A Minor Rebel

The only reference of me in my brother’s book (or, in any book that I know of), he calls me a minor rebel for some  prank I once played on a Sunday School teacher when I was in 7th or 8th grade. Well, I guess in a minor way, I carried over the minor rebellion into adulthood. I don’t know how many times I had been told (in a career setting, mostly) that I just shot myself in the foot. One of the most memorable minor rebellious instances happened shortly before I got kicked off Baptistboards.com (okay, they didn’t actually kick me off, the moderator(s) won’t let me post there any more).

  

At the time, there were weekly debates, I mean, discussions about alcohol and the believer. There were those that said that drinking any amount of alcohol was sinful (and would refuse to take a shot of Vick’s Nyquil if the doctor told them to) and others that believed that drinking in moderation was okay. Both groups believed that it was sinful to drink to get drunk. So, to stir the pot a bit with the anti-Nyquil crowd I asked this question: What would you do if you were visiting a church with your family in tow and it happened to be the week they served communion. You pick up the little cup raise it to your lips and it turned out to be wine (the alcoholic kind...)?

I have heard all the Biblical-based arguments on both sides of this issue. I grew up in an alcohol-free home and always believed that all alcohol was bad until I heard someone say something to a group of high schoolers that got me curious to see what the Bible actually said. Here is I found:

• There is no outright command.
• The closest thing we have to a command is that priest were specifically forbidden  to drink alcohol while in service (Lev. 10:9-10). The Old Testament priest was a type of a New Testament believer. But there was nothing said about when the priest was not in service. Apparently, he could drink after work.
• And then there is Paul addressing the issue of the Lord’s supper with the Corinthian Church. According to 1 Cor. 11:20-22, during the Lord’s supper, some people were getting full with the bread while some were going hungry. And some were getting drunk. If there was any place in the entire Bible there would be a prohibition against all alcohol consumption, it would be here. But Paul doesn’t say they shouldn’t drink, he says they should do it at home (v. 22).

The Lord’s table that we partake of today has two elements, the bread and the wine. In the tabernacle, the table of shewbread held loaves of bread, and vessels for wine. The bread was to be ‘before the Lord’ at all times and once a week the bread was taken and broken and consumed by the priests. The priests were to eat the bread but not drink the wine. So why were there vessels for wine if no one could consume it? The vessels held wine for the drink offering.

The drink offering was to be offered with most of the other Levitical offerings. Each of the Levitical offerings were pictures of Christ and four of the five required the shedding of blood. The blood of the animals had to be drained, or poured out, at the altar.

The drink offering was wine or strong wine (i.e., contained alcohol). When the drink offering was offered, it was to be poured out entirely, on the floor of the Holy place at the same time offerings were being offered on the altar of burnt offering (Numbers 28:7 and others). As the sacrificial animal blood was being poured out at the altar, the drink offering was being poured out in the Holy place. The drink offering was, if you will, for God’s consumption. God and God alone got to partake of the drink offering of alcoholic wine.

Wine, in the Bible represents joy (no matter what those other voices have been telling you). Wine in the drink offering was for the Father. The priest got something out of the other offerings which looked forward to Christ’s suffering and death but priests were not to take any part of the joy of Christ’s suffering and dying. The joy was the Father’s and the Father’s alone.

Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath subjected him to suffering. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. - Isa. 53:10.

The cross changed everything. After the cross, believers can partake of the joy of Christ suffering and death. In Mark 14:24 Jesus refers to the cup as representing His shed blood, a new covenant, or new testament. Under the new covenant we get to drink the wine and share in the joy that before the cross was reserved for the Father.

So, if you belong to one of those churches where all alcohol is evil and you visit a church and they the cup comes around and you raise it to your lips and it is not the diluted Welches grape juice you expected, don’t spit it out and grab your family and leave in the middle of the service (like one of the responders to my post said he would do). Relax. Drink. and remember the joy in Jesus’s suffering is now being shared with you.

"...Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." -- Neh. 8:10 RSV

More Like Jesus

Did I mention that the Levitical offerings can be divided into two groups? ones that there is a reason given for the offering and those that no reason is given.   The sin and trespass offerings were for sins and trespasses.  Reasons given for the peace offering included the giving of thanks and the making of vows.  There is no reason given for the burnt and the meat offerings.
So, what was the reason that Jesus offered up Himself to die on the cross? Was it not for our sins and and our trespasses? Shouldn't any thanks we give, or vow we make, be based on what Jesus did for our sins and trespasses?

No reasons are given for the burnt and meat offerings.  The ancient Israelite offered burnt and meat offerings simply because God asked for it.  Jesus, when he was on this planet, submitted to the will of His Father, simply because.  We need to be more like Jesus.

I want to, I need to, be more like Jesus.
I want to, I need to, be more like Him.
Our father’s will was done,
By giving us his son,
Who paid the highest cost,
To point us to the cross.
And when I think of Him,
Taking on the whole world’s sin,
I take one look at me,
Compared to what I’m called to be. -- Keith Green

BAM! Gone...


Did I mention that the Levitical offerings can be divided into two groups?  the ones that involve blood shed and the one that does not.  The continual burnt offering, the peace offering, and the sin and trespass offerings all involve the slaughter of animals.  The meat offering was the only meat-less offering.  This used to really humor me...The only meatless offering was called the meat offering.  Those of you not using a King James probably have no idea what I am taking about.  In the days of King James, when people shared a meal, they didn’t come for dinner, they came to meat. John Nelson D. simply calls the meat offering an oblation, which is an offering to be used as food.

Did I mention that the Levitical offerings can be divided into two groups? the ones that atoned sins, and the one that was primarily for food.  Each of the blood-shedding offerings made atonement for sins.  The meat offering did not include bloodshed and was for food, not atonement.  Atonement is one of those words that I would like to define.  Here again, my definition, may or may not hold true 100% of the time.

Atonement is simply a covering.  With respect to sacrifices, it is a covering of/for sin.  Offering a sacrifice was like picking up the edge of the carpet and sweeping the sin under it.  The sin is still there, just covered.  Sin again, offer another sacrifice, pick up the edge of the carpet to sweep new sin in.  The old sin is still there, and both are covered.  The process was repeated innumerable times. Atonement was an Old Testament thing.

In the beginning of the Gospel of John, John the Baptist ...sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).  The people that heard this were accustomed to the tabernacle/temple system of worship.  They knew that a lamb (an innocent animal) could be offered as a sacrifice.  The ritual included the laying on of hands (signifying the transfer of sins from the guilty to the innocent); death by bloodshed; sprinkling of blood; and burning of the carcass.  They knew that there was atonement of sin with the sacrifice.  

But John is introducing two new principals, paradigm shifts (TQM, anyone? anyone?) of the ancient world: a person (not an animal) for a sacrifice and the actual removal of sin.  Peek  under the carpet and BAM!  Those sins are gone!

The author of Hebrews explains this further.  For blood of bulls and goats [is] incapable of taking away sins. Heb. 10:4.  For this reason, offerings were made continually, day by day, year after year (Heb. 10:1-2).  The priests job was never done. But when Jesus offered one himself a sacrifice, once, completed the work, and our sins and iniquities are remembered no more (Heb 10:17).  There is no more need for additional offerings (10:18). There is no need for a covering since BAM! sins are gone!

All my sins are gone,
All because of Calvary;
Life is filled with song,
All because of Calvary;
Christ my Savior lives,
Lives from sin to set me free;
Some day He’s coming,
O wondrous, blessèd day,
All, yes, all because of Calvary. -- Wen­dell P. Love­less

Indebted to Jesus

The four gospels writers paint four different pictures of one person, Jesus.  Reading trough the gospel of Mathew, you get the feeling that Mathew is trying to convince Jewish readers that Jesus is the Christ, the promised anointed one that was promised and anointed before the beginning of time.  Mark paints a picture of Jesus, the servant.  Luke gives us the Son of Man.  And John presents Jesus as God.  Four different authors, four different facets of one person.

In the beginning of the book of Leviticus, we are presented with five different offerings, each showing a different facet of Jesus. Just like the four gospels present the same person, from four different perspectives and seemingly written to four different people groups, the Five different offerings, illustrate five different aspects of the same person, Jesus, the Christ.  

Before we to study these offerings, I will like to define some terms. The problem with Bible dictionaries, is that if you look up one word in 6 different dictionaries, you can get 7 different definitions. Maybe it’s just me, but when I look up definitions of terms related to the service of the tabernacle, things get really muddled. For the purpose of this study, these are my definitions based on my understanding at this point in time.  These are gleaned from various sources over the years.  They may not be 100% accurate 100% of the time, but I tried to make them simple.  I like simplicity.

A gift is simply something given.
An offering is simply a gift from a lesser to a greater.
A sacrifice is simply an offering that involves blood shed.
An oblation is simply a food offering.

The five Levitical offerings can be divided into two groups: the ones that were smelled sweet and the ones that stunk.  The sweet smelling offerings included (using the King James vernacular) the continual burnt offering, the meat offering and the peace offering.  Each one was a sweet smelling savor.  The stinky offerings were the sin and trespass offerings. I guess God has nostrils and can distinguish between odors.  Listen to what He says by the prophet Amos:

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell [a sweet odour] in your solemn assemblies. For if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept [them]; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts. Amos 5:21-2       

Hey, man was created in His image, if we can discern between something that smells sweet and something that stinks, so can He.

Generally, the sweet smelling offerings were to be burned on the altar of burnt offering.  The stinky offerings (for the most part) were to be burned outside the camp, that was probably miles from the nostrils of God.  

So, is there anything in the New Testament that point to sweet smelling odors regarding an gift, offering, or sacrifice?

Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Eph. 5:1-2

So, Jesus’ offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.  Notice this verse indicates that Jesus voluntarily delivered Himself.

Did I mention that the Levitical offerings can be broken down into two groups? The voluntary offerings and the compulsory offerings.  The voluntary offerings included the burnt offering, the meat offering and the peace offerings.  The sin and the trespass offerings, the stinky ones, were compulsory.   

God demands offerings for trespasses and sin.  Peace, meat and burnt offerings were made on a totally voluntary free will basis.

Death is the compulsory penalty for sin....the wages of sin is death (Rom 3:23). Starting in the garden Death was required (Gen 3:21).  Starting with the garden a substitutionary death (death of an innocent animal to pay for the debt of the guilty sinner) was acceptable to God. Jesus voluntarily went to the cross and died to pay that debt that we owe but we cannot pay. He voluntarily paid a required debt.  Do you feel indebted to Him for it?

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. -- Elvina M. Hall

Stupid Sheep

'Let's roll.' Todd Beamer's last words with Lisa Jefferson, a customer service supervisor at GTE Airfone's Chicago call center, just before he and other passengers on Flight 93 became the first heroes in the war against islamic terrorists on September 11th. Just before he uttered 'lets roll', some news reports said that he recited the so-called Lord's Prayer. Some news reports said he recited Psalm 23. Some news reports said he recited both.

Psalm 23 is probably the most well known psalm. If I were a betting man, I would bet that if one were to survey church-going folks and ask what their favorite psalm is, Psalm 23 would top the list. If I were a betting man, I would bet that more people have it memorized than any other passage in the Bible (the so-called Lord's prayer being a close second). If I were a betting man, I would bet that Psalm 23 has been put to music more than any other Psalm. I learned, the hard way, a long, long, long time ago, not to bet. Good thing it was only a 25 cent bet!

Did you know that Psalm 23 is the middle psalm of a trilogy? A trilogy of Messianic Psalms -- Psalm 22 is the suffering dying messiah, Psalm 23 is the risen messiah, and Psalm 24 is the returning messiah.

Psalm 22 is past, Psalm 23 is current, and Psalm 24 is future.

Psalm 22 we have the Crucifixion. It has been said that there are 30 specific references to the Crucifixion in the psalm and was written centuries before crucifixion was invented by the Romans. Some have even suggested that Jesus quoted the entire psalm while hanging on the cross beginning with My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ending with that he hath done [it] that may be translated: He hath finished it or, it is finished.

Psalm 23 we have a picture of the 'good shepherd' who leads and provides for His flock. This is the relationship between Jesus and believers now. He provides, as we let Him, and He leads, as we let Him. We are no more than stupid sheep trying to pave our own way as we travel through the valley of the shadow of death.

In Psalm 24 we have the returning Savior; the King of Glory triumphantly entering the gates. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle.

In Psalm 22 we are in the court of the tabernacle between the door and the altar of burnt offering, where the innocent is dying for the guilty and His precious blood being shed.

In Psalm 23 we are in the Holy Place, where a table is being prepared before me in the presence of mine enemies. Table...presence...get it? In the tabernacle there was the table of shewbread, also known as the bread of presence. Prepare a table in the presence of...maybe it is just me(?). The table in the tabernacle was set before the Lord, continually. The table in this psalm is set in the presence of ...enemies...interesting.

In psalm 24, we are ushered into the very presence of God in the Holy of Holies. ...who shall stand in his holy place? and what makes Him worthy of the position? He that hath blameless hands and a pure heart; who lifteth not up his soul unto vanity, nor sweareth deceitfully. Only certain Old Testament priest were permitted to approach God and those priests could not be defiled. They had to be perfect in their outward appearance and clean. They had to wash their hands at the laver before they entered the holy place that they die not. How does one get defiled? ...but the things which go forth out of the mouth come out of the heart, and those defile man. Matt. 15:18. Jesus was undefiled. His hands needed no cleansing because he was blameless and had a pure heart. And did He ever lift His soul unto vanity, or swear deceitfully?

Notice, He is to stand in the holy place. We sometimes make a big deal about Jesus sitting, ...having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down ... at [the] right hand of God... Heb. 10:12. But Stephen got a glimpse into heaven, into the Holy of Holies, and saw Jesus standing ...But being full of [the] Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw [the] glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, Acts 7:55

He died (past). He is preparing something (right now). He is returning (future).

Do you believe He died for you (past)? Do you believe He is preparing something for you (right now)? Do you believe He is coming again for you, or with you (future)?

Reminds me of what He said on the eve before His death: In my Father's house there are many abodes; were it not so, I had told you: for I go to prepare you a place; and if I go and shall prepare you a place, I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be. John 14:2-3

He prefaced this by saying: Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe on God, believe also on me.

Do you believe on Him? If you do, your heart shouldn't be too troubled. If your heart is troubled, let him lead, let him provide. Well, we really don't have a problem with His provisions (at least I don't), it is the letting Him lead that takes faith. Stop being a stupid sheep.

And remember, He is coming again...

Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, ye gates; yea, lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah. Ps. 24:7-10

http://theforgottenfifty.blogspot.com/

Where Are You Walking?

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem; for he did eat continually at the king's table. And he was lame on both his feet. - 2 Sam. 9:13

In 2 Sam. chapter 9, we are provided one of the greatest pictures of grace in the Old Testament. David the king, seeks out Mephibosheth, who was lame on both his feet. He wasn't born that way, when Mephibosheth was 5 years old, King Saul, Mephibosheth's grandfather, was killed in battle. Jonathan, Mephibosheth's dad, next in line for the throne, was killed in the same battle. When news of the deaths got to Mephibosheth's nurse's ears, she feared for Mephibosheth's life, since the boy was next in line for the throne (and in those days they liked to totally wipe out the king's entire family), she did what any good nurse would do, she picked up a 5 year old Mephibosheth and ran. Have you ever tried to run carrying a 5 year old boy? Yeah, she had a hard time and dropped him. And that is how Mephibosheth became lame on both his feet (2 Sam 4:4).

Fast forward. David has been king for a couple decades and Mephibosheth is old enough to have a children. Mephibosheth apparently has been in hiding this whole time. King David sought Mephibosheth out and showed kindness to him. Mephibosheth realizes his own unworthiness and David gives him a place at the king's table and he did eat continually at the king's table. Mephibosheth was provided a place at the table based on some pact David made decades earlier with Jonathan, Mephibosheth's dad, probably before Mephibosheth was born. There was nothing Mephibosheth could have done to earn a place at the king's table. He was lame. Thus, grace.

Did you know that the first mention of the word table in the Bible is in reference to the tabernacle? The table of shewbread (or table of presence or table of face) held twelve loaves of bread, each one represented a tribe of Israel. On each Sabbath, the priest would replace the existing loaves with freshly baked ones. The old loaves they were to be eaten by the priest before the Lord. Unlike Mephibosheth, who could not stand on his own, the priests had to eat standing up. There were no chairs in the tabernacle, no place to sit.

Tables are for fellowship. Who do you have fellowship with? If you think about it, you have fellowship with those that you have something in common with. The priest that ate the shewbread in the presence of the Lord were all blood related--Aaron and his sons. They entered the Holy Place and walked to the table to place the bread on it. They walked to break and pass the bread. And, if they were anything like me, they walked around while eating the bread. They were having fellowship with each other and with God, since they were to eat before the Lord.

Opposite the table of shewbread stood the golden lamp-stand. The golden lamp-stand provided light in the Holy Place. So the priest, who typified the believer, had fellowship with other priest (other believers) and with God while walking in the light.

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another... 1 John 1:3-7

Mephibosheth had fellowship with King David at the king's table. The priests in the wilderness had fellowship with other priest and with God at the table of shewbread, while walking in the light. We have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, and with fellow believers, as long as we are walking in the light. Where are you walking?

While we walk with God in light,
God our hearts doth still unite;
Dearest fellowship we prove,
Fellowship in Jesus’ love.-- Charles Wesley

No Explanation Needed

9-11. All one has to do is mention the phrase 9-11. We all know what year it was, we don't need an explanation. We know what happened on that day, we don't need an explanation. Depending on how old you are, you remember exactly where you were when you first heard, you don't need an explanation.

Reason number 9 that the study of the tabernacle should not be neglected is that in days of biblical writing, from Moses to John, people were familiar with the tabernacle/temple form of worship. Since they were, some things did not have to be explained.

For example, when Zacharias saw his vision of ...a lamp-stand all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon, seven [lamps] and seven pipes to the lamps, which are upon the top thereof...or when John wrote ...having turned, I saw seven golden lamps. They knew that the lamp in the tabernacle was made of gold, burned olive oil and had 7 lamps.

When they read that Abraham was to offered up Isaac as a burnt offering, they knew that a burnt offering was to be filleted and totally consumed on the altar.

When David said Jehovah reigneth...He sitteth [between the] cherubim, they knew that in the holiest of holiest, on the mercy seat that covered the ark, were two golden cherubim. God made His throne and met with Moses on the mercy seat between the cherubim.

When John wrote in the opening of his first epistle, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes; that which we contemplated, and our hands handled, concerning the word of life; they may have realized that this sounds like the burnt offering, that had to be examined for perfection and handled and cut up and placed on the altar.

They even told time by the activity in the tabernacle/temple. When Ezra writes ...at the time of the evening oblation (or sacrifice)..., they knew what time he meant. It did not need explaining.

The Forgotten Fifty...

Those are the top ten reasons why the tabernacle is not studied, now I would like to share the top ten reasons why the tabernacle should be studied. Here, again, this is personal opinion and there may be some overlap between the two lists.

The number 10 reason that the tabernacle should be studied is because there are a total of 50 chapters of the Bible that describe the design, construction and the service in the tabernacle. Fifty chapters! The offering for the building materials begins in the 25th chapter of the second book of the Bible, Exodus. Most of the rest of the book has to do with the design and construction of the structure and its furniture. The next book, Leviticus, begins with Jehovah speaking to Moses from the freshly completed tabernacle and most of that book deals with the service in the tabernacle. There are a handful of chapters in the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy and Hebrews that round out the 50.

We know the story of creation. The creation story is covered in just 2 chapters. We know the Christmas story. The birth of Christ takes up less than 2 ½ chapters. We know the life of Joseph. The story of Joseph takes up about 13 chapters. Or how about the book of Daniel? Twelve chapters. What do we know about the tabernacle?

Fifty chapters is a lot of Bible page real estate. If it is that important to God, then maybe it should be important to us and we should study it.

The Forgotten Fifty…chapters of the Bible.

There are 2 Types of Redeemed People in the World

And the Number 1 reason for the tabernacle not being studied is…drum roll, please… the priesthood of the believer is so misunderstood.

Aaron and his sons were hand-selected by God to serve Him, the Kohathites were not. Aaron and his sons were set apart for certain services and they even stood out by their dress, the Kohathites did not. Aaron and his sons could enter the holy place, the Kohathites could not. Once in the holy place, Aaron and his sons got to maintain the lamp, offer up incense, and even break bread with the Almighty, the Kohathites could not. Aaron and his sons could eat their portions of the 'meat offering' and the peace offering and could clothe themselves in the skins from the burnt offerings, the Kohathites could not. Aaron and his sons played a part in the various offerings, the Kohathites did not. Aaron and his sons were priests, the Kohathites were not.

Aaron had a cousin named Korah. Korah was a Kohathite. Kohathites were a family within the tribe of Levy that were in charge of moving the tabernacle and its furniture when the camp moved from place to place during the wilderness journey (Numbers 4:1-15). Korah was not a happy camper. He was not happy with his role that he was assigned and got a small, but powerful, mob together to lead a rebellion against his cousins, Moses and Aaron. His protest -- It is enough; for all the assembly, all of them are holy, and Jehovah is among them; and why do ye lift up yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah? (Num. 16:4)

Moses responds -- Even to-morrow will Jehovah make known who is his, and who is holy; and he will cause him to come near to him; and him whom he has chosen, him will he cause to come near to him. (Num. 16:5).

From Moses’ response we get a definition of the priests. They were owned by God by His choice, they were holy, and they had the right (or privilege) to come near to God. In that day, there were two types of redeemed people in the world: the priest and the congregation (everyone else). Today, there are two types of redeemed people in the world: those that think that there is still two groups (priest and the congregation), and those that do not. The congregation has been eliminated, therefore the latter type is correct. All redeemed are now priests and as priests we are all on a level playing field. I like the way Peter puts it:

To whom coming, a living stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious, yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. --1Pe 2:4b-5

But ye [are] a chosen race, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession, that ye might set forth the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light; -- 1Pe 2:9

All of the redeemed are a holy, kingly priesthood owned by God by His choice with the right (or privilege) to come near to God. Wow.

Let’s take another look at Korah’s complaint. He said that the priests should not be exalted over everyone else because all of the redeemed are holy and Jehovah is dwelling among them. This statement, by the way, costs him his life (Read all about it in Numbers 16).

Something strikes me as odd, though, about his complaint. If you fast-forward to today where there are the two groups, and someone that belongs to a church in the group that still believes that there are separate groups (the congregation and the priesthood), and a congregant made Korah’s complaint, he might just have a case(!). We are all redeemed and Jehovah is dwelling with(in) us, so no one should be lifting themselves above the congregation.

To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father: to him [be] the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen. Rev 1:5b-6

Dying to Enter

Reason Number 6 that the tabernacle is not studied is that with the rent veil, Jesus has entered into the ‘Holiest of Holiest’ as our ‘forerunner’ … Wherein God, willing to shew more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, intervened by an oath, that by two unchangeable things, in which [it was] impossible that God should lie, we might have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us, which we have as anchor of the soul, both secure and firm, and entering into that within the veil, where Jesus is entered as forerunner for us... (Heb. 6:17-20). If He is the forerunner, then aren’t we to follow?

Do we have any right to follow? I don’t think so. The high priest was directed to stay out of the Holiest of Holiest that he die not (Lev. 16:2), except for one day a year. Many of things happened on that Day of Atonement but there was one thing required of the high priest when he entered the Holiest of Holiest on the that day that he die not. …And he shall put the incense upon the fire before Jehovah, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat which is upon the testimony, that he die not. Lev. 16:13

So, in order to live, (or, die not) the high priest had to stay out of the Holiest of Holiest all year except for the Day of Atonement, and on that day he must put the incense upon the fire before Jehovah, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat. The life of the high priest was dependent on these.

Jesus died so He could enter.

And having begun from Moses

Reason Number 9 for not studying the tabernacle--it is so Old Testament. According to some random trivia site I found on the internet, there are 593,493 words in the Old Testament and 181,253 words in the New. Each word is inspired. Many more inspired words in the Old Testament. Just because it is in the Old Testament is not a reason not to study it.

Not only is it Old Testament, it was in the Law. But, you may say, we are under the Law no longer (Rom 6:14); hasn’t it been nailed to the cross (Col 9:14)? Besides, wasn’t salvation in the Old Testament somehow based on the Law? Have you ever read Ps. 119? I know that you know that there is a reference to the Law, precepts and statute in nearly each verse. The Law refers to the first 5 books of the Bible. The tabernacle design and service were dictated by God in the Law. Precepts are all the Thou shalts and thou shalt nots in the Law. Did you know that 5 out of every 6 precepts have something to do with the tabernacle? So what was David referring to when he wrote Psalm 119? Maybe the same that Jesus was referring to on the road to Emmaus: And having begun from Moses … he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27. Or after breaking bread with His disciples in Emmaus…these [are] the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all that is written concerning me in the law of Moses...must be fulfilled. Luke 24:44

No Devil in These Details

It is a mystery to me why the Old Testament tabernacle is studied by so few. Bible-believing Bible-thumping Christians are truly illiterate with respect to the tabernacle of the wilderness. Sure, we wade through the latter half of Exodus and Leviticus when we read through our Bibles on our read-your-Bible-in-a-year programs. We feel a sense of relief when we get to the end like it is something to endure and not something to enjoy in study. It’s kind of like genealogies in say, the first 11 chapters or so of First Chronicles. We read through them, maybe looking for a familiar name, or we may even look up a few in a Bible dictionary to see some of the name defined. We may even go so far as replace the name with its definition to see if it makes sense or not. But we do not spend time in study. We study the New Testament. We spend time on many stories in the Old. The creation story is studied as if it took up most of the Old Testament. The 10 Commandments are studied. We feel a certain connection to the 10 Commandments – they make sense to us, even in this day. In the book of Exodus, the 10 Commandments come a little before the instruction to build the tabernacle. There is a reason for this order, but we don’t feel any kind of connection to the tabernacle.

I developed this top-10 list. The top ten reasons that the tabernacle is not studied. These are based on personal observations – my personal observations ranked in reverse order. There is no Biblical basis for this list or its order. You may not agree; that’s okay.

The Top Ten Reasons that the Tabernacle is Not Studied:

Reason Number 10

The Number 10 reason that the tabernacle is not studied today is because it is boring. Details make it boring. Many details are given in its design and and seem to repeated in the construction. Let’s look at a couple quick examples:

The instruction for the tabernacle proper:

And thou shalt make the tabernacle [with] ten curtains of twined byssus, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubim of artistic work shalt thou make them. The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits -- one measure for all the curtains. Five of the curtains shall be coupled one to another, and [the other] five curtains coupled one to another. And thou shalt make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain at the end of the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make [them] in the edge of the outermost curtain in the other coupling. Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make at the end of the curtain in the other coupling: the loops shall be opposite to one another. And thou shalt make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps, that the tabernacle may be one [whole]. Ex. 26:1-6

So much detail, so few verses. We are given sizes, numbers of curtains, materials of construction, colors, coupling methods, even the number of couplings.

Another example: Instructions for the construction of the laver are given in Ex.30: Thou shalt also make a laver of copper, and its stand of copper, for washing; and thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water in it. The instructions as they were followed a few chapters later: And he made the laver of copper, and its stand of copper, of the mirrors of the crowds of women who crowded before the entrance of the tent of meeting. Ex. 38:8. Details. We are not only told what it is made of, copper, we are also told the source of the material and who offered it. But, interestingly, we are not given the dimensions for the laver.

There is a reason for each detail given. There is a reason for each detail omitted. Boring? Maybe. But when we look into the details, you won’t find the devil in them…you’ll see some of the many facets of Jesus Christ.