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REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
The Passover is full of things that point forward to the
Lord Jesus Christ. For example, the Israelites had to
choose a perfect lamb. How does this remind us of Jesus?
Jesus Christ was born sinless, and lived a sinless
life, perfectly acceptable to God.
2.
If the Israelites had not killed the lamb and put some
of the blood on the doorposts of their houses, would
their firstborn have been saved? No, they would have
died.
3.
Was the spotless life of Jesus Christ enough to save us
from our sins? No, Jesus had to die for our
sins.
4.
Is just knowing about Jesus Christ enough to save us
from the penalty we deserve for our sins? No, we must
put our trust in Him and His blood, shed for our sins.
5.
When the Passover sacrifice was killed, none of its
bones were to be broken. How does this remind us of the
Lord Jesus? When the Lord Jesus died, none of His
bones were broken.
6.
The Israelites were unable to deliver themselves.
Pharaoh’s army pursued them from one side, and the sea
was on the other side. But God opened up the sea for
them. How does this remind us of our situation before we
put our faith in Jesus Christ? Before we were saved,
we were helpless to save ourselves. Satan was against
us. But God opened a way for us to escape through Jesus
Christ.
7.
The morning following God’s deliverance of the
Israelites through the Red Sea, the people worshiped God
and praised Him. How can we follow this example in our
lives? We can praise and worship God for the great
deliverance He has given us through Jesus Christ.
8.
When the Israelites were in the desert, God provided
manna for them every day. How does this remind us of the
Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the true and
living Bread of Life. God sent Him down from heaven so
we could “eat” of Him and live forever.
9.
Moses struck the rock in the wilderness, and God made
water flow out to satisfy the needs of the Israelites.
How does this remind us of Jesus? Jesus, our Rock,
was struck for our sins and died on the cross. From Him,
we can drink freely of the water of life.
10.
God’s blessings to Israel were dependent upon their
obedience to His Law. What are God’s blessings to us
dependent upon? Our blessings are dependent upon
Jesus Christ, and His obedience to God when He was here
as a man.
A.
Introduction
God
knew that the Israelites were not able to keep His laws.
In
His grace, He told Moses to build the tabernacle.
Tabernacle
means “dwelling place.”
-
The tabernacle was a place where Holy God would dwell
with the sinful Israelites.
-
Here, He would show them His mercy and grace.
B.
The tabernacle had to be built exactly as God commanded
Moses.
Each
part of the tabernacle had to be made exactly as God
prescribed.
Read
Exodus 25:9.
C.
Every part of
the tabernacle pointed forward to Jesus Christ.
This
tabernacle was to be a picture of the coming Deliverer,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
For
this reason, God gave Moses exact instructions of how
each part must be made.
-
Every part of the tabernacle was designed to teach us
something about the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
Each piece pointed to something in His birth, life,
death, burial, resurrection, ascension, or continuing
heavenly ministry.
Let’s
look at some of the wonderful pictures of Christ in the
tabernacle.
We
will start in the outer court and work inward:
1.
The altar of burnt sacrifice—
Jesus
Christ is our sacrifice.
Just
inside the entrance of the curtain fence surrounding the
tabernacle stood an altar.
On
this altar, animals were brought to be killed and burned
for the sins of the people.
Read
Exodus 27:12.
We
no longer need an altar for sacrificing animals. Jesus
Christ has sacrificed Himself once for all, for the sins
of everyone, everywhere.
God
has totally accepted His sacrifice.
2.
The laver—
The
Word of the Lord Jesus is our laver, or washbasin.
The
people were allowed to bring offerings to the altar. But
only the priests could go to the next part of the
tabernacle—the laver, or basin, of water.
Here,
the priests washed their hands and feet before they
entered into the holy place of God.
Read
Exodus 30:18,19.
The
water reminds us of God’s Word.
When
we read and meditate on God’s Word, it changes our
thinking. As we continue to believe and obey His Word,
we become more like the Lord Jesus Christ in the way we
think and live.
3.
The table of shewbread—
Jesus
Christ is the Bread of Life.
In
the first room, the holy place, stood a table on which
the priests placed twelve loaves of bread.
The
twelve loaves represented the spiritual food needed
daily by the tribes of Israel.
Read
Exodus 25:23,30.
The
table of shewbread reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He
is our spiritual food.
In
John 6:35, Jesus calls Himself “The Bread of Life.”
He
gave His own body on the cross for our sins.
When
we put our faith in Him, we received spiritual life.
Just
as we eat daily food to live, so we also had to
“eat” of Jesus Christ to have eternal life.
And,
to grow in Him, we must continue to “eat” from Him.
How
do we do that?
By
reading, studying, understanding, and obeying His
Word.
4.
The Iampstand—
Jesus Christ is the
Light of the World.
In
the holy place, the only source of light was a lampstand
with seven lamps.
Read
Exodus 25:31-32. Refer to the previous picture.
Again,
the lampstand points us to Jesus Christ.
He
is the Light of the World.
Read
John 8:12.
Before
we trusted in the Lord Jesus, we could not understand
spiritual truth.
We were in darkness, and we believed Satan’s
lies.
But
Jesus Christ is now our light.
-
He gives us light to understand His Word.
-
As we obey the light He gives us, He continues to give
us more light to know and follow Him.
5.
The altar of incense—
We offer prayer to God in Jesus’
name.
Inside
the first room was a small altar where the priests
burned fragrant incense as an offering to God. Refer to
the previous picture.
Read
Exodus 30:1-3.
The
sweet-smelling incense rising from the altar was a
picture of the Israelites’ worship and prayers going
up to God. We do not make offerings of incense, but we
offer our prayers to God through Jesus Christ.
In
Revelation 5, God tells us that the prayers of believers
are golden bowls of incense poured out before His
Throne.
Our
prayers are acceptable to God because we come to Him in
the name of Jesus Christ.
6.
The veil in front of the most holy place—
Jesus
Christ was veiled in a physical body that hid His deity.
A
thick curtain separated the holy place from the most
holy place (also called the holy of holies). Refer to
the previous picture.
Read
Exodus 26:31-33.
This
veil, or curtain, represented the separation between
sinful man and holy God.
Behind
the veil, God dwelled in inapproachable, brilliant
light.
God
is holy.
Sin
separated man from God.
No
one, not even the priests, was allowed to come into the
dwelling place of God, except for one special time each
year. God commanded that, once a year, the high priest
should go behind the veil, taking the blood of a
sacrifice for the people’s sins.
-
If anyone would have entered the most holy place in any
other way or at any other time, that person would have
died immediately.
-
God is holy and righteous, and He will not allow sinners
to dwell in His presence.
But
Jesus Christ came to earth to dwell with sinful man.
Though
He is fully God, Jesus Christ humbled Himself to live
with man and to be a man.
But
He never once sinned.
The
body of the Lord Jesus was like the veil of the temple,
covering the brilliance of His deity.
-
He looked like an ordinary man.
-
Few people even realized that He was truly God.
Only
one time In Jesus’ earthly life did He allow the
glorious light of God within Him to shine out.
Read
Mark 9:2-3.
Peter,
James, and John were witnesses of that glory.
For
a moment, they were privileged to see the brilliance of
His deity.
Later,
when Jesus died on the cross, a most remarkable thing
happened.
Read
Mark 15:37-38.
The
thick, heavy curtain of separation tore from top to
bottom.
Who
ripped the curtain?
-
God did.
-
He did it to show us that the full payment for sins was
made.
-
The way back to Him was wide open for all who will come
to Him, trusting in the blood of Jesus.
Jesus
cried out, “It is finished.”
We
can now come to God boldly and confidently, knowing that
the body of the Lord Jesus was broken and His blood was
shed for us to make the way open to God.
Read
Hebrews 10:19-20.
7.
The ark and the mercy seat—
Jesus
Christ is our mercy seat.
Inside
the holy of holies was a box, or ark, covered with gold.
The
lid, made of pure gold, was called the mercy seat. Refer
to the picture of the tabernacle.
Each
year, the high priest would enter the most holy place.
He
would sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed animal on the
mercy seat, to cover the sins of the people.
Road
Exodus 25:10-11, 17-21.
Jesus
Christ entered into heaven itself, right into God’s
presence, to present His blood to God.
God
accepted the blood of Jesus as complete payment for our
sins, and Jesus sat down at the right hand of God.
-
He sat down, because His work of paying for our sins was
finished.
-
There is no need for any more offerings for sin.
-
We can come confidently and joyfully to God, our Father,
because of Jesus’ blood, shed for us.
-
His blood paid the full debt of all our sins—from our
birth to our death.
-
God is completely satisfied with Jesus’ payment for
sin.
8.
The high priest—
Jesus
Christ is our great High Priest.
Read
Exodus 28:1.
God
appointed men to offer sacrifices for the Israelites.
These sacrifices were merely a covering for sin.
They
could not pay the debt for sin, which is the death of
the sinner.
But
Jesus Christ fully paid all that God demanded for sin.
Therefore,
we no longer need men to offer sacrifices to God for our
sins.
Jesus
Christ first acted as our High Priest when He offered
His own blood for our sins.
He
made one sacrifice for sins, once for all.
Read
Hebrews 7:23-27.
Jesus
no longer offers sacrifices for sins.
Instead
He is constantly praying (interceding) for us who
believe in Him.
He
is our High Priest, and we can freely come to Him for
help any time.
Read
Hebrews 10:19-23.
D.
God the Holy
Spirit filled Bezaleel and enabled him to make the
tabernacle according to God’s plan.
Jesus
Christ lived His life on earth in the power of the Holy
Spirit—Jesus did everything according to God’s
plan.
God
gave Moses exact instructions for building the
tabernacle and its components.
But
no one had the skill to carry out these plans, unless
the Lord enabled them to do it.
The
Lord chose one man and filled him with the Holy Spirit,
so that the work would be done as God instructed.
Exodus
31:1-3.
Through
the Holy Spirit, God gave Bezaleel the wisdom and
ability to construct the tabernacle.
When
Jesus Christ came to earth, His entire ministry was done
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus
did everything according to His Father’s plans.
No
man but Christ could have done the work He did.
Jesus
Christ set us free from Satan and sin and death.
E.
Conclusion
Jesus
Christ—our High Priest.
We
don’t need a tent in the desert, nor the blood of
animals, nor a human priest.
-
We have Jesus Christ, our living, personal Savior,
praying for us at the right hand of God our Father.
-
And we can pray directly to our Father, in the name of
Jesus Christ.
Think
about these things.
Our
privileges in Christ are more precious than the gold of
the tabernacle, or any earthly riches.
God
is honored when we take hold of these amazing privileges
He has given us in Christ.
-
The way to God is open.
-
Our sins are forgiven.
-
Jesus did everything that was needed.
-
Never again will we be separated from God.
Let’s
thank our Lord for His great mercy and grace to us
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
Why did God give Moses specific instructions about
building the tabernacle?
2.
What was the first article inside the fence that
surrounded the tabernacle?
3.
Who is our sacrifice for sins?
4.
What did the layer or basin of water represent?
5.
What does the table of shewbread remind us of’?
6.
What article inside of the holy place reminds us that
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World?
7.
How does the altar of incense remind us of the Lord
Jesus?
8.
What does the curtain in front of the most holy place
remind us of?
9.
Why did God tear in two the curtain in the temple when
Jesus died?
10.
Once a year, the high priest sprinkled the blood of
animals on the mercy seat. But this blood was only a
temporary covering for the sins of the people. How is
the blood of Jesus superior to the blood of
animals?
11.
Why don’t we need a human priest to come to God for
us?
Notes for
Disciples:
1)
Consider the tabernacle and the components that are
covered in this lesson. Meditate on the comparisons to
our Lord Jesus Christ. As you meditate on these things,
write down the blessings you have been given in Jesus
Christ.
2)
Continue to meditate on the names of Jesus Christ. These
are not just random names, but WHO HE IS. By God’s
grace, He is all of these for you.
3)
Reading and meditating on God’s Word and praying are
wonderful habits. God wants you to know Him even more
than you want to know Him! (If you are a parent, you
probably can see this parallel in your children and
their relationship with you.) Taking time to get to know
God is the best use of time.
Knowing
that God has loved you enough to send His Son to die for
you, and knowing that He wants you to know Him better,
you can ask Him to help you when you “feel distant”
from Him. Never let the enemy or your own evil desires
keep you from drawing near in fellowship with your
heavenly Father You have forgiveness of sins in Christ.
God accepts you in Him. You are His child,
forever.