2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
If it has dawned on you that our relationship with God is heavily affected by the covenant agreements between us, then this whole series of messages is reaching its mark. In view of the fact that our belief system is the only one where the Deity made the first move by reaching down to us and inviting us to join Him in his life of righteousness and in His work, we should feel pretty special. This is particularly poignant in view of the fact that we are sinners who were at the time of this invitation locked into sin as God’s enemies, and it was still extended to us by Him. That is why it’s logical that the Father should instruct His Son to command us in MT 5: 44-45, “But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven.” As I mentioned yesterday, the foundation of all of this is God’s profound love for His children. He wants as many of us as possible to repent, come to faith, and be saved. It is upon this mind-set that God devised His plan for mankind and His requirements for them having a covenant relationship with Him. So, when He instructed Moses on how to arrange the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and designated how ancient Israel should worship Him, He was introducing a system for the old covenant which would foreshadow the improved Covenant of Grace that was to come. That means there are crucial messages embedded in the Torah of great importance to us.
Yesterday, we saw that there was an outer courtyard where all people could come daily to worship. Then, there was within the center of it an enclosure with two rooms, the Holy Place where only the priests could enter to do their work daily, and the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest could enter on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement-once a year. From this old covenant worship arrangement, one can see there is increasingly limited access as one moves closer to the actual place, the Holy of Holies, where God physically resided. HE 9: 12 shows us how the heavenly Holy of Holies after which the earthly one was designed was opened to all of us by Christ’s Atonement. Today, we will look more closely at the furniture within the Tabernacle and the messages for us that are foreshadowed by it.
The Holy of Holies was the earthly Tent of God’s Presence, because that is where His shekinah glory could be found above the mercy seat (lid) of the Ark of the Covenant. The Holy Place was called the Tent of Meeting, because that is where the priests would meet to carry out their worship responsibilities. EX 40: 1-33 describes God’s commands to Moses in setting up the Holy of Holies. EX 40: 34, “Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle and the dazzling light [of God’s shekinah glory signaling the Lord’s presence] filled it.” The Holy of Holies was 15 feet wide by 15 feet long by 15 feet high. Within this room was placed the Ark of the Covenant, a rectangular box made of gold-covered acacia wood. The wood represented humanity, and the gold represented the Deity. This box was not to be touched, except by poles threaded through gold rings attached to it [EX 37: 1-5]. It had a lid called the mercy seat made of pure gold with two cerubim (winged creatures) made of hammered gold atop it. These looked down toward the Ark as a way of directing God’s attention to the covenant He had made with His children. They were made so they formed one piece with the lid (mercy seat) [EX 37: 6-9]. EX 25: 16, “Then put in the Ark the two stone tablets upon which the ten commandments are written,” God commanded of Moses. HE 9: 4, “In it [the Holy of Holies] were the gold altar for burning of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered with gold and containing the gold jar with manna in it, Aaron’s walking stick, and the two stone tablets with the ten commandments written on them.”
There was only one door to the Tabernacle facing east. That is the same direction from which Christ will come at His second advent. JN 10: 9, “I am the Gate. Whoever comes in by Me will be saved; he will come in and go out and find pasture.” The sealed east entrance to Jerusalem is the gate through which Christ will come into the Temple after His second coming discussed in ZECH 14: 4. The need for faith in Christ for salvation is beautifully and succinctly stated in JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by Me.”
I was directed to write first about the Holy of Holies and it’s significance to us, because it is my belief that the time grows short until the end times arrive. There are too many signs of that all at the same time not to pay attention. MT 24: 36, “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come-neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; the Father alone knows.” So, we certainly can’t set a date. However, the message is clear that we must prepare our spiritual lives so that we won’t be caught short. That is why I close today’s message by saying that we should examine our lives, make whatever changes are necessary to conform to the model of Christ, and trust that our faithfulness will result in Christ taking us up with Him at the time for a meeting in air [1 THESS 4: 13-17]. We should be encouraged as we meditate on the love and compassion our covenant Partner [Abba Himself] has for us.
PRAYER: O Lord, as we examine the arrangement of the Tabernacle, You are allowing us to see by the Holy Spirit that Your plan for us has been in place since before the creation [COL 1: 15-20; 1 PET 1: 20-21]. In Your infinite wisdom, You presented the ancient Jews with a plan, the old covenant, for which they were ready that would eventually lead to the new covenant, for which they were not yet ready. Your gradual revelation of Your truths is based on Your knowledge of mankind’s readiness to accept it. All along, You knew that mankind was weighted down by the inherited sin from Adam and Eve. To that they had added sins committed because they had no choice but to sin. While this made them Your enemies, it never diminished the love You have for Your creation, nor did it thwart the plan You had set in place for them before the creation took place. That is why You made Your Son incarnate, then allowed Him to suffer for all our sins on the cross. It is why You extended the wonderful invitation to salvation to all of us, even through we were Your enemies at the time. Your invitation was for more than salvation, it was also to share in Your righteousness, to allow You to do Your work through us, to free us from bondage to sin, and most of all, to join You in close fellowship and joy for eternity. The only way to all of that is through Jesus Christ, which is why with His death on the cross, the Covenant of Grace was instituted by the shedding of His blood for us. Because we have the advantage of hindsight, Dearest Abba, we can go back to study the arrangement of the furniture in Tabernacle and see in it crucial messages which it foreshadows that apply to us today. For all of this and more, we come before You today to offer our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and utmost thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to carry on with the description of more of the details of the arrangement of furniture in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Along the way, we will examine the crucial new covenant messages which it foreshadows. We may be looking at things that were done in OT times, but their application to us is real, living, and dynamic today. That is the love that God reveals in his hidden messages from this remarkable place of worship. His love is all around us, there to guide, encourage, direct, protect, provide for, and sometimes correct us every day. Peter and I send our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn