Maurice. Marie. Marie or Maurice. Maurice. Maurice. Maurice. Maurice. Maurice. Maurice. Yes. Like Maurice Montgomery.
That Maurice. She said it was Marie. It was
wrong. I didn't say that question. And also, also John Queen's son, whose
also name was John, wasn't it? Yeah, died, he was 20 years old
and had leukemia. So remember them folks in your
prayer, they lost a loved one. Continue to remember Arlene and
her family, lost Fred. And we're thankful that Crow's
feeling better. He's over most of it, except
for the cough. He's still got a little bit of
a cough, but he's doing good. So continue to remember them
in your prayers. Hymn number 228, My Faith Has
Found a Resting Place. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever-living One. His words for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. and that he died for me. Enough for me that Jesus says
this, it's my fear and doubt. A sinful soul I come to I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. written word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name,
salvation through His blood. I need no other argument know
what a plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. My great physician heals the
sick His precious blood He shed for
me, His life He gave. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, M number 15, brethren, we have
meant to worship. Brethren, we have meant to worship
and adore the Lord. ? All your power while we try to
preach the word ? ? All is vain unless the spirit of the Holy
One comes down ? ? Brethren, pray and holy manner will be
shown ? brethren see poor sinners round
you slumbering on the brink of war. Death is coming, hell is
moving, can you bear to Let them go. See our fathers and our mothers
and our children sinking down. Brethren, pray and holy manna
will be showered all around. Sisters, will you join and help
us? Moses' sister, believe in Him. Will you help the trembling mourners? ? Tell them all about the Savior
? ? Tell them that He will be found ? ? Sisters, pray and holy
manna ? ? Will be showered all around ? Let us love our God
supremely. Let us love each other too. Let us love and pray for sinners
till our God makes all things new. ? Then he'll call us home
to heaven ? At his table we'll sit down ? Christ will gird himself
and serve us ? With sweet manna all around If you have your Bibles, turn
to Exodus chapter 25. I'm going to read verses twenty-three through
thirty. Next is twenty-five, twenty-three.
Thou shalt also make a table of shedim wood, two cubits shall
be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit
and a half the height thereof. Thou shalt overlay it with pure
gold, Make thereto a crown of gold round about. Now shall make
in the border of a half breadth round about. Now shall make a
golden crown to the border thereof round about. Now shall make it
for four rings of gold and put the rings in the four corners
that are in the four feet thereof. Over against the border shall
the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. Now
shall make the stays of shed and wood, overlay them with gold,
with the table may be born with them. Now shall make dishes thereof,
and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof to
cover with all. Of pure gold shall thou make
them. Now shall set upon the table showbread before me all
the way. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank
you for your word. Thank you for the instruction
therein, for the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the
teaching that so plainly sets forth what we are and what our
great need is, and for the great blessings you have bestowed on
your children, blessings of mercy and grace, the forgiveness of
sin, justification, sanctification, redemption, wisdom, all these
things you have given to your children freely. They've not
earned one bit of it. You've given it all. in spite
of what they were and are. We know, Father, that we, by
and of ourselves, there's no good in our flesh. We know that
with our flesh we seek that which is wrong and sinful. We're thankful
that you have given us your spirit. And by your grace, your spirit
does subdue our flesh. We're thankful that we know we
sin, but we know that You have forgiven us our sin by the blood
of Jesus Christ, having fully accepted his sacrifice on our
behalf. We are still in wonder of this,
amazed fully that you have done this for your children. We know
that thou art God and there is none like you, none beside you. You do as you please. You have
done whatever you have pleased in heaven and earth and all the
deep places. We know that you do according to your will and
the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. The whole earth
is yours and the fullest thereof and all the inhabitants therein.
And we are thankful that you do rule and reign in this universe.
We thought for a moment that that wasn't so. That one thing
was out of control. We'd be full of fear and dread. But we know that everything that
happens, happens for the good of your people. controlled by
you for the good of your people and for the glory of your name's
sake. Father, we pray for those who are sick, those who are going
through trials, those who are shut in. Pray for those who've
lost a loved one, especially Arlene and her family as they
mourn the loss of Fred. And pray you'd continue to meet
with them and do what only you can do. Be their comfort and
their guide. Speak to their heart and mind.
Wake them in the morning with the thoughts of Thee, and put
them to bed at night with thoughts of Thee. I'm thankful that Brother
Crow's doing better. We're thankful that he's recovering
from that sickness. Pray for Wayne Rain, that this
injury that he has will be healed. Pray for the others that have
requested prayer, the Queen family that's lost a loved one, for
the Colonoheskey family that's lost a loved one. We ask, Lord,
Your tender mercies for them. and help us tonight as we gather
here, Father, to worship you as we look at these elements
of the tabernacle as they set forth the glories of our Lord
Jesus Christ and what he's done for us. Help us to see it and
to appreciate it and give you thanksgiving and praise for it.
We pray in Christ's name, amen. Now this is the second item revealed
in the construction of the tabernacle. and it's called the Table of
Showbread. And the order of construction revealed is not a picture of
the way the tabernacle was set up. These two items don't go
in line as we look into the tabernacle. If you can imagine, and I started
to draw this out, but I thought my drawing is so poor it'd probably
look like a stick figure, so I didn't do it. But it's the
section of the tabernacle, that which enclosed the whole thing,
was a large structure, a pretty large structure, not large by
today's means as far as buildings go, but generally to think that
this was set up in the midst of any particular area of the
wilderness, it was pretty large. On the outside of it was white
linen curtains. They were stuck into the ground
with silver things that plunged down into the earth and held
them. These curtains were all white linen. And at one gate
at the east end, And inside there was an inner court, which consisted
of the brazen altar where the burnt offerings were made, where
the beasts were killed and blood was shed. Then you had what was
called the brazen laver, which was a large vessel that was filled
with water fresh every day for the priest to wash with it. And then next in line toward
the back of the structure was a 45 by 15 foot enclosure open
on one end, and it was a cubicle. The area was divided into two
sections, and the first 30 by 15 contained three elements,
three things, three pieces of furniture. On the right side,
on the north side, was the table of showbread, which we'll look
at tonight. On the left side was the lampstand, called the
candlestick. The Jewish call it the menorah.
And in the middle, up against the veil of the Holy of Holies,
was the altar of incense, or what is also called the Golden
Altar. Now this area was called the Holy Place. This 15 by 30
foot area was called the Holy Place. The last area, which is
almost against the back wall of the tabernacle opening, was
called the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. It was 15
by 15, and there was one element in that, the first element we've
already looked at, and that was the Ark of the Covenant, which
was covered by the Mercy Seat. This was the in-line placement,
if you can imagine that, brazen altar, brazen laver, and the
next thing over here was the Table of Showbread, The lampstand,
the golden alternate behind the veil was the Ark of the Covenant,
the straight line as that was set up. However, the revelation
of the elements is different. It doesn't go piece by piece
as you look into the tabernacle. The revelation of it goes in
a whole different way. First mentioned are the elements
that compose the tabernacle proper. The first thing is the thing
mentioned that's in the Holy of Holies. The only thing that
occupies a singular thing in the whole place is this Ark of
the Covenant with the mercy seat. That's the first thing we looked
at. That's the first thing he reveals. After he says, get all
this stuff together, gather all these elements together, we're
going to build this tabernacle, the first thing he sets forth
is the Ark of the Covenant. that is covered with the mercy
seat. And that revealed, we saw the communion with God. God said,
I will commune with my people here above the mercy seat. And
as we looked at that, we know that spoke of the propitiation
of the Lord Jesus Christ when God was satisfied by Christ's
sacrifice for our sins. When he died the death that we
owed God and paid that debt for us, then God was satisfied. Propitiation,
the word mercy seat in the Old Testament is atonement. in the
New Testament the word mercy seat is propitiation or satisfaction
for God. Where does God meet His people?
He only meets them in Jesus Christ. God will not speak to nor will
He be spoken to by anybody except through a mediator and the one
mediator between men and God is the Lord Jesus Christ. So
the first thing mentioned is the last thing in the tabernacle.
the furthest thing away from the eastern gate that entered
into the tabernacle. The first thing mentioned to
us is the Ark of the Covenant. Now the next piece of furniture
was the Table of Showbread. That's the next thing mentioned.
It also is not in order of the furniture that goes into the
tabernacle. You've got the brazen altar, you've got the brazen
laver, and you have this 30 by, 45 by 15 area, and the first
30 feet of it, over on the right side, on the north side, you
have something called the Table of Showbread. The Table of Showbread. It was to be placed in the Holy
Place, that is that 30 by 15 foot area called the Holy Place. Now it was approximately three
feet long and 18 inches wide and some 24 inches tall, so it
was not a big unit. big unit. It was made of shidum wood overlaid
with gold and we know that picture is the humanity and the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it had a crown around the
edges. That simply means he had what looked like a crown. You
know what a crown looks like. It's got points on it. And that's what they called it
a crown. The English probably didn't have a word for it in
the Hebrew so they called it a crown because that's what it
looked like. All around the edges of the top were a crown. Four
gold rings were attached to it, excuse me, on each of the corners.
And then four staves of shidom wood, overlaid with gold, were
made into the table. The same elements represent the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now that was for carrying it.
As with the ark, the table was made to be carried. It was made
to be carried. Why? This suggests something,
suggests readiness. Suggests readiness. Now remember
where they are. It's just the beginning of the journey. But
for the next 40 years, they're going to be traveling all over
the wilderness, here and there and everywhere else. Now, as
we looked in a study of numbers, it was only 11 days journey.
If you have been watching the news lately, looking at Egypt
and Israel, they're next to each other. One borders the other.
One borders the other. And yet there was a diversion
taking them out to the Willards area that didn't let them go
into Canaan. They could have just 11 days walk and they'd
have been to that place. But no, no. So they're out there
40 years. This structure had to be ready
to take down to travel whenever the Lord moved that cloud because
they moved when the cloud moved in numbers we saw that also it
had to be constructed and to be reconstructed and put together
so that's why they were it was made to travel so when that cloud
began to move they took this this uh... tabernacle down they
took down the linen curtains they pulled the silver stakes
out of the ground they uh... they covered up the ark the high
priest went in there and covered up the ark with four layers they
took down the curtains they took down the veils and they hauled
everything and when that cloud stopped they set it back up again
that's the way it was done so they had to be made to travel
that's why these rings and staves were in there now in this with
this table also there were to be constructed twelve each of
spoons in bowls and plates with covers that were used to bake
and transport and place the bread on the table. So there's 12 loaves
of bread were put on that table once a week, once every seven
days. The 12 loaves of bread and they
were sprinkled with frankincense to flavor them. But frankincense
is not a sweet flavor. You think maybe it's like cinnamon
toast, no. Frankincense is bitter. But these
were sprinkled with frankincense, and it was done for flavor. Frankincense
is a bitter spice, and you remember when they came out of Egypt on
the night of the Passover, they ate the lamb, fully ate the whole
lamb, and they ate unleavened bread with bitter herbs. So this
may be a reference to that. They ate this unleavened bread,
these loaves of unleavened bread, with bitter spice, which was
frankincense. The bread was left on the table
for seven days. For seven days. It was untouched.
It was untouched. The way it was prepared, I'm
not sure, but they said some of these pans were probably used
for baking, and then the plates that they sat upon were solid
gold. sitting on top of this table
and there were twelve loaves of bread for the twelve tribes
of Israel. Now we know that the twelve tribes
of Israel translate to the all of Israel or the Israel of God
in the New Testament. After the seven days were up,
the bread was replaced. Now when the bread was replaced,
the bread that was removed from the table after seven days was
eaten by the priests. The priest, this was the food
of the priest as they attended in the tabernacle. They had a
course of service. Maybe it was a seven day course
because they didn't sit down. They didn't, they might be able
to lean against something I reckon, but they didn't sit down. All
the work was done 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But on the
seventh day, they got to eat the bread. New bread was put
on the table. New bread was baked. Twelve loaves
put on the table. And the priest ate bread. They
ate it while they were standing. There was no place to sit. There
was no place to rest in the tabernacle because under that old covenant,
no work was ever done. All of this stuff was actually
happening, but it was also symbolic and pictured and metaphorical
of things that were happening in the new covenant. So they
were not able to see it. But the table did speak of some
day when the work was finished and the result of the work was
done. We know from Peter's epistle
that the church of the living God is called priests. We are
the priesthood. You are the priesthood. Remember
God made us kings and priests. When Christ died for us, He made
us priests and kings unto our God. So you are the priesthood. What does that mean? You offer
the sacrifices unto God, acceptable by Jesus Christ and according
to 1 Peter. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, unto God. So the
priests work in this tabernacle, representing the church of the
living God. The bread on the table was food
for the priests. And what is the food for the
church? It's the bread of life. The Lord Jesus Christ, the bread
on the table was pierced bread. I don't know exactly how that
looked, but that bread was pierced through and through. Whether
it had one piercing in it or three piercings, I don't know.
But it spoke of the Lord being pierced in His hands, feet, and
His side. So their food was the pierced
bread. So they feed on Christ and Him
crucified. That's what the church feeds
on today. That's why we preach the gospel continually because
that's the message of the gospel. It's Christ and him crucified.
That is the food of the priesthood. That's your food. That's what
we dine on. It's called a feast of fat things
on the wine, on the leaves and well refined. The feast of God,
the fat belongeth to the Lord. So the Ark spoke of communion
with God. That's what the Ark spoke of.
Now it's going to speak of other things as we go on in this study
and look through Leviticus. We'll find that this Ark speaks
of a whole lot more. But right now, see the Tabernacle
has not been erected. The brazen altar has not been
made. The brazen laver has not been made. The candlestick hasn't
been made. The table of showbread hasn't
been made. These are the instructions on what to do for it. None of it exists except in the
promise that God has given that these things must be done in
order to have a place where they'll meet with God. But that hasn't
happened yet. So this is all preemptive, if
you will. It's a prequel to what goes on. The time of these writings, none
of these elements have been brought together or placed in the tabernacle
which had not been constructed. These things spoke of something
else, as all the Old Testament does. They spoke of greater things,
of better things that were out there somewhere in the future
that would be fully realized and fulfilled in the substitutionary
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is where these things will
be fulfilled. As the record of his accomplishment is declared
in the preaching of the gospel, the priesthood gathers, but they're
not standing anymore. They're sitting now, resting
because the work of redemption is finished. Back then, none
of that stuff made anything go away. None of that stuff satisfied
God. Even when all these things did
come together, the tabernacle was erected, and later the temple
was erected. The Day of Atonement was repeated every year because
no sin was ever omitted. No sin was ever put away. But
it's different now, you see. The priesthood now gathers around
this table to feed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're sitting.
They're resting in Christ in fellowship with Him around the
table feasting on the true bed of heaven pierced for them because
the work is done. That's what the table and showbed
represents. But the final thing revealed
about this bread in the context is found in verse 30. Says, And
thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me always, or
all way. The bread is ever before the
Lord. The bread is. How about the priest? Don't mention the priest. The
bread. God's eyes are on this bread.
Always upon this bread. Though in the future the priests
will bake and prepare and season and eat this bread in the Old
Testament, they are not the object of God's interest! They are not
the object! The bread is! The priests today,
the Church, the members of His Body are where? In Christ! They are IN Christ! But of God! are you in Him who God has made
Him to be unto us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. In Ephesians chapter one the
whole shooting match in the first fourteen verses and really throughout
the whole chapter of the whole epistle of Ephesians is about
being in Jesus Christ. God's eyes are upon the bread. Did you know the church is called
the bread? in first corinthians chapter
ten verse seventeen says this for we being many are one breed
we being many are one breed and one body for we are partakers
of that one breed believers are in christ and god's eyes are
on christ he sees us as part and parcel with his son he's
looking at his son but christ is the head of the church and
the church is his mystical body he says we are one with him he
said his church is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone so
god is looking at us in jesus christ aren't you glad he don't
look at you in you his eyes are always on jesus christ you can't
do anything to impress god But Christ has seriously impressed
God. And He is the only one human
being that ever lived upon the face of this earth that impresses
God. He impressed Him completely.
He satisfied Him. God sees us as part and parcel
with His Son. Christ is the only one that impresses
the Father in His great predestinated purpose. He predestinated His
elect to be conformed to the image of His Son. We fellowship
where? where the bread is. We gather
around the table as priests, we gather around the table in
fellowship. We fellowship at the place where
God's eyes are always upon one thing, and that is the pierced
bread, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why our Lord often said,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well satisfied or well pleased. Father, bless this to understanding
we pray in Christ's name. Amen. All right.