The Early Christian Meal -  
A Jewish Tradition

by Douglas A. Wheeler, PH.D., TH.D.

The manner in which first-century Christians shared their meals was part of a rich Jewish cultural tradition that has by and large been lost to modern Christianity. The first believers celebrated mealtime in the tradition of Bircath Hamazon (called "benching" after the Yiddish term benshen), a time for family celebration, fellowship, and worship around the table that had come to be seen as an altar. We approach the meal much differently than did the early church. In our culture, the evening meal has become just that, the evening meal. It is something that most of us rush through because of the fast pace in which we live our lives. The evening meal has lost its atmosphere as a time for family, fellowship, and the Lord. Many of our family tables have become a come-and-go buffet table, rather than an altar before the Lord.

Home–the Center for Spiritual Growth

The Bible is very clear in its teaching that the home is the center for fellowship, biblical education, and spiritual growth. We need to see the dinner table not only as a place to eat a meal, but also as a place where family fellowship, praise, worship, and instruction in the Word of God take place. We are told in Deuteronomy 4:8, 9, "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I have set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons." The dinner table affords an excellent opportunity to share spiritual insights and experiences with our families. It provides a time away from the press of the world where our families can be taught things concerning Yeshua the Messiah.

The Early Christian Home

The early Christian (Jewish) dinner table was more than just a place to eat. It was a place to recline and to enjoy family and friends. It was, in essence, an altar before God. The Hebrew word for table (@j;l]vu–shulchan) is used of the altar of God in Malachi 1:7; therefore, Jews considered the table an altar parallel with that of the Temple. Around the table, the father led the family in the instruction of the Torah (Word of God), in the singing of zimrot (songs), in the application of the Torah to the individual life, and in prayer. The meal was a time of eating, fellowship, teaching, and singing.

The early believers not only knew, but also applied the biblical injunction that "man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live" (Deuteronomy 8:3). The Talmud says: "Before a man eats and drinks, he has two hearts, after he has eaten and drunk, he has but one heart. An empty stomach has a disturbing effect on the mind and interferes with the concentration of thought" (BB12b). Thus, the evening meal was not something to be rushed through, but a time to be enjoyed by the whole family, for indeed, man does not live by bread alone. Mealtime was a time when something spiritual, something special was produced.

Staples On the Jewish Table

Noticeable on all Jewish tables of the early church were bread, salt, and wine. Each of these staples immediately brought into focus some aspect of the Torah.

Bread: Bread was a constant reminder that the children of Israel were fed manna during their years in the wilderness. It brought to memory God’s provision for them. It served as a reminder to first-century Christians that food is a gift from God. It also kept them in constant awareness that man does not live by bread alone.

For the Sabbath meal, two loaves of bread (challah) are covered with a colored linen cloth and placed on the table. Two loaves, rather than one, are placed on the table to illustrate visually that each day the children of Israel gathered enough manna to feed them for one day. On the sixth day, however, each person gathered twice as much manna as necessary, since they could gather no manna on the Sabbath.

Bread on the table was also symbolic of God’s continual presence among the Jewish people. Jewish tradition likens the Sabbath to a bride of Israel. Just as the bride wore a veil over her face until she was married and the blessing was pronounced, so the bread (challah) is covered with the bright linen cloth until the blessing is pronounced over the bread.

As a staple on our table, bread can remind us (1) that God will supply all our needs, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19), and (2) that Jesus’ body was broken for us. In I Corinthians 11, we read: "The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread and when He had blessed it, He broke it and said, take, eat: this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me." Every time we eat bread at the table, we should be reminded of the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He was the Bread of Life. It is not coincidence that He was born in Bethlehem, which means "house of bread" in Hebrew. Jesus is our Bread and our Provision.

Salt: Salt was also an everyday staple on the table of the early Christians. It was one of the main parts of the table setting. Salt served as a reminder of the fall of Adam and the results of sin and rebellion against God, which included the fact that "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Genesis 3:19). Salt also served as a reminder that salt was added to all sacrifices for sin in the Temple. It is also interesting that the Hebrew words for salt and bread both contain the same three Hebrew letters. By rearranging the letters of the word salt (jl'm,), we have the word for bread (!j,L,).

Perhaps salt should always be on our table to remind us that Jesus has become our sacrifice for sin and that He buys back for us all that Adam lost. He is the second Adam. Jesus tells us in Mark 9:49,50, "For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." Salt on our table should remind us that as the salt of the earth we are called to a lifestyle of love and evangelism.

Wine: The third staple that is always on a Jewish table is wine. This wine is a symbol of great joy. Wine is drunk at weddings, bar mitzvahs, Sabbath meals, holidays, and circumcisions. Early Christianity did not consider the drinking of wine to be bad in and of itself simply because it would intoxicate an one who drank too much. It was believed that drinking wine in moderation was good for the body, making a merry heart.

One of the traditional blessings is "Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Meleck Ha-olam, Bo-ray P’ree Ha-gawfen" ("Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who bringeth forth the fruits of the vine"). If not wine, maybe a little grape juice should be a constant on our table to remind us that in the serving of Jesus there is great joy. It could also remind us of the blood sacrifice that He made to establish for us a New Covenant. "After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying: This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me" (I Corinthians 11:25).

Benching–Bircath Hamazon

Unlike our American tradition of blessing the meal before we eat, benching is a custom that the early church enjoyed and engaged in following the meal. In Acts 2:42, we read: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." One aspect of the prayers in which they continued was "benching." Remember that the evening meal was not something that was rushed through and that the early church viewed eating as not only a physical endeavor but also a spiritual exercise. The practice of benching found its roots in Deuteronomy 8:10: "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee."

Benching (benshen in Yiddish) is the proper name given to the formal Hebrew prayer called the "Bircath Hamazon" (@/zm;h' tK'r]Bi), or the "blessing of the food." The Bircath Hamazon is a full-length Hebraic prayer that is broken into four parts. It is recited following an evening meal in which bread is included and served. The four parts of the benching prayer are: 1) The acknowledgment that God is the provider of all that is necessary for life and that He takes care of His creation. 2) The acknowledgment that God delivered the Jews from Egypt and gave them the Torah and the land of Israel. 3) The acknowledgment of and prayer to God to restore the Temple in Israel and deal kindly with the Jewish people. 4) The acknowledgment that all good comes from God, followed by a time of prayer for specific needs.

The benching prayer follows not only the meal, but also all that has been done during the meal. It follows the fellowship of the family, the teaching and application of the Torah, and the singing of the Zimrot–the songs of praise. In the early church, according to Acts 2:42, time was spent in the breaking of bread and in the apostles’ doctrine (the Word of God). Following this was a time of prayer (benching). Notice the order in Acts 2:42. First there is fellowship in and around the beginning of the meal, then there is the study of the Word of God, and finally, there was a time of prayer that probably incorporated these four parts of the "benching."

No wonder the early church was so strong and so vibrant. The center for spiritual growth was the home, with the father as the priest of the home. The evening meal was a time of fun, food, fellowship, and instruction. In short, it was a spiritual act, a time when specific spiritual goals were accomplished.

We, as today’s church, can learn much from the culture of the Jewish meal and from benching. In the fast-paced society in which we live, it is not possible to "bench" at every meal; however, for any family in which the father wishes to be the priest of the home, where the parents want to instruct their children in the Word of God and Christian ethics, where parents desire to know their children on a deeper level, or where a family desires to be a family given to hospitality and evangelism, benching should be practiced at least once per week or twice per month. Let the Lord be your guide.

Benching can quickly and easily be adapted to one of your evening meals. Select one night during the week to sit down and eat together as a family. Let it be a meal that is unto the Lord. The following could serve as a general guideline for benching:

(1) Make sure bread, salt, and wine (grape juice if preferred) are set out at the beginning of the meal.

(2) During the meal, discuss the importance of the bread, noting how the Lord provides for us. Spend time discussing the significance of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and his being broken for us.

(3) Talk about the salt, and how we are called to a lifestyle of love. Spend a few moments discussing why it is important that for us, as believers, to be the salt of the earth and what happens to us and those around us if we lose our savor.

(4) Take some time during the meal to talk about the wine or grape juice, emphasizing the fact that Jesus shed His own blood as an atonement for our sin. Talk about the joy that is ours because we are believers. You may want to discuss some special times that you have had as a family while serving the Lord.

(5) Use the time during the meal to talk about the Word of God with your family and enter into the "benching" time of prayer in the following order:

(a) Acknowledge the Lord Jesus as Jehovah Jireh–the God who provides for you.

(b) Give thanks that you have been freed from the bondage of sin and death, that you have been given the Word of God so that you might receive all of the benefits that come from its study. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee."

(c) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and that the Lord might fulfill His purposes among the Jewish people.

(d) Spend some time thanking the Lord for His goodness, and then end the benching period with a time of prayer for specific needs.

What a time of fellowship you will have! Your mealtime will no longer be for meeting the physical need: it will become a spiritual exercise. You will transform your table into an altar before the Lord!

Dr. Douglas Wheeler is founder and president of Mended Wings, a ministry to families. He has an extensive academic background in Biblical Hebrew, which he uses to enlighten believers as to the deeper, often hidden meanings of Holy Scripture. He also teaches with great insight on the Hebrew foundations of Christian faith in seminars and other events. Doug, his wife, Joyce, and their sons, Samuel and Benjamin, live in Bossier City, Lousiana, where they pastor Family Restoration Fellowship. His website: http://www.haydid.org/wings.htm and email: mendwing@bellsouth.net