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And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. (Exodus 27:1) |
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If you know nothing about the Tabernacle of the Congregation, get yourself down to a Christian bookstore and read up on it. It probably is the greatest of the types (symbols) found in the Bible. |
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The Tabernacle of the Congregation consisted of a fenced-off area, the Courtyard, in which was a barn- like tent. The tent was divided into the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. |
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The Tabernacle compound included three major areas: the Courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. The Courtyard portrays the message of salvation to the nations. The Holy Place represents the Church, the Priesthood of God. The Holy of Holies speaks of the firstfruits to God and the Lamb. The firstfruits are an integral part of the Church but compose a dedicated remnant, a Gideon's army, who will work with the Lord in establishing the Kingdom of God on the earth. |
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The Courtyard was lighted by the sun. There were two elements in the Courtyard, the Altar of Burnt Offering and the Laver. They speak of that which the Lord presents to the world: the blood of atonement (the Altar), and repentance and water baptism (the Laver). |
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There were seven furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The first furnishing encountered, as one entered the Courtyard, was the great Altar of Burnt Offering. |
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Whoever would approach God must come by way of the blood, by way of the Altar of Burnt Offering. |
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The Altar of Burnt Offering stands for Calvary. Whoever would be saved must meet God at the cross, must repent, turning away from the wickedness of the world, and must be baptized in water (the Laver.) |
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Whenever blood was shed as an offering, whether for a whole burnt offering, the sin or trespass offerings, the morning and evening lambs, the blood offerings of the Day of Atonement and the other festivals, and so forth, the sacrifice was made at the Altar of Burnt Offering. |
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Sometimes people argue that they can repent and this alone will atone for their sins, or maybe do some charitable work, or perhaps be a good husband and father. While all these are commendable the Nature of God is such that only the shedding of blood will balance the scales of equity. |
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The present-day Jews make much of the Law and attempt to observe it. This is pathetic because they have no Tabernacle, no Temple in which they can offer blood. By their own Law they realize no atonement is being made in spite of their philosophical arguments. |
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We say to our Jewish friends, the Atonement has been made for you as well as for us Gentiles. The blood of Jesus, God's Son, is more efficacious than that of bulls and goats. |
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You now have a perfect blood offering you can present for your sins. The atonement has been made in the Holy of Holies in Heaven. God has not left you with no way to satisfy His demands. |
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Hallelujah! |
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Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. (Exodus 30:18) |
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The Laver and the Altar of Burnt Offering were located in the Courtyard. This means their spiritual counterparts are to be presented to the nations of the earth. "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved" is the message to be given to all the world. |
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The Laver represents water baptism and also the washing of water by the Word of God. |
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In water baptism the believer counts he has been crucified with Christ. His old life is over. He no longer is part of the world spirit. He is ready to enter the Kingdom of God. His body is dead because of sin but his new life has risen from the dead and has ascended in Christ to the right hand of the Father. |
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He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. This is the Christian testimony to the nations of the earth. Water baptism of necessity includes repentance because baptism signifies a turning away from life lived in the malice and wickedness of the world. |
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How much easier would be our job of teaching sanctification if people were taught when they were baptized in water that their first life is over. They now are dead to the world, to sin, and to their own self-will. This is what they are saying as they go down and come up again. They now are risen with Christ, ready to walk in the new life of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. |
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The bronze Laver portrays not only our water baptism but also our daily cleansing by the Word of God. |
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The Laver was constructed from the bronze mirrors of the women of the congregation. |
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As we read the Bible the Holy Spirit emphasizes to us those commandments He is dealing with in our personality. Suddenly we become aware of sin in our life. We then are to go immediately to the Lord, confess our sin, and receive the forgiveness and the cleansing. In this manner we keep our robe clean, so to speak. |
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This is not a confession in which we merely enumerate our sin but a confession in which we resolve by God's help to turn away from our sin. God will assist us if we mean business. But if we come halfheartedly, knowing we are going to do the same thing again, we are wasting our time and God's time. |
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There is power in Jesus Christ—galactic power, irresistible power, unbelievable power. There is all the power you ever will need to resist your fallen nature. |
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Call upon God for power. Confess your immorality, your profanity, your treachery, your lying, your criticizing of others, your abuse of your body, your anger, your bitterness, your unforgiveness, your gossiping, your slandering, your witchcraft, your covetousness. Confess these things to God. Confess them to another believer if you wish and have him or her pray with you. |
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Confess your sins! |
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Determine to put an end to your sins. Yell at them! Condemn them to the Lake of Fire! You will be heard in the spirit realm. |
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Tell that spirit of swearing that it belongs in the Lake of Fire. Get excited! Get angry! Drive the thing from you! |
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If you tell a dog to quit following you and say, "Now Fido, go home," do you think it is going to mind you? |
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You have got to act like this is the dog's last minute on earth before he will pay any attention to you. |
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The same is true of the demons of sin. It does no good to talk in tongues at them. Don't waste your time rebuking the devil. Resist the devil! Resist the devil! Do it with all your might and God will hear you—so will the demons. |
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The churches are full of sin. It is time to go to the Laver and get washed. |
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The Altar of Burnt Offering represents justification—forgiveness through the blood of the cross. The Laver represents sanctification—the cleansing through the Spirit and the Word of God. |
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Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. (Exodus 25:23) |
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When one moved past the Laver and entered through the door of the Tabernacle into the Holy Place, the Table of Showbread was on the right. Twelve unleavened loaves of showbread were to be kept on the Table at all times. |
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The term showbread often is translated "bread of the Presence." |
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The Altar out in the Courtyard represents the blood atonement made by Jesus Christ. The Laver, standing just outside the door of the Tabernacle, speaks of repentance and water baptism. |
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The Table of Showbread inside the Holy Place portrays the born-again experience. It is by being born again that we enter the Kingdom of God. |
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The Table of Showbread tells us that the Substance of Christ is born in us and is being formed in us. The Word of God is being written in our personality, taking the place of our natural adamic life. |
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The mystery of the Gospel is Christ in us. The concept of Christ being in us isn't always emphasized. Christian tradition, whether in terms of Christmas, Easter, or the return of the Lord, usually is thought of in terms of Christ with us. When the saints have visions of Heaven and Christ He always is with them, never in them. I have seen no exception to this. |
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But God's plan is to magnify Christ by having Christ formed in the believers. We are to be the fullness of Him who fills all in all. The full development of Christ in us is God's goal. |
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If Christ were merely to be with us, if this were what salvation is, then the Christian life would be a simple matter: we believe, are baptized, and then go to live with Jesus in Heaven. |
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But this is not what salvation is. Salvation is the tearing down of our adamic nature and the creation of Christ in its place. To be "saved" in this sense requires a life of total commitment to Christ during which every moment of every day is occupied with following the Spirit of God as He brings about our death and resurrection in Christ. |
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None of the many roles and tasks God has in mind for the royal priesthood is available in full measure to the individual who merely has Christ with him. It is only as Christ is formed in us that we are authorized and competent to be a living stone in the Temple of God, a member of the Bride of the Lamb, a part of the Body of Christ, a judge of men and angels, a son of God, a brother of Christ, and so forth. |
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We must be born again of the Divine Nature. Then we must submit to the ceaseless dealings of God as He crucifies our adamic nature and forms the Divine Nature of Christ in us. |
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The end of the matter is to come to maturity as measured by the full stature of Christ that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. |
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And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. (Exodus 25:31) |
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The Altar, the Laver, the Table of Showbread, and then the Lampstand, symbolizing the blood atonement, repentance and water baptism, Christ born and formed in us, and then the work of the Holy Spirit in our life. A remarkable symbolic portrayal. |
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There are only two ways in which a human being can conduct his or her life. One way is to live in the flesh, in the five senses of the body. The other is to live in the Spirit of God, deriving guidance and inspiration from Him. It is God's will that every saved person think, speak, and act at all times under every circumstance in the Spirit of God. |
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The Holy Spirit is God. He is active in every element of our salvation. He is as Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, who is bringing the bride to the Son. |
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"You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you." Power! Power to communicate the truth concerning Christ! Power to live a godly life! |
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It is the Spirit who gives us gifts and ministries. It is He who empowers their use. |
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"Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." The reason we yield to temptation is that we are not walking in the Spirit. |
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All ministry is to be conducted in the Spirit of God. For two thousand years the Christian churches have sought to build the Kingdom of God by their own wisdom and strength. The result is a multitude of competing denominations. |
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Only the Holy Spirit can properly employ the gifts of the Spirit. |
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It is not enough to attempt to do in one's own strength what the Bible commands whether in the realm of ministry or morality. We must pray constantly, looking to the Spirit of God for every detail of ministry and personal behavior. |
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As we pray, read the Bible, gather with the saints, give of our means, serve the fellowship, we remain in the Spirit. We must begin first thing in the morning seeking the Presence of God. As we do the Spirit of God will guide and strengthen us. |
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The great problem in America today is the lack of the Spirit of God. Evangelicals sometimes believe that because they have accepted Christ they automatically are filled with the Spirit of God. Pentecostals sometimes believe that because they speak in tongues they are filled with the Spirit of God. Neither is necessarily correct. |
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The evidence we are living in the Spirit is the increase of love, joy, and peace in our life. |
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The Spirit-filled life must be cultivated every moment of every day. There is no decision we make that ought not to be submitted to God in prayer. We are to pray without ceasing, to practice the Presence of God always in all matters. |
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There are three great symbols of Judaism, the Altar, the Lampstand, and the Booth of the feast of Tabernacles. |
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The Altar tells us God must be approached through blood and sacrifice. The Lampstand informs us that life is to be lived in the Spirit of God—now and for eternity. |
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The Booth, the third symbol of Judaism, is God's way of notifying man that he was born to be the dwelling place of God. |
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As we live in the Spirit we shall proceed onward and upward until we are perfect and complete in all the will of God. |
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And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. (Exodus 30:1) |
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When you entered the Holy Place of the Tabernacle and looked straight ahead, at the far end was the ornate veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy. |
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On the far side of the veil, hidden from your eyes was the Ark of the Covenant. The lid of the Ark was the Mercy Seat with two great cherubim beaten out from refined gold. Their wings covered the Mercy Seat. |
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On this side of the veil, visible to you, was the Altar of Incense. |
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The Altar of Incense represents the laying down of our life before God. The incense burned on the Altar was compounded from spices, some bitter, some sweet. They speak of death. |
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We must be born again (the Table of Showbread). We must be filled with God's Spirit (the Lampstand). And then we must fall down before Christ each day and worship (the Altar of Incense). We must do His perfect will at all times, our adamic personality dying in the process. |
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This is where the churches are today. We are saved and filled with the Spirit. Where the Spirit now is leading us is into death to self. |
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The Lord is looking for those of the churches who will lay down their life for His sake and the Gospel's. Will we try to use our gifts to save the world, driven by our religious ambitions, or will we turn back to the Lord and put our gifts as well as ourselves at His feet? |
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It is time now to overcome Satan so that Michael will be empowered to drive Satan from the heavenlies. There will be a remnant of saints who will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and by loving not their lives to the death. |
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Heaven and earth are waiting for Christians who will set aside their own lives that the perfect will of God may be done. |
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Will you be one of those who trust in the blood of the Lamb, who work with the Spirit until the testimony of their personalities and words line up with the Word of God, and who—most importantly of all—lay down their lives that Christ may live? |
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If you will do this you will help put to an end the wrestling match. Satan's shoulders are to be pinned to the mat. |
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God will hold you up as an example to Satan. "What else do you want to do to him (or her)? You have dragged him through the mud. You have denied him the desires of his heart. You have tested his determination in every possible way? What else are you going to do?" |
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Satan shakes his head. His devices have been exhausted. |
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The Father speaks the Word. Michael and his forces as a single shining shaft of blinding light rushing at the forces of darkness at a speed faster than thought drive Satan and all spirits related to him from the heavenlies. |
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Now will those in Heaven rejoice because the accuser no longer can approach the throne of God. |
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But woe to those alive on the earth in that day! An outraged Satan and his followers, once angelic princes of the highest glory, now forced to live among the decaying protoplasm of human beings, will vent their malice and spite on all who are not protected by the blood of the Lamb. The fallen angels will pour into the earth like angry wasps from a burning nest. |
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Today is your opportunity to join the Gideon's army that will satisfy the Father's demands. Forget yourself for one brief moment and get into something of real majesty and significance. Help put an end to the misery of mankind. |
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You can satisfy your desires later! |
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And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. (Exodus 25:10) |
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The Ark of the Covenant was a chest made of acacia wood covered with gold. Inside the Ark were the memorial jar of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the Covenant—the Ten Commandments. A copy of the Law of Moses was placed beside the Ark. |
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When the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Temple of Solomon, all that remained in the Ark was the Covenant, the Ten Commandments. |
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The Ark of the Covenant represents the Character of Jesus Christ. The Ark represents also the character of those who are transformed into the image of Christ. |
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The copy of the Law of Moses placed beside the Ark means that when we begin as a Christian we do not have much of Christ in us. We must obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles as well as we can in our natural strength, praying always to God to strengthen and guide us. |
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This is why the adamic nature of the believer must have integrity. If we do not have personal integrity we can get nowhere as a Christian. The Seed must fall into an honest and good heart. |
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If you wait for Christ to do it all for you, you will paddle around aimlessly in your lagoon. |
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The memorial jar of manna portrays the total dependence on the Lord's provision that each true Christian learns. We receive grace for the day. We live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God until we become an integral part of that Word. |
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Aaron's rod that budded reveals two facts. First, each member of the royal priesthood is to live by the incorruptible, indestructible resurrection Life of Christ, and that Life comes only as we are crucified with Christ. |
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Second, the members of the priesthood are chosen. No individual can take this honor to himself. Holiness proceeds from God in concentric circles. Aaron was more holy than the Levites who were more holy than the congregation. The Most Holy Place was more holy than the Holy Place which was more holy than the Courtyard. |
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Only the Lord can call us into a circle of holiness closer to God. To attempt to seize the priesthood, as did Korah and his friends, is to invite disaster. |
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The fact that only the Ten Commandments remained in the Ark when it was brought into the Most Holy Place of Solomon's Temple shows us that the end of all of God's working is perfect righteousness, perfect holiness, and perfect obedience to God. |
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Jesus Christ is perfectly righteous, perfectly holy, and perfectly obedient to God. As Christ is formed in us we too are brought to this stature, not to some small extent but absolutely. |
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How can this be seeing we are dust of the ground? |
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If it were up to us to meet God's standard of righteousness—forget it! |
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Go out at night and consider the mass and energy of the universe. Then embrace the fact that the Creator of all of this declared you are to be made in His image. |
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Then go to bed and get a good night's sleep. |
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And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. (Exodus 25:17) |
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The Mercy Seat was a lid on top of the Ark of the Covenant. On top of the Mercy Seat and an integral part of it were two cherubim facing each other, their wings covering the Mercy Seat. |
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It is generally believed that the Mercy Seat was fashioned according to the actual Mercy Seat in Heaven that Moses saw on the mountain. It is believed also that Satan at one time was one of the two cherubim of glory that covered the throne of God in Heaven. |
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God does not sit on the Mercy Seat, He never gets tired. God dwells between the wings of the cherubim. |
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The Mercy Seat was beaten out of pure gold. The Jews knew how to cast figures from metal, a much quicker process than hammering articles into the desired shape. But some things have to be done the hard way. Have you noticed that? Have you been hammered on lately? |
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Boy, don't we wish God would cast us into the image of Christ and get it over with. But what do we get? Tap tap tap tap tap! |
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There were seven furnishings of the Tabernacle. The Mercy Seat was number seven. It portrays perfection. Perfection is God Himself. |
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The work of redemption has a specific beginning, a specific process, and a specific conclusion. The fact that redemption has a specific conclusion does not mean we will not grow in the image of God forever. In fact, God Himself may be growing and in that case we will never catch up! |
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But redemption has a specific conclusion. Jesus is the Finisher as well as the Author of our salvation. |
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The goal of our redemption is to be made in the image of Christ, body, soul, and spirit (the Ark of the Covenant), and also to be brought into untroubled rest in the Father (the Mercy Seat). |
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To have image apart from union is to be the False Prophet. The Christians of today are in danger of becoming the False Prophet because they want to be like Christ without being part of Christ. They want to have the power of Christ (the two horns of the Lamb) but they speak with the voice of the dragon, always talking about their own dead works. |
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Satan wants to be like God but he would never consent to be part of God. He desires "to do it himself"! We have Christians today who wish "to be me." |
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God does not want a lot of christs running around. There is one Christ and we are to be branches from the one true Vine of God. We are called to be part of Christ not partners with Christ—a most critical distinction in our thinking! |
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We cannot be brought into untroubled rest in the Father except as we are being conformed to the image of Christ. |
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There you have it—the two great aspects of the goal of the Divine redemption: image and union. Neither stands alone. They both are totally necessary. |
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Are you waiting to die and go to Heaven? Get up and move forward in Christ. We haven't as yet reached the mark God has placed before us! |
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