#12 Showing Jesus as the Bread of Life
Tabernacle in the Wilderness Series
The Table of Shewbread
By Pastor Jim May
Exodus 25:23-30, "Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway."
What is the meaning of this Table of Showbread? Literally it means, “The Table of the Bread of the Presence”, because this table held fresh bread perpetually, before the presence of the Lord. It was never to be empty and the bread was to be refreshed every 7 days.
If you think about it, you will come to the conclusion that the Bread must represent life, and the staff of life. In the natural sense, bread is a staple and most of the world couldn’t survive without it. In a spiritual sense, we cannot live without partaking of the “Bread of Life” through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly, but we cannot have that life without partaking of the Bread that He gives.
On the North side of the sanctuary, known as the Holy Place of the Tabernacle, stood a small golden Table for the Showbread. This table is constructed of also of shittim wood that is completely overlaid with gold. God gave Moses some very specific instructions on how to build this table.
The 12 loaves of very special bread were baked in pans which gave them a specific form, and when done they rested on golden shelves upon this table which would allow air to circulate around them at all times, keeping them from becoming full of mold and ruining. The loaves were replaced every Sabbath with new ones and the old loaves then were eaten by the priests of the temple.
In fact, The Talmud, a collection of ancient Rabbinic writings consisting of the Mishnah, (a collection of early oral interpretations of the scriptures that was compiled about AD 200) and the Gemara, (a written commentary on the Mishnah), describes that a miracle took place every week:
According to their traditions and writings, when the priests came to replace the bread with new loaves every Sabbath, they found that those of the previous week remained fresh and hot upon the table, like the moment they were baked. This miracle was seen as a clear confirmation that the Divine Presence indeed rested in this holy place.
The Table of Shewbread, with its 12 loaves of bread, golden dishes, pans, jars and bowls seems to be a mystery to the Jews. Even some of their prominent historians cannot put a firm meaning on what it stands for.
Maimonides was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher who lived from the year 1135 to1204 AD. He is one of the most celebrated and honored Jewish historians and religious figures of all time. And yet Rabbi Maimonides confessed in his own writings that, ’I do not know the object of the table with the bread upon it continually, and up to this day I have not been able to assign any reason to this commandment’. Most of the time, even today, Jewish commentators can only understand the Bread of Presence as an expression of thankfulness and standing acknowledgment on the part of the children of Israel that God was the Giver of man’s daily necessities.
The reason that so few Jewish Rabbis can understand the true meaning of the Table of Showbread is that they are still looking for their Messiah to come, and they do not know that Jesus Christ was, and is their Messiah. If they could understand who Jesus is, and recognize what He has done for them, it would be much easier for them to see the true meaning behind the Table of Showbread because it represents Jesus as the Bread of Life, set before us on a table, with the 12 loaves representing every tribe of Israel, showing us that Jesus loves all of His people equally. There’s a lot more to be seen in the Table of Showbread concerning Jesus Christ and our relationship with him as we continue on.
Only certain priests who were of the family of Aaron and his sons who were consecrated could enter into the Holy Place and partake of that Showbread. None of the other priests who were Levites could enter there. Each priest who could enter and serve in the Holy Place had to be circumcised, make sacrifices of blood for their sins, remove their old garments, be washed in the laver, then clothed with new garments, anointed with oil and fully consecrated.
Every priest who entered there to partake of that Showbread had to make sure that he followed all of the instructions given by God to Moses, for if he was to enter into that Holy Place and eat of that bread unworthily, he would surely die. It was literally, a matter of life or death.
We can see that, at least in part, this is a representation of the Communion, or the Lord’s Supper that we celebrate. In the Lord’s Supper, we are told to “eat of His body”, the bread representing the body of our Lord Jesus Christ that was broken for us. He is our Bread of Life.
But it goes deeper than that. When those priests ate was the Showbread, they were in fact, eating the Word of God, for through Jesus, the Bread of Life, the WORD was made flesh.
When we have our Communion services, I am careful to always remind those present of the warnings that Jesus gave concerning partaking unworthily.
1 Corinthians 11:23-24, "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me."
1 Corinthians 11:26-30, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
I find it disturbing when people do not take this warning seriously and partake of the Communion without repenting of their sin first. Sadly, there are a lot of people today who take the Communion are not even born again. There are some who even teach that taking Communion, in and of itself, constitutes salvation and forgiveness of sin, but nowhere in the Bible is such a thing taught. Not only are these poor misled people swallowing condemnation into their bodies, but they are swallowing a lie that will condemn their soul as well.
When we speak about the Bread of God we are speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the embodiment of the living Word of God. He is the bread that came down out of Heaven from God to give life to the world. We must begin with the understanding that the Shewbread is a picture of the Word of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life for all of us in perfect love.
The Showbread then, speaks to us of a personal encounter with the Word of God through Jesus Christ. In His presence we may eat of Him, receive our spiritual food and obtain eternal life. But too many are satisfied to just be fed by someone else. Many are satisfied with just getting the milk of the Word and not getting into the solid food or meat of the Word. Most stop short of entering into the Holy Place, and preparing themselves for receiving the Bread of Life. They are satisfied with the outer court ministry.
What kind of qualifications was God demanding before a priest could work at the Table of Showbread. Not just anyone could do so. And no one can partake of Jesus Christ, or preach His Word, unless he is called and anointed to.
Leviticus 21:17-23, "Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them."
Remember that the Bread represents the Living Word of God through Jesus. Certain defects, in your life, will not keep you from eating the bread. But if you’re going to try to offer the Bread, then the requirements are much stricter.
Once a priest who had no defect offered the bread then others who did have a defect could eat of that bread. But how can we find a "priest without defect"? There is only one way – by looking to Jesus as our Great High Priest, without sin. He alone is perfect.
Jesus Christ has no defect! As the perfect Lamb of God and the perfect Priest of God. It was Jesus then that offered up his own life so that He could become the Bread of Life. He is the only One who could. Now there are a lot of other priests, including each of us, who do have defects. We can’t offer ourselves as the Bread of Life, but God has made provision for us to eat of that Bread of God that was offered for all of us.
The 12 loaves of Bread represented the 12 tribes of the Children of Israel. Each loaf was the same and all 12 were continually in the presence of God. This is to let us know that God has no “favorites”. He loves all of His people equally and is no respecter of persons.
God’s will is that every man would partake of the Bread of Life freely.
In John 6:48-51, Jesus said, "I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
God desires for each of us to be illuminated and enlightened by the presence of the Holy Spirit but then we are to go on into a deeper walk with the Lord, and that can only happen as we partake of the Bread of Life through the Living Word of God. Once we have tasted of His Word, and had the Holy Spirit illuminate it to our hearts, then we will know much more of God’s will and how to approach Him with our prayers and petitions at the Altar of Incense.
That’s where we will go next. We are drawing ever closer to the Veil that separates us from the very presence of the Shekinah glory of God. Let us press onward to see that day come when we shall enter into His presence forever.
Next time we will continue in our study with the Altar of Incense. Just a few lessons to go before we have come full circle and we will find ourselves once more at the Mercy Seat.
Without that Mercy Seat, none of us would have made it this far, and by God’s great mercy, we shall make it all the way.
