Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 1 · Part 11
EXERCITAT. XI. Of the Table of the ſhewbread. A ceremoniall appendix of Commande. 2.
Exod. 25.23. Thou ſhalt alſo make a Table of Shittim wood, &c. verſ. 30. And thou ſhalt ſet upon the Table ſhewbread before me alway.
THe Lord commanded to make a Table, and to ſet twelve loaves upon it.
The loaves repreſent the Church.Firſt, the Church is repreſented by loaves here; as many graines make up one loafe: ſo many beleevers make up one Church, 1 Cor. 10.17. for we being many are one bread.
The loaves made of fine flower.Secondly, theſe loaves were made of fine flower, and not of barley which was a baſe graine, and therefore uſed in no other ſacrifice but in the offering for jealouſie, Num. 5.15. So Gideon repreſented by a barley cake, Iudg. 7.13. and I bought her for ſo many Homers of Barley, Hoſ. 3.2. but the Wheate was moſt excellent graine, and the flower of the Wheat was moſt excellent bread, Deut. 32.14. he made them eate the fat of the kidneys of Wheate.
The twelve loaves repreſented the twelve tribes.Thirdly, there ſtood twelve loaves upon this Table, to repreſent the twelve Tribes who came of the twelve Patriarchs:The Tribes were repreſented by many things. theſe twelve Tribes were repreſented by many things, by the twelve ſtones ſet up in Iordan, and ſo by the twelve ſtones ſet up in the land of Canaan, So by the twelve ſtones ſet upon the breaſtplate of Aaron, and upon his ſhoulders in onyx ſtones. So by Canaan divided into twelve parts; and from them the twelve Apoſtles in the New Teſtament and the new Ieruſalem built upon twelve foundations, Revel. 21.14.
Theſe twelve loaves ſtood before the Lord;Why called ſhewbread. therefore they were called panis facierum or propoſitionis, and they ſignifie that the Church is alwayes the object of the eye of God, and therefore he ſaith, ſet up no Idoll,foreign gnal panai, in my preſence.Why the bread was removed every Sabbath.
They were removed every Sabbath, and new loaves put in their places; to ſignifie the renuing of the graces of God to his Church.
None might eate of theſe loaves,Who might eate of the ſhewbread. but the Prieſts who ſerved in their courſe that weeke, and their children; the Prieſts daughter did eate of this bread when ſhe was a widdow, and returned home to her father againe, Levit. 22.18. So we being maried to the Law, and it having dominion over us, Rom. 7.1. we were out of our fathers houſe, and might not eate of his holy bread; but being dead to the Law, Rom. 7.4. and divorced from our ſinnes, as widowes, we may come home to our fathers houſe, and be partakers of the holy things.
The Prieſts ſo long as they were in this holy ſervice,The legall ſanctification of the Prieſts. and eate this holy bread, they were not to keepe company with their wives; for this was a part of their ceremoniall uncleanneſſe, Exod. 19.14. Moyſes commanded them to waſh their cloathes, and not to come at their wives. This abſtinence, 1 Sam. 21.How David asked the ſhewbread. is called via munda a cleane way; and to eate in this uncleanneſſe, is called via polluta: When David in neceſſity came to Ahimelech the Prieſt to aske bread for him and his men, the Prieſts had no common bread to give them, but this holy bread: this bread the Prieſts ſayd they might not eate of it, if they were in via polluta, and their veſſels not ſanctified: by via polluta is meant here to keep company with their wives, and by the ſanctification of the veſſels is meant the ſanctification of our bodies,Our bodies called our veſſels. for our bodies, are called our veſſels, 1 Theſſalon. 4.4. That eueryevery one of you ſhould know how to poſſeſſe his veſſell in ſanctification & honour. And that this is the meaning, it is cleare by Davids anſwer, when he ſaith, they have abſtained from women this three dayes, 1 Sam. 21.
In their neceſſity David and his men might eate of this ſhewbread although they were not Prieſts; and it had not beene lawfull for them to have eaten of this bread if they had had any other bread; but if they had beene uncleane this way, they might not have eaten this bread at all: ſo that there were ſome ſorts of legall uncleanneſſe greater than others.
The Church of Rome erre in drawing arguments from the Leviticall ceremonies.The Church of Rome from this place goes about to prove, that miniſters, becauſe they handle holy things, ſhould abſtaine from mariage; as the Prieſts were to abſtaine from their wives when they were to eate this holy bread, and ſo they ground many other of their ordinances upon the Leviticall Law, as none might be a Prieſt that had any irregularitie or defect in him, as defectus natalium, a defect in his birth, as if he had beene a baſtard: or defectus perſona, a defect in his perſon, and a number ſuch, which are legall ceremonies, and bind not the Church now.Caſtitas abjuga conjuga. There is duplex caſtitas, abjuga & conjuga; abjuga is that ſort of chaſtitie, when a man liveth chaſtly out of mariage; conjuga when hee liveth chaſtly in mariage, Heb. 13.4. mariage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, and if they would conclude any thing out of this place, it would but inferre thus much, the Prieſts abſtained from this holy bread but twiſe in the yeere, becauſe there were foure and twenty courſes of them, and they ſerved but weekely, and ſo long as they ſerved they abſtained from their wives, this will not inferre their concluſion: therefore thoſe who ſerve under the Goſpel ſhould live altogether unmaried.What argument may be drawne from the Prieſts mariage. This argument might be rather inverted againſt them this wayes, the Prieſts under the law were maried: therefore the Prieſts under the Goſpel may marry.
And laſtly, theologia ſymbolica non eſt argumentativa, thoſe concluſions hold not which are deduced after this manner from types which are not deſtinate types.
Concluſion. 1 The Concluſion of this is, the Lord looketh upon his Church continually; therefore the Church ſhould looke backe againe to him continually; and as the Angels behold the face of God continually in glory, Mat. 18.10. So ſhould the Church behold the face of the Lord in his word, as in a glaſſe, 1 Cor. 13.12. and as Zedekiahs Courtiers had this credit, to ſee the Kings face alwayes, 2 King. 25.19. So the Church ſhould ſtudie to ſee the face of the Lord continually.
Concluſion. 2 Secondly, if ſuch legall cleanneſſe was required of the Prieſts when they came to eate the ſhewbread, much more is morall holineſſe required in us, when we come to eate the holy bread in the Sacrament.