Tabernacle Imagery Builds Psychological Model For Christian Counseling # 4 Series

1. The relationship to God has changed because of the new covenant in Christ.

2. The furnishings in the tabernacle show the spiritual walk necessary for coming into a right relationship with God to stand in His presence.

3. And three, that union with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit is based upon the recognition of the biblical concepts of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ as the High Priest, the voice of Christ to the Christian, and that faith is the proper response of the Christian to the voice of Christ. These concepts have their source in the tabernacle.

When these three biblical patterns, which are demonstrated by the tabernacle, are acted upon, they modify human behavior.

For further study

For those interested I have listed other topics related to the tabernacle and Hebrews as a suggestion for further study:

1. Compare the relationship of the structure of the tabernacle with the structure of being and the personality of being as found in the creation account.

2. Determine the new order of a high priest as revealed in the life and writings of David as a possible basis for the message in Hebrews relating to the tabernacle.

3. Examine the spiritual applications of the tabernacle of David as a further descriptive explanation of the relationship of the believer with God.

4. Show the tabernacle as a model of the divine/human intimacy with God through Christ, which intimacy is essential to our existence and behavior.

5. Show the ministry in the tabernacle (step by step) as a model by giving each station or furniture a divine/human spiritual application to explain spiritual and psychological realities. These could be used in a “problem oriented counseling technique” as the author of Hebrews has done.

6. Show the human side of the divine/human relationship as presented in Hebrews by the concepts of faith, partakers, and presence, as being grounded in the tabernacle.

7. Show the psychological dynamics of motivation, perception, and cogitation, as presented in Hebrews, as being grounded in the tabernacle.

8. Develop a fuller understanding of the Christian having access to God in Christ as presented in Hebrews and revealed by the tabernacle.

9. Develop the teachings of “abiding in Christ,” “walking in the Spirit,” and “resting in the promises of God,” in the light of the threefold structure of the tabernacle in light of the message in Hebrews.

10. Develop the same for the teachings of “sanctification, justification, and glorification.”

11. Using the tabernacle as a model, develop Jesus’ concept of “oneness,” Paul’s concept of “in Christ/Christ in us,” and Hebrews concept of “partakers of Christ and the Holy Spirit.”