2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
While it’s true that I’ve already had some things to say about the inner veil and the Holy Holies, God has put it on my heart to include some more about them in this morning’s message. You will remember that the point of these latest messages is to revisit the Torah descriptions of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, looking at them with the new covenant revelations that our Abba has given us. In EX 35: 25-26, “All the skilled women brought fine linen thread and thread of blue, purple, and red wool, which had made. They also made thread of goat’s hair.” It is interesting to note that the Bible much later in AC 16: 14, speaks of Lydia, a seller of purple. Theological research revealed that purple dye was rare and came from a mollusk that has a very unique shell. I mention this, because the question might arise about how Jewish people wandering in the desert would have access to purple dye. The answer is that what they had came from the Egyptians who had given them all kinds of valuables before the Hebrews left Egypt. Otherwise, these former slaves would have had no wealth. We can see God’s hand in all of this. The next logical question would be how was cloth made. While the spinning wheel had not yet been invented, people did have drop spindles to spin wool and goat hair into thread. Cloth was made by weaving the thread with primitive hand-made looms.
EX 38: 9 & 16 tell us that all the curtains made for the Holy of Holies were made of fine linen. This was woven from flax, which was soaked a certain way, with great difficulty and expertise. EX 38: 18-20 describes the inner veil. It was woven of fine linen with blue, purple, and red wool and decorated with embroidery. I hope you will read this passage to appreciate the workmanship and remarkable detail the Lord gave Moses. As participants in the Covenant of Grace, we need to look carefully into the new covenant message that is foreshadowed by the inner veil (the curtain that separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies). It can be found in HE 10: 19-20, “We have, then, my brothers, complete freedom to go into the Holy of Holies by means of the death of Jesus. He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain-that is, through His own body.” This is a huge issue for each of us today. What was access limited only to the Jewish high priest one day a year in the old covenant is opened to all of us who believe every day in the new covenant. Instead, of receiving forgiveness for only one year from Yom Kippur to Yom Kippur as in the old covenant, we have received eternal forgiveness through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the Ark of the Covenant. In a previous message, I had already described it as a box made from acacia wood covered with gold, having gold rings for carrying poles. We know from a number of places in the Bible, e.g. 2 SAM 6: 6-7, that no one was to touch the Ark upon pain of death. Atop this Ark was a lid made from wood covered by hammered gold called the mercy seat. This lid had two golden cherubs with their wings spread touching and their heads looking down toward the Ark itself. Above the mercy seat is the physical place where God’s shekinah glory (His dazzling light) dwelt. Moses was given specific instructions about what should be placed in the Ark of the Covenant: the stone tablets God gave etched with the Ten Commandments [EX 20: 1-17]. EX 40: 3 is where we find the instructions that this should go into the Covenant Box. NU 17: 10 contained further instructions, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Put Aaron’s stick back in front of the Ark. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops.” EX 16: 31 & 34 further illuminate God’s will as to what should be included. “The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like a small white seed, and tasted like thing cakes made with honey…As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron put it [a gold jar of manna] in front of the Ark, so that it could be kept.”
The new covenant message foreshadowed by the Ark of the Covenant comes from it being the actual place where God’s shekinah glory dwelt. We have already looked at JN 1: 1-4 which certainly is the truth of Christ’s divinity. His relationship as the second person of God is nailed down in JN 14: 9 & 11, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father…Believe Me when I say I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me.” More evidence is seen in JN 8: 58, “I am telling you the truth, before Abraham was born ‘I Am.’” JN 10: 30, “The Father and I are one.” No one could boldly and truthfully make the comment Christ made in JN 8: 24 were He not God’s only Son. “That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I am Who I AM.’” We must not forget what that angel of the Lord said to Moses at the burning bush in EX 3: 14, “God said, ‘I Am Who I Am. You must tell them: The One Who is called I AM has sent Me to you.’” As for the mercy seat, our understanding of its significance to us is revealed in HE 10: 10-13, “Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted Him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that He made of His own body once and for all. Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then He sat down at the right side of God. There He now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under His feet.” [see also PS 110: 1]. Meditate today on how these powerful new covenant revelations impact our individual lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we take the time to revisit the descriptions of the Tabernacle in the OT with the understanding of new covenant truths that You have given us, we can see the magnificence and consistency of Your overall plan for mankind. Your compassion, mercy, love, and patience are all over Your works. We can also see what a great improvement and how many more blessings there are in the Covenant of Grace over the old Covenant of the Law. You grant those who have repented and accepted Christ eternal forgiveness. You decreed that Christ’s Atonement is a once-for-all, sufficient sacrifice-a propitiation for our sins. You have told us that His death has opened the heavenly Holy of Holies to all believers, the inner veil has been rent forever. Your mercy extends to allowing us to know that Christ is Your second personality and that anything we learn from Him is both the truth and directly from You. That is sufficient motivation for us to keep our covenant promises with You and to obey Your commands without question. We come before You today in humility to express our adoration for you, to confess our sins, to offer You thanksgiving and praise from the depth of our hearts, and to dedicate ourselves to trusting and obeying Your every command. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to begin a new group of Covenant messages called “Restoration and Blessing.” In it, we will examine God’s faithfulness and ways we can respond to it. As God has taken us through this long series on covenants, He has certainly transformed my attitude about being a covenant partner. It has gone from feeling “burdened” by all the restrictions of covenant responsibilities to taking joy in knowing that living within my covenant relationship with Him frees me to eagerly await eternal life. It is not just the eventual goal where this joy can be found, but it is also in the process of reaching that goal. It is my hope that you too are experiencing God’s love for each of us in this way. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn