Exodus 25:30

[Guest Guest]

So, I'm reading along in Exodus and I get to this in chapter 25:30:

"You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times."

and I wondered what that refers to? What is the bread of the Presence?? I read that a bunch of times as a Protestant, but I never thought about it. Now it jumped out at me... but I don't know if it's a precursor to the Eucharist or what...

Thanks.

[Laudate_Dominum]

The bread of the presence refers to the "showbread" which the Levites make and used ceremonially.

Leviticus 24:5 – 9 - "You are to take fine flour and use it to bake twelve loaves, one gallon per loaf. Arrange them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure table before God. Put frankincense with each row to be an offering made by fire to God in place of the bread and as a reminder of it. Regularly, every Sabbath, he is to arrange them before God; they are from the people of Israel, as a covenant forever. They will belong to Aaron and his sons; and they are to eat them in a holy place; because for him they are, of the offerings for God made by fire, especially holy."

You are correct in thinking this is a precursor to the Eucharist. The showbread is a very strong symbol, foreshadowing, or type of the Eucharist.

I wil list some of the symbolic content of the showbread, particularly in relation to the Eucharist.

1. There were twelve loaves which indicates the twelve tribes of Israel.
2. Frankincense was burned by the bread which indicates sacrifice and offering to God. (this prefigures the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist).
3. The bread represents Israel in need of redemption (calls to mind mana, passover, 12 tribes, sacrificial offering, etc..)
4. The 12 loaves are unleavened and symbolically pure and "without sin", the Messiah would be pure and without sin and would offer himself as the sacrifice for our sins and would become our bread. The Israel of God in the New Covenant is the Body of Christ, this bread to some extend prefigures the Eucharist as the Body of Christ in the corporate sense, we are united to Christ, and to each other through Christ in the Eucharist.
5. Paul makes references to partaking of the table of the Lord which call to mind the showbread, yet he was referring to the Eucharist.
6. The configuration of the table on which the showbread laid is interesting. Twelve loaves arranged in two rows with an arrangement of bowls, cups and things which suggests the configuration of the last supper table with the twelve Apostles (perhaps in two rows at the table) at table with Christ. The incense then representing the High Priest, namely Christ Himself who instituted the Last Supper and the Priesthood of the New Covenant.
7. The bread was considered a burnt offering from Israel to God, yet the bread was not burned. Instead it was eaten by the priests. This prefigures the sacrifice of the Mass in which the bloody Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary is re-presented in an unbloody manner and then we eat the Eucharist.

I could go on, but I don't like long posts on the Q&A. The main point is that it is a two-fold symbol for the Eucharist. It represents the Eucharist as Christ's Body on the one hand, and as the Body of Christ on the other. It is a profound Old Testament shadow to contemplate. Thank you for your post!

God bless you.