Unexpectedly we find information here about the “shewbread” (using the name for it popularized in the Book of Exodus) that is not supplied anywhere else in Scripture! (Called “shewbread/showbread” because it was to be placed “before the FACE of Almighty God” within the Tabernacle’s Holy Place! So He could SEE it and be delighted in it! This Bread undoubtedly represents Jesus as the BREAD OF LIFE! That’s why God so pleased with it, so intent in gazing upon it!)

Yet … Numbers 24:5-9 (today’s Text) does NOT use the term “shewbread” at all! Here we simply have “twelve cakes!”

“5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake TWELVE CAKES thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. 6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. 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. 8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 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.”

Let’s study …

Twelve cakes … representative of the Twelve Tribes of Israel … enough Food to meet everyone’s needs! Enough Jesus! (Same idea as the twelve stones on the High Priest’s Breastplate … enough Love (worn on the Priest’s chest, over his heart) to go around to everyone!

“Two tenth deals” … in verse 5 above … equals about two gallons of flour, fine flour! Pretty big loaves! Implying that Jesus is more than enough for all our needs!

Amen!

“Set in rows,” two rows in fact … a picture of Jesus being organized (no chaos) and aesthetically (spiritually too) pleasing to His Father’s Eyes! (“Altogether Lovely,” so says Song of Solomon!)

And the “frankincense” … typified the sweet Aroma Jesus brought to His Father’s Nostrils! A “sweet savour” Offering if you will recall Leviticus chapters 1 through 3, those Offerings. When frankincense is burned (gets hot as in an oven) it emits the sweetest smell imaginable!

This Bread was also to be “always fresh” being changed every week, every Sabbath! (Verse 8 above.) And need I even say it? Jesus too is always Fresh, never Stale!

Then, last of all, Aaron and his sons (the priests) could EAT that bread every week! (Verse 9 above.) Feeding upon Jesus our Lord! As is depicted in Psalm 34:3 … “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”

What a paragraph today, instructing the Priests of ancient Israel how to respect the Bread of God!

By the way, if you are saved … you too in God’s Eyes are a priest! Enjoy Jesus then … all day long!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Yes, Revelation 1:6 says God … “hath made us kings and PRIESTS unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Wow!

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Our chapter (after quite a while in Leviticus 23) begins with a bit of instruction regarding the “pure candlestick” in the “Holy Place” of the Tabernacle.

The Paragraph is brief and can be shared in its entirety. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.” Leviticus 24:1-4

I believe this candlestick is a Picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Piece of Furniture is the only source of light within the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. (Now in the Most Holy Place the very Shekinah Glory of God would have been the Light! At least at times.)

Jesus as Light? Of course so … John 8:12 … “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.”

He too is the Light that burns “continually!” An adverb meaning “always.” That is, in perpetuity. Faithful Jesus!

This Beauty is also called the “pure” candlestick. And in Hebrew “tahor” means “clean, fair (as in lovely), free from any defilement.” That’s a Pattern of our sinless Jesus! (Our Saviour … “Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” Hebrews 7:26)

And the “oil?” I suspect an Emblem of God the Holy Spirit. Who empowered and sustained Jesus while He was on earth. (John 3:34 … “For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: FOR GOD GIVETH NOT THE SPIRIT BY MEASURE UNTO HIM.” Speaking of Jesus again, Whom God hath sent.) An immeasurable Supply of the Holy Ghost upon/within our Lord!

And yes, the Holy Spirit (the Oil here) is too “pure.” (After all, He is God!) And the Godhead is indeed impeccable! (Of Latin origin: meaning “not able to sin!”)

But the oil as “beaten?” I sense the Holy Spirit too (as was Jesus) was “grieved” again and again by the old sinful world … as the Darling Son of God walked its paths two thousand years ago! Hurt and crushed as men rejected Truth day after day.

But lastly, get this too. The Jewish “people” themselves were to bring the oil to the Sanctuary! “Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure OIL olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.” Verse 2 above.

Like the Tribe of Asher, for example … with its favorable location up north where olive trees grew so abundantly. (Moses blessing Asher … “And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, AND LET HIM DIP HIS FOOT IN OIL.” Deuteronomy 33:24, olive oil, and lots of it. To give to God for worship!)

Yes … God wants His people to be involved in worship!

To share in its delights!

In fact, ancient Israelites (as I suspect so do modern-day Christians) had a responsibility to bring something, a gift, when they came to worship God! Here’s proof …

“Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: AND THEY SHALL NOT APPEAR BEFORE THE LORD EMPTY. Every man shall GIVE as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.” Deuteronomy 16:16-17, and that giving apparently included “pure, beaten olive oil.”

Practical Lessons indeed.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Not only was that eight day span of time (the whole Feast of Tabernacles observed in Jerusalem) a time of remembrance.

And not only was it a time of rejoicing!

But it was also a time of worship, seriously so.

And Numbers chapter 29 specifies the Offerings that were to be given unto the Lord during those special days of “Tabernacles.”

For example, on the first day of Tabernacles … “And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish: and their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams, and a several tenth deal to each lamb of the fourteen lambs: and one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.” Numbers 29:13-16

Then, though the list is too long to show each day … “And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot: and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner: and one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof, and their drink offerings.” Verses 17-29

And so on …

The best I can tell, a total of 199 animals were sacrificed to God during those days. Days depicting the future … as far as Israel is concerned.

Why all these Offerings?

Do recall that the Book of Leviticus began with a seven chapter Unit teaching us all about each of the five Offerings.

Because it takes them ALL (in aggregate, in composite) to properly show what Jesus did (accomplished) on that old rugged Cross two thousand years ago!

I think this then … the Millennial future is going to be heavy with WORSHIP! We shall surely spend all eternity adoring and magnifying our Lord Jesus Christ!

Yes, of all these seven Feasts … the last one (Tabernacles) is most saturated with blood sacrifice! (Whether literal animal offerings, during the Millennium, or symbolic ones … the theologians are conflicted, about evenly so.)

Still … WORSHIP is evident and prominent without doubt!

Amen!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

He, our dear Lord, is worthy of such worship. We all agree on that!

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Leviticus 23:39, Tabernacles was observed … “when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land.” In other words, when the final harvest (of that given year) had been reaped!

That’s why twice in the Book of Exodus “Tabernacles” was called “the Feast of Ingathering!” (Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22)

Thanking God for the bountiful fruits and vegetables He had (again) provided! “And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.” Leviticus 23:40 (He is, after all, “the Lord of the harvest,” according to Luke 10:2.)

Thus, Tabernacles is literally a time of thanksgiving!

And by the way, since today IS Thanksgiving … don’t forget to honor the Lord and express your gratefulness to Him for His gracious blessings in your life!

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1st Thessalonians 5:18, the Apostle Paul.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for SEVEN DAYS unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. SEVEN DAYS ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the EIGHTH DAY shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.” Leviticus 23:33-36

In Bible numerology (as most of you know) the number “eight” speaks of a “new beginning.”

God does many, many things in cycles of “sevens.” And nearly always in Scripture the day following the seventh day (or an entity of any sort following the seventh of its kind) signifies “starting over!” Yes, “eight” is that special, most of the time that specific … in God’s Word! (Some aspects of numerology can be over-exaggerated, I suspect. But this number, eight, is rock solid!)

Now … why this emphasis today, “a new beginning?”

Because, God commanding Israel … “And ye shall keep it (Tabernacles) a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations (children and grandchildren) may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of EGYPT.” Verses 41-43, Leviticus 23 of course.

Did you notice? The Feast of Tabernacles has a “backward” look for the Jews. They were to live in Jerusalem for all those days (eight in total) “in booths,” in little “huts,” little “shacks” … as a way of remembering how God delivered them from Egypt and kept them safe for forty years in the wilderness! Israel annually celebrating and thanking God for His constant goodness, faithfulness … what a history Lesson for the children!

But then … and here is where the number “eight” comes in … there is too a “forward” look to Tabernacles! “A NEW BEGINNING” for Israel … when Jesus comes again to deliver them from the paws, claws of the anti-Christ, out of the sure “death pit” of Armageddon … a new Moses (Jesus) and a new Exodus (the Second Coming of our Lord)  and an ensuing thousand years of peace and victory and national (a dirty word these days) recognition … as the Lord’s people, having been saved (Day of Atonement) by God’s ineffable Grace! The Millennium!

Wow!

Tabernacles (next to be observed by Orthodox Jews on October 2 through October 9, 2020) looks backward to Egypt and forward to the Messiah’s Return!

And more and more Jews (God be praised) are realizing the true Identity of this Messiah, none Other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God!

What a “new day” is coming!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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