Recently I had the opportunity to be one of 7 speakers at my church’s annual women’s retreat. The topic? The Old Testament wilderness tabernacle! At first I wasn’t sure that this would be an appropriate retreat topic. I wasn’t sure where the practical application was and would the women want such a deep topic. After much studying and praying this is part of what I shared.
Inside the tabernacle, the table of showbread was directly across from the lampstand on the right side of the room. The table was made out of hard incorruptible, indestructible, acacia wood. This incorruptible, indestructible wood was overlaid with gold…
Exodus 25:23-30 (NIV)
"Make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.( 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high) Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide (3 inches wide) and put a gold molding on the rim. Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings. Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.”
This incorruptible, indestructible wood shadows the humanity of Christ who was sinless in his human nature, who withstood the crucifixion and overcame the power of death. The wood overlaid with gold pictures Jesus’ deity. Jesus when he was here on earth was fully human and fully God at the same time just as the table was wood and gold at the same time.
When you have a gathering of people, where do most of those people hang out? In my house the kitchen is the place to be. Why? Because there is food on the TABLE!!! The table is a place where we gather to chat over a cup of coffee and a snack or the table is the place where families can go to have a meal together or play games together. It is a place of communion. God desired that communion when he created Adam and Eve and when they sinned he had a plan to restore that communion with humanity. The tabernacle is a picture and an example of what Jesus was did when he came to earth to take away our sins. He restored that communion. We can now sit as his table and feast on his presence. The Bread of Presence or Showbread was to be on this table. The Bread of Presence was 12 loaves of unleavened bread (bread without yeast) to be set on the table, 6 loaves on each side representing the twelve tribes. The bread was to be replaced each Sabbath with a new batch of fresh bread and the priests were to consume all of the bread. Leviticus 24:5-9 "Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah (4 quarts) for each loaf. Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the LORD. Along each row put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be an offering made to the LORD by fire. This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire."
First I want to talk about the significance of the frankincense. The incense was a pleasing aroma, a special gift to God just as our life in Christ is a pleasing aroma that spreads the knowledge of Him to everyone we meet. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 says… “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” We are also to be a pleasing aroma to those around us. Our lives should “smell good” and draw people into a relationship with our Lord and Savior.
The showbread was offered on behalf of the children of Israel as an everlasting covenant. Jesus gave himself as an everlasting covenant to us when he came to take our sins away. Jesus also called himself the Bread of Life. John 6:35 AMP
Jesus declared, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time).
Aren’t the parallels amazing? The showbread didn’t have any yeast in it which represents sin, just as Jesus; the Bread of Life had no sin in Him. When we feast on the presence of Jesus/God, we will never be hungry or thirsty again for the unsatisfying things that this world can give us. We can be satisfied only when we are in God’s presence. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Let’s delight in the richest of fare. Let’s delight on God’s word DAILY sitting at His table and feasting on His presence. I promise you won’t gain an ounce, but you will gain something else… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.…
Copyright © May 9, 2007 – Kim Tracy. All rights reserved.
