P1 Freed From An Old Life To Live A New Life - Romans 7:1-6

Romans 7:1-4 "Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."

Introduction:

When I was growing up as a child, we had a dear neighbor, an older lady and her husband, that lived next door. As a child, I would often see this dear lady cultivating her small flower garden and also witness her husband cultivating his rather large vegetable garden. The husband, as we came to find out, did not like his wife's flowers getting in the way of either his yard or his garden. So, he had her grow her flowers underneath their porch. My parents, in the nicest way possible, told me that the husband limited what his wife could do, and that he was very particular about what went on with their property. Over time, as we got to the know the couple, the husband would be rather gruff and un-neighborly at times; whilst the wife would exercise hospitality and warmth toward whomever came to their door.

The time came when we got word that the lady's husband had passed away due to a long-standing illness. After mourning his passing, the lady moved to a different house - an apartment. My parents and the lady had gotten to know one another, and so we would visit her. When we went to her home, I noticed she had flowers everywhere! In her former house, conditions were such that she was restricted. But now she was enjoying her new found freedom. She had flowers in her windows, decorative flowers outside her apartment door, flowers on her end-tables - flowers everywhere! No longer was she under the thumb of her controlling husband. She was free to enjoy her love of flowers.

Sin - the Horrible Husband (Spouse)
Romans 7 explores the conflict that exists in the life of the Christian.  Before getting to that main theme, Paul chooses to illustrate the reality of sin and the reality of Christ through the illustration of marriage and how its bonds are severed upon the passing of a spouse.  The theme of "freedom" that we saw in the last post carries on into Romans 7:1-6. In contrast to freedom, Paul lays forth the concept of "slavery". We saw already in Romans 6:20-22 his illustration of these two concepts in the context of the world of slavery, followed by a second illustration of these contrasting principles by way of wages paid to an employee or a soldier in time of service. Paul's point in his contrasting "slavery" and "freedom" is to show the "bad news" (6:20-21) in contrast to "good news (6:22-23)". Remember: the Gospel always begins with the bad news before proceeding to the good news. 

When you and I are born into this world, we are, as it were, wedded to sin.  As we grew and developed, this spouse comes to more and more dominate your life.  In using the analogy of marriage, Paul states that as long as unbelief operates in the human heart, the marriage to the sinful self will become more and more loveless.

Sin's chief function in the life of the unbeliever is that of dominion.  By tracing the argument back to Romans 6:14, we discover that the Christian is set free from the "dominion" or the "necessity" to only sin.  Like a bad marriage, sin abuses, takes over and demands.  In the life of the unbeliever, self is always crying "I want" and never "I'll give".  Sin shouts "mine" and never "His".  Sin will gladly wear a three-piece suit and go to church and be religious, just as long as the cross is not mentioned. 

Christ the Good Husband (Spouse)
Paul teaches that as long as the first "husband" of unbelief is alive in my heart, I am bound to that "bad marriage".  A loveless, lifeless marriage is like a walking death.  This is Paul's point - to show His readers that Good Husband - Christ.  Therefore whenever the Spirit comes calling, I by grace through faith believe and the former life - the former "husband"- is declared legally dead by God.  Death can only be declared at the cross.  

More next time....

True Freedom - Romans 6:20-23

Romans 6:20-7:3 "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Introduction:

Paul's main section on the post-conversion Christian life begins with a preliminary statement on our union with Jesus Christ, the New Adam, in Romans 5:12-21. In Romans 6, we get introduced to the main theme of union with Christ by way of the realities of our Christian identity (a.k.a "Gospel Indicatives") and the responsibilities that follow (a.k.a "Gospel Imperatives"). Paul lays out our Christian identity, our position in Christ, by building up the firm foundation of Gospel indicatives. He uses the language of "in Christ", "through Christ", "into Christ" and so forth to reinforce to his readers who they are and Whose they are. The imperatives (such as "reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive unto God" in Romans 6:11) follow from the indicatives to build our growing experience in Jesus Christ. All of this is Paul's supreme case for the process of sanctification which he will further expound in Romans 7 and 8. 

In today's post, we want to see how Paul layers on another key theme and contrast in his exposition on the post-conversion Christian life - namely "freedom" in Christ as having rescued the Christian from "enslavement" to sin. Paul will develop this key theme by three ways: illustrating such from the world of 1st century Roman slavery (Romans 7:20-22); illustrating the contrast between spiritual freedom and sin's tyranny by way of the world of employment and wages (Romans 6:23) and then thirdly, by how a spouse is freed to marry again once her first husband has passed away (Romans 7:1-6). We will focus upon the first two of these illustrations of true spiritual freedom in contrast to sin's tyranny.
Today's post will consider what it means to have true freedom in Christ, and why being tied to Jesus is the greatest form of freedom there is. 

True Freedom is found under the Lordship of Jesus Christ

It has been said that: "the one who is a slave to the compass will become lord of the seas; but the one who abandons the compass will become a slave to the shoreline." How many of us, if we're truly honest, like being told what to do? None of us do. However, one of the counter-intuitive truths of Christianity is that the more I'm under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the greater amount of spiritual freedom I will have. When we talk of spiritual freedom, I liken it to the amount of enjoyment one has of being a follow of Jesus. 

Jesus Himself talked early on about spiritual freedom in John 8:32 "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” In Paul's other letters, we find this wonderful theme of spiritual freedom in 2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Or again in Galatians 5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Again, spiritual freedom has to do with one's level of enjoyment in being a follower of Jesus Christ. Matthew 11:28-29 records Jesus talking about this in the following command: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." 

Now these passages speak of the interrelationship between Christ's Lordship and spiritual freedom. The more bound I am to Jesus Christ's Lordship, the more enjoyment of the Christian life I will have. To illustrate, lets consider the first-time a man broke the sound barrier.

Chuck Yeager - The first man to break the sound barrier

On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager flew an aircraft named "Bell X-1" to break the sound barrier at a velocity of 700 m.p.h. To achieve this feat, Yeager's aircraft was drop launched from the belly of a modified B-29 Superfortress plane, pictured below:



What would had happened if Yeager's plane had not been attached to the much larger one? Yeager's range of freedom in breaking the sound-barrier would had been hindered. 

In the Christian life, the follower of Jesus must be bound-over to the authority of Jesus and His Word if he or she is to ever break the barriers of growth and progress in Christian faith. The gravity of sin and the old life will attempt to drag on us. This is why we read in Romans 6:22-23 "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We must be aware of the enticement and false-advertisements of sin

Paul repeatedly warns us not to give into the beckoning call to the old way of life from whence we were redeemed. The world, the flesh and the devil promise all sorts of freedom. After all, the unbelieving world is convinced that if we would but sever ourselves from the authority of God, we would be free indeed. Psalm 2:1-4 perfectly captures this attitude of sinful man, and God's response to it: "Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them." In the prophetic tapestry of the Bible, Psalm 2 functions as a so-called "Messianic Psalm", meaning that even though the term "anointed" speaks in the immediate context to King David, the ultimate referent is "The Anointed One", i.e - The Lord Jesus Christ. What unbelievers find most objectionable is the claim Christ has on everything. 

However, Paul utilizes the simple imagery of earning wages at a job. We've already seen his use of this in Romans 6:22-23. The Bible Exposition Commentary on Romans 6:20-23 notes the following: 

"If you serve a master, you can expect to receive wages. Sin pays wages—death! God also pays wages—holiness and everlasting life. In the old life, we produced fruit that made us ashamed. In the new life in Christ, we produce fruit that glorifies God and brings joy to our lives. We usually apply Romans 6:23 to the lost, and certainly it does apply; but it also has a warning for the saved. (After all, it was written to Christians.) “There is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:17). “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep” (1 Cor. 11:30, NASB). Samson, for example, would not yield himself to God, but preferred to yield to the lusts of the flesh, and the result was death (Jud. 16). If the believer refuses to surrender his body to the Lord, but uses its members for sinful purposes, then he is in danger of being disciplined by the Father, and this could mean death. (See Heb. 12:5–11, and note the end of v. 9 in particular.)"

Years ago I heard the following saying: "sin will keep longer than you intended to stay and it will cost you more than you intended to pay". Righteousness in Jesus Christ has its wages, its payment, its outcome; and sin has its payday too. In Christ, there is eternal life; when we sin as Christians, a little part of us dies. Only the grace of the Gospel and genuine repentance can rescue us from the snares of sin (see 2 Timothy 2:24-25; 1 John 1:9). 

True spiritual freedom comes by staying lashed to the mast of Christ's Lordship and keeping one's eye on the compass of His Word. As the great commentator John Gill notes in his commentary:

"....a life of the utmost perfection and pleasure, and which will last for ever: and as the grace of God, which justifies and sanctifies them, is through Christ, so is the eternal life itself which it brings unto: this is in Christ, comes through his righteousness, sufferings, and death; is bestowed by him, and will greatly consist in the enjoyment of him."

Indeed, to be bound to the compass of the Master and His authority will afford me the ability to truly enjoy the Christian life, no matter how hard it may get.  

Some Of God's Morally Sufficient Reasons For Permitting Pain And Suffering In Our World - A Study Of John 11

Note: The above picture is from a sixth century mosaic of Jesus raising Lazarus. The mosaic is located at The Church Of Sant'Apollinaire Nuovo in Ravenna Italy

John 11:1-4 "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”

Introduction:

Today's post is going to cover what is perhaps one of the most familiar miracles of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels - the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In this particular post, we want to consider reasons why God delays (or seems to delay) in preventing pain and suffering. This particular issue has been at the epicenter of both philosophical and theological discussion for millennia. In this particular post, I simply want to lay out some of the Biblical and life-practical reasons that explains God's morally sufficient purposes for permitting pain and suffering. What follows is not meant to be exhaustive, since there are morally sufficient reasons that God has for permitting much of what we see and yet, we're not in the position to necessarily know what those reasons are. With that said, we will use Jesus' delay in John 11:1-16 and its larger context to lay out some of these reasons. Note...

1. God's first morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: A Greater Good

John 11:5-6 states - "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was." Jesus purposefully delayed going to Lazarus. Why? a greater good was in view. What was the greater good? John 11:14-15 tells us: "So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” Jesus knew that if He raised Lazarus when He raised Him, the disciples' faith in Him would be strengthened. They were in no position to see that outcome. In many instances, the possibility of a greater good being worked out by God through His Divine permission of evil and suffering seems quite remote. However, the timing of Jesus was such that the delay proved quite strategic.  

2. God's second morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: Godly Character development

Why else would God permit evil and suffering to persist in our world? for the development of character in people. Think about His conversation with Martha in John 11:20-27 

"Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

By the end of the conversation, Martha's faith and perspective on Jesus and the meaning of life had shifted to a more Christ-centered direction. She would never be the same after this miracle. What if Jesus had arrived two days prior? would we had witnessed this conversation? would Martha experience such a life-altering change? As Adrian Rogers has noted about God's seeming delays: "God's delays are not God's denials". So, God's morally sufficient reasons for permitting pain and suffering include some greater good and the development of Godly character. Notice a third possible reason....

3. God's third morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: Genuine response to the Gospel

In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus has the following conversation - "Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus is dealing with two incidents, both of which He never gives the full reasons for why God permitted them to occur. The only common thread we find in Jesus' recounting is the urgency for His audience to repent. Repentance is both a Divine gifting of grace and secondly, a definite response and turn of the mind and heart from sin unto Christ. Mind you, these morally sufficient reasons cannot on their own explain every instance for why there may be suffering in a given situation. 

Obviously Jesus doesn't lay out the philosophical nor theological reasons for the Tower of Siloam falling on bystanders nor the slaughter of worshipers of God in the temple. But one thing is certain: God can use bad things to get our attention. We may not grasp the "whys". All we know is that it is incumbent upon every person to be sure they are right with God through Jesus. When we return back to John 11:45, we read the following outcome of this miracle - "Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him."

4. God's fourth morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: God's Glory being revealed

One may think that God's permitting evil and suffering would detract from the revelation of all that He is (i.e. His glory). However, notice what Jesus says the outcome will be of Lazarus' sickness in John 11:4 "But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” We know by the tail-end of John 11 that Lazarus does die. But, his death is only temporary. Indeed, Jesus' bringing Lazarus back to life demonstrates the truth of His words, namely, the sickness would not lead to death. Jesus, in effect, was already stating what would be the outcome of Lazarus relative to the miracle He was about to perform. 

We read elsewhere in John's Gospel concerning why a certain man had been born blind in John 9:1-3 "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." God can use bad circumstances to reveal His glory. Much like a jeweler placing a black cloth in the background of a precious jewel to make the jewel's facets pop out in their brilliance, so too, God has chosen to create a world populated by free-moral creatures with the permitted possibility of such creatures rejecting Him. Although it may right now look like God's purposes are thwarted, nevertheless, in the end, God will be glorified (see Habakkuk 2:14; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 11:15; 21-22).  

5. God's fifth morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: Generate Trust

The one trait I notice about much of the Biblical record devoted to God's Sovereignty and the reality of pain and suffering is how often God doesn't tell the person all the details. In Job for example, the reader is given a gallery view of the cosmic chain of cause and effect going on between the actions of Satan, various villains in Job's life, the weather patterns and of course God's guidance of the whole process through those secondary causes. God doesn't divulge to Job why Job is undergoing his atrocities. However, by the end of Job, we find Job's trust in God strengthened, as seen in Job 42:5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You".

So when we look once more at Jesus' miracle of raising Lazarus in John 11, do we see evidence of somebody's trust in Jesus being strengthened? we do. Mary, Lazarus' sister, was young in her faith. She was the one who sat at Jesus feet, listening to Him teach in Luke 10:38-42. Did Mary grasp why Jesus delayed his coming? no. She tells Jesus in John 11:32 that if He had gotten their sooner, Lazarus would not had died. Now notice what Jesus does: Jesus weeps, but He doesn't explain to Mary why He delayed. Instead, Jesus does the miracle and then we find an extraordinary outcome beginning in John 12. In short, Mary ends up anointing Jesus six days before His crucifixion. Her faith had been strengthened and we see a prime example of what it means to follow Jesus. 

Closing thoughts:

In today's post we laid out five morally sufficient reasons for which God permits pain and suffering from a study of John 11...

1. God's first morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: A Greater Good

2. God's second morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: Godly Character development

3. God's third morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: Genuine response to the Gospel

4. God's fourth morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: God's Glory being revealed

5. God's fifth morally sufficient reason for permitting pain and suffering: Generate Trust

May the Lord enable us to trust Him more in this world as we find ourselves dealing with what can often-be the hardships of life. I close with these words from John 11:25-27 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

How To Get Connected To The Bible In 30 Days

Psalm 19:7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."

Introduction:

Today's post aims to be an encouragement and a challenge to readers. The encouragement part has to do with presenting a feasible way of getting into a daily habit of Bible reading for the next 30 days. The challenge to the reader is to simply do it. 

What is the plan? In the book of Psalms we have a handful of psalms that Bible teachers call "Torah Psalms". These "Torah Psalms" are psalms dedicated to unfolding the value of God's Word to one's walk with God. The plan entails taking the verses in Psalm 19:7-14 and the 22 sections of Psalm 119 (eight psalms each) and sectioning these all up into a 30 day reading pattern. The plan for getting connected with the Bible in 30 days would go something like the following:

Day 1 - Psalm 19:7
Day 2 - Psalm 19:8
Day 3 - Psalm 19:9
Day 4 - Psalm 19:10
Day 5 - Psalm 19:11
Day 6 - Psalm 19:12
Day 7 - Psalm 19:13
Day 8 - Psalm 19:14

The first eight days would involve reading one verse-a-day from Psalm 19:8-14. On the ninth day, the reader would "kick-it-up-a-notch" to reading eight verses a day, beginning with Psalm 119:1-8. The reason being is because Psalm 119 is divided into 22 portions of eight verses. In the original Hebrew, Psalm 119 has each of its eight verse sections start each verse with a corresponding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This would had enabled people to memorize the entire Psalm (imagine that!). In many English Bibles, the sections of Psalm 119 still include the Hebrew name of their alphabetic sections (for instance, Psalm 119:1-8 is called "aleph", Psalm 119:9-16 is called "beth" and so on). Anyway, we could begin Psalm 119 on day 9 and move through its 22 sections until we reach the 30th day. Thus, for example....

Day 9 - Psalm 119:1-8 or "aleph"
Day 10 - Psalm 119:9-16 or "beth"
Day 11 - Psalm 119:17-24 or "gimel"
Day 12 - Psalm 119:25-32 or "daleth"
Day 13 - Psalm 119:33-40 or "he"
Day 14 - Psalm 119:41-48 or "Vau"
Day 15 - Psalm 119:49-56 or "Zain"
Day 16 - Psalm 119:57-64 or "Cheth"
Day 17 - Psalm 119:65-72 or "Theth"
Day 18 - Psalm 119:73-80 or "Jod"
Day 19 - Psalm 119:81-88 or "Caph"
Day 20 - Psalm 119:89-96 or "Lamed"
Day 21 - Psalm 119:97-104 or "Mem"
Day 22 - Psalm 119:105-112 or "Nun"
Day 23 - Ps 119:113-120 or "Samech"
Day 24 - Ps 119:121-128 or "Ain"
Day 25 - Ps 119:129-136 or "Pe"
Day 26 - Ps 119:137-144 or "Tzaddi"
Day 27 - Ps 119:145-152 or "Koph"
Day 28 - Ps 119:153-160 or "Resh"
Day 29 - Ps 119:161-168 or "Schin"
Day 30 - Ps 119:169-176 or "Tau"

By the end of 30 days, the reader will had covered quite a bit of Biblical text, all expounding on the Bible itself. I commend this plan to anyone desiring to get a fresh start in a regular diet of reading God's Word. 

How To Connect The Tabernacle To New Testament Truth

Exodus 25:8-9 “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9“According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it."

Introduction:
We began yesterday with an introduction to the Old Testament Tabernacle. We defined what the Tabernacle was, why it is important to study and some of the major truths God intended to convey to it. That sanctuary, or dwelling place, is what the Bible calls the tabernacle (from the Latin term tabernaculum meaning "dwelling place").  From Exodus 25-31 we see a detailed description of all the various furnishings, the rituals, the design and the priesthood.  When we turn to chapters in the New Testament like Hebrews 8-9, we discover that this worship center in the Old Testament pictures for us the Act and Accomplishment of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

Today we continue with a closer look at this intriguing Old Testament worship center, designed by God, for the sake of having a dwelling place among His people. The above opening text of Exodus 25:8-9 reveals God's beginning instructions for Moses and the people with respect to the Tabernacle. In the New Testament, we find quite a bit of material that connects this ancient part of Israel's past with contemporary New Testament Christianity. Hebrews 9:2-11 is a prime example:

"For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. 3 Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4 having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail. 6 Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, 7 but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, 9 which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, 10 since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation."

As the reader can tell, Hebrews 9 takes the Old Testament Tabernacle and uses it to illustrate and set the stage for the exposition of all that Jesus achieved on the cross. For today's post, we want to understand how to connect the Tabernacle to New Testament truth. Below we will work through a series of questions and answers in our understanding of how the Tabernacle and New Testament Christianity are presented in the Old and New Testaments for our application.

1. How does one go about studying and relating the Tabernacle to Christ/the Church/the Christian?

a. Types point, picture and instruct concerning the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan. Types are likened to figures (Heb. 9:24) or shadows (Heb. 10:1)

b. This process is connected to what we call “typology”. Typology is the method of studying Old Testament types to gain a fuller understanding of their New Testament fulfillments (fulfillments are sometimes called: anti-types). See Hebrews 9:8


2. The ceremonies of the tabernacle are a "type" or picture of Christ’s work. 


When you turn to Exodus 31, you find Moses laying out the summary of God's prescribed way of salvation and worship that He reveals in Exodus 25-30.  The various furnishings of the tabernacle work together to communicate the One Way through which God would approach the people, the the One Way by which they were to approach Him. Just as John 14:6 presents Jesus stating Himself as the only way to God; the Old Testament Tabernacle pictures for us and points us to Jesus Christ. How? 
Consider what one would had witnessed when watching the daily rituals associated with the Tabernacle system. 

What would you had done as a man or a woman living in the camp of Israel as you went to the center of the camp to "come to church" so to speak?  As you approached the Tabernacle, you would had brought with you a sacrificial animal, since apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. The tabernacle itself was surrounded by a courtyard composed of a white linen "fence" encircling all around.  A multi-colored "gate", some 30 feet wide, was the only means of entry.  According to Exodus 27:16, this "gate" was woven out of differing colors of linen, each corresponding to some characteristic of God Himself. 


A Priest would meet you at the entry way to ensure that what you brought was fit to offer.  Once deemed acceptable (for the animal had to be without blemish), you would enter into the main courtyard.

The priest would then instruct you to confess your sins over the sacrificial animal.  In laying your hands upon its head, you confessed your sin, effectively "transferring" your sins upon that innocent animal's head.  Before the sight of God, your faith in His Promise of salvation meant you received all that He prescribed to you, thus he would then "credit" or "impute" your sins onto the sacrifice.  The ultimate sacrifice to which it pointed, Christ, would in the future be the lamb of God given for you. (1 Corinthians 5:7)


The priest would then hand you a Bronze knife, at which point you would slit the lamb's throat in the prescribed fashion.  The Priest would then catch the animal's blood in a sacred vessel, and then take the blood to be poured out at the base of the altar in the courtyard.  After taking the animal, the priest would perform the ritualistic preparations and offer the lamb in your place.  The smoke of the sacrifice would ascend up into the Glory Cloud of God over the tabernacle.  If the smoke went straight up, that meant God had accepted the sacrifice and your sins were "covered" and His wrath against you was "satisfied". 

All of the above descriptions point to what would be the final work of redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

3. The floor-plan of the Tabernacle pictures for us how Jesus is the "way", "the truth" and "the life". 



As we close out today's post, how is it that we can connect all that we have observed about the Tabernacle with the redemptive accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ? One such way is by considering the floor-plan of the tabernacle itself. Below are three observations with which we will close out today's post:

a. Jesus is the way (outer-court) that features His redemptive work (altar) and which, upon reception in saving faith, is followed up by believer’s baptism (laver). 

b. He’s the truth (holy place) that we live by, lit by the lampstand of His Word, nourished by His fellowship and to whom we pray. 


c. He is the life (holy of holies), wherein we enjoy sweet communion with the Spirit sent in His name to our inward man. John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19-25.

Identifying The Old Testament Tabernacle And Its Importance To The Christian

Exodus 25:1-8 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. 3 This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, 4 blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, 5 rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, 6 oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it."

Introduction:

Today's post aims to introduce the reader to the Old Testament tabernacle. Below I will walk the reader through a series of questions with answers, as well as some points of application as we aim to answer the main topic of today's post: Identifying The Old Testament Tabernacle And Its Importance To The Christian.

1. What was the tabernacle? Exodus 25:8-9

(Also compare Exodus 29:44-46 and Exodus 40:36-38)
The word “tabernacle” means “dwelling place”. It was the Jewish worship center during the time-frame between the days of Moses to King David (over 400 years), with the Ark of the Covenant being the main part of it. In Exodus 29:44-46, we find one of the chief purposes of the the tabernacle:

"I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. 45 I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God."

As the reader can see, the tabernacle had different names, one of which was "tent of meeting". As a matter of fact, the word "tabernacle" derives from a Latin word tabernaculum, which used in the Old Latin translation of the Vulgate (which would influence the first English translations, many of them simply carrying over the Latin term into our English language), translated in turn the underlying Hebrew word meaning "meeting place". 

2. Primary message God intended the Tabernacle to convey

As one studies the key Old Testament section of the revelation of the Tabernacle to Moses and the people of God (Exodus 25-40), the following themes emerge to reveal the overall message of the tabernacle:

a. It’s materials were designed to reveal certain characteristics of the Lord to His people (Exodus 25:8-9)

b. It reminded the people that the Lord was the one who rescued them from their enslavement in Egypt (Exodus 29:44-46)

c. It’s ministry reminds the people of their need for representation before a Holy God (Exodus 29:44)

d. It’s mobility indicated that God was their King who both led the people (Exodus 40:36-38)

In fact, at the end of the book of Exodus, we read these words in Exodus 25:36-38 - "Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel."

3. Why study the tabernacle? Heb. 9:9-11

The revelation of the Tabernacle chiefly occurs in Exodus 25-40. We also find reference to its various ceremonies and the Levitical priesthood that would serve in it in the books of Leviticus and Numbers. God is the Holy God. As one writer has noted, to have a Holy God dwelling in the midst of a sinful people was a dangerous business. For God to dwell in the midst of His people, He had to devise a system of mediation between Himself and the people. The Tabernacle's materials, furnishings, priesthood and sacrificial system have as their common agreement the idea of "mediation". 

Sometimes I'll encourage people to take two Bibles and open one up at Exodus 25 and the second Bible to Hebrews 9. Why these chapters? Because Hebrews aids us in understanding why the Old Testament Tabernacle helps us in illustrating the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian-life and the work of the local church. As one reads down through Hebrews 9, many Bibles today will have little cross references in the margins. It is almost certain that many of those references will take the reader back to places in Exodus 25-40. In summary at least, we can note the following reasons why anyone would want to study the Tabernacle:

a. It illustrates Christ  (Hebrews 9:11)

b. It illustrates the church (Hebrews 3:5-6a)

c. It illustrates the Christian (Hebrews 3:6b)


d. The Lord Himself says it is important. Hebrews 9:8 (Also compare Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:3-4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 8:1-2)

Closing thoughts

Today's post aimed to introduce the reader to the Old Testament Tabernacle and its important to the Christian. We looked at what the tabernacle was: the meeting place for God and His people and the worship center of Old Testament Israel in the first 400 years of her journeys with God. We secondly noted the primary message God intended to convey through the Tabernacle. Among the points brought out about the Tabernacle's message, the key theme is that of mediation between God and His people. Then lastly, we looked at reasons why anyone would want to further study the tabernacle. By considering New Testament texts like Hebrews 9, we can use the truths of that chapter to help us understand and apply what we read in Exodus 25-40. 

Introducing God's Divine Beauty

2 Chronicles 20:21 "And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever." (KJV)

Introduction:

Today's post features an attribute of God that one almost never hears about today: Divine beauty. The verse above urges the reader to praise the beauty of God's holiness. The underlined word in the original Hebrew speaks of splendor, majesty and grandeur. Whenever this same verse is rendered in other English translations, such words as majesty and splendor are viewed as synonymous with "beauty". The Psalms speak the most often about God's Divine beauty. Psalm 27:4 for example reads: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple."

Attempting to describe God's Divine beauty

God's beauty is that quality of God that makes Him worthy of every extreme positive estimation of value, admiration and desire. One author, J. Pohle, notes the following about God's beauty:

"Reason tells us that God must be beautiful, for He contains within His essence the elements of beauty (perfection, harmonious proportion and splendor), the attribute which necessarily results from this must be His. Now God is infinite perfection. His infinitely numerous good qualities (not parts) coalesce in His Divine essence into a most intensive unity. Finally, He is all light and pure clarity, consequently - He must be beautiful."

God's Divine beauty captures the deepest part of us that longs for the three traditional elusive values known in the history of philosophical thought: the good, the true and the beautiful. God is Good, as asserted for example in Psalm 136. God is true - meaning, He is the standard by which all other standards are measured. As the truth, Jesus Christ embodies truth and reveals God as God in the purity of His true humanity. 

Beauty as a virtue is the most elusive quality - since so many assume that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, to call something beautiful requires there to be a standard by which we assert beauty. Just as objective morality - right and wrong, true and false, good and bad, require the existence of God who possess the Divine character and qualities that are the standard of moral values and duties; so it is with beauty. If God did not exist, there would be no way to ascribe qualities like beauty, ugliness, proportionality and the like. Beauty, by its very essence is an immaterial feature and which can only be possible if there exists an ultimate, immaterial being that we know as God.   

Old and New Testament texts that speak about God's beauty and Christ's beauty

Whenever we scan the Old and New Testament scriptures on the subject of God's Divine beauty, we find a wealth of material. As already mentioned, synonyms such as "majesty", "splendor", "glorious", "excellency" and of course the term "Beauty" highlight this quality of God. In the Old Testament we can look to the following texts that describe God's Divine beauty: 2 Chronicles 20:21; Job 40:9-10; Ps 8:1,9; Ps 27:4; 29:1-2; 36:7; 45:2-4; 145:5,10-12; Isaiah 24:14; Isaiah 26:10; Isaiah 35:2; Zechariah 9:16-17. 

The majesty and glory of God are featured in the above Old Testament texts to point us to the beauty of God. When we come to the New Testament, we find the beauty of God focusing not just on all three Persons of the Trinity which together are the One God of Biblical revelation, but particularly the second Person - the Lord Jesus Christ. 

New Testament texts such as John 1:14; Colossians 1:15; 2:9 and Hebrews 1:3 highlight beauty as seen in Christ's human and Divine natures. Two things we know about any beautiful thing is how it can take various features to co-exist without being chaotic and take unity of attributes without becoming monotonous and featureless. Christ is One in Person with two natures. He is at once perfect variety without chaos with respect to His humanity and deity; and yet, He is perfect unity without becoming monotonous concerning His Person. Christ is the clearest and most robust revelation of beauty in both the senses of what we mean when we say God is beautiful as well as the beauty of what it means to be human. 

God's Divine beauty demands a response

Perhaps more than any other quality, beauty, whether creaturely or Divine, is characterized by the response it evokes in the one experiencing it. When we see a sunrise, listen to a symphony, watch a wedding, see a wonderfully prepared dish of food, see our spouse, watch our children or grandchildren or visit the Grand-Canyon, all of these various things are beautiful. They evoke wonder, elevation of emotion, a sense of completeness, an extending of one's focus beyond oneself to whatever object of beauty we are seeing. God, in infinitely, more wonderful ways, evokes such responses. 

Many writers have noted that our being made in God's image (see Genesis 1:26-27) not only has us possessing mind, emotions and will as part of our personhood (features which roughly define God's Personhood), but also the innate capacity to respond to the beautiful. God Himself responds to infinite beauty as the Triune Persons behold one-another in Perfect unity and diversity. Is it no wonder that older writers refer to the goal of Christian salvation as beholding God's beauty (see Isaiah 33:17 and 1 John 3:1-3). 

Closing thoughts

In today's post I aimed to introduce us to God's Divine beauty. My prayer is that as a result of this post, we can all say without hesitation that God is beautiful!