‘image’.
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THE TABERNACLE: GUIDED TOUR
Introduction
We are made brand new creatures when we come to Christ. The old things of our lives pass away and all things become new. We are born and united with God in our spirit.
Our souls are saved by Jesus Christ and we have the strength to live our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything about us is made brand new by God. We are made new in our spirit. We get newness in our soul and we get new power to live for God in our behavior.
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away;
behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation," (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, NASB95)
We become the dwelling place of God and He begins a work in us to make Godly choices and live for His good pleasure. We are His workmanship and we are being made into His dwelling place or “tabernacle”.
" For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1, NASB95)
The tour through The Tabernacle is a spiritual tour conducted by the High Priest of our souls, Jesus Christ. Jesus knows The Tabernacle intimately. He is the One who
designed The Tabernacle and will be the best guide for the Tour.
" Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man."
(Hebrews 8:1-2, NASB95)
We can now be introduced to our Tour Guide. If you have passed the spiritual exam and were issued a ticket, we can walk with the Tour Guide into The Tabernacle. He will show us the way, illuminate the truth and grant us new life in Him…
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6, NASB95)
Remember, only priests can enter the Tabernacle. We can enter on the Tour when we
have become priests in the Kingdom of God in Christ. Now let’s meet the High Priest.
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TOUR GUIDE: THE HIGH PRIEST
The high priest was required to follow specific rules and regulations in order to enter The Tabernacle. Various sacrifices and washings had to be performed before
approaching the Tent of Meeting (The Tabernacle) and entering into the Presence of God. The priest had to be totally washed with water, sprinkled with blood from the sacrifice and then anointed with oil before he could enter The Tabernacle. Blood from the sacrifice was also sprinkled on every piece of The Tabernacle’s Furniture as well as being anointed with oil. Any deviation from the protocol God prescribed would result in the death of the priest.
The following passage gives us a glimpse into the specific and detailed instructions and the multiple sacrifices that had to be made before the high priest could enter The Tabernacle.
" Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your
brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. “Aaron shall enter the holy place with this : with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. “He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. “He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. “Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. “He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. “Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. “Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. “But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atone ment upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. “He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. “He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die. “Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side;
also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. “He shall make
atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of
42 meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities. “When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. “Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. “With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it. “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen
garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there.
“He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make
atonement for himself and for the people. “Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. “The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. “But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. “Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp." (Leviticus 16:1-28, NASB95)
Every one of these detailed instructions had to be followed without any deviation. The point is that God required a whole set of instructions to come into His Presence. The Old Tabernacle and its protocol were only shadows for the regulations for the New Tabernacle. Before the priest could enter The Old Tabernacle it required the blood of multiple sacrifices.
The High Priest in the New Testament made the way open for us by shedding His own blood. He took the place of all the instructions, sacrifices and protocol. In this sense, our High Priest is not only the Priest but He is also the complete sacrifice. The sacrifice Jesus made satisfied all the requirements to enter into the Presence of God. His blood covers us so that we can walk with Him right into the Most Holy Place without fear of death. Jesus is the protocol for coming into the Presence of God. By understanding the Law’s detail in the Old Testament, Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross becomes very significant in how we can meet the requirements of the Law.
"The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”" (John 1:29-31, NASB95)
43 Jesus came as the Lamb to take away our sin and He is also our High Priest. How did the Lamb, our sacrifice, become our High Priest? The glorious truth is that the Lamb did not stay dead. He rose from the dead through the resurrection to become our High Priest.
" Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises." (Hebrews 8:1-6, NASB95)
If Jesus died and remained dead, His death for us would be meaningless. He would have been an innocent misguided martyr for the things He taught. With Jesus’
resurrection He conquered sin and death and took away the penalty of sin for us. Jesus made the way open for us to enter into the Presence of God. The door has been open for us to be forgiven and know God personally.
"But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54-57, NASB95)
Jesus Christ is our High Priest and He is the Tour Guide for our tour through The Tabernacle.