And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. (1 Sam. 21:4-6)
The priest whom David approached as he departed from Saul and Jonathan when asked for the shewbread out of the tabernacle, determined whether David and his servants had maintained a minimal level of separation as they journeyed according to the Law. The priest could give the bread to those who were hungry and in need, and David’s company had traveled some three days from their families, and so were sanctified in that sense, so the priest gave David the bread. David also reminded the priest that the bread itself was not what made it holy, but its offering to the LORD, who hallowed it. The bread itself was bread and remained bread even as God hallowed it in the tabernacle and sanctified it by His presence.
Though the bread set out in the tabernacle to depict the LORD as the bread of life was indeed holy, it was not to be worshiped in of itself, so the priest could give it to those who were hungry, even if they came on the Sabbath day when they changed the loaves out and put fresh bread out before the LORD. The priests were allowed to eat of it, and the Law allowed, under certain narrow circumstances, for others to eat. The priest only ascertained whether David and his servants were at a minimal level of separation and holiness before the LORD before he gave them to eat. The bread itself remained bread as common as any other loaf, despite its offering before the LORD, and it was the LORD who hallowed it because of His presence in the tabernacle. It was not to be handed out from the tabernacle indiscriminately but neither was it to be held back from those who truly needed it.
The things and places the Lord has provided to His church are to be used for His glory. The buildings where we meet and the furnishings we use, while they are to be respected and treated properly and we are to be good stewards of that which is in our care, are not to become objects of worship in of themselves but used His way and for His purposes. Only God is to be worshiped, and only God makes that which is given unto Him holy. It is His presence within and among us which makes that which we use for Him holy unto the Lord, including ourselves. Common items remain common and we should use them as they are intended, and not put anything which we have as somehow more holy just because it is used in and by His church. Our responsibility to reach the lost with the Good News, teach all nations all He has commanded, and preach the Word in and out of season will be limited and diminished if we lose focus on Whom we serve and instead lift up objects and things as holy for that is idolatry. We are to love God and love others and use that which He gives for His purposes so that those who do not know Him may repent and receive Him by faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary.
Because of His love for all, God has sent those of us who are His saints and know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our God has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of God so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of God might have life in His Name.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. God calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with God, forgiveness from God, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is God the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
Though the bread set out in the tabernacle to depict the LORD as the bread of life was indeed holy, it was not to be worshiped in of itself, so the priest could give it to those who were hungry, even if they came on the Sabbath day when they changed the loaves out and put fresh bread out before the LORD. The priests were allowed to eat of it, and the Law allowed, under certain narrow circumstances, for others to eat. The priest only ascertained whether David and his servants were at a minimal level of separation and holiness before the LORD before he gave them to eat. The bread itself remained bread as common as any other loaf, despite its offering before the LORD, and it was the LORD who hallowed it because of His presence in the tabernacle. It was not to be handed out from the tabernacle indiscriminately but neither was it to be held back from those who truly needed it.
The things and places the Lord has provided to His church are to be used for His glory. The buildings where we meet and the furnishings we use, while they are to be respected and treated properly and we are to be good stewards of that which is in our care, are not to become objects of worship in of themselves but used His way and for His purposes. Only God is to be worshiped, and only God makes that which is given unto Him holy. It is His presence within and among us which makes that which we use for Him holy unto the Lord, including ourselves. Common items remain common and we should use them as they are intended, and not put anything which we have as somehow more holy just because it is used in and by His church. Our responsibility to reach the lost with the Good News, teach all nations all He has commanded, and preach the Word in and out of season will be limited and diminished if we lose focus on Whom we serve and instead lift up objects and things as holy for that is idolatry. We are to love God and love others and use that which He gives for His purposes so that those who do not know Him may repent and receive Him by faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary.
Because of His love for all, God has sent those of us who are His saints and know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our God has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of God so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of God might have life in His Name.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. God calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with God, forgiveness from God, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is God the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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