Despite the potential pitfalls, it occurred to me that it has probably been years since you have spent any time thinking about the Table of Shewbread. At the very least, it is time to refresh your memories about the facts. And maybe we can make a spiritual application along the way – one which the Spirit might bless.
Let’s start with the Table itself.
Please turn to Exodus 25:23 – “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.”
The Table of Shewbread was slightly smaller than the Ark of the Covenant. According to our measurements today it stood about 27 inches tall – about the height of my desk at home. Then the basic table was about 3 feet long and about 18 inches deep – not very large. But in addition to the flat surface of the table there was a 4 inch border and a decorative crown or edge beyond that. At each corner of the table there was a ring. When it was necessary to move the Tabernacle, gold-covered poles or staves were run through the rings. Four of priests were then designated to carry the table on their shoulders. In addition to the table and the staves, there were utensils dedicated specifically for the Table of Shewbread. Some people believe that the dishes, spoons, bowls and covers rested on specific places along the border. Others think that they were removed when not in use.
Without trying to get carried away, I believe that just about every aspect of the Tabernacle, speaks about our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of it is obvious, while other aspects are not so much. The brazen altar, of course speaks about the Lord’s sacrifice for us. The Lamp-stand reminds us that Christ is the Light of the World. The Golden Altar was the place where the incense was burned – our prayers to the Father pass through the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Ark of the Covenant speaks of the presence of God. On the left hand side of the Tabernacle as the priest walked into the Holy Place was the Table of Shewbread. Since the doorway always faced east, the Table of Shewbread was on the north side of the Tabernacle. Everything down to the silver sockets on which the walls of the Tabernacle were set – speak of Christ.
And of course, so does this Table of Shewbread. For example, it was made of two substances – shittim wood and pure gold. Shittim or acacia, is a variety of hard wood, which I am told is very, very durable. It is often used as a picture of the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. But that wood was never seen, once the Tabernacle was completed, because it was covered in pure gold. That gold is an excellent illustration of deity. Christ Jesus is the theanthropic person – both God and the perfect man. And then all the way around this Table was – very appropriately – a golden crown. There is no one who deserves a crown more than our Saviour.
On this gold-covered table there sat the Shewbread.
Please turn to Leviticus 24:5 – “And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.”
Israel was ordered to supply the priests with whatever they needed for the operation of the Tabernacle. Not only were there supposed to be daily blood sacrifices, but there were to be food offerings as well. And the purest wheat flour was to be used every week to make twelve loaves of bread. John Gill tells us that two tenth deals is the same as two omers. Elsewhere we read that the Israelites collected one omer of manna for each person in the family. In other words each of these breads was as much as two men would eat in a day. They are good sized, but not extremely large. It might surprise you that we don’t find the word “leaven” here. We are not told that these cakes or breads had to be made of unleaven flour. None of my seven books, nor did Gill or my computer, mention whether this was raised or flat bread. I’m sure that in some cases it would have upset some people’s the high allegory standards. That gives me the opportunity to stress once again – every allegory, every parable can be pushed too far. We should take the Lord’s illustrations only as far as they can go without breaking. Finally, over these twelve loaves, laid out in two rows, there was drizzled a goodly amount of frankincense.
What did this expensive frankincense add to the loaves? Let us never forget that the Lord can order whatever He would like, whether we agree with it or not. You might like your bread drenched in butter and honey – or perhaps you like peanut butter and jam. The Lord demanded frankincense. And what is that? At that time it was a resin taken from a special tree which grew in Palestine, but was more common further south in Arabia. I understand that there is a frankincense taken from Norway Spruce tree, but that is not the same.
Frankincense was one of the ingredients of the holy perfume of the sanctuary. Exodus 30:34 – “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”
Frankincense was also to be sprinkled on the meat-offering, but not the sin offering. When it was burned it produced a wonderful odor – at least the Lord thought so. It was a part of the holy incense used in the Tabernacle of the Lord.
There were cities in southern Arabia, whose entire economy was based on producing and selling frankincense throughout the Middle East. I noticed that “Easton’s Bible Dictionary” equated frankincense with the Name of the Lord, quoting Malachi 1:11 which doesn’t exactly mention frankincense – “From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Sometime during the evening of the sabbath a group of the priests were to bake twelve new loaves of shewbread. Undoubtedly they were to use the golden bowls and other utensils in order to do this. We aren’t told where it was to be done, so perhaps that didn’t matter. When the baking was finished, the week-old loaves were replaced with the fresh ones. And then the old loaves were eaten by the priests – while still inside the Tabernacle. Once those loaves entered the Holy Place they were not to leave. You may be ready to wrinkle your noses at the though of eating week-old bread. But remember that they may have been covered, because covers had been made for the Table of Shewbread. And then more importantly, if the Lord wanted to preserve His bread for seven days, He could certainly have done so. Wouldn’t it be nice to have just one taste of the original shewbread?
Okay, what is the Spiritual significance of this bread?
I may be stepping out a bit too far, but I don’t think so, and I am certainly not going as far as many brethren. But I am fully persuaded that those loaves represent the person of the Lord Jesus. He Himself has told us that Christ is “the Bread of Life.” When Jesus said “I am the bread of life” it was in the context of the manna, but I don’t see a problem in applying it to the Shewbread as well. John 5:36 – “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 5:47 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 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.”
Personally, I think that there is a difference in the spiritual significance between the manna and the shewbread. The Lord applies the manna to initial salvation. I think that the shewbread speaks about the Lord’s daily care of His people. The Hebrew word translated “shewbread” literally means “Bread of face” or “Presence Bread.” In other words, Christ Jesus is the source of our daily sustenance – He sustains us. Furthermore, He is our Mediator and Intercessor, maintaining and constantly applying His salvation as well as everything else which we might need.
So what was the significance of David’s eating of the Shewbread?
Perhaps to get the point, we have to combine a couple of different ideas and scriptures. Peter tells you and me that we are a part of a new and special kind of priesthood. I Peter 2:5 – “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.’ I Peter 2:9 – “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”
Could it be that the Lord was saying that His servant, David, was a representative of the new order of priests – the priests of Melchizedec as opposed to those of Levi? And at the same time wasn’t David a type of the Lord Jesus, his great-great grandson? Christ Jesus appears to tell us that there was no sin in David’s eating of the Shewbread, Why? Because He was a priest of God?
But it’s not only the priest who needs the daily care of the Saviour. It’s not just the priest who has the daily care of the Lord. David’s eating the Shewbread encourages us to come before the Lord’s throne of grace. Feed me too, Lord. “I need thee every hour most precious Lord.”