TABLE OF SHEWBREAD
Where is your bible right now? Do you have it with you or is it sitting on a shelf somewhere? During the early days of World War II, when the German armies invaded France, French citizens took down all signposts. As the German armies advanced, they didn't know which way to turn or in what direction lay their objective. Does it seem to you that the signposts of life have all been taken down? They were not taken down by us to confuse the enemy; they were taken down by the enemy to confuse us. So many people today including believers do not have a biblical worldview. We don't know which way to turn until we open the Scriptures. The only reliable signposts are there.
The fourth piece of furniture in the tabernacle was the Table of Bread of the Presence (or Shewbread in the KJV). It was located in the tabernacle on the right hand side just across from the candlestick. Fresh bread was placed on it everyday.
Ex. 25:23 "Make a table of acacia wood--two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. 24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it… 30 Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.
The children of Israel knew about the importance of daily bread. During their years in the wilderness they had to rely upon fresh bread for that day. What was it that God was trying to teach them through those years in the desert?
Deut 8:2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Jesus used these words when responding to the devil in the wilderness:
Matt 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
In the church today this bread represents the Word of God. As we come into the presence of God we do so based upon what God has spoken to us in His Word. We need to hear it daily and it has to remain fresh in our lives. Fresh baked bread makes you hungry! We should enter into God’s presence hungry to know Him and ready to take the word He has given us.
2 Tim 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
You cannot live on yesterday’s bread. It does not matter how much you ate yesterday – sooner or latter you will be hungry again. The same is true of God’s word. You must continue in it everyday and not rely on what you had yesterday to get you by. There are two kinds of books that always sell well: mysteries and love stories. The gospel is both. It is a mystery, long hidden, at last revealed. It is a love story in the finest sense of that word. It unveils God's love for the world and for us.
1. Revelation – the mysteries of God revealed
The Bible is the story of God’s unfolding salvation to all people. It is the way in which we grow in our understanding of who God is and what He has done for us. All that we can know about God is found in His revealed word. The more we read it and allow it to become part of us the more it will become understandable and real and living in us.
Col 2:2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Pope St. Gregory once described the Bible as “a stream of running water, where alike the elephant may swim, and the lamb may walk without losing its feet”.
We need to be constantly growing in our knowledge and understand. The Bible is a book that can be understood by a child but is so deep that the more you learn the more you realize you have to learn. Since we have multiple services I will preach the same message twice every Sunday. Even though it is the same message from the same text often I find it comes across very different. The more I meditate on the passage the more it begins to say and reveal to me.
To receive the benefit of scripture you need to read it. Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother. The first said, "I built a big house for our mother." The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver." The third smiled and said, "I’ve got you both beat. You remember how mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can’t see very well. So I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He’s one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it." Soon thereafter, mom sent out her letters of thanks: "Milton," she wrote one son, "The house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house." "Gerald," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel. I stay home most of the time at home, so I rarely use the car. And the driver you hired is so rude!" "Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious."
When we find ourselves deficient in wisdom, it is not because the Word of God has pages missing, but because we have not seen all there is on the pages we already have. It is not another book we need, but better attention to the book we have; it is not more knowledge we require, but better vision to see what has already been revealed in Jesus Christ. -- Eugene H. Peterson
2. Inspiration – the love of God made known
In the Bible we not only learn about God but we also grow in our relationship and love for Him. In any relationship there must be communication. It is hard to know a person without speaking to them. When you are lonely and hurting you want someone who you can lean on to share with and encourage you. In the Bible we read of the promises of God for us. On days when we feel weak we read that we have strength in Jesus. On days when we feel defeated we see that we are more than conquerors in Jesus. Whatever your need and wherever you are at the Bible has what you need.
A Bible that's falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn't. -- Christian Johnson
I have heard many testimonies on how, when going through a time of personal crisis, a verse from the Bible came alive as God’s direct word to that person at that time. I have experienced this myself many times how the Bible has come alive to me especially during times of difficulty.
The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me. -- Martin Luther
During a Sunday class the question was asked, “in your time of discouragement, what is your favourite Scripture.” A young man said, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” Psalm 23:1 A middle age woman said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1. Another woman said, “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world” John 16:33-35. Then old Mr. John who was 80 years old, with head of white hair and dark black skin, stood up and said with as much strength as he could muster, “and it came to pass” 85 times in the bible. The class started to laugh a little thinking that old Mr. John’s lack of memory was getting the best of him. When the snickering stopped, he said. At 30 I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed. I didn’t know how I would make it. At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down. At 50 my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of the house. At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer. It slowly ate away at her. We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer. At 65 she died. I still miss her today. The agony I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable. I wondered where was God. But each time I looked in the bible I saw one of those 85 verses that said, “and it came to pass” I felt that God was telling me, my pain and my circumstances were also going to pass and that God would get me through it.
As we study the Bible and the stories of Jesus our viewpoint is everything. Have you ever seen a baby look at itself in the mirror. When the baby moves; the reflection moves. When the baby waves; the reflection waves. Suddenly the baby’s face lights up. He realizes, that's me! Every so often that happens when you're reading the Bible. You pick it up, and it's black print on a white page, telling stories about the long ago and far away. But as you read the text, the print seems to disappear. On the page of Scripture, you see a reflection of yourself.
3. Transformation – the power of God for service
The Table of Shewbread stood next to the Candlestick in the tabernacle. Both work together in transforming us into the likeness of Jesus. As we grow in the word we grow in power. The Word and Spirit together are provided for our empowerment so we may move forward in wisdom and strength. We cannot separate the two.
Eph 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
As I have traveled around the world I have met with many different Christians. One of the greatest needs in the church today is for Christians to grow in their understanding of the Bible. Living in Canada we have lots of opportunities every day to hear God’s word. Unfortunately we have become so used to having others feed us they we have become unable to feed ourselves. Biblical illiteracy is on the rise. Maturity in Christ is impossible without constant and careful study of the Bible.
Have you ever tried cutting down a tree with a dull axe. Living the Christian life without study of God’s word is like that.
Hebrews 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
Amos 8:11 "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land -- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
Fresh bread is delicious isn’t it? It smells and tastes wonderful. It is hard not to be hungry around fresh bread. Old bread, however, is not very appealing. Yes if you are hungry enough you will eat it but it is not desirable.
When we have the fresh bread of God’s word within us then we will speak and people will respond. I remember a professor in seminary said to me once “It is a sin to bore people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ”. That sentence has stuck with me through the years. It motivates me to work hard at my preaching. Why offer stale bread when the fresh bread is there for the taking.
I started today by asking you all a simple question – where is your bible? So, where is it? Who has it with them? For those who don’t have it with them, where is it? I made it a habit long ago to try to always have my bible with me as much as possible. I would take it to University with me in my bag. If I got a moment I would pull it out and read a little. I would always try to take it if I went on a trip. Certainly I have always tried to have it with me in church. WHY? Because if I have it with me the chances are much greater that I will read it than if I leave it at home.
I prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me like lightening. But Faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, "Now Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." I had closed my Bible, and prayed for Faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since. -- Dwight L. Moody
Do you believe the bible is inspired inerrant the word of God? Do you believe it is an important book? If you never read it then you don’t really believe it. So where is your bible? What good is it doing you sitting on a shelf collecting dust? Do you truck drivers have a copy in the truck with you for when you take a rest break? Maybe the bible on CD to listen to as you go. Do you students have a pocket NT in your school bag? Do you have a copy in your desk at the office? The chances are much greater you will read it if you have it. Have you set aside some time every day to read it?
The bible is the story of the mysteries of God revealed. It is His love made known. It is the power of salvation for everyone who believes and the power of transformation for everyone who receives it.
Isa 55:8-11 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
The English ship Bounty, commanded by Lt. William Bligh, journeyed to the South Pacific in 1787. Many signed on considering the voyage a trip to paradise. Bligh appointed a young friend, Fletcher Christian, to the post of second in command. The Bounty stayed in Tahiti for 6 months and led by the happy go lucky Fletcher Christian enjoyed paradise to the fullest. On April 28, 1789, Fletcher Christian staged the most famous mutiny in history. He and his mutineers set Bligh and his supporters adrift in an overloaded lifeboat.
The mutineers aboard the Bounty immediately began quarreling about what to do next. Christian returned to Tahiti, where he left some of the mutineers, kidnapped some women, took some slaves, and traveled with the remaining crew a thousand miles to uninhabited Pitcairn Island. There the little group unraveled. They distilled whiskey from a native plant. Drunkenness, disease, and murder took the lives of all men except for one. John Adams, a.k.a. Alexander Smith, found himself as the only man on the island surrounded by an assortment of women and children.
Then an amazing change occurred. Smith found the Bounty’s neglected Bible. As he read it, he took its message to heart, then began instructing the little community. He taught the colonists the scriptures and helped them obey its instructions. The message of Christ so transformed their lives that twenty years later, in 1808, when the ship Topaz landed on the island, it found a happy society of Christians living in prosperity and peace, free from crime, disease, murder --- and mutiny. Years later the Bible fell into the hands of a visiting whaler who brought it to America, but in 1950 it was returned to the island. It now resides on display in the church in Pitcairn as a monument to its transforming message.
