Vian Baptist Church
Hebrews 8:5 “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” The “shadow of heavenly things” is the continuation of the tabernacle and its furniture, all of which represents God and our place before Him. Last week, we entered the area through the only gate. We encountered the Altar of Sacrifice first. Second we encounter the brazen laver with its two places to wash. In our lives in this day and age, this is exactly what needs to be done and in the proper order. First, we must come to Jesus for entrance ( the gate). Second, we must face our sin and repent of them (the altar of brass). Third, as we continue our walk, we must daily cleanse our work and our walk (the washing of our hands and our feet at the bronze laver) before we can enter the Holy Place.
Today we will enter the Holy Place. The Tabernacle itself is a picture of Gods desire to live among men. A fellow pastor told me that Gods just wants a family to care for, which is true. We are looking at a physical tabernacle, yet it represents the spiritual relationship of man to God.
Inside the tabernacle the first thing that draws our attention is the golden candlestick for without it there would only be darkness inside. The light allows us to see the other two pieces of furniture in the Holy Place. We have an altar of incense and a table of shew bread.
The light in the tabernacle was tended every day. Fresh oil was added and the wicks were trimmed so the light would always be on and steady. This pictures our spiritual life as well. Our prayer of cleansing (the laver) brings us to another truth. As we enter into the Holy place, we must place Jesus in His proper place each day. It was a daily, necessary task.
John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
We need spiritual light in this wicked world in which we live. We need light to share with our human brothers and sisters. Many of them walk in darkness and do not know the truth. Many do not even care about eternity. As we renew our relationship on a daily basis we find another scripture to guide us.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
The Altar of incense was another daily task. The smoke from the altar was a reminder that God listens and hears our prayers. They are a sweet savor to Him. The incense was a special blend of herbs and spices. We will not break down what each was and what they represented today. That is an entire study for another day, but understand this, please. Your prayers are first for cleansing our works and walk. Next they are to renew your light and thirdly they are to establish a relationship with God the Father.
Next is the Table of Shew Bread. Jesus said in John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
New bread had to be baked and the bread inside the tabernacle was changed once a week. Isn’t that interesting that it corresponds to going to church once a week? This represents another great truth. We cannot live on old bread. We must continually renew our spiritual bread week by week. The first bread represents the knowledge of Salvation, but to grow we need a new supply of knowledge (bread) on a weekly basis.
Jesus tells us that He is the Bread of Life. We need fresh bread, new knowledge of Christ to continue to grow. Peter tell us in 1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” The Writer of Hebrews tell us about growth. Hebrews 5:13-14 “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
This is how we grow. We learn what is good and what is evil from study (senses exercised) so that we can know what pleases God and what displeases Him. Is that important to mankind? Absolutely! When we please God, He blesses us! When we displease God, He withholds those blessing from us! Are all these blessings physical? No, but we need the spiritual blessings the most. Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” We need the spiritual blessing more than we need the physical bllessings. The Spiritual blessings prepare of for our “forever” home while the physical blessings just sustain life here on earth. It does not seem like it to many people, but this life is very short compared to eternity. This small amount of time is to prepare us for an eternity with God.
We will need another week to complete this study. Sorry, but the truths we are learning are too needful to hurry through. This week we have learned about the Light of Life, the Sweet smellign savor of our prayers and the renewing of our knowledge once a week for our growth. Next week will be about the Holy of Holies.
