Wonder Bread

Wonder Bread

Often, in order to confirm how thoroughly he knows our situation, God provides exactly what we need. In their book Common Sense Parenting, Kent and Barbara Hughes describe how God provided for their family when their first child was born. At the time Kent was a full-time college student and a full-time factory worker. Times were tight. As Barbara’s due date approached, the Hughes’s calculated that they would have only 160 dollars to pay their medical bills. Unfortunately, the doctor’s fee was 250 dollars, and the hospital bill was another 250 dollars. All they could do was pray. Then, during Barbara’s last checkup, the doctor happened to notice that Kent was planning to go to seminary. Although he was not a churchgoing man, the doctor casually observed that deliveries for clergy were free of charge. This took care of half the bill, but the other half still had to be paid. On the day Barbara and her new baby girl were released from the hospital, Kent walked up to the cashier with only 163 dollars in his pocket. When the cashier handed him the bill, he was shocked. Since Barbara had been admitted in the middle of the night, the hospital had knocked one full day off their charges. The total came to 160 dollars. It only took Kent a few moments to realize what the extra three dollars were for: God had provided just enough money for him to buy Barbara some flowers!

Who is here this morning that God has provided for in some way? He provided just what you needed just when you needed it? This is what God was trying to teach the Israelites. He brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He provided a way through the Red Sea. He provided water when they were thirsty and quail and manna when they were hungry. In fact, in our narrative, God is still providing daily manna for them and will until they enter the Promised Land. God provided them with victory in battle and he provided His presence in the cloud by day and the fire by night. And in the Tabernacle, God will provide His presence in a close and personal way. His presence will dwell among the Israelites, in the center of the covenant community, in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, between the cherubim that rest on the top on the ark of the covenant.

This morning, we will learn about the next item of furniture that will go into the Tabernacle. It is called the Table of the Presence. The Lord will instruct Moses about the table and what is to be always kept on it. These items will continue to symbolize how much the God of the universe loves and cares about them, they can always trust the Lord’s presence to be with them in all they do and that they can always trust that he will provide for them as he sustains them and blesses their harvests. These items will also teach them a deeper lesson; the lesson that all they truly need is Him. The table and what is to be kept on it will symbolize that their deepest need is constant fellowship and communion with God.

It’s exciting and honestly a little humbling to realize that the God of the universe loves and cares about us so much that we can trust his presence to always be with us, that he knows exactly what we need and that we can trust him to provide it for us. He uses our times of need to continually teach us and remind us of these things. As he takes care of us over and over again, he is teaching us that we can always trust in Him to provide for us. And by giving us our daily bread or meeting our daily needs, He is teaching us a deeper lesson that he is all we really need. Yes, we need daily provision of the basic necessities of life, but our deepest need is for God himself. Our deepest need is to be in constant communion and fellowship with the Lord. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to provide for His people and to be in full communion and fellowship with them.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another day to come together with other believers in your house. Thank you for the freedom we have to worship you in this place. You are an awesome God, and I ask that your Holy Spirit fill each heart and mind this morning and that we would be open to what you want us to hear and obey. Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Lord, let us devour your Word today as sweet tasting honey. May we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Would you give us an urgency in our relationship with you? For your honor and glory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning. The first point is Pattern found in Exodus 25:23-29. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. Also make around it a rim a handbreadth 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.”

We have been talking about the Tabernacle (picture). Last week we saw that God showed Moses a pattern for the most important item of furniture in the Tabernacle, the ark of the covenant that resided in the Holy of Holies (picture). The Holy of Holies is on the left. The ark (picture) was a box made from acacia wood and covered in pure gold that would hold the Ten Commandments, the commemorative jar of manna, and Aaron’s budded staff. And on top of the ark was the atonement cover which was made from pure gold. Two cherubim were hammered out of the single piece of gold, and when the Lord came down to meet with Moses, he would do so above the cherubim. As I said last week, the Tabernacle was to reveal the realities of heaven, and the ark of the covenant was the symbol of the throne of God on earth. It was the only item of furniture in the Holy of Holies, and it symbolized the power and the presence of the Lord among His people.

As we open our scriptures this morning, Moses is still on Mt. Sinai with the Lord. And the Lord continues his instructions of the Tabernacle by giving Moses the pattern for the next most important item of furniture. We have moved out of the Holy of Holies into the next chamber, the Holy Place (picture). The Holy Place is on the right. There will be three items of furniture in this chamber. The first is called the Table of the Presence (picture). It is also called “the table of pure gold” or “the ceremonially clean table” or “the golden table on which was the Bread of Presence.” The table is to be made from acacia wood like the ark. It is to be two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Last week I used the royal cubit which was well known in Egypt and equaled 20.6 inches. This would make the dimensions of the table about three feet four inches long, one foot eight inches wide and about two and a half feet high. It would have been about the size of a coffee table. The ark and the table would have been the same height, and, like the ark, the table was to be overlaid with pure gold. There was also to be gold molding around the table which may have kept items from falling off it. There was also to be a rim or frame around the table about a “handbreadth” or about four inches wide with gold molding on it. The rim or frame would have also been made with acacia wood and covered with gold and would have made the table sturdier. We don’t know where the rim was located on the table exactly, in fact, the pictures of what people believe the table looked like varies widely.

Like the ark, the table was also to be portable. Four gold rings were to be made for the table and fastened to the four corners where the four legs were. We are also told that the rings were to be close to the rim and would hold the poles used to carry the table. So, if the rim was placed around the middle of the legs the rings would have been either right above or right below the rim. Like the ark, poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold were to be made to carry the table. Like the ark, the table was a holy object. The poles would be used to make sure there was no human contact with it. Now we aren’t told that these poles had to stay attached to the table at all times like with the ark, so it seems that it was not a requirement.

Next, we are told about four different items that were to be made to go with the table. These items were plates, dishes, pitchers and bowls. They were to be made from pure gold as well. The plates were probably used to hold the items that were to be on the table. The dishes were probably used to hold the pure incense used as food offerings as we see in Leviticus 24. The pitchers and the bowls were to be used for pouring out offerings, presumably “drink offerings.” These items were not only symbolic but would be used in worship by the priests and the worshippers. When we stop and think about what the Lord is doing here, we notice that he is setting up a dining room, so to speak, in His presence, with a table, plates, dishes, pitchers and bowls. This symbolized the Lord’s desire to be in fellowship and communion with His people (Big Idea). The tabernacle was his house, and his house or tent would dwell in the center of all the other tents in the covenant community, like a neighborhood. They would be invited to the Lord’s house, some further in than others, and every item in his house would symbolize the Lord’s desire to be in a personal relationship with them. Think about it, where do we spend a lot of time in fellowship and relationship with each other – around the table, whether in our own home or at a restaurant or at a church meal together. Back in Exodus 24, we saw that God sat down to a covenant meal with the leaders and elders of Israel. Every time the priests went into the Holy Place and saw the table and its furnishings, it would remind them of God’s covenant made with them, and they would then remind the people of the covenant they had made with the Lord. It was a picture of continual communion and fellowship with God.

That brings us to our second point, Provision, found in Exodus 25:30. This is what God’s Word says, “Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.”

Now we come to what the table was to be used for. It was where the bread of the Presence would be placed. The bread of the Presence would reside in the Holy Place, before the Lord always. We don’t get a lot of information from this verse, so we need to look at Leviticus 24:5-9, which says, “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. You shall put pure frankincense on each row so that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, an offering by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.”

According to Leviticus, twelve cakes of bread were to be made and put on the pure gold table before the Lord. The purity that is talked about is not only the purity of the gold but the ritual purity of the table as it was holy. The bread was probably unleavened and set in two rows, six cakes to each row. It is estimated that each bread cake was 12 inches in diameter and four inches thick. Pure frankincense was to be put by each row as a memorial portion which would represent the bread as a food offering to the Lord. The frankincense would be burnt up on the altar as an offering to God. Every Sabbath day fresh bread would be made to replace the old bread. There was never to be a time where twelve bread cakes were not set before the Lord. The bread was a continual offering to the Lord representing their obedience to the covenant and His intercession for them. It also represented their endless adoration and appreciation for His provision for them.

The bread was not food for God. It was a symbol of His presence with His people, that He was their provider, that atonement had been made for them and that He wanted to be in fellowship and communion with them. The bread showed His providential care for the Israelites in that God provided exactly what He had promised. And God’s total provision for their need would culminate in His son Jesus Christ coming to the earth to dwell among them. The Tabernacle, the ark and the table foreshadowed the incarnation of Jesus that we are celebrating right now.

This was an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel just like the Sabbath day was. The Sabbath was a gift of rest from God for God’s people. He knew what they needed, and he provided it. These twelve cakes of bread were symbolic of the gift of God’s continual presence, providence and provision from God for God’s people. This providence and provision would be seen in the harvest times each year and celebrated with the different festivals. The old bread was to be eaten by the priests, Aaron and his sons. And had to be eaten in the Tabernacle because the bread was a most holy part of their share of food offerings presented to the Lord. Aaron and his sons represented the twelve tribes of Israel, and their eating of the bread represented God had provided for them.

The table and the presentation of the bread of the Presence was an acknowledgement of all that God had provided to them, especially the daily supply of manna. Psalms 111:5 says, “He (God) provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.” And it reminds us of the Lord’s prayer found in Matthew 6:11 which says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God knew what they needed exactly when they needed it, and he provided it daily and providentially for them. He provided for every aspect of their lives, and he does the same for us today. He knows what we need exactly when we need it, and he provides for us daily and providentially as His loving gift to us. We can trust in the Lord to provide for us physically, emotionally and spiritually (Big Idea). Let us be people who trust in the Lord to provide for us in all ways. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Trust the Lord to provide for me in all the ways I need.

Physical bread is only one aspect of what the Lord provides us. The bread of the Presence was also a symbol of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God was preparing His chosen people for His son who would come to earth to be the Bread of Life. We need physical bread but what we desperately need even more is Jesus. John 6:32–33, 35 says, “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.… I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’” We need to realize and understand that we need more than just the physical things that Jesus provides for us. We need the spiritual things that only Jesus can provide. Jesus is the only one who can forgive our sins. Jesus is the only who can satisfy our souls. Jesus is the only one who can bring us into a relationship with God. And Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal life.

If we don’t know Jesus, we need Jesus. If we do know Jesus, we need more of Him. The table and the bread are a symbol of our fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ. Let us be people who realize and understand that if we don’t know Jesus, we must first make a decision to know Him, to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you this morning about “knowing” Jesus, please mark the upper right section on the back of your communication card where it says, “send me more info about becoming a follower of Jesus.” And I will be in contact with you.

For those who already have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, let us be people who realize and understand that we need more of Jesus daily. We can’t take a day or a week off from being in communion and fellowship with Him. We need more and more of Him and so we must continually feed on the Bread of Life. In fact, as I was reminded this past week, that we do need more of Jesus but also Jesus wants all of us. Jesus wants our whole life and that comes down to being totally surrendered to Him. The question for each of us is are we totally surrendered to Jesus? Is Jesus the center of our lives? Do we go to Him for the answers we need, or do we go to someone or something else? Surrender is not about giving up . . . it’s about giving over, your plans, your will, your trials, your all, to Someone greater than yourself. That brings us to our second next step which is to Realize and understand that I need more of Jesus, and he wants all of me.

So, why did God use a table? Again, around the table is where communion and fellowship with others takes place. And food or the bread we share is the vehicle for that communion and fellowship. Like everything else in the Tabernacle, the table and the bread of the Presence points us to Jesus and our relationship with Him. Jesus is the Bread of Life. He is the only One who can satisfy the longing of our souls, and our souls were created to be in relationship with Him. Our relationship with Jesus must be cultivated if we are going to grow spiritually and become more like Him. Jesus invites us to the table. He invites us to a full table. He invites us into intimate communion and fellowship with Himself. If you remember the bread was to always be on the table before the Lord. This means that Jesus is always available. We can come to the table at any time and in fact we should come all the time. He is our daily bread. We don’t have to make an appointment. We don’t have to stand in line. We don’t have to take a number. He is always present and available.

The question is how often do we take advantage of being in the presence of Jesus? How often do we commune with him? How often do we come to the table and enjoy fellowship with our Lord and Savior? I have used this picture before. Does your table look like this? (full table) Or like this? (empty table). I want to continue to challenge all of us as a body of believers to be people who come regularly, consistently, daily to the table and enjoy communion and fellowship with Jesus. That brings us to our last next step which is to Come daily to the table and enjoy full communion and fellowship with Jesus.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the provision of your Word, thank you for your financial provision for us and this church, thank you for providing your son, Jesus, as our Savior. Help us to trust in You to provide for us in all the ways we need. Help us to realize and understand that we daily need more of You, and that You daily want more of us. And Lord, give us an urgency to come daily to your table and enjoy full communion and fellowship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: Ryken’s Commentary on Exodus