1195.) Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God.  There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.”  –Hebrews 4:16 (CEV)

Hebrews 4:14-5:10   (NIV)

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (New King James Version)

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

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Music:

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”  sung by Chris McDaniel.  To think that Jesus lives forever and prays for us!  As the Word of God says in Romans 8:33-34 — “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

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HE UNDERSTANDS COMPLETELY
by David Wilkerson

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

I take great comfort in knowing that my Savior understands my feelings. He relates to all I am experiencing. He truly understands every feeling and never condemns me for suffering attacks from the enemy. Instead, he tells me to hold on, and not to be afraid. He lets me know he too is familiar with this kind of struggle. Then he offers me a gracious audience at his throne, with a promise of mercy and grace in my hour of need. Whether my negative feelings have been a result of a physical or spiritual battle, our Lord offers comfort and help when most needed.

What does our Lord mean by this? He is encouraging all his dear children to quit fretting when under the influence of negative thoughts. No more accusing yourself of failure and wickedness. Despair and fear can be caused by sin—but not always. So don’t just lie down and take it! Don’t go to bed at night until you shut yourself in with him, approach his throne boldly, and claim the mercy and help he has so clearly promised. Claim mercy, forgiveness, and grace to expel all negative feelings. That is Christ’s formula, not mine.

Having claimed victory, having used the authority of his name, having come to him with faith to lay hold of forgiveness and the promises, ride out your storm in a state of rest! Let God dissipate the negative feelings at his own pace.

“…after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise” (Hebrews 6:15).

“…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

You can lie down to sleep with this prayer on your lips:  “Oh, Lord, I reject these negative feelings. I disown them. I don’t know where they came from or how, but I commit them all to you. Give me a new assurance and take away all fear. Amen!”

“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to help them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).

I first heard this story when my husband and I were stationed in Korea in the mid-80’s.  As I was preparing this portion of Scripture for the blog, imagine my surprise to read that very story in the book The Better Covenant by Milton Agnew.  “Grace to help us in our time of need,” indeed!

Dr. Ted Gabrielsen was appointed to the small Salvation Army Hospital in Yong Dong, Korea.  Only of shell of the building had survived the North Korean occupation.  While various nurses and interns had tried to keep some medical work going, it had been without a Salvationist doctor for nine years.  Everything steal-able had been stolen, and the rest had rusted through.

Ted had great difficulty in impressing upon the Korean nurses the danger of handling penicillin carelessly.  The drug had never been used here before.  It is a very effective germicide, but if the common staphylococcus germ is exposed to it in less than lethal doses, the germ becomes increasingly resistant to the drug at every doubling of its numbers, which takes place every few minutes by cell division.  Thus, within a few hours, it becomes a veritable dinosaur, which cannot be killed by thousands of units.  It is vital, therefore, not only that penicillin be used in adequate amounts to kill infection, but just as vital that every trace of it be cleaned up afterwards.

A New York State hospital had to be closed down because the “golden bug” had gotten loose, and had killed every baby in the nursery.  The germs looks golden in color under the microscope.

This scanning electron micrograph of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria shows them at about 9,500 times their normal size.

Little wonder that a terrible staph infection broke out in the Yong Dong hospital.  Before it could be identified, everyone in the hospital—patients and nurses—had it, including the doctor.

Ted frantically called his brother-in-law, Major Paul Rader, in Seoul, 130 miles to the north.  “We’ve got the golden bug down here, Paul!  Penicillin is totally ineffective at this point.  Unless I can get some hexachlorophene within the next few hours, we’ll at worst have some deaths, and at best I’ll have to have one of my most important fingers amputated to save my own life, and that will be the end of my surgical career.  Please hit every drug outlet in Seoul.  If you can’t get the pure drug, get Dial soap; it’s loaded with it.”

A few hours later, Paul had to phone the heart-breaking news that no one had hexachlorophene, and they hadn’t even heard of Dial soap.  The bottom seemed to fall out of Ted’s heart as he listened.  But before he hung up, Paul said, “By the way, Ted, there’s a box here with your name on it which came today.”

Ted didn’t have much interest in any big box, but he said, “OK, pry it open and see what’s in it.”

Paul fairly screamed into the phone when he saw the contents.  “Ted,” he yelled, “it’s Dial soap—a whole case of it!”

Ted shouted back, “Get it down here as fast as you can!  We’ll give this place the greatest scrub dubbery it ever had in its life!”

They lathered up the whole case and made poultices for the infections and scrubbed down everything that could have been contaminated.  There were no deaths, and Ted did not lose his finger.  They had prayed as they scrubbed, and wondered all the while where the soap had come from.

Months later, the story became known.  The inventor of Dial soap had made an appointment to see the president of a chemical house.  He arrived a little early, so he started to chat with the receptionist, and before long he brought up the virtues of his brainchild, this Dial soap.  Just as the buzzer signaled to show him in, the receptionist said, “Say, if this stuff is so all-fired good, why not send a case of it to my cousin Ted?  He’s a Salvation Army surgeon in Yong Dong, Korea.”

He took time to note the name and address.  That’s all there was to it.  Months later the case arrived at the very moment of need.  Had it come a few weeks earlier, it would have been dissipated on ordinary chores.  Had it been 24 hours hours later, it would have been too late.

God’s timing is always perfect.  There is thrilling comfort to Hebrews 4:16: Let us then fearlessly … Draw near to the throne of grace … That we may receive mercy /for our failures/ and find grace to help in good time for every need — appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it (Amplified).

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Hebrews 5

¹Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. ³This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

⁴No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.

Aaron
by George Herbert
(1593-1633, Welsh poet and Anglican priest)

Holiness on the head,
Light and perfection on the breast,
Harmonious bells below raising the dead
To lead them unto life and rest.
Thus are true Aarons drest.

Profaneness in my head,
Defects and darkness in my breast,
A noise of passions ringing me for dead
Unto a place where is no rest :
Poor priest ! thus am I drest.

Only another head
I have another heart and breast,
Another music, making live, not dead,
Without whom I could have no rest :
In Him I am well drest.

Christ is my only head,
My alone only heart and breast,
My only music, striking me e’en dead ;
That to the old man I may rest,
And be in Him new drest.

So holy in my Head,
Perfect and light in my dear Breast,
My doctrine tuned by Christ (who is not dead,
But lives in me while I do rest),
Come, people ; Aaron’s drest.

⁵So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”

⁶And he says in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

“Head of Christ Crowned with Thorns” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1510.

from Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon:

“Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.”
–Hebrews v.8.

We are told that the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering, therefore we who are sinful, and who are far from being perfect, must not wonder if we are called to pass through suffering too.  Shall the head be crowned with thorns, and shall the other members of the body be rocked upon the dainty lap of ease?  Must Christ pass through seas of His own blood to win the crown, and are we to walk to heaven dryshod in silver slippers?  No, our Master’s experience teaches us that suffering is necessary, and the true-born child of God must not, would not, escape it if he might.

But there is one very comforting thought in the fact of Christ’s “being made perfect through suffering” — it is, that He can have complete sympathy with us.  “He is not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”  In this sympathy of Christ we find a sustaining power.  One of the early martyrs said, “I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, and He suffers in me how; He sympathizes with me, and this makes me strong.”  Believer, lay hold of this thought in all times of agony.  Let the thought of Jesus strengthen you as you follow in His steps.  Find a sweet support in His sympathy; and remember that, to suffer is an honourable thing—to suffer for Christ is glory.  The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to do this.  Just so far as the Lord shall give us grace to suffer for Christ, to suffer with Christ, just so far does he honour us.  The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions.  The regalia of the kings who God hath anointed are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs.  Let us not, therefore, shun being exalted.  Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us up.  “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.”

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

*throne of grace.    http://www.walk-by-faith.com/PrayerSeries/comeboldlybeforethethrone/throne.jpg

*Yes.    http://sumikomaser.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/yes1.jpg

*flag of South Korea.    http://www.jmu.edu/international/images/SouthKoreaFlag.png

*staphylococcus.    http://www.biology4kids.com/extras/dtop_micro/7821_580.jpg

*Dial soap.    http://www.twinsupply.com/janitorial/images/100/DIA00098.JPG

*Aaron dressed in high priestly garb.    http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/topics/priest7.jpg

Cranach.    http://www.wga.hu/support/viewer/z.html

http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

1194.) Hebrews 4:1-13

Hebrews 4:1-13   (NIV)

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

¹Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands,

2 Corinthians 1:20 (English Standard Version)

For all the promises of God find their Yes in Christ. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ²For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. ³Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” ⁵And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. ⁷Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

from Whispers of His Power, by Amy Carmichael:

Matthew 11:28 — Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Hebrews 4:10-11 — For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works . . . . Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.

Labor in Hebrews 4:11 means “make haste.”  Is the word used to remind us that we shall not drift into rest?  There must be the will to enter in.  Perhaps what demands most will power is the resolution to cease from our own works, our own busyness, and to stay our minds upon our God.

We pray, and the answer is not what we expect.  It seems an answer of loss, and sometimes loss upon loss.  We must cease from our own thoughts about it and believe that what He has allowed is the perfect answer for the moment.  As we believe, and accept, we enter into rest and the sense of strain passes into peace.

This covers all life:  the illness of those we love, mental or spiritual suffering, the unexplained, everything.  Let us not lose one hour in needless ineffective distress.  Let us hasten by an act of the will to come to Him for rest.

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

from Jesus, Our Man in Glory,
by A. W. Tozer:

Christian believers make a great mistake when they refer only to the Bible as the Word of God.  True, the inspired Bible is the Word of God speaking to our hearts and to our souls.  But in referring to the Word of God, we do not mean just the book—printed pages sewn together with nylon thread.  Rather, we mean the eternal expression of the mind of God.  We mean the world-filling breath of God!

God’s Word and God’s revelation are much more than just the Old and New Testament books.  Nevertheless I invariably rejoice as I discover deep in the urgent appeal of one of the Old Testament prophets a sudden recognition of God’s speaking Word.  For example, notice this message from the prophet Jeremiah:  “O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!” (Jeremiah 22:29).

Think what a change it would make in the world if men and women suddenly paused to hear the Word of the Lord!  The Word of God being what it is, and God being who He is, and we humans being who we are, I am sure that the most rewarding thing we could do would be to stop and listen to the Word of God.  Whether a man or a woman believes it or not, the Word of God is one of the greatest realities he or she will face in a life-time.  He or she may deny the Word and the presence of God, dismissing them both as unreal.  But the living, speaking Word of God cannot be escaped.  Neither is it negotiable.

The true Christian church has always held that position.  There is not a man or woman on the face of the earth but will have to reckon with the authority of the Word of God, either now or later.  How surprised some of them will be on that coming day of judgment when God’s eternal Word must be answered to!

God’s Word is the revelation of divine truth that God Himself has given to us.  It has come in the message and appeal of the sacred Scriptures.  It comes in the conviction visited on us by the Holy Spirit.  It comes in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the living Word of God.

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Music:

One of my favorite of the contemporary Christian worship songs– HERE  is Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord).”  With this song, and with the hope of an eternal rest in Jesus as given in the pages of God’s holy Word, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

flower and verse 12.    http://www.photosbyjanine.com/uploads/processed/0729/0707160035351hebrews_4_12.jpg

Yes.    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bzFqJmqgkTM/UChvEkWwKuI/AAAAAAAAA1c/Dwa1kMxo-uI/s1600/yes_logo.png

hammock on the beach.    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XvpQOde-En4/Tpn4ML__cVI/AAAAAAAAAHU/bit97JVUB-s/s1600/hammock.jpg

sword and verse 12.   http://oneyearbibleimages.com/hebrews4_12.jpg

1193.) Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3   (NIV)

Jesus Greater Than Moses

¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him,

When we consider the past faithfulness of Jesus, it makes us understand that He will continue to be faithful.  And as He was faithful to God the Father (Him who appointed Him), so He will be faithful to us.  This should bless and encourage us!

–David Guzik

just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Philippians 1:6  (ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

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Music:

If you ever have the chance to see and hear the blind musician Ken Medema, give yourself a treat and go!  HERE  he sings one of his songs that has inspired thousands to people to trust God further, to “hold on to our courage and hope” in God!  Now, enjoy “Moses.”

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Warning Against Unbelief

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸ do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
⁹ where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ “

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Reflections on encouragement:

Fall down seven times, stand up eight.
~Japanese proverb

One has to remember that every failure can be a stepping stone to something better.
~Col. Harland Sanders

The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.
~Proverbs 18:10

¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

1 Corinthians 10:1-11 (New Living Translation)

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.  In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.  All of them ate the same spiritual food,  and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,  or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”  And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.

Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites.  And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.  These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

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from Encountering the Book of Hebrews,
by Donald A. Hagner

It is sobering to think that those who were so highly privileged to be the recipients of God’s grace and power of deliverance could fall so easily into unbelief and disobedience.  This is precisely the point the author of Hebrews  wants his readers to see.  What happened then can happen again; indeed, the original readers apparently were in very real danger of falling away from their Christian commitment.  But this danger is one that every generation of Christians needs to ponder. Though our salvation derives from grace and is therefore free and unmerited, we dare not take it lightly.  We are called to perseverance and faithfulness.

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Here is another way to say the same message!

HERE Tamara Lowe and her one minute sermon.   Listen fast!

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

house and verse 4.    http://www.christianmingler.com/wp-content/uploads/Heb34a.jpg

Jesus and Moses.    http://oneyearbibleimages.com/jesus_moses.jpg

warning tape.     http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Photo/2009/02/09/iStock_warning_tape_CROPPED__1234281031_9929.jpg

Yes you can.    http://simonandersonfitness.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/yes-you-can.jpg

The rock was Christ.    http://hopedaniel.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/flowingwater.jpg

danger.     http://www.advisoranalyst.com/glablog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Danger.jpg

1192.) Hebrews 2

Hebrews 2   (NIV)

Therefore: Because of the superiority of Jesus to the angels, we must give heed to Jesus.

–David Guzik

Warning to Pay Attention

¹We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

We do not drift towards God, we drift away from Him. We do not drift towards holiness, but selfishness. We do not drift towards passion, but apathy. We do not drift towards humility, but pride. We do not drift towards righteousness, but sinfulness.

This is why we are warned, pay MORE attention to what you have heard or you WILL drift away. Take notice of the word, “more.”  Sometimes this closeness to Christ comes easily,  but sometimes we must direct ourselves to pay more attention to it.

How do we practically pay more attention to what we have heard?  Look at it,  study it,  read it,  listen to it,  memorize it,  apply it,  obey it,  teach it,  write it,  hold it,  speak it,  more often and longer!

–Nathan Kollar

²For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, ³how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. ⁴God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Jesus Made Like His Brothers

⁵It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. ⁶But there is a place where someone has testified:

“What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
⁷You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
⁸ and put everything under his feet.”

“everything under his feet!”

In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. ⁹But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

from The Daily Study Bible,
by William Barclay

In verses 5-9, the writer to the Hebrews shows us three things.  (i) He shows us the ideal of what man should be—kin to God and master of the universe.  (ii) He shows us the actual state of man—the frustration instead of the mastery, the failure instead of the glory.  Man who was made for kingship has become a slave.  (iii) And then he shows us how the actual can be changed into the ideal. That change is wrought by Christ.  The writer to the Hebrews sees in Jesus Christ the One, who, by His sufferings and His glory, can make man what man was meant to be, and, without Him, could never be.

¹⁰In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. ¹²He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”

¹³And again,
“I will put my trust in him.” And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

The High Priest wore a breastplate that had stones, engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel, on both his chest and his shoulders.  The High Priest would therefore be in constant sympathy with the people of God, carrying them on his heart and in his work (on the shoulders).  Jesus did not wear the High Priest’s breastplate; but the wound in His chest and the cross on His shoulders are even more eloquent testimony to His heart for us and work on our behalf.

–David Guzik

2 Corinthians 1:20 (Contemporary English Version)

Christ says “Yes” to all of God’s promises. That’s why we have Christ to say “Amen”  for us to the glory of God.

¹⁸Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

from Experiencing God Day-to-Day
by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
–Hebrews 2:18

You will never face a temptation so strong that God has not made complete provision for you to overcome it.  God, out of His love, has done everything necessary for you to be victorious whenever you face temptation.  He has clearly revealed His will to you in Scripture so that you will not be confused about the right thing to do.  He has placed the Holy Spirit within you to guide you in your decisions and to convict you when you make harmful choices.  With every temptation God also provides a way of escape so that you never have to yield to it (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Everything is in place for you to experience victory over every temptation.

God in His infinite love, however, has done even more to safeguard you from temptation.  He has allowed Himself to suffer the full brunt of temptation.  The very Son of God humbled Himself, taking on all the limitations of frail human flesh, and was tempted in every way that we are.  Jesus knew what it was like to grow tired, to be hungry, to experience the same limitations we have; yet He was without sin.  It is to this One that we turn when we are facing temptation.  Ours is not an unsympathetic God who is unconcerned with our struggle to live righteously, but rather we follow a God who knows how difficult it is to resist sin and withstand temptation.  We can approach Christ with confidence, knowing that He understands our plight.  He knows how to aid us when we are tempted.

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Music:

The old hymn, the encouraging hymn,  “Lead Me to Calvary”  — HERE  sung here by Andrew and Saskia Smith.

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

tree and v 10.    http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/8f/48/8c/8f488cb4de86a8232be9a23e70f7284a.jpg

drifting down the river.    http://images.veer.com/IMG/PILL/CHI/CHI0000928_P.JPG

astronaut in outer space.    http://d1jrw5jterzxwu.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/article_media/astronaut_in_space.jpg

Christ enthroned.    http://frted.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/xcenthroned.jpg

yes.    http://thecrazyiscatching.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/33-yesclassicblue_jpg.jpg

He cares for you.    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1CcQwgR-rJc/T5NVIvC4NHI/AAAAAAAAEkc/-dbS-1_SoRk/s1600/lbb+roses+dragonfly+1+peter+5+7+jpg.jpg

1191.) Hebrews 1

Hebrews 1   (NIV)

Hebrews is basically a book that exhorts discouraged Christians to continue on strong with Jesus in light of the complete superiority of who He is and what He has done for us.

–David Guzik

The Son Superior to Angels

¹In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

The revelation given through the prophets was brought in various ways — sometimes through parables, historical narrative, prophetic confrontation, dramatic presentation, psalms, proverbs, and the like.

²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. ³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (New Living Translation)

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

⁴So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”?

Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?

⁶And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

⁷In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire.”

⁸But about the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

¹⁰He also says,
“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
¹¹ They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
¹² You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.”

¹³To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

from The Epistle to the Hebrews,
by F. F. Bruce:

The Son of God’s ascendancy over angels has thus been asserted and confirmed by the testimony of Old Testament scriptures.  In them Jesus was addressed by God in terms that surpassed the honors enjoyed by the mightiest of archangels, who indeed are called upon to pay Him homage in recognition of His sovereignty over them.  And the authority of the gospel which the readers of this epistle had embraced was the authority of Jesus, the Son of God, supremely exalted by His Father.  As God had no greater messenger than his Son, He had no further message beyond the gospel.

_________________________

Music:

Michael W. Smith sings  “Open the Eyes of My Heart.”   I like the line — “To see you high and lifted up!”  Jesus, as we begin reading Hebrews today, I pray that you will open our eyes to see you.

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

star and vs. 1-2.    http://iccnewyork.net/user/icc_imail/hebrews1_1_2.jpg

Yes.    http://sandradodd.com/art/title/yes

angels.    http://www.gbcdecatur.org/files/DescriptionOfAngels.jpg

angel guarding children.    http://www.beyondborders.com/images/guardian-angel.jpg

1190.) Psalm 139

Psalm 139    (NIV)

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

God is so great!
There is nothing He does not know.
There is nowhere He is not present.
There is nothing He cannot do.

.

David begins by talking about the omniscience of God:

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

God is omnipresent as well:

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

Now David turns to consider God’s power and skill, his omnipotence:

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

Who are those who would stand against such a God?

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.

Let me not be counted among the wicked!  I have tried to make this prayer of David’s my own daily prayer:

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Search me, O God!”  by Christ Our Life.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV)   Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Images courtesy of:

Search me, O God – with rose.   http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X5SHswayaWo/UUELIe0-e9I/AAAAAAABFd4/37_YQcNqIh8/s1600/searchme_psalm139_23-24.jpg

O Lord, you have searched me.    http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/ecards/scripture-cards/psalm-139-1-3-nkjv-550×320.jpg

If I go up to the heavens.    http://godisalwaysfaithful.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/psalm-139-8.jpg

baby foot.    http://creativephotographyny.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/psalm139-13.jpg

Search me, God.   http://www.back40life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/B-050-Psalm-139-2324-blog_thumb.jpg

1189.) Exodus 40

“The Glory Fills the Tabernacle” digital art by Ted Larson

Exodus 40   (NRSV)

The Tabernacle Erected and Its Equipment Installed

The Lord spoke to Moses: ²On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ³You shall put in it the ark of the covenant, and you shall screen the ark with the curtain. ⁴You shall bring in the table, and arrange its setting; and you shall bring in the lampstand, and set up its lamps. ⁵You shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant, and set up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.

⁶You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, ⁷and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸You shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.

⁹Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy. ¹⁰You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy. ¹¹You shall also anoint the basin with its stand, and consecrate it.

¹²Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water, ¹³and put on Aaron the sacred vestments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest. ¹⁴You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them, ¹⁵and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all generations to come.¹⁶Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁷In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up.

the first day of the first month of the second year

. . . one year after the children of Israel left Egypt.

¹⁸Moses set up the tabernacle; he laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars; ¹⁹and he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent over it; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁰He took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark, and set the mercy seat above the ark; ²¹and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the curtain for screening, and screened the ark of the covenant; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²²He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain, ²³and set the bread in order on it before the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁴He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, ²⁵and set up the lamps before the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁶He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the curtain, ²⁷and offered fragrant incense on it; as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁸He also put in place the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.

²⁹He set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁰He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, ³¹with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. ³²When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³³He set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the screen at the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

Philippians 1:6 (Contemporary English Version)

God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.

The Cloud and the Glory

_________________________

Music:

“This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”  HERE  is the wonderful Oslo Gospel Choir!

_________________________

³⁴Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Psalm 26:8 (New International Version)

I love the house where you live, O LORD,
the place where your glory dwells.

³⁶Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey; ³⁷but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. ³⁸For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.

“The cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle” by Marc Chagall

_________________________

Reflection:

The book of Exodus is the history of God’s people during the year between their deliverance from Egypt and the erection of the tabernacle at Mount Sinai.  It begins with groaning and ends in glory, with God at work throughout.  What situation has you groaning, that you need to have end in deliverance and glory?  God’s presence dwells gloriously in the work and walk of those who are willingly and diligently obedient, seeking the holiness of the Lord!  As God graciously did wonderfully for the Israelites, he will also do wonderfully for you, according to his purposes!

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Larson.  http://home.earthlink.net/~moshe120/Glory%20Fills%20the%20Tabernacle.htm

daisy.  http://www.christianwomenonline.net/DaisyGrunge.jpg

Chagall.  http://martinlawrence.com/chagall_pages/m.467.html

1188.) Exodus 39

One idea of Aaron and his priestly garments.

Exodus 39   (NRSV)

Making the Vestments for the Priesthood

Of the blue, purple, and crimson yarns they made finely worked vestments, for ministering in the holy place; they made the sacred vestments for Aaron; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

“Dress gives one the outward sign from which people can judge the inward state of mind.  One they can see . . . the other they cannot.”

–Queen Elizabeth II, quoted in Class Acts by Mary Mitchell

²He made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen. ³Gold leaf was hammered out and cut into threads to work into the blue, purple, and crimson yarns and into the fine twisted linen, in skilled design. ⁴They made for the ephod shoulder-pieces, joined to it at its two edges. ⁵The decorated band on it was of the same materials and workmanship, of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁶The onyx stones were prepared, enclosed in settings of gold filigree and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷He set them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁸He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, like the work of the ephod, of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen. ⁹It was square; the breastpiece was made double, a span in length and a span in width when doubled. ¹⁰They set in it four rows of stones. A row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald was the first row; ¹¹and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a moonstone; ¹²and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. ¹⁴There were twelve stones with names corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel; they were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. ¹⁵They made on the breastpiece chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; ¹⁶and they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece; ¹⁷and they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. ¹⁸Two ends of the two cords they had attached to the two settings of filigree; in this way they attached it in front to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod. ¹⁹Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰They made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod, at its joining above the decorated band of the ephod. ²¹They bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it should lie on the decorated band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

robe of blue cloth with bells and pomegranates around the hem

²²He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue yarn; ²³and the opening of the robe in the middle of it was like the opening in a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not be torn. ²⁴On the lower hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen. ²⁵They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates on the lower hem of the robe all around, between the pomegranates; ²⁶a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate all around on the lower hem of the robe for ministering; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁷They also made the tunics, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, ²⁸and the turban of fine linen, and the head-dresses of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen, ²⁹and the sash of fine twisted linen, and of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, embroidered with needlework; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁰They made the rosette of the holy diadem of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” ³¹They tied to it a blue cord, to fasten it on the turban above; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

_________________________

Music:

After all this talk about vestments, I asked my family to name songs they knew concerning clothing.  Here are some of their suggestions (some more appropriate than others!):  “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,”  by Joe Nichols.  “Wonderful Tonight,” by Eric Clapton.  “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress,” by the Hollies.  “Underneath Your Clothes,” by Shakira.  Now each one, in its own way, is a wonderful song . . . but I am going to give you the most romantic clothing song I know!  “Lady in Red” sung by Chris De Burgh.  It was released in 1986 and went to #1 in twenty-five countries.  HERE  it is.

_________________________

The Work Completed

Colossians 4:17 (New International Version)

“See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”

³²In this way all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished; the Israelites had done everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³³Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; ³⁴the covering of tanned rams’ skins and the covering of fine leather, and the curtain for the screen; ³⁵the ark of the covenant with its poles and the mercy seat; ³⁶the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; ³⁷the pure lampstand with its lamps set on it and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; ³⁸the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent; ³⁹the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; ⁴⁰the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; ⁴¹the finely worked vestments for ministering in the holy place, the sacred vestments for the priest Aaron, and the vestments of his sons to serve as priests.

⁴²The Israelites had done all of the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁴³When Moses saw that they had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded, he blessed them.

”There are two things people want more than sex and money — recognition and praise.”
–Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

A capable leader —

• makes those who are working with him or her feel important and appreciated,
• excels at creating opportunities to provide recognition and thanks to his or her staff,
• creates a work environment in which people are valued and rewarded.

Moses showed himself a good leader by blessing the people who had accomplished their work.

Who are the people helping you accomplish your work?  How can you recognize them, thank them, and bless them?  Should you be careful to do such more often?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

high priestly garments.  http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kr_xfH0aEq4/TL8HjlBgn4I/AAAAAAAAAdo/vKCeStSMWW8/s1600/High+Priest.jpg

blue robe.   http://www.israelnationalnews.com/static/pictures/_old/13958.jpg

red dress.  http://www.1920s-fashions.co.uk/vintagefashion/reddress.jpg

Larry the Cable Guy.   http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTk1NjE0ODIwN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjA4NzUyMQ@@._V1_.jpg

thank you.   http://positivepsychologynews.com/ppnd_wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/thank_you_note.png

1187.) Exodus 38

Exodus 38   (NRSV)

Making the Altar of Burnt-Offering

He made the altar of burnt offering also of acacia wood; it was five cubits long, and five cubits wide; it was square, and three cubits high. ²He made horns for it on its four corners; its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. ³He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the firepans: all its utensils he made of bronze. ⁴He made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. ⁵He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating to hold the poles; ⁶he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it with them; he made it hollow, with boards.

The altar of burnt offering represents the cross, where the Lord Jesus offered Himself to God as a complete sacrifice.

–all comments in red are by William MacDonald

Hebrews 10:1-10 (New International Version)

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.’ “First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

_________________________

Music:

“God So Loved the World,”  by English composer and Oxford professor Sir John Stainer (1840-1901), performed by the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir.

_________________________

a “shape poem” by George Herbert, 1593-1633, Welsh poet and priest

Making the Basin for Washing

⁸He made the basin of bronze with its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The laver speaks of the present ministry of Christ, cleansing His people by the washing of water with the Word (Ephesians 5:26).

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (English Standard Version)

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Making the Court of the Tabernacle

⁹He made the court; for the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits long; ¹⁰its twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. ¹¹For the north side there were hangings one hundred cubits long; its twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

¹²For the west side there were hangings fifty cubits long, with ten pillars and ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. ¹³And for the front to the east, fifty cubits. ¹⁴The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three bases. ¹⁵And so for the other side; on each side of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶All the hangings around the court were of fine twisted linen. ¹⁷The bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver; the overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were banded with silver.

¹⁸The screen for the entrance to the court was embroidered with needlework in blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine twisted linen. It was twenty cubits long and, along the width of it, five cubits high, corresponding to the hangings of the court. ¹⁹There were four pillars; their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their bands of silver. ²⁰All the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.

The outer court around the tabernacle consisted of white linen hangings, fifty-six pillars with bronze sockets and silver hooks, and an embroidered screen at the gate.  The only entrance to the court was the gate, and this suggests Christ (“I am the door,” John 10:9) here as the only way of approach to God.  The fine linen is a picture of His spotless purity.  The embroidery: the blue for His heavenly origin; the purple, for His regal glory; the scarlet, for His suffering for sin.

Materials of the Tabernacle

China won Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the Men’s Singles — table tennis, 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

²¹These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant, which were drawn up at the commandment of Moses, the work of the Levites being under the direction of Ithamar son of the priest Aaron.

Acts 7:44 (New Living Translation)

“Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.”

²²Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; ²³and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, engraver, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen. ²⁴All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, measured by the sanctuary shekel.

gold — a little more than one ton!

²⁵The silver from those of the congregation who were counted was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, measured by the sanctuary shekel; ²⁶a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, measured by the sanctuary shekel), for everyone who was counted in the census, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand, five hundred fifty men. ²⁷The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary, and the bases of the curtain; one hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent for a base. ²⁸Of the thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals and made bands for them.

silver — a little more than 3 3/4 tons!

²⁹The bronze that was contributed was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels; ³⁰with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, ³¹the bases all around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

bronze — about 2 1/2 tons!

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

God will provide the lamb.   http://livingjourney.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/god-will-provide-the-lamb.jpg

The Altar, by George Herbert.    http://dailyoffice.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/georgeherbert-thealtar-1000.png

gold-silver-bronze.  http://eng.tibet.cn/Features2008/2008olympic/china/200808/W020080824485625257704.jpg

gold rings.  http://www.blogcdn.com/hotsearch.aol.co.uk/media/2009/07/wedding-ring.jpg

silver spoons.   http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/ly8AAOxygLxSXqdW/$%28KGrHqF,!o0FJN+rgwCtBS%28qdWqhTQ~~60_35.JPG?set_id=880000500F

ancient Egyptian bronze statue of a cat with a kitten.    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Ancient_Egyptian_bronze_statue_of_a_reclining_cat_and_kitten.jpg

1186.) Exodus 37

Exodus 37   (NRSV)

Making the Ark of the Covenant

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; it was two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. ²He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. ³He cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. ⁴He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, ⁵and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark.

The ark was a chest made of wood and overlaid with pure gold.  It pointed to the humanity and deity of our Lord.  It contained the tablets of the law, the golden jar of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded.  If applied to Christ, these things speak of Him as the One who said, “Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8); as the bread of God come down from heaven (John 6:33); and as the Priest of God’s choosing, risen from the dead (Hebrews 7:24-26).  If applied to the people of Israel, they were all memorials of failure and rebellion.

–all comments in red are by William MacDonald

⁶He made a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its width. ⁷He made two cherubim of hammered gold; at the two ends of the mercy seat he made them, ⁸one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim at its two ends. ⁹The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were turned toward the mercy seat.

The mercy seat was the lid of the ark.  It was also God’s throne, the place of His dwelling on earth.  When the cherubim looked down upon it, they did not see the Law or the jar of manna or the rod, all of which were reminders of Israel’s rebellions.  Rather, they saw the sprinkled blood, which enabled God to be merciful to rebellious sinners.

Romans 3:21-26 (New Living Translation)

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.  We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,  for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Making the Table for the Bread of the Presence

¹⁰He also made the table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. ¹¹He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. ¹²He made around it a rim a handbreadth wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. ¹³He cast for it four rings of gold, and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ¹⁴The rings that held the poles used for carrying the table were close to the rim. ¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

John 6:35 (New International Version)

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.”

Making the Lampstand

¹⁷He also made the lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand were made of hammered work; its cups, its calyxes, and its petals were of one piece with it. ¹⁸There were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; ¹⁹three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ²⁰On the lampstand itself there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyxes and petals. ²¹There was a calyx of one piece with it under the first pair of branches, a calyx of one piece with it under the next pair of branches, and a calyx of one piece with it under the last pair of branches. ²²Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it, the whole of it one hammered piece of pure gold.

²³He made its seven lamps and its snuffers and its trays of pure gold. ²⁴He made it and all its utensils of a talent of pure gold.

John 8:12 (New International Version)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Making the Altar of Incense

²⁵He made the altar of incense of acacia wood, one cubit long, and one cubit wide; it was square, and was two cubits high; its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, and its sides all around, and its horns; and he made for it a molding of gold all around, ²⁷and made two golden rings for it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, to hold the poles with which to carry it. ²⁸And he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.

The altar of incense speaks of Christ being a perpetual sweet aroma of God.  It also suggests the present ministry of the Lord Jesus, interceding for us in heaven.

²⁹He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

Hebrews 7:23-25 (New International Version)

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

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Music:

All this careful preparation for the tabernacle — first in God’s mind, then told to Moses, and now being executed in physical form — so that people could be forgiven and be able to say, “I am Yours.” Such love for us from God Almighty!   HERE   is Casting Crowns singing “Who Am I.”

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

ark of the covenant.    http://biblestudyoutlines.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Arca_de_la_Alianza_1.jpg

Jesus on the cross.   http://bustedhalo.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/crucifix-2-flash.jpg

bread.  http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/files/2008/09/img_7844.JPG

light.    http://www.webdesign.org/img_articles/16839/final.jpg

Jesus praying.  http://lovehopefaith.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/jesus-praying.jpg