DISCOURSE III.

THE TABLE OF SHEW-BREAD.

EXODUS XXV. 30.

And thou shalt set upon the table shew-bread before me alway.

THERE are various significations of the term table in holy Scripture. Of course, the natural and obvious sense is that of a frame of wood, made for domestic and social uses as when David would show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, by allowing them to eat with Solomon at the royal table. 1 Kings ii. 7. In one instance, we find the table of the Lord called an altar, and God complains by Malachi, Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar, that is, manifestly, upon the table of shew-bread. In the pride and arrogancy of a corrupt and degenerate people, they reply, Wherein have we polluted thee? and the Lord tells them, In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. Mal. i. 7. This table was the table of the sanctuary or of the temple, and the incidental mention of the dishonour done to it, evinces clearly the sanctity and the importance attached to it in the will and purposes of Jehovah. The same term is also synonymous with food or provision, whether for the sustentation of soul

Ps. lxix. 22. Prov. ix. 2.

or body. Hence, God prepares a table before us, both in Providence and grace; and with especial reference to the provisions of his sanctuary, does he say, Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. Ps. xxiii. 5. Cant. v. 1. Our blessed Lord, moreover, leads the anticipations of his disciples forward to a scene of incomparable glory and felicity under the figure of a table, and a free participation of it with himself, as he says, And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke xxii. 29, 30. What shall be the blessedness of such a state, who can conceive? or what the exalted dignity of personal and immediate communion with the Son of God, who can declare? We can only now exclaim, in the language of the holy Psalmist, Oh! how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Ps. xxxii. 19. Oh yes: for, how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. Zech. ix. 17. Blessed truly are they that are called to the marriagesupper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Rev. xix. 9. A royal pavilion, Jer. xliii. 10, with royal dainties, Gen. xlix. 20, combined with royal majesty, 1 Chron. xxix. 15, in royal apparel of blue and white, Esth. viii. 15, will not be deemed too glowing a portrayal of the blessedness reserved for a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people. 1 Pet. ii. 9. It will indeed be the feast of love: the infinite resources of infinite Deity will spread the table, and thereat shall

we realize in the full fruition of our blessed hope the merciful goodness of the great Tri-unity. The gracious call to this superlatively glorious supper, will infallibly secure our free participation of it.

The table, however, which demands our immediate attention, is the table of shew-bread in the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness: this we will now proceed to notice :

I. Its literal designation;

And, II. Its spiritual adaptation.

And, I. Its literal designation.

The same materials which formed the ark of the covenant, entered into the composition of the table of shew-bread; namely, shittim-wood and gold. If in the one they might betoken durability and splendour, we can see no valid objection why they may not receive the same interpretation in the other. Additionally to a rim or crown of gold surrounding the holy table, a border or wreath of the same precious metal was also to encompass it, and with this remarkable peculiarity; the crown of gold and the border were to be placed in immediate connexion with each other, and over against (in the sense of resting upon or fixing) the border, were placed the rings whereby the table should be carried in the journeys of the people. Ex. xxxvii. 10-16. Without venturing any positive assertion, where the light of revelation does not distinctly guide our steps, we think it quite allowable to direct your faith from the enwreathing border of the table, with its accompanying rings and crown of gold, to that eternally enduring covenant by which immortal life is secured unto believers in Jesus,

sealed as that covenant is by the unchangeable counsel and oath of Almighty God, Heb. vi. 17, 18, and consumated as it will eventually be in the glorification of the Christian's body. Phil. iii. 20, 21. For, the exalted destiny awaiting the Redeemer's people, stands in immediate connexion with a purpose and a grace given unto them in Christ Jesus before the world began, 2 Tim. i. 9. Therefore it is that in pursuance of this gracious purpose, Jehovah says, I will cause you to pass under the rod-as a shepherd calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out, affixing to each as it passes in review before him, his own peculiar mark --and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. Ex. xx. 37; John x. 3. Rings are deemed emblematical of eternity, and golden rings would seem to imply a state of eternal purity and bliss: I am the Lord; I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Mal. iii. 6. The table of the true tabernacle, thus encompassed by immutability and crowned with glory, will furnish a provision which shall richly verify all God's faithfulness and truth in the experience of his favoured servants.

We may here appropriately notice, in passing, the various utensils wherewith the holy table and the tabernacle generally were supplied. Those of the table of shew-bread were required to be wholly of gold. There were others of brass, and some of still more inferior metal. Although, however, differing in quality and in capacity, and assigned also to various uses, yet were all the vessels necessary: all were manufactured by divine command and under a divine direction: even the least important of the sacred vessels were hallowed unto the Lord, and a simple cup could not be wanting without detriment to the fulness of the tabernacle-furniture.

To this purport does St. Paul strikingly remark, In a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; some to honour and some to dishonour; that is, some for more and some for less honourable purposes: if a man therefore, continues the apostle, purge himself from such teachers as Hymeneus and Philetus, who, concerning the doctrine of the resurrection, had erred, stating that the resurrection was passed already, making it probably a mystical or spiritual event; and from those things which tend to departure from the true faith of the Gospel, reserving himself for the exclusive service of God, and yielding his powers, mental and bodily, to the purification of the Spirit; he should be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21. Still, what honour and advancement soever God may graciously confer upon us, let us remember that like the wealth of the Israelites in the possession of the Egyptians, we were once the property of another master, and that our present station in the household of faith is altogether of favour and not of debt. Although, therefore, we may be precious as gold in the regards of our God, let us be earthen in our own esteem. 2 Cor. iv. 7. Moreover, although we may not be adorned or gifted as some of our more exalted brethren may be, yet let us judge it honour sufficient for us to serve the Lord with what ability soever his merciful benignity has bestowed upon us. All the vessels of the upper sanctuary will be beautiful and glorious: no one shall depreciate or over-rate another there; yea, the time approaches, even upon earth, when the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar, and every vessel in Judah and in Jerusalem, shall be holi