In this lesson, we conduct part one of our investigation into the elements of Israel’s tabernacle. Specifically, we look at the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, and the altar of incense. We answer the following questions: How did God want these elements to be made? What do these elements say about God? And how do these objects connect to Jesus Christ?
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okay well today we’re talking about the tabernacle the dwelling place of God as God traveled with the Israelites in the wilderness and into the Promised Land later Mon tabernacle be replaced by the temple but in Israel’s early years God dwelt in the tabernacle what kind of tabernacle did God want Israel to construct for him what does God’s design for Tabernacle worship show us about God and how does how does all this connect with God’s Son Jesus Christ Jesus says the Old Testament written about him the various rituals and signs of the Old Testament covenant we’re pointing to him and we’re going to see how that happens with the tabernacle you’ll want to use the hand out the chart as you follow along with today’s lesson we’re going to look at the different elements of the tabernacle taking a note of God’s description of each part then inferring the practical purpose of each element there’s like a basic practical purpose and then we’ll take time to think about and discuss what God was communicating about himself through that element of the tabernacle and what it also says about Christ I’m only going to look at four parts of the tabernacle today though as a lot we could say about each part we rolling a look at that the four objects on the inside of the tabernacle building and there they’re listed on your sheets I’ll talk about those other elements in a later class let’s pray before we go on father you are holy and we’re going to see that in a multitude of ways today you are exalted even the creatures that are around your throne are just so filled with splendor and yet all they can talk about is your glory God helps to see how glorious you are and also to see your sweet mercy that was already on display in the tabernacle help me to be able to explain it Lord and move us in spirit to believe you and to trust you because of how you reveal your character to us and Jesus name Amen open your Bibles please to Exodus chapter 25 this is where we start to get our description of the tabernacle after declaring God’s Ten Commandments to the people of Israel Israel’s leaders later shared a fellowship meal with God on Mount Sinai and after that God called Moses up to the mountain for 40 days 40 days 40 nights most didn’t eat anything he was just listening to God and this is when God declares his design to Moses for the tabernacle what happened at the end of those 40 days mention in last class golden calf rebellion but before that we’re getting the destructions of the tabernacle so let’s go back in here what God commanded starting in chapter 25 I’ll just summarize the first nine verses God tells Moses you’re going to ask the people or you’re going to tell the people that you’re collecting a voluntary donation tell them that there are certain things needed for the construction of the tabernacle and its elements and ask them anyone whose heart is moved to give to give then we hear about the first element of the tabernacle God describes in verse 10 and it’s going to be the Ark of the Covenant so let’s follow along look at verses 10 to 22 verse 10 they shall construct an arc of acacia wood two-and-a-half cubits long and one-and-a-half cubits wide and one-and-a-half cubits high shall overlay it with pure gold inside and out you shall overlay it and you shall make gold molding around it she’ll cast for gold rings for it then fasten them on its four feet and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it which I make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold you should put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the Ark with them the pole shall remain in the rings of the ark they shall not be removed from it you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold two-and-a-half cubits long and one-and-a-half cubits wide you shall make two chair of gold make them of hammered work at the two ends in the mercy-seat make one chair about one end and one chair about the other end you shall make the chair of em of one piece with the mercy seat at its to weds the cherubims shall have their wings spread upward covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the arc and in New York you shall put the testimony which I will give to you there I will meet with you and from above the mercy seat from between the two cherubim which are upon the arc of the testimony I will speak to you about all that i will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel ok that’s God’s description and command for the ark as we do with all our texts one analysis let’s start with some basic observations you’ll want to note some of these things down in the description the word Ark hear the word for arc here is our own meaning box chest or coffin so this first part of the tabernacle the first thing God mentions is going to be a box but a very special box the boxes dimensions are two-and-a-half cubits long one-half cubits wide a one-and-a-half cubits tall common cubit is about how many inches not 18 inches we know that that measurement can vary depending on the region in the time period but about 18 inches about one and a half feet so we translate these cubit measurements in defeat it would be about three and three-quarters feet long two and a quarter foot wide and two and a quarter foot tall have a picture of the ark one artistic rendering of what the ark may have looked like it’s actually very difficult to find a picture of the ark that’s even sort of accurate because of the Indiana Jones movie the raiders of the lost ark that’s all you fine whenever you go for google images so if the ark may have looked a little bit different from that but I think that was the closest one to what the description we have here so I’m going to show you a number of pictures today trying to capture the elements of the tabernacle just know that there could look a little different from what i’m showing you but it gives you an idea I have this golden box um this box is made out of what acacia wood and then overlaid with gold but it’s made out of acacia wood and actually all the wooden elements all the wooden elements of the tabernacle are made out of acacia wood now acacia wood it probably came from the black acacia tree which was common throughout Arabia i think is still common in arabia today these trees can be quite large but they’re also known for their thorns you see a picture of those in the bottom left very tall thorns on their branches gigantic perhaps the same kinds of thorns that were used to fashion the crown of thorns that Christ’s work these are these are very large thorns interesting choice from the Lord but acacia wood aside from its thorny nature was good for use in construction because it was sturdy it was beautiful and it was fragrant so it was a good wood for using earth to build with the box is made out of acacia wood and then overlaid inside and out with pure gold Ark features gold molding for gold rings for which to acacia wood poles covered in gold would slide into those rings and they were never to be removed what does God say to place inside the Ark is testimony I think I heard you say that work and this is the testimony that God will give the tablets God’s law it says put them in New York and that’s why the ark is called what it is the Ark of the Covenant the Ark of the testimony it’s where God’s law is contained later on to other elements would be put into the ark a jar filled with manna and then errands staff that blossomed miraculously they also would go inside the arc so I’ve got God’s law in the box but notice the top of the box features a special lid called a mercy seat mercy seat mercy seat is actually all one word in Hebrew a word for mercy also refers to or can be translated covering or pardon and this seat is also made out of pure gold the seat features two figures chairman these creatures are to be depicted with their wings covering the mercy sheet now what exactly are cherubim or what’s a chair up you may have heard that term sometimes but we sometimes say like a really cute kid is cherub like oh you know my teacher I remember one of my teachers in high school whenever she was kind of like mock affectionately referring to what she’d say my little cherubs but that’s not what we’re talking about I’ll talking about to your kids I’ll talking about fat angel babies that’s another another way that people referred cherubs you know like those pictures the paintings that have it was like this little Cupid cupid type angels chubby babies not talking about those either what are the real cherubim now the etymology of the hebrew word is uncertain so we can’t break apart the name to tell you what is this what is it talking about we know for the passage here that the chair have been have wings but what else can we say about them and I mentioned throughout the bar they are mentioned a number of times the Old Testament is actually a cherub guarding the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve are thrown out and it’s the one with the Flaming Sword but probably the most complete description we have of cherubim comes from The Book of Ezekiel the Ezekiel chapter 10 Ezekiel describes four cherubim in a vision that he has of the Lord in heaven you don’t have to turn his zekiel 10 but listen to some of the descriptions listen to some of the descriptions of the Chairman Ezekiel 10 1 then I looked and behold in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone and appearance resembling a throne appeared above them Ezekiel 10 5 moreover the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks Ezekiel 1012 their whole body their backs their hands their wings and the wheels they have these wheels associated with them were full of eyes all around the wheels belonging to all four of them is equal 10 14 and each one referring to the Chairman had four phases the first face was the face of a cherub the second face was the face of a man but third the face of a lion and the fourth the face of an eagle then Ezekiel 10 22 21 these are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar so I knew that they were cherubim each one had four faces and each one for wings and beneath their wings was the form of human hands very interesting description this descriptions actually might remind you of something else from the book of Revelation the four living creatures before living creatures that surround God’s throne though those who described having six wings instead of four so maybe they could be different people have understood these descriptions from Ezekiel in slightly different ways but to me it sounds like we have creatures with four wings four different phases each one having four phases human hands and eyes everywhere others have understood the chairman to be a combination of the characteristics of their faces of the different animals that is the wings of an eagle the body of a line the face of a man for instance so others see these creatures are having only one face and the one that says for it’s just referring to the four different creatures one has the face of a lion one has the face of a man etc so there’s some debate on the actual description of these creatures their physiology but regardless I think it’s pretty clear that these are otherworldly powerful majestic beings who do nothing but serve God and give Him glory they are around or under God’s throne usually described as being under God’s throne and therefore many times in the Bible God is described as being enthroned above the cherubim so God is going to capture a small picture of that on the top of the arc two cherubim and gods going to be above them now Israel must have known what chairman look like or they they were shown which everybody looked like because they had to had to depicted on the ark and not just on the ark we’re going to see later on that parts of the tabernacle have depictions of the cherubim too they’re told to fashion two of them out of gold on the ark now these chairman figures they’re looking in a certain direction where are they looking they’re looking towards one another and towards the mercy seat now God also says that it’s from the mercy seat or from above the mercy seat God will meet with Israel and their God will speak and give his commands it’s not mention here but we’re in the tabernacle would the Ark of the Covenant go in the Holy of Holies so the in the inside of the tabernacle has two rooms the holy place and the Holy of Holies behind a curtain a veil Ark of the Covenant is to go in the Holy of Holies right so we know a little bit about this Ark let’s ask some interpretive questions first how should we describe the basic practical purpose of the ark what’s it for well it’s going to hold the testimony yeah that’s that’s part of it and it’s going to provide a meeting place with God God’s chosen that the Ark of the Covenant is going to be where he meets with Israel it provides it does provide a place for the testimony but also gives a place for God to meet with Israel hello here’s some pictures of cherubim interpretations of chairman this is like a kind of more medieval iconographic picture here’s like a modern artistic representation and there’s another kind of modern interpretation of the faces but what we’re just looking at the practical purpose of the ark it gives a place for God to meet with his people but thinking now about how God wanted the ark to be constructed what does the ark say or show us about God what’s one thing yeah Steve yeah I mean this is a this is a small version of Emmanuel Wright God with us God is present God is dwelling with his people what else yeah yeah yeah the construction of the ark and its placement in the tabernacle also emphasizes God’s holiness even though God dwells with his people he has not gotten rid of that idea of separation he God is set apart even the Ark of the Covenant is set apart and within God’s Ark is his law God’s meeting place his dwelling place is not separate from his law his perfect standard so the Ark shows us reminds us that God is holy also the construction the ark is beautiful with the gold and with the cherubim so reminds us that God is majestic but then the ark has that special lid that mercy seat it reminds us that God is merciful God does not choose to meet with Israel on a seat of judgment or on a holy seat I mean it is wholly that’s not what he calls it he calls it a mercy seat a covering seat a pardon seat it’s only on the basis of Mercy that man is able to approach God we see these things rip emphasize with the way the ark is constructed and its placement in the tabernacle now how does this connect with Christ how did these concepts God’s presence got Majesty as holiness or as mercy how did they connect with Jesus yeah Roy you yeah so we’ll talk just repeat your comment you mentioned the lamp stand in the bread they’re going to point to cry so talk about that a little bit later on but here the mercy seat and how that actually that stands above the law and it’s the and we didn’t really talk about this in the description of the arc but blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat and that’s part of them what allows God to continually dwell with man that was a merciful provision but we see that in a much fuller way in Christ’s own life in Christ and sacrifice really God’s presence and God’s mercy are shown in a much greater way with Christ than even with the ark if the Ark is God with us in a small sense Jesus is God whether it’s in a much greater sense because he actually became a man it took on flesh he dwelt among us we call him Emmanuel present with us in a very intimate way and then opening the way to God’s intimate presence better than a once in a year passing through the veil into the holy of holies that the high priest would do you remember that with Christ’s death the veil was torn in two and the way to the ark was opened God’s instrument presence would not only in Christ’s incarnation did he demonstrated a very intimate form of his presence God’s presence but that through his death he made us that we could go right into the holy of holies we could be with a holy God he’s secured for us uninhibited access into God’s most intimate presence and he sent the spirit jesus said it’s good for me to go away because when i do i’ll send the comforter i’ll send the helper God actually dwells with us in us His Holy Spirit Christ sent his spirit so the presence of God is so much greater for us through Christ and in Christ then even in the tabernacle and how did that happen through the merciful work of Jesus unfathomable worst mercy God’s righteous son a member of the Trinity suffering shedding his blood for sinners a much greater display of mercy than even the mercy seat sprinkle with blood in the tabernacle we are probably say more but there’s at least a sampling how Jesus in a greater way represents the Ark of the Covenant and of course Jesus kept the whole law right he didn’t say mercy instead of law it was perfect filament of the law but that that mercy because of his perfect fulfillment the mercy coming to all of us who believe in Jesus so we’ve looked at the arc let’s look at the next element of the tabernacle the table of the showbread this one little note there God is Christ as a greater representation of God’s mercy and presence now we’re looking at the table the showbread so look back at Exodus chapter 25 I nope now verses 23 to 30 the table is what comes next follow along with me you shall make a table of acacia wood two cubits long a one cubit wide and one-and-a-half cubits high should overlay it with pure gold and make gold border around it it shall make for it a rim of a hand breath around it and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it it should make for gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet the ring shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table you should make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold so that with them the table may be carried you shall make its dishes and it spans and stars and it’s bowls with which to pour drink offerings it shall make them of pure gold it shall set the bread of the presence on the table before me at all times hey stop there alright let’s make some observations on this part of the tabernacle table again going to be made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold pure gold the dimensions two cubits by one cubit by one-and-a-half cubits or about three feet by one-half feet by two and a quarter feet this table has a gold border gold rim and four gold rings on its corners for the Acacia poles overlay with old to be inserted and so that the table can be carried with the table are some golden dishes and jars and bowls to be used as part of putting things on the table and for drink offerings but what stands out in this description here is the bread of the presence the bread of the presence is to go on this table when at all times continually there’s never supposed to be a time when there’s no bread of the presence on this table the King James translates the bread of the presence as show bread or shewbread the word used for for bread the word use along with bread here translated presence or show literally literally means face but it’s one of those words that can be translate a lot different ways because it can be figurative and it can mean things like presence or countenance or showing that which looks etc but it has the idea of face this is like the bread of the face the bread of the presence but whose presence face or showing is connected with this bread I would argue it’s not the worst bursts not the priest it’s not man but it’s God this is the bread of God’s presence the bread of God’s face we get a little bit more information about the bread of the presence in Leviticus Leviticus chapter 24 verses 5 to 9 you can turn there if you like otherwise you can just listen Leviticus chapter 24 verses 5 to 9 says this then you shall take fine flour and make 12 cakes with it two tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake you shall set them in two rows six to a row on the pure gold table before the Lord you should put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread even an offering by fire to the Lord every Sabbath day he that’s the priest I’ll shed it and set it in order before the lord continue continually it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel it shall be for Aaron and his sons and they shall eat it in a holy place for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire his portion forever alright let’s make a notice a few more things based on that that passage it mentions that there are 12 cakes 12 bread cakes why 12 12 tribes of course one for each drive and these bread cakes are to be continuously on the golden table but when are they replaced every Sabbath and what’s done with the old bread it’s for Aaron and his sons to eat so it’s not just we toss out the bread no they actually eat it it’s their portion it’s part of their portion along with the number of the other sacrifices it’s how how will they get food it’s part of how they get food so the bread is part of the priests portion alright let’s come back to our chart here with those other categories and let’s interpret what’s the practical purpose of this table it’s the hold of bread hold the bread some other as some other implements for holding the holy holy holy bread but what’s the practical purpose of the bread yes it is offered to God ultimately it’s for him it’s for the priests practically this bread holds or this table holds the bread which is the priests food now what does it show us about God though what does the table show us about God an ignorant observer might think that this bread was being offered to God to eat much like food was offered to the various pagan gods in ancient times they offer the food of the gods that God’s eat it and then or they get their sustenance from it and then the the priests of the gods would eat it but God is in no need of food so this bread is not a statement of God’s need for man’s bread but rather I would say it’s the opposite it’s not that God needs man’s bread but that man needs God his bread and as his bread because this is the bread of God’s presence God’s presence I were to say the God’s presence is the priests bread and all Israel’s bread God Himself says later on in the Pentateuch Deuteronomy 83 or rather Moses speaking by the Holy Spirit he humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your father’s know that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord this bread offering it is a kind of an offering but this bread offering was an expression of worship from Israel that said the following we not only trust you God to provide us with our necessary bread but we acknowledge that you and your presence are more necessary for each of the twelve tribes than bread itself this is the continual reminder that God would provide their bread and that God was their bread so by commanding this table and it’s necessary bread God again showed himself to be majestic this is a gold beautiful table but he reminded them reminded Israel in the priests that God is the provider God is Israel’s life and God is Israel’s satisfaction he is your bread his presence is your bread now how does this connect with Jesus pretty obvious right because Jesus says himself what I am the bread of life he’s not really saying that much different than what God was saying in the Old Testament God says you need me more than bread Jesus says you need me more than bread because I’m god i am your bread John 635 I am the bread of life he who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst Jesus is the greatest provision of God for us better than daily sustenance God provided us with salvation or to say better God provided us with God God provided us with himself Jesus is right to call himself the bread of life he is more necessary than bread he’s more satisfying than bread he is our provision he is our portion he is our sustenance in our satisfaction it’s true of God even in the Old Testament but exemplified even more in Jesus Christ questions so far about the ark or about the table yeah bill good question what does the mana stand for do you mean in the ark the pot of manna like the well a number of these things are described in the terms of Memorial so therefore remembering and there’s there’s some symbols that go along with that too but God sustaining Israel miraculously with manna was to be remembered and that’s why it was put into the ark saying look the God showed that he’s able to provide for you and that kind of like the table the showbread that he’s more necessary to you than even even you securing food because he can provide you manna so I would say that the year the pot of manna was for remembering what God did with Israel in the wilderness other questions along with that of course the the raw the blossoming rod was another memorial it’s like there’s no other priests acceptable to me except the ones that I designated which is Aaron that happens a number of times with Israel we got some people who are like I think I could be the priest to and gods like let me show you let me show you that nobody else could be the priest it doesn’t with the rod he also does it with um we’ll talk about a little bit later on with the incense people try to offer up incense instead of Aaron and they all offering it’s like more than 100 people and God just burns them all out and then he puts the incense sensors as part of the bronze altar they become plating for because he’s like don’t forget forget what happened anyways yes d yeah yeah it’s a worthy point Stephen I’ll just repeat it that we don’t want to go too crazy trying to interpret the different elements the tabernacle like you said trying to say what does the wood and the gold mean is that gold refer to the divine sign the would refer to the physical side pointed Jesus and yeah then we we do want to keep it safe we know that gold is beautiful we know that gold is valuable and that certainly emphasizes God Majesty but unless we have some some better indicators of what what the gold might represent or other elements might represent we want to not go that far we’re going to say something wrong right right right that’s a that’s also a good point Rob we know that these things are reflections of God and of Christ but we just don’t want to go too far and trying to fill in the filling in those details let’s move on we’ve looked at two of the golden objects one in the Holy the Holy of Holies the table would be in the holy place the other room in the tabernacle but now we have two other golden objects to look at and the third one is the golden lampstand that also comes in chapter 25 the last section of it verses 31 to 40 look at verse 31 with me then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold the lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work its cups and it’s bulbs and its flower shall be of one piece with it six branches she’ll go up go out from its sides three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch a bulb and a flower and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch a bulb and a flower so for six branches going out from the lamp stand and in the lamps and four cups shaped like almond blossoms its bulbs and it’s flowers a bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it and the six branches coming out of the lampstand their bulbs in their branches shall be of one piece with it all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold nan you shall make its lamps seven in number and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it it snuffers and their trays shall be a pure gold she’ll be made from a talent of pure gold with all these utensils see that you make them after the pattern for them which was shown to you on the mountain ok let’s observe the lampstand made entirely of gold not golden wood all gold it’s actually one piece and made to resemble which plant it’s a certain kind of tree almond tree actually a picture of an almond tree over there a little bit it does look a little bit like a cherry tree or cherry blossoms has beautiful light colored flowers I don’t know you keep in mind not be able to see the picture that well I don’t know if it looks exactly like the almond tree but certainly the lamp does look very tree like with its branches and does have a number of flowers a stand is to have six branches three on each side and each branch is to feature three cups shaped like almond blossoms with corresponding bulbs and flowers now these terms blossom bulb and flower they translate a little bit differently depending on the version of the Bible and what they exactly mean is a little difficult to determine here’s one interpretation in the bottom right we see kind of flowers coming out of flowers in that in that lamp with cups at the very top so that’s one interpretation of the bulbs and flowers lots of cups lots of bulbs and flowers but how many lamps 77 and the lamps are to shed light in front of them this lamp stand is to include corresponding snuffers and trays snuffer’s for putting the candles out heard the lamps out and trays for catching the wicks when you trim them and everything is to be made out of a talent of gold talent of gold the exact weight of a talent of gold is debated though it was likely about 75 pounds so good amount of gold going into this lamp stand in its elements before we interpret this though let’s look at another passage related to the lampstand a couple chapters later look in Exodus chapter 27 verses 22 21 talked about how this lamp stand is lit verse 20 of chapter 27 you shall charge the sons of Israel that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light to make a lamp burn continually in the tent of the meeting outside the veil which is before the testimony Aaron in the Sun shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord it shall be a perpetual statue throughout their generations for the sons of Israel okay a couple more observations what is the fuel for this lamp stand and it’s lamps olive oil using olive oil from the light and the people of Israel are going to give it the lamps need this oil because the lamps art should be continually burning but what exactly does continually mean does it mean it never goes out or that it’s always on in certain recurring periods will notice verse 21 Aaron and his sons or when our errand in the sun’s said to keep the lamps in order from evening to morning in other words what period nighttime darkness evening to morning that would be when the Sun Goes Down and when the Sun comes up so the lamp is to be lit at night so it’s not that the lamps are constantly literally constantly burning but they to be lit every evening and put out every morning second chronicles 13 10 to 11 likewise indicates that these lamps were to be maintained and to burn at night only but why leave the lamps burning at night if there’s no activity in the tabernacle because a lot of the activity of the tamarack will be done by the by the evening might be a little bit maybe in the early evening hours but certainly there’s not stuff happening there all night why keep the link the lamp continually lit God must be saying something alright let’s interpret what’s the practical purpose of this golden lampstand to provide light you need light inside the tabernacle especially when it’s dark now what is God saying about himself in the lamp stand and in its light well you may notice a parallel between the lamp stand and something else that Israel saw that did not burn in the day but it did burn at night what was that the pillar right a pillar of cloud during the day with a pillar of fire at night remember God led Israel by this pillar of fire it went when it moved that night and it was also a sign of God’s presence during the day it was a pillar of cloud God’s light provided a reminder of God’s presence but all so it was a it was to serve as guidance for Israel it helped them to see where to go certainly we know that God is often associated with light and lamps in the scripture God said let there be light even in very beginning of the Bible God’s word is a lamp unto our feet as the psalmist says but I want to show you a couple other references get us thinking about light and lamps and God second Samuel 2229 says this for you are my lamp o Lord and the Lord illumines my darkness Psalm 90 verse 8 you have placed our iniquities before you our secret sins and the light of your presence and then Zechariah 4 verses 1 to 5 and verse 10 Zechariah has a vision of a lamp stand with seven lamps then the angel who’s speaking with me returned and roused me as a man who was awakened from his sleep he said to me what do you see and I said I see and behold a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it and it’s seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on top of it also two olive trees by it but on the right side of the bowl and on the other on its left side and then I said to the angel who is speaking with me saying what are these my lord so the angel who speaking me answered and said to me do you not know what these are and I said no my lord verse 10 for who has despise the day of small things but d7 that is the seven lamps these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand observable these are the eyes of the Lord which ranged to and fro throughout the earth so when trying to think about why did God want this lamp stand continually lit during the night I think we can make a somewhat cautious inference based on how God light and lamp stands are discussed in the rest of the scriptures what is God saying with this golden lampstand what’s one thing that he shows ban himself yeah it’s a reminder of God’s presence I think we can make that inference based on how it’s always there it’s always lit at night just as the pillar pillar of fire was guiding Israel at night and it would be lit at night so glad you’re minding them my light is on I’m with you my lamp stand is lit what else remember it’s all made out of gold it’s a beautiful lamp stand made to look like a tree of pure gold with seven candles it must been dazzling this is a reminder of God’s majesty his beauty those things in his tabernacle are meant to be beautiful and glorious 2.2 God’s beauty and glory I think because of the association with God in light this lamp stand is also a reminder that God is the illuminator God is the illuminator both as a compassionate guide but also has a holy judge if you trust him he will show you the way even in darkness but if you sin his light will lay bare the dark hypocrisy of your heart even if you hide in darkness this golden glorious lampstand reminds us that God is the illuminator or minded Israel that God is the illuminator how does the lamp then connect to Jesus again the connection is pretty direct because what did Jesus say I am the light of the world just as God and the Old Testament associated himself with light as a guiding light and as a light of inspection in judgment so does Jesus John a 12 I am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of Life if you desire rescue and guidance if you want to know how to get to heaven if you want to know how to be with God Jesus is the light he is the golden lampstand he will illumine the path of life to you he is both the light and the life the clearest depiction of God’s truth but if walkin apocrypha and sin remember John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation chapter 1 verse 14 he described him this way his head and his hair or white like white wool like snow and his eyes were like a flame of fire Jesus when speaking to some of the seven churches that were unrepentant in sin or had people unrepentant sin he reminded them I’m the one with the eyes with the flame of fire Jesus burning gaze will find out your sin God’s light Christ’s light will unveil your sin and you will not escape the judgment all judgment has been handed over by the father to the son Jesus is the a greater manifestation of this concept God is the illuminator both to guide and to judge so we have three of the golden objects accounted for one more that we’ll talk about today this one comes in Exodus chapter 30 it doesn’t come next in the sequence we’re going to skip over some things for now but look at Exodus chapter 30 and look at the final piece inside the tabernacle we do want to discuss the tabernacle structure itself but we’ve got the lamp stand in the holy place we’ve got the table in the holy place we’ve got the ark and the Holy of Holies but one other object in the holy place is the altar of incense a couple different versions of the altar of incense there have their rings at different design in different ways you can see in the pictures but here’s what extras chapter 30 says on about the altar verse one well over you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense it shall make it of acacia wood its length she’ll be a cubit ends with the cubit it shall be square and its height shall be two cubits its horns shall be of one piece with it you shall overlay it with pure gold it stopped and its sides all around and its horns and you shall make a gold molding all around for it it should make two gold rings for it under its molding you shall make them on its two sidewalls on opposite sides and they shall be holders for the poles with which to carry it I shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold if you put this altar in front of the veil that is near the Ark of the testimony in front of the mercy seat that is over the Ark of the testimony where I will meet with you Erin shall burn fragrant incense on it he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps when Erin shrimps lancet twilight he shall burn incense there shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations you shall not offer any strange incense on this altar or burnt offering or meal offering and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it okay we’ll stop there make some observations about this altar and its description once again I’ve got something made of vacation would overlaid with gold all the elements are either made of gold or overlaid with gold inside the tabernacle its dimensions one cubit by one cubit by two cubits or a one half foot square three feet high it has horns at each corner the gold molding two golden rings on its two sides now some interpret that as two on each side or just one on each side I think one on each side makes more sense because God described for the other times but you’re seeing the pictures that some interpreted as more than two rings and these tubing’s once again are going to be for acacia pulls over late in gold now where does this altar go precisely I think I heard something in front of the veil in the holy place so not just in the holy place but right in front of the Holy of Holies right in front of that dividing veil right in front of the ark and the mercy seat right near God’s very presence now the altars for burning incense when is the instance to be burned this is another thing that’s to happen continually perpetually specifically two times each day in the morning and at twilight so the lamps and the incense their activities happening with them at the same time in the morning and in the evening at twilight one when day turns into evening something happening for the altar of incense it’s that in senses offered it is burned incense burned in the morning incense burned in the evening and it is a perpetual act there’s always to be incense burning before the Lord and notice the warning at the very end of this section no strange incense will be acceptable on this altar nor shall any other kind of offering be offered on it just the incense that God specifically commanded is allowed to be burned on this altar later on we’ll see that there’s a prohibition against laymen creating their own infants of this same type I should this look at that section what kind of incense does God command well just a couple verses down look at verse 34 and God says precisely what kind of incense they should burn verse 34 to 38 chapter 30 then the Lord said to Moses take for yourself spices stacked and Annika and galbanum spices with pure frankincense there shall be an equal part of each with it you shall make incense a perfume the work of your perfumer salted pure and holy you shall beat some of it very fine and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you shall be most holy to you incense which you shall make you shall not make in the same proportion for yourselves it shall be holy to you for the Lord whoever shall make any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people a couple more observations God’s holy incense is made of equal parts takta annika galbanum and frankincense pure frankincense the exactly then the stacked and annika are unclear not quite sure what those are some say annika refers to the shells of certain sea snails but the other materials are fragrant substances collected from certain trees and plants and they’re all they all smell very good now something else is added to this mixture equal parts these four ingredients and then also salt and salt was added these materials are to be beaten very finely and then likely heated on a sensor a plate with hot coals beneath this is not one of the types of instances where you can just light it on fire itself you need to have a heating element underneath it that’s going to cause it to burn and make its fragrance so this incense would have produced smoke and a strong but pleasant fragrance but warning her and we notice the warning here nope layman no Israelite is to make this incense for themselves what’s the penalty if they do it will be cut off which means some interpret cut off to mean exile but there are some constants context and the scriptures where cut off definitely means death so I think we should understand in that way to be cut off from your people means to die so they would be put to death if they make this incense for themselves okay so what’s the basic practical purpose of this altar and it’s incense what does intense do it makes this smell nice it’s producing some smoke and makes the smell nice inside the tabernacle but obviously there’s more to it than that what does this incense say and what does this instance in this incense altar say about God well again this is another beautiful beautiful piece inside the tabernacle made all of gold pointing to God’s majesty and they’re set apart nature of this altar and it’s incense points us to God’s holiness but what about the incense itself well surely this offering of incense is not like the incense that the pagans would offer because many ancient religions and even modern religions especially in the east they use incense as an offering to various gods and spirits as if the God themselves needed or enjoyed the smell of incense God does not crave or need the smell of incense at all so why the incense then what does it represent if anything some point to the use of incense in the book of Revelation for help revelation 58 says this when he had taken the book this is the lamb I believe it’s the land there when he had taken the book the four living creatures in the 24 elders fell before the lamb each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints revelation 832 for another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the Angels hand ok so does incense equal the prayers of the saints unnecessarily revelation may be using the symbol of incense in its own unique way and even revelation 5 and 8 do not use this symbol the exact same way revelation 52 incense is the prayer of the saints revelation 8 the incense is offered with the prayers of the saints so that’s not necessarily instance is not necessarily equal to prayers of the saints I suggest the incense of the tabernacle actually points to something else because notice again the incense produces a pleasant aroma and God commands the incense to be burned every day twice a day continually filling the tabernacle with smoke and aroma what else is said to produce a soothing aroma to God and was required every day we haven’t mentioned it it’s coming or think I heard it somewhere Roy right animal offerings and not just in their tabernacle but if we go back think of somebody like Noah when he comes out of the ark he makes an animal sacrifice and it says it produced a soothing aroma to the Lord animal sacrifices like incense which produce a good smell to God furthermore listen to part of God’s command for what the high priest must do on the Day of Atonement associated with the altar of incense and incense Leviticus 16 verses 11 to 14 then Aaron shall offer the bowl of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household and he shall slaughter the bowl of the sin offering which is for himself he shall take a fire pan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense and bring it inside the veil he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Ark of the testimony otherwise he will die moreover he shall take some of the blood of the bowl and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy see on the east side also on the front of the mercy seat shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times so we’re not going to get into the whole day of atonement ceremony but you remember the day of atonement is one day a year the priest actually goes into the holy of holies to sprinkle blood on the ark itself but going in to the Holy of Holies required a she of sorts what was the pre shield the incense it was to produce a cloud that would cover the mercy-seat the incense the burning incense would prevent the priest from dying while he carried out his duty so again we see a parallel between the incense offering and the animal offerings the burnt offering the sin offering the guilt offerings they’re all about providing man with what a shield a covering not really a shield more covering I think it’s more appropriate it was to cover the sin cover the uncleanness so that God’s holiness would not break out against that person the incense functions the same way it is a covering it has a covering nature to it so I suggest that the incense if we think about what was God saying with the incense its to reinforce the same concept that God shows with the animal sacrifices that is that all Israelites including the priests they need a merciful covering from God something to prevent God’s holy wrath from breaking out against them the incense is a symbol of that it’s a sweet smell in God’s nostrils so that God’s holiness does not destroy uncleanness covers that but we should note it’s not the incense or the burnt offering itself that soothes God’s nostrils God doesn’t necessarily need or care for those particular smells in fact I’m not even sure burning animal flesh smells that good but and there are times where people offer these things to God and he rejected it he says don’t get me any more of those offerings I hate them because what is it about these offerings that actually sweet to God that’s about the person’s heart right it’s about their beliefs and their love for God it’s about their faith this is why when we look at the the Hall of faith and we talk about Abel and all those types of things people who offer sacrifices their commended for their faith that’s what was so sweet to God and that faith demonstrates itself through obedience and through prayer and through Thanksgiving so I think it’s right for revelation to associate incense with prayer because really incense is associated with faith offering these sacrifices associated with faith in God’s mercy so the altar of incense I would argue was a sign of man’s need for covering there’s a sign of God’s holiness not just in its set apart nature but that in the fact that man needs to be covered there needs to be something fragrant before God so that his holiness does not destroy well that was certainly true in the Old Testament but what about Jesus how does this idea how do these ideas connect with Jesus Jesus has never called incense however if we take the idea of the incense offering and the animal offerings their whole point was to provide covering right and that’s what Jesus has done and he doesn’t need to do it every day or to continually offer himself but he did it once and for all so that that one sacrifice that one fragrant aroma was offered up once and for all and there’s no need for more sacrifices the altar of incense like the altar burnt offering was all about our need for covering and Jesus the high priest and he was the only one who was allowed to offer these things right the incense or the animal sacrifices he provided a once for all sacrifices sacrifice that permanently soothed the father and soothe God’s holiness the aroma of Jesus righteous life his death on behalf of sinners and his faith in the father forever cover those who believe in him and take Jesus has their high priest yeah well let me repeat your comment and then I’ll given my answer am I saying that the incense represented in Revelation as the prayers of the Saints has no relation to the tabernacle and to the incense there I don’t think that instance always necessarily equals the prayers of the saints but I do think that there still is a connection as I said incense the idea of covering is associated with faith and prayer is one outgrowth of faith when when a priest was offering incense before the Lord room when he offered any animal sacrifice he was demonstrating faith that God would show mercy on behalf of that sacrifice he said God I believe you you provided a way for me to be covered this is your way I trust in that and therefore i’m offering it to you so it’s not that the prayers and the incense in Revelation is totally disconnected from the tabernacle I just think it’s one outgrowth of it and so that’s why I think it can be said that the prayers are the incense but also the prayers are offered with the incense because the incense is associated with faith i would say we’re kind of running short of time but if you have other things you’d like to ask about or make comment about please see me afterwards we’ve seen four elements of the tabernacle but there’s still a lot more here that’s really rich that shows us more about God’s character and also connects to Christ well won’t talk about it next week because I want to stay on stay on task with the rest of the Sunday School classes but the week after is like our free day because it’s like the end of the end of the quarter end of the year so we can do we can go in a number of directions so I’m going to come back to the tabernacle at that time we’ll discuss some of the elements that we haven’t talked about like the bronze altar the priest garments the the structure of the tabernacle itself let’s pray father we thank you thank you for revealing yourself we thank you for the covering of Christ Lord you were constantly emphasizing the tabernacle that you are holy and you are set apart and that man cannot casually come to you it must be in your prescribed way and it cannot be deviating at all from your way and yet God you also want to emphasize that you are ssible that you will you will provide mercy to those who come to you that you will allow your presence to go with them in a limited way we seal that in the tabernacle but in a greater way we see that in your son thank you for Emanuel thank you for his fragrant offering thank you for his holy life applied to us and how he makes us holy but bless the rest this service today and Jesus name Amen