MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE
Hugh Fogelman
The
SOURCE DOCUMENT, Torah, records “man does
not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD
(Deuteronomy 8:3 KJV). Such a beautiful thought; it is no wonder that
Christians incorporated it as part of what Jesus said. Unfortunately
Christianity puts an evil spin on it by having Jesus use this saying in a
battle with the Christian invention ― the devil; “god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread. But he [Jesus] answered and said, It is
written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew
4:3-4 (KJV)
Luke
even has Jesus saying the same thing, in the story of the so-called “tempter,”
even strangely, using the same chapter and verses, BUT this time puts a name to
the “tempter:”
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this
stone that it be made bread.
And Jesus answered
him, saying, It is written, That man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:3-4 (KJV)
In
Ephesians 6:12, Paul tells about God having to battle against the rulers and
the powers of this dark word and in Timothy 2:26, Paul says Satan has his own
will. So it comes as no surprise that Paul teaches that Satan is “god of THIS world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul further claims Jesus [whom he never met]
told him to open the eyes of the people and turn them “…from the POWER of Satan
(Acts 26:18).”
It is
so sad to see that Christianity used “man
does not live on bread alone” to tell a story of their invented devil ―
their god of earth ― while in the process destroying the true essence of
what God really conveyed in the Hebrew Bible.
“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed
thee with manna, which thou
knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Deuteronomy 8:3 (King James Version of the Hebrew Bible))
Notice
that the focus point is the manna from God feeding the hungry. There was NO “tempter”
― not by any stretch of imagination.
The
inner theme of the entire Torah ― which describes all existence as
originating from God ― emphasizes the point when Moses tells the Jewish
people “God fed you with Manna...” is
that all should know that man does not live on bread alone, but on that which
comes from the mouth of God. In other words, in Torah ― God’s words to
the children of
What is
it that makes a person live? Is it simply food, the physical nutrition and the
digestive process? Our physical existence is based on a special relationship
established by God. If God so wants, we live by eating bread, wheat grains
harvested from the fields and ground into flour and baked. If God wants, we
live from Manna which comes from Heaven and settles like dew on the ground
overnight. What is there in the bread, or indeed in the Manna, which makes us
live? The Kabbalists tell us that within everything that exists there is a
Divine life-force. This is “that which
comes from the mouth of God,” the breath of Divine life which is breathed
into every thing and which makes that thing exist, whether it is a mountain or
a rose-petal.
Because
of this very Divine life-force in the bread, we live. And this is what Torah
meant, we do not live on bread alone, on the physical bread; we live on the
spiritual inner quality of the bread which – according to Divine decree – gives
us life. Rabbi DovBer wrote: “Not on bread
alone lives man, but on the utterance of the mouth of God does man live.” 1
At the core of every existence is a ‘divine
utterance’ that constitutes its ‘soul’ – its
essence and purpose. This ‘divine utterance’ is the Divine ‘words’ of
creation (“Let there be light;” “Let the earth sprout forth vegetation” etc.)
which express God’s desire that it exist and it’s function within His overall
purpose of creation. It is the ‘divine utterance’ which was the original
instrument of its creation, and which remains nestled within it to continuously
supply it with being and life.
The soul of man descends into the trappings and
trials of physical life in order to gain access to these ‘sparks of holiness.’
By investing itself within a physical body which will eat, wear clothes, and
otherwise make use of the objects and forces of the physical existence, the
soul can redeem the divine utterances which they incorporate. For when
man utilizes something, directly or indirectly, to serve his Creator, he
penetrates its shell of mundanity, revealing and realizing its Divine essence
and purpose.
Therein is a deeper meaning to the verse: “The hungry and the thirsty, in them does
their soul wrap itself.” A person may desire food and sense
only his body’s hunger; but in truth, his physical craving is but the
expression and external packaging of a deeper yen ― his soul’s craving
for the sparks of holiness that are the object of her mission in physical life.
2
This is just another example of the completely different
doctrines between Christianity and Judaism. You may know for a certainty, there
is no Judeao–Christian common ground!
Christianity is all about:
·
“hell and damnation;”
·
“lake of fire and brimstone;” and
·
“Satan, the Devil,” out to get you if you do not tow
the mark.
To prevent Christians from thinking for themselves,
the pulpit continually reminds the sheeple of these “fear tactics.” A poor
Christian becomes too afraid to think intelligently and with logic, for fear
they would go to “HELL.”
Christianity is stuck in the medieval dark days of
demons, devil and hell – all about the underworld! Judaism, with God’s Torah and
life, reaches up to the stars and our Creator. Christianity is about the fear of
the “dark” below; whereas God’s Torah, as applicable to Jews and Gentiles, shows
the “light” of God above.
Judaism encourages learning, because the rabbis know
that without questions and answers one can not acquire truth and wisdom.
Footnotes:
1. Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch
2. The
Chassidic Dimension from the Wellsprings of Chassidus
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