1452 - "The Furniture in the Holy Place" Exodus 25ff; John 6; 8

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Each weekday, Dr. Crisp will be discussing biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Tune in daily to start your day right and deepen your understanding of how to better walk the way and enjoy the journey. Here's your host, Dr. Tony Crisp.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Welcome to On the Way. This is Tony Crisp, and this is Podcast 1452. We're continuing our study of the story of the Crimson River. It is the story of creation, the story of redemption, and the story of the new creation. And we have been studying the various sacrifices and offerings and those things that show the great redemptive message of Jesus. That's right. Jesus is the fulfillment of all things related to offerings, all things related to the forgiveness of sin. And we have come to the book of Exodus and the Tabernacle, the portable worship center that God gave Moses the pattern for and the schematic for on Mount Sinai. If you'll recall, I shared with you that when you're studying the Ten Commandments, you've got one chapter to deal with, and it doesn't even take up an entire chapter. But when you're dealing with the great worship center that was the center of everything in the life of the children of Israel on their journey from Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land, they were to break down the tabernacle first before anything, before any step, any tribe moved. They had to break down the tabernacle, and they had to allow it to go before and lead the people, and the priest would carry that, and then the tribes would come along. Now that's also true of when they set it up. The first thing that was set up was the place where God said, Here's where I want the camp to be. And when God said that, the first thing that was set up was the central worship center. And it was the center of the entire corporate entity called the nation of Israel. And all of the tribes had specific places around the four sides of the tabernacle, of that worship center, of the place where God would meet with the people. And it had three different sections to it. It had the outer court, and that had two pieces of furniture, and then you had the holy place, which had three pieces of furniture, and then you had the tapestry, the great veil that separated between the holy place and the most holy place, the holy of holies, in which there were two pieces of furniture. And yesterday we looked at the great ark and then the mercy seat, the lid that went on top of that. Now it's important and instructive to us that anything God does perfectly, he does in threes. That's right, that's the number of divine completion. God is revealed to us in the scriptures as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God made man in his image, and we are a tripartite being. That is, we have three parts. We have a body, we have a soul, and we have a spirit. And I know that Greek philosophy says that the body is not the most important thing. Well, God says that we are an entity when all three parts are together. This is why when the soul and spirit go to be with the Lord Jesus the moment that a believer dies, that body goes into the grave or goes to ashes or goes to the sea, wherever it is, and whatever the type of death, whatever the exit from this life, does not determine where you're going to spend eternity. But what does determine that is your relationship with the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. And the Bible says that when our soul and spirit, the part that we cannot see, goes to be with the Lord Jesus, that one day there will be a resurrection of the body. Now the resurrection only has to do with the body. There's no such thing as soul sleep or spirit sleep. We are immortal beings and we will either live throughout eternity or we'll die throughout eternity in a place of separation. And so if we live with the Lord, there's going to be a resurrection of the body. Why? Because this body was made just like our soul and spirit, eternal. And we will have a new body, a glorified body that will be like the glorified body of Jesus after his resurrection. Now I'm saying all of that to say how important it is that we understand that God does everything in threes when it relates to divine perfection. I could go on with more, but that's not the purpose of this particular podcast. I want you to understand that when you leave that most holy place, and by the way, again, I want to remind you what you already know, that when the Bible presents the tabernacle, it starts with God and it starts with the chest, it starts with the mercy seat and works toward man. That's the way it always is. When we study how to approach God, we don't start with the Holy of Holies because that's not where we get to immediately. No, we start with entering in at one gate. Straight is the gate, narrow is the way that leads to salvation. And as you open the curtain in the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, later the door at Shiloh, and then in the great temple of Solomon, when you walked in, the first thing you saw was a place of sacrifice and altar. Then you had the labor, the wash basin, and we'll go into those when we get to them. But today we're dealing with the Holy of Holies, which has three different pieces of furniture. When you walked out from behind the Holy of Holies curtain that separated that veil that separated between the holy place and the most holy place, you saw the altar of incense. It was a pure gold altar, and it was just absolutely breathtaking to see. And on that you had the incense burning, and it was on in the morning and the evening, and it was an element that represented the prayers of God's people. And this is throughout the scriptures. Incense is always a symbol of a sweet smelling aroma that goes up into the very nostrils of God, and those are the prayers of God's people. Over and over again you read in the Psalms that my prayer will go up before you, O Lord, as incense. David even said, I will offer my prayers to you. I will cry out aloud in the evening, in the morning, and at noon. It was a rhythmic, a ritual, a routine that led to constant remembrance that God is in heaven, that he is Lord, He is sovereign, and we are praying to Him because we need Him every moment of every day. And then as you walked out from behind the curtain and you walked toward the entrance to the tabernacle, you pass that golden altar of incense that would have been right in the center of the curtain that veil. But as you walk toward the entrance of the tabernacle and toward the entrance of the holy place, to the left would be a golden table that had twelve loaves of bread on it, and it was the bread of presence. It was a reminder to the people that came in, the priest that came in, and as a teaching tool to the people that God is the sustainer of life. He is the giver of life, he is the sustainer of life, he is the bread come down from heaven, and of course that is a reference to Jesus Himself. Jesus said in John chapter six, I am the bread come down from heaven. I am the fulfillment of the manna in the wilderness. And that's what John chapter six says. Now as you look to the right as you're going out of the tabernacle, remember we're coming from the presence of God because that's how God presents the furniture and the pieces that have such great symbolic meaning to the ancient people of God and to the church of Jesus in our present day. When you look to the right you would see a solid piece of gold that was beaten out into seven branches of a lampstand. And that golden menorah had its wicks trimmed every day, it had fresh oil put in every day, and it was a special kind of oil that had a particular mixture and took a particular amount of time for it to be made ready and holy for the worship, because it was an even burning thing. Now remember, when you walked in or walked out, as you were walking out, it'd be on the right side. As you're walking in as a priest, entering in it would be on the left. It would be that which gave light to everything. This was a solid gold room above and on each side polished gold, and so those wicks would have been burning and they would have been giving light, and as just coming into the tabernacle would have stirred that, and it would have had something of a flicker and a glow. Now the reason I'm telling you that is because in John chapter 8, have you noticed I've been going to John? Why? Because it is the book, the gospel that deals with the deity of Jesus, that he indeed is the Son of God. That's why the Gospel of John was written according to the last two chapters of John. And so as you looked at that, this was a teaching tool to help the people to remember that God is the source of light. And this is what John said in John chapter 8, when Jesus said, I am the light of the world. And the one that knows me, that walks in me, that walks in obedience with me, he will not walk in darkness, but will have light. God is not only love, God is light. And so all of these things symbolize various aspects of our walk with God, but also the person of the Lord Jesus Himself. The prayers were not only the prayers of the saints, but it shows the constant, forever intercession. We are able to be saved to the uttermost, according to the book of Hebrews, because Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. And over and over again we have Jesus praying for his disciples, praying for Peter. Peter, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat, but I've prayed for you, and you're going to make it. And when you turn back to me, I will be there for you. And so Jesus is constantly interceding for his disciples. In John chapter 17 is the great intercessory prayer, the night of his betrayal, as he made his way to Gethsemane. And he prayed not only for those disciples then, but for those that would come because of their witness, that's you and that's me that God says that the Lord Jesus prayed for on the eve of his crucifixion. And so as we look at this holy place, everything in it speaks of the Lord Jesus and of our relationship with him. And it helps us to have a picturesque view, a word picture, a symbol of the love that God has for us, the light that God is to us, and what he does for us and who he is, his person, and our walk with him. And so as we continue our trek through the Bible and seeing the story of the Crimson River, may God encourage your heart as you walk on the way. This is Tony Crisp.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Thanks for listening to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Tune in every weekday for information on biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Fridays are for your questions. Email your questions to questions at TonyCrisp.org, then just listen for your question to be answered on Friday's podcast. That's Questions at TonyC R I S P dot org. Thanks for listening and have a blessed day on the way.