Top 10 “Hunger” Stories in the BibleFor each of these 10 stories, discuss the following questions in one large group, ponder them in quiet conversations in small groups, or allow individuals to mull over them silently. (Of course, not every question will always apply to every Bible passage.)
• What exactly was the hungry person hungering for?
• How did the hungry person respond to his hunger?
• Did anyone else respond to the needy person’s hunger?
• Whom did the hungry person ask for nourishment?
• What was the upshot of the hungry person finally getting fed?
• Was there a “point” to the story—or was the fact that a hungry child of God simply got enough food for a change point enough?
10 Esau’s birthright: Esau sells his birthright because he is hungry. (Genesis 25:29-34)
One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home exhausted and hungry from a hunt. Esau said to Jacob, "I'm starved! Give me some of that red stew you've made." (This was how Esau got his other name, Edom—"Red.")
Jacob replied, "All right, but trade me your birthright for it."
"Look, I'm dying of starvation!" said Esau. "What good is my birthright to me now?"
So Jacob insisted, "Well then, swear to me right now that it is mine." So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his younger brother.
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the fact that he had given up his birthright.
9 Israel in Egypt: Famine and hunger in Canaan drive Joseph’s brothers to Egypt—where they end up staying for 400 years. (Genesis 41:53 to 42:7; and 46:1-6)
8 Manna and quail: Israelites get more food in the desert than they bargain for. (Exodus 16 and Numbers 11)
7 David and the consecrated bread: He actually ate the holy bread! (1 Samuel 21:1-6 and Mark 2:23-27)
David went to the city of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. "Why are you alone?" he asked. "Why is no one with you?"
"The king has sent me on a private matter," David said. "He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later. Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have."
"We don't have any regular bread," the priest replied. "But there is the holy bread, which I guess you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently."
"Don't worry," David replied. "I never allow my men to be with women when they are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!"
So, since there was no other food available, the priest gave him the holy bread—the Bread of the Presence that was placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle. It had just been replaced that day with fresh bread.
One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of wheat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “They shouldn't be doing that! It's against the law to work by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”
But Jesus replied, "Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures what King David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest), ate the special bread reserved for the priests alone, and then gave some to his companions. That was breaking the law, too." Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath.
6 Elijah and the widow: What we all wish would happen in our kitchens. (1 Kings 17:7-16)
But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.
Then the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. There is a widow there who will feed you. I have given her my instructions."
So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, "Would you please bring me a cup of water?" As she was going to get it, he called to her, "Bring me a bite of bread, too."
But she said, "I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die."
But Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid! Go ahead and cook that ‘last meal,’ but bake me a little loaf of bread first. Afterward there will still be enough food for you and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!"
So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil for many days. For no matter how much they used, there was always enough left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
5 Jesus in the desert: The devil tried to get to him through his (empty) stomach. (Matthew 4:1-4)
Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. Then the Devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread."
But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, ‘People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.’”
4 The miraculous feeding of thousands: On two occasions Jesus fed a whole lot of hungry people with only a few loaves and a handful of fish: Matthew 14:13-21 and Matthew 15:29-39. Here’s the latter story:
Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought him the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others with physical difficulties, and they laid them before Jesus. And he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking around, and those who had been blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the road.”
The disciples replied, “And where would we get enough food out here in the wilderness for all of them to eat?”
Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They replied, “Seven, and a few small fish.” So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.
They all ate until they were full, and when the scraps were picked up, there were seven large baskets of food left over! There were four thousand men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.
3 Lazarus and the rich man: Sooner or later, the tables turn. (Luke 16:19-25)
There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed and who lived each day in luxury. At his door lay a diseased beggar named Lazarus. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham.
The rich man shouted, “Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in these flames.”
But Abraham said to him, “Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.”
2 James’ definition of true faith: Not exactly a story, this teaching nonetheless lays out in stark terms what your attitude and actions toward the poor and the hungry tell you and others about yourself. (James 2:14-17)
Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone. Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well”-—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.
. . . and the number-one “hunger” story in the Bible:
1 Feeding Jesus: You never know who that hungry person you’re feeding may be. (Matthew 25:35-45)
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“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”
Then these righteous ones will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?” And the King will tell them, “I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me anything to drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me no clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.”
Then they will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?” And he will answer, “I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters,
you were refusing to help me.” -What exactly was the hungry person hungering for?
• How did the hungry person respond to his hunger?
-Did I respond to the needy person’s hunger?
• Whom did the hungry person ask for nourishment?
-What was the
catalyst of the hungry person finally getting fed?
• Was there a “point” to the story—or was the fact that a hungry child of God simply got enough food for a change point enough?
(provided by World Vision using The Holy Bible, New Living Translation)
