The staff of bread

Rising fuel prices will certainly be affecting most people at the moment. It is concerning when such an important commodity is subject to short supply and price volatility. The shortage of essential resources is an age-old economic problem. In varying degrees, it is evidence that the Lord is breaking what the Scriptures call the ‘staff of bread’. The staff of bread describes our capacity to supply our basic needs, as opposed to relying on the Lord for His provision.

We read in the book of Leviticus, ‘When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts and you will eat and not be satisfied.’ Lev 26:26. This is the basic quandary of world economics. We have limited resources, or only one ‘oven’, so to speak. In the wisdom of men, economists have looked at this problem and concluded that every country should specialize and then trade. This has proven to increase the amount of ‘rationed’ products and services available. And it has helped ‘satisfy’ more people. By this means, the world has progressively strengthened a ‘staff’ for itself.

However, this principle has been widely corrupted. The economies of the world have been ‘filled with violence’. Instead of giving and receiving, they ‘take’ by gaining advantage. The rich exploit the poor and the strong rule over the weak. One of my favorite little passages on this is found in the book of Proverbs. ‘It is good for nothing cries the buyer, but when he has gone his way, then he boasts’. That is, when a person is buying something, they’ll call it ‘good for nothing’ to force the price as low as possible. However, when they come to sell it, they will ‘boast’ profusely to inflate the price as high as possible. By this means, they make a profit with no relationship to the quality of the product. They only do it by exploiting another. This is the meaning of being ‘filled with violence’. And this is the reason why the Lord is intent on breaking the staff of bread. ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it’. Ezek 12:19.

As Christians, we definitely aspire to live another way. We live to make offering and give to another. We are not ‘of the world’. Nevertheless, we still live ‘in the world’. John 17:16-16. For this reason, the judgment of God concerning the staff of bread will touch our lives. In that sense, everybody pays the same price at the petrol station. However, there is no need to be driven by anxiety to trade our way to advantage. In every area of life, we can cast our cares upon the Lord. The Lord knows our needs. We can testify with the psalmist, ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want’. Psa 23:1.

David Baker

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Feature Articles
August 2008

Keeping your heart

Bearing His reproach

The staff of bread

The harmony of life

Honouring fatherhood

Elders and Deacons

Showing Virtue in tragedy

Becoming a seeker

The Goodness of God

The devotion of your youth

Increase by labour