This weekly study by our
Friday on worshipping digs deep into meaning and the motive of who we worship
and why. It seems incomprehensible that God, the sovereign creator and ruler of
all the universe would desire to have an intimate relationship with those He
created. By the knowledge of how our Lord God was moving towards our
restoration and understanding that love of God with us, solidifies the
foundation of our faith and the true object of our worship in spirit; not by
opinion or feeling but in truth. This brings to light how each piece of
furniture in the Israelite tabernacle foreshadowed the Savior, and by seeing looking at them we
can better understand how to live a life of true worship, built on this solid
foundation: Revelation 1:5-6 “From Jesus Christ the faithful
witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of
kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and
made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
Through
the tabernacle gate is the outer court, where stood the Bronze Alter and the
Bronze Laver. The pattern shown is that Jesus is the door to salvation.
Initially, we come to God to be cleansed from our sin through a sacrifice.
Therefore, the alter becomes the picture of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Then we continue the sanctification process of being holy through the cleansing
power of His Word and confession of our sins. Past the outer court is the tent
of meeting, which was divided into two areas: the holy place and the Holy of
Holies. In the holy place was the Table of Showbread, a Hebrew word which means
“bread of the presence”, picturing Jesus – the true bread of life (John 6:35,48-51) that we depend upon,
and feed upon to sustain us. There also stood the Golden Lampstand, which was
the only source of light in the holy place, picturing Jesus as the Light of men
(John 1:4-5), the true Light of the
world and the Light of life (John 8:12),
and we are to walk in His light and children of light in this world (Ephesians 5:8). In front of the veil to
the Holy of Holiness was the Alter of Incense representing the prayers of the
people before God (Revelation 8:3-4),
and picturing Jesus (as our High Priest) as our intercessor at the right hand of God the
Father in heaven today (Hebrews 7:25).
Hebrews 10:7-12 “Then I said,
Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God--to fulfill what is written of
Me in the volume of the Book. When He said just before, You have neither
desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt
offerings and sin offerings--all of which are offered according to the Law-- He then went on to say, Behold, here I am, coming to do
Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order as a means
of expiating sin so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter)
order. And in accordance with this will of God, we have been made holy,
consecrated and sanctified through the offering made once for all of the body
of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One). Furthermore, every human priest stands at
his altar of service ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and
over again, which never are able to strip from every side of us the sins that
envelop us and take them away-- Whereas
this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that
shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” Why did Jesus give Himself up for us? Why did He die on a
cross? For us, and it was the plan from the beginning.
Are we
giving the Word of God the proper place of priority in our life? Are we walking
in the light as He walked or are we stumbling in the darkness? Does our walk
testify of our godly fear to not let our Lord down, show our respect and our
trust of God? In the circumstances, difficulties and temptations of life, do we
remember that He is interceding for us at that very moment? And do we, in turn,
stay in constant communication with Him committing everything to Him in
prayer? This is the integral part of
worship. Who do we worship and why? Who is worthy? In makes makes all the difference in the world.
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing
these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself
is the propitiation (literally atonement, our "Mercy Seat") for our sins; and not for ours only, but also
for those of the whole
world.” The next post shall address the Arc of the covenant and this Mercy Seat behind the veil in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle.
In
Christ, Brian
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