A better sanctuary
Last time we took a quick overview of the Tabernacle and what it represented. We saw that it was exquisitely and lovingly made using lots of gold and silver. The main purpose, however, was not to create a thing of physical beauty, but to illustrate God’s relationship with His people and to make it clear that we can only approach Him on His own terms. Around the tabernacle there was a fence with only one entrance. The way to the holy of holies, into God’s presence, involved sacrifice, cleansing, illumination, fellowship and worship. This study was to provide some background for our next studies in chapters 8 and 9.
Chapter 8 begins the main focus of Hebrews. We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. Hebrews 8 and 9, explain this reference to the true tabernacle.
The author of Hebrews called the Tabernacle the earthly sanctuary v1 to distinguish it from what it illustrated – the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man 8:2. Wonderful as it was, it was only a copy and shadow of the heavenly things 8:5. Christ drew aside the curtains of heaven so that we could get a glimpse of the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation– 9v11. In other words the OT Tabernacle illustrated heaven itself – 9v24 and the basis for mankind to have a relationship with God.
Seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens 8v1
In this heavenly realm everything is dominated by the person of our Great High Priest, sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens. He is truly God, yet truly man, understanding our weaknesses and failings and able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him – Heb 7:25 He helps and encourages us when we are in difficulties and pleads our cause before His Father’s throne. It is this divine reality, existing behind and above the physical things that we see or touch, which God wants us to see with the eye of faith. It is this reality to which we must cling in faith, when our world seems to be shaking and crumbling around us.
According to the pattern
The tabernacle was made in this world by gifted people, out of perishable materials that were joyfully contributed by the people, or given by the terrified Egyptians before the Israelites finally left Egypt after the plagues. The tabernacle was a tent, which could be taken down and set up again. Eventually its components wore out or were stolen or lost. What was important was its design and what it represented. It was built, under Moses supervision, in accordance with detailed instructions from God. This is why there is such an emphasis on phrases like according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain Ex 25.40 and repeated in Heb 8:5. Right down to the last tent peg, the divine design had to be followed. It had to be like that if God were to dwell there and illustrate the important realities which were known only to Him.
Moses had been educated in the University of Egypt, but that was of no value in the design of the Tabernacle. God didn’t want an Egyptian temple to live in! Moses had to make everything things exactly as God told him. We can furnish and decorate our own homes according to our taste or, at least, to our wives taste! If we want Jesus to live in our hearts and churches though, we must follow His instructions exactly. If you think that you know better and modify His design then don’t expect His blessing. God doesn’t adapt His character and plans to suit our fads or preferences.
Yet that is exactly what people, even Church people, have been doing for generations. They think that they can pick and choose which bits of the Bible to follow. If they don’t like something they conclude that it was ‘cultural’ or just for then and feel free to ignore it. You can’t treat the Bible like a buffet, where you take just those bits that you fancy, leaving those you don’t like behind! It is all or nothing.
Some of us are a bit more sophisticated. We believe the whole Bible, but don’t actually put its commands into practice! That would have been like Moses writing down God’s wonderful design and discussing it with the Tabernacle Committee for 40 years, but not actually building anything.
46 Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? 47"Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 "But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6.
The emphasis is clearly on both hearing and obeying. Too often we seem to forget that.
You call me Master and Obey me not.
You call me Light and See me not.
You call me Way and Walk me not.
You call me Life and Desire me not.
You call me Wise and Follow me not.
You call me Fair and Love me not.
You call me Rich and Ask me not.
You call me Eternal and Seek me not.
You call me Gracious and Trust me not.
If I condemn you, Blame me not.
Written anonymously on the walls of a medieval castle
Menorah
Later we are going to be thinking about the 7 branched lampstand that used to stand in the tabernacle. It is interesting, to note that the Menorah, a similar lampstand, has become the symbol of Judaism and was chosen as the official emblem for the state of Israel. Interestingly it has 8 branches, not 7.
During the Maccabean Revolt in 165 B.C. the Greek ruler Antiochus desecrated the temple by erecting idols and forbidding worship of God. When the Jews finally reclaimed their Temple they lit the lampstand, but only had enough oil for one day. Miraculously, however, the oil lasted for eight days, long enough to press the olives and make more of the holy anointing oil. To commemorate this a menorah with eight branches is the lampstand used for Hanukah – "the feast of lights."
This is typical of what the Jews did to God’s word, and many others have done since. As Jesus put it in Mt 23 the scribes and the Pharisees bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders. Jesus condemned them because they didn’t comply with these rules themselves and would not even reach out a finger to help the people to comply! Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men; replacing God’s word with men’s ideas or just adding, in tremendous detail, to the requirements of OT law.
We must stick with what God has said in His word and not add to it, take away from it or undermine it by ‘reinterpreting’ it to make it politically or scientifically acceptable.
The tabernacle
The author of Hebrews did not need to explain the detail of the tabernacle because his Jewish readers were intimately familiar with it and, anyway, it was peripheral to his main theme. (9:5) I’m assuming that you know a lot less about it so I’m taking some time to explain what it represents – particularly the aspects that the writer of the Hebrews drew attention to.
9:2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the Ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
The first part of the inner tabernacle, or holy place contained the Lampstand and a table with 12 loaves of bread, or showbread, on it. The inner section, or holy of holies, was separated from the outer area by an embroidered curtain or veil. Verse 3 describes this as the second veil, which is a bit confusing at first as we tend to think of just one veil – dividing the holy place from the holy of holies. The solution is quite simple, though. The first veil was the curtain that formed the outer entrance (Ex 26:36, 37) to the holy place.
Lampstand (Ex. 25:31-39)
The lampstand is the first item mentioned in Hebrews. It was made from solid gold that was hammered into shape. It had 7 oil lamps, one at the top and 3 on each side. The 7 lamps were to burn continually (Lev 24:1-4). Every morning and evening the priests trimmed the wicks, took away the ashes and topped up the oil to keep the lamps burning.
We might think that it illustrates Christ who said I am the light of the world, but it didn’t illuminate the outside– that was done by the pillar of fire. The lampstand illumined the Holy Place so that the priests could see what they were doing as they served God. They needed it because there were no windows in the Tabernacle. This is about light for service, not light for salvation.
The lampstand illustrates Christ as the power for service – supplying the light we need. As the lamp was made from gold which was hammered into the final shape (Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. Ex 25:36) so Christ was beaten and crucified to become our Saviour and Great High Priest. The light represents illumination through His word. David experienced this Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path Ps 119:105. The oil represents the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who takes the written word and reveals through it the Living Word. This is made clear in the description of another lampstand in Zechariah.
1 Now the angel …said to me, "What do you see?" So I said, "I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 … "What are these, my lord?" 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." 6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.
There is a similar usage in Rev 4:5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. (NIV)
How desperately we need to turn away from human wisdom and might to the wisdom of Christ in Scripture, applied in the power of the sevenfold Holy Spirit. As He illuminates us, He expects us to share this light with others. Jesus is a light, not only to us, but He is the light of the world. John 8:12 He went on to say As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world John 9:5. What does that mean? He was making the point that since His ascension we must show forth His light You are the light of the world Mt 5:14.
You get the same idea in Rev 1:12 I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.:20 "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
The order is quite clear. Christ illuminates His church and, in turn, we are to share that light with others. We have no light in ourselves. It is like the sun and the moon. The moon produces no light, but it reflects the light of the sun. Are we reflecting Jesus light into a dark world? Or are we obstructing His light and causing an eclipse?
A young girl’s aunt took her out for the day and they went to a great cathedral. It was the first time the girl had ever visited such a magnificent place and she sat gazing in wonder at the sunlit beauty of the large stained glass windows. “Auntie, who are those people in the windows?” she whispered. “They are saints,” her aunt replied. After a long pause the girl said in a loud whisper that could be heard by those who sat nearby, “Now I know what saints are. They’re not people who wear strange clothes and always frown. They are people who let the light shine through!”
In Rev 2:5 Jesus warned the Church in Ephesus Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place––unless you repent.
What was their terrible sin? V4 tells us I have this against you, that you have left your first love. How about us? How much do we love Jesus? Has our love cooled? It does in many human relationships. We seem to fall out of love as easily as we fall in love. This accounts for the high divorce rate, not to mention loveless marriages and many other cool or strained relationships.
What are the signs of a cool relationship? There are many, including:
• Is there someone else? I don’t mean you are going to a mosque of Hindu temple! But has something or someone become more important in your life than Jesus?
• Have we stopped talking? How is our prayer life?
• Have we stopped listening? Do we spend time reading the Bible and enjoy it?
• Do we only take and not give back anything? What do we give back for all that God has given us? The church desperately needs willing workers.
• Do you spend much time together as a family? How are you with your church attendance? Do you only attend church services on Sunday mornings? Many are otherwise occupied on a Sunday evening or during the weeknight meetings. There are genuine family and health reasons that prevent some from coming, but I hope that the TV, or something similar, doesn’t keep you away from the presence of God and the glory of His Word.
There is a strong warning in 10:25 "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." We should be careful to heed it, or we will dishonour our God and Saviour, rob ourselves and weaken the Church. There is no such thing in Scripture as a once a week Christian, but there are plenty of weak Christians!
David said: I was glad when they said to me, `Let us go into the house of the LORD. (Psa 122:1) Are we?
Of course coming to Church 3 times a week doesn’t make us ‘good Christians,’ but if we don’t want to meet, pray, read the Bible and serve the Lord there is something seriously wrong with us. Are we bearing light to the glory of God?
Has the love we first had for the Lord, when we were saved and were so grateful for all that He did for us, cooled? If so will you ask for His forgiveness and consider how and why you have cooled.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place––unless you repent….7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Rev 2
