ELUL MEDITATION DAY 25

BREAD OF HEAVEN

God instructed Moses to take the finest flour. He was to use this fine flour to bake twelve loaves of bread. Everything was to be carefully measured using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Have you ever wondered why this bread has come to be called The Bread of Heaven? Typically, most of us assume the bread represents Yeshua. Yes, that is correct. However, there is another reason.

For instance, when the bread is baked it is arranged in stacks. There are two stacks of six, or six loaves in each stack. A space is left between one set of six and the other set of six. Finally, these loaves are placed on the table made of pure gold in The Holy Place. Each stack has pure incense burning beside it. This serves as a memorial reminder to God that the bread being presented is a food offering. This bread is to be set before the LORD every Sabbath. The bread serves as a symbol of a lasting covenant.

A COVENANT-KEEPING GOD

Remember how a covenant is made? There are animal sacrifices cut in half and laid out on the ground with enough space for someone to walk through the middle of the pieces. The person walking through the two parts of the sacrifices with a smoking pot of fire is pledging to always keep the covenant. Picture it. Two sets of offerings, cut and separated. Like these two stacks of the bread of heaven which were stacked and seperated upon the altar. One reflects the other. The covenant keeper walks through with a smoking pot. There is a container of incense placed on the altar beside the bread. It also has smoke.

How could God see the shewbread on the golden table and not think of His covenant with Abraham? It was a constant reminder. The Bread of Heaven became a weekly memorial of the covenant Abraham made with God.

LASTING MEANS FOREVER

Notice the word “lasting” is used here.  A “lasting” covenant is a covenant that does not end. It goes on and on and on forever. The bread belonged to Aaron (as high priest) and his sons (as priests.) They were to eat the bread in the sanctuary area which was the most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the LORD.

Every week celebrated the everlasting covenant.

THE FINEST FLOUR

The ancient people called this bread the shew-bread. Every Sabbath the bread that had been on the table all week was removed. Two fresh stacks of bread were brought in thier place. This bread of the Sabbath was made from the finest flour. These were twelve large loaves. The twelve loaves represented each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Meanwhile, the baking process takes place every Friday afternoon before sunset. Therefore, the bread will always be fresh and warm when the Sabbath begins. These loaves are unleavened. Each loaf contains two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour. In modern measurements, this comes to about six pints of flour.

SABBATH RENEWAL

To clarify, one might ask what God means when He tells Moses to use “the finest flour,” This is required for this bread of heaven which will be offered up to God in The Holy Place, then fed to the High Priest and His Sons. Historical records explain twenty-four seahs of wheat are beaten and ground and passed through twelve different sieves. Consequently, each sieve is smaller than the other in a progressive order. Our lives are the wheat. We are the harvest.

Do you ever feel like your week is a time of sifting? Have you imagined how the old lumpy things are being sifted out of your life and fresh new things are being provided to replace them? Do you get these thoughts after your Sabbath rest has passed? The Sabbath nourishes our souls. We become refreshed, like the bread of the altar. Every week God is keeping the covenant, making all things new, fulfilling the promises He made to Abraham. All we have to do is bring the sacrifice of ourselves. He turns us into something useful for The Kingdom of God.

KNEADED INTO THE PROPER SHAPE

The dough is kneaded outside the court. Jesus was crucified outside the city. First, the dough is is put into a golden mold which holds the exact size, form, and shape God has requested. Yeshua Messiah was the exact, perfect sacrifice with no spots or blimishes (no sin.) Each loaf is just enough for one man and his neighbor to share. We accept the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. It is so good we want to pass the Gospel on to our neighbors too. We share the good news.

Second, The Bread of Heaven is brought into the court and taken out of the golden mold. The body of Christ was placed inside a tomb. Third, it is put into another mold and baked. He spent three days and three nights in the grave. Therefore, when the bread is turned out from this mold the cake meets the exact measurements required. Each loaf containes two omers of wheat, which is two tenth parts of an ephah. This is exactly enough for one man and his neighbor to share.

AN OMER OF BREAD, OUR DAILY BREAD

It seems that an omer, two-tenths of an ephah, of wheat is the quantity which supplies the daily wants of one human being who wishes to share with his neighbor. So, each of these loaves represent the food for one man and his neighbor.

Of course, we cannot read this part of the lesson without thinking of The Lord’s Prayer. We recall that section which says: “give us this day our daily bread.” More importantly, we know there is a type of “physical” bread as well as a type of “spiritual” bread. We can see this because we know Messiah, but this shewbread was mysterious to the ancient people.  They could see the physical bread, but the consecration of it gave the bread a mysterious, spiritual, and sacred quality. It was something they did not yet understand.

Think of the process of making the fine flour. In the same vein, recall the processes of bringing the bread before the altar of God. Every step of the way represents a part of the coming, living, dying and resurrection of Messiah. It symbolizes the way He provides for our daily needs and redemption. This process of making the shewbread, or The Bread of Heaven, is an amazing foretelling of the story of Messiah. With all of this ancient ritual comes an act repeated time-after-time and year-after-year for thousands of years by God’s people.

A SABBATH CEREMONY

The shewbread is brought in by a ceremony each Sabbath. The Mishna states that two priests carry the piles of bread inside (six in each stack.) Additionally, two priests carry the cups of incense to place near the bread. Likewise, another set of priests carry the old bread away. Those priests who brought in the new bread stand at the north side facing southwards. The priests taking away the old bread (4 more priests) stand at the south side facing northward. Each priest has a place to be and a task to perform.

Older bread is lifted off the table. New bread is lifted onto the table. The loaves being removed are taken to the priests for their consumption within the tabernacle. All of this amounts to seventy-five pounds of bread per week. In addition, the old loaves are removed at the same time the frankincense is burned on the golden altar of incense. This is for a memorial, or an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

TRANSLATING THIS CEREMONY INTO MODERN TIMES

Does anything sound familiar here? Do you participate in the act of communion? Today, with the covering of Yeshua Messiah, His faithful followers are considered to be a special priesthood. Yeshua Messiah stands as the High Priest for today. His Sons, His followers made up of believers, now stand as the ordinary priests of His Kingdom.

As a result, we come to the altar. We are given special bread. This bread is consecrated and mysterious. The bread contains elements of life-giving healing and strength. It is exactly what we need to survive, thrive, and be nurtured as God’s children.  

THE SYMBOLISM

The memorial fire burns from the incense beside it. This incense comes from the eternal flame of God’s Holy altar. Today we know this eternal flame is symbolic of God’s Holy Spirit. This is the eternal flame that keeps the sacred bread alive and working in our lives.  

We remember God’s covenant as we remember Messiah and all He has done for us. Now we know and understand what the ancients did not. Consequently, we come to the table. The bread we are given is called the same as the bread given in the Old Testament, The Bread of The Presence. In the bread we know Him. More importantly, in our hearts we know Him. The attribute of Presence is our blessing. This is one of the most mysterious parts of God’s nature, His ability to be present with mankind.

THE MYSTERY OF THE SACRED BREAD OF HEAVEN

We take this bread into our bodies. It symbolically represents the fact that we are consuming Jesus into our souls. He lives within us. It is a holy mystery. Anyone who has participated in this holy act of communion has experienced the truth of it. The more you partake of communion, the more Jesus grows and lives within your heart.

The ancient priests consuming the bread within the wilderness sanctuary are comparable to us consuming the Bread of The Presence at communion today. We are a peculiar people and a holy priesthood. Our High Priest is our LORD Jesus Christ who lived, died and rose again for us.  

He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Beloved, Who will come again. We know Him as The Perfect Lamb of God, The Lion of Judah. The Bread of Heaven speaks of Him. He is the Bread of Life.

A RITUAL OF GOD ALMIGHTY

Holy Communion isn’t a ritual that men made up themselves.  What would be the purpose in such a thing? God commanded this ritual to be among His people from the very beginning of the formation of the pattern of holiness He was forming into this nation called Israel. He called us to observe this every Passover. This is how God taught the people to worship. They set the pattern for everyone who would follow in the future.

Every Sabbath we are to partake of the Bread of Heaven. It is made of the finest flour which is presented to The People of God who make up the holy priesthood of heaven. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, administers the blessing that multiplies the nourishment to our souls. He fills our days with awe for God The Father.

A CONTINUOUS UNCHANGING PATTERN

It all started way back in the days of Moses. How many such rituals do you know of that have continued unchanged throughout the history of mankind?

Nothing compares to this amazing act of taking the Bread of Heaven into our lives and letting it multiply out through our actions into God’s world. This is one way that our bodies are able to take on a reflection of the nature of God. The Bread of The Presence is like the loaves and the fishes from the sermon on the Mount. It mysteriously multiplies out to every corner of the earth through the actions of our love for God.

This is what changes everything. In the eyes of God, this is what is necessary, right, and good. The meaning of Holy Communion grows and multiplies as you continue to partake. It should never be skipped over or taken lightly. This act should always be treated with great and sacred respect.

God set the pattern for the faithful.

It is God’s nature to love to teach us how to be faithful.

VERSE

Matthew 26:26-28: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'”

PRAYER

Father, May we always know the joy of Your Presence among us. Thank you for sending Yeshua to us. He is The Bread of Life. He provided the blood for the blood covenant that lasts forever. Amen.

SONG

WE COME TO YOUR FEAST by Michal Joncashttps://youtu.be/He1viPvFXzc?si=0vkFdMxhRC1o7H5k.