THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #166 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #147
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3852
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #166
THE LIFE OF MOSES #147
MOSES AT MT. SINAI #46
THE TABERNACLE OF MOSES ( Part 5)
RECAP: THE GATE, THE BRAZEN ALTAR, THE BRAZEN LAVER
Before we proceed further in our study, let us not not forget to mention the priests and their duties in the Tabernacle especially in the Outer Court. From their example of daily service, we will learn what it means to serve the Lord.
1. Entering the Gate
Upon entering the gate of the tabernacle, one would arrive at the outer court. It is here at the gate that our worship begins.
The Psalmist writes, “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.”
The Psalmist also writes, “How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord.”
And how are we to enter in but with thanksgiving and praise? The gate or the door into the tabernacle is very significant because Yeshua said that He was the Door (gate) and there is no other way to enter in except through Him.
Yeshua also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” The gate was the only way into the tabernacle.
The curtains of the outer court were made of fine white linen and were seven-and-a-half feet tall. The linen curtains speak of the robes of righteousness the bride of Yeshua will wear on her wedding day.
Remember, we saw that these robes were worn also by the priests and they were called garments of splendor, beauty, and glory.
2. Approaching the Brazen Altar and Brazen Laver
When surveying the Outer Court, you would see the Bronze Altar and the Bronze Laver.
The outer court was the place for atonement, worship, and cleansing in preparation to meet God.
A. The Brazen or Bronze Altar
The altar of sacrifice, as it was also known, was made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, which is a picture of Yeshua bearing the sins of man on the cross.
The blood of the sacrifices was poured out upon the ground at the base of the altar, which was a picture of the shedding of Yeshua’s blood being poured out for us.
The altar was the place where the people came to draw near to God.
We see this throughout the Old Testament that God’s people, like Noah and the Patriarchs, would build an altar and sacrifice to God for one reason or another; but through this they would draw near to God.
It was only through their sacrifices that they could draw near to God. Their sins had to be atoned for.
Scripture tells us that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood.
The two types of basic sacrifices were the sin offering and the peace offerings (which not only included the peace offerings, but also the grain offerings and burnt offerings).
Since Yeshua, we no longer need to bring a sin offering because it is through the blood of Yeshua that we can now draw near to God.
His atoning sacrifice for our sins was once and for all.
Now, we cannot confuse the sin offering with repentance. We still need to turn from our sins. Paul writes In Romans 6:1-2, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not saved by the law but by grace? May it never be!”
He also says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment.”
Sin separates us from God, but repentance brings us back into that right standing with Him.
Isaiah writes, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, though your sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool if you consent and obey.”
2. Brazen or Bronze Laver
This is what the Bronze Laver represents: Sanctification.
Sanctification is an ongoing process. It is the process of being cleansed from sin initially when we accept Yeshua’s sacrifice for us, but then it is a continual cleansing of our sins when we confess them before God.
The Bronze Laver was a large basin for ceremonial washing. It was made of bronze and mounted on a base and lined with mirrors which the Israelite women donated to the building of the Tabernacle.
Could this be what James meant when he said that we are to be doers of the Word and not just hearers? For anyone who just hears the Word and does not do it is like a man who looks into a mirror and then forgets what he looks like.
When Yeshua prayed for His disciples He prayed, “Father sanctify them in the truth: Thy Word is truth.” It is by Yeshua’s blood we are cleansed initially, but it is in the keeping of His Word that we remain clean.
The sword of the Spirit, which is part of our defense against the evil one, is the Word of God and Scripture tells us, “He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
We are to continually renew our minds through the Word of God.
The priests bathed their entire bodies in the laver when they were ordained, but after that, they only washed their hands and feet before going into the Tabernacle so that they would not die.
The tabernacle was a place of holiness and so the priests were to remain in a state of cleanliness when offering the sacrifices.
Yeshua tells His disciples that they have already been made clean because of the Word and only their feet needed to be washed.
What did Yeshua mean by this? When we accept Yeshua’s sacrifice (the Lamb for the sin offering) on our behalf, and we repent of our sins (that is, a heartfelt turning away from what is opposed to God’s Word), living by the whole Word of God’s counsel, we are totally washed by His blood, as if we ourselves went to the Bronze Laver. We are cleansed.
But as we go day by day, we stumble, we fall, and we may drift away; so we need to be cleansed from our actions which are represented by our feet. Our feet can lead us to do good or to do bad, as it is written in Romans, “Their feet are swift to shed blood,” and again, “How beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news.” We are to make straight paths for our feet.
You see, accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice on our behalf should make us broken and contrite to think that a holy God loved us so much that He took our place, He took our punishment. So that should lead us to the peace offering or the thanksgiving offering, which it can also be called.
A peace offering was always made with the sin offering. You see, true repentance will always lead us to true thanksgiving.
The Psalmist writes, “To Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the Lord.”
True repentance bears the “fruit of repentance” which are our righteous deeds, represented by our white garments. No longer do we do those dead works and ungodly deeds.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Messiah, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God.”
The Word of God is alive and active; it is a two edged sword and when we read God’s Word and apply it to our lives, then the Word cleanses us because it changes us.
So we see the Laver represents the waters of baptism. Paul continues to write in Romans 6:2 after he says that we should not continue in sin, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
The Laver represents water, the waters of life. John writes, “This is the One who came by water and by blood, Yeshua the Messiah.” And again, “For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”
We have seen that the Outer Court consists of the gate which leads to life and the altar which leads us to the wells of salvation.
Why the wells of salvation? Because salvation is redemption and when we repent of sin and turn from our ways, then we are redeemed based on Yeshua’s sacrifice and His shed blood which cleanses us from our sin.
The songwriter writes, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stain.”
3. Conclusion
We see then that our duty as priests is first to be holy and righteous in Yeshua.
Next, we must assist others as they draw near to God, leading them to repentance and accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice on their behalf.
Indeed the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom for we must worship Him according to His ways. When we do this, we will adopt a new mindset of seeing things from His eternal perspective.
There is an eternal value in all our acts of daily worship in His service if they are done from a heart of love towards Him and His people.
This study of the Tabernacle of Moses is not an academic exercise but an attempt to unravel the spiritual truths ( revelation knowledge ) that the Holy Spirit imparts to us.
N.B. Tomorrow we shall press on by entering into the Holy Place just before the Holy of Holies.
N.B.
The Levites had to stand all day outside in their daily service ( as there were no chairs or seats at all in the Outer Court )
Some commentators note that their feet were bare which they had to keep on washing at the Brazen Laver together with their hands - clean hands, clean feet for their service unto the Lord at all times.
Only the Cohens ( Aaronic priesthood ) - the chief class of Levitical Priests descended from Aaron - were allowed into the Holy Place.
