I can easily become dissatisfied with my lot in life. But when I look at the cross. When I see the king of Glory laying down his life for me, offering me forgiveness and hope and a life that I do not deserve. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that God has chosen to weave me. Into his story. And as I gaze at his outstretched arms. Nails piercing his hands and feet. The specifics of my role in his story. Suddenly ceased to matter.
I'm just so glad that he wrote me into this story that's all about him and his goodness. Well, then in verse 12, God brings up the subject of the Sabbath again, which seems odd because he already addressed it in detail and brought it up in places like the Ten Commandments. So let's read Verse 8 12 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak also to the children of Israel, saying, surely my Sabbath's you shall keep for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profaned that shall surely be put to death for whoever does any work on it. That person shall be cut off from among his people put to death. Work shall be done for six days. But the seventh is the Sabbath of rest. Holy to the Lord.
Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Are you getting the picture here? Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. Four in six days, the Lord made the heavens in the earth and on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed. Why does God reiterate the Sabbath here? I believe it's because of a natural tendency that we have, even among those who really love the Lord, I believe that God was saying, listen.
Even though you're working for me. Even though you're building the tabernacle for me, even though it's ministry onto to me, the Sabbath still applies and you still need to rest.
But Lord, the work is so important. You're so much more important than my need for rest.
God, all true, says the Lord. But I want you to rest. Because I'm not in relationship with you because of what you can do for me. I don't need you. But I love you. And I want you to stop and rest and breathe and reconnect with me relationally on the Sabbath. I don't want you to simply always be busy doing work for me.
The good works that we do for the Lord. Must never take priority over our relationship with the Lord. The church is not under the law. We've not replaced ethnic Israel, therefore we're not obligated to the ceremonial aspects of the Sabbath.
We're not obligated to celebrate it on Saturday or to do literally no work because we're not Israel. However, I personally believe that we're not exempt from the personal benefits of a Sabbath. Because we're not immune from mistaking good works for a relationship with God. And neither are we exempt from our need for rest or our need to slow down and intentionally acknowledge the Lord's goodness on a weekly basis with our families. We're not exempt from needing those things. Now, take a look at verse 17 again, because speaking of the Sabbath, the Lord says it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.
Four in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed.
You know, our society is our culture is just losing its mind on this issue, especially when it comes to the differences between men and women.
I saw Joe Biden just a few days ago declare that there's nothing that a man can do that a woman can't do just as well or better.
You said that.
And our society is so blind to the truth that it fails to see that by refusing to recognize any of the differences between the sexes, it also ceases to celebrate any of the wonderful differences between the sexes that make men and woman unique when it comes to the sexes and indeed even ethnic groups and cultures.
The way we best value each other is by recognizing and thanking God for the praiseworthy things that make us unique, because a biblical view of diversity and equality teaches that there are good differences between us that are gifts from God for our mutual benefit.
There are contributions to the church that only men can offer. There are contributions to the church that only woman can offer, there are unique contributions to the global church that different cultures and ethnic groups bring by God's design, by God's design.
And what Satan loves to do. Is America's discontent. With our God given role, jealous of what others have. And it's a tragic irony that we ever respond to Satan's temptations in this area, especially in light of what jealousy did to him. Let me read to you from Ezekiel 28 about the angel formerly known as Lucifer. You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect beauty, you were in even the Garden of God, every precious stone was your covering the sorriest topaz and diamond barrel onyx and Jasper Sapphire turquoise, an emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbers and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers. I established you.
You were on the Holy Mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you. That's what can happen when you begin to compare yourself to others. That's what can happen when you allow jealousy and bitterness to take root in your heart.
You can be the most beautiful being in existence outside of God himself. You can have the gift to create the most beautiful music that's ever been heard. You can be given practically unlimited artistic genius. You can be given edan. You can have wisdom and be perfect in the eyes of God, and it still won't be enough.
So what's the solution? How do we avoid becoming jealous of the roles that others have? How do we avoid comparing ourselves to others? The solution is what the solution always is. To look to the cross, because there we see our savior Jesus, who laid down his life for us, who laid down his fame and glory and power for us.
And when the reality of his gift of grace grabs a hold of me. I find myself overwhelmed. That God would give me a part to play in his glorious story. I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude. That I simply get to be involved. I'm just glad to have a part, I'm just glad to have a role. I don't care what it is. That's what it means to lay down your life for Jesus, it means embracing with gratitude the role that God has given you in life.
As a man or a woman, whatever your ethnicity is, whatever the gifts God does or doesn't give you, whether he leads you into marriage or singleness and the timing he chooses for those things, the career he leads you into an on and on and on we could go. Laying down your life for Jesus means embracing the role that God has given you. And fulfilling it to the best of your ability for his glory, when I look at other people and compare myself to them and my life to them.
It's a picture of the Holy Spirit. It's my opinion that the typology here points to God saying I am deadly serious about people who want to try and recreate or imitate my spirit for their own purposes. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira of Acts, Chapter five, they claimed that God had stirred their heart to give all the money they had made from selling a piece of real estate to the church. In truth, they were giving part of their proceeds, which would have been fine and good, but they wanted to appear even more spiritual than they really were.
And what happened? They were both struck dead by the Lord as a lesson to the early church to not lie about what you're doing in the Lord's name. I think the Lord takes this issue extremely seriously.
I would be terrified to stand before the Lord one day if I were one of those televangelists who claim to be speaking on God's behalf but are really only enriching themselves.
This is a serious warning. To some of our brothers and sisters in the wider church who attempt to fabricate. The presence of God through emotional manipulation. And create an imitation. Of the Holy Spirit. This is why BJ and I don't throw around the term gold. God told me that blank. We're both comfortable saying this is what the Lord says when we're reading it from the word but but we don't want to claim something is from God when it's just kind of a hunch or a feeling we have because it could be God or it could be all the pizza we had last night could be one of the two.
And it's a serious, serious thing to claim that something is the work of God. It's a serious thing to claim that you are speaking on God's behalf. And God does not take kindly to people using his name for their own purposes. And if you think I'm being too harsh, just listen to what Jesus said.
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Jesus says, listen. If you are manipulating people, misleading people by claiming something is my work, the work of my spirit when it's just you. Listen, you'd be better off tying a rock around your neck and throwing yourself into the ocean, then coming and standing before me. Jesus says, I'm not playing, I'm not playing, don't allow anyone to imitate my spirit for their own purposes and deal decisively with anyone who does. In verses, 34 through thirty eight, it gives detail of the incense that was to be burned in the Tabernacle in the preceding chapters, we've seen gold used over and over and over again in the construction of the Tabernacle.
In verse 23 of this chapter, we were told that murder was used in the anointing oil. And in verse 34, we were just told that frankincense was used in the incense. So you had gold, frankincense and myrrh all present in the tabernacle, the three gifts that would be famously brought by the Magida Jesus when he was a toddler. All of this points ahead to Jesus prophetically. Verse is one through 11 of Chapter Thirty one detail the men that God called and anointed as craftsmen for the Tabernacle.
You see, God anointed people not only for the spiritual tasks of the ministry, but also the practical tasks of the ministry. It was the same spirit anointing people for different purposes, not lesser purposes, just different purposes. And this is how things are in the Kingdom of God. In the family, children do not have a lesser role. They have a different role to their parents. The wife does not have a lesser role to her husband. She has a different role to her husband in the church.
The members do not have a lesser role to the elders. They have a different role to the elders. And the Bible has a lot to tell us about this. Like our brother Paul, comparing the members of the church to the members of the body, pointing out that they're all important and they all have a vital role to play.
Additionally, we talked about how water is always a picture or a symbol of the word of God when it shows up in the scriptures being used for washing when the priests would come to the Bronze Laver to ceremonially wash themselves, they would see their reflection in the middle of the brass, but they would see their reflection through the water, through the water.
And that's how we need to view ourselves through the water of the word of God. If you looked into the brass flavor without any water in it, you'd be looking straight at judgment, a judgment. And that's what happens when we begin to look upon ourselves, apart from the word of God, apart from Jesus, we we find ourselves overwhelmed by guilt and shame because of what we see, and we find ourselves depressed and discouraged by what we see. But when we look at ourselves through the water of the word in light of what the word says about us, when we look at ourselves in Christ through Christ, it's a very different picture.
It's a very different picture. The word of God reveals our identity. Do not look in the mirror to find out who you are. Don't look into the culture to find out who you are. Don't look on social media to find out who you are. Don't look at the TV, don't look at celebrities, don't look at media to find out who you are.
Look into the word. Gaze upon it, stare into it, see yourself in it, and you will find your identity. And here's the good news, even though the word of God is totally honest. It's also totally hopeful, totally hopeful.
God's word declares that he knew you before you were even born, he created you on purpose, with purpose, he loved you before the foundations of the world were laid and planned all along to lay down his life for you.
Because he desires you to be in relationship with him for eternity. You're a child of God who's loved by God. Look at yourself through the water of the word, you'll always come away blessed. In verse 22, we read of a very special anointing oil, let's read it together.
Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses saying also take for yourself quality spices, 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet smelling cinnamon, 250 shekels, 250 shekels of sweet smelling Caixin, 500 shekels of Carsia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary and the hint of a hint of olive oil.
And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil with it. You shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the testimony, the table and all its utensils, the lamp stand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the flavor and its base, you shall consecrate them that they may be most holy.
Whatever touches them must be holy, and you shall anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them. That they may minister to me as priests. And you shall speak to the children of Israel saying this shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man's flesh, nor shall you make any other like it according to its composition.
It is holy and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds that means whoever mixes any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, she'll be cut off from his people.
That means put to death. What jumps out to me from this text immediately is the question, why would God assign the death penalty for copying the recipe of this anointing oil? I mean, I get copyright infringement is an important issue, intellectual property matters, but the death penalty seems really harsh. Or dabbling once again in biblical typology. Let's ask the question in the Bible, what is oil, especially when it's used for anointing a picture of what is oil a picture of?
They're on board until until until it costs something. When the word of God clashes with something they want to do, they just ignore the word of God when they don't want to serve. They don't. They don't want to give, so they just don't they don't want to lay down their lives for Jesus on a daily basis, so they don't. And you know what? They might get away with it. They might fool everybody. But God knows, God knows.
And it's a dangerous place to be when your plan is based on fooling God. Because you can't. When a plague swept through Israel, did it matter if everybody else thought that you had paid the ransom money?
Did it matter? No. It only mattered if you had paid the ransom money. Because the one who could protect you from the plague wasn't your neighbor. It was got. And God would have known the truth. And here's where I'm going with this, there are a lot of believers who seem to think that they are under the blessings of God. Even while they intentionally ignore the word of God. They ignore the terms and conditions of God's promises in the Bible, for example, how many Christians love to claim the promise by Jesus that, hey, listen, Jesus said all these things shall be added under you and Matthew six.
Jesus was talking about clothing and food and all your daily needs. So I know this is all these things are going to be added under me. I don't need to worry about these things.
But they ignore the terms and conditions of that promise, what are the terms and conditions? Seek first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness. Listen to me, if you're placing your hope in God's provision, but you refuse to make him and his kingdom your priority, you are deluding yourself because you don't qualify for that promise. You don't qualify for that promise. Who is that promise for? It's for those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
If you're not doing that, you're as delusional as the man or woman who couldn't be bothered to pay the ransom money but still expect God to protect them when the plague came to town.
Oh, Lord, I claim Isaiah 26 three. You keep him in perfect peace. Oh, thank you for your peace, Lord. What are the terms and conditions? You will keep him in perfect peace. Whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you? If you refuse to spend time in the world. You refused to ever talk with the Lord in prayer to get your mind onto the things of God. If you refuse to trust the Lord in any meaningful way, you do not qualify for this promise.
When you read what the Bible actually says, you will find that there are terms and conditions to a lot of God's promises and blessings, even salvation is conditional. Do you realize that Jesus told us explicitly what the terms and conditions of salvation are? Then they said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God that you believe in him, whom he sent to receive salvation.
You must put your faith in Jesus as God. Salvation is conditional upon placing your faith in Jesus as God. I'm telling you this because I love you and I want you to be blessed, and so I want you to understand that you cannot receive the blessings and promises of God while simultaneously refusing to walk in agreement with God. If you're trying to do that. You're deluding yourself, you're deluding yourself. In verses 17 through 21 and talks about the Bronze Laver, which we also also looked at a couple of weeks ago, and I just want to share one more quick thought to reiterate something on that.
You know, we talked a couple of weeks ago about how the Bible tells us that this bronze lever was highly reflective because it was made from the highly polished, pure bronze mirrors of the Hebrew woman. And we talked about how brass or metal is the Medal of Judgment in the Scriptures.
The truth is that you cannot purchase your salvation. But your salvation must be purchased. Let me say that again, you cannot purchase your salvation, but your salvation must be purchased redemption. Your ransom has a price and it's a price you cannot and could not ever pay because the price of your ransom and mine is the life of a perfect sinless sacrifice. And that's why we need Jesus. He's the only one qualified and able to pay our ransom. We noticed, too, that the ransom price was identical for everyone.
Everybody needed to make the same payment. It didn't matter what your social status was, it didn't matter what your economic status was, it didn't matter whether you were considered a good person or a bad person. The same payment, the same ransom was required. If you want to have your sins forgiven, if you want to be put in right relationship with God, if you want to make it to heaven. The same payment has to be made for you that was made for me.
And the only payment that is acceptable. Is the blood of Jesus. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, the same payment is needed. And the good news is that just as the ransom money was an amount available to everyone, the blood of Jesus is available to everyone to pay your ransom no matter who you are. That's why this ransom payment was a silver coin, as you might remember, in the Bible. Silver is the medal of redemption.
Our brother Peter tells us you were not redeemed with corruptible, that means perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Salvation must be purchased and our salvation was purchased by Jesus. And please understand this in the church, we love to talk about how salvation is free, but that's not entirely true. Salvation is a gift. A gift is free to the recipient. But only because it was paid for by the giver.
Let me say that again, a gift is free to the recipients, but only because it was paid for by the giver. And my goodness, what a price Jesus paid to be able to freely give us the gift of salvation. He paid the highest price, offering his blood and body as payment. When a census was called, the question being asked was, who is part of the nation of Israel, who belongs to the people of God? And the way you would indicate this was by paying the ransom money, an act that was voluntary, they didn't go door to door and collect the ransom money.
Each person would go to the tabernacle and give it.
That meant that you could really easily say what or who's going to know? If I pay the ransom money or not, who's going to know? The answer? Nobody. Except God. And that's why the Lord said those who pay the ransom money will be protected from any plagues going through the land. They didn't need Fizer or Moderna, they just had to pay the ransom money. I know that jokes are probably not going to age well, and I also know you're thinking, don't worry, Jeff, that joke didn't even work now, so just don't worry about it.
If you didn't pay the ransom money, you wouldn't be under God's protection from plagues. And somewhere right now, somebody's watching, this is thinking, is Jeff seriously about to claim that if we tithe, we won't get covid?
No, I'm not, because that would be absolute heresy and I'm sure there's a charlatan somewhere on TV teaching that, but it's heresy. That's not true.
That's not where I'm going with this. Here's the point I want to make.
There are some people today. Who call themselves Christians and they go to church regularly when there's nothing better to do, when it's not a good lake de. They're nice people. They like being around caring people and a positive community, they like most of the morals and virtues of the Bible.
Passage: Exodus 30:1-31:18...Speaker: Jeff Thompson
As God continues instructing Moses on the construction of the Tabernacle and its various aspects, we pull out several practical lessons for us as modern day believers.
Today, we're going to be studying chapters 31 and 32 of the Book of Exodus, wherein the Lord continues to give instructions concerning the tabernacle, the portable temple, so to speak, that would accompany Israel on her journey toward the promised land, the sacred place where the presence of God would dwell among his people, as we did last week.
We're going to depart from our custom of reading through the text verse by verse, and instead highlight a few things that I believe are worth taking note of.
As always, you're free and encouraged to study more deeply on your own. This week, when we reach Chapter 32, the narrative of Exodus is going to pick up again. And so at that time we'll get back into the text verse by verse.
So I have a pen and notebook or outline ready and be open to what the Lord might want to especially speak to you about in today's study.
In Chapter 30, verses one through ten, focus on the altar of incense, which we've talked about in a previous study, and then beginning In verses 11 and continuing the verse 16, we read about the ransom money. So let's read that together in Exodus Thirty will pick it up in verse someone. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord when you number them that there may be no plague among them when you number them.
This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give. Half a shekel. According to the shekel of the sanctuary, a shekel is twenty.
Garras That really clear things up for us. The half shekels shall be an offering to the Lord. Every one included among those who are numbered from twenty years old and above shall give an offering to the Lord. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel.
When you give an offering to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves, and you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel and Shell appointed for the service of the Tabernacle of meeting that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.
Whenever Israel took a census, they were not to count the people. They were to do this. They were to call upon all those who considered themselves to be part of the nation of Israel, to pay a small amount of money, a single coin as an offering to the Lord.
And then the leadership of Israel would count the coins, not the people themselves.
Practically, it was a really simple way to take a census. Spiritually, there was a lot more going on.
God refer to this payment as a ransom and atonement money.
God was teaching his people that their sin had made them captives and slaves and that the only way for them to be set free was for a ransom to be paid.
And that ransom had to make atonement for their sins. It was imagery. It was symbolism, pointing ahead prophetically to Jesus, the Messiah, the one who would pay the price to make atonement for our sins and ransom us from death. For this reason, Jesus himself declared, the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many, including you and me. And this is why our brother Paul tells us you are not your own.
You were what? You were bought at a price. You were ransomed, you were redeemed. There was payment, there was atonement involved.
And I pray for any of us who who desire that, but feel like we're not experiencing that as reality right now. I pray that you would just show us what our next step is, what the truth is that we most need to take from your word today. And Father, I asked that you would give all of us forever, we're at just a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit, Lord, because we need you we need you to be the man and woman you've called us to be the husbands and wives, the employees, the brothers and sisters, the church members.
Lord, we we need your spirit to be. Who you've called us to be, so fill us a new with your spirit right now. Lord God. Father, give us insight through your spirit as we open your world to see ourselves clearly, apart from you and ourselves, clearly in Christ and father, to praise you for the difference, to praise you for the difference that Jesus has made. We love you, Lord, speak to us now by your spirit, it's in your precious name, we pray.
Just saying there that Jesus, when he died, also earned the redemption of all those who lived during the first tabernacle and temple periods for where there is a testament or where there is a will.
There must also of necessity, be the death of the testator for a testament or a will is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all, while while the testator lives. So if you write a will, the will doesn't do anything till the one who wrote the will dies.
Therefore, not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood, for when Moses had spoken every precept, every command to all the people. According to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water, scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying this is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you. Then likewise, he sprinkled with blood, both the Tabernacle and all the vessels of the.
Industry and according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood and without shedding of blood, there is no remission, there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.
Again, that all pointed a head to Jesus in his work on the cross. Therefore, it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
In other words, if it takes the blood of goats and calves and an animal sprinkled on the instruments of the temple on Earth, what does it need to take in heaven? And the answer is the blood of the perfect sinless lamb of God. Jesus Christ for Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands. Christ hasn't entered the earthly temple or tabernacle, which are copies of the true. But He's entered into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood of another. So what Jesus did in heaven he didn't do every year over and over and over, because he then would have to suffer often since the foundation of the world.
But now he suffered once.
At the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and as it is appointed for men to die once. But after this the judgment. So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. And then I love this. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time apart from Sen.. For salvation, I just love that last verse, it says Jesus is going to come again, specifically for those who are eagerly waiting for him, but when Jesus comes for us again, he's not coming like the first time to deal with sin.
N, no, He's coming for salvation. He's coming to take us to heaven with him. Love that it just ties everything that the Tabernacle is pointing to together so beautifully.
Well, as we get ready to pray, let me just ask you. How's your relationship with the Lord doing? How are you doing? Are you close to him? Ask the Lord to show you where you are using the Tabernacle as an illustration in that increasing closeness and intimacy with him, where are you at and what's your next step right now? Remember, if you feel dry, ask for more of his spirit. He'll be faithful to give it to you.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Let me pray for us together. Father, thank you so much for your word and thank you for all the truths that the Tabernacle points to. And thank you, Lord, that that through Jesus, we're able to accept that invitation to come all the way into the holy of holies and into real closeness and fellowship with you.
And I pray for any of us who who desire that, but feel like we're not experiencing that as reality right now. I pray that you would just show us what our next step is, what the truth is that we most need to take from your word today. And Father, I asked that you would give all of us forever, we're at just a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit, Lord,
Is better than a thousand elsewhere. And he who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Last thing, I promise.
The book of Hebrews is is just such a gift because it explains the connection between the Old and New Testaments, it reveals how the law pointed to Jesus.
It brings the two covenants into their rightful perspective if you want to grow greatly in your knowledge and understanding of the totality of scripture.
Let me commend to a deep study of the Book of Hebrews.
It's one of these books that unlocks the Bible as a whole.
And so I'd like us to simply just read Hebrews nine together because I think it really ties all of this together so beautifully, Hebrews nine says then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary for a tabernacle was prepared. The first part in which was the Lamb Stand the Table and the show bread, which is called the Sanctuary.
He's describing the holy place and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, or the holy of holies, which had the Golden Censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Arun's rod that budded and the tablets of the Covenant. We'll talk about all that at another time.
And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the Mercy Seat of these things. We cannot now speak in detail.
The writer of Hebrews says that because the Ark of the Covenant was lost after the first temple period back in Nebuchadnezzar day and Hebrews was written obviously in the second temple period when the ark had already been lost for six. Now, when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the second part of the tabernacle, the holy place, performing the services, but into the second part into the holy of holies. The high priest went alone once a year and not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people sins committed in ignorance.
The Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the holiest of all, the way into the holy of holies, was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. What does that mean?
It means the first tabernacle was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of the Reformation.
Hebrews is just saying, obviously, none of those ceremonies they're doing in that first tabernacle could actually gain you forgiveness of sins. They were just to point ahead to the thing and the time and the one who really would gain forgiveness of sins. Jesus, the Messiah, Verse 8 11.
But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come.
Christ came as the fulfillment of everything the Tabernacle pointed to with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. That is not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood.
He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained the eternal redemption. So that is Jesus is the Greater Tabernacle. He's the greater high priest.
He's the greater sacrifice for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot? That means without blemish, without sin to God, how much more shall he cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, he is the mediator of the New Covenant by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Again, we see the Earthly Tabernacle mirroring greater realities that take place in heaven. It's not a coincidence, though, that the place of prayer is located right at the entrance of the holy of holies, the presence of God. Because that's what prayer does, prayer ushers us into the presence of God. It never ceases to astound me how if I simply set aside a few minutes to seek the Lord in prayer, I can find myself being immersed in his presence.
I experienced that praying with my home group on Sunday, my experience at praying with BJ and I, experience at praying with friends.
And do you know where many of us are experiencing this, the presence of God through prayer most powerfully right now 4:00 p.m. every Sunday as BJA gathers us together around the altar of incense as the church to pray and week after week. We begin outside the holy of holies. We pray and then we find that inevitably, no matter how we felt when we started. We find that we've been somehow ushered into the presence of God and we're there or in his presence, we're in the holy of holies.
Prayers, powerful church, and if you're thirsty to experience the presence of God, you need to come and join us for that prayer 4pm because prayer moves us into the presence of God. Well, now you'd find yourself face to face with the veil, with the curtain. And if you've read the Gospels, then you know what happened to the veil in the temple when Jesus died on the cross in Matthew's Gospel, we read, then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earthquakes and the rocks were split and the graves were opened.
And many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep or raised the veil was needed in the tabernacle and then in the temple to ensure that God's presence didn't kill anybody.
Lest anybody stumble into the presence of God, not realizing that they were unrighteous. That was life with God under the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn. The way to God was opened and instead of men dying. Men came to life. You see, that's life with God under the New Covenant. And what's the difference? The difference is, Jesus, the blood and body and life of Jesus was our price of admission.
Into the holy of holies, let me say that again, the blood and body and life of Jesus. Was our price of admission into the holy of holies, into the presence of God, into relationship with the father?
Don't ever think that our access to God is free. It's not free. It costs God everything. As you enter the holy of holies, you'd find yourself looking at the ark of the Covenant and it's led the Mercy Seat, both of which we discussed at length a few weeks ago. There was no last stand in the holy of holies, why? Because the glory of God. The Shekinah glory of God would illuminate the room, and this again mirrors heaven, doesn't it?
And the new Jerusalem, that revelation, 21 23 tells us about when it says the city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it. For the glory of God illuminated it, I love this line, the lamb is its light. The holy of holies had the Mercy Seat heaven has a throne of grace. There's so many other pictures we could paint from this text, but the big thing I want us to recognize is that there's this progression of increasing intimacy as we move from outside the camp through the tribe of Judah, toward the holy of holies.
If you're wondering how to move deeper in your relationship with Jesus, ask the Lord to show you where you are in this picture, in this illustration of the tabernacle.
Ask him to show you where you are and what your next step is, because it's all about moving forward to that place of real relationship, that place of real closeness with God, that place of intimacy that caused David to sing to the Lord.
And from Jesus Christ, OK, we know him to the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the Earth. We know God the father, and we know Jesus. So we know that this seven spirits must be the Holy Spirit to finish out the trinity. A new revelation.
Students will know that even though this sounds puzzling, seven spirits. It's a reference to Isaiah 11 Verse is one and two, which lists seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit as a description of the singular Holy Spirit. And wouldn't you know it, those characteristics are listed beginning with one on its own The Spirit of the Lord. And then Isaiah describes three pairs just as the menorah is laid out.
Then we have verse 20 of Revelation one where Jesus himself tells John the seven lamp stands, which you saw are the seven churches.
And I share all that to simply reinforce the point that the menorah or the candlestick is is certainly a picture of the Holy Spirit among God's people, the Holy Spirit among God's people, the church.
Well, as we mentioned on your right in the holy place, you would see the table of shortbread.
And it's my belief that the picture here for the church is really our need to take Jesus in to fellowship and abide with him. And if you're not seeing it yet, there's a pattern of increasing intimacy with the Lord as you make your way from the outer edges of the tabernacle into the holy place and keep moving toward the holy of holies. There's this pattern of increasing intimacy.
In John six. We read then they said to him, to Jesus. What shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God. They you believe in him, whom he sent. Therefore, they said to him, what sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you, what work will you do?
I mean, our fathers ate the manna in the desert as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. What are you going to do that's better than what God did for us in the wilderness? Better than what happened under Moses?
Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Then they said to him. Lord, give us this bread always, and Jesus said to them. I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe all that my father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will.
But the will of whom? Him who sent me. This is the will of the father who sent me that of all he has given me. I should lose nothing, but I should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the sun and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day. Is your soul hungry? Is your spirit thirsty?
It's Jesus that you're craving. Whether you realize it or not, and it's only Jesus who can satisfy. And you kept moving forward in the holy place, you come to the veil. A thick curtain that separated the holy of holies from the holy place, but in front of that veil. You'd see the altar of incense, which is just what it sounds like, it was a golden altar upon which sweet smelling incense would be burned.
If you've been around the Bible for a while, then you may know that in the scriptures, incense speaks of the prayers of the Saints, the prayers of the Saints, Revelation five eight and Revelation Chapter eight. Describe the prayers of the Saints as appearing in heaven in the form of a bowl of incense.
We've been redeemed and Christ has made us able to stand by removing the crushing weight of our sin and guilt and shame. What a beautiful picture of God's grace and God's design for the church.
Well, as you entered the tent of the holy place. You see on your left, the menorah or the lamp stand and on your right, the table of shortbread. But let's just talk about the lamp stand for a little bit. If you've ever seen a menorah, then you know what it looks like there's a center lamp and then two branches that come out, either side with a lamp on their ends. And then beneath that, two more branches that come out with lamps and then two more that come out for a total of seven arranged symmetrically in biblical numerology.
Six is the number of man and seven is the number of holiness or perfection. Sinful man six. Is made holy and perfect by adding one, though one to be specific.
Jesus Christ, I believe the menorah is a visual. Presentation of what Jesus said in John Chapter 15 when he said, I am the vine. And you are the branches, I'm the vine, you were the branches because think with me here as we unpack this, what was the fuel of the lamps in this lamp stand? It was oil. Oil and scripture is pretty much always a picture of what? The Holy Spirit and what is the lamb stand do in the holy place, it gave light, it brought illumination.
Jesus said, I am the light of the world.
He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. And then Jesus went on to also tell his disciples, though, you are the light of the world. When Jesus said that, do you know that they weren't they really weren't, they weren't even saved yet. They fled when Jesus was arrested a couple of years later. So how could Jesus say to them, then you are the light of the world?
Well, it's because Jesus was looking ahead to the day of Pentecost in Acts Chapter two, and Jesus knew what would happen to his people when they received the fuel of the Holy Spirit and the power to abide in him.
When that picture of the lamp stand comes together and believers are abiding in Christ as branches joined to the vine when they're full of the Holy Spirit, the few. Then the people of the church become the light of the world, just as Jesus said, if you ever feel like you're not shining as a light for the kingdom of God, there's two things you need to check. Number one, are you abiding in Christ? Are you abiding in Christ? Are you staying connected to Jesus?
Are you staying in fellowship with Jesus?
And then secondly. Do you have the fuel of the Holy Spirit? Do you have the fuel of the Holy Spirit or are you just a lamp trying to shine with no fuel at all? Are you just a branch trying to bear fruit who's not even connected to the vine? If you want to be fruitful, if you want to be a light for the kingdom of God, two things be connected to Jesus as a branch to the vine and make sure that you're operating with the fuel you need, which is being full of the oil of the Holy Spirit.
When you have those two things, you're going to shine. It's inevitable. It's inevitable. And if you're running low on fuel, listen, ask for more. What did Jesus say? He says, listen. Your father knows how to give good gifts, and so how much do you think he's going to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks for it? If you're running low, ask the Lord to just fill you again in a fresh way with his spirit.
And he will. He will. He loves to do it. You students of the Book of Revelation will recall a lamp stand that John saw in Revelation Chapter one.
You might also recall that John wrote this in that same chapter Verse is four and five, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace and peace from him, who is and who was and who is to come.
That's a reference to the father and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, huh?
We're talking about the one thing that leads to all of those other things. Jesus said, I will build my church. Paul tells us that Jesus is doing just that he's building us together, he's fitting us together for what purpose?
To what end? For a dwelling place of God in the spirit. As we discussed a few weeks ago, God has made his people his church. His tabernacle, his temple. On the earth today, and Jesus is working through the Holy Spirit to join his people together, that he might dwell not only within us individually, but among us collectively as the church. That those who seek the presence of God on the earth today would be able to find him.
In the church. Among the people of God. The church exists first and foremost for the pleasure. Honor and glory of Jesus. The eternal destiny of the church is to be the bride of Christ. May we never lose sight of that and may we become an increasingly beautiful bride for our savior and an increasingly beautiful dwelling place for his spirit.
Now hang with me for the imagery here. Jesus is fitting us together as his people, as his church, to become a dwelling place for his spirit.
The boards in the Tabernacle speak of believers, the saints of the church, plain old wood over covered in gold.
The ordinary made into the extraordinary regular folk made into heavenly royalty by the grace of God in the house of God and those boards, remember, those believers are kept in shape and in place by five poles, five poles.
Scripture declares that Jesus gave five gifts to the church, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And for what purpose? For control. No, no, no, no. To help the church stay in position by remembering her purpose, which is to be a dwelling place of God. In the spirit. If we do countless charitable deeds as a church. But we miss this, then we've missed the point. If we perfect our theology and we become experts on the scriptures, but we forget to fellowship with the Lord.
Then we're just the church in Ephesus, the church in Revelation, Chapter two that missed the point and forgot her first love.
The reason that God gives elders as gifts to the church is to make sure that the church remembers her primary focus and purpose to be a dwelling place of God and the spirit.
These boards and poles incongruence applying pressure back and forth and holding each other together to become a stronger frame than they could ever be on their own. Remind us that God has designed us to need each other in the church. It doesn't work real well if one board just goes up on his own and says, I'm just going to stand up on my own, the board is not going to stand. He's going to fall. Understand that illustration, the board that goes off on his own and says, I don't I don't need anybody else to stand, I'll stand on my own, that board is just going to fall over at the slightest breeze, at the slightest tremor.
Our local version of the House of God, the Tabernacle, that is our church needs you.
It needs you and you need the church. You really do. You make us stronger and the church makes you stronger and you make the House of God more beautiful.
And these boards were to be placed in sockets of gold.
No, because gold actually speaks of kingship, you see, these boards were to be placed in sockets of silver, the metal of redemption in the Bible, and isn't the imagery beautiful? You have these boards of gold, but they're there in silver sockets, the metal of redemption. You see, we're not heavenly royalty because we're inherently royal. We're made royal by the grace of God, because we've been redeemed.
We stand in the redemption that Jesus purchased for us before we can be joined together.
Somebody has to stand us up before you can start joining the boards together. They've got to be stood up and like these boards in sockets of silver were able to stand for only one reason.
We know when we are shocked by our own sinfulness, clearly seeing ourselves apart from God. Yet we also find ourselves astounded by God's goodness and grace as we clearly see ourselves in Christ. We know God's word is cleansing us when we see both of those realities clearly and we find ourselves responding almost involuntarily in gratitude and then worship. Have you been washed in the word recently? You may be reading the word, but are you inviting the word of God to read you?
If it's been a while, let me encourage you to pray before you next to open the word and ask the Lord to just wash you with his word. Ask him to sanctify you. Ask him to help you see clearly.
And he'll be faithful to do it. He'll be faithful to do it. The tent of the tabernacle was known as the holy place, and if you looked at it from from almost any angle, you would have been struck by how almost. Drab, it looked it was just animal skins from the outside. Nothing really spectacular. All the amazing stuff was inside the holy place. Which brings to mind Isaiah 53, that incredible prophecy by the prophet Isaiah, which spoke of Messiah and said, among many other things, he, the Messiah would have no form or comeliness.
And when we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him.
Isaiah prophesied that when Messiah came, when Jesus came, there would be nothing exceptional about the external appearance of the man Jesus, nothing that would cause you to look at him as a man and say, oh, that guy's got to be really special.
He just looked like an ordinary dude. But but within him, within him. Well. Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. See, like the tabernacle, the glory of God was inside Jesus, not on the outside of Jesus, and when you entered the holy place, when you entered the Tabernacle, you would begin to see the one point two five tons of gold that was used in its construction almost everywhere that your eyes could look.
When you enter the holy place, you would walk through a gate consisting of five pillars, five being the biblical number of grace, and so you would enter through grace and grace into the holy place in Exodus.
Twenty six, twenty six through twenty eight, we learned that the frame of the holy place, the frame of the whole tent, consisted of wooden boards that were overlaid with gold and to keep them in position to keep them incongruence. They were to be five poles that ran through all of these boards.
These boards and poles were held in place by reciprocal forces. The whole thing would collapse if it was not held together by the combined strength of the boards and the poles being kept in their correct positions, working together to form a strong structure.
Perhaps you recall Ephesians to 19 through 22, which we read a few weeks ago. I'll refresh your memory.
Paul writes Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit. That Verse is talking about the fact that as the church collectively we become a holy temple in the Lord, Paul is talking about the church.
And what does Paul say in Ephesians two is the purpose of the church. Don't miss this. We're talking about the primary above everything else, purpose of the church. We're talking about the one thing that leads the church to do all the other good things that the church is called to do.
We're talking about the one thing that leads to all of those other things. Jesus said, I will build my church. Paul tells us that Jesus is doing just that he's building us together, he's fitting us together for what purpose?
Your word is truth. Jesus said plainly that the word of God is what sanctifies us now.
Exodus thirty eight eight gives us a very interesting insight about how this lever was made. It tells us that it was constructed from the bronze mirrors of the serving woman who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of Meeting. Not just to avoid any potential confusion. Exodus seems to use the terms brass and bronze interchangeably. There's likely some translater issue in play, which would be devastatingly boring to fully explain.
In those days, a woman would use very pure, highly polished, flat pieces of bronze as mirrors.
The implication is that the labor once constructed would have been polished up in the same way like a mirror. So as you stepped up to the lever to wash, you would see yourself clearly in the reflective surface of the water, which had the highly reflective surface of the brass lever underneath it. That's what the word of God does, the word of God shows us who we really are. It gives us a true reflection of ourselves. But the word of God is so much better than the labor, because the labor could show you what you really looked like, who you really were apart from Christ.
That's one of the main narratives and purposes of the Old Testament to clearly show us who we are apart from Christ.
But praise God, the word also includes the New Testament and the New Covenant, which clearly shows us who we are in Christ. That's what the word of God does. That's how it sanctifies us. It shows us who we truly are apart from Christ, and then it shows us who we truly are in Christ. And how do we respond to those truths?
How do we respond to that revelation when we find the answer in the Book of Revelation? Remember how we learned a couple of weeks ago that the Tabernacle is is a copy, a shadow, a reflection of sorts of the true tabernacle in heaven?
We read about that in Hebrews nine. And wouldn't you know it, it turns out there is indeed a flavor, so to speak, a sea in heaven that we read about in Revelation four as John witnesses, the church gathered together around the throne of God in heaven. Here's what John describes.
He says, Before the throne, there was a sea of glass like crystal. He goes on to say, the 24 elders fall down before him, who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever and cast their thrones sorry, cast their crowns before the throne. They cast their crowns before the throne.
Where are these crowns being cast? Into the sea before the throne of God. The word shows us who we are truly. Who we are apart from Christ, and it also shows us who we are in Christ, and when we see both of those things clearly, who we are apart from Christ, but who we are in Christ. The only response we can have is to give God everything we have, casting it at his feet and crying out, as John heard the elders crying out, you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.
When we do what we're doing right now, when we gather as God's people around his word and allow his word to open our eyes to see clearly. And then we respond to what the Lord shows us, we are mirroring what is going to take place in heaven when we gather around the throne of God. Now, please hear me on this, how do we know if we're truly allowing God's word to impact our lives? How do we know if we're really being watched in the world?
The picture that's being painted is people being kept out of God's presence because of the issue of righteousness. The people are not righteous, but God is.
And so they have to deal with the issue of God's judgment on their lack of righteousness before they can approach him. That need for righteousness before approaching God is the barrier between people and God. It's why they can't approach the holy place, the holy of holies, because there's this barrier of righteousness, the problem that the people are unrighteous and God is righteous.
Therefore, the only option is to be kept out of God's presence because no man could survive judgment. By God.
Are you with me? Are you see in the picture that's emerging here?
But there was a way into the tabernacle. There was a way for some to draw close to the presence of God, but only under very specific conditions.
The way the Tabernacle would be oriented in the camp of Israel meant that you would have to approach the tabernacle through the camp of Judah, the camp of Judah. What is the elder in Revelation five five called Jesus, as he points them out to John, he calls him the lion of the tribe of Judah.
As you made your way through the camp of Judah and approach the Tabernacle, you would find that there is only one way in, there's only one door.
Jesus said plainly, I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. Jesus also said I'm the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
There's only one way to God, only one way, and it's through Jesus. Once you entered through this single gate into the Tabernacle, if you look at your illustration, you'll see that you would find yourself immediately face to face with the brazen altar where sacrifices would be offered to God by the priests for sins.
Remember, Brass speaks of what in the Bible judgment. Because we can go no further, we can draw no closer to God. Until there's a sacrifice, until we deal with the sin issue, until we deal with our unrighteousness, the fact that our sin needs to be judged in order for justice to be done, the fact that we need to be made righteous before we can approach God.
And this clearly speaks of Jesus, our Passover lamb, the sacrifice who offered himself in our place to be judged in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous.
And because Jesus has taken our place and paid for our sins, the sacrifice has been made and we can draw nearer to God. Thank you, Lord. The sacrifice is taken care of by Jesus, but now we need to be sanctified, that ongoing process of being remade into the image of Jesus becoming more and more like Jesus as we allow the Holy Spirit to shape and change us sanctification is that ongoing purifying of our lives by the Holy Spirit.
Now, how does that happen?
Well, again, if you look at your illustration as you kept moving forward, the next thing you would encounter would be the brazen lever, a massive bowl full of water that was sometimes called the brazen sea or the molten sea and was used by the priests for ceremonial cleansing and washing.
Now, when water comes up in the scripture in relation to refreshment, it's generally a picture of the Holy Spirit.
When water comes up in the scriptures in relation to cleansing or washing, it's generally a picture of the scriptures, the word of God. So the labor here that's used for washing speaks of the word of God.
Jesus told his disciples, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. And when Jesus prayed for his disciples in his great high priestly prayer, praying to his heavenly father, Jesus prayed, sanctify them by your truth.
The picture that's being painted is people being kept out of God's presence because of the issue of righteousness. The people are not righteous, but God is.
And so they have to deal with the issue of God's judgment on their lack of righteousness before they can approach him. That need for righteousness before approaching God is the barrier between people and God. It's why they can't approach the holy place, the holy of holies, because there's this barrier of righteousness, the problem that the people are unrighteous and God is righteous.
Therefore, the only option is to be kept out of God's presence because no man could survive judgment. By God.
Are you with me? Are you see in the picture that's emerging here?
But there was a way into the tabernacle. There was a way for some to draw close to the presence of God, but only under very specific conditions.
The way the Tabernacle would be oriented in the camp of Israel meant that you would have to approach the tabernacle through the camp of Judah, the camp of Judah. What is the elder in Revelation five five called Jesus, as he points them out to John, he calls him the lion of the tribe of Judah.
As you made your way through the camp of Judah and approach the Tabernacle, you would find that there is only one way in, there's only one door.
Jesus said plainly, I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. Jesus also said I'm the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
There's only one way to God, only one way, and it's through Jesus. Once you entered through this single gate into the Tabernacle, if you look at your illustration, you'll see that you would find yourself immediately face to face with the brazen altar where sacrifices would be offered to God by the priests for sins.
Remember, Brass speaks of what in the Bible judgment. Because we can go no further, we can draw no closer to God. Until there's a sacrifice, until we deal with the sin issue, until we deal with our unrighteousness, the fact that our sin needs to be judged in order for justice to be done, the fact that we need to be made righteous before we can approach God.
And this clearly speaks of Jesus, our Passover lamb, the sacrifice who offered himself in our place to be judged in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous.
And because Jesus has taken our place and paid for our sins, the sacrifice has been made and we can draw nearer to God. Thank you, Lord. The sacrifice is taken care of by Jesus, but now we need to be sanctified, that ongoing process of being remade into the image of Jesus becoming more and more like Jesus as we allow the Holy Spirit to shape and change us sanctification is that ongoing purifying of our lives by the Holy Spirit.
Now, how does that happen?
Well, again, if you look at your illustration as you kept moving forward, the next thing you would encounter would be the brazen lever, a massive bowl full of water that was sometimes called the brazen sea or the molten sea and was used by the priests for ceremonial cleansing and washing.
Now, when water comes up in the scripture in relation to refreshment, it's generally a picture of the Holy Spirit.
When water comes up in the scriptures in relation to cleansing or washing, it's generally a picture of the scriptures, the word of God. So the labor here that's used for washing speaks of the word of God.
Jesus told his disciples, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. And when Jesus prayed for his disciples in his great high priestly prayer, praying to his heavenly father, Jesus prayed, sanctify them by your truth.
And to that end, I thought I would just share a couple of really simple, practical ways that you can do your own research if you hear me or another pastor say something like every time this number or this thing comes up in scripture, it's a picture of blank.
You can actually go to a Bible website, simple like Bible dot com and do a word search for that number or thing, and then go read about everywhere in the Bible where it comes up, check the context and check if it's true.
Hermeneutics is the study of biblical interpretation. It's the field of how we interpret the Bible. And an important principle of hermeneutics is called expositional constancy, expositional constancy.
And the idea is this, that when a Bible uses an idiom or a picture or a type, it tends to do so consistently. And here's why this is helpful. Imagine I say check it out, guys. There's a donkey cart mentioned here in the text and it's also mentioned over here in the text. So it must mean the same thing in both places.
What you would do is you would search the whole Bible for references to donkey carts and then you would see if my claim works or make sense in all of those instant. If it only works in something like two out of 11 instances, then I'm probably seeing something that isn't actually there because expositional constancy tells us that when the Bible uses idioms or illustrations, it tends to do so consistently.
Now, those are two of the hermeneutical filters that that I've used in my studies this week as I've waded through the masses of interpretations of imagery surrounding the Tabernacle to ground ourselves and in orient ourselves, I thought it would be most helpful to simply show you what the Tabernacle would have looked like.
So if you'll take a look at the second page of your outline, you're going to see a big, beautiful information, packed illustration of the Tabernacle.
And this illustration does a really good job of giving us a general sense of what everything looked like, how it was laid out and and how big it was or wasn't.
And I say that because you can see that the entire Tabernacle grounds were smaller than a quarter of an American football field, which is smaller than many of us may have thought.
Another popular misconception is that the term tabernacle refers to the tent structure. In reality, the tabernacle refers to the entire complex that you see in that illustration that is enclosed by those outer linen curtains, just as the term temple refers to the entire temple complex, including the courtyards, not just the main building. So let's jump in and begin to talk through some of the imagery that's in play when it comes to the Tabernacle. When the camp of Israel would be set up, when everyone would have their tents set up, the Tabernacle would be right in the middle of the whole camp of Israel, and it would have really stuck out because of those white linen walls, the curtains that blocked off the tabernacle from the camp of Israel.
Picture it in your mind. All of the tents of Israel would have been made from dark animal skins and fabrics and then right in the middle of the camp would have been the tabernacle with her bright white linen walls.
Looking from the outside, there would be a shocking contrast of colors, a picture of God's righteousness, white linen among a sinful people.
All these dark animal skins, those linen walls, those curtains were to keep the people out. Now, why is that? What was the issue?
Well, all the people would have been able to see when the Tabernacle was set up was these white linen curtains, a picture of God's righteousness and the brass fittings for the poles that held up those curtains.
Now, brass was the available metal at the time and in that region that could withstand heat and contain fire.
And so because of the connotation between fire and sacrifices, brass becomes associated with judgment in the scriptures.
Hi fantaziya, I took a look but find it fits it okay with the rest. You live in a beautiful place but I feel so sorry about what this winter has done to you so far. ........
Passage: Exodus 26:1-27:21...Speaker: Jeff Thompson
The New Testament tells us that the Tabernacle was a "picture" of greater Heavenly realities, Jesus, and the Gospel. In this study, we'll take a tour of the Tabernacle and highlight some of the most powerful imagery it employs.
Before we do anything else this week, you need to know that you're really going to need your outline today. I think you should always have an outline so that you have somewhere to record the things that God impresses upon your spirit that you want to remember. But this week, I'm going to be specifically referencing an illustration that is on the second page of the outline.
So if you don't have one of those yet, print it off now or at a minimum, download the PDF so that you can look at it on your phone or on your computer.
While we're going through today, study the next several chapters of Exodus, describe the details of the Tabernacles design and construction, as well as those instruments that are used within the Tabernacle and some of the processes of organizing the beginnings of the priesthood. I'm going to switch gears for the next few messages. And instead of going verse by verse, as is my custom, I'm going to be speaking topically.
I'm going to share some important observations in the text, and we're going to make lots of connections between the Tabernacle and other places in scripture.
We're going to be drawing lots of lines all over the Bible and we're going to do our best to dig into the most important facets of the Tabernacle.
Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of scripture. There is so much scripture in this week's study. I have no fill in points because the scriptures took up the entire outline.
Now I've shifted to a topical focus because if we went verse by verse and went full depth into everything that comes up in these next few chapters, we would wrap up our Exodus study sometime in the year 2027.
And while I love the word of God and I believe it's all profitable, we want to keep moving through the text and focus on the things that are most profitable.
Now, as always, there's obviously freedom for you to go as deep as you'd like in your own studies during the week.
And hopefully nobody will accuse me of being a sellout for taking only a year to get through the Book of Exodus.
So to telegraph where we're going to be going in this study, I want to let you know that that almost all of this study is going to be focused on imagery, on idioms, illustrations, pictures, types, representations, because the Tabernacle, as we've already learned, is an illustration that points to heaven. It mirrors realities that are in heaven. It points to Jesus. It points to the gospel. And it's going to teach us a lot about even our own spiritual life and walk with the Lord.
Now, let me say this. There are at least ten times more theories out there regarding the imagery of the Tabernacle than I will be sharing about today. Some of them I've chosen not to share because while they're compelling, I can't really verify them to my satisfaction. Others, I think, are simply not credible. And I think some others may be seeing something that's not there. They're the sort of thing where you read it.
You look at the scriptures and you go, that's a little bit of a stretch. I'm going to share the things that I find most credible with regards to imagery in the Tabernacle. But as always, we encourage you to do your own research, check it out for yourself and come to your own conclusions.
I want to be baptized today because I died with Jesus and I have been raised to life with him, to Jesus has washed my sins away. And I want to confess that I deserve to go to hell if it wasn't for Jesus who saved me. My favorite part of the Bible is Psalm twenty three, I'd like to read it for you, it says. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod and your staff. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Hello, my name is Luke. I don't remember a time in my life when I wasn't a Christian, I was very young when I became one. One of the ways my life has been impacted by Jesus is that he asks me to forgive other people, which helps me to live with a lot less anger and enjoy my relationships with people more. I want to be baptized today because Jesus told me to. My favorite verse in the Bible is Joshua.
Chapter one, verse nine, and it says this. Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged by the Lord. Your God will be with you wherever you go. Isn't it amazing to hear these real-life stories of the way Jesus has changed real people's lives? Praise God, let's praise God for what he's done. Father, thank you. Thank you for your goodness that is seen in everything that you've made.
We can see the design, we can see the plans sometimes even faintly, but we can see it, Lord. And when you bring us back into a relationship with us, you you lay out a way for us to walk and to live and to know you in a way that we can experience fullness, we can experience satisfaction, we can know what's true, and right and good and live our lives accordingly to that. Lord, thank you for all those that you have saved and brought into your kingdom, brought into your family to know this peace and to and to be brought back into your original design and your original plans.
Thank you for all my brothers and sisters in Christ. But I also pray, Lord, for anyone watching this who doesn't know you yet. Lord, would you do that supernatural miracle that takes place in the depths of their heart? Would you speak to them, Lord, and draw them to yourself? Would you bring them to yourself in a saving way? Do that, Lord, save them. Even right now I pray these things, Lord, always for your greatest glory and for all of our deepest joy and satisfaction in Jesus' name, we pray.
And it is mind-blowing. Amazing. And I cannot wait to learn more about life through God's word. I want to be baptized because I want to be obedient to Jesus and follow in his footsteps. He told us to become baptized and make disciples. And this is my first step to following his command. I would like to share my favorite Bible verse with you. It's found in Proverbs. Chapter three, verse five, it says. Trust God with all your heart, you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment.
Hello, my name is J.Y. My life before Jesus was full of sin, but I do not care or think about the consequences of my sinning, but Jesus called me out of that old life. I felt a call from God bringing me out of the darkness. And with the help of my family, I was able to open my heart back up to God again. As soon as I opened my heart to God, I felt the infinite amount of love that God has always given me is an amazing feeling that I cannot describe, except that it's amazing and everyone should do it.
I want to be baptized because I want my life to be dedicated to God. I feel that being baptized is my wholehearted acceptance that Jesus is my savior. He died for my sins. And through my repentance and trust in him, I've been forgiven. My favorite part of the Bible is Matthew, Chapter six verses twenty four to twenty five, it says. No one can serve two masters, either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body. What you will wear is not life more than food and the body more than clothes. Hello, my name is Dylan. Before I became a Christian, I was living in Constant and I was in a lot of misery while in the grip of my addiction. My addiction started off subtle and seemingly innocent. What started as partying with friends on the weekends turned into me being a full blown slave to opioids.
I got to the place where I was putting them before everyone and everything. The way I was living was unbearable, and I was also aware of the ever growing wickedness of the world and its disobedience to God. I called out for help and God answered me. He has given me a second chance. Jesus Christ, it's changed my life since I've become a Christian in ways that I couldn't have even imagined, I gave my life to him a year ago and God has given me my life back.
Not only has he given me it back, but he's given me a whole new one. He has freed me from the chains of addiction and has given me eternal life in a relationship with him. He has made me a new creation and now I'm able to bring his word to others. I want to be baptized today to publicly, publicly profess my faith in Jesus Christ and to take a deeper step in my relationship with him. The old me is washed away and I want God to continue to bring about the new life I now have in Jesus.
And I want to follow the command to get baptized. Found in Acts Chapter To verse. Thirty eight. I want to share my favorite Bible verse with you is Joshua. Chapter one, verse nine. And it says, Have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord. Your God is with you wherever you go. Hello, my name is Lauchlan. I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't a Christian, I was raised in a family that taught me about Jesus.
My whole life, I've believed in Jesus for as long as I can remember. Jesus is so real to me. I'm aware of his presence throughout the day and he is right beside me every day. There is one day I even felt Jesus hold me in his arms, which was such an incredible experience that no words could describe. I talk with them throughout every day and God speaks to me through his word, and he has grown my faith in him.
Taking a quick bath cannot take anyone's sins away. But baptism is a picture of a personal spiritual reality that has already happened in a person's life, the very moment they became a Christian. Listen to what the Bible says about baptism. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul says this in Romans Chapter six verses one to 11. What shall we say then, are we to continue and send that Gracemere bound by no means, how can we who died to sin, still live in it?
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism, into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin for one who has died has been set free from sin.
Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him for the death he died. He died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead and alive to God in Christ Jesus. This is the spiritual reality that baptism pictures for us, those who have repented and believe the gospel have had their old life united with and buried with Jesus in his death.
His death is our death. Our old life is gone. And now we've been raised to new life with him. The resurrection life of Jesus is our resurrection life, we've been united with him in this new life that he has made available to us. This is the picture of baptism, our old US dead and buried, our new US alive in Jesus. And again, that spiritual death and resurrection happened to us the moment that we believed baptism is an outward display of that spiritual reality that has already happened in us.
Baptism is a powerful picture of new life. This is a huge, huge day for us at Gospel City Church because tonight, Sunday, June 13th, twenty twenty one, we're baptizing six people who are going to display this picture of what Jesus did for them will be baptizing them as part of our live in-person service on Sunday night. Because these baptisms are happening a couple of days after this message was recorded, we won't be able to show you their baptisms right now in this message.
But that doesn't mean I can't share with you the incredible testimonies of the people who are getting baptized. With their permission, I'm going to spend the next few minutes putting their testimonies on the screen and reading them for you. They will be sharing these testimonies live right before they get into the water to get baptized. May Jesus bless you as you hear these personal stories of his goodness in these people's lives. Hello, my name is Des, before I became a Christian, I had no peace when I prayed now that I'm a Christian, when I think about the future and when I pray, I do have peace.
Family played a big part in me becoming a Christian, being closer to family that are Christian, help, support and guide me to show me more about Jesus and they help me make this amazing decision to turn my life over to follow Christ. Since I've become a Christian, I've come to see that Jesus is always with me throughout my day watching me and I know he's always protecting me. I want to learn more about Jesus and the Bible. I've learned about how our world ways, rules and beliefs have come to be.
Baptism is the very next step for a person who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus. They get baptized primarily because Jesus tells them to get baptized. Listen to these words Jesus gave to his disciples when he met them after his resurrection. Matthew twenty-eight verse is 18 to 20. And Jesus came and said to them, all the authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
Jesus commands his followers to get baptized when they decide to follow him. So that's what we do. Baptism is a powerful picture. Baptism is a picture of a historical reality and a spiritual reality, both of which have already taken place. What historical reality does baptism paint for us? Well, think about what happens when a person gets baptized, they go down under the water, then they come up out of the water. And what's that?
A picture of or baptism is a picture of Jesus' dead body being buried in a tomb. And it's a picture of Jesus' resurrected body coming to life again. Dead and buried and then alive forevermore, whenever a person gets baptized, they are displaying a picture of a historical event for everyone to see. But baptism is not just a picture of a historical reality, baptism is a picture of a personal spiritual reality that has taken place in the life of the person who's being baptized.
I want everyone to leave here with a crystal clear understanding of what baptism doesn't do, the physical waters of baptism do not wash away anyone's sin. Physical water cannot clean the spiritual sin from anyone's heart. No, a person is totally washed and totally cleansed from their sin. The moment they place their faith in Jesus, the moment they believe the finished work of the Cross of Christ is applied to the repentant sinner's life. Belief in Jesus washes our sins away.
He made our life and he has a good design for how our lives are to be lived. And even when we fail, we understand God's pathway to be restored. The same good news of Jesus. God's spirit empowers us to recover his design and assures us of his presence in this life and for all of eternity. On your outline, you can see the words recover and pursue next to the last arrow that connects the gospel back to God's design. The Bible says in Philippians, chapter two, verses 30, verse 13 for its God who's working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out his good purpose.
And Ephesians chapter two, verse 10, it says, For we are his creation created in Christ Jesus for Good Works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. This is the picture of the three circles, the question now is, what should you do? Like I said earlier, you may have already heard everything that I've shared with you in this picture of the three circles you may have been brought up in the church, you may have already read the Bible and are familiar with it.
You may already be a Christian. And if you are, then you've been given a good reminder in this message of the big picture of how life is supposed to work. But maybe you've never heard any of this stuff before, or maybe it's the first time in a long time that you've heard it, if that's you, now that you've heard this good news, God wants you to respond to him. You can talk to him using words like these, you could even say these words to God right now in the quiet of your heart, if you believe them to be true, you could pray something like this.
God, my life is broken and I recognize it's because of my sin. I need you. I believe what I've just heard here today, I believe that Christ came to live, die, and was raised from the dead to rescue me from my son. Forgive me, God, I turn from my selfish ways and I put my trust in you. I know that Jesus is Lord of all, and I will follow him. Amen Amen. If you just prayed that simple prayer in your heart and you meant it, I want you to listen to what the Bible says.
Romans Chapter 10, verse nine. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And Romans chapter 10, verse 13 for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So what's next? Well, as you begin your new journey, the Bible teaches you how to pursue God. Remember, he has a design for healthy relationships and prayer.
God wants you to talk to him about everything that matters to you, search the local church is God's family to help you walk with him, and get connected to a church if you're not already connected to one. Bible, the Bible reveals God's design, showing you how to pursue him, read the Bible every day. If you don't have a Bible and would like one, you can get one from your local church or you can reach out to us here at Gospel City Church and we will get a Bible into your hands and share.
Now that you've experienced this good news, tell others this is the three circles. This is the first picture of a new life that I wanted to share with you. And this picture leads seamlessly into the second picture I want to show you right now. And this is the final fill-in on your outline, picture number two. This baptism picture number two is baptism. When a person believes the good news of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they get baptized.
Our pursuit of those things adds to our brokenness. Brokenness leads to a place of realizing the need for something greater. The Bible says in Romans one twenty five, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served something created instead of the creator. And in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 12, the Bible says this. There is a way that seems right to a man, but his end is the way to death. At this point in the picture, we need a remedy.
We need some good news. And if you've been tracking with me so far, then you're ready for the gospel. And this is your next film, right? The word gospel inside the third circle. Right. The word gospel inside the third circle. What's the gospel? The Gospel. The good news about what God has done to fix us because of his love. God did not leave us in our brokenness. Jesus, God in human flesh came to us and lived perfectly according to God's design.
Jesus came to rescue us, to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He took our sin and shame to the cross, paying the penalty of our sin by his death. Jesus was then raised from the dead to provide the only way for us to be rescued and restored to our relationship with God. The Bible says and John three 16 that God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Colossians Chapter To verse 14, the Bible says he erased the certificate of debt with his obligations that were against us and opposed to us and has taken out of the way by nailing it to the cross.
And in First Corinthians, Chapter 15 three to four, the apostle Paul says this food delivered to you as of first importance. What I also received, is that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day under the scriptures. Isn't this amazing news? This is the best news that you will ever hear. God made a way so that you don't have to pay for your sins.
God made a way for you to be forgiven. Now, simply hearing this good news is not enough, though we must admit our sinful brokenness and stop trusting in ourselves, we don't have the power to escape this brokenness on our own. We need to be rescued. We must ask God to forgive us, turning from our sins to trust only in Jesus. This is what it means to repent and believe. You can see those two words in your three circles.
Pichler the words under the arrow that connects our brokenness to the Gospel. By believing we receive new life through Jesus and God turns our lives in a new direction, the Bible says in Mark 115 to repent and believe the good news, the Ephesians chapter two verses eight to nine. It says four. You are saved by grace through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It's God's gift, not from work so that no one can boast. In Romans Chapter 10, Verse 8 nine, the Bible says if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved.
And when God restores our relationship to him, we begin to discover meaning and purpose in a broken world. Now we can pursue God's design in all areas of our lives. Now we can pursue God's design for happiness and contentment. We can pursue his design for friendships and family and marriages and parenting, dating, and singleness. We can pursue God's design for how we understand and express our sexuality. We can pursue God's design for how we handle money. We can pursue God's design for every area of our lives.
See what the solution is to their problems, too. But on the other hand, you might be watching this message and you've never heard of or received the solution to life's problems. If that's you, then you will have that opportunity after I finish explaining this picture to you. OK, let's go. Let's walk through this first picture of the three circles. Let's set the stage. We live in a broken world, surrounded by broken lives, broken relationships, and broken systems, this brokenness is seen in suffering, violence, poverty, pain, and death all around us.
This brokenness leads us to search for a way to make life work. In contrast to this brokenness, we also see beauty and purpose and evidence of design all around us. The Bible tells us that God originally planned a world that worked perfectly, where everything and everyone fit together in harmony. God made each of us with a purpose to worship him walk with him and enjoy him God designed this world that we live in and his design was very good.
So here's your first filling, and it's the first thing I will get you to write on your picture inside the top left circle. Right. The words God's design. God's design. The Bible says in Genesis, chapter one, verse thirty one, God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good and there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day, and then saw 19. Verse one says The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Believe it or not, life works when we live according to God's design, but life doesn't work when we ignore God and his original design for our lives all of us do this, we selfishly insist on doing things in our lives, in our own way, every single one of us. And the Bible calls this sin. We all sin and distort the original design. You can see the word sin on your picture of the three circles is on the top of the arrow, connecting the top two circles.
The consequence of our sin is separation from God, not only in this life, but for all of eternity. The Bible says in Romans chapter three, verse twenty three, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and Romans six twenty three, it says, for the wages of sin is death. It said that leads to a place of brokenness. We see this brokenness all around us and we see this brokenness in our very own lives as well.
How many times and in everyday conversations do people engage you about their problems or challenges? It's amazing how often people share their heartaches regarding their marriages, children, finances, addictions, depression, you name it. People are hurting and they need hope. People are hurting because people are broken. For your next fill-in, go ahead and write the word brokenness inside the second circle, the one on the top right-hand side. Brokenness. When we realize life is not working, we begin to look for a way out.
We tend to go in many directions trying different things to figure it out on our own. That's what those squiggly lines coming out of the second circle represent. They represent all the different ways we try to fix our own brokenness. Can you think of any ways that people try to fix the brokenness in their lives on their own? Well, we turn to things like fun party, drugs, alcohol, sex, money, relationships, family material possessions, adventure, busyness comforts, food gambling, video games, and anger control.
The list is long of the things that we go to to try to fill our lives, to fix our lives or just plain numb our lives. But do any of those things that I just listed, do any of those things fix our brokenness? They might give us temporary relief, they may get us temporary happiness, but doesn't last Now, if you're honest with yourself, you know that the fix is temporary at best. Those things we run to don't fix our brokenness.
2 Pictures of New Life[/b.....Date:6/13/2 Series: ..Special Messages
Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
Pictures are powerful teaching tools. In this message, we look at two pictures that help us understand the new life that God wants to give to every single person. And at the end of the message, we hear the testimonies of six people from Gospel City who followed Jesus through the waters of Baptism on Sunday, June 13, 2021.
I loved playing with Lego as a kid, I love building something from scratch using the instruction manual that came with the kit. If you know anything about Lego instructions that, you know, they have pictures in them, lots and lots of pictures. They have pictures of what you need to see at each stage of the construction process you're in. Now, there are some words in the manual to describe what you're doing, but there is only the minimum amount of words that you would need to help you move from one stage of the building project to the next, the pictures and the instruction manual or what help you understand where you are, what you are doing and what step comes next.
Can you imagine Lego instructions that had no pictures in them? What kid would build Lego if there were only words to describe each one of the dozens of unique pieces and intricate steps to follow? Imagine, for example, the first step in your Lego building adventure had no pictures, but only words instead. And it said in writing step one, take the green piece that is a quarter inch long and an eight inch tall and connect the front end of that piece on top of the long gray piece that is two inches long and an eeight-inchtall.
Now, you could get the job done with written instructions like that, but why would anyone write instructions like that if they could give you a picture like this? Instead, a picture of the green piece being fastened to the gray piece. Do this. When you look at a picture, you can see clearly how everything is supposed to fit together. Now, if you're an adult that played with Lego as a kid, the skills you learned growing up come in really handy whenever you attempt to build grown up Lego, which is what I call any furniture that comes from IKEA.
IKEA furniture is notoriously, notoriously difficult to put together. And guess what? IKEA instructions have pictures. Can you imagine trying to put IKEA furniture together without pictures in the manual? Good pictures, help us understand what's going on. Good pictures not only help us understand how to build Lego and IKEA projects, good pretty good pictures can help us understand life and how it works. I'm going to show you two such pictures in our time together in this message.
The first picture we're going to look at is found on your outline, on your message outline. You'll see a diagram that has three circles in it. This is the first picture I want to show you. This picture has a highly creative and original name. It's simply called Three Circles. I'm going to walk you through this picture of the three circles. I'm going to get you to write some words in each of the circles as we go. When we're done, you can have a basic illustration that will help describe for you how life works.
This picture will show us what our main problem is in the world today, and it will show us what the solution is to now. Some of you watching already know what the solution is. You already have received this solution in your life and you're already living in light of it, if that's you. This picture is going to be a good reminder for you of what you already have. But don't tune out because you can use this picture of the three circles as a tool to help people in your life.
All of us at one time have heard His voice, but we often ignore it and later we say, after we realize that we made a mistake, I knew it! I should have listened to it. If only we could learn to listen to that voice all the time.
There was one time I did listen and I am still so grateful that I did. We had gone to Seymour Mountain and had Hugo’s two boys with us. We had brought a large truck tube. Hugo and I lay side-by-side, the boys on our backs and way we went.
As kids we never owned a sled, we used a piece of cardboard instead. The second time around I got it into my head to try and steer that thing, to maneuver it like I have seen the kids do on their sleds. Yes, on a truck tube! Somehow I got my foot stuck, and I mentioned this to Hugo when we got to the bottom of the hill.
It did not really hurt that much, so Hugo said; “I hope that you can make it back up the hill by yourself, for it won’t be easy otherwise, it is a steep hill.”
Now I have to admit that I like to show off sometimes, to show how tough I can be. I can do anything. I contemplated climbing that hill, but there was no way I could mistake what I heard next.
A voice that said loud and clear; “Don’t even try it” . As I said this is against my nature not too show off.
But I listened, and I am so glad that I did. We made it back up the hill somehow without my sore foot touching the ground. Then Hugo took me to the first aid. There was no swelling at all, it did not look bad, but we were advised to go to the hospital anyway to have some pictures taken.
The doctor who was on duty that night thought I would be just fine, probably just a sprain. She did take some ex-rays anyway. When she came back with the pictures, we could read from her face that things had changed she looked very worried.
The doctor said; “I am afraid that I have bad news, your foot is shattered in four places. You may never walk again!”
Wow, this is incredible, there was nothing to see, and there still was no swelling, I had a cast put on up to my hip, it took a while to heal and for about a year, my foot was stiff .
I am walking today just fine, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that had I tried to walk on my foot even one step, I would not be able to walk today. I am so grateful that I heard and listened, to His voice. I now knew this voice had to have been coming from the Holy Spirit.
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What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
I can easily become dissatisfied with my lot in life. But when I look at the cross. When I see the king of Glory laying down his life for me, offering me forgiveness and hope and a life that I do not deserve. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that God has chosen to weave me. Into his story. And as I gaze at his outstretched arms. Nails piercing his hands and feet. The specifics of my role in his story. Suddenly ceased to matter.I'm just so glad that he wrote me into this story that's all about him and his goodness. Well, then in verse 12, God brings up the subject of the Sabbath again, which seems odd because he already addressed it in detail and brought it up in places like the Ten Commandments. So let's read Verse 8 12 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak also to the children of Israel, saying, surely my Sabbath's you shall keep for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profaned that shall surely be put to death for whoever does any work on it. That person shall be cut off from among his people put to death. Work shall be done for six days. But the seventh is the Sabbath of rest. Holy to the Lord.
Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Are you getting the picture here? Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. Four in six days, the Lord made the heavens in the earth and on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed. Why does God reiterate the Sabbath here? I believe it's because of a natural tendency that we have, even among those who really love the Lord, I believe that God was saying, listen.
Even though you're working for me. Even though you're building the tabernacle for me, even though it's ministry onto to me, the Sabbath still applies and you still need to rest.
But Lord, the work is so important. You're so much more important than my need for rest.
God, all true, says the Lord. But I want you to rest. Because I'm not in relationship with you because of what you can do for me. I don't need you. But I love you. And I want you to stop and rest and breathe and reconnect with me relationally on the Sabbath. I don't want you to simply always be busy doing work for me.
The good works that we do for the Lord. Must never take priority over our relationship with the Lord. The church is not under the law. We've not replaced ethnic Israel, therefore we're not obligated to the ceremonial aspects of the Sabbath.
We're not obligated to celebrate it on Saturday or to do literally no work because we're not Israel. However, I personally believe that we're not exempt from the personal benefits of a Sabbath. Because we're not immune from mistaking good works for a relationship with God. And neither are we exempt from our need for rest or our need to slow down and intentionally acknowledge the Lord's goodness on a weekly basis with our families. We're not exempt from needing those things. Now, take a look at verse 17 again, because speaking of the Sabbath, the Lord says it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.
Four in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed.