THE POWER of the BLOOD: Part 4

THE POWER OF THE BLOOD: Part 4

“The Tabernacle: The Way to the Holy of Holies”

SMALL STRAWS: I want to speak to you face-to-face in vital spiritual connection. I want your full attention. I say this because many of My people talk at Me instead of with Me. Draw near so that you can see Me and know My intentions for you. Do not be afraid to come, for the way has been made for you to come boldly before My throne, says the Lord.

From the very beginning of time….God has longed for His creation to DRAW NEAR to Him…..after all, way back in the garden of Eden, that is where He showed Adam and Eve that there had to be a SACRIFICE of innocent BLOOD in order for sinful man to DRAW NEAR to a Holy God

Remember that the word SACRIFICE actually means to DRAW NEAR….not to “give up something” as it has come to mean in our society

Our God is very passionate about His relationship with us…Exodus 34:14 “He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you.” NLT version (NIV version…”Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.”

James 4:8 “DRAW NEAR to God and He will DRAW NEAR to you.”

When Adam sinned, he…and all of us…were separated from the presence of God…but God LONGED for that fellowship with mankind…so He sent His Son, Jesus, to shed His BLOOD for the remission of our sins so fellowship could be restored….

Look at what God’s first words were to Adam after Adam had sinned…

It just makes me wanna cry…..THIS is how much God loves us!!!...

Exodus 3:8-9 “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

WOW….God was where He always was---WE (ADAM) had walked off and left God!!!

God’s first words to Adam aren’t a judgment for his sin…but instead a heart cry for FELLOWSHIP WITH ADAM!!!!

THIS is what God has wanted all along….FELLOWSHIP WITH US! THAT is the reason He delivered the children of Israel from Egypt….it wasn’t to bring them to a Promised Land…it was so they would know HIM and long for HIM and desire to have fellowship with HIM!!!!!

Look at what God said in Exodus 7:16 “Let my people go, so that they may WORSHIP ME in the desert.”………………..it had NOTHING to do with the Promised Land….it was all about so they could WORSHIP Him….

God wants us to KNOW HIM…..to come to Him…..this is the reason for the NEED for the BLOOD of JESUS….because of our sin, we HAD to have the blood of an innocent sacrifice for the fellowship to be restored

DO YOU GET just how much we mean to God…..He LONGED for our fellowship SO MUCH…that He set in place this divine plan of sacrificing His Son so that that fellowship could be restored!!!!

Exodus 19:4 God said “I bore you on eagles wings and BROUGHT YOU TO MYSELF.”

Even when we act like FREAKS and we have the hardest of hearts towards Him…He still RADICALLY LOVES us!!!! Check out this verse….

Ephesians 1:7 “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the BLOOD of his Son and forgave our sins.”

So…..why don’t more people want to draw near to God …especially after knowing how much He loves us and what He has done for us????...... because they don’t hunger for Him!

The world we live in has so enticed us away with everything around us….that we don’t have room to HUNGER for God

So…..how does all this relate to the Tabernacle that we have been learning about for the last couple of weeks?...... because even back then, God set it up in such a way that in order for us to draw near to God…..to get into the HOLY OF HOLIES…..there were things we had to do……ON OUR PART….and some people just aren’t willing to do it…..some people just aren’t willing to lay down THEIR desires….they are not willing to lay down their SOULS…their mind, will, and emotions…..to SACRIFICE (or DRAW NEAR) to God

To make the journey in to the HOLY OF HOLIES (which you are going to learn about today)….we HAVE to accept the incredible gift God gave us through His Son’s BLOOD….then we have to WASH ourselves in His Word…then we begin the TRANSFORMATION process where our mind, will, and emotions line up with HIS….then we make it into the very throne room of God…the HOLY OF HOLIES……………………..

So, let’s get the journey started…

For the last few weeks, we have been laying a foundation for the study of the POWER OF THE BLOOD….today, we are continuing that study as we finally go into the Tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build. God instructed Moses to build it so that we would understand exactly HOW to approach a Holy God

SUPER COOL FYI FACTS: The Tabernacle used 1 ton of gold, 3 ¾ tons of silver, and 2 ¼ tons of bronze

THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE

Exodus 27:9-15“You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long for one side. 10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver. 11 Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.
12 “And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. 15 And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets

This tells us that the whole Tabernacle is surrounded by a thick, curtained, wall of WHITE LINEN curtains…..remember when we did the huge study on LINEN!!!??...that is what we had to be clothed in…RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!!

Revelation 19:8 “To her was granted that she should be arrayed in FINE LINEN, CLEAN and WHITE: for the fine linen is the RIGHTEOUS actions of the saints.”

Just seeing these high walls that covered an area that was 150 ft x 75 ft….any Israelite would know that they were approaching the Tabernacle…These walls were 7 ft 6 in high….and they were WHITE…all their tents were made of dark skins

This RIGHTEOUSNESS is held up by the brass pillars….to symbolize Jesus…displaying His righteousness so that we would be attracted to Him….

Remember last week when we talked about the fact that we are to desire and to transform to be like HIM…?...well, just as His righteousness was held up and displayed…ours is to be too…our nature is supposed to also have righteousness displayed…in other words…the divine nature of Christ

THE COURT ENTRANCE

Exodus 27:16 “For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets.”

This Gate was the ONLY way into this separated area…

Notice the number FOUR again (the number of creation)….lots of FOUR’S in the TABERNACLE…Four tribal flags, FOUR coverings on the Tabernacle itself, FOUR Pillars and FOUR sockets…

The Gate (Jesus) is the ONLY Entrance…Held up by the FOUR pillars….surely that is significant since Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote these gospels about the Life of Jesus for us

THE COVERINGS

Exodus 26:1-14 gives details of the coverings…the Tabernacle had four coverings, the first was linen, the second was goats hair, the third was ram's skin dyed red, and the fourth was badger skins.

LINEN: With cherubim which are associated with the holiness of God…they represent the righteous government of God…It is 10 linen curtains joined together so …Exodus 26:6 “so that it may be ONE tabernacle just as the Body of Christ is to be one.”

GOAT’S HAIR: Goat was an animal used for the SIN Offering…it was a sacrificial animal…it represents Jesus humility and poverty…the poor wore goat skins…Jesus was humble and poor…He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him…this curtain was a little bigger it entirely covered the linen one

RAM SKIN DYED RED: this one was weatherproof…a ram was used in place of Isaac…RED always represented the blood for atonement

BADGER SKIN: The badger skin (some versions say “sea cows” from the Red Sea) covering was the only covering which was seen on the outside which was that dull and unattractive skin…. MEANING: the outsider wouldn’t know about the incredibleness inside the Tabernacle unless he entered into it….

The coverings went from the unattractive on the outside to the attractive on the inside…just as with everything in the Kingdom of God..YOU have to search and go deeper to discover the GLORIOUSNESS of it all!!!

But how is that supposed to remind us of Jesus? ….

This is just how it was with Jesus when He came to earth to be with us…. As the prophet foretold: Isaiah 53:1-2 "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is NO BEAUTY that we should desire Him."

To the world…Jesus is nothing to look at….but to those who KNOW HIM as SAVIOR….to those who have turned toward Him and have begun the process of DRAWING NEAR to Him…HE IS EVERYTHING!!!!

He is SAVIOR, LORD, EVERLASTING FATHER, WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR, ALMIGHTY GOD, PRINCE OF PEACE, FAIREST OF 10,000, ALPHA AND OMEGA, He is GRACE and MERCY and on and on and on!!!!!

John 1:10-14 “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The meaning behind the different things and even the way the Tabernacle was built is just gonna blow your minds…

THE BRAZEN LAVER (BronzeBasin)

Exodus 30:17-21 “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come."

HEBREW FACT: Back in the day, they would wash in bath houses….but on the trip back home, the feet and hands would become dirty again…so feet and hands had to be cleaned again before entering the house….the DAILY DIRT…that we all need to clean off of us!!!

The Laver is a wash basin about 4 or 5 feet high filled with water…it is made of polished brass, which is what the women used as mirrors

You absolutely could not enter the Tabernacle until you washed in it. If you did, the penalty was death!

The Laver represented GOD’S WORD….it came from mirrors, it was made of brass, and it was filed with water...which all are qualities of God’s Word…

MIRRORS: James 1:23 “For is anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a MIRROR; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

DO YOU SEE…the more you read the Bible…the more you see your imperfections…I’M NOT TALKIN ABOUT THE OUTSIDE OF YOURSELF, BUT THE INSIDE…just like looking in a mirror….when you look in a mirror, you can do one of two things…you can say you don’t look like that and simply walk away….or you can act on what you see and make the necessary changes and adjustments to yourself….which James says you will be blessed if you do that, because you would be a DOER of the Word, not a HEARER only!

BRASS: always stands for divine examination and judgment in the Bible…God sees you…there is nothing hidden…all things are totally laid bare and naked to the eyes of God….

John 12:47-48 “And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him; THE WORD that I have spoken WILL JUDGE HIM IN THE LAST DAY.”

You will be judged by the standard of the WORD (remember the “plumb line” study that we did months ago???!)

The really cool thing is that God gives us a chance to judge ourselves, so He won’t have to….check this verse out…

1 Corinthians 11:31 “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”….how are we to judge ourselves???? …BY THE WORD!!!

FILLED WITH WATER:…the Word of God is a cleansing agent…

Ephesians 5:25-27 “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

REMEMBER THIS: Christ redeemed the Church by HIS BLOOD so that He might then cleanse and sanctify it with the washing of the water of the WORD of GOD.

Those who came to the brazen altar but DID NOT wash in the laver were subject to DEATH….you may be redeemed through your faith in Christ’s death on the cross…but if you do not wash in the water of the Word…you cannot be sanctified (set apart for holy use)…..we talked about this a couple of weeks ago….Jesus did not just die on the cross to keep us from going to hell….but for us to start the process of transformation where we are transformed into the image of God….this is the washing of the Word….

Jesus is coming for a BRIDE that has been made holy and pure by the washing of the water by the Word.

1 John 5:6 says that He came by the water and by the BLOOD…

1 John 5:6 “This is He who came by water and blood; Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”

You cannot enter the Tabernacle unless you have a BLOOD sacrifice and be WASHED clean in the Laver.

You have to come to God by way of the BLOOD and WATER….our bodies …our NATURAL MAN…has to be washed in the BLOOD and the WATER

This Altar and the Laver was a picture of SALVATION!!!!

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THE HOLY PLACE

Now we are going from the Outer Court into the Holy Place…we are moving out of the realm of the NATURAL and into the realm of the SOUL or the EMOTIONAL……

The OUTER COURT symbolized Jesus time on earth…what He did for us on the CROSS…the shedding of His Blood

Back-in-the-day…only the Levite Priests could enter in here….but through the BLOOD of Jesus…He made the way for us to enter in!

After being washed in the WORD at the Brazen Laver…you can approach the Holy Place…..as you go through the first veil…this is symbolic of Jesus’ RESURRECTION….

We are moving out of the area of PHYSICAL KNOWLEDGE into the area where REVELATION is imparted by the HOLY SPIRIT

The first thing we do is pass through the first veil…it is a linen veil of blue, purple, and scarlet….behind it are the hidden truths of God…..

There are 3 pieces of furniture in the HOLY PLACE...