“God makes search for the things which are past.” (Ecc 3:15, BBE)
Now that we have completed the extensive exploration of the great variety of prototypical facets enclosed in the table of show bread, we should turn our attention to the third “piece of furniture” in the Holy part of the tabernacle – the golden altar of incense. Strictly speaking, the table with show bread is also considered an altar, but the explicit reference to the altar of incense immediately evokes a comparison to the bronze altar found in the Outer Court. Day 62 and 63 included cursory references to the articles used in the Outer Court – please go read it again. These “pieces of furniture” found in the Holy Place are particularly important to us as within our typological understanding of the menorah and the table of show bread, as elements explaining the bare necessities of our relationship with Christ. But before we can once again examine the altar of incense, we should first return to the Outer Court, as an inadequate understanding of the bronze altar will hamper our understanding of the altar of incense.
This specific portion of manna wishes to emphasise that our way of going about things, of getting things done, is often exactly what God uses to teach us certain things. Indeed what Ecclesiastes (3:15) states is true – “That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past”.
In this study we presented the tabernacle from the outside perspective and gradually moved inward – thus using the three sections of the tabernacle as an analogy of the way in which Scripture too can be read from a threefold perspective. Not only the dichotomy of body>soul>spirit of the human being, but also the progression of salvation>holiness>authority, as well as the gospel of salvation>gospel of the kingdom of God>gospel of glory. Many other triple entendres are to be found within this matrix. But there are times that we forget that God is already reigning – thus He is in the third dimension looking back to the second and first dimensions! From HIS perspective the reality is thus King>Prophet>Priest, Love>Hope>Faith, 100-fold>60-fold>30-fold. Therefore it is not peculiar that the articles of furniture and the other articles used in the tabernacle (as explained in Ex 25 and 26) are not to be found in the outside courts, but alongside the ark of the tabernacle in the Holy of Holies! It is indeed a perspective from the throne room! It is only in Ex 27 that a description is extended to the objects in the outer court, whilst the golden altar of incense is not discussed at all. For a very specific reason it only comes under the spotlight in Ex 30. In this way our methodology may seem random, but God is obviously interested in that which has already past. Sela – God showed Moses the patterns of things as they appear in the heavens according to the sequence in which it could be understood in his faith. We will later return to this mystery.
- Sela: Go back and determine what significance lies in the table of show bread
- Read: 2 Sam 1; Prov 4; Gal 4
- Memorise: Gal 4: 6-7
