John Calvin Commentary Exodus 25:23

"And thou shalt make a table of acacia wood: two cubits [shall be] the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof." — Exodus 25:23 (ASV)

Thou shalt also make a table.¹³⁴ The sentiment of a certain ancient bishop is deservedly praised. During a famine, to relieve the distress of the poor, he sold the sacred vessels and excused himself to the Church, saying, “Our God, who does not eat or drink, has no need of patens and chalices.” Yet this seems hardly in accordance with His command that bread should be offered to Him.

I answer that if, under that pretext, the bishop had stripped the sacred table of its ornaments under the Law, he would have spoken unseasonably, which, under the Gospel, he spoke piously and wisely. This is because at the coming of Christ the shadows of the Law ceased.

But God then intended for the loaves, which were offered to Him, to be deposited among the golden dishes and censers, with spoons placed with them—not because He needed food and drink, but so that He might prescribe the duty of temperance to His people by deigning to have His table among them. For when they ate of the same wheat from which the sacred loaves were made, they were reminded by that symbol that they were to take their food and drink as if they sat before God and were His guests.

Finally, they were taught that the food by which human life is sustained is, in a manner, sacred to God. Thus, they might be content with simple and sober food and not profane the things dedicated to His service.

Although, therefore, this offering might appear to be coarse and unrefined, yet it had a proper purpose, i.e., that believers would acknowledge that God presided over their tables, because the loaves were presented in the temple before God in the name of all the people.

The same was the intention of the first-fruits, in which the produce of the whole year was consecrated, so that even in their feasts they might cherish a recollection of God, who fed them as a father feeds his children.

They are called “the bread of faces”¹³⁵ by Moses because they always appeared before God. In this sense, the Greeks called them the bread προθέσεως, because they were always in His presence, for they were not permitted to remove the precious offering until others were substituted in its place.

I now pass over many points, because what I am omitting now will soon be addressed.

¹³⁴ This was Acacius, bishop of Amida, who sold the treasures of the Church for the redemption of 7000 Persian slaves, who were perishing by famine in the hands of some Roman soldiers. Vide Socrates, lib. 7-121, quoted in Bingham, book 5-100; 6-6 Socrates, lib. 7-121, quoted in Bingham, book 5-100; 6-6 ̔Ο Θεός ἡμῶν ὔτε δίσκων ὄυτε ποτηρίων χρὠβει· οὔτε γὰρ ἐσθίει, ὔτε πίνει, ἐπεὶ μὴ προσδεής ἐστιν, seem to be the words referred to by , seem to be the words referred to by C

¹³⁵ A.V., shew-bread. “In Hebrew called bread of faces or presence; because they were to be set before the face, or in the presence of God continually. The Hebrew doctors give also another reason, because every cake was made square, and so had as it were many faces.” — Ainsworth, In Hebrew called bread of faces or presence; because they were to be set before the face, or in the presence of God continually. The Hebrew doctors give also another reason, because every cake was made square, and so had as it were many faces.” — Ainsworth, in loco.