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| Me and my hubby, Matt |
Grace and peace to you! I am so excited to begin this journey with you as we explore the symbolism of the Tabernacle alongside the life of Christ! It is my prayer that this devotional and teaching will encourage you and your personal worship time. This has been a study that has been developing for me over the past couple years and I will admit up front that this is the first time I have attempted anything of this magnitude and you are my guinea pigs! God keeps moving me out of my comfort zone and writing this study was definitely not something on my radar, but He has been fanning a flame within me to share on this subject. My faith has definitely been encouraged as I see how God established His pattern of worship for us and linked Old Testament worship with the New Testament. I hope that you are encouraged too and that you will join the discussion and share your thoughts and how God may be speaking to you.
A Parable
Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at a parable of the tabernacle. A parable is simply a story or illustration used to teach truth. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines a parable as being “a placing of one thing by the side of another” or “a thing serving as a figure of something else.” I grew up in a Christian home and learned early on that Jesus often used parables as He taught. I remember many of the parables from Sunday School, but what I don’t remember is learning the parable of the tabernacle. Perhaps it is because it’s not an illustration that can be found by simply turning to one particular passage in the Bible. It is a parable that requires a certain amount of study and digging into God’s Word.
Let’s look at Hebrews 9:1-10. The writer of Hebrews gives a brief
description of the Tabernacle and then ends in verse 5 with “But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.” That’s
perhaps the most frustrating verse in the Bible to me! I would have LOVED to hear a New Testament
writer explain the Tabernacle from his point of view! But he quickly moves on. In 9:9, we read that the Tabernacle is an “illustration.” The Greek word used here is parabole, where we get our English
translation parable. The tabernacle, the priest’s duties and
the purpose of the tabernacle can be viewed alongside the life of Jesus – our
ultimate High Priest. The tabernacle and its ministry is symbolic of how we, as
sinners, can receive forgiveness and have the privilege to “approach the throne
of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
us in our time of need” Hebrews 4:16. Isn’t
that awesome?! We sinned back in the Garden of Eden and God loved us so dearly that He prepared the way for mankind to come
back to Him; first through tabernacle worship and then through Christ and the
new covenant. What a gracious and loving
God we serve! As we look more deeply at
this parable, I hope that it will draw us all to see the amazing connection
that God linked between Old Testament worship through the tabernacle and New
Testament worship through Christ.
So why would I choose to focus on this subject? I am fascinated by the passages that speak of believers as being a living temple of God (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19) or a royal and holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:4-5, 9). Those phrases sound nice, but what do they really mean? How does this impact our worship? Does it impact our worship at all? While Paul and Peter both use the term temple, it is important to remember that both the tabernacle and temple served the same purpose. The temple, however, was on a larger and grander scale than the tabernacle and was in a fixed location. The tabernacle was portable and easily moved by the Israelites through the desert. In order to understand what it means to be a living temple or part of the royal priesthood, I think it is important to take an in depth look at what these things would have meant to the Jews.
So why would I choose to focus on this subject? I am fascinated by the passages that speak of believers as being a living temple of God (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19) or a royal and holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:4-5, 9). Those phrases sound nice, but what do they really mean? How does this impact our worship? Does it impact our worship at all? While Paul and Peter both use the term temple, it is important to remember that both the tabernacle and temple served the same purpose. The temple, however, was on a larger and grander scale than the tabernacle and was in a fixed location. The tabernacle was portable and easily moved by the Israelites through the desert. In order to understand what it means to be a living temple or part of the royal priesthood, I think it is important to take an in depth look at what these things would have meant to the Jews.
Weekly
Format
Over the next several weeks together, we are going to take a look at this parable and it is my hope that as we lay the tabernacle alongside Jesus, we will see how the elements and rituals performed in the Tabernacle point to Christ and His redemptive work. Each week, I will present a different element of the Tabernacle and together we will look at what the Bible says about the construction of those elements, the uses for which they were created and how they point to Christ.
Over the next several weeks together, we are going to take a look at this parable and it is my hope that as we lay the tabernacle alongside Jesus, we will see how the elements and rituals performed in the Tabernacle point to Christ and His redemptive work. Each week, I will present a different element of the Tabernacle and together we will look at what the Bible says about the construction of those elements, the uses for which they were created and how they point to Christ.
Throughout our time together, I will place “Digging Deeper” items for you to consider. As your first “Digging Deeper” item, consider reading through Hebrews chapters 8, 9, and 10 to see how the author viewed Christ in comparison with the temple/tabernacle and the priests with the days to come. Read slowly through each chapter and then return and reread each chapter again. What stood out to you? Was there anything in particular that God spoke clearly to you about? Another dimension to this study will be to dialogue with one another. Please feel free to share your comments and how God is speaking to you. I would love to hear them!
At the end of each
devotional, I would encourage you to spend some time in prayer, thanksgiving
and worship for the things God lays on your heart as you spend time with
Him. I will also include lyrics and/or a
link to a worship song or two that you may or not be familiar with. Having been a worship leader for many years,
it is simply my desire to leave you with a song in your heart and on your lips
to express to God. Feel free to use
those songs however you choose. :-)
I hope this time is beneficial to
you and it is my prayer that God uses your time with Him to speak to your heart
in whatever ways you might need to hear from Him. I would love to hear from you over the course
of this study with your suggestions for improving this devotional or with stories
of how God is speaking to you. Please
feel free to post your comments below, on Facebook or contact
me
directly by email!
God’s
grace and peace to you until next time!
Tracy
Sanctuary
By: City Harvest Church – KC Gan
When my world was in darkness You
spoke Your Word
Night turned into day, Your beauty filled this place
When my world stood in silence You filled my heart
With songs that never end; Forever I will praise
To think that the universe could not withhold Your glory
You choose to live in me; I'm so amazed
I worship you Lord, My life in You restored
Here is my heart make it Your sanctuary
For nobody else, but Jesus only (You)
You are faithful and true; Glorious lord
All my life it is You I adore
You've touched my soul
Completed my world I surrender to You
Night turned into day, Your beauty filled this place
When my world stood in silence You filled my heart
With songs that never end; Forever I will praise
To think that the universe could not withhold Your glory
You choose to live in me; I'm so amazed
I worship you Lord, My life in You restored
Here is my heart make it Your sanctuary
For nobody else, but Jesus only (You)
You are faithful and true; Glorious lord
All my life it is You I adore
You've touched my soul
Completed my world I surrender to You
Better Is One Day
By: Matt Redman
How lovely is Your dwelling
place, Oh Lord Almighty
My soul longs and even faints for You
For here my heart is satisfied, within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
(repeat)
One thing I ask, and I would seek, to see Your beauty,
To find You in the place Your glory dwells
My soul longs and even faints for You
For here my heart is satisfied, within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
(repeat)
One thing I ask, and I would seek, to see Your beauty,
To find You in the place Your glory dwells
My heart and flesh cry out, For You the living God
Your Spirit's water for my soul
I've tasted and I've seen, Come once again to me.
I will draw near to You. I will draw near to You
5 comments:
Looks like you have something good here Tracy. I guess I will go read Hebrews 8,9,10 now. :)
Thanks mom... :-)
The first thing that caught my attention while reading my 37-year-old bible that has been underlined and notated to death, Hebrews was all marked up EXCEPT for the three chapters you told us to read. That tells me I never had much teaching on this subject.
I’ll try to keep this short because if you’re like me, you don’t like to do extensive reading on the computer. Vs. 8:7 jumped out at me because it says the first covenant was not faultless. I questioned that and wondered why. As I read on I came to these two conclusion:
1) The old covenant Law (given by God) taught by man does not last…people go their own way. With the new, God will write the Law on the mind and in the heart of man. It will be with them always.
2) Vs. 9:17 “For a will (Greek word means both will and covenant) takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.” With the first covenant, only animal blood was spilled. Thus the covenant needed to be replayed year after year. With the second covenant (will), the blood of the one who made it was spilled. Thus, the will took effect at that point and death need not be repeated. And what was our inheritance through this will? Christ’s sacrifice “put away sin” (9:26) and “purified your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (9:14) I’m reading this word usage “dead works” as sin. Do you agree?
In looking into "dead works" a little, I think it does refer to sin in general (especially when you read it some other translations) but I also found that it could refer to things that are simply powerless and fruitless.
I found this: "From works that cause death or condemnation; or that have no vitality or life. The reference may be either to those actions which were sinful in their nature, or to those which related to the forms of religion, where there was no spiritual life. This was the character of much of the religion of the Jews; and conversion to the true religion consisted greatly in repentance for having relied on those heartless and hollow forms. It is possible that the apostle referred mainly to these, as he was writing to those who had been Hebrews."
Considering the audience of Hebrews,this seems to imply that it could mean doing all the things that seem right (like following all the rules of the Sabbath for the Jews) but really do nothing when it comes down to having a personal relationship with Christ. All those commands for the Sabbath then would be as "dead works" because in the end they are powerless and fruitless to follow. What do you think?
Well, hopefully after 37 years, those three chapters caught up a little with the rest of your Bible! :-)
Until I read this, I had always thought "dead works" referred to trying to work your way into heaven. I'm not so sure I would call that sin, but rather unaware of the relationship God calls us to. But reading 9:14 "purified your conscience" caused me to think of dead works as sin. Now I see it as both.
"From works that cause death or condemnation; or that have no vitality or life."...is speaking to Christians too. (the first being sin....the second "no vitality or life" could refer going through the motions of worship when our heart and mind isn't involved, going to church with our focus on ourselves rather than God, giving our tithe because we are told to do it, etc. In other words, our heart for God isn't in our actions.
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