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

Our friend talks with the High Priest about the Day of Atonement...

But I had better start at the beginning. For God has set up a system that must be followed when entering into His presence. Remember my uncles, Nadab and Abihu? They broke the rules and paid for it with their lives. You will no doubt recall that day. It doubled the workload on my dad Eleazar, and Uncle Ithimar, as for a long time they were the only priests left. But it is a bit easier now as my generation comes of age and is able to shoulder the workload. Making sacrifices is heavy, hard work, you know. But again I digress!

The main thing I have to be sure of is to follow the Lord’s instructions precisely, so I don’t meet my uncles’ fate! I need to be personally pure, as do the people I am representing, for purity is essential to live in His presence. So firstly, He requires me to take off all my clothes – a bit embarrassing really – and wash myself in the basin before going into the Tent. There I put on the sparkling white linen clothes, to be worn only on this special day. For they speak of purity and holiness. Then I come back out into the courtyard to make a Sin Offering for myself, just as you did earlier. Yes, I need to be 100% right with God too. Taking some of the blood from my sacrifice, I fill my censer (bowl with a handle) with hot coals and select two handfuls of the special fragrant incense I talked of earlier. Now I am prepared to enter the Holy of Holies.

The sense of anticipation builds inside me as I pass through the Holy Place towards the Holy of Holies. I particularly notice that the curtain separating the areas has 2 giant cherubim woven into it, again in God’s colours, purple, red and blue. Your mother’s handiwork as well, I recollect. My mind ponders upon what I am going to experience inside. For God’s presence lives between the 2 cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Opening the curtain, I quickly throw incense onto the burning coals, forming a cloud in the room, particularly over the Atonement Cover, so protecting me from the full glory of God. That heavenly fragrance fills the room and permeates every pore in my body. Even Moses, great as he was, couldn’t look God in the face and live. So I need to be doubly careful!

I had better describe the Ark before I go on. It is an oblong box, (2½x1½x1½ cubits) made of Acacia wood, plated inside and out with gold. Around the top it has a pure gold moulding. The lid, the Atonement Cover, with its accompanying cherubim’s, forms the boundaries within which God dwells. Of course I know He is everywhere, but this is the specific place He meets with us. The Atonement Cover has to be perfect, for it to be God’s dwelling place amongst us, and it is. Bezalel, the master craftsman, made it himself. It was fashioned out of a single piece of gold, shaped into a smooth, flat lid. Two large, delicately sculptured, solid gold Cherubim with outstretched wings face each other, gracefully rising up, one from each end of the cover. I only get a glimpse of it of course, because it is quickly enveloped in the dense cloud of smoke resulting from burning the incense.

The Ark contains 3 different items. The two stone tablets with the 10 commandments written on them, my grandfather Aaron’s budded, almond tree staff, and a jar of the manna we lived on during those 40 long years in the desert. I haven’t seen them of course, as they were placed in there well before my time. You remember the desert too of course, when you were a lad. The manna tasted great, but sometimes we can have too much of a good thing! Never grateful for what we have, are we! But getting back to the Holy of Holies. Walls of solid gold surround the room, while the roof is a continuation of the pure white, linen cover, embroidered with Cherubim’s, that covers the Holy Place too. The glow of gold - the glow of God. Unbelievable

But now, on with the action. Now where did I get to? Yes. The heavenly cloud formed by the burning incense. Immersed in the cloud, literally and spiritually, I dip my finger in the bull’s blood I have brought in from my sacrifice, and sprinkle it on the Atonement Cover. Seven times more I sprinkle it on the floor in front of the Cover. “Oh Lord, how unworthy I am to come into your presence. Through this blood, I thank you that I am forgiven and can be one with you again. Thank you Father. How humble I feel, that you, Almighty God will forgive me and still accept me, even after the life I have lived.” His strength and grace overcome me, and I break down and cry out in His awesome presence. “My God! My God! My God!…….” I take my leave and walk back out to the Courtyard, a new man, cleansed by the grace of God, ready now to do the same thing for His, for my, people.

You know the rest, for you have been at the ceremony, my friend. How the sacrificial goat and scapegoat are chosen by lot. The sacrifice of the one, the sprinkling of the blood, once again, on and in front of the Atonement Cover. This time though, on behalf of all of us Jews. What an honour this is for me. Then followed by the release of the scapegoat into the wilderness to die rejected, carrying away all our sins.

Of course I have to again change my clothes, following the same procedure as earlier, but in reverse. For I have discovered that God is a God of order, not of chaos, and He requires His patterns to be fulfilled exactly as He sets them down.

Replica of High Priest's clothing.

Well, I had better get going now, for there is a quite a queue building up, waiting for me to attend to their sacrifices too. See you next time. The Lord bless you.”

"Yes my God, I submit to you."

The sun’s now high in the sky. Not looking forward to the 5,000 pace journey home just yet, you see down the road a shaded, inviting olive grove. A great place to sit down and ponder all that has been experienced and learned. The Spirit of God settles upon you, opening up new realms of understanding of your God and His glory. At peace with yourself. At peace with God. The sun rises to its peak as you drift off into a restful, contented sleep. After all, it is siesta time!

A short, introductory study on the application of the principles found in the pattern of Moses Tabernacle apply to the development of the church down through the ages, and beautifully describe the final church yet to come.

This is amazing stuff, explaining why the church is as it is today and how God desires it be in the future!

Not to be missed!

The call to believers today is one of repentance and holy living, so that we may enter the Most Holy Place, experientially as well as positionally. To restore the relationship with our Father, through Jesus, that Adam and Eve had before their fateful fruit fiesta! To bring us to a place of full submission to the will of the Father in our lives.

To inherit the kingdom now!

Sea of Galilee Climate and Life

Several hot mineral springs surround the Sea of Galilee. The largest of these springs is located near the ancient capital city of Tiberias, where Herod Antipas once included it in his hot baths. The number of sick people mentioned in the vicinity of the sea (see Matt. 14:35—36) may be due in part to the hot mineral springs and public baths in the area.

When these springs and baths did not provide cures, people sought the Rabbi from Capernaum, who had a reputation for being able to heal. Ten of Jesus’ thirty-tree recorded miracles—including a majority of his healing miracles—happened near the lake.

The Sea of Galilee contains fresh water. It is fed primarily by the Jordan River from the north and several wadis on the east that carry rain and melted snow from the Golan Heights.

Just as it does today, the Sea of Galilee teemed with fish in Jesus’ time. There was a prosperous commercial fishing industry in the many small villages and larger towns along its shore. Among these was Bethsaida, which means “house of fishermen.” Jesus’ choice of this location for his ministry, along with his selection of several fishermen as his disciples, made fishing imagery a natural illustration for some of his teachings (Matt. 4:19).

The climate of Galilee is quite tropical, with fertile soil. The most productive areas surround the sea. In Jesus’ time, wheat, barley, figs, grapes, and olives were produced in large quantities. The fertile fields often gave Jesus opportunities to illustrate his teaching (Matt. 12:1; 13:1—43; John 12:24). Jesus’ messages about wealth and earthly treasures were easily understood by the inhabitants of the prosperous lake communities ( Matt. 6:19—21; 16:26; Luke 12:16—21).

Source: http://www.followtherabbi.com