We come to a place in our study of worship that we must move into the Old Testament if we’re going to understand the New Testament and our proper stance in worship today. You cannot fully understand why we worship without first understanding the origins of worship. It would take months of sermons to exhaustively study worship in the Old Testament. For the purpose of our study, we don’t have that kind of time. So we are going to talk about it this morning and examine Old Testament worship practices from the perspective of the Tabernacle. It is here we find our blueprint to what should be our pattern of worship today.
The New Testament cannot exist without the Old Testament. Everything in the Old Testament pointed to the coming of Christ and the establishment of his Kingdom. The Old Testament contains over three hundred prophetic passages that refer to the first coming of Jesus the Messiah. Forty-eight of these prophecies refer specifically to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. All of them published during and eleven-hundred-year period that ended four centuries before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
I want you to have a clear picture of what worship would have been like in Old Testament times. If we only approach worship based on our feelings or preference, we will be off course in our approach to worship. This is why the modern church today is so far off base in our worship. We’ve largely abandoned Scripture as our guide. When we return to the pattern of worship revealed in Scripture, we begin to understand what pleases God in worship, rather than basing worship on our own preferences.
So in order understand the Old Testament and the tabernacle, we’ll go to the New, and we’ll be looking at most of Hebrews Chapter 9 this morning
I. The Holy Place of Worship
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail.
In C. S. Lewis’s classic fantasy The Chronicles of Narnia, four children discover an attic wardrobe that seems normal enough from the outside. But creeping inside, they discover an entire world that was hidden from their view, the world of Narnia with the White Witch and Aslan the lion-lord. What seemed mundane on the outside turned out to be filled with mystery.
The ancient people of Israel also had a normal-looking structure that contained things of great significance. It was the tabernacle God commanded them to build in the time of Moses. This tent structure did not seem like much from the outside. But once inside, one was confronted with holy things—indeed, with the holy God himself.
If we were to rebuild the Tabernacle today, according to God’s construction plans in Exodus 25-30, it would cost over 13 million dollars. Israel’s Tabernacle was a portable tent that was the center of their worship prior to the Temple. It was built with specific instructions and all the tribes of Israel were camped around it in a designated and orderly formation. Compared to structures like the Temple, the Taj Mahal, or other shrines the Tabernacle was modest and appeared insignificant, but its purpose can not be understated.
Approaching the Tabernacle, you would first notice the brilliant white walls that formed the courtyard. The white linens proclaimed the holiness of its function. The enclosure was 150 feet long by 75 feet wide. When a worshiper entered the courtyard, he was immediately in front of the Altar of Burnt Offering. This is where the sacrifices were done and it was as far as the layman could go. The worshipper would enter the courtyard with the sacrifice, and place his hands on the heave of the offering (Lev 1:4).
Behind the altar was the bronze laver, an enormous washbasin for the cleansing of the priests (Exodus 30:20-21). Directly behind the Laver was the actual Tabernacle that housed the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Tabernacle was 15X45 built with gorgeous tapestries of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns and overlaid with layers of animal skins.
Inside the Tabernacle were the two rooms with walls of gold. The outer room was the Holy Place. Inside the Holy Place were the lampstand, the table of the showbread, and the golden altar of incense. All of the furnishings were covered in pure gold.
The inner room was the Holy of Holies, which held the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the stone tablets of the Law (Deut 10:5), Aaron’s staff that budded (Num 17:1-11), and the jar of manna (Ex 16:33-34). The Ark was covered with a lid that contained two cherubim of and the blood of atonement was sprinkled, that the sins of Israel were propitiated.
II. The Holy Manner of Worship
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:6-10).
Now that we have a layout of the Tabernacle, the worship that was conducted there will make more sense. Worshippers brought their sacrifices continually to the bronze altar. The job of the priests was to continually slaughter the animals in the proper manner. The animal’s blood was drained and splatter on the altar. The burnt offering would be given and the entire animal must be consumed. It was gruesome and it was designed to be that way. Worship in the Old Testament was designed to remind the worshipper that forgiveness was not cheap. Worship is costly. In some sacrifices, a portion was set aside for the priests or the giver, but when a sacrifice was used for atonement, the entire animal must be consumed. Also, the animal offered could not have any blemish, sickness or defect.
The place of honor to serve as a priest was in the outer room of the Tabernacle. There they must tend to the showbread or the Bread of Presence. These two loaves were always to be fresh and set out every sabbath (Lev 24:5-9). They sat upon a special table made of acacia wood and pure gold. The bread was not to “feed God,” but was there as a reminder that the Israelites were dependent upon God for their very essence of life.
Also in the Holy Place was the gold lampstand. This was the only light provided in the tabernacle. It was made of pure gold and stood opposite of the bread of Presence (Ex 25:31-36). The lampstand was formed into the fashion of almond branches and buds. The priests would be charged to maintain their light continually. They would ensure it was full of oil, the wicks were trimmed, and everything was done according to God’s pattern of holiness. The purpose of the lamp was to remind the priests of God’s light. There is no darkness with God and He alone is the giver of life and light.
In the middle of the room was the Altar of Incense (Ex 30:1-5). There were specific instructions on how to build the altar (Ex 30:1-5), and also specific instructions for the recipe for the incense to be burned on the altar (Ex 30:34-38). It is important to see here that the priests were not liberty to choose the flavor of incense according to their own tastes. They must use the exact recipe God provided for them. When Nadab and Abihu tried to offer a strange fire of incense, they were consumed by God (Lev 10:1-14). Even more, no one was permitted to use the incense for their personal use. This was reserved as holy for God and it represented the prayers of God’s people reaching toward the heavens.
Now between the outer room and the inner room of the Tabernacle was a thick veil. The Mishnah describes the veil as being as thick as a man’s hand. Only once a year on the Day of Atonement (also known as Yom Kippur) Lev 23:27-28). This was the place where sins were forgiven.
The high priest would sacrifice the bull and fill a censer with the burning coals from the altar of burnt offering. He entered the Holy of Holies and poured two handfuls of incense onto the coals so a cloud covered the Mercy Seat. As he left, sprinkled the blood of the bull onto the Mercy Seat. He would then do the same ritual with the goat.
III. The Holy Provision for Worship
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
I don’t want to leave you hanging with the purpose of all of this. What we find in the Old Testament is significant to our understanding of worship in the New Testament and for all of us today. Nothing in the Old Testament worship system at the Tabernacle or later in the Temple was about the preferences, imagination, or creativity of the priests or the worshippers. I know this stands in afront to what we’re taught today, but it should at the very least cause us to pause and reflect on what we’re doing.
Worship is all bringing our best offering to God according to His preferences. Coming to church is not about what you are going to get out of it. (Yes, you will get something out of it, but that, not the primary purpose of our being here.) It is coming to give something to God because He and He alone is holy. And He and He alone is worthy of our best.
As we will see next week, the Tabernacle points us first to the perfect fulfillment of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God taking away our sins. The Apostles and early church would see this more clearly because most of them came out of the Temple worship system. Every aspect, detail, and orientation of the Tabernacle and later the Temple was designed by God to personify or characterize the coming of Christ. His substitutionary work on the cross is described in perfect detail. But the Tabernacle was incomplete.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-14)
There is one more thing here I want you to see as I close. The pattern of worship for us seen in the Tabernacle. The songs that we sing flow to a specific order. Going to the temple was to be a joyous time. The Songs of Ascent would be a time of high praise. Upon arriving at the Tabernacle, the worshipper would arrive at the Gate of Thanksgiving. A beautifully woven and ornate entrance into the Tabernacle. Then onto the altar of sacrifice where confession and forgiveness are sought and then into the Holy of Holies, before the Mercy Seat of God. The final atonement for our sins happens at this place of judgment.
Next week we will be back at the Tabernacle, but instead of looking at from the Old Testament perspective, we’ll look back at it from the Cross. Because ultimately, worship is a response and recognition of who Jesus is and what He has done. The more we know and understand these things about God, the purpose of the Old, and the fulfillment of Jesus in the New, the more significant and meaningful it becomes for us as we approach God. When this happens our entire approach to worship dramatically shifts.
Take it to the Cross
Close
Pray
Sermon Notes
I. Our Holy Place of Worship
II. The Holy Manner of Worship
III. The Holy Provision for Worship
Study Questions
1. What is the significance of the tabernacle or temple for the people of Israel?
2. What kind of imagery in the Tabernacle design do you see (See Exodus 25-30; Hebrews 9).
3. What is the significance of the Tabernacle to us today, if any?
4. How should understanding the Tabernacle influence our manner of worship?
