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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
| A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... (Part 2 of 3) |
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 See the tent over here. Not that big is it, only 30 cubits long by 10 wide and 10 high, (approx.15x5x5 metres or yards) but inside the glory of God is revealed. Come with me. See these layers of covering on the outside of the tent? Like everything else in this place, each has a special meaning. There are actually 4 layers, but you can only see 2 from here. Here on the outside – you can touch that one if you like – the cover is made of sea cow skins. Note the ‘bluey’ colour. The oil in the skins keeps the tent dry when it rains. The oil and the blue colouring remind us of the Spirit of God (Later revealed as the Holy Spirit) who covers all our lives. Underneath is another cover of ram skins died red, a reminder of the blood sacrifice required for sin, which saddened you so much earlier. (Jesus – but He hadn’t been born yet!) Look up here. This black cover, protruding over the entrance, is woven from goats’ hair. That of course represents our sins of omission, of not doing the things God desires of us, rather than our known although unintentional sins, which are sacrificed on the Altar outside. You remember the sacrificial goat and scapegoat sacrificed for our sins on the Day of Atonement? Of course you do, for I have seen you there.
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 I am sorry that you can’t come inside the tent with me, for it is just so glorious in there. But we believe that one day it will be possible for all to enter, although we don’t know how. (We do now! – through the death of Jesus on the cross) But it is only from the inside that you can see the fourth cover of glorious pure white linen, with cherubim signifying God’s presence emblazened in purple, red and blue. (Colours of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). You may remember your mother and the other women embroidering them in the desert all those many years ago, when you were just a kid.
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 But I digress. You know, the strange thing about this cover is that you can only see part of it, the piece that crosses the roof. For at the sides of the tent are two glowing gold walls that both support and hide most of it. They are absolutely stupendous! Just has to be the glory of God. I have never quite been able to work out what all this means though.
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 See this magnificent curtain here that forms the entrance to the tent. Embroidered again in purple, red and blue. God is everywhere in this place! What you can’t see though, is the curtain inside. That one separates the back third, the Holy of Holies where God’s presence dwells, from the Holy Place in front, where we, the priests, attend to the daily duties the Lord has us do for Him.
For we have three jobs to do twice daily. But I am getting ahead of myself. For before I go in to the tent, into the Holy Place, I must first wash my feet in the washing basin, as I did before making the sacrifice for you. It will literally cost my life if I forget! But once I have been purified in God’s eyes, I can go in and carry out my tasks.
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 My first job is to attend to the Table of Showbread. This simple, yet exquisite oblong gold table, is adorned with gold mouldings, both around the edge and on the handbreadth wide gold rim that surrounds the top. Every Saturday, our Jewish Sabbath of course, I place on the table 12 loaves of bread, representing our 12 tribes, but more importantly symbolising the perfect, never ending word of God. You know, we get to eat this bread after we take it off the table at the end of the week. Remarkably, it is as fresh then as the day we put it on!
Twice daily I have to burn frankincense, set out in lines beside the 2 rows of 6 loaves. What a sweet fragrance it has. Helps keep God’s word of life at the forefront of my mind. I normally do this in the early morning and again at twilight while I am attending to the rest of my duties inside.
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 For I am required to light the Golden Lampstand each evening, having first filled the cups with oil and trimmed the wicks. Some people call it a golden candlestick because of its design, but it really is a lamp, not a candle, even though it may look like one. It is so important that the oil is pure. If there is any possibility that the lamp may malfunction because of poor oil or wicks, I have to stay here all night to make sure it doesn’t go out! But fortunately our oil and wick makers are most diligent, working as they are for the Lord. In the morning, as the sun comes up, I have to get out of bed and come down here to snuff the flame out. I don’t mind though, as it pleases God and gives me a good, early start to the day too!
Sorry, I have got ahead of myself and not told you what the Lampstand looks like. I don’t know how I forgot, as the Lampstand is simply the most intricate, breathtaking, solid gold creation I have ever seen. I don’t know how Bezalel did it - the work is so fine. The seven lamps are borne on 7 branches; each branch topped with a cup in the shape of an almond flower, delicately decorated with incredible, lifelike buds and blossoms down the stem. A grand total of 66 masterpieces in all, including the cups, beaten out of a single piece of pure gold. You should see the delightful dancing images of the flames’ shimmering lights reflecting from the golden walls as darkness falls. Incredible! Yes, the light of the oil of the Spirit brings divine illumination on the bread of God’s word. It certainly is an encouragement to research the scriptures more deeply.
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 Having set up or extinguished the lamps, depending on the time of day, I then move slowly to the Incense Altar. Placed as it is, near the entrance of the Holy of Holies, so my mind increasingly focuses on the glory of the Lord. In some ways this altar looks like a miniature version of the Bronze Altar over here, on which your lamb was sacrificed. However it sits on a gold plated stand with a solid gold moulding around the top. The altar itself is coated with gold, not bronze, as indeed, is all the furniture in the tent.
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 Fortunately the temperatures required for burning incense are not as great either, so the fire can be smaller too. When I come in to the Holy Place, I bring some hot coals from the Bronze Altar, which I then use to burn the special incense the Lord has provided us with the recipe for. We aren’t allowed to use this incense for anything else. It is a real pity because the fragrance is simply ‘heavenly’, the only word I can find to adequately describe the spiritual effect it has on me. As the fragrance permeates the air, I just have to pray out loud to my God and worship Him with all my being. It is an amazing experience to feel so close to God. I just look forward to it so much all day. It would be just wonderful if everyone could share my experience! (Now we can through the Holy Spirit!)
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 But great though the Incense Altar experience is, it is surpassed by the sheer awesomeness of the Day of Atonement, the day I truly meet with God. This is the one day of the year that I, as High Priest, can visit Him in His Holy of Holies. I do wish I could do it more often, for there is nothing else in life to compare with it! The presence of God just envelops me. It is impossible to explain really. His awesomeness, power and majesty is overwhelming, yet you can sense His love and caring at the same time. There is just nothing else like it. I break down and cry, yet worship Him at the same time! Inexplicable!
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| <i>NEXT WEEK:</i>
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…… Continued |
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 We now come to the climax of our story, as our friend learns about the celebration of the Day of Atonement.
The application of the principles of the Day of Atonement, through which we are able to enter the Holy of Holies, is the key issue facing the church today, so this study is of particular relevance in these final days.
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 This week we moved on from the picture of the sacrifice of Jesus in the Outer Court to the revelation on the Holy Spirit in the Holy Place through the 3 items of furniture it contains.
All these pieces of furniture are revealing, amazing and eternal!
Sea of Galilee Geography
Although it has many names, most New Testament readers recognize “the Sea of Galilee” as its common designation. It is also called the Sea of Kinnereth (Num. 34:11; Josh. 12:3), the Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1), the Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1; 21:1), and sometimes simply “the lake” (John 6:16).
Set in the hills of northern Israel, the Sea of Galilee is nearly 700 feet below sea level. It is nearly eight miles wide at its widest point, and more than 12 miles long from north to south. In places, the sea plunges to depths of 200 feet.
Many first-time visitors are surprised to see that from any point on the rocky shore, all other locations along the shoreline are visible. Around the sea, the hills of Galilee reach nearly 1,400 feet above sea level, and the mountains of the Golan Heights (called the Decapolis in Jesus’ time) reach more than 2,500 feet.
Much of the sea’s beauty comes from being nestled among the hills—green in the spring, brown during the dry season—which contrast with the deep blue of the water. The slopes of the Golan Heights on the east and Mount Arbel on the west drop sharply down to the sea.
The sea’s location makes it subject to sudden and violent storms as the wind comes over the eastern mountains and drops suddenly onto the sea. Storms are especially likely when an east wind blows cool air over the warm air that covers the sea. The cold air (being heavier) drops as the warm air rises. This sudden change can produce surprisingly furious storms in a short time, as it did in Jesus’ day (Matt. 8:24).
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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
870. The foolish one looks inwards, the wise outwards, but the godly, upwards.
David Tait
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