So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. 1 Samuel 21: 6, NKJV.
Most Gracious God. Thank You so much for not dealing with us as we deserve, but according to Your indescribable grace. This is our prayer of thanksgiving, in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I am so glad, that I serve a God, of unlimited grace! Now, under normal circumstances, both the priest and David were deserving of death, were it only for the letter of the law. The law governing the sanctuary service, in regards to the shewbread, was the following, ” ‘ “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the LORD. Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the LORD made by fire, by a perpetual statute” ‘ ” (Leviticus 24: 5-9).
Note that this bread was so holy, that it was to be eaten only by the high priest, and his sons, and, “in a holy place!” So, under normal circumstances, Ahimelech the priest, and David, and the young men with David, should have died! But the spirit of the law which is love, extended grace to them! They were hungry, and God would not allow His children to die of hunger, to comply with the letter of the law!
When Jesus came to earth, He reminded those who criticized His disciples for plucking corn on the Sabbath, of this incident. Let us take a look: “Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him” (Mark 2: 23-26)?
Everything in the sanctuary service pointed to one person, Jesus, the Lamb of God. During His ministry here on earth, Jesus referred to Himself as, “The Bread of Life” (John 6: 35, 41, 48, 51). Notice that there were twelve loaves, one for each tribe of Israel. In Him, the needs of the whole world are met – both physical, and spiritual! In His kingdom, none need hunger and thirst for anything. There is enough grace to save the entire world!
I believe that the Savior is still trying to say to some of us today, as He said to the Pharisees of His time, that there are much “weightier matters of the law” that we tend to overlook, while exacting from each other the compliance of the letter of the law (Matthew 23: 23)! We tend to overlook the fact that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are working together to rescue humanity, not destroy it. The Godhead have manifested, in every possible way, that their mission is one of preservation, restoration, and salvation!
Whenever we are tempted to deal with our fellow human beings according to the, “Thus saith the Lord,” let us remember, Who is the Lord: “And He said to them, ‘ “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” ‘ ” (Mark 2: 27, 28, emphasis provided). He is also Lord of everything, for He created everything in love, and has extended it all, to us, through His marvelous grace!