change lives.

One aspect we must grasp is spiritual discernment – the ability to distinguish truth from error and recognize what teachings we should accept or reject. We especially need discernment regarding “food at the proper time” – timely spiritual nourishment that equips us for the challenges of these last days. Discerning the truth and appropriating God’s word is critical for living a life of vibrant faith.

In previous lessons, we studied the parables of the figurative tree and birds, which likely brought new insights. As we dive deeper into additional parables, their meaning and application will become clearer.

Analyzing the logic of these parables reveals a profound truth: the seed is sown in the field of a person’s heart with the intention that it will root itself deeply and transform them into its likeness. God desires to implant His seed within us so that we may be reborn in His image.

This rebirth is crucial as it aligns us more closely with God’s nature. We must beware of Satan’s efforts to undermine this process and nurture discernment to recognize life-giving spiritual food. 

Interestingly, did you know that it is possible to experience being ‘born again’ multiple times?

Let’s take Adam for an example, he was originally formed from dust. But God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul, a living being. However, after Adam ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said to him “You will return to dust.”

Let’s also consider the example of Judas – one who walked with Jesus for 3 and a half years, only to end up betraying him in the end. Clearly, Judas went in the opposite direction from what would have been righteous.

In contrast, look at the example of the Apostle Paul. As a devout Pharisee prior to his conversion, Paul was zealous in keeping the Mosaic law. However, after encountering Jesus, Paul completely changed course – he was born again spiritually.

The key point is that one’s spiritual state is not fixed. Individuals can transition back and forth, based on their actions, experiences, and personal decisions.  

Therefore, let’s not be complacent or presumptuous in our walk with God, resting on past laurels. Scripture contains many examples of those who wavered in their devotion to the Lord. Instead, let us determine to be steadfast in our faith, like a rock that cannot be moved.

Figurative Food

Main Reference

Matthew 24 is all about the end of the age. One really important thing to note about Matthew 24 is that there are many different perspectives on this chapter. Some say it has already been fulfilled, some say it hasn’t yet.

How can we know for sure whether or not it has been fully fulfilled?

Jesus’ disciples asked him about the signs of his coming – has Jesus come back yet?

If we say no, that means there are still aspects of Matthew 24 that need to be fulfilled. So don’t be confused by someone claiming it’s already fulfilled. We very much need to continue examining this chapter.

Another common perspective is that current wars are signs of Matthew 24’s prophecies unfolding. However, there have been so many wars, famines, earthquakes and plagues over the last 2000 years. If those were the signs, where is Jesus?

This suggests the signs cannot be literal current events, but rather are figurative in nature. We can’t look at news events and expect them to be definitive signs of Matthew 24 happening. Does this make sense why these were mentioned?

Going back 100 years, people thought World War I was the sign of Matthew 24. Life kept going on – it hasn’t happened yet. They thought the same of World War II.

So let’s understand prophecy must be interpreted figuratively and spiritually. What we see happening may not be real signs, so don’t be deceived.

Now, one sign Jesus did say will come – a famine. What does this famine mean? What does it signify that a famine will come at the second coming or end of the age?

 

Let’s also examine another promise Jesus made here…

Jesus asks, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant?”

What will the faithful servant provide? Food at the proper time. We see here that while the master is away, he will return.

Let me clarify – the faithful servant is not Jesus. The master is Jesus. The faithful servant is someone who serves Jesus faithfully by providing for those in his household.

There is mention of a household with servants. This is an important promise Jesus makes, so let’s keep this context in mind.

To understand the notion of “food” here, which will shed light on this passage, let’s look at the story Jesus tells about his interaction with the tempter and what he asked him to do.

When I look at Matthew 4, I always like to think of chapters in terms of themes, as it helps me categorize the Bible really well in my head.

So when I hear Matthew 4, I think of Jesus being tempted and beginning his ministry. But this is very early on, before Jesus really started to preach. He went into a time of fasting and prayer and training. But Satan came to tempt him. And the first thing Satan said was to turn these stones into bread, since Jesus had been fasting a long time and was most likely hungry.

How did Jesus rebut Satan’s temptation? What did he use? What did Jesus use to overcome Satan? The word…

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If you’re unfamiliar with the Word, Satan will easily overpower you. You won’t be able to resist his manipulations.

However, because Jesus was intimately familiar with the Word and embodied its essence, He could effortlessly counter Satan’s attacks and temptations.

Let’s emulate Jesus’s example. Remember the key message of this verse: God intentionally allows us to experience hunger. But why would God do this?

He causes us to feel hunger so that we can learn a crucial lesson—we must rely on His words. His words are the true source of sustenance for our souls.

The physical sensation of hunger teaches us the spiritual need for nourishment that only God’s Word can satisfy.

Therefore, if someone neglects to read the Word, their spirit suffers from starvation. This neglect can lead to wondering why feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, stress, and so forth arise. It is because your spirit is famished—starving, indeed. Yet some may argue, ‘I don’t need to read the Bible. My faith is strong; I worship constantly.’

However, such a person remains spiritually malnourished, puzzled by their lack of fulfillment. Just as your physical body requires food, so does your spirit. Reflect on this past year: you have undoubtedly sustained your body—praise be to God. But have you also nourished your spirit?

For many of us, the answer is affirmative as we have delved into the scriptures.

1. Physical Characteristics and Types of Food

Always keep this verse in mind. God uses creation to explain.

Understanding the parables is crucial as they reveal God’s invisible qualities—attributes not readily observed or perceived by our senses, such as His eternal power and divine nature. These aspects of God, though invisible, can be discerned through His creations, which we are intimately familiar with.

Consider how well we know the workings of seeds, trees, and food. This knowledge of the physical world provides a foundation for comprehending spiritual truths. When God draws comparisons between Himself and these physical elements, our understanding of Him deepens. However, this recognition only occurs when we shift our focus onto these natural examples.

So who here has been reading verses and felt like you were reading them for the first time, even though you’ve read them hundreds of times before? It’s like this person or insight has always been there, but your attention wasn’t focused on it until now. God is turning your attention to something He had already mentioned thousands of years before. What an awesome experience!

So God uses creation to explain Himself.

What are some physical characteristics of food? Well, there’s one key thing about food:

There are two kinds of food: good (nutritious) and bad (unhealthy). I’m not referring to taste – this distinction is about the health impacts of different foods. What’s the difference between good and bad foods?

Good foods provide the nutrients needed to maintain health and vitality. Consuming them supports a healthy life. Bad foods lack essential nutrients or contain harmful substances. Eating too many unhealthy foods can contribute to weight gain, exhaustion, and other health issues over time. Ultimately, regularly choosing unhealthy foods can increase the risk of disease and earlier death.

We’ve all experienced the dilemma – why does unhealthy food often taste so good when it can negatively impact our health? The temptation is understandable. However, by focusing on adding more wholesome, nutritious options into our diets, we can still enjoy delicious food while caring for our health. Our choices about what we eat each day truly matter.

Good food is important for sustaining life because you can’t eat a salad once and expect to be okay for the rest of your life. You have to eat salad repeatedly, almost every day, so that your body functions properly.

It also takes discipline to eat well consistently. Unfortunately, our society makes it extremely difficult to eat healthy. They put everything that’s bad all over the place – you walk into a grocery store and it looks like an arcade in there. But anyway, that’s a side point.

So physical food comes in two types – good food and bad food. Spiritual food also has two kinds: good food that belongs to God and bad food that belongs to Satan.

God’s food leads to life, Satan’s food leads to death.

If we want to have spirits that are alive, we must exclusively eat God’s food. I mean that very intentionally – once you’ve identified a food as bad, rotten or diseased, one does not continue testing that food to see if their body can handle it. They stop eating it altogether. So when you find Satan’s food, you toss it in the trash. But sometimes this takes discipline too, especially if that food looks tempting. Satan likes to make that food extra tempting.

And it’s not as easy as it might seem to avoid Satan’s food – that’s why it’s dangerous and that’s why we need to discern.

 

So let’s break down:

2. God’s food

In the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 55, we encounter a profound prophecy. God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, extending an invitation: ‘Come, all who are thirsty.’ This echoes the words of Jesus in Matthew 5: ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.’ The call is to all who yearn for spiritual fulfillment: ‘Come to the waters.’ And notably, this invitation requires no currency; one can ‘buy’ without money and partake without cost.

Here we are urged to consider: why invest in what does not nourish, or toil for what fails to satisfy? God emphasizes the crucial action – to listen. To ‘buy’ is to listen attentively. By heeding His words, we find nourishment that delights the soul, as expressed in verse 3.

The message is clear: give your attention and draw near to God. It is through listening and absorbing His words that we find true delight.

Every time we come before God’s word, we should be filled and spiritually nourished, not leaving hungrier than when we arrived. Unfortunately that sometimes happens – the word is poorly presented, difficult to digest, or we are not ready for the “solid food” we need. But here, God invites us to feast on His word in a way that enlightens and satisfies our souls. May that be the case for all of us each time we come to feast on God’s word.

God desires us to listen and hear His words, leading to delight and fulfillment. Each time we engage with His Word, we should be filled and satisfied.

Imagine being at the synagogue where Jesus was teaching when he said this. People often like to feel that believing in Jesus would have been easy back then. “Oh, I definitely would have believed in Jesus if I lived at that time,” some say. But would you really? Consider what he just said: “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” If this was the first time you heard this, you would think this man is mad, which is what they said. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? What is he talking about? That’s nonsense!”

For me, that gives a glimpse into what it would have been like to be there at that time. Believing in Jesus 2,000 years ago would not have been easy or culturally accepted like it is now with over 2 billion Christians today. This kind of teaching would have gotten you stoned back then. It was a problem.

The challenge for the people of that era was to discern between literal and figurative language. Jesus’ body is not present for us to consume in a physical sense, and yet, His followers at the time struggled to make this distinction, leading to confusion and disputes among them.

So, we must ask, what does the ‘flesh and blood’ of Jesus represent? While one might think it refers to His words, let’s not rely solely on that interpretation. Instead, let’s explore what Jesus Himself has to say about it.

The words I have spoken to you are the spirit and life that I promised. When I said, ‘I am the bread of life,’ and ‘I am the word,’ it meant that to ‘eat’ my words is to receive life—the very eternal life that I promised you.

‘Eat my words, and you will live,’ for my words are an extension of myself. They are akin to my body. Thus, when He broke bread and shared communion with His disciples, they truly grasped this concept; they understood the symbolic significance of the bread and the wine as representations.

Holding onto Jesus’s words is essential until their ultimate fulfillment in the kingdom of God—a topic we will delve into more deeply in a future lesson. Indeed, the ‘bread of life’ is both Jesus’s flesh and His words; they are one and the same. However, only a few people devoted enough time to Jesus to allow Him to fully explain this concept.

 

Let’s examine what happened with most people. If we turn to verse..

As they heard this teaching, many disciples said, “This is difficult teaching to accept.” Aware that his disciples were complaining about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this teaching offend you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

The Spirit gives life, while the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” Yet some of you do not believe.” Indeed, Jesus had known from the beginning which ones did not have faith and who would betray him.

He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless enabled by the Father.” From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Remember when I said John chapter 6 was a defining moment? Jesus’ words called out the weak and uncommitted ones who were not wholeheartedly with him.

Faced with their departure, what did Jesus ask the twelve? “Are you also going to leave me?”

In John 6:68, Peter says “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Let’s follow Peter’s example. There is nowhere else for us to turn. No other word for us to receive.

This passage reveals why Jesus often said not to work for food that perishes. Physical food spoils and focusing solely on it causes us to miss what truly satisfies. Those absorbed only in working to eat to live to work risk living meaningless lives until they die. Ecclesiastes illustrates the emptiness of living for material things alone – reading it lends a different perspective on life. But Jesus invites us to instead invest ourselves in food that endures – his eternal words.

Yet there are times when fully immersing in God’s word becomes difficult, as prophecy foretells. Even so, Peter’s confession remains true – only Jesus has words of life. We would do well to echo his conviction, no matter the season.

God promises through the prophet Amos that “I will bring a famine on the land. But not a famine of food or drink. Meaning, not a physical famine. But a famine of hearing my words.”

This famine of the end times refers to a famine of hearing God’s words.

In other words, it will not be possible for a time to not only hear God’s words, but also to understand them. The Book of Amos was one of the last books written in the Old Testament, a couple hundred years before Jesus was born. There was a 400 year period between Malachi and Jesus where God said “Nothing new.”

For 400 years, God said nothing new. As Matthew 24 reminds us, Jesus also promised famines and plagues where nothing new was said for a long time.

So what do people tend to do when they don’t hear the words of the Lord? They tend to add their own thoughts to fill in the blanks, because even though they’re hearing nothing new from God, they are often still in a position where they have to say something. They have to say something like “I think…etc.” This ends up causing confusion. 

Let’s revisit Matthew 24. Let’s examine these passages relating to our time and truly comprehend them. A famine was promised at the second coming in Matthew 24:7. However, verses 45-47 indicate that famine ends.

When we read about the “food at the proper time,” what does this mean? We already know the answer, though you may not have known the exact phrase.

Any ideas? “Food at the proper time” refers to the word of God being opened and explained at the appropriate time, allowing for understanding and application.

There is another prophecy in Revelation that speaks to this as well.

In this passage, Jesus promises a reward, referred to as “Hidden Manna,” to those who overcome. Manna, a type of bread provided by God to the Israelites during their desert journey after the Exodus, holds significance. The Hebrew name “Manna” reflects the Israelites’ initial uncertainty about its nature, as they questioned, “What is it?” upon seeing the white substance descend from heaven.

While Manna served as physical sustenance for the Israelites, Jesus draws a parallel in John chapter 6, highlighting that despite their consumption of Manna, their ancestors still faced mortality. However, Jesus offers a different kind of sustenance—His own bread—that promises eternal life, surpassing mere physical nourishment.

In Revelation, Jesus unveils the existence of hidden Manna, initially concealed during times of scarcity. However, this famine does not persist indefinitely, and at an opportune moment, the hidden Manna becomes revealed and bestowed upon the servants in the household. This food, provided at the proper time, refers to the same entities, and their unveiling brings glory to God.

Beyond the hidden Manna, the passage also acknowledges the presence of “bad food,” which is associated with Satan.

3. Satan’s Food

The food that looks good to eat but leads to death instead.

At the time of the Second Coming and the fulfillment of the Book of Revelation, a place called Babylon will emerge. Historically, Babylon was a nation that invaded Israel and no longer exists in the physical world.

However, God symbolically uses the term “Babylon” to represent a place that will arise and cause destruction. This place will be characterized by its destructive nature, and it will offer “wine of adultery” that intoxicates all nations.

It is crucial to exercise discernment during this time. If we fail to discern, we risk unknowingly consuming this intoxicating influence. A person who is drunk often denies their condition, insisting that they are fine and capable of driving. They may slur their words and try to convince others of their sobriety.

We must be able to discern and avoid becoming those who drink this intoxicating influence, believing that everything is okay. We may not recognize when it appears or what it truly is. Additionally, it is important to note that Satan’s food is intentionally difficult to discern.

Remember, discernment is key to avoiding the pitfalls that may arise during these significant times.

Eve perceived the fruit as visually appealing and delectable.

Satan strategically presents his enticements in an alluring manner. He refrains from offering something repulsive, as no one intentionally consumes rotten food.

People are naturally drawn to visually appealing things. Therefore, if we consider Satan’s word as his food, it appears enticing and tempting to consume.

However, an individual lacking discernment, as we discussed earlier, faces challenges in distinguishing between good and evil. The ability to discern is crucial, as it can be a matter of life and death.

4. Discern Foods

For the ear tests words. As the tongue tastes food. Having sharp and refined ears is important to be able to discern. But one does not have sharp ears unless they’ve trained themselves. That’s what we’re doing now. Glory to God, we’re in training, let’s train.

Well at this time. So that when Satan presents his food to us, And it sounds good. We say, oh, I know what you’re trying to do. I will not be partaking. I’ll be fasting from that food like that. No, thanks Satan. So, let’s discern.

Let’s talk about some ideas of what Satan’s food is that can really start to be discerned in our daily lives.

Let’s make it tangible. But the way to discern is it sounds good, but it does not align with the truth. That’s how you can discern. So let’s start listening well, and checking with the scriptures and as I said before at the beginning, when we looked at distinguished and good and evil, you also should be doing this for me, too.

Go back through the scriptures again.

Memorization

 

and please read John chapter 6.

Let’s Us Discern