Today's Reading - 1 Samuel 21

 

Humanity Above Legality

Under the Law of Moses, the "table of shewbread" (KJV), was an important piece of furniture inside the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. It was situated on the north side of the Holy Place, a private chamber where only priests were allowed to enter and perform daily rituals of worship as representatives for the people.

On top of the table, the priests placed the twelve loaves of shewbread, also called “the bread of the Presence.” The twelve loaves stood for the twelve tribes of Israel.  The loaves were a symbolic acknowledgment that God was the resource for Israel’s life and nourishment (i.e. “The Bread of Life”) and also served as Israel’s act of thanksgiving to God.  The loaves of bread were changed every sabbath, and the priests ate that which had been removed.  It was forbidden under the Law for anyone but the priests to eat the shewbread.

On this occasion, David and his small band of supporters were on the run from king Saul.  And they ran out of food. So. David went to Ahimelech the priest and requested some food.  And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is 'the holy bread'.”  The priest then gave them the holy bread. It was the only bread he had, which had been removed from God’s presence and replaced by fresh bread at the same time.

Although this was technically a violation of the Law, the priest recognized that it was the right thing to do. The principle that this draws our attention to about the Law is that in cases of human necessity (such as in the case of David), acts of mercy are preferred to ritual services.  Human need takes precedence over legal technicalities. Humanity above legality.

Jesus would later refer back to this incident when His disciples were accused of doing that “which is not lawful” by picking wheat grain on the sabbath.  Jesus there reminded all of us that religion should never get in the way of our care and compassion for our fellow human beings.  Jesus summed up his lesson that day by saying, “I desire mercy not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7), thus placing acts of mercy and grace above religious and ritual acts.

If your religion is so structured that you cannot feel the pain and need of others, it is time to let the Holy Spirit renew grace in your heart. God desires mercy, and mercy requires acts of compassion. Mercy requires that we see the humanity of others, and also recognize our own humanity. Mercy sees the true need and seeks restoration. And in order to give mercy, it must flow of our own awareness of how we have received mercy so abundantly.