The Table Of Shewbread Series

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”.