The loaves or showbread in the temple were to have frankincense
strewed upon them as they stood upon the golden table, which was a
type of the sweet perfumes of the sanctification of the Holy Ghost.
They were to be set upon the pure table, new and hot, to show that
God delights in the company of new and warm believers. "I remember
thee, the kindness of thy youth; when Israel was a child, I loved
him." Men at first conversion are like to a cake well baked, and new
taken from the oven; they are warm, and cast forth a very fragrant
scent, especially when, as warm, sweet increase is strewed upon
them.
"When the showbread was old and stale, it was to be taken away, and
new and warm put in its place, to show that God has but little
delight in the service of his own people, when their duties grow
stale and mouldy. Therefore he removed his old, stale, mouldy church
of the Jews from before him, and set in their room upon the golden
table the warm church of the Gentiles."
Zeal without knowledge is like a mettled horse without eyes, or like
a sword in a madman's hand; and there is no knowledge where there is
not the word.