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BACKGROUND
TABERNACLE - Eaton
TABERNACLE - Davis
ALTAR
ALTAR
LAVER (WASHING BASIN)
(TABLE OF) SHEWBREAD
(TABLE OF) SHOWBREAD
CANDLESTICK (LAMPSTAND)
LAMPS, LAMPSTAND:
THE ALTAR OF INCENSE
INCENSE
ARK
ARK OF THE COVENANT
The
full background to this teaching is available online at this link
Full Background Information on Moses Tabernacle here
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Online links to scriptures (New International Version [NIV] unless otherwise stated) are shown in blue
| APPLICATION TO TODAY’S CHURCH |
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 Teachings at the beginning of this series showed us how the Tabernacle applied to the individual, as we took a walk through it. But the pattern of the Tabernacle applies equally well to the development of the church and its ministries. Let’s have a look. For our purposes here, we will take a more conventional approach to the Tabernacle, concentrating on the furniture it contains, comparing the furniture to the truths revealed through the various churches.
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 Sadly, truth has to be revealed through many different churches because of us! Our human nature grasps hold of a revelatory truth, gets comfortable in it, thinks it is the ultimate, and refuses to move on the next truth God desires to reveal. Hence the truism that the people at the forefront of the last revival are so often the biggest opponents of the next. This has also caused the growth in denominations, for each denomination tends to stop at the new truth revealed to it, forcing God to seek another group for His next revelation. He must really love us, to put up with us!
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 As the decline of the church took place progressively over a period of centuries, so the restoration of the church too, is a process rather than an event. As moving further into the Tabernacle brings a greater and greater revelation and insight into the glory of our God, so being open to the God’s progressive revelations as a church bring us closer to Him. It is so sad to see how comfort and pride work in tandem to limit our walk, causing divisions and denominations to multiply. However, let’s see the outworking of this, by comparing the Church’s restoration to the progression of furniture in the Tabernacle.
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| <i>THE TRADITIONAL CHURCH – Centred on the Brazen Alter.</i> |
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 The truth revealed to Martin Luther started the Reformation. The restoration of the church was based on the principle that God could not be “bought†through works, which generally meant paying money to the church! His revelation of “the just shall live by faith†(in Jesus) was centred on the hugely different principle of access to God being available through the final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for all sin. Not through the dictates of a man centred church.
John 14:6
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 Yes, Jesus gloriously was the sacrificial lamb slaughtered on the ‘altar’ of Calvary. And shown in type 2,000 years earlier, when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac on the altar at Mount Moriah, the site of Solomon’s Temple and very close to Calvary itself. Of course a ram was provided as a substitute at the last minute. Again a coincidence? No way!
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 So the traditional church was given this truth. But they stopped there, retaining many of the practices of the man centred church out of which they had come, such as hierarchy, ceremonials, infant baptism, etc. As do many churches, to this very day. The key truth that distinguishes the true church from the false church however - that the only way to God is through Jesus - was recognised, so the restoration of the church could proceed. The Brazen Altar was just inside the entrance to the Tabernacle. The only way to God is via the Altar, the blood sacrifice. The pattern was established. So the Reformation, the restoration of the church, could now commence.
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| THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH – Added the Washing Basin |
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 The main additional revelation that sets the Evangelical Church apart from the Traditional Church is the truth of “believers baptismâ€. Through believers baptism the new Christian is symbolically cleansed and separated from the world, being set apart to God. This was the function of the Washing Basin in the Tabernacle, the place where the priest washed his hands and feet, before making a sacrifice or entering the Holy Place.
Psalm 24:3-4
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 The Washing Basin was made out of mirrors, reflecting the mirror of the Word of God.
James 1:22-25
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 Hence there is a greater emphasis on the Word, the bible, and on living a good clean life in Evangelical Churches than in the Traditional Church, where the Sacraments, creeds, etc. form the focal point. This has been illustrated several times in a very practical way to me. For when a Traditional Church starts to become more evangelical, the first major problem that normally arises between reformers and traditionalists is over believers’ baptism. It can and does split churches.
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| <i>NEXT WEEK</i> |
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 Next we will take a look at the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and see how they too, fit into the pattern of the Tabernacle.
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 I do hope you are finding this series of studies illuminating. Understanding these patterns has certainly helped me tremendously as I move amongst churches of various persuasions.
And it has helped show me what God is seeking today in His end time church. The church yet to come!
Sea of Galilee - Tiberias Area
Easily visible from Jesus' hometown of Capernaum, Tiberias, the regional capital built by Herod Antipas, stood on the western side of the sea. The city was shunned by religious Jews because it was supposedly built over a cemetery, making it ritually impure. We have no record that Jesus ever visited there.
Tiberias was named after the emperor Tiberius and was built on a hill overlooking the sea. The hot mineral springs in the area were used as a health spa by Herod and the people of the city. Little is known of its inhabitants, assumed to be the Herodions who opposed Jesus' ministry (Matt. 22:15—22; Mark 3:6; 12:13—17). Apparently, they were an aristocratic group who supported the Herod dynasty and the Romans who kept it in power.
The Herodions were used by Rome to keep the peace. They plotted Jesus' execution, probably because the many messianic movements of the time threatened their power. It is ironic that Jesus' ministry took place so close to those who bitterly opposed him.
Source: http://www.followtherabbi.com
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So until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD!
His servant and yours
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A DAVID'S DOODLING
27. Our most dearly held beliefs often inhibit God’s further revelation to us.
David Tait
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