In Exodus 25:23-30, we read about a table God told Moses to have made. It was constructed from acacia wood (which was a wood that would have been available in Egypt. It was a very dense hard wood with a beautiful grain pattern and was full of natural oils making it resistant to moisture and insects). It measured approximately three feet long, a foot and a half wide and about two feet three inches high. It was overlayed with pure gold with a gold molding about as wide as your hand. It had four golden rings, placed two on each side, just away from the corners. It also had a pole for each side made from the same acacia wood and overlayed with gold. These were used to carry the table. It had a number of dishes, pans, pitchers and bowls, all made from gold, to go along with it. The final thing was what it was named for. Twelve cakes of unleavened bread were placed on the table, with oil poured over them. They were to be set on the table and replaced every week. When replaced, the priests were to eat the bread. It was called, “The Table of Showbread,” or a table to show off the bread.
The bread was inside the Holy Place of the tabernacle and later in the temple. It served to remind the priests serving there that the bread was always available. God provided nourishment to His people. The bread was to always be there.
Jesus used bread in several of His illustrations and parables. That was because even the poorest of poor had bread. Many times in the Bible the word “bread” is used to represent the entire meal. It was plenteous and all could relate to it. It was in the hand of the beggar and on the table of the rich.
Jesus also told us that He was the bread of life (John 6:35, 48). He used Himself as bread to let us know that just as our food, and especially our bread, sustains life in our natural bodies, so He has given us the spiritual nourishment we need to live. His sacrifice and provision gave us life. He told His disciples that eventful night in the upper room, as He broke the bread and passed it around, that this was His body broken for mankind. He wasn’t telling them that the bread He passed around actually turned into His body. He wasn’t promoting cannibalism. He was illustrating how that His body, bruised and nailed to a cross, undid the curse God had to place upon mankind when man sinned in the Garden of Eden. He reversed the curse with the sacrifice of His own life.
Now we can be saved – literally saved from the doom of hell. Yes, without Christ, without accepting His sacrifice, we are going to hell. The only way to escape is by accepting Christ, what He did for us in both His sacrifice in death, and His glorious victory in the resurrection.
Some who are rich in our present world and economy like to show off what they have. They show off their expensive cars, homes, jewelry and their elaborately expensive meals. But if we have been saved from eternal death, and resurrected with Him into eternal life, then we really have something to show off. I don’t mean that we flaunt our Christianity and salvation in front of others like we are better than they are. No, but I mean that we can put our testimony of what Jesus did for us on full display. We aren’t ashamed to let others know that we have been saved. In fact, we want the provision Jesus gave to us to be “out there” so that others will want to be saved too.
Being saved doesn’t make any of us any better than anybody else. In fact, it may make us to be belittled in the eyes of the world. Those who oppose what Jesus taught and represents will tell us that we are old fashioned because we want to do the right thing morally. We aren’t any better than anyone else, just saved. And not just saved, but made blessed and happy – to the extent that we want others to be saved too! It isn’t that we are trying to trick people out of their money, or life, but that we have seen what lies ahead. We know that this world system is going to end in tragedy. We don’t want that for any one nor does God. In fact, that’s why Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the Good News of what He did for us – not to get people into our club but that they might miss the horrifically tragic end that this world is going to face.
We are showing off the bread – the Bread of Life – Jesus Christ. He will give us nourishment that nothing else in this world can offer. He will make us rich in salvation. Maybe not money. But He did promise us that He would provide all our needs.
I have to warn you, though. The world doesn’t like the bread we are showing off. The world and those bound by it, will hate us. They will persecute us. In some parts of this world they will try to kill us. That’s because the devil is influencing the world system right now. He doesn’t like it one little bit. He wants it stopped. He is the deceiver behind all the false religions of this world, including Islam. God doesn’t want to kill. But Islam does. So watch out, because it is becoming more and more dangerous to be a believer in Jesus Christ.
But just think of the benefits! This world can only show off eternal death. At best it can give you mere temporary pleasure and peace. It can only offer you something that won’t last past this life. But being a Christian? If we die, we live forever. If we are killed, we go on to be with Jesus. This world may bring persecution and pain, but it can never take away the peace of our eternal soul if we have committed ourselves to Jesus Christ.
How about it? Do you want this bread to show off in your life too? You can. All you must do is to repent of your sinful nature. Give yourself up to God. If you have been involved in sin and corruption, disown it. Give it up for Christ. Make a complete turn around in your life, confess Christ as your Savior and you will be given something worth showing off – the Eternal Bread!
— Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these.