Tiptoe Through the Temple
2005 Bible School Program

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Scripture Text: Exodus 25-31, 36-40

In our story, we are going to tiptoe through the Old Testament temple. We are going to tiptoe because only the priests and Levites were allowed in the temple. The children of Israel could not go near the tabernacle of meeting lest they die.

Many years ago in the Old Testament, God spoke to Moses and said: "Moses, . . . Speak unto the children of Israel, . . . let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:1-2 and 8). God has always wanted to dwell among His children, but there was just one problem–sin. God told Moses to be sure that the sanctuary was built according to the pattern (verse 9). In so many words, God told Moses, "Build the Tabernacle exactly the way I tell you. You cannot be even an eighth of an inch off. Build it according to the pattern. All the furniture and all the instruments must be made according to the pattern." Why was that so important? It is because the Tabernacle, the furniture, the priesthood, and the worship were all object lessons in spiritual truth. All of this pointed to Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah.

So now, let us go back in time and tiptoe through the temple. Would you like to come with me? If we would go back to the fourteen hundreds B.C. and were to look around, we would see the camp of Israel camped with three tribes on each side.

Right in the center of the camp, we would see the Tabernacle surrounded by a fence of curtains. If you would draw open the door of the curtains, you would find that the courtyard is a very busy and smoky place. The first thing you would see is a large brass altar with horns on each of the four corners. It is called the Altar of Burnt Offerings. Here the fire burns continually. There is much blood on and around this altar, for this is where the animal sacrifices and offerings of Israel are brought.

The altar is a place of suffering, a place of death. It is a place of atonement, a type pointing to the Cross of Calvary. Just as the altar in the Old Testament was bloodstained, so the Cross where Jesus hung was bloodstained. Thank God for the blood of the Lamb of God! He was our sin offering, and He is our altar.

Exodus 29:38 tells us that there were daily offerings also. The priests were to offer on the altar two lambs of the first year, day by day: "Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually." They were to offer one in the morning and one in the evening, and the offerings were doubled on the Sabbath Day. We can read in verse 42 that is was to be a continual offering throughout their generations.

The blood was a very important part of Israel's worship. Almost everything was sprinkled with blood. The Bible says, "Without shedding of blood is no remission [of sin]" (Hebrews 9:22). If you go a little further in the courtyard, you will see a brass basin of water called the laver. You will notice that it is near the door of the tabernacle. The laver is made out of metal mirrors, where the priests can see their uncleanness and wash it away. Ephesians 5:26 tells us the Word of God is our mirror: "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word."

Although all this is symbolic, the priests have to remove all defilement. They dare not step into the holy place dirty or with their garments defiled, because they will drop dead. Also, the priests must wash their hands and feet before they approach the altar. All through their worship, there are continual washings. The priests must be clean for service, and that is how God wants us to be today. He wants us to be clean for service.

If you will step inside the Tabernacle, you will stand in awe because of its beauty. All the walls of the holy place are overlaid with pure gold. It is beautiful! If you will look around, you will see the beautiful, pure gold candlestick with seven lamps brightly burning, lighting up the holy place, enhancing the beauty of the room. The wicks burn in a special oil. I call it "God's special recipe."

Across from the candlestick is a table overlaid with pure gold. On this table are twelve cakes, unleavened bread, covered with frankincense, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Every Sabbath there is a fresh supply. Who is the living bread of life? Jesus Christ is the living bread of life, and there is always a fresh supply. On that bread is the sweet frankincense. The Word of God can be sweet to us. When the priests put a fresh supply of bread on the table, the old supply is taken off, and only the priests can eat it. Today, if we are saved, we are kings and priests, and we can eat of the living bread of life. We can eat the sayings of Jesus Christ. Thank God for the Living Bread of Life who will strengthen us spiritually and cause us to grow strong in the Lord!

Then, if you will go a little further, you will see the beautiful, pure golden altar of incense before the veil. That altar of incense is a special place where the high priest burns a sweet perfume called incense, another one of God's special recipes. Every morning and every evening the high priest burns that incense, and with that incense there must be a burning fire. The burning fire causes the sweet incense to fill the Tabernacle with a sweet aroma. This represents the prayers of the saints. How important it is today in our communion with God to have the fire burning in our souls so that when we offer up prayer to God, He will hear it, and it will be a sweet-smelling savor to Him. God help us to let our prayers arise as a sweet incense, approved and accepted by God. It is a wonderful privilege to commune with Him. Thank God, we can commune with our High Priest, Jesus Christ. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, blood is applied to that altar of incense.

We dare not go into this second room. We cannot even tiptoe through this room, but I can tell you about it. In this darkened room called the holy of holies sits the Ark of the Covenant. It is overlaid within and without with pure gold.

Inside the ark are:
1.) The Tables of Stone (the Ten Commandments)
2.) Aaron's rod that budded
3.) A Bowl of Manna

The cover of the ark is a golden mercy seat with a cherub on each end, facing each other. Between the two cherubim and above the mercy seat is the divine presence of God. This is where God meets and speaks to His high priest. No one can go into the holies of holy except for the high priest and he just once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people (Hebrews 9:7). On the Day of Atonement, the people have to worship from afar. They cannot go in where the presence of God dwells.

All this in the Old Testament was like a schoolmaster. In all of its glory, it was beautiful. Yet, it was a shadow of the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ that was yet to come. It was pointing to something so much better. It was to bring us to Jesus Christ. This was just a pattern, a shadow of the heavenly, which is so much greater.

We can read of where this happened in Leviticus, Chapter 10. Nadab and Abihu were the sons of Aaron. Right in the middle of worship and praise, each took his censer and put fire in it, thinking they would enter the Tabernacle and burn incense on the golden altar, even though God had not commanded them to do so. Verse 1 tells us that they "offered strange fire before the Lord." Why was the fire called "strange fire"? Because it was not holy. Instead of taking fire from the altar, which God kindled, evidently they took common fire, which God did not command nor did He accept. For this sin, verse 2 tells us, "went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord." In an instant of time, they dropped dead.

Aaron lost two sons through disobedience. They disregarded and lightly esteemed the law of God. It is a dangerous thing to take the things of God into your own hands. Nadab and Abihu sinned with fire, and they died by fire. What a sad end! It is a warning to us yet today. God will not accept just any kind of worship. We need to take heed to ourselves and to the Word of God with a true and sincere heart. If we want God to accept our worship, we need to enter His courts with thanksgiving, praise, and reverence, giving honor to the Lord of glory.

The beautiful ephod has a breastplate with precious jewels, engraved with the names of each of the tribes of Israel. The breastplate is the most sacred and glorious part of Aaron's garments. God told Moses, "And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim [Lights and the Perfections]; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord" (Exodus 28:30). Aaron had the onyx stones on each shoulder with the names of the children of Israel engraved on them. While hanging on the Cross, Jesus Christ bore the names of all mankind throughout the ages, from the first Adam on down through.

The common priests are robed in white linen with an embroidered sash and a turban on their heads. God chose the tribe of Levi to be set apart for the service of the Tabernacle, but the priesthood belongs to Aaron and his sons. Aaron and his sons are brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting where they wash with water and then they put on their holy garments. Aaron is dressed in his beautiful garments. On his head is a miter and a gold plate that reads "Holiness to the Lord." God has always demanded holiness. Now, on this side of the Cross, Christ has made us priests. He has a special garment for us–the robe of righteousness. We also wear a breastplate–the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). God wants us to keep our robes nice and clean, without spot or wrinkle so our lives will radiate the beauty of holiness. We must be holy. Revelation 16:15 reads, "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments . . . ."

Although holiness in this era of time was symbolic, God still demanded that Israel do it right. They had to do everything correctly. God had rules, and they had to keep those rules. Moses took the blood of the offering of consecration, and he consecrated Aaron and his sons. Moses applied the blood to Aaron's ear, to his right thumb, and to the toe of his right foot. He anointed him. Does that not cover the whole man? The ear–God wants us to hear what He says. The thumb–God wants us to do what He says. The toe–God wants us to go where He says. Thus, Aaron and his sons were anointed for the priesthood, and so began the priesthood.

God gave Moses the law of the sacrificial system. There were many sacrifices. There was the burnt offering. On the brazen altar, that burnt offering was totally consumed (except the skin, Leviticus 1:6), representing a total consecration. That is what God wants for us. He wants to totally consume us with His love and His Spirit, the fire of God. That burnt offering was offered time and time again. The fire burned continually. There were grain offerings, peace offerings, and trespass offerings, but in this story, we are going to talk about the sin offering. The sin offering was for unintentional sins. Did you know that there was no offering for willful sins. You might say, "What are willful sins?" They are sins committed with the attitude, "I don't care what the Word of God says, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to have my way." Willful sins are presumptuous sins, and there was no sin offering for those. If you were a murderer, you were put to death. If you were a rebellious son, you were stoned to death. They put the evil out of the camp.

No one could remember all the law. So when it came to someone's attention, "I've broken the law of God. I've broken the commandment, and I'm guilty," then there was the sin offering for sins of ignorance. This sacrifice was brought to the priest. The Bible says, "If his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish" (Leviticus 4:23) or he could bring a lamb as his sin offering (verse 32). The Israelites could not get down on their knees (as we can) and ask God to forgive them. They could not go to God by themselves. They had to go through the priest, who was the mediator. They looked forward to the Cross because Jesus had not died yet.

I want you to meet a young Israelite boy named Joseph. It has come to his attention that he has broken the law of God unintentionally. The only way he can be forgiven is to bring a sacrifice. Joseph has a little lamb. He has raised this little lamb from the time it was born. Joseph loves his little lamb. It is the only one he has. Likewise, the Heavenly Father had only one Lamb–the Lamb of God–yet He willingly sent Him down to this sin-cursed world for us while we were yet sinners.

As Joseph continues to hold his hand on that lamb, he takes a knife and he slits the lamb's throat. Then the priests take the lamb and put the blood of the lamb in a bowl. They dip their finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar. The remaining blood is poured out at the base of the altar. In Isaiah 53:7-8 and 10 Isaiah wrote: "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter [He was cut off out of the land of the living], . . . for the transgression of my people was he stricken. . . . when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." Thank God for the Lamb of God!

Then the priests take the fat of the lamb, and they burn it on the altar. It causes a sweet aroma to go up to God, and God looks down and says, "Joseph, you are forgiven." How much more wonderful when our Lamb of God hung on that Cross and gave his life as a sacrifice for our sins! How wonderful that the Lamb of God was willing to be our substitute, willing to shed His blood, willing to take our sins and to die on the Cross for us. What a wonderful Savior! We need to be thankful that Jesus Christ so willing laid down His life and travailed for our sins. God the Father looked down at His Son, and He was satisfied.

Jesus had to die because the insufficiency of this legal system and all the works and all the washings could not purge the conscience from sin. There was a remembrance of sin every year. The law could not make man clean. It was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. It was not possible for man to save himself. Man needed a greater sacrifice. All this was just a dim shadow of good things to come. Jesus alone paid the debt for our sins. When He cried out, "It is finished," the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, and a new and living way was opened up so that we, through the blood of Jesus Christ, could worship Him and enter into the very presence of God. Only then could sinful man approach a holy God. Thank God, the way was opened up. God moved out of that Old Testament temple forever. The sacrifices and the washings were finished. It was all done away with. The first was done away with that the second might come in–Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:12 tells us that "by his own blood he [speaking of Christ] entered in once into the most holy place [the heavenly place before God], having obtained eternal redemption for us." The blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse and purge your conscience. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, the Mediator between man and God, sits on the throne of mercy. In the Tabernacle the priests could intercede for people of Israel, but they could not lead the people inside the Tabernacle. The common people were not allowed in the Tabernacle. But Jesus Christ has opened up the way before us that we might enter in. Now, whosoever may come in and give his or her heart and life to God. The old is gone. It has been done away with, and now whosoever may come. Isn't that good news? We have a better sacrifice, a better altar, better blood, a better tabernacle, a better covenant, and a better High Priest. Everything is better. The good news of the Gospel is that all may come; the door is wide open. By the blood of Jesus Christ, we can go right into the holy of holies and worship God. Thank God that in this day and age the door is standing open! You can come as you are. You do not have to bring a sacrificial lamb. Just come as you are–dirty, stained with sin.

Who wouldn't want to get rid of the heavy load of sin? Who wouldn't want to trade a dirty robe that has been soiled by sin for a pure, white robe? Jesus Christ has a better garment for you. He has better things for you. He can deliver you from the habits of life. He can make you a brand new creature in Christ Jesus. The old temple, the priests, and the sacrifices could not do what Jesus Christ does. By the precious blood of Jesus Christ, there is redemption.

The first covenant was "death unto death," but when the Lamb of God died and arose again, it was "death unto life." Friend, He wants to give you the gift of eternal life. He wants you to become a pure gold tabernacle on the inside. He wants to move in and light up your life. He wants you to feed on Him, the Living Bread of Life. He wants you to be a continual burnt offering. What is that? Living a life consecrated to Him, saying, "I'll do what You want me to do. I'll go where You want me to go."

Dear one, do not say, "I can't be saved." The door is open. God's mercies are lingering. Sinner friend, His mercy is lingering for you. He wants you to be saved while there is yet time, because there is a storm coming that you are not going to be able to handle. Jesus cries out, "Come unto Me!" Isaiah 55:6-7 pleads: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

Bible School 9-25-05

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