In John 6:1, we are told that Jesus left that place and went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. He did this after speaking of Himself as the Son of God and of the authority given to Him by the Father, letting the people know that the Son can do nothing on His own, but only does what He sees the Father doing (cf. John 6:1 i.c.w. John 5:19-20).

 

1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), …

 

19 Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. …’

 

Many people followed Jesus because of the signs He performed for those who were sick. The crowd focused on the acts of healing that had previously taken place, which involved restoring individuals from sickness to health. As a result, they followed Him to the location where, according to John 6:2, an event of multiplication later occurred.

 

… 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing those who were ill.

 

Based on the designation of the lake as the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias, the literal change of Jesus in the natural realm reveals a spiritual shift within the region of God’s throne room (cf. Revelation 4:6a).

 

6a Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. …

 

The structure of the kingdom in which we move as the people of God, with its various levels of the heavens, is linked to the element of water. This becomes clear from the Hebrew word ‘mamlākāh’, which is used for the term ‘kingdom’.

 

This Hebrew word begins twice with the Hebrew letter ‘Mem’, which among other things relates to ‘water’ and has the numerical value of ‘40’. The Hebrew word for ‘water’ used in the Word of God is ‘Majim’ and is only used in the plural form. It begins with the Hebrew letter ‘Mem’ and ends with it. (Note: part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible to the word ‘mamlākāh – kingdom’ with the word key number: 4542)

 

Moreover, we can recognize the structure of the kingdom and its relationship to water also in the spiritual realm by means of the geographical location of the throne of God, which is firmly connected to the presence of the crystal sea. A prerequisite for this is the walk in the sonship of Jesus Christ, in order to be active not only as a servant for the cause of the kingdom, but in the sonship of Christ (cf. John 14:6).

 

6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Walking in the sonship of Christ involves a true spiritual love relationship with God the Father. This entitles us to change regions on the crystal sea within His throne room according to the Father’s will, to serve from the corresponding light of God’s revelatory power. At this point it should be noted that the name ‘Tiberias’ is derived from the emperor Tiberius, which was a city built on a former cemetery, so that the city was avoided by the religious leaders (Note: Pharisees, Scribes) at its time because of the impurity of death (cf. Exodus 19:16).

 

16 ‘Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

 

This reveals to us that Jesus, together with His twelve disciples, moved in the power of God’s governmental movement (Note: ‘Galilee’ means ‘circle, circumference’ and is related to the Hebrew word for the ‘wheels’ of God’s throne chariot, which are called ‘galgal’) into the field of the eternal government of His triumph, which He later established on the cross. It was thus a connection between the eternal kingdom government of God and the governmental mission of us as His people in the triumph of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

 

55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus desires that new revelations remain free from religious or legalistic influences, so true believers can walk in the freedom and peace of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:33a; 2 Corinthians 3:17).

 

33a For God is not a God of disorder but of peace – …

 

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

 

 

Jesus moved up the mountain with the apostolic presence surrounding Him, represented by His twelve disciples, to be in the mountain (cf. John 6:3).

 

3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

 

In the Greek text of the above-mentioned Bible passage, it says that Jesus ‘went up the mountain into the mountain’. This implies the principle of identification with the field of responsibility assigned to us by God. For us, it is about the government out of love and humility in Christ Jesus, the rock, which does not allow for a hierarchical-dictatorial view in the form of ‘top-down’, but rather includes the covering character of God’s eagle wings and His care (cf. Exodus 19:4 i.c.w. Psalm 36:8).

 

Exodus 19:4:
4 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

 

Psalm 36:7:
7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

 

Jesus also ministered according to the principle of the enclosing covering, which is clear from His statement that He longed to gather the people of Israel together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings (cf. Matthew 23:37b).

 

Matthew 23:37b:
…, 37b how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

 

This also shows that God is surrounded in the throne room on His throne by the four beings and the twenty-four elders, who in turn are surrounded by many angels, indicating a circular and not vertical dynamic (cf. Revelation 4:4.6 i.c.w. Revelation 5:11).

 

Revelation 4:4.6:
4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. …
6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the centre, round the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and behind.

 

Revelation 5:11:
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

 

In this, true divine leadership quality becomes recognizable, which seeks to envelop sovereignly, from which God’s care arises. This means that with God, relationship is placed and of high priority before any kind of control according to the Word of God (cf. Matthew 22:37-39).

 

Matthew 22:37-39:
37 Jesus replied: ‘ “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

 

 

Furthermore, it cannot be considered a coincidence that the imminent miracle of multiplication in John 6 occurred shortly before the Passover, which is an indication of the love of God the Father for people who have recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of God and accepted Him in their lives (cf. John 6:4 i.c.w. John 3:16).

 

4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

 

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

So, it was also the time that served to the imminent miracle of multiplication. Jesus intensified the expansion of the revelation of God through His ‘apostolic ascent’ and the lifting of His eyes, accompanied by the time of the visitation of the first love, represented by the upcoming Passover (cf. John 6:5).

 

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’

 

According to Luke 11:34a, the eye is the light of the body.

 

34a Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. …

 

Jesus had chosen to act in the power of the oracles of God (Note: lights and perfections) by asking a question to test the disciple who served as a spiritual ‘membrane’ for the power of angels, as he was a friend of horses, which is clear from his name ‘Philip’. It is horses that are referred to in the Word of God as angels or winds, among other things (cf. Zechariah 6:5 i.c.w. Hebrews 1:7).

 

5 The angel answered me, ‘These [Note: chariots and horses] are the four spirits [Note: winds] of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.

 

7 In speaking of the angels he says [cf. Psalm 104:4], ‘He makes his angels spirits [Note: winds], and his servants flames of fire.’

 

It was the presence of the question of the Son of God who posed the probing question in the apostolic mantle within the Father’s love, so that the measure of Philip’s already present faith and his faithfulness in stewardship was recognized, but this was not enough for Jesus to lead on to the miracle of multiplication (cf. John 6:6-7).

 

6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’

 

The truth about the true head and its value, which was among them, was emphasized by Philip’s statement, since he mentioned 200 silver coins. The numerical value ‘200’ is related to the Hebrew letter ‘Resh’, which means ‘head, peak, top’ and the forthcoming Passover mentioned in John 6:4 is also the first of the three appointed biblical feasts by God (cf. Ephesians 4:15-16 i.c.w. Deuteronomy 16:16).

 

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 

16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread [Note: Passover], the Festival of Weeks [Note: Shavuot] and the Festival of Tabernacles [Note: Sukkot]. No-one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: …

 

 

After Philip had recognized the facts that applied to him regarding the impending feeding, but without being aware of the possibility of a multiplication, Andrew took the floor as the next disciple in the apostolic alignment of Jesus and the other eleven apostles. He recognized the potential for multiplication within the congregation of about five thousand men. Although Andrew did not have sufficient faith in a miraculous multiplication of food either, he obviously recognized a special potential in a boy (cf. John 6:8-11).

 

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’

10 Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).

11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

 

Through Jesus’ question to Philip, it can be seen that the knowledge of imminent multiplication intensified according to the principle of Matthew 7:7.

 

7 ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

 

This led to the miracle of multiplication by the Son of God occurring through the knowledge brought together. It was important to Jesus that His disciples should come into direct contact with the measure of the apostolic multiplication and its weight or glory, which carried a dimension of depth in the form of the twelve baskets filled with barley bread (cf. John 6:12-14).

 

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’

13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’

 

The presence of revelatory knowledge working among the people present there enabled them to recognize the presence of the flying eagle from God’s throne room, as they recognized Jesus as the prophet (cf. Revelation 4:7).

 

7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.

 

From this, we may learn, in complete submission to the Holy Spirit, to recognize and use what is young, small, or not yet fully matured in terms of potential, in order to enter into the fullness of God’s grace, which is connected with promises for our lives.

 

We are challenged in the learning processes of our stretching to recognize the greatness of God (Note: God’s miracles) while we are allowed to show our faithfulness in the little things in order to bring forth fruit to the glory of the Lord.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm