The symbolism of the table of shew-bread.
Before the holy of holies, within which was the Divine Presence, dwelling in thick darkness behind the veil, was to be set perpetually this golden table, bearing bread and wine and frankincense. The bread and wine and frankincense constituted a perpetual thank-offering, offered by Israel as a nation to the high and holy God. The idea was that of a constant memorial (Le Exodus 24:8), a continual acknowledgment of the Divine goodness on the part of the nation. The essence of the offering was the bread—we know of the wine only by implication; the frankincense is distinctly mentioned (Le Exodus 24:7), but is altogether subordinate. Israel, grateful to God for maintaining and supporting its life, physical and spiritual, expressed its gratitude by this one and only never ceasing offering. It was intended to teach—
I. THAT GRATITUDE WAS DUE TO GOD FROM HIS PEOPLE PERPETUALLY. Men are so cold by nature, so selfish, so little inclined to real thankfulness, that it was well they should be reminded, as they were by the shew-bread, of thankfulness being a continuous, unending duty, a duty moreover owed by all. No tribe was ever exempt, however reduced in numbers, however little esteemed, however weak and powerless. The twelve loaves were perpetually before the Lord.
II. THAT GRATITUDE MUST BE SHOWN BY OFFERINGS. The best offering is that of a "pure heart;" but no man of a pure heart, who possessed aught, was ever yet content to offer merely "the calves of his lips"—men instinctively give of their best to God. Bread, the staff of life—wine, that maketh glad the heart of man—frankincense, the most precious of spices, are fitting gifts to him. The offering of bread signifies the devotion of our strength—of wine, the devotion of our feelings—of frankincense, the devotion of our most sublimised spiritual aspirations to the eternal. Israel, as a nation, perpetually offered these offerings, and thereby inculcated on each individual of the nation the duty of doing the same, separately and individually, for private, as the nation did for public, benefits.
III. THAT NO OFFERING COULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, UNLESS ALL ITS SURROUNDINGS WERE PURE AND HOLY. The loaves were to be of the finest flour (Le Exodus 24:5). The frankincense was to be "pure frankincense" (Le Exodus 24:7). The table was to be overlaid with "pure gold" (Exodus 26:24). All the utensils of the table were to be of the same (Exodus 26:29). Nothing "common or unclean" was to come into contact with the offering, which was "the most holy unto the Lord" of all the offerings made to him (Le Exodus 24:8). The purity and perfection of all the material surroundings of the offering suggested the need of equal purity in those who offered it.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
The table of shew-bread.
Between the ark of the testimony and the table of the shew-bread we see this great correspondence—that they were of the same material of shittim wood and had the same adornment of gold. But along with this correspondence there was a great difference, in that the ark of the testimony stood within the veil, while the table of shew-bread stood without. The ark of the testimony had the mercy seat above it, while the table of the shew-bread had the lighted candlestick over against it. There must be some significance in having the table on the people's side of the veil rather than God's side; and may it not be that the table with its bread and the candlestick with its light were meant to set forth God's providential support and illumination of all his people? The shew-bread was not so much an offering presented to God as something placed on the table by his command, regularly and unfailingly, to symbolise the unfailing regularity with which he supplies his people in their ordinary wants. The daily meat offering with its fine flour was the representation of the labour of the people: and so we may take the shew-bread as representing that blessing of God without which the most diligent toil in sowing and watering avail nothing. The God of the shew-bread is the God in whom we live and move and have our being; we cannot do without him for the necessities and comforts of natural life. Were he to cease the operations of his energy in nature, it would soon be seen how utterly fruitless is all our working just by itself. A great and efficient providing power cannot be denied by whatsoever name we choose to call him. Would we know him and more of him than we can ever know in nature—we must think of what lies within the veil. He gives us the things belonging to the outer holy place, the bread and the light, the natural strength and the natural wisdom, in order that we may come to know him in his spiritual demands and his ability to satisfy the deepest demands of our hearts. The God who gives that bread to his people, of which the shew-bread was an ever renewed sample, gives it that we whose lives are continued by the bread may spend them to his glory. God feeds us that we may be in all things his servants, and not in anything our own masters.—Y.