THE calling of the Church is to have fellowship with God-to have subjects of interest, affection, and joy, in common with Him-and that in every sphere of divine glory. Adam, unfallen in the garden, had around him objects in which he could take delight with God. All creation had been formed and pronounced " very good," and Adam could have fellowship with God in the works of His hands. But this was only a very limited sphere of blessing. To know God as the Creator of all that was around, to see and understand the fitness and beauty of all that God had made, was after all but a distant knowledge of God, and but a very limited acquaintance with His ways. But even this man lost when he fell; instead of having intercourse with God, and knowing Him as once he might, he turns from Him, and hides himself in the trees of the garden from His presence. He thus acknowledges that there is no common ground on which he might stand and meet God, and that all happy intercourse, and all subjects of happy fellowship with God, have been forfeited; and that his only hope of rest and quiet is to get away from His presence. And such is man by nature-still distant from God, and only at ease as long as he can keep at a distance, and having no objects or desires in common with God-" God is not in all his thoughts." " But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ;" and not only have we access and nearness to God, but " truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." The Church of God has been redeemed out of the world and taken up into the heavenlies, there to know by faith unhindered access to God, and there to find communion with the Father and the Son.
The Ark with its golden cover, the Mercy Seat, was, as we have seen, typical of the Throne of Grace established in the heavens, where we meet the God of glory, and from whence He dispenses His blessings to His people. But this did not necessarily constitute a place of communion with God. A king might erect an audience chamber and throne, where he might receive the homage of his subjects, and from whence he might dispense gifts, and rewards, and honors; but it would not follow that there was any fellowship between himself and his people. Fellowship implies that there are common interests, and common objects of affection or pursuit. A table is especially a place of friendly intercourse and communion. There blessings are enjoyed and partaken of in common between the head and all the members of the family; there the same food is spread alike before all; and there the same sources of refreshment and joy are alike presented to all associated together.
Ex. 25:23-2823Thou 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. 24And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 25And 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. 26And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. 27Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. 28And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. (Exodus 25:23‑28).-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. Ex. 37:10-1510And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof: 11And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. 12Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. 13And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. 14Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. 15And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table. (Exodus 37:10‑15).-And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof: and he over-laid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. Also he made thereunto a border of an hand -breadth round about, and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.
The Table of Shewbread was thus made of the same materials as the Ark-wood overlaid with gold. Here again we have a type of the Lord Jesus as God and man in one person, sustaining another office of priestly ministration. It was needful, in order that He might be the priest, that He should be man; but his priesthood is after no human order. Melchisedec, of which order Christ has been constituted priest, was one, in the Scripture, suddenly presented before us, as without father or mother, without pedigree, without any specification of age, or birth, or death; and stands, therefore, as a type of the Son of God Himself. And it is after this eternal and divine order of priesthood that Christ has arisen; attaching divine and eternal power, value, and glory to all He is and does as priest; whilst at the same time He can, as man, truly stand as the representative of the redeemed, and feels real and full sympathy for them. The gold is of a different substance, a different material from the wood; but it adds preciousness, firmness, and eternal stability and glory to the wood.
The Dimensions Of The Table THE golden Table thus formed is specified as to its dimensions to have been two cubits in length, one cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height. The measures of the holy vessels, and of the Tabernacle and its courts, are all doubtless intended to be significant, and are interesting subjects of inquiry as to their typical import. Without being at present able to affix any definite meaning to these numbers, it may however be suggested, whether the dimensions of the Ark do not afford a kind of standard with which we may compare the other measurements; and whether the relative size of the other vessels has not reference to the size of the Ark, or some connection with, or dependence on, its magnitude. May there not, in the size thus specified of the Shewbread Table, be an intention of drawing our thoughts to the fact of its being of the same height with the Ark, though less in length and breadth? and may not this imply that there is a presentation to God in Christ of human perfectness, elevated as high as His own throne, and sustained under the full blaze of His glory? and whilst the length and breadth of the Ark and Mercy Seat are larger, may it not be intended to convey to us the thought of the wider presentation of God's grace as seen in Christ, the one Mediator between God and men-the extensive aspect of His mercy and love?
The Bread On The Table.
WE find in Lev. 24:5,65And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. 6And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. (Leviticus 24:5‑6), directions given respecting the bread to be placed on the table. " 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."
" Fine flour" was the material of which these cakes were to be made. This is also commanded in Lev. 2 as the great constituent part of the meat-offering; and we have the direct authority of the word itself for saying that the meat-offering was a type of Christ; for it is written in Psa. 40:6-86Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:6‑8), " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, 0 my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Here all the four principal offerings of the book of Leviticus are enumerated: the peace-sacrifice, the meat-offering, the burnt-offering, and the sin-offering; and all are declared to be in themselves valueless to God, and superseded by one whose ears had been "digged" by God to be His servant, and who was coming to do His will, and of whom in the volume of the book it had been all written. The roll of the book of Leviticus, or of the law, had indeed all been written of Christ; and in fulfilling the will of God He fulfilled every jot and tittle of these varied offerings, all which were but shadows pointing on to Him who is the substance. (Heb. 10; Col. 2:1717Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (Colossians 2:17).) In the 10th of Hebrews, where this psalm is quoted, we have a remarkable change of the sentence, "mine ears hast thou opened," into " a body hast thou prepared me:" a blessed commentary on, and an illustration of, the passage by the Spirit of God Himself, teaching us that the opening the ears of the Lord to be the servant of Jehovah, or, as one has elsewhere suggested, the digging or nailing the ear to the door in token of servitude, was equivalent to the preparing Christ a body, and sending Him down here on earth as the "word made flesh," to walk through the path of human life in true humble obedience, ending at last in obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.
The meat-offering, then, and shewbread were alike written of Christ, and were fulfilled as to their typical import by His coming in the flesh to do the will of God; the body being prepared for Him by God, and the listening ear thus formed, that He might, as the servant, obey God perfectly on earth. The fine flour of which both were composed is indeed a beautiful and expressive type of that pure and perfect man who thus came to do the Father's will. It represents Him as in the flesh, because the fine flour is a product of the earth, grown, and nurtured, and ripened here; and we know the Lord spake of Himself as the corn of wheat, and that with especial reference to His life on earth. But here it is fine flour, designating the lowly, unobtrusive, even character of the Lord, not needing to be bruised, but already, at its very outset, having all the characteristics of fine flour; not needing a course of discipline or chastisement in order to break down harshness or asperities-in Him there were none; there was no ruggedness, no unevenness; no starting up of pride or self-exaltation, as if some portion of the whole were not fine and smooth: with Him, from His very birth, all was pure, and even, and lowly-all was tempered and subdued to an even fineness, as to its intrinsic nature; and a life of sorrow and toil for others' sakes but the more developed and proved the native preciousness and beauty of this heaven-born plant, thus marvelously connected with earth.
We know how to estimate and value the gentleness and grace which is seen in the servants of God around us: this is in them generally the result of long and often painful discipline, and of much exercise of soul before God; and even when most developed in the saints, how quickly the evil and unsubject nature of the flesh again shows itself, and how it has to be watched against, and incessantly suspected and restrained! How much, also, of that which wears the appearance of lowliness and humility is the result only of habit, or the effect of an anxious desire to appear in the eyes of others what a Christian ought to be I But blessedly contrasted with all this effort and semblance was His character, who at His very entrance into the world was "that holy thing," who began His life below in self-abasement and humility. He came here at the cost of all His own glory, laying it aside, and making Himself poor; proving, by the very fact of His being here, the lowliness of His character, and His simple humble obedience to His God. His birth into this world was the making Himself of no reputation, and He enters on life here below in the likeness of men, and therefore in the form of a servant-the lowly, unobtrusive, obedient servant of God.
But this fine flour was to be baker into twelve cakes before presented on the table. And He that came into the world as the fine flour, had to pass through trials, sorrows, and temptations, during His path below. Satan's temptations, and scorn and rejection from men, deep sorrow on account of the sin and hardness of men's hearts around Aim, characterized the path this holy one had to tread on earth; and yet in blessed obedience and perfectness of heart He could still say, " I delight to do thy will, Ο my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" These trials and experiences of soul, through which He thus passed, added indeed no fresh features of perfectness to His already perfect character; the fine flour was so intrinsically, but the purity, the lowliness, the grace, and evenness of His character were manifested by means of the path of sorrow and trial through which He had to pass. His obedience, His perfectness, His dependence on God were thus in every way tested and brought to light; and at length the cross, with its lonely hours of suffering and sorrow, manifested to the full the wondrous depth of the love and subjection of His heart, "who thus became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.': And in that marvelous closing scene of the life on earth of this spotless one, what accumulated grace and perfectness was then exhibited before God! Brought down in the consciousness of real and yet voluntary degradation to exclaim, " I am a worm and no man-a reproach of men and despised of the people," yet with an unchanged heart of deep and lasting love to Him who had there of necessity forsaken Him (strange though it seemed to be thus forsaken when most obedient), He adds, " But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." Man once in the garden had, when surrounded by everything, that testified of goodness and wisdom, dared to mistrust the holiness, and truth, and love of God. On the cross, when all around was dark and fearful, and full of wrath and terror and bitterness, yet could this holy one vindicate the hand that was thus stretched out in vengeance. And will the remembrance of this blessed perfect obedience ever pass away? No; the very same Jesus has been raised up as God's high priest, ever to present before Him a full memorial of all the perfection of that service on earth, and this memorial stands like the shewbread on the pure table, a perpetual record of the obedience of Him in whom alone the Israel of God are constituted righteous.
The cakes were twelve, according to the number of the tribes, in order that each tribe might equally have its memorial presented before God on the holy table, of the same material, of the same weight, and of the same size. And so it is now respecting the Church of God. Some may, like Judah of old, have a more honored and prominent position in the camp, or on the march; others, like Dan, be comparatively little esteemed, as being the hindmost of all the camps. And not only so -not only may the positions assigned to the servants of God on earth greatly differ, so that some may be fitted for a more prominent place of service than others; but even as to the obedience and faithfulness of the saints, one may be far more diligent, and zealous, and true-hearted than another. If, however, we turn our eye away from the scene down here to the sanctuary above; if we look at the memorial of acceptance presented before God by Jesus for each in heaven, we shall find all there alike in blessing, and glory, and perfectness. The same perfect obedience is alike recorded on behalf of each; the same fragrance before God is presented for each. Dan, as much as Judah, had a cake of fine flour on the table in God's presence. The weakest as well as the strongest, the unfaithful as well as the most faithful, the hindmost as well as foremost, stands in the same fullness of acceptance. " Righteous, because of the obedience of one," and "accepted in the beloved," are two great equalizing truths of salvation, as much the blessing of each as of all believers in the Lord Jesus.
THE Hebrew word לְבובָה, translated "frankincense," is derived from a root signifying " to be white;" the word Lebanon is derived from the same root, so called because of its snow-clad summits; and the Hebrew word for " the moon " is also from the same root, so called because of its silvery whiteness. This gum was, therefore, remarkable for its whiteness, and we also find in Ex. 30:3434And 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: (Exodus 30:34) the epithet "pure" 2 attached to it. The frankincense was a growth of earth as well as the fine flour; for in Sol. 4:1414Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: (Song of Solomon 4:14), we read of "trees of frankincense;" and it seems to be added to the cakes upon the table, in order to express another aspect and truth respecting the Lord Jesus as man, namely, the purity and fragrance manifested by Him towards God in all His ways, actions, and thoughts. The purity of the ways and words of Jesus was not an affected sanctity, neither was it attained by separation from the haunts of men: it was not the mere result of habit, because observed by others, nor was its object the applause of men; but it was the natural result of the spotlessness of His own nature. And it was ever before God He lived, and thought, and acted. If evil came from Satan or from man, even in that His comfort was to trace the will of God. In Him there were no mistrusts, no suspicions, as well as no murmurings of heart against God. His own character and ways were white and pure like the frankincense, and He knew the Father whom He so loved was good at all times and in all circumstances. All was open and transparent in Christ; He had nothing to conceal; He had no ambiguities, no double intentions, for He was single-eyed. His actions, therefore, and His words, were the transcript of Himself, the spontaneous exhibition of what He was intrinsically-all purity and fragrance. How wonderful, and yet how blessed, that a tree of earth should produce this sweet-smelling, pure frankincense! that a world, from whence sin and uncleanness and abomination had ceaselessly sent up an ill savor, should at length find one in its midst whose inmost thoughts as well as outward ways were pure and unsullied and fragrant like the frankincense before God! What, therefore, the Lord intrinsically was as man typified by the fine flour, such also was He in all the pure and fragrant development of His character as represented by the frankincense; and the eye and heart of God could rest on all this, and take delight in the beloved Son, ever well-pleasing to the Father, and who truly had the blessing of being "pure in heart," and was therefore fit to be under the eye of God. 8
THE seventh day was the first rest of God upon this earth; but before it had run its course, sin had entered, and the rest of God here was effectually destroyed: from that moment creation began to send up a groan instead of a song of joy to God (Rom. 8:2222For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)); and the sabbath has remained a melancholy memorial of a day never again to be known here-a day when once God looked on all the works of His hands and pronounced them very good, and could rest from all His work, and was refreshed. Any rest in this old creation is now hopeless: "this is not your rest, it is polluted," seems to be written on everything below; all decayeth and waxeth old, and is ready to vanish away. He who well knew its former beauty-for His own hands had fashioned it-testified even on the sabbath-day, " my Father worketh hitherto and I work;" for He found it all marred and ruined; and man himself especially, the head and glory of it, so lost and degraded in body as well as spirit, that the only hope was that God would, out of the old, create something new, and would not cease to work until the former things should have passed away, and He could say, " Behold I make all things new." But though the rest has passed away from hence, yet in the sanctuary God has provided the memorial of a rest yet future. The record of a new creation has already been presented there before Him; in the grace and purity and holiness of Jesus as the second man, the last Adam, the beginning of the new creation, already has God found perfect and eternal rest; and gladly can His eye now turn away from all that this earth has exhibited of its sin and ruin, to repose with blessed delight on all the perfectness and beauty of His Son, who has carried up a new joy, and new perfectness and beauty, into the mansions of glory. Thus the presentation of fresh bread on the table every sabbath-day seems intended to connect thoughts of rest and joy with that ever fresh and blessed remembrance of the character and obedience of Christ, which He perpetually presents before God on behalf of the Church; a sure presage and foretaste of that new creation, into which sin, failure, and sorrow, shall never enter.
ONE subject of interest and instruction respecting these types is the fact that all the various parts of the Tabernacle, as well as the sacrifices, were provided and presented by the people of Israel. It seems to be the especial intention of God strongly to mark thereby their close identification with all those blessed things: so all belonged to them, though presented thus to Him; and all was intended to be estimated and valued by them, though demanded and accepted by Him. They were types, not only of things themselves in the heavens, but also of the value and knowledge of, and communion with, those things, as estimated by the Israel of God below. The Church forms its estimate of Jesus through the Spirit; and that estimate will ever be according to God, and be fragrant before Him. Another leading principle connected with the interpretation of these types seems to be, that where anything is in them made imperatively necessary, so that a heavy responsibility rested on Israel, or on Israel's priest of old, to perform it; in the antitype all that has been fully and eternally answered by Christ, our great High Priest, so that the most stringent commands become the shadows of our highest and eternal blessings, secured by the faithfulness and power of Him who is a better one than Aaron. In the type now before us we have the loaves to be " taken from Israel by an everlasting covenant." The responsibility of this rested on Israel and its priesthood, and we know how all in consequence has utterly failed: but the blessing here prefigured cannot fail; " the everlasting covenant" has been placed in the hands of one whose grace and power never can cease; the love and faithfulness of our great High Priest are connected with a power and glory equal to the carrying out the purposes of God to their fullest extent. And He, whose priesthood is reckoned after another order than that of Aaron, ever presents for us that which is unceasing in its value and fragrance; an abiding memorial of perfectness, purity, and sweetness, on our behalf, secured by an everlasting covenant.
We find also the word "continual" applied to the bread. Though changed from week to week, yet it was ever the same bread in the presence of God. " And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway" (Ex. 25:3030And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me alway. (Exodus 25:30)); "before the Lord continually" (Lev. 24:88Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. (Leviticus 24:8)); "the continual bread" (Num. 4:77And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: (Numbers 4:7)); "the continual shewbread" (2 Chron. 2:44Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. (2 Chronicles 2:4)). Our souls know the value of that which ceases not in its power and efficacy towards God for us. With us all is changing; our thoughts, our actions, our resolves, vary from hour to hour. In the ways of God alone is continuance, and we shall be saved. (Isa. 64:55Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. (Isaiah 64:5).) His name Jehovah was revealed to Moses at the bush; for as the " I AM " He was about to act towards Israel in redemption (a redemption of which He would not repent), and He was about to deal with His redeemed people in unchanging mercy, and with patient unvarying care, notwithstanding all their murmurings and evil that would be manifested in the way. And our High Priest, who claims the very name itself of Jehovah, with unwearied unwavering affection, retains for us His place of excellency before God, like the " continual " bread ever before Him, and presents for us now and ever the unfailing memorial of human perfectness and human obedience, in the full and blessed value of which we stand accepted before God.
ALL Israel, as the redeemed people of God, had food in common given to them from heaven; the manna was daily supplied to them by God throughout their forty years' wanderings. Our Lord, as recorded in John 6, has we know alluded to this type, and there declared Himself to be the true bread from heaven; and that life eternal is alone derived, and the sustainment of that life provided for, through eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Faith in Him as the lamb slain, the gift of God to a lost and ruined world, is life everlasting; and the soul that once has tasted this heavenly food lives on, forever sustained also by it. "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me." Moreover, to eat that flesh, and to drink that blood, is to abide in Christ in eternal, indissoluble union. " He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him." Here then is life, and life sustained, and life in union with the Son of man; and that through eating this bread from heaven. These are unchanging blessings, which pertain alike to every, even the feeblest, believer in the Lamb of God. But there was also in Israel food appropriated to the priesthood. They indeed, in common with the multitude, shared the daily supply from above; but besides this, they had the shewbread, as well as other offerings especially allotted to them. That which had been presented on the golden table before the Lord, which had been perpetually in His presence, and upon which His eye had for days rested with acceptance and delight, afterward was partaken of by the priests in the holy place. Here we get a beautiful type of communion. Bread alike appreciated by God and by Israel's priests. A common subject of delight and refreshment. And this food ministered special strength to the priests for their service; it was at hand for them in the very place of their ministry; and the service in which they were engaged thus provided the suitable refreshment which they needed for their continued sustainment in it.
The Scriptures tell us, for our joy, that we are partakers of the heavenly calling of our apostle and high priest, Jesus the Son of God; and that He bath made us unto our God kings and priests (Heb. 3:11Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (Hebrews 3:1); Rev. 1:6;5:106And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10); 1 Pet. 2:99But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9)): we are, therefore, of that royal priesthood which is to show forth the praises of Him that hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. But how few of the Lord's people really desire to live, and act, and serve, according to this heavenly calling! How few occupy themselves about the holy things of God, so as to live as priests always in the precincts of the Tabernacle, and either serving, or ready to serve, in the sanctuary Generally speaking, the believer in Christ, if assured of his salvation, and having peace in his soul through faith in the blood of Christ, rests contented in that assurance, and desires little else than just to retain his present sense of peace and comfort of soul. Some, indeed, of the Lord's people have hardly advanced as far even as this; and either set the sense of assurance of salvation at a distance afar off, esteeming it to be a matter of attainment only after long toiling and very varied experience; or deem it presumptuous that any should be assured of present and eternal forgiveness, and question even the reality of that faith, which brings immediate peace to the soul. But surely, God in His mercy has not left us in doubt of the certainty of salvation, any more than He has left the question uncertain as to our complete and eternal ruin by nature. If He has unequivocally declared the desperate condition of the disease, He has also. declared the certain and immediate efficacy of the remedy. And surely also He has not made His children to be a royal priesthood, without giving them a holy and happy sphere for the exercise of that priesthood, and directions and a capacity for serving Him according to their heavenly calling. It is written, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9 14.) And God has left His redeemed people in this world for a while, not that their salvation may be made more secure-for that were impossible-but that they may occupy themselves in His truth and in His service, and may know the things that have been freely given to them of Him.
Priestly service of old was of very varied kinds. The priests had not only to offer gifts and sacrifices, to put incense before God, and whole burnt-offerings on the altar, but they had also to teach Israel God's judgments and His law. They had to put difference between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean; to discern leprosy and all the varied forms of defilement; to cleanse and to cut off-to restore and to put without the camp. As priests, therefore (of whom Israel's priests were but a type), the Church of God has a vast and varied field of labor and service. To appreciate and understand the sacrifice, to know how to use and testify to its value and sweet savor, both for the blessing of their own souls and that of others; to worship, to pray, and praise; all these happy exercises of their priestly calling appertain to the saints of God. But besides this, we have as priests to know the world as to its defilements and uncleannesses, and the flesh as to its corruptions and lusts; its contacts of sin and death, its subtle workings and open rebellions; and if in seeking to serve God we find ourselves weak and fainting; if we are made more deeply acquainted with His holiness, and our own worthlessness and corruption; if our souls get pressed down under a sense of incompetence and evil, when weighing our actions in the balance of the sanctuary, and we feel how incessantly all our service, all our endeavors at obedience, are mingled with imperfection and failure-then let us remember that God has provided special food for our sustainment in these circumstances; and that we may, through the rich provision of His mercy, turn and feed on Him, whose unleavened purity and fragrance is our strength and blessing, and whose flesh we shall ever find to be meat indeed, and whose blood to be drink indeed, for the sustainment and comfort and reassurance of our hearts before God.
One who seeks to serve God will find that the very service will bring him into new scenes of difficulty and trial; will discover to him weaknesses and corruptions in himself of which he would otherwise be little, if at all, aware. And God has graciously provided that such as desire thus to exercise themselves as His priests, shall have blessed communion with Him respecting the person and ways of His Son, whereby they may be strengthened and encouraged still to persevere, and be more and more fitted for the various exercises of soul into which they may be led. And whilst they get a deeper insight into the flesh and its evil, whilst they discover more and more its miserable inconsistencies, its secret envyings, pride, vanity, and self-esteem, they can turn from this loathsome picture to feed on that which is pure and holy, and which will sanctify the inward motives and affections, at the same time that it strengthens and refreshes. Christ known and fed upon as the unleavened one, according to the perfectness and fragrant grace of His human character, will be food, distasteful indeed to the natural man, but invigorating and blessed to the inner man; and in the very act of thus feeding the soul will be conformed more and more to His likeness. May we relish this heavenly food; may the tempting baits and allurements of the flesh fail before it; may we hunger and thirst more after it, and find our desire after it increased by seeking to occupy ourselves in those things which pertain to us as priests, consecrated to God through the precious blood of Him "who loved us and gave Himself for us!"
THE CROWNS AND BORDER
AROUND the table on which the cakes were disposed, a crown was to be fixed; and a ledge also extended the dimensions of the table by an handbreadth, around which was attached another crown of gold. The same word is here used for "crown" as was noticed before respecting the Ark; a rim or binding formed an upright ledge round the table, and another rim formed a ledge round the border. The object of this first crown was, it would appear, to retain the bread securely in its position on the table, so that it might not get displaced, during the progress of the journey, through any failures in the Kohathites who carried the table on their shoulders. We have here again an intimation of the secure and lasting provision made for the continuance of those blessings which depend on the priestly office of Christ. "To be in the presence of God for us," is not an occasional interrupted service of our High Priest, but at all times we may confidently say, " Now in the presence of God for us," like the shewbread (or presence-bread, as it might be termed) always retained by the golden circle on the pure table before the Lord. Not only is the Mercy Seat, the place of grace, securely retained in its appointed place by the golden crown, but there is the same height of perfectness, the same fragrance of Christ ever under the eye of God on our behalf, unchanged by any feebleness, failings, or wanderings of His people below.
The use of the border or shelf added to the table was, it seems, to form a place of support for the golden vessels attached to the Shewbread Table, whereon they probably were placed during the journeys. In Ex. 37:1616And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold. (Exodus 37:16), the vessels are spoken of as "on the table;" and in Num. 4:77And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: (Numbers 4:7), where directions are given for carrying the table, these vessels are directed to be placed upon it. The direction also respecting the place of the rings into which the staves were inserted for carrying the table, is that they shall be "over against Me border." (Ex. 25:2727Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. (Exodus 25:27).) This would seem to intimate that the border was a part of the table which had reference to its being borne by the staves on the march. It is probable, therefore, that this border was intended for the place of the golden vessels during the wanderings of the people of Israel in the wilderness. The object of the crown or ledge attached to the border would then be to render the vessels secure in their position when carried on the table. We are here reminded of a careful and diligent foresight on the part of our God, to secure and maintain unshaken all our blessings in Christ. Ages of declension have rolled on, and yet not one golden vessel of the sanctuary has been disturbed, not one ministry of our great High Priest, whether manifestly important, or apparently trivial, has ceased. Because He is God unchanging in His purpose, and unwearied in his gracious service, therefore we are not cut off; and at the close not one good thing shall be found to have failed of all that He bath spoken respecting us. We feel the absolute need of being committed to the care and keeping of one who has (as it were) the enduring power and unchangeableness of the gold, whilst his sympathies and feelings as a man link Him on with His suffering people on earth; and we scarcely know which most to appreciate, the wisdom and power and glory of Him who stands before God for us, or the gentleness and grace with which He who knows our infirmities can sympathize and assist us in all our need.
The staves attached to the table indicate, as in the case of the Ark, a provision for the moving and carrying this holy vessel with Israel during their march; and so, throughout our journey here, God has provided us with living bread for the sustainment and strength of our souls; and our fellowship with Him need not be interfered with, or interrupted, whatever be the appointed path we have to tread; but "pleasant bread" placed on His own table is ever presented to us by Him, and blessings resulting from happy communion with the Father respecting His Son Jesus Christ may be fully and richly known even in the midst of the turmoil and weariness of the wilderness journey.
d Ex. 25:2929And 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. (Exodus 25:29). -And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to pour out withal; of pure gold shalt thou make them. Ex. 37 16.-And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to pour out withal, of pure gold. HERE are four distinct sets of golden vessels attached to the Shewbread Table, and placed upon it, when the table was carried; let us briefly enter upon their uses.
The Vessels Attached To The Table Of Shewbread—The Dishes First as to the dishes. The Hebrew word קֶשָו֗ח, here translated "dishes," only occurs again in Scripture in Num. 7 throughout that chapter it is translated " chargers," which were silver vessels filled with fine flour for a meat-offering, part of the offerings of the princes at the dedication of the altar. Our word dish might have been fitly retained in both places; for it is the ordinary word expressive of a vessel for holding food. Here we find golden dishes attached to the table: the use of them may be conjectured to be for the sustaining the bread before the priests, for their eating, whilst they placed fresh bread on the table. The dishes would stand around the table on the six days of the week, as a memorial to the priests that the very bread then on the table before the Lord, was on the seventh day to be their food; and when they did partake of the shewbread, the golden dishes would bear it up before them, at the same time that the pure table presented fresh bread to God. And may not this draw our minds to a truth we often have practically to realize, namely, that we need not only a supply of spiritual food for the strength and refreshment of our souls, but also that He who supplies it should be as the dish to present and sustain it before our souls? We need not only subjects of communion, but also to have those subjects kept before us, and immediately presented to us by our great High Priest. Our helplessness is such that we are dependent on one who shall place the fitting food even before our eyes and in our very hands: often have we to say, " Feed me with food convenient for me," food in due season. And Jesus is the one whom God has consecrated to be as the golden dish, sustaining before us its heavenly food; to invite our taste, and supply that which may strengthen us to serve God; and whilst thus feeding on Him as presented to us by Himself, we have true fellowship with the Father, who delights and rejoices in the same fragrant food, and rests in us as presented to Him in the spotless one, ever in His presence for us.
The golden dishes thus typically linked on the priests who ministered in the holy place with the golden table, were silent tokens that there was food in those heavenly courts which could be eaten in holy fellowship with the Lord Himself. How blessed the experience of that soul who can say with the apostle John, " That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of Life!" What a real and individual thing is communion with the Father and the Son! One cannot have it for another, as one cannot eat to sustain another. It is not mere knowledge of truth, or acquaintance with all doctrine or mysteries; but it is the tasting, the handling for oneself, the appropriating to oneself, the WORD OF LIFE. It is a joy with which the stranger intermeddleth not.
The Vessels Attached To The Table Of Shewbread—The Spoons The spoons (in Hebrew כַּםו֗ח) were small hollow vessels of gold, holding, as the Hebrew word seems to denote, about a hand full. From Num. 7 we learn, that twelve golden spoons were presented by the princes, filled with incense, for the use of the sanctuary. Hence the use of these spoons was to hold incense; and the word the Septuagint name for the same vessels, denotes that they were considered to be used for incense. 4 The question immediately arises, Why should spoons holding incense be needed at the Table of Shewbread? In answer to this it may be observed, that we shall find, if we carefully read the types of the Tabernacle and its service, that there is a studied purpose of the Spirit of God to link together various offices, various services and vessels, so that they might be contemplated, not only as they stand in distinctness or contrast one from the other, but as all combining together, and forming a beautiful chain, dependent one on the other, and portraying, as a whole, a blended picture of heavenly ministry. One great difficulty we find in learning truth is to combine; and the types seem written to teach us this amongst other things; so that whilst they present varied and often contrasted aspects of the Lord, yet we have to connect and mingle them together, so as to hold them, or the truths they teach, not antagonistically, but as forming a perfect harmonious whole; we have to learn to unite and not to sever. Those who are accustomed to meditate on the offerings in Leviticus are well aware of this fact. For example, the burnt-offering and the sin-offering stand broadly contrasted with each other, the one being all consumed in fragrant acceptance, the other burnt as under wrath outside the camp: and yet in many respects the sin-offering approaches the burnt-offering, part of it being burnt on the altar of acceptance, whilst in the burnt offering itself, atonement for sin is involved. So again we find the meat-offering, though having a distinct aspect of its own, yet always combined at the altar with the burnt-offering; and on certain great occasions the whole round of offerings were presented together before the Lord. So it is believed to be also respecting the various holy vessels of the Tabernacle. Though each had its distinct use, and each can be contemplated by itself, yet in every great act of priestly service all were linked together, and were in active operation at the same time; and the smaller golden vessels which we find attached to the Shewbread table and Candlestick were these links, uniting together in one ministration the several vessels of the Sanctuary, and forming thereby a golden chain of blessed service, all occupied, all presented, all rendering at the same moment, in the presence of God, their full value on behalf of Israel.
To turn then to the incense spoons. In the enumeration of the various vessels of the Sanctuary we shall find none specified for holding incense except these; when, therefore, the High Priest had to put incense on the golden altar, he would have to go to the Table of Shewbread to fetch the spoonful from thence. In this act he would link, as it were, these two vessels, the altar and the table together; he would remember, whilst he sent up a cloud of fragrance from the burning coals on the altar, to cover any ill savor that might have been exhibited by Israel, that at the same moment the perpetual bread presented, on the golden table, an unchanged aspect of perfectness on their behalf; and thus, whilst defect had by the one vessel to be met and covered over, perfectness was on the other still preserved unaltered under the gaze of the Lord. And does not this afford a true type of the ministration of our High Priest? Because He ever liveth to make intercession for us (like the incense altar with its fragrant cloud), does He cease at the same time to present the full aspect of perfectness on our behalf, as typified by the shewbread? In a word, is not His power to combine the presentation of all perfection with the covering over of all imperfection, one great blessing of His priesthood? Whilst therefore the truth respecting our weak and failing condition below is never forgotten, but is provided for in His ceaseless intercession, at the same time a standing is retained for us above, beyond all failure and all weakness. The priest who lights the incense altar has his thoughts full of the remembrance of the pure table and its twelve presence loaves, from whence he has taken the golden spoon full of the perfume.
The Vessels Attached To The Table Of Shewbread—The Bowls And Cups 5
THE two remaining sets of vessels attached to the table were " bowls and cups," and the use to which they were applied is immediately seen from the words which follow, " to pour out withal;" and Num. 4:77And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: (Numbers 4:7), " the drink-offering," bowls and cups. Here the same question occurs as before, to what end were libation vessels kept at the Table of Shewbread. This will be satisfactorily solved by a reference to Num. 28:77And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering. (Numbers 28:7), where the command is given to "pour out the strong wine unto the. Lord for a drink-offering, in the holy place." This chapter is one of fresh directions to Israel respecting their principal offerings, and seems to confine the pouring out of the drink-offerings in the holy place to certain special occasions. The word translated strong wine,שׁכָר, only occurs in this place as connected with the drink-offerings; and the principle of the precept seems to be, that Israel's daily drink-offerings, and also those offered on their great feast days, were to be poured out in the holy place; 6 that is, inside the Tabernacle. The ordinary place for pouring out the wine was probably the brazen altar; for the worship of an individual Israelite did not extend beyond that place. In Ex. 30:99Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. (Exodus 30:9), we find a precept forbidding a drink-offering to be poured on the golden altar of incense; from which we may infer that it was the custom to do so on the other altar, where the meat-offering was always offered. In ordinary cases an Israelite brought his burnt-offering, with the meat-offering and drink-offering connected with it, to the altar of burnt-offering, and all was presented and offered there; but when all Israel presented their corporate offerings, as was the case morning and evening when the daily lamb was offered, and also on the sabbaths, and new moons, and appointed feasts, then the accompanying drink-offerings were poured out in the holy place, and not at the brazen altar. And this is in accordance with Israel's corporate standing; for though individually none but a priest could enter the holy place, yet corporately they were regarded as having access to the inner courts, as is intimated by the fact of the princes presenting golden spoons of incense, which could only be used at the incense altar; and still more distinctly is it proved from Lev. 4, where the sin of the whole congregation is represented as so penetrating into the Tabernacle, that the blood of atonement had to be sprinkled before the vail and upon the incense altar just as much as if an anointed priest had sinned. It is concluded therefore, that as the drink-offerings of Israel corporately had to be poured out within the Tabernacle, and as all the service of the Sanctuary carried on there was conducted in golden vessels, these bowls and cups were kept for the purpose of pouring out the wine before the Lord whenever a drink-offering was presented by the whole congregation. 7 These vessels were of two sizes, perhaps on account of the different measures of wine directed to be poured out. There were in like manner two sizes of silver bowls for meat-offerings, presented by the princes. (Num. 7)
Here again these libation vessels seem to have been links uniting the service of the altar of burnt-offering outside, with the vessels and service within the Sanctuary. So that when the sweet savor of the daily burnt-offering lamb ascended from the outer court unto heaven, and Israel began and ended the day under the shelter and acceptance of that all-fragrant sacrifice; at the same time the priest poured out in the holy place the full and rich libation of wine near the pure table; expressive of the truth, that whilst the remembrance of the lamb in all its perfectness, presented unto God in death, was an offering of a sweet smelling savor, grateful and fragrant to Jehovah, a full measure also of new joy was ministered unto Him in heaven; a joy derived not from creation, but from redemption, the result of that one offering presented to God from the earth. When the foundations of the earth were laid, " the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God had shouted for joy;" and He who had made all things very good, rested and was refreshed by the works of His own bands; but that joy had all along since passed away. An universal groan succeeded the shout and song of creation; labor succeeded rest; till at length HE came whose delight it was to do the will of God. On Him the Spirit of God could for the first time on earth descend and abide, and through His service and work in life and death, a new and lasting joy, like the strong wine of the drink-offering, was ministered to the heart of God; a joy, in the anticipation of which Jesus Himself had been strengthened to endure the cross, and despise the shame. And when at length that Holy One poured out His life on the cross, then was this new and blessed joy tasted by God. He had been glorified on the earth, His will had been perfectly fulfilled, the work He had appointed to be done had been finished, every word of His had been accomplished; and now He could rejoice in the new and eternal work of redemption, which would not fail as creation had failed before, but which would forever minister lasting and strong joy; the eternal record of the wisdom and love of His heart who had planned, and the grace and love and obedience of Him who had executed it. And now as each poor sinner hails the blessed message of salvation, and turns in faith and hope to rest on the slain lamb, a fresh bowl, as it were, of the strong wine is again poured out in the Sanctuary, the value of the lamb slain is again told out in joy in the presence of God; the flowing drink-offering brought from the burning altar bids, again and again, the song arise in the heavenly courts above:-" Verily, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." " It is meet that we should make merry and be glad."
WE have in 1 Sam. 21. a striking and instructive scene connected with the shewbread, and which as it is alluded to by the blessed Lord Himself, it may be profitable to pause for a little and consider. The Lord Jesus uses this account of David eating the shewbread to illustrate one of the most blessed principles in the heart of God, " I will have mercy and not sacrifice;" and David seems to have apprehended this truth, and to have acted on it on this occasion; for he was a man after God's own heart, and could read and appreciate the deep and ceaseless love of God. He knew that everything must give way to grace, which was the ruling principle in the heart of Him with whom he had to do; so that the law itself, with its stringent precepts, must bow before it; and the necessity of one of God's saints was plea enough to set aside its prescribed ritual. How bold, how daring is faith, and how varied in its exercise. Jonathan in the energy and power of it could climb the garrisoned fort of the Philistines, and beat them down before him; David could in the confidence of like precious faith take the hallowed bread, and eat and distribute to his hungry followers. Both alike trusted in the grace and power of a living God, and knew His mind and ways. But whilst this eating of the shewbread exhibits to us the confidence of David in the grace and pity of his God, at the same time we see by his other actions in this scene, that he is sadly wanting in his trust in the same God for present help and safety in the midst of his difficulties. He first dissembles with Ahimelech; subsequently, even whilst the holy bread is in his mouth, he asks for a weapon of defense. There is none for him there but the vanquished sword of Goliath; for the Tabernacle of God provides no fleshly weapons, and the sword of the Philistine was there harmlessly suspended behind the ephod, not as a weapon for use, but as a trophy only of one of the Lord's victories over the flesh. But David eagerly accepts that; "There is none like that, give it me." What a contrast here with the faith of the stripling, who in the valley of Elah had found the sword of the giant powerless against the name of the Lord of hosts. There, in the energy and spring-time of his faith, having before proved the faithfulness and power of God in secret, he came forth into open conflict, undaunted at the vastness of the foe, and measuring the mighty power that was thus opposed to him by a greater and mightier name, the name of the living God. His eye of faith saw the Lord of Hosts as the combatant on the one side, and but uncircumcised flesh as the opponent on the other; and a pebble from a brook was a weapon sufficient to decide such a conflict. But the early first love of David seems subsequently to have become deadened by the series of trials he had endured at the hands of Saul. Had it been still the Philistine, it may be he could have borne it and conquered; or had it been again a lion and a bear, he would have slain them: but trial of a different kind had come upon him: he found a foe now in the Lord's anointed; one whom he had esteemed his friend and benefactor had now proved his unrelenting enemy. The circumstances of his life also had changed. The unobtrusive path of faith, alone with God, where he had first as the shepherd boy relied on, and proved the strength of Jehovah's arm, had been exchanged for a conspicuous place of honor in the palace of Saul: it may be even the sweet friendship of Jonathan had a little intruded upon the place the Lord once held in his heart.; and now, obliged to flee, and hunted as a partridge upon the mountains, his trust in the living God waxes feeble, and he fails to realize, as once he had done, the present help of Jehovah in trouble. Then to what can he turn but to his own resources? Dissimulation, and the very weapon of the flesh, the sword of Goliath, become the sources of his confidence; and he who had once, in the simple confidence of his faith in God, refused the armor of Saul as a mere encumbrance, now resorts to the weapon of a vanquished foe; and, as if he had proved it, says, "There is nothing like that, give it me." And yet he had a heart in the main true to God, and able, in the midst of all this declension, to hold fast his knowledge of God's grace, so as even to say of the hallowed bread, that it was " in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel." May not this read us an instructive lesson as to the difference between that abiding, practical faith and dependence on the Lord, which knows and trusts in Him as the living God, and that faith in Him as the God of all grace and the God of salvation, which may still remain in the heart, even when through declension, or other causes, there is but little present confidence in Him for help or deliverance in difficulty or danger. And what a sad spectacle does David present with the sword of Goliath this second time in his hand! The giant himself, armed with his own weapons, had once inspired terror, and had presented a front of greatness and power, before which the natural man might well have quailed. But the man of God, attempting to manage the weapons of the flesh, affords but a spectacle of derision to the enemy. The sword he tried to wield was unsuited to his power; he must have felt like a culprit in its very use; the song of his former triumphs sounded like a knell of defeat in his ears, and he got out of the scene only through a stratagem of weakness and idiocy, which rendered him so despicable in the sight of his foes, that he is allowed to depart as a useless madman. And so it must ever be with the man of God. Either God is everything to him, or the flesh and its weapons will be resorted to. If the living God is not the resource of the soul in every trial and on every occasion, worldly policy and human expedients and plans will take His place; and then the child of God, instead of winning victories of faith, and triumphing in the strength of the Lord, sinks down lower even than the level of the world around him, and becomes a mere object of ridicule or pity. And yet in the midst of all this there will be gleams, as it were, of faith, which will still manifest that the mercy and grace of God are, after all, known and prized as the real stay and rest of the soul. This humbling lesson was not without its blessed results to David. The thirty-fourth Psalm tells us how his soul had again been restored to its entire confidence in God; the cave Adullam is a more healthful place for his soul than the palace of Saul; and the distressed and needy wanderers that gather round him were less likely, it may be, to divert his heart from the Lord, than Jonathan with his sweet and lasting friendship. And this Psalm tells us of David's renewed trust in God, not only as the God " who would have mercy rather than sacrifice," but as the one who would uphold, and help, and deliver, and who would not suffer them that seek Him to want any good thing. Instead of there being nothing like the sword of Goliath, it now is, "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord."
In the Temple there were ten Tables of Shewbread (2 Chron. 4:8, 198He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold. (2 Chronicles 4:8)
19And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the showbread was set; (2 Chronicles 4:19)), which were made, as it would appear, entirely of gold. (1 Chron. 28:1616And by weight he gave gold for the tables of showbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: (1 Chronicles 28:16).) May not the increased number of tables, thus presented before God in the Sanctuary, point to the time yet to come, when the value of Jesus shall be appreciated on earth by whole nations, in contrast with the present dispensation, when those who own Him are but few, ten being often used in Scripture to express an unlimited number.
We read of the Shewbread Table only on two other occasions: (2 Chron. 29:1818Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the showbread table, with all the vessels thereof. (2 Chronicles 29:18))-when the Priests and Levites, at the instigation of Hezekiah, restored the worship of the Lord, cleansing the Temple, Altar, and Table of Shewbread with its vessels; and lastly (Neh. 10:3333For the showbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. (Nehemiah 10:33)), when, after the return from the captivity, provision was made for a constant supply of shewbread, and for the other continual offerings of the Sanctuary.
It may be an interesting subject of inquiry, whether the Altar of Wood, mentioned in Ezek. 41:2222The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. (Ezekiel 41:22), and called "the table that is before the Lord," has any reference to the Shewbread Table; and, if so, whether it may not be a vessel combining table and altar in one.
s LENGTH Cubits BREADTH Cubits HEIGHT Cubits The Ark
2 1/2
1 1/2
1 1/2
The Table of Shewbread.
2
1
1 1/2
The Altar of Incense.
1
1
2
The Altar of Burnt-offering
5
5
3
2. The word "pure" זכח applied to the frankincense is different from the word "pure" סחו֗ד often used respecting the gold and some of the vessels of the Sanctuary. The latter word seems to mean intrinsic purity of nature, as contrasted with uncleanness of nature; so that this latter is the word used to designate beasts that are "clean." The former word attached to the frankincense seems used to indicate purity practically developed and manifested. He, therefore, that was "Whore," pure like the gold by nature, was also "zachar," pure like the frankincense in his ways.
3. In the usual drawings of the Shewbread Table, the cakes are arranged in two heaps, piled one upon the other at each end of the table. An entirely different arrangement has (it will be perceived) been adopted in the drawings which accompany this exposition: the reason for thus departing from the traditional arrangement of the table is, that the express declaration in the word is that the cakes were to be " set in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table," and not in two piles or heaps. Moreover, the bread is called, "bread of faces," literally; which seems also to imply that the cakes were spread out on the table so as to present their "faces," as it were, towards the eye of God; and in Ex. 40:2323And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 40:23), Moses is said to have "set the bread in order upon the table before the Lord," an expression which also would appear to indicate an arrangement of the bread on the table in two rows. It will be perceived from the drawings that the frankincense has been represented as strewed over the tops of the loaves, so as to give them a white appearance, and not placed in cups, as generally represented; this has also been done as seemingly more in accordance with the direct language of Scripture. "And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial." The thought has suggested itself to the Author, whether the modern practice of "frosting" cakes, used on certain special occasions, such as marriage, etc., may not have arisen from some tradition respecting the white aspect of the holy loaves of shewbread thus covered with frankincense. If so, how would this afford another instance of the way in which men have perverted the truths of God, to feed their own corrupt lusts and imaginations.
4. Incense has to be distinguished from frankincense: the former was composed of four fragrant gums, whereas frankincense was a sweet white gum of itself. Incense was burnt in the holy and most holy places, frankincense was only burnt at the brazen altar outside. Nowhere are spoons spoken of as holding frankincense, so that it is not apprehended that these spoons were for holding the frankincense on the bread. It is true that in the Arch of Titus, two small vessels, like cups, are represented standing on a kind of table, which by many is supposed to be a representation of the Table of Shewbread; but it seems very doubtful whether it be in fact intended for the Shewbread Table. The proportions do not at all agree with those of the table in Exodus. And even supposing the sculptor was accurate in his delineations of the spoils taken by Titus, yet the vessels of the Temple then were not the original ones of the Tabernacle, or of Solomon's Temple; and tradition had long exercised its baneful effects over the Jews, so that we have only to read Josephus, and to compare some of his narratives with the Scriptures, to be convinced of his utter disregard of the plain language of truth before him, and how unworthy of credit any uninspired person is when he attempts to deal with the things of God, This subject will be again alluded to under "The Candlestick."
5. The word קְשׂו֗ח, translated "covers," occurs again in 1 Chron. 28:1717Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver: (1 Chronicles 28:17), where it is rendered " cups;" and this is manifestly the correct translation, because the words "to pour out withal" are, in Ex. 37:1616And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold. (Exodus 37:16), connected with these vessels. They, as well as the bowls, were used as libation vessels, the same phrase, "to pour out withal," being connected indiscriminately with the cups as well as bowls. It would seem as if the translators were at a loss to know what the use of libation vessels could be at the Shewbread Table, and therefore altered the ordinary translation, "to pour out," into "to cover." The margin, however, retains the right rendering. In Num. 4:77And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: (Numbers 4:7), where the vessels of the table are again enumerated, " the cups" are called in the Hebrew "the drink-offering cups," which renders the use of these vessels still more evident.
6. There are two ways in which " the holy place" is expressed in Hebrew, חַקֹּדֶֺש and קׇדשׁ, סׇקֺם. The (former is used generally where the covered Tabernacle is meant, and is translated in English with the word place in Italics, "the holy place;" the latter is more general, and includes all the precincts of the Tabernacle with its outer court, and is translated "the holy place," the word "place" not being in italics. It might, perhaps, be better translated by "a holy place." This will be proved correct as a general rule, but there are a few exceptions.