Tabernacle Studies. Lesson #10
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
I. Introduction.
I. Introduction.
Surprise quiz!!!!
Did Adam have a belly button?
Who was the most famous orphan in the Bible? (Joshua, the son of Nun.)
What where the dimensions of the altar of sacrifice? (7.5 feet square with a horn on each end.)
What where the dimensions of the Holy of Holies? ( 15ft x 15 ft x 15 ft. Which is interesting, as the the dimensions of the New Jerusalem are 15K miles cubed!)
What are the dimensions of the laver of water?
How about the golden lampstand? How big was it?
The simple fact is: We don’t know!
The measurements were never given to us! How interesting, considering that God was so specific with everything else....
If you ask me:
I think we have no measurements to the laver, because it represents God’s power to wash us and cleanse us, which is a power without limit!
I can tell you this without a doubt:
I have never once baptized anyone and thought to myself: “I wonder if God can forgive ALL of their sins?” NOT ONE TIME!
This I know: Jesus Christ can take a filthy mouth a wounded spirit, a polluted mind and a broken body, wash it and make you new!!!!
And then the Lamp Stand, which symbolizes the activity and power of the Holy Spirit, that has absolutely no limit either!
Light and life without end, forever and forever, Oh Glory to His Name!!!
What God wants to do friend, He is able to do!!!!
Anyone can be raised to new life, their spirit resurrected and redeemed!!!!
(Mention Sis Christina’s mom) Spirit filled in her 80’s the day before she left this life!)
The Ark
The Ark
For our last lesson in this series on the Tabernacle, consider the ark of the Contract, or the Covenant.
Description:
Description:
The ark was a chest of acacia wood, covered with pure gold, both inside and outside.
Let’s get the details straght from the Bible:
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. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
A crown of gold ran around the top.
The Mercy seat, or lid, was of solid gold, and two cherubim, those special angels who guard God’s Holiness, were attached at opposite ends of the mercy seat, facing each other, bowing over the mercy seat with their wings touching.
Think about it and get a mental image: a flat surface with an angel on either end!
And between them was something special!
So special in fact, that words like remarkable and tremendous and wonderful, fall short!
The Shekinah glory of God’s presence was there!
It shone between the cherubim. (Those special angels who guard the holiness of God.)
The chest itself contined three things:
The Ten commandments,
A golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded.
This ark was not to be transported on a cart or a wagon of any kind.
That’s why it had rings to hold staves!
Not even a wagon of pure gold would have been good enough!
This is because the glory of God can only be carried on the shoulders of annointed ministers!
I have been in great, gidled Cathedrals, (or one at least) full of glass and marble, pomp and ceremony! And yet the spritual feeling was one of death!
The absence of spirit life and the absence of annointing!!!
Always, and in every age, the glory travels on the shoulders of God’s anointed ministers!
Hey, you can keep your Cathedrals! It’s all gonna burn anyway someday!
God bless them all, but I know what I’d rather:
I’d rather be barefoot in the jungle, having church under a tree as a minister pours His heart out, preaching the anointed Word of God!
That’s where people get healing!
That’s where the authority is!!!
That’s where supernatural provision is!
That’s where Law is covered by grace!
Today, that means you and me! As long as we are living submitted to God’s Word, we have access to it!!!!
We carry it!
It challenges me to make sure I’m right and ready!
“Hey, I want to carry God’s glory, don’t you?”
Resurrection Power.
Resurrection Power.
So we talked about the other pieces of furniture in the tabernacle and their significance.
We have traced the footsteps of Christ from the cross to the grave, and now in the glory that overshadowed the mercy seat, we see Him in all the glory of His resurrection power!
Think of that when you think of the ark!
Think of Resurrection power and think of access!
The ark was always out front! It always led the people, with the priests out front, carrying it.
Just so, the resurrected Christ will lead His people!
And anyone who is willing to follow Him, will be led to victory!
All you have to do is follow Him!
And the only way of reaching our sure resting place, is by following our Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, all the way home!
So what was inside the ark and what do they mean?
So what was inside the ark and what do they mean?
Well, Aaron’s rod that budded was in the chest and it emphasizes that this piece of furniture shows Christ in His resurrection!
Peter nailed it when he called Jesus “The Prince of LIfe!”
It was the very same rod that Aaron had used, that was lain there in the ark.
Remember the serpants of Jannes and Jambres that were swallowed hole? Yep, that Rod!
Remember a rod stretched forth over the red sea and God parted it?
Could God have done the miracle without a rod? Sure He could. But he included it’s use for a reason!
He had it put into the ark for a reason.
The Rod was a symbol of authority!
But more even that that:
The stick was dead, but the blossoms were living, showing life out of death, or the resurrection power of Christ!
Also, inside was the pot of manna, which was supernatural provision.
Also inside was the Ten commandments which represented God’s Law.
Hey, how would you like a million bucks?
I’d take it! Why not?
And yet I know, it will not save me and when I leave this life, it can’t go with me!
Now listen, if you don’t want to be baptized, you don’t have to!
If you are not willing to be a priest unto God, He won’t make you!
But if you are willing to approach God in the manner He has perscribed:
Death, repentance, washing and worship, you can access that ark!
There are some steps you have to take to access true, spiritual authority!
And supernatural provision is a beautiful and natural thing that comes into a submitted and serving life!
The crown, running around the top of the ark, showed that Christ was resurrected to become King of kings over all the earth!
Yet have I set my king
Upon my holy hill of Zion.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
The High Priest alone could enter the Holy of Holies once a year.
He took some of the blood that was shed on the brazen altar, went within the veil, and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat!
What was the mercy seat?
Well, the mercy seat was the throne of God in Isreal.
You have to remember, it was never his will for them to have any other king!
Every King needs a throne room and ever throne room needs a throne!
It is where the king is found, where he rules and makes judgment.
But I want you to see this:
The sprinkling of the blood changed the throne of God from a judgement seat into a mercy seat!
Hey, let that one sink in!!!
Let me tell you what you get friend, as a child of God in this New Covenant: You get full access!
Not half! Not a quarter!
You don’t have to sit in the nosebleeds!!!
It’s a font row seat for you!
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus, as our High Priest, sprinkled the throne of God with His own blood!
Okay, now get this:
The Scriptures declare the mercy seat to be a direct symbol of Jesus!
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
The Greek word translated as “propitiation” can mean “mercy seat!”
So Jesus was set forth to be a mercy seat through faith in His blood!
The word for “mercy seat” in Hebrew, literally means a “bloody covering.”
Well, what did it cover?
One thing that it covered were the ten commandments: Law!
The law which condemns every soul, because every soul is guilty of breaking some part of God’s law!
The sins of Isreal were there, and the eyes of God were looking down on them.
How merciful then, that the Lord ordered the blood-sprinkled lid of pure gold, to be laid over the thing which condemned them!
This is why the Lord could say by the mouth of Balaam: Num 23:21
Numbers 23:21 (KJV 1900)
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel:
Yes, they had been disobedient and stiff necked, but the Lord provided a covering for all their sin!
Now you can go back to the law if you want to, but count me out!!!!
Jesus has fulfilled the law!
Jesus covered law with mercy!
He covered it with His blood!
That ought to make you want to shout!
Even God cannot see through the blood!
When you think “ark of the covenant,” think mercy! Think life! Resurrection and the baptism of the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Ghost is resurrection power in us, which we should expect to recieive after having been buried with Christ in baptism!
You may get if before that, but if not, you should expect it with anticipation!
You should seek after it, every time you pray and we pray together!
(Sis Christina, we grieve for you loss, and yet we are celebrating what God has done!!!!!)
He made a promise to hungry people! Hungry individuals!!!!
“I will not leave you comfortless! I will send you a comforter!”
“For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all them that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call!”
Listen: Expect it!
If you haven’t experienced it yet, that’s OK! It will happen! Trust God and keep praying! Keep opening your heart and inviting Him!!!
Power is not a problem! You have power through the Holy Spirit!
This is not just an added gift or blessing for an elite few!
We met a very nice man who pastors an Assembly of God church in the area this week.
I hope to get to know him better, very nice man.
“Our doctrine is similar” He said. Well yes, and no! ( I thought to myself.)
They believe that the HG is not necessary, only a bonus!
Well, that’s not what the BIble says!
And why should I be happy with less than everything that God has for me????
Now ways!
Give me everything that God has for me! I want all the goodies with whip cream on top! And why not?
Here’s what the Bible says:
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Okay now get this:
“Now hear this, Now hear this:”
Just as the resurrected Christ ascended to the throne, so the Holy Ghost is given to prepare His blood-bought saints to reign with Him on the throne!!!!
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
When Jesus died, the veil of the Temple, which shut the people out of the Most Holy Place, was rent! (That’s a fancy word for Torn)
Torn from the top to the bottom!
And since the tearing came from above, (remember, it was 4” thick and 60’ tall!) it was not done by humans but by God Himself!!!!!
The Holiest place was now open to anyone who wanted to enter!
And in the same way, the Holy Ghost, or resurrection power, is for everyone who will enter by the way of the blood-stained altar and the laver of water!
Everyone can have it!!!!
Everybody alive today: If you want it, you can have it!
Okay, let me wrap up tonight with a memory:
I was just a kid, but I still recall:
We walked into this place that sold Persian rugs.
The light was dim, the smell exotic and all sound was immediately soaked up into ancient weave, millions upon millions of hand tied knots!
Now how is it that people can spend thousands upon thousands of dollars for just one of those rugs?
I’ll tell you:
There are oriental rugs and then ther are Persian rugs.
There is a turkish and a Persian knot, distinct and unique each.
And every inch of that fine rug has more than a hundred hand tied knots!
The finer rugs have 400- 800 and even a thousand knots in the space of one square inch!
Get this: Even a basic 150 knot per inch rug, if it’s a 9x12, would require at a good average speed: 6,480 hours to weave!
Multiply that by ten or more for the true masterpiece!
Awesome right?
But you know what really makes a rug like that worth so much?
It is the time, the blood, sweat and tears that goes into it!
It is the pattern and the colors that weave throughout!
Here it is bold, there a shadow, a mere suggestion of color, but enough to connect it to the following twist and explosion of color!
You stand back, and realize, it was all done according to pattern!
No accidents here:
The master weaver had a plan all along!
Now that is how you oughtta read your Bible!
Look for the threads!
Follow the colors, the themes!
Connect the dots!
Prophecy to fulfillment!
Lines woven from the Old Testament to the New!
Find OT passags that connect to NT passages!
We read this book Precept upon precept, line upon line!
For example:
For with stammering lips and another tongue
Will he speak to this people.
To whom he said,
This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest;
And this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now, there’s about 750 years between those two verses, and yet they are forever connected with unrbeakable bonds!!!
Let me give you another example, as we wrap this up:
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. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 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. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Okay, student of Scripture, you Bible studying people!!!! What Scripture in the NT matches up with that?
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
Listen to me: where Jesus is, that’s where you find mercy!!!
That’s where you find glory!
Just where was the ark in the NT?
The last mention of it is made during the days of the reform of King Josiah!
From this point on, the scripture is silent as to the location and existence of the ark.
The Jewish historian Josephus records that the temple of Herod in Jerusalem at the time of Christ did not contain the ark!
Well, we know where it was! And we know where it is!
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
The Mercy seat is where you repent!!!!
The glory is in your living room when you pray together!!!!
Sis Christina, It’s with a precious lady about to embark on her real life, after life in this natural state!
And tonight, it’s here.
=4