The tabernacle as a shadow
Let’s read Exodus 25:8 and 9: “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”
The question we need to ask ourselves, can a building be a sacred place? A building like the Tabernacle? Is it not the Lord’s presence that make it holy, not the building.
Let’s just remind ourselves again of what Father God says, a holy place must be made according to the pattern (the plan) of the tabernacle where God can dwell amongst His people.
The Hebrew word used for sanctuary is Mikdash which refers to a holy place. This means that if we want to come into the presence of God, we must be separate/holy. The tabernacle and all that goes with it is not the holy place, it is however a pattern or a way to enter into the holy place.
The tabernacle is the example the Father has given us to help us live separated unto Him and in relationship with Him. We must remind ourselves that Adam and Eve walked with God, until they removed themselves from God’s presence and hid from God because of their uncleanness/nakedness (sin).
So how does this pattern that God gave us work so that we can come into a living relationship with our Almighty, All-Present, All-Seeing, All-Knowing, Holy God?
Paul says the Old Testament is a shadow of what is to come, also in Hebrews 9 the tabernacle is again referred to as a shadow and a process to show us how to come into Father God’s presence, which was represented by the Holy of Holies
Interestingly, and important to note, in Exodus is the incense altar was in the Holy place, which is before the Holy of Holies while Hebrew 9 the incense altar is in the Holy of Holies. Why is that? We need to realize that the writer of Hebrews is writing from a New Testament perspective, where Jesus has already opened the way for us to our Heavenly Father through the complete work on the Cross, now we are accessing God through what Jesus did for each of us. He is the way, the truth, and the life, taking us through the whole process so that we can live in the presence of God. As it is written in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 for although we live in the outer body, we do not make war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our war are not of the flesh, but from the power of God, and with it we subdue rebellious strongholds, we break arguments, and every high division that is set up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obedience to The Anointed One (PWL)
In Romans 12:1-2, Paul says that we, must be a living sacrifice.” My brethren, therefore I beseech you, by the favor of God, that you make your bodies available as living, separate, and acceptable sacrifices to God; it is your logical service work and do not imitate this world, but be changed by the renewal of your thinking and you will be able to discern what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Christ is the Word that became flesh, in the new dispensation we can always be in the presence of God, our Heavenly Father. The separation is the sin, just as it was with Adam and Eve. According to the Word, we are now to be careful not to sin even in our minds, but to take them captive in obedience. Jesus fulfilled the law, and now our minds must also be in obedience to the law of God. Therefore, we must make choices every day to walk correctly and that implies taking up your cross every day. You must take up your cross every day and contemplate all that is sweet and praiseworthy, we are tempted to think negatively and then we, ourselves must discipline ourselves to think that which is honorable and true…
Philippians 4:8-9 Therefore, my brethren, feed yourselves with all that is true, all that is honorable, all that is innocent and upright, all that is clean, all that is beautiful, all that is praiseworthy, and those works of praise and honor that are praised. These things that you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me, do so and the God of peace, contentment, health, and prosperity will be with you.
Also according to Colossians 3:1 “If, therefore, you have risen with the Anointed One, seek the things above where the Anointed One is and is seated at the right hand of God.”
We need to establish our thoughts, wills, and emotions with Jesus Christ in heavenly places. In Jesus, the way has been opened to the Holy of Holies and we can now enter the Holy of Holies, not with our flesh but in the Spirit. That is why in the Spirit we contemplate that which is lovely, that which is praiseworthy.
What is the nature of the new covenant? According to Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Notice, the days are coming,” יהוה declares, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisraelel and the house of Y’hudah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on that day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitzrayim; My covenant that broke them, though I was Master over them,” יהוה declared. However, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days,” יהוה declares: “I will put My law within them and write it on their mind, will and emotion and I will be their God and they will be My people.
What’s interesting is when God commissioned Moses to make the tabernacle, he actually said so I could be in your midst! The word used in the Hebrews is “abide” in English Father speaks of the English word “abide”. It’s the same thing Jesus used in John 15 (John 15:3-5) You are already clean by the message I have brought you. Abide in me continually, as I do in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, if it does not remain in the vine, so can you, if you do not abide in Me continually. אנא אנא – I am, was, will be Who I am, was, will be, the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me continually, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.
The intention is that we can bear fruit to the glory of God our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. In the same way, Jesus said, where two or three come together, there He is in our midst, so we abide in Him as He dwell in our midst, just like with the tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build as a dwelling place and the fulfilment of what Jesus said, that He will rebuild the temple in three days, refering to His Body in acknowlediging that we become the Body of Christ, we are the temple and dwelling place for God in the Spirit as Paul said in Ephessians 2.
Now, if we ask the question, where is the holy place? Then the answer is that in us as the body of Jesus Christ, the tabernacle has been fulfilled as a blueprint plan for those who have chosen to imprison their minds in Jesus Christ and settle in heavenly places.
Paul confirms this in Ephesians 2:19-22: “At least you are no longer strangers and visitors, but inhabitants of the city of the separated one, and children of the family of God. You are being built up on the foundation of the delegates and the prophets.
You are being built up on the foundation of the delegates and the prophets, with Yeshua (Jesus), the Anointed One, himself the Cornerstone of the building. In Him the whole building is put together and it grows into a separate temple in union with יהוה (Creator God) while you are also built for Him into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Here Paul is saying exactly what God said to Moses make a separate place for me.
When Jesus came to the temple, He was appalled by what He saw and said, “My Father’s house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” Jesus refers to the secluded place as a house of prayer, and so we must be in relationship with the Father. A house of prayer is therefore a place where God and His Son, Jesus Christ, dwell in our midst as we abide in Him and in His Word.
John, referring to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, looked at it this way in 1 John 1:1-3 We preached to you the good news of Him who was from the beginning, He whom we heard, whom we saw and experienced with our eyes, and touched with our hands; He who is the Message of Life. Life is revealed and we have seen, we bear witness to and proclaim to you the Eternal Life that was with the Father and is revealed to us. He Whom we have seen and heard, we also reveal to you so that you too can have fellowship with us and our fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Yeshua, the Anointed One.
John’s in preaching the gospel is focused on those who hear it being able to relate to God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. Once again, confirmation that our Father’s House is a house of prayer. Jesus is the mediator where two or more people are together, a man and a woman or two brothers in Christ, and two sisters are together in Christ, there is Christ in our midst. Our Father’s House is a secluded place of fellowship where He and His Son are in our midst. But sin is still the only thing that separates us from God, so it is important that we isolate our thoughts to God.
It is written that our eyes are a window to our soul through which everything enters. If you allow your eyes to see what you should not see, it affects your mind, and so your body as a separate place for God and His Son Jesus Christ.
During the Exodus of Israel, some of the Israelites asked Moses, who appointed him to tell them what to do, is he the only one who speaks to God. Moses then told them that each one should offer his own sacrifice before God and then they would see what happened. When they had finished doing that, God said to Moses, remove yourself from their camp, and they were swallowed up by the earth. The point is, we must separate ourselves from injustice and live impartially sincerely before God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s not about competition, it’s not about who is the best, it’s not about who preaches or prays the best or who performs the most miracles. It is about whether you are a secluded place for God Almighty, or do you allow your body to be polluted. You are the temple of the Lord, you cannot stand with one foot in the world and try to serve the Lord with the other foot. It’s “all-out” to God, which means you turn away from the evil in world and turn to God.
Something that really struck me in the Word is, that you are in “enmity” with God, if you are part of the evil in the world . Then you are actually God’s enemy, the people do not realize how important this word is: That you must totally “commit”/dedicate yourself to God, His laws and His ordinances. If we allow our Father’s house of prayer to be pollute by the evil things of this world, we make it a den of robbers again.
It is the sourdough issue, a little sourdough affects the whole bread. That’s not what the Lord wants, the Father said, make me holy place according to the pattern of the tabernacle. The Tabernacle was secluded, and darkness could not enter. The tabernacle had a boundary around it and there was only one entrance, and only one way to move into the precence of God.
It also has to do with how you should choose your relationships. There are people you get to know and they are on the outer boundaries of your life, acquaintances you interact with. Very few people are in your inner circle. If you allow the wrong people into your inner circle, it’s going to affect you. *This is where you need to isolate yourself from the wrong influences. Remember, not every person you meet is from the Lord, the enemy also brings people across your path. If people are lost, pray for their salvation, but don’t bring them into your inner circle.
We must be separate, because our Father’s House is a separate place for Him, that’s why Jesus says we are in the world but not part of the world. In the world we have a responsibility to be light bearers for Christ, as Jesus said, don’t hide your light under a measuring bucket. Being isolated does not mean being hidden, but it means living in such a way that everyone sees our light.
To be separated means that if I believe and I am sitting in a company or coming into a place and things are not impartially sincere, remove yourself, for it is not to the glory of God. In Moses’ film one can clearly see how God the Father says to Moses: remove yourself immediately from the murmurers and the ground gave way, it happened immediately, it was not a long story. God is a loving, gracious God, but is also impartially sincere.
God loves us, as written in John 3:16 because in this way God loved the world: so that He gave up His only-begotten Son, so that whoever trusts in Him will not be lost, but have eternal life. Our responsibility in this is to choose, choose life. It is a total surrender, where you must die to yourself so that you can become a separated dwelling place for God and His Son Jesus Christ as in John 17.
The shoes of the Gospel are actually the shoes of the Kingdom of light and you cannot be in the Kingdom of light and darkness at the same time! You must enter into the fullness of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Father God is like a house that you move into and inhabit, you can’t just stand at the front door and live in the house at the same time, reckon you are saved now and that’s not enough. It is necessary for you to come out of the darkness into the fullness of the Light of the Kingdom. Then comes the Kingdom where you set your feet as in Joshua 1:3, because you are the temple.
As our Heavenly Father walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. This relationship is restored in Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. The diffrence is that each one of us must make the decision to come into this relationship through Jesus in faith, not by sight but by faith, trusting in God. Then our life must be a prayer to the glory of God, everything you do, what I say and what I think, I do in the presence of the Father. Let us remind ourselves of what Paul said in Romans 12:1-2 My brethren, therefore I beseech you, by the favor of God, that you make your bodies available as living, separate, and acceptable sacrifices to God; this is your logical work of service, and do not imitate this world, but be changed by the renewing of your mind, and you will be able to discern what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God.
Then there is also 2 Chronicles 16:9 for the eyes of יהוה run to and fro over all the earth: therefore, be unchangeably strong, and let your mind, will, and emotion be perfect for His worship, and understand all His wonders, for יהוה your God will fight for you.”