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A PICTURE OF YOUR GRAVE (BE YOU SAVED OR UNSAVED) PORTRAYED IN THE OT AND AGAIN IN THE NT; IT IS IN DEATH THAT THE CHOSEN ARE FULLY TRANSFORMED

01-29-12

THE TABERNACLE IS THE GRAVE

(Exo 25:8,9)  And let them make me a sanctuary [Heb: a consecrated place: chapel, hallowed holy place]; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments [Heb: furniture] thereof, even so shall ye make it.                                          

1.      tabernacle = Heb: a residence (includ. a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, fig. the grave; also the Temple); spec. the Tabernacle:--dwelleth, dwelling (place), habitation, tabernacle, tent.

a.      a shepherd’s hut = the residence of the saved (domesticated) born again saints.

b.      the lair of animals = the residence of the unsaved (wild) beasts.

2.      (Eccl 3:18)  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest [make apparent to] them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

            THE ARK (COFFIN) WAS LAID INSIDE THE TABERNACLE

(Exo 25:10-16)  And they shall make an ark [Heb: coffin] of shittim wood [a densely packed hard thorny tree symbolic of man]: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold [the covering love of God in the OT; the covering blood of Jesus in the NT], within and without [on the inside of us and on the outside of us] shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves [Heb: separation] [Nazirite ministers (men and women): Num 6:1-8] of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne [Heb: carried] with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

1.      Commentary: Gold is the only precious metal that can be used in its pure state. Gold symbolizes the purity of God. Interestingly, the purer that gold is refined (defiling minerals extracted, commonly by fire), the softer (more malleable) it becomes, somewhat like love. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8,16).

2.      staves = Heb: separation; by impl. a part of the body, branch of a tree, bar for carrying.

THE MERCY SEAT WITH AN ANGELIC BEING AT EACH END, SITS UPON THE ARK

(Exo 25:17-22)  And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof [thereby fitting the ark (coffin) perfectly]. And thou shalt make two cherubims [a kind of angel] of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony [i.e., the ten commandments] that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

1.      Commentary: “and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony” = of the ten commandments of the Law (representing God, who and which came first). Later, God caused to be put into the ark the golden pot of manna (representing Jesus Christ, who came second), and still later, Aaron’s rod that budded (representing the Holy Spirit – miracles, who came third). Now they are all inside us. (We are the ark).

(John 20:1,2)  The first day of the week [Sunday] cometh Mary Magdalene [“out of whom he had cast seven devils” Mark 16:9] early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre [Gk: remembrance, (place of interment): grave, tomb], and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple [whom we know to be John], whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

1.      Mary = Heb: Maria or Mariam /// bitter, (most) rebellious /// (make) bitter (or unpleasant); (fig.) to rebel (or resist; to provoke):--bitter, be disobedient, disobey, grievously, provocation, provokeing., (be) rebel (against, -lious). [a clear type and shadow of all mankind]

2.      Magdalene = Gk: the tower. [constructed out of stone connoting pride and hard-heartedness][example: the unsaved city of Penuel: Judg 8:9,17]

3.      (Mat 27:59,60)  And when Joseph [of Arimathaea] had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen [Gk: bleached] [white] cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb [surrounded by stone], which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

4.      Commentary: “seeth the stone [Law] taken away from the sepulchre” = the unyielding Law is symbolized by the “great stone [rolled] to the door of the sepulchre” (Mat 27:60). The great stone (the Law) was no longer the impassable obstruction between God and mankind; it had been supernaturally removed because the penalty of the Law had been fulfilled in the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Jesus took on our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty set forth by the Law for all our sins. The absence of the great stone also symbolized, through Jesus’ death, the attainment of our freedom from the absolute darkness of the prison of death, i.e., the stone tomb, and more thoughtfully, from the stone grave, for, “he is risen” (Mat 28:6; Mark 16:6). Mary Magdalene saw that the prisoner (on our behalf) of the dark grave was set free.

5.      Commentary: “And the veil of the temple [an antitype of the tabernacle] was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Mark 15:38), also corresponds to the latter picture in the function of the great stone being “taken away,” both the stone and the veil being impassable obstacles to our consecrated fellowship with God.

6.      (Rom 8:2)  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

(John 20:3-10)  Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple [John], and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down [bowing connotations], and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin [Gk: for the binding the face of a corpse], that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself [an indicator of order and respect, neither of which a thief would have]. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

(John 20:11-18)  But Mary stood without [Gk: outside] at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down [bowing connotations], and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener [and of course He is], saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

1.      Commentary: “And seeth two angels…” = a lovely picture of the Most Holy place of the Tabernacle and the two cherubims sitting upon either end of the ark suddenly breaks into view.

2.      (John 10:27)  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Amen