The Way, The Truth, And The Life: Tabernacle Series Part 4

Exodus 25:1-9
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.’”
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(The Holy Place)
Jesus told His disciples in the upper room that He is the way, the truth, and the life. When they heard His words, they understood something that most Christians today would probably not. Incredibly, the Tabernacle of Moses can give us a whole new understanding of the meaning of His amazing statement. 😮💖 Come and see!
God’s Priority.
The difference between God’s priority and man’s is VERY telling in this: Only ONE chapter in the entire Bible is devoted to creation, with which humans seem endlessly fascinated. In stark contrast, there are no less that SEVEN CHAPTERS devoted to the construction of the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the priestly garments.  It’s crystal clear to me what, or more to the point, “Who,” is foremost on our Father’s mind:  JESUS!  So, that’s what we’re going to study…..well, one of the things anyway.
Replica Of Heaven.
The Tabernacle of Moses was a tiny replica of heaven and the throne of God. He described everything to Moses about how to build His Tabernacle down to the most minute detail when he was up on Mt. Sinai.  He even imparted special inspiration and skill to the artisans and craftsmen among them who would make all the artifacts and every priestly garment.
The Apostle John, while on the island of Patmos, was transported in the spirit to the real Tabernacle in heaven and saw it with his own eyes. He wrote about his experience in the first chapter of Revelation. From his description and our understanding of the layout of the Tabernacle, you can tell exactly where he was standing and in which direction he was facing:
Revelation 1:10-12
10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard BEHIND ME a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, 11 “I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last,” and “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: To Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
12 “Then I {John} turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One {Jesus} like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.”
The Holy Place.
The entrance to the Holy Place, as well as the outer court was on the EAST SIDE of the Tabernacle.  As you entered there, the table of showbread would be on your right, the altar of incense directly ahead of you in front of the veil, and the menorah to your left.  You are facing WEST.  John said in the scripture above that he turned around to face the voice he heard speaking BEHIND HIM, which means he was facing the table of shewbread, toward the North.  So, when he turned around to see the seven golden lamp stands,  he would have turned to face the SOUTH SIDE of the Holy place.
Here we have the occurrence again of the number FOUR:  East, West, North, South.  This depicts the FOUR “corners” of the cross which is effectual for the FOUR “corners” of the world!
(For more information on the importance and significance of the mentioning of the four directions, you may follow the link below:
(The outer court.)
The Way.
Rabbinical tradition refers to the entrance of the outer court as “The Way,” where the bronze altar is located.  Bronze in the Bible typifies judgment. The bronze altar, shaped like a cross, reminds us of the cross where all our sins were judged:  Past, present and future.
Keep in mind now that ALL YOUR SINS WERE FUTURE WHEN JESUS DIED.
Spiritual Childhood.
The outer court depicts salvation, yes, but it is also a picture of judgmental attitudes toward sin and sinners; Spiritual childhood, if you will. Many Christians and churches never seem to grow past this outer court stage, apparently content to dwell there.  God still loves them, of course, and they are still IN the tabernacle, meaning they are still saved and going to heaven when they die.  But…..He expects all of us to grow up; to come into the Holy Place and, ultimately, into the Holy of Holies:  The place of pure grace.  He wants us to grow in our faith, trust, and love and, especially, in our knowledge of Jesus.
Church, we were not given the ministry of judgment but of RECONCILIATION.  Soon enough, Judgment Day will come…..but it is not here yet.  We need to stick to our program, preach the gospel, and see to it that as many people as possible get saved!
FAITH.
In order to come to Christ and be born again, you must have faith, so the outer court is also a picture of “FAITH.”  As your knowledge of Jesus increases, so does your faith and trust.
This growth takes you from the outer court into the next phase of spiritual growth:  The Holy Place.  Here you learn even more about Jesus’ beauty, glory, and His love for you. 💖

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The Truth.

The next part of the tabernacle is called the “Holy Place.”  In Rabbinical tradition, its entrance was called “THE TRUTH.”  Herein was contained the seven branch menorah, the table of showbread (a typology of communion), and the altar of incense, depicting the prayers of the saints. Only members of the priestly tribe were allowed to enter here.  The average Israelite was excluded.

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All of these furnishings are pictures of the Church.  She gives light to the world, represented by the Menorah; she celebrates the death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by holy communion; and the prayers of all her saints ascend to God like sweet smelling perfume and activate her covenant with God.
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It is here that you can see the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.  On the other side of it was the Ark of the covenant.  Woven into the veil were FOUR pictures as shown below:  A Lion, an Ox, the face of a Man, and a flying Eagle.  We will discuss their meanings in greater detail in part 5 of this series.
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(The Holy Place)

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Hope.

The Church is the entity which teaches the world about the “HOPE” of eternal salvation in Jesus and of the rapture of the Church before the Tribulation.  Prophetically speaking, most of the Church today is here, in this in-between place:  In between the bronze of the outer court (judgment) and the pure Grace of the “Kadoshim:  the Holy of Holies.”

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You have come to this in-between place because you have grown in your faith.  Where once all you knew was forgiveness of your sins, you may also have been a little afraid of God, not completely sure of His love for you.

Here in the Holy Place, you have now learned to have HOPE: A confident expectation of good things from God.  Your trust in Him begins to grow deeper, but there may still be some confusion about Him.

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Winds Of Doctrines.

In this middle ground are many winds of doctrine, controversy, and great confusion about the finished work of Jesus, such as  “Are we under law?  Are we under Grace?  Are we saved by grace but preserve it by our good works?  Does grace produce licentiousness?  Are we eternally secure or not?  Can a Christian commit the unpardonable sin?  What is the unpardonable sin?”  On and on it goes.
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(For more on the unpardonable sin, you may follow the link below:
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You see?  MUCH confusion which equals much uncertainty.  The “Sea” here is still liquid, so to speak, typifying that very confusion, uncertainty, and inevitable instability.  It is very easy to sink beneath this sea, these waves of uncertainty, like Peter did when he walked on the water with Jesus.
But Hallelujah!  This changes as you mature!  You are now ready to enter into the Holy of Holies where the sea is liquid NO MORE:  IT IS CRYSTAL.  SOLID.  STABLE!  (See Revelaion 4:6.).
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Mixture.
What do I mean by, “Mixture?”  Simply this:  The bronze (judgment) of the outer court is often mixed with the gold (grace), of the Holy of Holies.  Gold in the Bible is a picture of Divine Righteousness.  Mixture is the essence of Galatianism which, unfortunately, is widely taught in Churches today.  Paul warned the Church about this.  In fact, the entire book of Galatians is devoted to this very topic.
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The Life.

This the best part!  The entrance into the Holy of Holies was called, “THE LIFE,” in Rabinnical tradition.  It is the place of rest; of lasting peace; of safety and provision.  Jesus invited us to enter this place when He said, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying…” in John’s Revelation.

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What He meant was, “Come into the place of safety. Come up higher, up where everywhere is gold, where the sea is CRYSTAL. There is no tossing to and fro here.”
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You are here because you have come to understand His finished work.  A throne is waiting for you on which to sit and rest; a rest which springs from that understanding.”
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The Secret Place.
This the secret place of the Most High that David spoke of in Psalm 91.  It is the place of pure LOVE!  For a more in-depth study on the Secret Place, you may follow the link below:
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(The Holy of Holies.)

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The Old Revealed In The New.
All of these three parts of the tabernacle of Moses are a beautiful typologies of our Lord Jesus.  They perfectly depict the verses below:
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1 Corinthians 13:!1-13
“11 When I was a child, {in the outer court and holy place} I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man {in the holy of holies}, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

13 And now abide FAITH {Outer court}, HOPE {The Holy Place}, and LOVE {The Joly of Holies}, these three; but the GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE {The Holy of Holies}.”

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Depiction Of Jesus!
When Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” His Jewish audience heard something you and I would never have caught.  They understood He was saying that THE ENTIRE TABERNACLE WAS A PICTURE OF HIM!  😮
AWESOME!!! 💖
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In more ways than we could possibly have imagined, Jesus really IS…..

THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE!

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You may follow the link below to part 5 where we will discuss WHY we have four Gospels:

13 thoughts on “The Way, The Truth, And The Life: Tabernacle Series Part 4”

      1. Please, give a more specific reference than ‘rabbis from ancient times’. Is it Talmud (if so, what exact reference)? Other place(s)? I really want to check it firsthand if I am to teach others about this.

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  2. I agree with Daniel. Please cite your sources if you are going to reference the rabbis. There are MANY Jewish books of commentary. This idea of the names of the entrances has been around for 20 years, and I have never found anyone who could cite it. While I believe the principal still stands, the fact is it is very suspect. We have to be careful with this kind of thing, because it puts our witness in jeopardy if we repeat this to a Jewish person and it isn’t true.

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    1. It’s been around for longer than 20 years and you’re right: there isn’t anything written about it. It is oral tradition that rabbis in modern Israel who are born again believers have talked about with pastors like Joseph Prince. If you are not comfortable sharing it, understandable. It’s certainly not required.

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      2. Wow! That’s awesome! The Old Testament is such an amazing part of the Bible. It’s like an expanded view with the mist wonderful pictures of Jesus but it really helps clarify the New Testament.

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  4. Pingback: Do Unto the Lord | Lawrence

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