FINDING CHRIST IN THE TABERNACLE, PART 7.

Finding Christ in the Tabernacle, Part 7.

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17.

The Golden Incense Altar (Exodus 30:1-10)

We are now at the HEAD of the CROSS within the Tabernacle, the GATE was the foot of the CROSS, then we passed over the BURNT ALTAR, latter the LAVER, then we had the TABLE of SHOWBREAD on our right (north side) and the GOLDERN LAMPSTAND on our left (south side), now we are at the HEAD of the CROSS.

The Golden Incense Altar was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, and like the Table of Showbread it had a crown around the top of it, and four horns at the four corners. It was situated just in front of the Veil, the curtain which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It was square: half a metre by half a metre wide and one metre high or 11/2 feet by 2 feet high.

The priest had to burn incense at this altar in the morning and at twilight at the same time of the morning and evening burnt offerings (Exodus 30:7-8). Remember that the burning of the offering (meat) and the killing of the animals, there must have been a smell in the Tabernacle outer court.

It was an everlasting fragrance before the Lord. It had no fire upon it except what the priests brought in the censers of hot coals, which came from the burnt altar in the outer court, this they set on top of the altar.
And then crumbled the incense upon it, causing it to give forth a fragrant smoke or perfume, which filled the holy place with sweetness both day and night.

This altar points us to the prayer of the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (John 17; Mark 14:32-42). The burning incense speaks of prayer:

Psalm 141:2 “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Revelation 5:8 “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

The Golden Incense Altar had a golden crown round the top of it. It was this “crown of gold” that kept the coals and incense from being scattered or falling from the altar. The directions for the march of the camp of Israel are contained in Numbers 4: there is no mention there of removing the coals or incense from this altar.

While the incense altar was carried over the rough and sandy desert on the shoulders of the priests, the fragrant incense continued to burn and its smoke to ascend toward heaven.
Then the crown was specially needed to keep the coals and the incense together on the altar. No matter how rough our way, and no matter how our feet may stumble in the path, all the children of God have, continually, an unbroken and unwavering memorial before God, in the incense held together by the crown of purest gold.

This crown also speaks of “Jesus, crowned with glory and honour” Hebrews 2:9. However, because the Golden Incense Altar is the place of prayer, the crown and the prayer together give us a hint of a kingly priesthood.
This thought is developed in the book of Hebrews: the Messiah, Jesus Christ has become a priest according to the order of Melchisedek. He can understand with us as our great High Priest, Hebrews 4:15”For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

He is able to minister His supply of mercy and grace to us as the King of righteousness and King of peace, Genesis 14:18 “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” (Hebrews 7:25, 2; 4:16).
This is when Christ Himself appeared before Abraham. Remember what Jesus said in John 8:56-59 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Melchizedek the king of Salem (Jerusalem), the HIGH PRIEST of the LORD was seen by Abraham, when Abraham broke bread and wine with him, and offered up his tithe. This can only be JESUS our HIGH PRIEST.

Read Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1, 10-11, 15, 17, 21. Melchizedek was of the order of priesthood BEFORE the Levi priesthood of Moses, and would come AFTER the end of the Levi priesthood, fulfilled in the HIGH PRIEST role of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 6:20 “Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 7:11 “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?” Hebrews 7:15 “And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest.”

Prayer is very important in the daily life of all believers in the Lord. We should pray without ceasing says I Thessalonians 5:17, using all kinds of prayers and petitions with thanksgiving, praying at every time in the Spirit.
However, when our prayer is genuinely at the Golden Incense Altar, the Lord causes much incense to be added to our prayer. That incense rises back to Him as we pray according to His will. The location of the Golden Altar of Incense (in front of the veil of the Holy of Holies) shows us how close a Christian can get to God with an effective prayer life.

The Tabernacle is the house of God, His dwelling place (Exodus 25:8-9) and a foreshadow of both Christ and the Church (Colossians 2:9; I Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:21-22). It is God's desire that His house should “be a house of prayer for all nations” Isaiah 56:7.

For us to pray at the Golden Incense Altar, blood must first be applied (Leviticus 4:7), the blood of the Sin Offering. Then the incense must be prepared with genuine acknowledgements and experiences of the Son's Name - His purity, holiness, subjection, faith and dependence on God the Father. Then “whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full” John 16:23-24.

We should pray at every time in the Spirit says Ephesians 6:18 in the Son's Name. This will be sweet incense to God the Father. Jesus' ministry was not just healing and teaching people; it was also a service to God the Father in His living and in praying (Mark 1:32-35).
The night before He chose His twelve disciples, Jesus spent the whole night in the “prayer of God” Luke 6:12. His reproach “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” and His inspection regarding praying that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” Matthew 26:41.

So clearly come from One who is qualified to comment (Hebrews 2:14, 18). The disciples of Jesus never asked Him, “Teach us how to preach or heal,” but they did ask Jesus “Teach us how to pray!”
It is like having Jesus Himself at the Golden Incense Altar, on that night before the Veil (that is His flesh, Hebrews 10:20) will be torn from top to bottom, by God His Father (Matthew 27:46, 51). When He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.

Such a fragrance of incense exudes from this deep prayer by the great High Priest for all those in the House of God!
Let us also come to the Golden Incense Altar and thence boldly through the Veil to the throne of grace (the Ark of the Covenant), that we may find the mercy and obtain the grace He has prayed for us in this great time of need! (Hebrews 3:6; 4:14-16).

Just as the golden altar was the last object to be reached in the journey from the gate to the veil which hid the mercy-seat from view, just so is worship the highest state to be reached on earth and the object for which all other things are preparations.

There were two altars connected with the Tabernacle. Both were made of wood, but covered with a different metal: the one with brass, and so named after it “the brazen altar” Exodus 38:30; the other with gold, and so called “the golden altar” Exodus 39:38. The one was placed outside the building in the court, just before the entrance; the other was inside the holy place, and stood before the veil.

These altars were closely connected, but served different uses. Their characteristic names point out their distinctive designs: the former being designated:
1. “The altar of burnt offering” Exodus 40:6, and was the place of sacrifice.
2. “The altar of incense” Exodus 30:27, and was the place of worship.
Both altars were needed to set forth our one and only Altar, the worship of Jesus our Lord.

IF YOU KNOW NOT THE CHRIST (SAVIOUR) OF THE TABERNACLE, WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND HIM, CONTACT US AT: Internetpreachersforchrist@gmail.com

Part eight coming on site soon!

FINDING CHRIST IN THE TABERNACLE, PART THREE.

Finding Christ in the Tabernacle, Part three.

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17.
The Burnt Offering Altar (Exodus 27:1-8)

It was impossible to enter the Tabernacle without passing the altar of burnt-offering. That altar of sacrifice was God’s way in. Again we read: Jesus said “I am the Door; if any man enters through Me he shall be saved” John 10:9 and “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to (God) the Father except through Me” John 14:6.

The altar was FOUR-square. The FOUR sides were of equal length. It was FIVE cubits towards the east, FIVE cubits towards the west, FIVE cubits towards the north and FIVE cubits towards the south. The height was THREE cubits. So the numbers 5, 4, and 3 are in the altar.
FOUR must speak of the FOUR gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that tells us the life and ministry of Jesus.
FIVE speaks to me of our FIVE senses, sight, hearing, smelling, touching and taste. In all of these areas I know the Lord Jesus.
THREE speak of the Trinity of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
The FOUR sides and FOUR horns pointing in every direction of the compass seem to suggest that this is available to all. Men come to Christ from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Acacia (aca’cia) wood is a strong, high quality wood, representing the best humanity, that of Jesus. One type of tree in this group yields gum, used as a medicine for healing; another tree yields gum, used as a tonic. “I am the Lord that heals you.” “I have come to heal the sick and the broken hearted.” This wood cries out “Christ Jesus the Lord!”

Bronze in the Bible speaks of God's judgement, particularly His judgement over our rebellious thinking and speaking against Him (as in Numbers 16:29-40). Since the wood is overlaid with the bronze, the Burnt Offering Altar reminds us of man under God's judgement for our rebellion against Him. Since the wood is acacia (aca’cia) wood, this speaks of Jesus bearing the judgement of God for us on the cross.

At the Burnt Offering Altar the priests sacrificed various Offerings to God; some offerings were for their own sins and for the sins of the people.
The point of the burnt offering was that, by it, a person might become accepted before God and forgiven.

Leviticus 1:4 “Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” The offering had to be without blemish, the very healthiest and best available. This foreshadows the Lord Jesus, Who was examined by Pontius Pilate, who declared “I find no fault in Him at all” John 18:38.
The blood of the offering was poured out round the base of the altar, foreshadowing the Lord Jesus, whose precious blood flowed out when His side was pierced on the cross by a Roman spear (John 19:34; I Peter 1:19).

“The penalty of sin is death” Romans 6:23. According to the righteous requirement of the law, we should die for our sin.
However, there is a provision: “the life of the flesh (of a burnt offering or sacrifice) is in the blood, and I have given it you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” Leviticus 17:11, 8.

So, either you must die, or the offering can die in your place, a life for a life. If the offering dies, then (through its life-blood) there is atonement for your soul, at-one-ment, restoration to the God to whom you belong Leviticus 1:4 “Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” This is God's way, His provision.

This is acted on in faith: believing in God's provision, when we can do nothing for ourselves. As Abraham told Isaac in faith “God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering” Genesis 22:8, and He did: a male lamb hanging on a tree (Genesis 22:13) within view of Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2,14), which is where the Temple Mount still is today, in Jerusalem.

In fulfilment of all of these indications, God did not withhold His only Son: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
After its blood was poured out, the burnt offering was entirely consumed by burning, the only products being ashes and aroma. The ashes were removed from the camp to a “clean place”

Leviticus 6:8-13. The burning offering was a pleasing, sweet aroma to God (Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17) to make the person accepted before God and forgiven (Leviticus1:3-4).
In Ephesians 5:2, Paul shows us clearly that the burnt offering was an exact picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who “loved us and gave Himself up for us” on the cross, “an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

Jesus tells us “I am the Good Shepherd” John 10:11, to help us to enter through the Door. Furthermore: “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” John 10:11, so Jesus is the offering at the Burnt Offering Altar as soon as we get through the Door.
Rightfully we belong to God: we are His people and the sheep of His pasture, the flock in His care, hearing His voice (Psalm 95:7). The normal destiny of any sheep entering into the Tabernacle was certain death. However, Jesus has laid down His life in our place, for us His sheep.

In Jesus' own words “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, I lay down My life for the sheep” John 10:14-15. By believing in His death, “carrying up our sins in His body onto the tree” I Peter 2:24, we can be made acceptable to God, restored to the Shepherd and to His flock (I Peter 2:25).

A lamb was burnt at the Burnt Offering Altar every morning and every evening (Exodus 29:38-42). Learn to come to this altar every day to confess your sins to God and to remember (by offering thanks and praise, Hebrews 13:15) that the Lord Jesus died in your place to forgive you and to cleanse you from all sin by His blood:

At Calvary all saw a forsaken man dying the shameful death of crucifixion, but one dying thief saw “The Lord of glory.” Calvary was a cloudy and a dark day, but even then the strength of the altar of burnt offering was seen by eyes that could see. “Truly, this man was the Son of God” Mark 15:39.

“God is the Lord, and He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar” Psalms 118:27. This is what the four horns of the altar were for when the sacrifice was slain. It was more then the nails that held Christ on the cross, the cords that held Jesus where love, obedience, zeal for God, and joy.

IF YOU KNOW NOT THE CHRIST (SAVIOUR) OF THE TABERNACLE, WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND HIM, CONTACT US AT: Internetpreachersforchrist@gmail.com

Part four coming on site soon!