Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

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God uses simple and memorable analogies to help us understand His plan.

When I was a young boy, I would often hear the Lord’s Prayer recited, and I noted the request humans are to have of God: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:9-13 [9] After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
[10] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
[11] Give us this day our daily bread.
[12] And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
[13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

See All...). Food was important to me as a growing teenage boy.It is important to us all because it nourishes us and is necessary for life.

The word “bread” in the prayer struck a strong chord in my young mind because sometimes my mother would stay up late at night baking bread for our family. On those special nights, she would wait until we were all in bed. Dough requires a little time to rise before it is baked. One night, just about midnight, the fresh bread had just been baked and I came out of the bedroom. My mother cut me a slice of the best bread I have ever eaten with a pat of butter that melted right into it. Along with that hot slice came a cup of coffee. That was her reward to herself for a job well done. I do not think I ever missed getting up another night when she was going to bake bread. I could pretty well time the moment it came out of the oven since we had an old wood and coal burning stove and opening the doors or adding fuel made some noise. The bread needed just a little time to cool and then it was perfect. With fresh homemade bread, butter and a cup of coffee, life just did not have anything better to offer me at that time.

God uses memorable symbols

There are some themes in the Bible that God seems to ha­ve placed more emphasis on than others. He knows how our minds and our memories work. The theme of bread representing deeper concepts is used in a number of different ways in the Bible and the word has a number of meanings in scripture. When Jesus explained how to pray, He used the word to mean good physical and spiritual food and He was also conveying a deeper spiritual message about our daily bread. He used the word bread in reference to Himself ­when He said He was the “bread of life”(John 6:48I am that bread of life.
See All...).

Bread in the Bible can also refer to a meal. It is used to describe something special as in the “bread of affliction” as well (1 Kings 22:27And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
See All...). There is often much symbolism when bread is discussed in scripture.

When Israel left Egypt in haste, there was no time for the dough to rise for the daily bread they would usually bake. They ate unleavened bread at the beginning of their journey (Exodus 12:34And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
See All...). During the 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness, God supplied them with daily bread (Exodus 16:4Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
See All..., 33). It was called “manna.” They were to eat it for a period of seven days during a season called the Days of Unleavened Breadby a statute that God gave them (Leviticus 23:6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
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God did not originally intend to feed them manna every day for 40 years; He did not intend for Israel to wander in the dry and arid region of Sinai for 40 years. But because Israel continually defied God and disregarded His commandments, He was forced to punish them. His punishment was that nobody over the age of 20 would see the Promised Land and they would wander for 40 years until all those over that age would have died. During the trek,He would supply them with manna for each day even if they were not obedient to Him (Numbers 14:1-4 [1] And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
[2] And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
[3] And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
[4] And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

See All..., 27-34).

The command to eat unleavened bread this first annual Holy Day, was designed by God to be an everlasting command that is still in force today, long after those 40 years in the wilderness.  Each year the observation reinforced the understanding God wanted to relay: that they were to be a pure, clean, undefiled people among all the nations of the earth. They were to be “unleavened.” In this case leavened bread was likened to having sin present or being like all others in the world.  

Continued symbolism in the New Testament and for us today

When the Father sent His Son Jesus to be our sacrifice and Savior, the meaning of the manna and the days God gave were symbolic of what God was doing. Jesus died on the 14 ^th of Nisan on the Passover Day the day before the start of the Days of Unleavened Bread. He was the pure undefiled Passover Lamb. Israel had gathered a pot of manna and kept it inside the Ark in the Temple. There was great significance placed on that. Since the Ark was a replica of the Ark that is before God’s throne in heaven, we can easily see that Christ was the symbolic manna ofthat heavenly Ark (Hebrews 8:5Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
See All..., 9:4).

All sacrifices of grains that were brought before God during the period of time that the Levites were to be the acting priests, were to be unleavened (Leviticus 2:1-7 [1] And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:
[2] And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:
[3] And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.
[4] And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
[5] And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.
[6] Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.
[7] And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

See All..., 11). When we come before God in prayer, we are also “unleavened” through Jesus’ sacrifice (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 [6] Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
[7] Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
[8] Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

See All...). Not all the members Paul wrote to in Corinth were acceptable to God – some were “puffed up” (1 Corinthians 4:18Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
See All...). Paul likens the “old leaven” to malice and wickedness and being “unleavened” to sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
See All...). The decisions and actions in our lives show whether we are living in a manner that pleases God or in a manner that embarrasses Him.   

Jesus referred to Himself as the “living bread” for a reason (John 6:51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
See All...). All who wish to be saved must come to God through Jesus Christ. We are to symbolically eat His flesh and drink His blood whenever we take the Passover (Matthew 26:26-28 [26] And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
[27] And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
[28] For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

See All...). He said we are to symbolically eat His body that was broken for us (1 Corinthians 11:24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
See All...). Each year at the Passover, unleavened bread is taken as the symbol of His sacrifice for us along with a little wine that represents His blood that was shed for our sins and payment of the penalty of sin for us. We are to be as closely bound to Christ as if we were one (John 17:21-23 [21] That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
[22] And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
[23] I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

See All...). The bread represents His body, and a converted person understands that Christ dwells within him. We are to walk according to His example every day.

Ask God for your daily bread

When Jesus said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” there is both the physical and the spiritual intent of that prayer. We cannot live without physical food for nourishment and we also cannot live spiritually if we do not have Christ in our lives every day. To be the pure and undefiled people of God we have become “unleavened” through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (John 15:3-7 [3] Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
[4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
[5] I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
[6] If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
[7] If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

See All...). Just as bread is the staple of our everyday lives, so too, Christ is intended to be the daily staple of our spiritual lives. The dual lesson of needing bread to live physically and needing Christ to live spiritually is reinforced by the lesson of the Passover.

Israel did not learn the lessons God had planned for them and were left to wander until God decided it was time to work with them again. For converted people, the precious and high cost of the spiritual bread does not give anyone the option of leaving salvation until later. We dare not turn away from the gift of Jesus Christ once we have accepted it. Christ will not die a second time for anyone (Hebrews 10:26-29 [26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
[27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
[28] He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
[29] Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

See All...). Paul noted the words of Jesus on the night of His betrayal. Jesus said: “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
See All...).

I loved my mother’s bread. It tasted good, it was healthy and good for me and I have always been thankful for the good feeling of family that it gave. Jesus told a group of Jewish followers that they should never hunger or thirst if they took the bread that represented Him (John 6:32-35 [32] Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
[33] For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
[34] Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
[35] And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

See All...). We are spiritually nourished with Christ in us just as we are physically nourished with good bread in us. His offering leads us to becoming part of the family of God (Galatians 3:26-28 [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
[27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

See All...). God’s gift satisfies and makes our life better (Matthew 11:28-30 [28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
[30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

See All...). Jesus said His yoke was light and easy and we would find rest for our souls.

To be part of the family of God is something that our dreams and imagination cannot grasp completely. Jesus used the lesson about bread to drive home the way of God so we can understand it. We are to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Jesus said those who did yearn to be close to God would be blessed because they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
See All...). Remember to take Christ into your life every day. We need Him dwelling in us continually in order to live eternally. If we do so, we will never be hungry or thirsty again. 

If you want to learn more about how the “bread of life” really lived, read our Bible study aid booklet Jesus Christ: The Real Story . For more information on the symbolism of bread in God’s holy days, see the Bible study aid God’s Holy Day Plan .