The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet 1966 kc 15-2

Do want to know HOW to "see" (as in come to KNOW) and "believe" in Jesus Christ?

Hebrews 8:8
For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

[9] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

[10] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Hebrews 8:11
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Jeremiah 31:33
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Paul then said in the last verse of chapter eight that in as much as God promised there would be a "new covenant", by the very fact of the declaration itself He made the old covenant obsolete and ready to vanish. Paul now continues his teaching by explaining the things pertaining to the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:1
Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
The ordinances of "divine service" and the "worldly sanctuary" were only figures, visible likenesses, images of the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ. In other words, they were earthly things, things our flesh eyes could see, things made and services performed to show us and teach us as a schoolmaster the things which cannot be seen, even His eternal power and Godhead, that power which can forgive sins and grant us "life" eternal. Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

And so it was that the worldly (earthly) tabernacle was made by men's hands according to the "pattern" God gave Moses, and the ordinances of divine service were ordained so that we might be able to clearly "see" and "understand", and come to know Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle and the one and only true sacrifice for sins. He was the "real thing", the reality, the One promised by the sworn oath of Almighty God who would come and "open the way", fulfilling all things. And once the reality came, all those representative "things" were completely done away with (Col. 2:14-17).

To that end, Paul is now going to give us a description of how the earthly tabernacle was set-up and what the ordinances of divine service (vs. 1) entailed pertaining to the Holy of Holies, the Holiest part of the sanctuary, and compare them to Christ. He speaks first of that part of the sanctuary wherein all the priests could go.

[2] For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.


The candlestick or lampstand with the seven lamps, the detailed description of which you can read in Ex. 25:31-40, was placed on the south side of the first apartment of the tabernacle, opposite the table of shewbread (Exodus 25:37) and it was lit permanently to give light inside the Holy Place. Wise virgins might find it interesting to know that the priests in the tabernacle were responsible, evening and morning, for trimming the wicks and filling up the seven lamps with the purest of olive oil sufficient to keep it burning throughout the night (see Mat. 25:1-13).

Exodus 27:20-21
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. [21] In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
You will also find that the shewbread, consisting of "twelve" loafs of "unleavened" bread, was placed on the "pure" table before the LORD and set in two rows of six cakes each.
Leviticus 24:5-7
And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. [6] And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. [7] And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Space and time do not permit us to go into great detail about all these things. However, one should take it upon himself or herself to study and learn all he or she can about the tabernacle and the things contained therein and the ordinances of service. Why? Because they teach us all about the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ, and the things of the spirit. 1 Peter 2:5 "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

Paul now moves to the ten cubit by ten cubit Holy of Holies hidden behind "the veil".

Hebrews 9:3
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
This was the veil symbolizing the partition that separated us from the Holy of Holies, which itself was symbolic of God's throne! And it was this thick veil that was rent from top to bottom the instant Jesus Christ died on the cross. One can only imagine the expression on the face of Caiapas the high priest who was in the temple at that moment and witnessed this remarkable, symbolic, miraculous event. So from here on out we won't be requiring the services of Caiapas or any other earthly high priest anymore, will we? Looks like your out of a job, Caiapas!

Paul now recaps what was contained behind the veil in the Holy of Holies.

Hebrews 9:4
Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Again, if you are not familiar with all these things then by all means begin "To Day" to "dig in" and "stablish" yourself by reading and studying and absorbing their significance. For example, the sacred Ark of the Covenant contained the golden pot of "manna". Have you read and studied how God fed our forefathers in the wilderness and how they "labored" for six days that they might enter into "rest" on the seventh? Our Father supplies that "manna" for us "To Day" and we must also labor to gather it and eat it! Do you "SEE" how wonderfully He teaches us? Like we said in our opening paragraph to this study, if you are not familiar with the "things" contained in the Old Testament you will not fully understand what Christ speaks of in the New Testament, like in John 6 for example:
John 6:27-33
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but [labour] for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Christ was speaking of the "meat" of His Word, the same "meat" Paul spoke of to the "milk drinkers" in chapter five. Remember? By the way, this verse ought to also give some insight to those with eyes to see as to what the "sealing" of the 144,000 in Revelation chapter 7 means. To wit, if you are fortunate enough to have a Companion Bible, read Dr. Bullinger's comments on "sealed" on page 1530.
[28] Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
This is actually a common question people ask concerning what God wants them to do. And the answer is, as you will see in the next verse, to "believe" in Him whom He sent, i.e. Jesus Christ. And  "if you can understand the things that are seen" that our Father had made to teach us, then perhaps you can "see" that "believing" in Christ doesn't mean to just believe that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God, for James writes in 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

No, to truly "believe" in Jesus Christ one must labor and gather the "manna" from heaven which was but a symbol of the real thing, the Bread of Life!

Let Christ, the greatest teacher of all, explain it to us:

[29] Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom he hath sent.
If you understand this, then you will also understand John 3:16.
[30] They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Do you want to know HOW to "see" (as in come to KNOW) and "believe" in Jesus Christ?

Here's how:

[31] Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
We are in that spiritual desert of the tribulation (40 = trial and tribulation) of these last days where there is a "famine" (Amos 8:11-3) for truth all around us.
[32] Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
The manna Moses gave our fathers in the wilderness was a similitude of the REAL THING, the REALITY which is Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, the Word of God!

Jesus Christ was the Word in the flesh and you have that Word, that precious "manna", if you will only labor to gather it in!

[33]For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
The "Bread of Life" came down from above and was born in Beth-lehem which is a Hebrew word meaning "House (beth) of Bread (lehem)". Jesus Christ is that House of Bread, the true tabernacle, which giveth life!

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


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