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Colonizing the Creation
Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. 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.
Here was God’s house, His holy dwelling place on earth. It had three specific parts – the outer court, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies. And because His intentional design was for man to be His earthly dwelling, He created us to consist of three parts as well – body, soul, and spirit.
Important to our discussion is how each of the three sectors of the tabernacle were illuminated. The outer court had natural light – from the sun, the moon, the stars, and the fire of the bronze altar. Similarly, our physical bodies function according to the natural light around us.
On the other hand, as the above verse states, the holy place had the radiance of the lampstand which was fed by oil. So also, in our souls/our minds we gain insight into the mysteries of God as the holy anointing oil of the Holy Spirit illumines us. He quickens His thoughts to us as we pray, read the Scriptures, and listen for His words to us through others.
And in the light of the oil–fed lampstand in the holy place, we are able to discern the twelve loaves of sacred bread, speaking of the whole people of God. Just as He caused His chosen men to ultimately become the twelve tribes of Israel, so also, He chose twelve Jewish apostles in order to establish His New Testament holy nation made up of Jews and Gentiles. It continues to emerge in our day. Twelve loaves, presented continually before the Lord. In the Old Testament, they spoke of the nation of Israel. Today when we consider them, they speak to us of God’s entire family who are now an international reality. And we who are many are in fact one bread because we all partake of Christ, the Bread of life (1Corinthians 10:17).
But apart from Holy Spirit illumination, people cannot recognize the loaves. To the world, Christians are just people of a religion. Our gatherings are just organizations congregated around certain beliefs and practices – like any other club. But in God’s sight, we have been ground up as flour in the personal difficulties of this life, mingled with the living water of the Spirit of life, and mixed together as God has taught us to love one another. Then as local fellowships and gatherings of His people, we have been put into the fires of corporate testing from which has emerged from our lives a fragrant aroma ascending to Heaven. The twelve loaves presented daily before His presence.
Then there was the third section.
Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 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; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
In this third section of God’s house, the only source of illumination was the glory of the Lord Himself and speaks today of how He has come to dwell in the depths of our hearts. It was here in the Holy of Holies that the offering of fragrant incense ascended before Him and indicates our present worship and prayer, a fragrant blessing to Him arising from our inner man. Such worship must be in spirit and truth for that is what defines authentic adoration (John 4:23 - 24).
In the Holy of Holies was also the ark of the covenant, God’s throne upon the earth. It was made of wood overlaid with gold. The wood speaks of our humanity (Isaiah 55:12; 61:3) while the gold indicates the precious eternal value of God Himself. Here is the mystery of God – humanity fused with the divine. Christ was the God–man. And now through His sacrifice at Calvary, we have become joined in our spirits to Him (1Corinthians 6:17). Wood overlaid with gold. Jesus is the first–born of many brethren.
Inside the ark was manna from heaven. In the wilderness, this heavenly food had to be gathered every day or it went bad. So also, we are not to live simply by our past experience with the Lord but by turning continually to Him and partaking of Him our daily bread. When certain Jews experienced Jesus’ multiplication of earthly bread, they wanted to see more. “Moses gave us bread from heaven. You need to perform a sign mightier than multiplied earthly bread.” Notice our Lord’s response.
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
When they then asked for heaven’s bread, Jesus informed them that He was the Bread of Life (John 6:34 - 35). The Jews when looking back had been quite impressed with Moses and the daily provision of bread in the wilderness that took place under his ministry. But now standing right in front of them was the fulfillment of all that the manna was but a prophetic foreshadowing. If they responded by coming to Him like the Jews had gone out daily and collected the manna, then they would neither hunger or thirst (John 6:35). But instead, they grumbled (John 6:41).
Along with the manna in the ark was also Aaron’s rod that budded. In Moses’ day, Israel struggled to submit to God’s choice of Aaron as high priest. Why could they not choose for themselves the one/s they wanted to lead them or to represent them before God? But spiritual authority is not about man’s choice but about recognizing and then submitting to God’s choice. Such authority is not dependent on one’s theological education, one’s public speaking ability, or on having won a vote to hold a certain office/position within a religious organization. Rather, it depends on God who raises up and sends His servants to His people. But how are we to identify them? They will be the ones who in themselves are dead sticks but who somehow by God’s grace have the supernatural life to produce spiritual fruit. Though all of God’s people are to be known by supernatural life and fruit, these servants of the Lord will consistently manifest with humility and with the hearts of servants God’s life in situations where oversight, shepherding, guidance, and wisdom for counsel is needed among His people.
Aaron’s rod also teaches the truth that this man did not have to promote himself or defend himself. Rather, God made His choice known for all to see. But there will always be those who will not see and who will not yield to Heaven’s choice. In God’s kingdom, spiritual authority is only recognized by spiritual discernment. But when we do not trust the Lord to confirm His choice in our lives, we then resort to the ways of the world by putting titles next to our names. When we call ourselves Pastor Bob, Bishop Frank, or Apostle Jim, we disobey Christ’s clear commandment (Matthew 23:6 - 11). In the New Testament, Paul never used the word apostle as a title but as a description of the operative grace of God in him. And that word apostle only made sense in the context of his having the heart of a bondservant both toward God as well as the people he served. May our Lord help us to transition in these days into Heaven’s divine order for His house.
The final items within the ark were the stone tablets upon which were written God’s laws. He had promised that He would make a new covenant with His people; He would write His laws upon their hearts. It seems His strategy for changing the earth was not that He would stand on a mountain and proclaim for all to hear how everyone should get their act together. Instead, He would come to individuals and begin to inscribe in them what He is all about. And it is painful. I always wished that He would use a felt–tip pen. But instead He seems to favor the sharp edge of His own heaven–designed “chisel” to etch into us what patience really is, what compassion really is, what longsuffering from His perspective really looks like. And the end result is a people not simply conforming outwardly to a set of rules but being increasingly changed from the inside out.
Finally, on the top of the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat (Greek, HILASTERIOS). Here was where the glory of the Lord was manifest. The golden cherubim picture for us the gaze of the holy angels seeking to understand the mystery of salvation (1Peter 1:12). The mercy seat, or propitiatory cover of the ark had no wood in it; it was made of pure gold. In other words, the place where Heaven’s glory would be manifest had nothing that originated in man in its makeup. Simply no one would ever be found anywhere among men who would have the right to access the glory of God. Yet He had made man for fellowship with Himself. So, how would this unsolvable problem be resolved? The whole angelic world was mystified.
Yet God’s word gives insight. As believers, we are:
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation (Greek, HILASTERIOS – mercy seat) in His blood through faith.
Jesus is the mercy seat and His cross was the solution to the unsolvable problem. The place where the glory is revealed is also the place of the destruction of all that made man unable/unworthy to enter. It was at Calvary, the place where the power of sin was destroyed, the place where God’s seat of judgment against sin became the seat of mercy for all who would humble themselves and receive Him and His sacrifice as their door of access to Heaven’s glory. Problem solved. What an amazing God we serve!
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