What Does the Bible Say About the Hungry?

While the Bible does say that there will always be poor people, it does not say that there will always be hungry people. In fact, a lot of the Bible revolves around food and deals with the problem of hungry people. The first sin recorded in the Bible involved food and the last few chapters in the Bible look forward to a heavenly feast. Bread is also an essential element of the sacrament of Holy Communion. The Bible also records what Jesus did to provide abundant food when crowds of people who thronged around him got hungry.

Identification

Psalm 146:7 identifies God as the one who gives food to people who are hungry. When the mother of Jesus discovered that she was pregnant with the messiah of Israel her poetic exclamation echoes the understanding that God will "fill the hungry with good things" but that he will disappoint the rich who come with their greedy hands out. See Luke 1:53. The commitment to feed the hungry is the Bible's core statement on the subject.

History

The Bible records that even Jesus got hungry. The first time was at the end of the 40 day fast that he did to initiate his ministry. The devil tried to take advantage of his hunger by tempting him to turn stones into bread but Jesus countered his attack by reciting scriptures. See Matthew 4:2. Another time when Jesus was hungry he passed a fig tree but it was not the season for figs. Jesus was annoyed and cursed the tree by announcing that no one would ever eat figs from that tree again. The next day the tree was dead. See Mark 11:12.

Significance

While even the lions may suffer from hunger, according to the Psalms, people who seek to follow God won't. See Psalm 34:10. They may offend the religious right in their attempt to satisfy their hunger, though. This happened to Jesus' disciples one Sabbath Day. They got hungry so they picked some ripe corn from a field which they ate as they continued walking. The act would have been perfectly fine any other day but it violated the Sabbath Day's restrictions against work. The religious leaders complained to Jesus about the disciples but Jesus reminded them of the time that King David and his soldiers ate consecrated bread that should only have been permissible for priests. See Matthew 12:1. For people who are hungry, according to Proverbs 27:7, even very bitter food tastes sweet.

Considerations

In the Bible, when God's people are hungry, he provides some way for them to eat something. He sent Joseph to Egypt to prepare a place for his family during a long famine to come. He provided manna and quail in the wilderness daily for 40 years to feed the whole migrating nation of Israel. His prophets multiplied grain, oil, and received meat from wild ravens. Jesus fed 4000 hungry people one time and 5000 hungry people another time (not counting women and children.) He also managed to direct unsuccessful professional fishermen to locate stupendous catches of fish.

Warning

The Bible commands us to feed our enemies if they are hungry. See Proverbs 25:21. Jesus even warned that a basis upon which we will be judged will be whether or not when we saw him hungry, we gave him some of our food. To clarify the practical meaning of this statement he explained that when we see anyone who is hungry it is as if we were seeing him hungry. See Matthew 25:35, 37, 42, 44. The consequence for turning hungry people away without food is the same eternal punishment that God designed for the devil and the other angels who fell under his leadership.

Resources

• Online Searchable Bible