Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / March 17, 2021 | Chronological Bible Study with Patty Diliberto - Session 8: Moses & The Tabernacle

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March 17, 2021 | Chronological Bible Study with Patty Diliberto - Session 8: Moses & The Tabernacle · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can tell a lot about a person by where they live.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: If you go in someone's home, you might observe what they value, what their priorities are, what their hobbies are.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: If you come in my home, you're going to see that I love to create beauty.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: My husband would be quick to point out to you that in order to create all that beauty, I have to have lots of options.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, he built a storage place where I can hold all of my options.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Creating beauty is just kind of how God wired me.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Our homes take up a good amount of our time and our resources, and for most of us, our homes are our biggest financial resources.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: In the Pentateuch, which is the first five books of the Bible that Moses authored, we learn about God's choice to live among his people.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: His dwelling place, the tabernacle, is what we are going to look at today.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: And it gives us amazing insights into the heart of God.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle shows us what he values and how he relates with his children.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: So let's pray and ask him to come and inhabit what we're going to do today.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Father God, that is what I pray that you would come and you would manifest yourself.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: We'd love for a cloud to come down and just fill this space like you did in the tabernacle to let us know that you are with us.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for this teaching today and we just ask that you would be glorified in it.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: And we pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Behind every design is a designer.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Someone must be able to envision what something will look like and then be able to translate that onto paper so that workers can bring the design to life.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: God was the designer of the tabernacle.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: God is the heavenly designer who communicated both his desire and his design to Moses.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Moses was the earthly contractor who then subcontracted the construction of this earthly manifestation of a heavenly reality.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: That is what the tabernacle was.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: As we look at the tabernacle, we are literally getting a glimpse into the heavenlies.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Each part of the tabernacle pointed to a heavenly reality.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: And it pointed to something else as well.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: Exodus 8:1 says, Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: Am I on the right one?
2:51
SPEAKER_00: No.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: Sorry about that.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: Let me go back.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: Go back.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord Yahweh says.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Let my people go so that they may worship me.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Why was God delivering the people so that they could worship him?
3:14
SPEAKER_00: So they could worship him.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: Now that the people of Israel are delivered from Egypt, they needed to learn how to appropriately, acceptably worship Yahweh.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: God's desire was the worship and fellowship of his people.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: In order to teach them how to worship him appropriately, he had to give them a place.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: And since they would be traveling for 40 years, that place of worship needed to be portable.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Makes sense, doesn't it?
3:45
SPEAKER_00: In Exodus 25, God begins to give instructions to Moses about building the tabernacle, his dwelling place.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: And you know now how much detail it goes into because you're reading it and reading it and reading it.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: But the details are important.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: Exodus 25, 8 says, Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: The key word there is dwell.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle was the visible sign of God's presence with his people.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: When the people of Israel saw the tabernacle, they could say, God is with us.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: This is our God.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: It's as if God is telling Moses that the people need a physical reminder that he is with them.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: They need a place that will be full of details and activities that will teach them about God's character, his holiness, his will, so that they can learn how to relate to him.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: They are to build a courtyard, and in that courtyard would be a tent, and in the tent a compartment that's called the holy place.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: That's it's in that compartment, the holy of holies, where the box called the Ark of the Covenant is.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: The craftsmen who worked on the ark had no idea what would take place, what would happen after the tabernacle was complete.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: But they acted in obedience and they carried out their tasks under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: And that's important for us to see.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Exodus 35.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Then Moses said to the Israelites, see, the Lord has chosen Basal, whatever his name is, and he was filled, and he has filled him with the Holy, with the Spirit of God.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm butchering this.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: With wisdom and understanding, with knowledge, with all kinds of skills to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of artistic details.
6:02
SPEAKER_00: And he has given both him and Oholiab, I think I nailed that one, the ability to teach others.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: He has filled them with the skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen and weavers, all of them skilled workers and designers.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: God gave these men the ability, but they had to be willing to do the work.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: And to use that gift or ability that God had given them, the tanning of hides, the weaving, the stitching of material, the metalsmithing, the wood planing, all spoke of obedience to God.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: All of it.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle wasn't all that big.
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SPEAKER_00: It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and half the which is half the length of a football field.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: The courtyard was the place where the people could gather to offer the sacrifices and praise and prayers to God.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: The curtains that made up the outside of the tabernacle were white and they were continuous except for the one gate in front.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: And these curtains made of that white linen represented purity and holiness to the people.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: The curtains were the line.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: They were the line that separated the holy from the unholy.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: Once the Israelites entered the gate, they knew that they were entering into fellowship and obedience to Yahweh, Almighty God.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Once they crossed that line, they knew they were coming to God God's way and not their own way.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: It wouldn't end well if they came to God in a way they wanted to come to Him.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: What point was God making?
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SPEAKER_00: Come to me in the way I tell you to.
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SPEAKER_00: No other way is acceptable.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: He's teaching and He's training the Israelites how to worship Him acceptably.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: And so He has rules and laws.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle is made up of three parts: the outer courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: Why is the number three significant?
9:19
SPEAKER_00: Because it probably represents the triune God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: The tabernacle had seven pieces of furniture in it, two in the outer court, the labor and the altar, three in the inner court or the holy place, the altar of incense, the table of showbread, and the lampstand, and then two pieces in the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant and the Atonement cover, or the mercy seat.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: Seven is a number repeated throughout the Bible, and it's the number for perfection.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: There's so much symbolism in the tabernacle.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we could literally go on for days talking about the symbolism here.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: But today we will see the symbolism as it pertains to Jesus Christ and to see how He how He manifests this.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: This may be review for some of you and it may be new for some, but I hope for all of us it's just a blessing.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: First, we're going to look at the gate or curtain.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: The gate was made of finely woven linen embroidered in blue, purple, scarlet, and white linen.
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SPEAKER_00: The gate made the entrance to the tabernacle very obvious.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: This brightly covered gate or curtains was 30 feet long and it stood out and stood apart from the plain white that went all the way around all the other sides of the courtyard.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Everyone from the high priest to the common worshipper entered through that gate and you couldn't come into it any other way.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: There are many things that this gate could represent, but we are going to look at the symbolism as it pertains to Jesus.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: But remember, the colors woven into it are blue, purple, scarlet, and white.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, make up a composite picture or portrait of the Lord Jesus.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: When you're reading the Gospels, you can think, I think I've already read this.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: And yes, you have.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: This is your spiritual act of worship.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: When an animal was to be sacrificed, it was tied to one of those horns on the four corners.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: And there was no way that animal was getting away.
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SPEAKER_00: They didn't have the option to say, Well, I think I'm done, I'll leave.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: The only way would be through sacrifice.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: This picture would have been clear to the Jews in Paul's day.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: They understood this perfectly.
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SPEAKER_00: Like the animal tied to the altar, we are bound to give our whole lives to God as a sacrifice for us.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: People came to God through that animal sacrifice first in the tabernacle, here that we're looking at.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: And then after they settled in Jerusalem, the temple in Jerusalem was had the same visuals as the tabernacle in the wilderness.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Today believers come through the sacrificial death of Christ.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: He was lifted up, lifted up on the altar of sacrifice for us.
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SPEAKER_00: In Israel, when a person brought an offering of sacrifice to the altar, they were bringing that in place of themselves.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: They were bringing it for their sin to represent their sin.
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SPEAKER_00: And it was burned up completely on the altar.
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SPEAKER_00: Our sacrifice doesn't come in the form of taking the life of an animal, but in giving our life wholly to God.
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SPEAKER_00: A living example of Christ is a better is better than a dead sacrifice.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: And now we come to the brazen laver.
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SPEAKER_00: When you walk past the brazen altar, you come to the laver or basin.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what laver means, basin.
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SPEAKER_00: This is where the priests would wash their hands and they would cleanse themselves before entering the holy place.
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SPEAKER_00: A basin was a common household appliance in homes in the ancient Near East.
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SPEAKER_00: People were often dirty and dusty from traveling on the roads, and when they entered a home, they would use the basin to cleanse themselves.
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SPEAKER_00: So this labor was located at a convenient place for washing.
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SPEAKER_00: It was stood as a reminder to the people that before you could enter God any further, you had to be cleansed.
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SPEAKER_00: You had to be clean.
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SPEAKER_00: The priests had just atoned for the sins at the altar right behind them.
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SPEAKER_00: Their hands would have had blood on them.
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SPEAKER_00: And so they would come to the brazen basin and they would wash their hands in that basin.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: The labor was made of bronze on the outside, but on the inside, the basin of it was tiled with mirror or metal that would reflect back at them.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: It's very interesting.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: So as the priests bent over to wash their hands, they would see themselves reflected in that basin.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Not only was the basin itself reflective, but the water would have been reflective as well.
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SPEAKER_00: And that is a symbolism for us as believers, too.
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SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22 says, Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled with blood to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Whoever the author was of Hebrews understood what the basin and what the altar did and represented for us.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: The Word of God is like a mirror to us.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: It even says that through the Word, God reveals to us and uncovers for us the sins that are in our lives.
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SPEAKER_00: It's a reflection that reflects back our wrong attitudes, our wrong behaviors.
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SPEAKER_00: And it reflects to us so that we can take care of those things and cleanse ourselves from those things.
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SPEAKER_00: In the courtyard, we first came and we had our sins forgiven, which represents the cross.
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SPEAKER_00: And now we move from the cleansing to the cleansing, refreshing, renewing work of God through his word, which brings us one step closer to the holy place.
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SPEAKER_00: Daily cleansing follows the cross of sacrifice, not before.
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SPEAKER_00: It follows it.
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SPEAKER_00: After we go through another curtain, we enter the holy place.
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SPEAKER_00: There were three main pieces of furniture here in the holy place.
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SPEAKER_00: First, we're going to look at the lampstand.
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SPEAKER_00: In the courtyard, outside the tabernacle tent, all the items were made of bronze, which was a common metal.
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SPEAKER_00: But inside, in the holy place, they were made of pure gold.
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SPEAKER_00: And that was symbolizing deity and holiness.
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SPEAKER_00: The piece of furniture, this piece of furniture, the lampstand, was similar in size to the table of showbread, which stood opposite that table in the holy place.
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SPEAKER_00: So the the lampstand stood on the south side of the of the wall of the holy place, and the table of showbread stood on the north side.
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SPEAKER_00: The lampstand was made of pure gold.
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SPEAKER_00: It was hammered at one piece of pure gold, and its total weight was one talent, so it was about 75 pounds of gold.
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SPEAKER_00: Branch from which six other branches extended out each side, forming a total of seven branches.
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SPEAKER_00: This menorah, each one of the branches held a bowl that held olive oil and a wick so that they would be lit.
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SPEAKER_00: Each branch looked like an almond tree with with buds and blossoms and flowers, and it would have been an incredibly beautiful piece of furniture.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: God commanded the priest to keep the lamps burning continuously.
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SPEAKER_00: The fire was never to go out, even at night.
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SPEAKER_00: The ember burning light inside the holy place, inside the curtain, would have been like having a little night light or porch light for the Israelites.
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SPEAKER_00: They could come to the courtyard even at night, and somebody, it would indicate that somebody was there, that God was there.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: God was in his house.
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SPEAKER_00: The lampstand was the only source of light in the holy place.
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SPEAKER_00: So without it, the priests would have been fumbling around in the dark.
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SPEAKER_00: But it illuminated and showed the table of showbread and the altar of incense.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Each one of the items in the holy place had to be tended either daily or weekly.
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SPEAKER_00: The lampstand is a foreshadow, of course, of the Lord Jesus.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, I am the light of the world.
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SPEAKER_00: Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
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SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 5.8 says, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: Live as children of light.
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SPEAKER_00: Matthew 5, 14 through 16, Jesus Himself calls us the light of the world, and he commands us to let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
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SPEAKER_00: Every day the priest had to come in and fill those lamps with the oil.
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SPEAKER_00: This oil represented the presence of the of an anointing of the Holy Spirit.
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SPEAKER_00: Oil is used in both the Old Testament and the New Testament symbolically as a type of the Holy Spirit.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: When we receive Christ as our Savior now in during this church age, the Holy Spirit comes in and he takes up residence in our lives.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: We have that anointing of the Holy Spirit, that oil.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: But each day we have to make that choice, whether we will let our light shine before men or whether we will do life our own way.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to be that light to others.
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SPEAKER_00: That to do life God's way, we need the filling, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, so that we can illuminate Christ to the world.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: Next we come to the table of showbread.
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SPEAKER_00: This piece stood on the north side of the holy place and it was made of acacia wood, but it was covered in pure gold.
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SPEAKER_00: On the table of the table of showbread were two round, solid gold plates.
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SPEAKER_00: And on top of those plates were stacks, two stacks of six loaves made from fine flour.
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SPEAKER_00: These loaves were also called the bread of the presents.
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SPEAKER_00: They were arranged in these two stacks, and then they were sprinkled with frankincense.
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SPEAKER_00: These loaves were a thank offering from the twelve tribes of Israel.
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SPEAKER_00: The loaves were considered holy, a holy offering to the Lord, and only the priests could consume them.
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SPEAKER_00: So on the Sabbath, the priests would come and they would bring twelve new fresh loaves, and they would take the old loaves and they would eat them.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Today, Christians use the bread of communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
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SPEAKER_00: The table of show bread in Israel's in Israel's history pointed toward Messiah, toward the bread, Messiah.
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SPEAKER_00: Our communion points back to Messiah.
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SPEAKER_00: Both of the directions are to Messiah.
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SPEAKER_00: The table and the bread were a picture of God's willingness, willingness, and desire to have fellowship and commune with man.
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SPEAKER_00: In Bible times, when you broke bread, you were entering into a level of intimate fellowship that was much, much different and deeper of an experience through the shared meal than our culture today.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Remarkably, Jesus says, of course, you know these verses in John 6, 35, I am the bread of life.
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SPEAKER_00: He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
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SPEAKER_00: Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
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SPEAKER_00: But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which any which a man may eat and not die.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: God so desires fellowship with us that he was willing to come down to engage in that fellowship.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: At Jesus' last Passover meal with his disciples, he described himself as the bread again.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 26, 26.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat, this is my body.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus' broken body is our access to fellowship with God.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: When we take communion, we should remember this important truth every time we do it.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 3.20 says, Here I am, I stand at the door and knock.
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SPEAKER_00: This is Jesus speaking.
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SPEAKER_00: If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 4, we see the tempter came to Jesus and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
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SPEAKER_00: And Jesus answered, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but only but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the bread of heaven.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: He is the one who feeds our hungry souls, and he will do that work most profoundly through his glorious word.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: As you are reading the Bible this year, you are partaking of that bread, you are partaking of that fellowship.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: And God sees that effort that you are putting forth.
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SPEAKER_00: Even if you're behind, keep going because it's important and God sees it.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Next, we come to the altar of incense.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: In homes in the ancient Near East, people burned incense, partly because of the odor of the people who didn't bathe very often, but also because they had animals either living in their homes or living very nearby.
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SPEAKER_00: And so the smell would cover up those odors.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: This altar was right before the veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies.
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SPEAKER_00: It reminded the Israelites that prayer had to be a central thing for and role in the life of God's people.
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SPEAKER_00: Priests brought a burning coal from the altar that we've seen already out in the courtyard.
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SPEAKER_00: They would get a coal from that, they would put it in a censer, and then they would bring it here to the incense, the altar of incense.
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SPEAKER_00: The sacred incense for this altar was made up of four precious spices.
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SPEAKER_00: And God told them, don't make any other representation of this.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: Don't use any of these spices to use this for yourself because they were holy.
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SPEAKER_00: The priests would refill this special mixture of incense on the golden altar every morning and every evening.
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SPEAKER_00: So twice a day, that sweet smelling smoke would rise up.
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SPEAKER_00: That fragrant odor would probably seep on into the Holy of Holies, and it could have even seeped outside of the tent so that people who were in the courtyard could smell that smell and know that their prayers were going up before God.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: The incense was a symbol of the prayers and intercession of God's people before God, and they were a sweet fragrance to God.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: David says in Psalm 141, verse 2 May my prayer be set before you like incense.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 3, 8, 3 through 4 says, Another angel, this is in the end times, right before the Lord Jesus comes back.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Another angel who had a golden censer came and stood at the altar.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: He was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angels' hands.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: As God's people, we need to know that our prayer, our prayers, and our intercession are sweet to God.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: They are a sweet fragrance and they ascend like fragrant incense.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: The altar of incense is also a representation of the Lord Jesus, who is our intercessor before God the Father.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: He is our great high priest.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: During his days on earth, Jesus prayed for the believers.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Hours before he was betrayed, he prayed that God would guard his disciples from evil and that God would sanctify them by his word.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 17 is where we see Jesus' high priestly prayer that he is offering.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: It's my favorite chapter in the Bible.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: If you have a chance, read it.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: It is remarkable.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: Today, Jesus is our high priest who stands in the Holy of Holies in heaven before the Father and intercedes for his people.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: He's still filling that role through this whole church age.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: We know this is true because of these passages of Scripture.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 7 25.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 5.8.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: That's Jesus.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: We join all three persons of the Godhead when we pray and intercede.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: Jesus intercedes for us.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and God receives our prayers.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: And they are precious to Him.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: How cool is that?
34:06
SPEAKER_00: After passing through the holy place and seeing the light and smelling the bread and the incense, the priest encountered a heavy veil, a blue, purple, and scarlet curtain with figures of cherubim or angels embroidered into it.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: On the day that the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, he would bathe.
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SPEAKER_00: He would put on the clean white linen garments of the priesthood.
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SPEAKER_00: His robe had solid gold bells around the hem of it.
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SPEAKER_00: And when he went in, they would tie a rope to his ankle.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: They did that because if he went in, and if they no longer heard the bells, they could assume that he had died in service in there for whatever reason.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: And they could pull him out underneath the curtain because it was too holy of a place for them to just go in and retrieve him.
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SPEAKER_00: He entered the inner sanctuary with a censer of burning incense, which would produce a thick smoke, maybe even clouding the mercy seat.
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SPEAKER_00: Only the high priest had access to the most holy place, and it was restricted to once a year on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
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SPEAKER_00: The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Its length and width and height were all equal to 15 feet.
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SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 9:7 says, But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
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SPEAKER_00: So the presence of God remained shielded behind that curtain, shielded from mankind during the entire history of Israel.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross changed that.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus died, the curtain or veil was in the temple, in the temple, separating the holy place from the Holy of Holies, was torn in half from the top to the bottom.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: Only God could have torn that veil, that curtain.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: It was too high for human hands to have reached it, and it was too thick to have been torn.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: In the temple in Jerusalem, which was a replica of the tabernacle that we're looking at, the curtain was about 60 feet high and it was four inches thick.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: It was torn from the top to the bottom, meaning this act had come from above.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: As the veil was torn, the Holy of Holies was exposed.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: God's presence was now accessible to all.
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SPEAKER_00: One more evidence to the Jewish people that Jesus really was the Messiah was when that veil tore, giving access.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: No longer does God confine himself to the Holy of Holies, separated from his people.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: The torn veil illustrated Jesus' body torn for us, opening the way for us to come to God.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: As Jesus cried out, it is finished on the cross, he was proclaiming that God's redemptive plan since the beginning of creation was complete, that it was fulfilled, the age of animal sacrifice was over, the ultimate offering had been made and was acceptable.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: When Christ ascended into heaven, every Christian became the temple of the Holy Spirit, a living dwelling place for God.
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SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 6, 19, we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
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SPEAKER_00: It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where our forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 10, 19 through 22.
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SPEAKER_00: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain that is his body.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith.
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SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 9, 24.
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SPEAKER_00: For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one.
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SPEAKER_00: He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence, nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again the way the priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
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SPEAKER_00: How profound are those verses.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: Now that we see what the tabernacle represents, how profound is that?
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Amazing, thank you, Lord.
39:24
SPEAKER_00: Within the Holy of Holies, shielded from the eye of the common man, was one piece of furniture comprising two parts, the Ark of the Covenant and the Atonement Seat, or the Mercy seat, which was the top of the of the Ark of the Covenant.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: The Ark was a chest made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold and the inside and the outside.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: It was three feet nine inches long and it was two feet three inches wide and high.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't very wide.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: It looked very much like a seat.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: God commanded Moses to put three things into the ark: a golden pot of manna, Aaron's staff that budded, and the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments that they were written on.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: Each item in the ark was a lesson and it gave a reminder from God for his people.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: In the manna, God was saying, Trust me.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: With the rod of Aaron, God was saying, Worship me.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: The tablets of the Ten Commandments, God was saying, obey me.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: Trust, worship, obedience.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: Those are all things that represent our heart and what it means to live with God.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: The objects in the box became symbols or reminders of God's desire to have intimacy with his people.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: And when he sees trust and worship and obedience, it delights him.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: The atonement cover, also called the mercy seat, is the lid for the ark.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: On top of it stood two cherubim or angels at both ends.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: And the cherubim were facing in and looking down toward the ark with their wings outstretched that covered the atonement cover or mercy seat.
41:24
SPEAKER_00: The whole structure was beaten out of one piece of pure gold.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: The atonement cover was the throne, the throne of God in the tabernacle, flanked by the angels.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: God said to Moses, There, above the cover, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
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SPEAKER_00: All those commands that you've been reading day after day after day, those are what God sat on his throne giving to Moses.
42:03
SPEAKER_00: Leviticus.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: Leviticus 16, 2.
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SPEAKER_00: Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the most holy place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
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SPEAKER_00: The ark was a foreshadow also of Jesus Christ and his atonement for sins.
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SPEAKER_00: His throne is the true mercy seat.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: And through his blood our sins have been covered.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews tells us again about this.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 10, 11 and 12.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: Day after day every priest stands and performs his righteous duties again and again.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: Romans 3.25 says, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: God is on his throne in heaven.
43:13
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, our high priest, is at his right side.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: When we come to God now, we approach a throne of grace.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4, 16.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: God's purpose in giving the instructions for building the tabernacle is plainly stated in Exodus 25, 8, that I may dwell among them, that I may dwell among them.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: This has been God's desire since the Garden of Eden, that he would dwell among us.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: God made man in his image, that he might have fellowship with him.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: And his great heart of love is not satisfied until apart from that fellowship.
44:14
SPEAKER_00: It is not satisfied apart from this fellowship.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: There's one more thing that I that I want you to notice about the tabernacle as you look at the layout of the pieces of the furniture and what they create.
44:28
SPEAKER_00: They create the cross.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: Coincidence?
44:33
SPEAKER_00: I think not.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the fulfillment of all the tabernacle represented.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is who he said he was.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: He is the Son of God who took upon himself the sin of the world.
44:50
SPEAKER_00: We are who he says we are.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: We are the portable tabernacle of God to our world.
45:01
SPEAKER_00: Aren't you thankful for that truth today?
45:04
SPEAKER_00: I sure am.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for going to the cross to be our sacrifice.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the washing, renewing work of your precious word in our lives.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being the light of the world and allowing us to shine out your love to others.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being the bread of life that satisfies us on a daily basis.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for interceding for us and receiving our prayers on behalf of others.
45:49
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being our atonement and giving us mercy and grace that we don't deserve.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: We love you, Lord Jesus.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: We love you, Father God.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: We love you, Holy Spirit, and we thank you for your work in our lives and for your glorious word.
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SPEAKER_00: We pray all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: Amen.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, and we will see you next time.