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Posts Tagged ‘Tabernacle of Moses’

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Scripture reading: 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18

When the priest washes at the Laver in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle of Moses, in effect, he puts the death of the cross behind him as a work completed, and turns to the next step on his journey through the Tabernacle, which is Sanctification and Consecration. CONSECRATION is the putting aside of that which was cleansed for the work of the Lord only. The thought behind this act has its counterpart in the act of King Belteshazzar of Babylon, who took the consecrated vessels of the Lord and drank from them, whereupon God wrote with his own hand on the wall, and the king was slain that same night. The people who bear the name of the Lord must be clean and are not permitted worldliness. The word “church” means a called-out people. Called out of what? The world is the answer. Too many Christians are part of the SIN SYSTEM of the world. They were called out, but they did not come out.

Paul dealt with this subject conclusively in his letter to the Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

CONSECRATION IS THE MESSAGE THAT WILL TAKE US OUT OF BABYLON. The word Babylon, as used here, means the whole world of rebellion against God’s DIVINE ORDER. Man is resisting God spiritually, politically, and economically, and this is the main cause of our failure in all these areas.

The Spirit of God is now calling all men to separation unto Himself. This is the message of consecration.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 54-55)

Thought for today: Remember: CONSECRATION is the putting aside of that which was cleansed for the work of the Lord only.

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Scripture reading: Acts 20:28

When you look at the Tabernacle of Moses, you will notice that the church begins at the Brazen Altar. Outside the Outer Court, there is no church. Any institution or organization which does not begin with the blood of the cross is not a church at all. Thus the REFORMATION of the church in general actually began with Martin Luther, who broke with Rome and again preached JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH (Romans 5:1), to a world which only knew penance, purgatory and Pope. This was only the first of the seven steps to perfection, but even in our time, some churches stop right here, at Luther, and refuse to budge. The fact of the altar being made of brass, shows that it is justice and not perfection. It suggests, also, the absolute necessity for a Christian to begin at the gate of the Tabernacle, and at the Brazen Altar, with no exceptions. “The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. The body of sin must die, because it is an alien nature to God. If we are taking on the nature of God, then the alien nature must go. The blood shed on this altar depicts the life of God. This life was sufficient to re-energize our realm. Death had entered into our realm, and had slain all our forefathers, and would continue to impose upon us that which we hated. What we needed was energy to fight our enemy. God is light, and LIGHT IS ENERGY, thus God found a way to reveal HIS ENERGY in our realm in the form of the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST: a ready source from which we can recharge our tired batteries. This is fantastic, but beyond all shadow of a doubt, TRUE. The life of God which was sent here in the veins of a man named JESUS was a PRISONER within His veins and within His body, and unless He gave this up, you and I would have no hope of deliverance. When He did give it up, the whole UNIVERSE was quickened, and Satan was cast down from his throne as prince of the power of the air (no longer in a position above us). MAN WAS ONCE AGAIN PLACED ON the throne OF GLORY, which is the HEARTS of the Sons of God (Throne of David). We find thus, that in this age, men obey God or the devil by free will choice, for NOW THEY HAVE A BETTER WAY than obeying the devil. This is the reason David could be a man after God’s own heart, and yet capable of such heinous sins.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 45-46)

Thought for today: If we are taking on the nature of God, then the alien nature must go.

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Scripture reading: John 7:17

The plan of the church in the tabernacle is represented by seven pieces of furniture as follows:

  1. THE BRAZEN ALTAR – Representing the cross or death to sin.
    1. Justification – Made just as if you had never sinned.
    2. Salvation – Redemption – Bought and paid for.
  2. THE BRAZEN LAVER – Representing Death to Self typified in baptism – Entering into a Covenant relationship with God.
    1. Baptism – Entering into a Covenant of death, burial and Resurrection with Christ.
    2. Sanctification – Made clean and acceptable to God
    3. Consecration – Putting aside that which is cleansed for the purpose of God’s use alone.
  3. THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK or Lampstand – Representing the union in the spirit of man and God. It does not merely represent the baptism of the Holy Spirit, since one may be baptized in the Holy Ghost and not live in the Spirit, but it represents the bringing forth of the fruits of the Spirit. It represents man and God working together as one unit.
  4. THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD – Representing the feasting on the Body of Christ – God’s dining table – The King’s Table
    1. Feeding on Christ in the Body
    2. Feeding on Christ within one’s own spirit
    3. Feeding on Christ in Jesus, who is not only in us, but with us.
  5. THE GOLDEN ALTAR OF INCENSE – Representing the offering of the soul.
  6. THE MERCY SEAT – Representing the overshadowing of the Body of Christ.
  7. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT – Representing the manchild.

These seven pieces of furniture represent:

  1. The seven stages of progression in the history of the church which will eventually produce a perfect church, spoken of in Revelation 12:5 as the “MANCHILD.”
  2. The seven mysteries of the gospel which will be and are being revealed within man. As we walk in them, we receive the revelation of them. God is daring men and women to walk blindly by faith into the blazing light of the WORD. Jesus said in John 7:17, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”
  3. The opening of the seven mysteries is the opening of the Seven Seals, Revelation 5:2. As these mysteries of the gospel are opened, the world is being brought nearer to the final fulfillment of all things.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 41-43)

Thought for today: God is daring men and women to walk blindly by faith into the blazing light of the WORD.

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Scripture reading: Revelation 11:1-2

The outer court in this last-day church that we are looking at in Revelation 11:1-2 IS GONE. It is going to be gone. It will be “given unto the Gentiles” and they will “tread (it down) under foot forty and two months” – for three and a half years. There must be a reason, of course. The outer court is indefensible. God cannot defend the outer court. Why?

Let me explain to you what the outer court is. God told Moses to build a Tabernacle with a gate. This gate led into a big yard which was 100 cubits by 50 cubits. This yard had a fence around it and was called the outer court. In this place there was sometimes a lot of confusion with animals being killed and sacrificed, animals fighting for their lives, and men holding the animals, roping them onto the horns of the altar. Sometimes there was shouting and struggling in the outer court and a lot of blood. They would kill the animal and take out the guts and dung and wrap it into the skin of the animal and take that outside the camp to burn. It was not a nice smelling, beautiful place like a temple should be. The outer court was where all the preparation was made.

Let us now apply this to the gospel. The outer court church, therefore, is where the believer is being prepared to go into Christ. Some churches have camped in the outer court and have no intention of going any further because their doctrines say they have got it all. God is a God of progress. There was no way that God was going to give you everything at one time, and perfect you, in the outer court. When you accept Jesus Christ, you are fresh from sin, A FRESH SINNER. You come right into God and God washes you with the Blood of Jesus, but when He washes you with His Blood, He also has to LEAVE A SPACE for you to apply what He has given you, and for you to MAINTAIN the Christian, godly cleanliness which He gave.

Many brethren, after they accept Jesus as their Saviour, relax and do any old thing and feel that Jesus Christ will take care of it. One sister told me that she would divorce her husband and then go to God and pray about it. You cannot deliberately sin and go and pray about it. That is called presumptuous sin, and there is very little leeway for you to repent. You have to go down in sackcloth and ashes and repent of that sort of behavior before you can go any further in God.

The majority of the church is in the outer court. When we talk about church, when we talk about Christianity, the majority of Christians are in the outer court. There are two works of grace in the outer court. First, accepting Jesus’ Blood that was shed and giving our hearts to God. The second work of grace is beginning to clean up that which we have had from the world, which God came in to clean. He calls it baptism. At baptism, we have to die a death. Only salvation (accepting Jesus) is a free gift. You were as dirty, as wretched, as awful as a human being could be, in sin, and Jesus came and He applied the Blood and INSTANTANEOUSLY your sins were forgiven, but your NATURE was not completely changed. It has been arrested. The Blood of Jesus Christ is a tool given to you to clean up your mind, your emotions, your will, and your desires.

Some Christians let their emotions loose in a freedom that is not Christian. Even married people sometimes do not understand that they cannot behave any old way with their partners. They need to restrain and control and train their emotions and their desires and their will. The mind is not the mind of Christ. It is still the human mind. You have the tool to work it out and make it the mind of Christ. Consecration and sanctification are part of this cleaning.

The believer in the outer court is expected of God to prepare himself or herself for going into the holy place – to prepare himself or herself for going through the door, going into Christ, becoming a part of Christ’s body and a part of Christ’s function in the earth. Then you are really set to go places with God. However, if you have a doctrine that you must not receive the fullness of baptism (some say water baptism is not necessary), then you cut yourself off. Not being obedient to righteousness gives you nothing. You say that there is no baptism, and therefore you cuss, drink, commit any sin, and feel that you are all right because you have no covenant with God. Baptism is a covenant that the believer makes with God and it is permanent.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 2, pg. 2-5)

Thought for today: Let us prepare ourselves in sanctification and consecration in order for us to go into Christ.

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Scripture reading: Revelation 6:12-17

The sixth mystery or seal is the overshadowing when God covers His people as never before. They will be totally covered so that nothing will harm them or even touch them.

We must understand when we read in Revelation 6:17, “For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” that this “wrath” must take place between the end of the tribulation and the millennial beginning. With the opening of the sixth seal and the wars and the destruction in the earth, man will need a hiding place. This is where the OVERSHADOWING comes in. The sixth seal is the place of the overshadowing. The SIXTH mystery is the overshadowing. God will overshadow His people during this terrible time on the earth.

In the TABERNACLE, the symbolism which depicts the overshadowing are the two cherubims standing on each end of the mercy seat with their wings touching each other and their faces toward each other. Whenever the priest pleased God in his offering, there appeared the Shekinah glory between the cherubims. This appearance showed the glory of God when God was pleased with Israel. If we consider the vastness of the overshadowing, we will understand that this period of time must be the time when the wars and the destruction are coming on the earth. As we have explained, from the beginning of the opening of the sixth seal, there is going to be great destruction and great war and earthquakes and upheavals.

The cherubims on the Mercy Seat, which depict the overshadowing, are made of pure gold, beaten. Gold signifies total Divine Nature. No humanity is in this overshadowing. No other piece of furniture in the Tabernacle was made only out of pure gold. The table of shewbread was wood, covered with gold. Wood typifies humanity and gold typifies divinity. The candlestick, made of pure gold, had a wick (humanity) in order to function. The altar of incense, which was wood, was covered over with gold. The covering over of these things with gold means that the NATURE OF GOD IS SHOWN. The wood, which is humanity, is hidden.

The lid of the ark is called the Mercy Seat and on this Mercy Seat there are the two cherubims made of pure gold. No humanity is in them. Humanity cannot cover humanity. Man cannot deliver man.

Jeremiah 17:5, “…Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm…”

Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” “The secret place” of the Almighty is the mercy seat.

Psalm 91:2-4, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

The cherubims with apparent feathered wings – this is what is meant by God’s “feathers.” “Feathers” is only symbolic language which speaks of the power to fly. He will cover us with the very means which are used to fly – the power to rise from the earth. “Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”

Verses 5-6, “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”

Isaiah 26:20-21, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pages 133-135)

Thought for today: Let us find our overshadowing under the shadow of His wings, both today as well as when midnight approaches and the Bridegroom shall appear.

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