Exodus of the Numbered Vespers Series

Exodus 37:10-24

The Table of Shewbread and the Menorah

The Table

10 They made the table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. 

11 Then they overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. 

12 They also made around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 

13 They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs
were. 

14 The rings were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 

15 The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. 

16 And they made from pure gold the articles for the table—its plates and dishes and bowls and its
pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings.

The Lampstand

17 They made the lampstand of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its
flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 

18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 

19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the
next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 

20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 

21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the
second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 

22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. 

23 They made its seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 

24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent of pure gold.
The Bread

These loaves/cakes were made of fine flour, oil, water, and salt.

 Flour
Each loaf was made from two tenths deals or ephah of fine flour. The flour was ground finely to
remove all coarseness which represents Christ who was made perfect through suffering. Ellen
White tells us,

The lack of true dignity and Christian refinement in the ranks of Sabbathkeepers is against us as
a people, and makes the truth which we profess unsavory. 

Be sure to maintain the dignity of the work by a well-ordered life and godly conversation. Never
be afraid of raising the standard too high.... All coarseness and roughness must be put away
from us. Courtesy, refinement, Christian politeness, must be cherished. Guard against being
abrupt and blunt. Do not regard such peculiarities as virtues; for God does not so regard them.
Endeavor not to offend any unnecessarily

Men should be at work who are willing to be taught as to the best way of approaching
individuals and families. Their dress should be neat, but not foppish, and their manners such as
not to disgust the people. There is a great want of true politeness among us as a people. This
should be cultivated by all who take hold of the missionary work Christian Service, page 226.

To those in Position
There is a most fearful, fatal deception upon human minds. Because men are in positions of
trust, connected with the work of God, they are exalted in their own estimation, and do not
discern that other souls, fully as precious in the sight of God as their own, are neglected, and
handled roughly, and bruised, and wounded, and left to die. {TM 356.1}

 Oil
The oil in the bread is represents the Holy Spirit, which must be taken into our lives to aid in the
refining, character building work that all Christians need.

The source of this oil is God himself. John 15: 26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he
shall testify of me:

When Zerubbabel was trying under very adverse circumstances to rebuild the temple in
Jerusalem, he came to a time when the difficulties appeared like mountains before him. Then
the Lord sent His prophet with a message to help and encourage him. Zechariah was given a
view of the golden candlesticks, and was also shown whence the oil came that supplied the
lamps. He saw two olive trees, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side,
 which through golden pipes kept the lamps supplied with oil, that they might burn brightly
(Zechariah 4:1-4).
The prophet asked the angel the meaning of what he saw. In reply the angel said: "This is the
word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). Then he gave a message to Zerubbabel to go forward, and
said that the mountain of difficulties would become a plain before him, and that as surely as his
hands had laid the foundations of the house of the Lord, so surely would he finish it.

Man has woven into the work of God his own defects of character, devices that are human
and earthly, delusions ensnaring to himself and to all who accept them. 
I am urged by the Spirit of God to say to you who have a connection with the Lord’s work,
Never forget that you are wholly dependent upon God; and if you pass one hour or one
moment without relying upon His grace, without keeping the heart open to receive the
wisdom that is not earthborn, being sure that without Christ ye can do nothing, you will be
unable to distinguish between the common and the sacred fire. {TM 350.1}

Our lives in the six days must stem out of the seventh. Our conduct and lifestyle must be
influenced by our identity. We are Seventh-day Adventist and it must be seen in the 6 days. The
light must never be extinguished. If we are led by the Holy Spirit during the week, surely He will
lead us again on the seventh. The reason why there’s so much hatred, quarellings, evil
surmisings among the brethren is because we have interwoven the work of God with our own
devices and have not given the Holy Spirit his place.

It’s interesting to note that when it came to the candlestick, the Bible does not mention the
dimensions or the size but it mentions the weight. The Lampstand, and it’s ornaments were all
made of 1 solid piece of gold with a specific weight and not size.

It is not the size of your church or ministry that matters; IT’S THE WEIGHT IT CARRIES.  In other
words, how influential it is in your community has nothing to do with it’s size. It is God Who
gives weight to your words or causes them to fall to the ground.

 The salt
It removes and prevents corruption. It is also a symbol of wisdom: "Let your speech be alway
with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Col. 4:6.
"The salt of the covenant" was never to be omitted from the meat-offering (Lev. 2:13), thus
reminding God’s people of His protecting care and promise to save, and that only the
righteousness of Christ could make the service acceptable to God. Christ admonished his
disciples to "have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another" and that they were to be
"the salt of the earth:" (Mark 9:50; Matt. 5:13).
  The water
It not only helps to bind all the ingredients together, but represents the Holy Spirit or living
water that Christ spoke of (John 7:38, 39). "The refreshing water, welling up in a parched and
barren land, causing the desert place to blossom, and flowing out to give life to the perishing, is
an emblem of the divine grace which Christ alone can bestow, and which is as the living water,
purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul. He in whom Christ is abiding has within him a
never-failing fountain of grace and strength. Jesus cheers the life and brightens the path of all
who truly seek Him. His love, received into the heart, will spring up in good works unto eternal
life. And not only does it bless the soul in which it springs, but the living stream will flow out in
words and deeds of righteousness, to refresh the thirsting around him." Patriarchs and Prophets
by Ellen White, p. 412.

To all of us and especially to those actively involved in Preaching, the table of showbread and the
Lampstand have a lesson for us. The ingredients of the bread must have their source in Jesus Christ.

When the preacher communicates his own ideas, his own input, his own wisdom, etc., that is strange
fire. Some of the practices of preaching of today are identified as strange fire.

Neither is it the object of preaching to amuse. Some ministers have adopted a style of preaching that
has not the best influence. {TM 318.1}

What is this style of preaching?

It has become a habit with them to weave anecdotes into their discourses. The impression thus made
upon the hearers is not a savor of life unto life. Ministers should not bring amusing stories into their
preaching. The people need pure provender, thoroughly winnowed from the chaff. “Preach the word,”
was the charge that Paul gave to Timothy, and this is our commission also. The minister who mixes
story-telling with his discourses is using strange fire. God is offended, and the cause of truth is
dishonored, when His representatives descend to the use of cheap, trifling words.–Review and Herald,
Dec. 22, 1904. {TM 318.1}

Anecdotes, storytelling, cheap, trifling words, short quips that are used as illustrations, or as something
to amuse the mind in the hearing of the word of God, that is strange fire. There is a way that the
preaching is done which is so common and expected in this modern age:

There are men who stand in the pulpits as shepherds, professing to feed the flock, while the sheep are
starving for the bread of life. There are long-drawn-out discourses, largely made up of the relation of
anecdotes; but the hearts of the hearers are not touched. The feelings of some may be moved, they
may shed a few tears, but their hearts are not broken. The Lord Jesus has been present when they
have been presenting that which was called sermons, but their words were destitute of the dew and
rain of heaven. {Ev 209.1}
There will come the days when there will be a famine in the land, not a famine of bread and of drinking
of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.

Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a
famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: