Culture of the Kingdom
Today’s Topic: Breaking of Bread: Bread of the Old Testament
Scripture: John 6:31; Exodus 6:14
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now we have examined the fact that there are various types of bread. There is physical bread and spiritual bread. We also have come to the understanding that God is using bread as a symbol of a eternal reality and we need to ask God to give us the revelation to the eternal meaning of that particular natural symbol.
In the Old Testament and one of the prominent situations referring to bread was when manna fell from Heaven. Now in John 6:31 it speaks of manna. The word “manna” means “what is it”?. But the story begins in Exodus 16:4:
“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. ‘
Now I like that, because the children of Israel, being in the wilderness, was just another opportunity to show the power of God. Remember in the Garden, man did not till the ground for food or refine grain but all He had to do was gather! But after the fall, man was to work by the sweat of his own brow and till the ground. Man had to find a way to meet his own needs, hence this type of work was a curse. But look at what God does here for Israel, He will provide them food that they did not water not till the ground for. He will provide it readily for them directly from Heaven for their nourishment. Now God continues to use bread to bring them closer to the eternal reality even though the true bread of life would not come for about another 1,500 years.
In Exodus 25 we see the directions for the making of the Ark of the Covenant but also in the same chapter we see this particular direction for making this special table made of shittim wood (Exodus 25:23). Now in Exodus 25:30 we see the direction from the Lord to set upon the table showbread before Him (Lord) always. Now this showbread was not just some arbitrary bread. It was called the Bread of His Presence. The table was known as the Table of Show Bread. Twelve loaves of bread would be put on that table every week on golden plates. Hence the table and the bread together is meant to show the presence of God. Now the Lord makes this declaration that will bring us in the next few messages full circle. Deuteronomy 8:3:
“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live”
What was the Lord leading them to try to understand? By making them put that bread on the Show Table and making the Deuteronomy 8:3 declaration God was trying to get them to understand that God fed them one type of bread, manna, in the wilderness but they still died but God was going to send another form of bread in the fullness of time that will bring life. The breaking of bread as an element of the Kingdom is to impart life to the believers.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
