Anyone who’s ever cracked open a Bible knows that it’s full of imagery. God uses complex apocalyptic metaphors, down-to-earth stories, and everything in between to get His point across.
And sometimes, like in Leviticus 26:26, He chooses ten women sharing an oven.
The second half of this chapter is all about the punishment that will come upon the Israelites if they fail to keep the covenant of God. Just as the blessings in the first half were specific, so the punishments are extremely detailed as well.
I’ll be honest, though: I had to read this verse a few times to figure out what was going on. The phrasing is awkward (and is more than likely just the translation):
“When I break off your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied.” (Leviticus 26:26)
I have questions. Firstly, what is a “staff of bread”? Second, who are the ten women that are baking bread in a single oven? Is that a threat of outside invaders? And third, if so, why are they bringing it back in “rationed amounts?”
A quick bit of research does wonders. Evidently, what God is saying here is that God will break off the source of the bread—the pillar, or staff, that supports the flow of bread. So there’s the first answer.
If the source of that bread is gone, then it stands to reason a famine would follow. That’s the meaning of the ten women baking in a single oven: There’s so little bread that what is left can be cooked inside of a single oven. What is left from that will be doled out in “rationed amounts” among the people.
In the end, this verse is yet another passage that talks about the famine in terms that are very easy to understand. Whereas in times of plenty, one oven supplies bread for just that family, in times of trial, multiple families pool their resources to survive. It’s eerily similar to stories that came out of the Great Depression in the 1930’s.
Looking from afar, it’s easy to see this type of event (ten women working with one oven) as a massive step down from the promised times of abundance. But I’m not sure they saw it like that. It’s very possible that the slow slide into idolatry was mirrored by a slow slide into poverty. They might not even have recognized it was happening.
In Haggai 1, God tells the people to “Consider their ways!” The reason He’s asking them to take a step back and examine their life is because they’ve dipped into a spiritual stupor. Their money bags had holes, but they weren’t sure where it came from or why it was happening. God tells them it’s because they’ve taken their eyes off of Him.
That’s the same with us. When we find ourselves alienated from Him and sin is bearing down on us harder than ever, we’re unsure as to the why and the how.
Could it be though that our spiritual reality—sin, drifting, alienation, strife—is a result of our spiritual distance from Him? Even though we’re not living in the promised land like the Israelites, we still should see this separation from God as a sign that things need to get back on track.
The key for us, as it was for them, is to recognize the reality for what it is. And get back on track.
