“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height….And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table.” Exodus 25:23,30
May 3, 2023
We may not be aware of it but the location of rooms and furniture in a home sends messages about our living space. The Magnolia Network is a study in how homes can be radically altered to better utilize floor space. The tabernacle in Israel immediately tells us that the location of the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies (the innermost room) represents the throne of God and how He is to be approached. In the outer room, the holy place, a table was positioned on the right hand side (the north side). It spoke of how God meets the needs of His children. It was 3’ long, 1’6” wide, and 2’3” high made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Twelve loaves of bread represented the twelve tribes of Israel signifying the importance of the equality of God’s people. These loaves were eaten by the priests each Sabbath in the holy place. The bread constituted a perpetual thank offering to God for the blessings that they received from Him day to day. Most importantly, they pointed toward Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah, who was the bread of life (Jn. 6:32,35). As the bread of life, Jesus provides our daily bread physically and spiritually. As physical bread (food) satisfies our hunger, so spiritual bread, all that we have in Christ, meets our deepest needs. Are you finding that to be true in your daily life? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). Our government wishes to address the problem of loneliness in our nation. How futile. God has been asked to leave the room and we wonder why anxiety, depression, and loneliness are plaguing us.
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“O Lord, may I not fail to tell others that the Bread of Life has come down out of heaven, as the manna did for Israel. I am but one formerly blind beggar, who is tell other blind beggars where there is bread to be found.”