Immanuel in Old Testament ㅡ Lev 24:5-6 ㅡ

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/222745674244

 

>> And you shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. And you shall set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the table of pure gold. (Lev 24:5-6) <<

 

Jesus' another name is Immanuel, which means 'God is (or lives) with us.' Actually Jesus who is a God took humanity (or human body and spirit) to himself to become a man, came down to this world and lived with humans. His life itself, so to speak, was the fulfillment of 'Immanuel'.

 

Wasn't God the God of Immanuel in the time of Old Testament? Yes, he certainly was! He was the God of Immanuel also in the days of Old Testament.

 

If a noble man, a king for example, said to you, "Will you set a table for me today in your house?", he meant to visit your house and have a meal with your family.

 

​In the Old Testament, God commanded Israel, "Build a temple for me. Make two rooms in the temple, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Put a curtain between them. Place the ark in the Most Holy Place. Make two cherubim (two angels), and put them upon the ark; the wings of the cherubim should be spread above the mercy seat, which was laid on the top of the ark, so was the upper board (or the cover) of the ark. I'll descend on the mercy seat and meet my servants there. Place a table in the Holy Place, and put new 12 cakes for me on the table in two rows, six in a row, on every Sabbath day. (Ex 25, Ex 26, Lev 24, Mk 15, Heb 9)"

 

What does this mean? (The ark and the cherubim build a throne of God on earth.) The mercy seat (or the cover of the ark) was the throne of God on earth, and there was a table in front of this throne, a dining table of God). God bade people make cakes on every Sabbath day and offer them upon the table to him. This means that God wanted to live in Israel with his people Israelites, as a member of the family of Israel.

 

Israel was God's people, so God sat at the table as the King of Israel; Israel was children of God, so he sat at the table as the Father of Israel. What is this except the Immanuel-life of God?

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​God ordered that 12 cakes should be offered upon the table in the Holy Place on every Sabbath day, and we must not think it to be just a religious ritual. (He does not order man in vain, or just for formality. He really exists on the mercy seat.) We must know God's real mind here. "I really want to live with you as a member of your family. I really want to live among you."

 

It's God's great joy for him to keep you close.