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| Incredible Patterns of the Bible
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One of the most interesting studies in the Bible is looking at the patterns that are developed and then repeated in a variety of symbols. What I would like to do is compare five sets of sevens. The seven days of the creation…the seven pieces of furniture in the tabernacle…the seven feasts of Israel, the seven last words of Christ and the seven dispensational periods of history. Out of these five comparisons, the only ones that might be debated as to the order would be the last words of Christ on the cross. To find all of the seven last phrases that Jesus uttered from the cross on Calvary, one must read all four gospel accounts. The sayings would have been originally uttered by Jesus in His common tongue, the Aramaic, but only one of those last seven phrases is preserved in the original Aramaic, namely; “Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani” or “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me.” This is also the only of the phrases found in more than one of the gospels (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34) Three other phrases are found in Luke and three more in John. The order that I use is the generally accepted order from all of the gospels and reflected in the writings of the early church fathers. The seven dispensational periods of history are periods of time where God has used a particular theme to show man his need for a redeemer. Each historical period is also generally linked together with one of the predominant biblical events during that period of time. Innocence…Adam and Eve in Eden. Conscience…Cain and Abel. Human Government…. The Tower of Babel. Promise…. Abraham. Law….Moses. Grace….Jesus Christ. And the Millennium…… New Jerusalem.
The First Day of creation “Let there be Light”…and the separation of light from the darkness. This was not an ordinary light illuminated by the sun, moon or stars, which were created on the fourth day. This was God’s presence that entered into the darkness of this new universe. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5) The first piece of furniture in the outer court of the tabernacle was the Brazen Altar. This is where it all begins. The place of sacrifice. A place of separation between evil (darkness) and good (light). The first feast is the Feast of Passover. It too has to do with sacrifice. “For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12) The Passover candles are lit by a woman because the light of the world would come through the seed of woman not by the seed of man. The first of the last seven phrases recorded by Jesus on the cross was , “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Like the Brazen Altar of old, the altar of the cross was a place of ultimate sacrifice…… forgiveness and grace. This is the dispensation of innocence. The sacrifices on the Altar were not righteous…they were innocent. But Jesus was the perfect righteous lamb.
The Second Day of creation saw the water formed and separated above and below the firmament. The second piece of furniture in the tabernacle is the Laver. The Laver is a large round open polished brass bowl that the priests would use for ceremonial washing of there hands and feet before coming into Gods presence. It was made of mirrors so shiny it reflected the sky…and the priest as he washed.. above and below. It was a place of cleansing of sin. A separating the clean from the unclean. As Christians we see our baptism. Buried with Christ in baptism. The Feast is the second night of Passover…the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The house is searched for leaven (sin) which is swept onto a white cloth and thrown into the fire. This was the evening before 6:00 pm (before the beginning of the Sabbath) when Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathia. “Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain”. (John 12:24) Jesus said to the thief, “Today, you shall be with me in paradise”. The repentant thief was washed with the water of the Word. This is the dispensation of conscience. Like the brass mirrors that made up the Laver, we see ourselves as sinners in need of a savior. “Purge out therefore old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;”
The Third Day of creation saw the creation of the oceans and the land. It also saw the creation of grass and all the vegetation bearing seed. Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye. The third piece of furniture is the Table Of The Shewbread. Twelve loaves of unleavened wheat bread representing the twelve tribes as well as the 12 disciples. The Table of the Shewbread represents the place where God kneads us, forms us, and makes us into useful creations. It is the place of sanctification. It is a place seen where we are changed from glory to glory. Even as we see sanctification as an instantaneous aspect of our new birth, here we see our progressive sanctification. Here we pick our cross daily and follow Jesus. The third feast is the “Festival of First Fruits.” An offering of barley (the first grain to ripen) is offered to the Lord. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. The stone had been rolled away and Jesus was not there. Like the Passover prayer, “Blessed art thou, Oh Lord, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” Jesus, the Bread of Life, brought forth from the earth. On the cross Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son. Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother.” Part of that sanctification is that we become responsible members of Gods family. Here Jesus takes care of the last of those earthly responsibilities as the physical son of Mary, making sure she will be cared for as He prepares to leave this world. The third dispensation is that of human government. The Table of Shewbread represents nations as well as us individually. Man felt that human government is the solution to our problems. He is wrong. As Babel was destroyed and the nations scattered….mankind still is trying to prove that his own wisdom and knowledge is enough to heal the human heart and spirit but it is only in the power of His crucifixion and resurrection that mankind will ever find peace.
On the fourth day God created “the lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth”…the sun, the moon and the stars also. The fourth piece of furniture in the tabernacle is the lampstand. The lampstand always stayed lit, except when the moved the tabernacle and then they followed the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of smoke by day. The fourth feast is that of Pentecost…the great harvest festival of Shevous. The name “Pentecost” actually means 50 and referred to the number of days from the Festival of First Fruits (Resurrection Day) and the Great Harvest Festival of Shevous (Pentecost), which was 7 Sabbaths of days (49). Jesus told the disciples, “And behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you; buy tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) On Pentecost that promise was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit descended upon those in the upper room, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they all were filled with the Holy Spirit..” (Acts 2:3-4) As Jesus struggled in agony upon the cross He said, “My God, My God, Why hath thou forsaken me?” He said this as the sky gave up its light and it became as night. The Father turned his back on His son and gave Him up unto death as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. This phrase is also the first verse of Psalm 22, which is an incredible description of the crucifixion written over 500 years before crucifixion was even invented by the cruel Romans. The next dispensation was that of Promise. “For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off (even), as many as the Lord shall call.” (Acts 2:39)
On the fifth day God said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life and fowl (that) fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven”…..whales…fish and every winged fowl after its kind.” The fifth piece of furniture is the Golden Altar of Incense. This Altar was directly before the last veil that entered in the Holy of Holies. The Golden Altar, the Table of the Shewbread and the Lampstand were all in the Holy Place, the second of the three courts of the Tabernacle, which represents the Holy Spirit. The Holy of Holies, a 15 foot cubical room, separated from the Holy Place (15’ x 30’), by a 8” thick curtain, contained the Ark of the Covenant. It was here that God would meet with the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. It was here that God met with Moses in the wilderness. But to get in there they had to offer prayers, petitions and offerings of incense at the Golden Altar. This is where every aspect of the law had to be finished exactly for the High Priest to enter into Gods presence. Like the fowls above the firmament, the prayers and smell of incense went up before God. The fifth feast was the “Feast of Trumpets” or Yom Tervah. Later it would also be called Rosh Hashanah.. the Jewish civil New Year. The Shofars (Rams horn’s) are blown and as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, this is our announcement into heaven. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall ever be with the Lord.” Jesus fifth statement at the cross was “I thirst”. Truly, He must have been thirsty, but not just for physical water, but for this final fulfillment of Gods plan. Thirsty for man to come back into the presence of God again. Thirst for that paradise that was lost to be regained. The fifth dispensation is that of the law. It was here at the Golden Altar where the law was seen insufficient in truly bringing man into a relationship with God as sons and daughters. Only through the altar of the cross was this possible. Not by the law but by grace is man justified.
On the sixth day God created everything other living creature on the earth…including man and woman. The sixth piece of furniture in the Tabernacle is beyond the veil….beyond the thick curtain into the Holy of Holies. It was the Mercy Seat which sits upon the Ark of the Covenant. The Mercy Seat was a solid gold lid with two cherubim’s on top. God told Moses that He would appear between the Cherubim’s to commune with him. There was no light in the Holy of Holies, except that illumination that radiated from Gods presence. The “Shekinah”. The High Priest each year would take the blood of a sacrificed ram, without spot or blemish, into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood upon the Mercy Seat. This was done on the sixth feast of Yom Kippur…..the Day of Atonement. All this was done for man. Not for the angels or any other creature. God loved man so much that prepared a way that man could come back home. Paradise lost could be regained. Jesus would enter into the presence of His father with His own blood, shed on the altar of the cross, and like the High Priest would sprinkle His blood upon the Mercy Seat of heaven. “Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” Jesus on the cross said, “It is finished”. His sacrifice was enough. His mission was completed. The sixth dispensation of course….is grace. “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Roman 6:14)
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.” The last piece of furniture in the Tabernacle is the Ark of the Covenant. It represents the abode of the Father. The veil had been ripped in twain from top to bottom and access was now open to God by man. The feast is the Feast of Tabernacles..or “Succoth”. Sometimes referred to as “booths”, Jewish families would build canopies “Succas” outside and cover them with grapes and fruit. They would celebrate as families together under Gods blessings. It was a place of joy, rest and peace.
The holy of Holies was an exact cube 15 feet by 15 feet, just like New Jerusalem as seen in Revelations 21:16. Jesus last words on the cross were, “Father, into thy hands, I commend my Spirit.” God had left His throne and entered humanity as Jesus, God the Son, in the little town of Bethlehem. Now it was time for Him to take back His mantle of majesty and prepare our new homes in heaven. The last of the dispensations is the Millennium. This is the last 1000 years of human history after the tribulation. It will be a time of peace until the very end when Satan will be allowed to once again temp mankind. God will squeeze the last bit of sin and rebellion from our race…and the rest of eternity we will “Tabernacle” with God. We will enter into His rest. “And God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes.”
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Posted by journeyman on 2008-02-25 02:35:58 | Rating: | Views: 275
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