{"id":593,"date":"2015-12-10T17:04:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T22:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/?p=593"},"modified":"2015-12-10T17:04:17","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T22:04:17","slug":"a-better-tabernacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/?p=593","title":{"rendered":"A Better Tabernacle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Lesson 13<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">A Better Tabernacle<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Hebrews 9:1-28<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">December 13, 2015<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Humanly speaking we can never reach a state of perfection no matter how hard we try. I used to like to color, and still do. In one of my coloring books there was a picture of a horse. Being very careful I stayed in the lines. To my dismay I had colored a part of the picture the same color as the horse that was meant to be another object. Of course the crayon I had used was black. When I discovered my mistake I did everything I could to cover up that black. Nothing worked. I even tried scraping the wax off he paper, which also did not remove it. The picture that started off with great promise turned out in my young mind to be a disaster. My life like everyone else is like that picture. Each of us is born with a sin nature that before very long is manifested in our actions. Christ, thankfully, is able to take that spot called sin that we cannot erase and make it white as snow by His sacrifice on the cross.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There are more self help books being published today telling about successful churches and their programs. There is nothing wrong with books. The problem, even with the caveats given, comes when we try to implement what has worked for them as our road to success. First of all no church is perfect as Willow Creek discovered after building the church on the idea of being seeker friendly. They discovered later that they were getting people into the church but they were not maturing in Christ. We forget that every church is involved in the culture that is different than in other locales. There are always better ways to grow toward what Christ means for a church to be. Our problem is that we look to man made methods rather than the path that God wants us to take. There is only one perfect way for an individual and the church in which they are involved. The Jews never learned the lesson any better than many of us.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:1-7<\/p>\n<p>The reader of the letter would have been very familiar with the layout of the tabernacle. Therefore, it was not so much to refresh their memories as to get to the point that the tabernacle represented the old covenant. It was a temporary structure to one day be replaced by the true tabernacle found in heaven. He pointed out there was a ritual associated with it that was performed by the priest each day including keeping the lamps lit, burning incense and changing out the showbread once a week. Then one time a year on the day of atonement the priest was allowed into the most sacred part called the holy of holies to burn incense and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat to remove the his sins and those of the people. Each part of the tabernacle came to represent something related to Christ. It was not the point of the writer to go into detail of what called the types of Christ but to use it as a contrast to Christ and the true tabernacle in heaven.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Why did the writer omit the meaning behind the furnishings of the tabernacle? (It was not his purpose to do so because he was only using the tabernacle as a shadow of the real.)<\/li>\n<li>What were the rituals performed by the priests?<\/li>\n<li>Why did God command the building of the tabernacle? (It was for the Israelites to know that God was present with them as they travelled in the wilderness for the forty years and to be a place of worship)<\/li>\n<li>What does it mean to say that the structure was temporary?<\/li>\n<li>What was the most important article in the tabernacle?<\/li>\n<li>What was the most important ritual that took place in the tabernacle? Why?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:8-10<\/p>\n<p>The point of all of the description was to show that the entrance into the true holy of holies was not possible as long as the representation of the old covenant, the tabernacle, existed. The gifts and offering made in the outdated structure did not accomplish making the presenter free from the guilt that he still possessed. They only provided for external cleansing and did nothing to change one\u2019s heart. Nothing would change until Christ\u2019s coming to bring about true repentance.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What was the point of the writer? (Nothing would change for man as long as the old covenant remained intact represented by the tabernacle.)<\/li>\n<li>What did the offers, sacrifices, washings and regulations of the old covenant accomplish?<\/li>\n<li>What would it take to bring about a change?<\/li>\n<li>In what ways do you hold on to the practices of the old covenant in your own life?<\/li>\n<li>What has been the result of your efforts?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:11<\/p>\n<p>The coming of Christ was a contrast to the old. He was the future not the past. He entered into a permanent perfect tabernacle created by God, not one built out of material of this world that would eventually become worn out.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What point did the writer want to get across? (Christ replaced the old with the new covenant.)<\/li>\n<li>What did He do to accomplish it? (He made the old tabernacle obsolete when He entered into the greater and perfect one in heaven.)<\/li>\n<li>What does this mean for us? (We do not have to depend on that which is passing away, but is eternal.)<\/li>\n<li>If what we see is temporary why do we hold on to it so desperately?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:12-14<\/p>\n<p>The writer presented some contrasts between the old system and the new covenant. The old one of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blood offerings of goats and calves that had been sacrificed for sins<\/li>\n<li>Ashes from the unblemished red heifer mixed with water sprinkled on those who had become defiled to provide cleansing of the flesh to restore them to the fellowship of the nation of Israel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Jesus on the other hand:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Entered into the perfect tabernacle through the shedding of His own blood<\/li>\n<li>Rather than a temporary fix obtained eternal redemption.<\/li>\n<li>Was a sacrifice truly unblemished who was able to totally cleanse a person of all guilt found in dead works to serve God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What contrasts are there between the old covenant and the work of Christ?<\/li>\n<li>What were the old practices unable to accomplish? (A permanent solution to the problems of man.)<\/li>\n<li>What did Christ accomplish for you and me?<\/li>\n<li>What is the key word in verse 14 that guarantees Christ\u2019s fitness as a sacrifice for us? (Unblemished)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:15-18<\/p>\n<p>Death occurred to put in force the benefits of both the old and new covenant. The difference is that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant having established by His death that took away the sins committed under the old rules. According to the writer a covenant is only valid when the one making it is dead. With His death He completed the conditions of the covenant, which provided for the forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>What did it take for each covenant to be put into place? (Death.)<\/li>\n<li>How did Jesus fulfill the requirements of the covenant?<\/li>\n<li>What does it mean for you that He has fulfilled all of the requirements?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:19-22<\/p>\n<p>To reinforce his argument He shared what followed the writing down of the Law. Moses took the blood of calves and goats, water, scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled the book of the Law and the people to establish the covenant. (See Exodus 24:8). Then to consecrate the tabernacle and the items to be used in the ministry of the tabernacle he also sprinkled blood on them. Bringing this discussion to a conclusion He then wrote a verse that is so familiar to many. He stated that in his mind that it takes the shedding of blood to be cleansed and bring about forgiveness. Only One person was qualified to accomplish that. It took the blood of Jesus to re-establish the relationship with God lost in the Garden of Eden.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>In the mind of the writer, what did it take to establish the covenant?<\/li>\n<li>What action did Moses take to reinforce this idea?<\/li>\n<li>What was the conclusion that the writer reached? (See verse 22.)<\/li>\n<li>Who was the only one qualified to shed His blood for mankind?<\/li>\n<li>What did His sacrifice accomplish? (Re-established the relationship lost in the Garden of Eden.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:23-26<\/p>\n<p>The writer ended this chapter with another series of contrasts.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Earthly copies needed to be cleansed with the blood of animals<\/li>\n<li>The high priests had to enter the holy of holies year after year to make atonement with the blood of animals for their sins and those of the people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Conversely Jesus<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Made the greater sacrifice offering His own blood to cleanse all of mankind from His position in the heavenly holy place.<\/li>\n<li>Only had to offer Himself one time for the sins of mankind<\/li>\n<li>Does not have to repeat the suffering through which He went for us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>How does what Jesus did contrast with the work of the priests?<\/li>\n<li>What does it mean that Jesus only died once for all eternity?<\/li>\n<li>Going back to the idea of mediator how does it relate to these verses? (In His exalted state given to Him because of His one time sacrifice He is able to be our perfect representative before the Father.)<\/li>\n<li>What does the idea that Jesus does not have to suffer over and over mean to you? (He accomplished the defeat of sin and death at one time. To have to do it over and over meant He did not get it right the first time.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hebrews 9:27-28<\/p>\n<p>Jesus set the example for mankind. There is a moment of physical death for every man including Jesus. With His death He judged sin for all times. He never can again face that kind of judgment. After this life is over every person will go on living somewhere. There will come a judgment through which all believers have already passed. Depending on man\u2019s commitment to Christ he will either spend eternity with Him or face the penalty of a life separated from God in hell. Christ died once for the sins of all mankind during His first appearance. He is coming again for the fulfillment of the promised salvation \u201cto those who eagerly await Him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>In what way was Jesus the forerunner of what faces every man?<\/li>\n<li>What does it mean for a believer to hear the words to die once and then be judged? (For followers of Christ there is nothing to fear. When we became believers we died in our sins and were reborn into a new life that does not hold judgment for us.)<\/li>\n<li>What does this verse mean for the lost?<\/li>\n<li>What guarantee is given to us in verse 28? (The process of salvation will be completed)<\/li>\n<li>What other assurance do we have? (Christ is coming again.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You need to understand that we do not live in a perfect world. Everything around us is only temporary and a mere shadow of the world we will know for eternity.<\/li>\n<li>Especially at this time of year be thankful that you have a mediator in heaven interceding for you who understands you better than you know yourself.<\/li>\n<li>Take a good look at your life to see if you truly believe in the One who died once that you do not have to be separated from the Father forever.<\/li>\n<li>Get rid of those things in your life that hinder you from knowing what is truly real.<\/li>\n<li>Trust that God\u2019s word is true and the promises He made in it will come to reality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We only need one book in our library that points to all that God has done for us. We can get so caught in what even the best of authors have to say that we make ill- advised decisions for the church. There are those who promote the health and wealth agenda for churches. We certainly do not want to get caught up in the idea that Christianity did not come in to being without a great cost to God. Salvation came to us only because the perfect Son of God was willing to die for each of us. The works of the Old Testament never got the Jews anywhere because salvation cannot be earned. God promised throughout His word that the serving suffering Messiah was going to come. All of the promises made of the Old Testament concerning Jesus either have fulfilled or will come to fruition in the future. That very idea should give each of us great hope. It began with Christmas and will end with the second coming of Christ when our salvation will be finalized.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lesson 13 A Better Tabernacle Hebrews 9:1-28 December 13, 2015 &nbsp; Humanly speaking we can never reach a state of perfection no matter how hard we try. I used to like to color, and still do. In one of my coloring books there was a picture of a horse. Being very careful I stayed in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hebrews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}