Tag: tabernacle

Categories
Acts Devotionals

Being God’s intersection point

Intersection point

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” (Acts 3:6)

Last Sunday, my pastor was talking about how Eden was God’s first intersection point between heaven and earth: a place where Adam and Eve could encounter God.

Then the tabernacle and the temple became God’s intersection point where his people could encounter him.

Then Jesus came, and he became the intersection point between God and and humanity. When people met Jesus, they literally encountered God face to face.

But now the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and we are God’s intersection point.

At least we should be.

Peter and John were for that lame man. Through them, that man encountered God and so did thousands more after hearing Peter speak.

In the same way, I want to be God’s intersection point for those around me. I want to be like Peter and John, noticing the people God brings to me and touching them with God’s love.

It may be praying for their healing.

Or giving them a word of encouragement.

Or sharing my faith in Jesus.

But that’s my prayer: “Father, make me your intersection point so that others may encounter you in me.”

Categories
Exodus Devotions

The God who pitched his tent among us

Shepherds see God's glory

The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34-35)

This being Christmas season, I couldn’t help but think of the story of the shepherds in Luke 2.

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock.

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Luke 2:8-9)

The same glory that filled the tabernacle now shone around the shepherds.

No wonder the shepherds were terrified.

Even Moses wouldn’t enter the place where God’s glory shone.

And yet the angel said to the shepherds,

Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

Through Jesus, the shepherds gained access to God that even Moses didn’t have. And so have we.

John tells us,

The Word (i.e. God) became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)

The word “dwelt” has the idea of “pitching one’s tent.”

In Jesus becoming human, God “pitched his tent” among us, just as God did for the Israelites.

Because he did, John tells us that,

We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14b)

And just as God was Immanuel to the Israelites, “throughout all the stages of their journey,” Jesus is Immanuel to us throughout all the stages of our journey through life, promising,

I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

Categories
Exodus Devotions

Our mercy seat

Very detailed instructions for the tabernacle, aren’t they?

Why all the detail? What does it matter? The writer of Hebrews tells us.

These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle.

For God said, “Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.” (Hebrews 8:5)

What did the author of Hebrews mean by “these serve as a copy and shadow of heavenly things?”

There are several examples we can take from Exodus 25, but the one that struck me most today was verse 22.

I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites. (Exodus 25:22)

Inside the ark were the ten commandments God had given the people. (16)

The ten commandments were a reminder of God’s holiness. They were a reminder that we are to be holy as God is holy. And they were a reminder of how far short we fall of that holiness.

It’s a good thing we don’t meet God on the basis of our keeping of the ten commandments.

Rather we meet him above the mercy seat.

In the Old Testament, once a year, a sacrifice of atonement was made and the blood from that sacrifice was sprinkled on that mercy seat, providing forgiveness for the people. (Leviticus 16)

But now Paul says this,

God presented (Jesus) as the mercy seat, by his blood…(Romans 3:25)

Jesus is our mercy seat.

Through his blood, our sins are forgiven. And by his blood we can now draw near to God.

So as you read this passage, remember Paul’s words…and rejoice!

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

God presented him as the mercy seat, by his blood…(Romans 3:23-25)

Categories
Hebrews

Shadows and copies (part 2)

Hebrews

Yesterday we read in chapter 8 that the tabernacle was a shadow and copy of the true tabernacle.

Here in chapter 9, we see in what way it was a mere shadow and copy of the real thing.

The ark of the covenant was a symbol of the presence of God. He was said to be enthroned on the cherubim that sat on the cover of the ark.

The ark itself was placed in the Most Holy Place, and therefore the Most Holy Place was considered to be the place where God dwelt in the tabernacle.

Because of this not just anyone could enter the holy places. Only the priests could enter the Holy Place, the section just outside the Most Holy Place.

And only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement in which sacrifices were offered for the sins of the people.

And the writer of Hebrews tells us,

The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. (Hebrews 9:8)

In other words, the first tabernacle was in a sense a barrier to a relationship with God. People were actually physically blocked off from his presence by the curtain that hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.

For that matter, most people couldn’t even get as far as the Holy Place.

The same was true of Solomon’s temple, Ezra’s temple, and Herod’s temple which replaced the tabernacle. The physical barrier was a picture of the spiritual barrier that hung between us and God in heaven. Our sins separated us from him.

But as we will see in the next part, Jesus tore that barrier down.

All I’ll point out at this point are two things the writer of Hebrews brings up. That in order to enter the Most Holy Place, the priests had to pass two things: a lampstand whose light never went out, and the bread consecrated to God.

Is it any coincidence that Jesus called himself the light of the world and the bread of life? In order to go into the presence of God, you must go through Jesus.

And just as the high priest needed to bring blood when entering the Most Holy Place as an atonement for the Israelite’s sins, so Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in heaven with his own blood to atone for our sins.

Now because of what Jesus has done, we have free access to the Father.

It’s hard to fathom as a Christian not having that access. But for many years, people simply didn’t have it.

So as Paul wrote, and as I recall as Christmas season draws to a close:

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Categories
Exodus

A sanctuary and a tabernacle

We come to another section that can be a bit dry taken at face value.

But one thing that should be remembered is that a lot of the things that are described here are symbols of heavenly things.

God alludes to this a couple of times in verses 9 and 40. There was a specific pattern that Moses was to follow in building the earthly tabernacle.

The writer of Hebrews also points out that the tabernacle that God described here was a copy of the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is in heaven. (Hebrews 9:11)

But I also believe that these are pictures of our own Christian lives.

God uses two special words here. One is “sanctuary” and the other is “tabernacle.”

“Sanctuary” means “a place set apart.”

“Tabernacle” comes from a word that means “to dwell.”

And that’s what we are.

As Christians, we are dwelling places of God.

In Ephesians 3:17, it says that Jesus dwells in our hearts through faith.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19, it says we are a temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

And in John 14:23, it says that the Father comes to dwell in us as well.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all come to dwell within us. We are his living tabernacle.

We don’t need to go to some special place to encounter God; he dwells right within us, and he’s with us wherever we go.

But as his tabernacle, we are also a “place set apart” for God, his sanctuary.

When I come home after a long day of work, it’s my sanctuary. It’s a place set apart for my family and me, where we can relax and enjoy each other’s company.

It’s also a tool that can be used to touch people’s lives, as we invite people over and spend time with them.

Our lives should be the same way as God’s sanctuary. We should be a place where God feels comfortable, where he can relax and enjoy our company.

And we should also be a tool that he can use to touch other people with his love.

These are some of the things that God was trying to get across to the people of Israel. And it’s something he wants us to understand as well.

How about you?

You are God’s dwelling place if you’re a Christian. But are you also his sanctuary?

Is your life set apart for him both to have fellowship with him and to be a tool to touch the lives around you?

Lord, I thank you that you have made me your tabernacle, your dwelling place.

Lord, let me also be your sanctuary. That when you see my heart, you say, “Now this is a place where I feel comfortable, where I feel welcome. And this is a place I can use to touch the lives of others.”

I desire to be such a place.

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary,
Pure and holy, tried and true.
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary
For you.