This week and next (in the Mini Bible College) we are looking at the Tabernacle, or tent of worship, that God instructed the Hebrew people to construct in the wilderness. The tent and its contents and the processes that took place within all point forward to the coming of Jesus and the work of Jesus on our behalf. The people needed a way to be "made right" before they could come into the presence of God. That was true then and it is true now. God established a process by which people would have a substitionary sacrifice made on their behalf, so that they, themselves, would not have to die for their sins. Then He cleansed them. He established the role of a priest to intercede on behalf of the people before God because the people could not take care of this sacrifice or this cleansing by themselves. He created important pictures for the people to remember: a lampstand to remember the revelation of God that had showed them the way to be restored, an altar of incense to remember the prayers that the priest lifted up before God and the Ark of the Covenant that contained the very presence of God and held important reminders of God's provision and protection for the people to never forget. Over the course of the wandering of the Hebrew people millions of sacrifices were made for millions of people and they all pointed forward to one great sacrifice made by Jesus for all people. We are reminded of the greatness of that sacrifice and the singular wonder of its power when we consider all that was accomplished by Jesus, who was not only the sacrifice but the priest who interceded on our behalf.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
blessings,
Rob Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment