A METAPHORICAL DEPICTION OF YOUR GRAVE

02-07-21 This message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and tabernacleofmoses.org today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7 thereafter. The video, audio, and study notes are archived.

Commentary: God uses symbols we can understand to communicate with us.

 

WORDS SYMBOLIZE THOUGHTS, WORDS ARE SYMBOLS OF COMMUNICATION

(Exo 25:1-7) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering [Heb: a present, espec. in sacrifice or as tribute: gift]: of every man that giveth it willingly [Heb: to volunteer (as a soldier): offer self] with his heart [Heb: understanding, wisdom] ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones [the Urim and Thummim] to be set in the ephod [vest], and in the breastplate.

1.    (Exo 28:30) And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim [Heb: flames: lights] and the Thummim [Heb: perfections] [compare the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1 Cor 12:7-11]; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

 

THE ARK OF THE YOUR TESTIMONY HAS BEEN FOUND, IT IS YOU

(Exo 25:8,9) And let them [accept those freewill offering symbols and] make me a sanctuary [1]; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern [2] of the tabernacle [3], and the pattern of all the instruments [4] thereof, even so shall ye make it. [5]

1.    sanctuary = Heb: a consecrated thing or place, espec. a palace: chapel, holy place.

2.    pattern = Heb: structure; by implic. a model, resemblance: figure, form, likeness, similitude.

3.    tabernacle = Heb: a residence (including a shepherd’s hut, the lair of animals, fig. the grave): dwelling, habitation, tent. [328x] [the grave (tabernacle) and the coffin (ark)]

4.    instruments = Heb: something prepared, any apparatus (implements): furniture, tools.

5.    (Rev 21:1-4) And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 

THE CONSTRUCTION (9 months to birth)

(Exo 25:10-15) And they shall make an ark [1] of shittim [2] wood: two cubits and a half [3] [60 inches] shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half [36 inches] the breadth [width] thereof, and a cubit and a half [36 inches] the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay [cover] it with pure gold [Heb: to shimmer] [the Shekinah Glory], within and without [Heb: inside and outside] 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 [Heb: rib(s)] of it, and two rings in the other side [Heb: rib(s)] of it. And thou shalt make staves [Heb: separated; by implic. a part of the body, branch of a tree] [i.e., priests, ministers, pastors] 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 with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it [ever].

1.    ark = Heb: (in the sense of gathering); a box: [treasure] chest, coffin /// to pluck: gather.

2.    shittim = Heb: sticks of wood; the acacia tree (from its scourging thorns).

3.    cubit = commentary: an indefinite measure in the Bible approximating the distance from the elbow to the finger tip, estimated by some scholars to be between 18 and 28 inches. Indefinite biblical measures are frequently indicative of the Holy Spirit. For conceptual convenience, let us take a modest 24 inches to equal one cubit, thus, 2.5 cubits = 60 inches or 5 feet.

 

DID GOD PUT THESE THINGS INTO THE ARK (treasure chest/coffin) OF YOUR TESTIMONY?

(Exo 25:16) And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony [the two tables of the ten commandments] which I shall give thee.

1.    Commentary: Upon completion of the building of the tabernacle (9 months), God put into the ark of testimony (covenant) the testimony of the two tables of the ten commandments which represent God the Father, and He put in the golden pot of manna representing God the Son Jesus Christ, and Aaron’s rod that miraculously budded representing God the Holy Spirit. As the New Testament has it:

2.    (Heb 9:1-5) Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein [inside] was the golden pot that had manna [representing Jesus Christ], and Aaron's rod that [miraculously] budded [representing the Holy Spirit], and the [two] tables of the covenant [the ten commandments representing God]; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

THE MERCY SEAT (throne of God)

(Exo 25:17-22) And thou shalt make a mercy seat [1] of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof [exactly covering the ark]. And thou shalt make two cherubims [angelic beings] of gold, of beaten work [Heb: moulded by hammering: beaten (out of one piece, 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 [toward the testimony (witness) covenant] 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 [Heb: witness] 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.    mercy seat = Heb: a lid /// to cover; to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: appease, make atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pardon, purge (away), reconcile.

a.     expiate = Dict: to make satisfaction or atonement 1. to make amends or reparation for (wrongdoing or guilt); atone for. 2. to pay the penalty of.

 

TESTIFY

(Mark 16:15) And he [Jesus] said unto them [His disciples (learners, pupils, students)], Go ye into all the world [Gk: kosmos; “cosmos” (universe)], and preach the gospel [of Love] to every creature.

 

Amen