Showbread

• Twelve cakes of fine flour.

  Leviticus 24:5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.

• Called hallowed bread.

  1 Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

• Materials for, provided by the people.

  Leviticus 24:8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

  Nehemiah 10:32-33 Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God; 33 For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

⇒See SHOWBREAD in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

• Prepared by Levites.

  1 Chronicles 9:32 And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.

  1 Chronicles 23:29 Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;

• Placed in two rows on the table by the priests.

  Exodus 25:30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

  Exodus 40:23 And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

  Leviticus 24:6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.

⇒See Showbread in McClintock and Strong.

• TABLE OF,
• Dimensions, &c. of.

  Exodus 25:23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

• Covered with gold.

  Exodus 25:24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

• Had an ornamental border.

  Exodus 25:25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

• Had staves of shittim wood covered with gold.

  Exodus 25:28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

• Had rings of gold in the corners for the staves.

  Exodus 25:26-27 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. 27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

• Had dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls of gold.

  Exodus 25:29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

• Placed in the north side of the tabernacle.

  Exodus 40:22 And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail.

  Hebrews 9:2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

• Directions for removing.

  Numbers 4:7 And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

• Pure frankincense placed on.

  Leviticus 24:7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

• Was changed every Sabbath day.

  Leviticus 24:8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

• After removal from the table given to the priests.

  Leviticus 24:9 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.

• Not lawful for any but the priests to eat, except in extreme cases.

  1 Samuel 21:4-6 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

  Matthew 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

• ILLUSTRATIVE OF
• Christ as the bread of life.

  John 6:48 I am that bread of life.

• The Church.

  1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

  1 Corinthians 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.