THE THREE TABLES
These "tables" mentioned in the Bible are figures of language (metonym), where the container is used to designate the content. There are three of these "tables" mentioned in the Scriptures, being that of Israel, that of the Lord and that of the demons. Let us briefly look at each of them.
The table of Israel
These are the privileges divinely conferred to God's earthly people. David mentions this table in Psalm 23: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies ..."(Psalm 23: 5). The Lord here is seen as a Shepherd revealing his love and care for His people. David had been a shepherd and understood well the needs of the sheep and the responsibilities of the shepherd. In this Psalm he compares himself to a sheep, which is a weak, helpless and foolish animal, having God as his Provider, Defender, Guide, supplying all he needs for his well-being. This Psalm prophetically also portrays the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd (John 10:11,14), who takes care of His flock having given His life for it.
The people of Israel were surrounded by enemies at the time of David. David personally faced and led many battles, trusting God, and this Psalm is his testimony of the care, security and generosity of God. His table was full of blessings for His people, ridding the nation of the enemies that threatened it. When David died, his son Solomon had the privilege to reign over Israel when this nation enjoyed peace and reached the summit of its prosperity, fruit of the godliness of his father.
Unfortunately Solomon eventually allowed the entry of idolatry among the people. When Solomon died, the nation broke in two, idolatry prevailed and they moved away from God, their Shepherd. We read in Ezekiel 34:5 that: "So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered." (Ezekiel 34: 5). Due to the hardness of their hearts their table became "a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always." (Romans 11:9,10, ref. Psalm 34:8 and 28:4). This is the situation of the people of Israel from the Apostolic times until today, although individually many of them have repented and turned to God, and even received Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and thus have participated in the "Lord's table" described below.
But God promised to Israel: “As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day." (Ezekiel 34:12). This day is mentioned by other prophets giving it this and other names, among them the "Day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18, Joel 2:1, Zephaniah 1:14, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, etc.). There will be a great tribulation for Earth and especially for the Jews, but the remainder of the Jews will convert to Christ and will be saved.
The "table of Israel" will then be re-established on earth, and this remainder, saved from their enemies, will return to the land that formerly the Lord promised to their Patriarchs (Zephaniah 3:20, Romans 11:25-27, etc.) to participate in the millennial Kingdom of Christ over the world. Their godly King David, raised again, will reign over the nation in fulfilment of the prophecy: “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them." (Ezekiel 34:23 and 37:24).
The apostles of Jesus Christ, also resurrected, will judge their tribes (Matthew 19:28, Lucas 22:30).
The table of the Lord
The expressions "Table of the Lord” and "Lord's Supper" are found in the New Testament only in 1 Corinthians 10:21 and 11:27, respectively. The words “table” and "supper” are not interchangeable: while “supper" has a literal meaning, “table" denotes metaphorically everything that the Lord gives to the faithful, including the privilege to participate in the “Lord's Supper".
The details regarding participation in the "Lord's Supper" are given in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, and therefore it mentions the symbols in the order in which they should be taken, i.e. first the bread and then the cup. It should be noted that the physical content of the cup is never mentioned in the Scriptures, but whatever it is, the content is the symbol of the "blood" of Christ. We should remember that "blood" here is not only the substance, but metaphorically it is the death of Christ in which He shed His blood in sacrifice, and that is how it is referred to in the Bible. The use of wine as the substance is traditional and exclusive in some churches, but has no basis in biblical teaching.
In 1 Corinthians 10:21, of the symbols in the Lord's Supper the first mentioned is the “cup" and after that the “bread", because it was Christ's death (the sacrifice) that originated the privileges and responsibilities (the bread), enjoyed by those who were redeemed by it.
The "table of the Lord", was foreseen in type in Old Testament passages like Deuteronomy 12:27: "You shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat." Just as the altar of burnt offering provided food to Israel, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was the means to provide us the new life and divine sustenance, contained in the “table of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 10:17 -18). Both the body of Christ and the spiritual unity of the members of His Church (His spiritual body) are represented by the bread that is eaten in the "Lord's Supper".
In its broadest sense, the believer is permanently present at “the Lord's table". It was the blood of Christ which fulfilled divine justice, and at the same time expressed the love of God. It resulted in our reconciliation with God and communion with others equally redeemed by this blood. The communion is expressed in bread of which all eat, "Because we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread." (1 Corinthians 10:17).
While the “supper” is the beginning of the “table”, this has provision for responsibilities to be exercised and privileges to be enjoyed constantly, not only on the occasion when the “supper” takes place. Numerous are the blessings available to the believer, and we will not list them here. As the apostle Paul exclaimed: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…" (Ephesians 1: 3).
To better enjoy this divine provision, the believer must abstain from anything or any behaviour that is not consistent with the table of the Lord: he cannot participate of them and also of this table. There is a fellowship to be maintained, and each one should look for the good of others and not himself, thus preventing the others from stumbling. Everything which is done should be for the glory of God.
In 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 to 12, the experience of the people of Israel is given as an example and a warning: "all were baptized into Moses... and all drank… of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased", being largely punished with death. This was because some were idolaters, some committed sexual immorality, some tempted the Lord and some complained and “all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
The table of the demons
Offerings and sacrifices made by idolaters in the various altars dedicated to their pictures or sculptures generate the supply by the powers of darkness in their "table" to devotees of this or that god, saint, or other religious object. The activity of these beings certainly covers much more than the mere compliance with the worship or veneration of these objects, because there are other forms of dedication to other "lords", as riches (Matthew 6:24, 16:13).
The table of the demons is set for the unbelieving world with a variety of beautiful and attractive delicacies, and believers are warned in 1 Corinthians 10:21 that they should not seek to participate of this table along with the table of the Lord. In the Church in Corinth there was the temptation for the believers to participate in idolatrous customs and practices in order to enjoy their supposed benefits. In his letter the apostle Paul protested against this, because it is inconsistent for a believer in Jesus Christ to participate in both tables.
It is also an act of treason and disloyalty to the Lord Jesus for someone who claims having Him as Saviour and Lord to join those who seek the demons for supply. Such a behaviour may provoke the Lord to jealousy (1 Corinthians 10:22, Ezekiel 16:42), being foolish because "are we stronger than He?” asks the apostle. A believer who infringes the will of God is at risk of judgement, instead of enjoying participation in the blessings of the table of the Lord.
R David Jones
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