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Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.  Hebrews 9:1-2 

The first time the golden lampstand is mentioned is in Exodus.  God gives detailed instructions about the construction of it and how it was to be placed in the tabernacle.  He was very precise in how He wanted it designed, not because He was picky and hard to please, but because each feature of the lampstand is rich is symbolism.  A man named, Bezalel, was the chief artisan in charge of making it.  Can you imagine the weight of responsibility?

It was to be made of pure gold – the most valuable of all metals.  How beautiful the symbolism. David said, “I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.  Psalm 119:127

It was to be fashioned as a tree with a base, a center shaft representing the trunk, and then blossoming into three branches on each side.  How many times is a tree mentioned as a representation of spiritual life.  How meaningful is the picture of a vine that branches into many smaller vines?  I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

The end of each branch was to open like an almond flower, and it was the center of the flower that would hold the oil lamp.  The almond tree is mentioned often in scripture as the first tree to bear fruit in the spring.  Paul called Christ the ‘firstfruits’.  So rich a connection!  Not only that, but you and I are called the firstfruits of the Spirit.  “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons.”  Romans 8:23  I also recall that God caused Aaron’s rod to bud and grow ripe almonds overnight.  This miracle proved to the people that Aaron was God’s chosen High Priest.

The lampstand was the center of all light in the tabernacle.  There were no windows – symbolizing the darkness of our world.  Jesus, as Light of the world, makes His church lights in this dark world.  For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.  Ephesians 5:8 

There was one tabernacle in an ancient land.  There was one functional gold creation within the tabernacle.  And yet, because it was conceived by God, it is layered with more meaning than you and I can comprehend.  Anything God creates holds profound implications on many, many levels ~ more than we will explore in our lifetime.

What more can be said about this today?  I believe it begs a few questions.  Am I a light in a dark place?  Am I one who bears fruit like the almond flower?  Am I living as a branch who feeds on the Vine, Christ Jesus?  Are the things of God as pure gold to my heart’s appetites?  This is enough food for today to satisfy the most ravenous pilgrim.

And to think, Jesus, that You are Light in my heart; and my heart is Your new tabernacle.  Wow.  Amen

Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.  Hebrews 8:5-6

• Moses was mediator of the first covenant. Jesus is the mediator of the second.
• Moses brought the law down from Mt. Sanai to the people on stone. Jesus goes the final step by writing the law on the hearts of His people.
• Moses commanded the people to obey the Law that they could see in front of them. Jesus inscribes the Law where we cannot see it – on the hearts of His people.
• Moses commanded the people to obey it. Jesus, under the power of His Spirit, empowers His children to obey it.
• Moses made sure the people understood that the price for disobedience was grave. Jesus provided His own blood to atone for sin and radically forgives upon repentance in this age of grace.

How vastly different is the old from the new!  Radically.  Jesus is the mediator for whom the people had been waiting.  Do I have any idea how blessed I am to be born in a time when God’s Spirit invites me into a relationship?  When I accept, He calls me His temple and moves inside.  He is not a judge to dread but a companion to be treasured.  His holiness is not fearsome and repelling – as it was for the children of Israel when they were too afraid to hear God speak (and asked Moses to speak on His behalf).  God’s presence and perfection is now cherished as He reveals Himself and gives me the ability to become like Him.

Those who are too afraid, even today, to hear the voice of God end up in blatant disobedience.  Those who are eager to hear it are eager to keep His Word.  That is an interesting dynamic.  A friend of our family has said repeatedly that he is too afraid to enter a church because if he were in the presence of God, he would be struck dead.  While that fear is unnecessary, it does not produce any remnant of holiness in his life.  He is quick to curse God and live recklessly irreverent.  Fear does not equal respect.  And was this not also borne out in Israel’s history?  Yes, they were too afraid to hear God speak but it wasn’t long until they also entered into blasphemy and open disobedience. Their wincing at the Light caused them to turn away from it.

Now, God’s voice is inside every believer.  When I’m quiet, when I commune in prayer, and when I read His Words, I can hear Him speak.  This proximity and intimacy bears the sweetest fruit.  Not only do I cherish obedience, I’m eager to sift through the thoughts and intents of my heart ~ knowing that doing so will lead me to think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, and walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

My heart ~ Your home.  Your Presence ~ my joy. Amen

Now if He were on earth, He wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.  Hebrews 8:4-5

When Jesus went to the temple, He didn’t enter the holy of holies.  On earth, He was not qualified to perform the duties as High Priest.  Man hadn’t disqualified Him.  He had disqualified Himself since He, as God, was the One who had set up the law.  He had established the protocol of the tabernacle and the role of priests. To be legitimate, all priests were to originate from the tribe of Levi.  He came from the line of Judah.

This perceived limitation did not prohibit the plans of heaven.  He did not need to assume an earthly, priestly role. After His resurrection, He would take His throne and assume a royal priesthood from the new sanctuary, the sanctuary of heaven.

A priest offered gifts and sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of sins.  But priests were not needed anymore after Calvary!  There are more than a few reasons for this.

1. The blood of animals can no longer atone for sin. Only Jesus can.
2. The presence of God is no longer in an earthen temple. The holy of holies is empty.  God’s presence rests in new temples – in the hearts of His children.
3. Priests once entered the holy of holies in great fear, knowing they could be struck dead if they were unclean. We enter God’s presence with great confidence, knowing that we have been made perfect by the blood of Jesus.
4. Animals were slaughtered continually but Jesus only had to die once.

Jesus offers the gift of salvation through the sacrifice of Himself.  His one-time death is good, for all time, for any who believe and make Him Lord.  Across the world, sacrifices are still being made to appease angry gods.  They either don’t know that Jesus was the sacrifice, or they don’t accept that He was their Lamb and insist, instead, of living in the shadow of what has already transpired.  They are playing copycat but are losing their lives because their confidence is misplaced.

The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.  John 1:29 

For every person who is trying to reach you in ways that won’t work, grace them with the eyesight to see what John saw.  Amen

We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.  Hebrews 8:1-2

When I get home from being away for an extended time, the monumental task of catching up with household chores, and then catching up with the ministry things that got put aside for a time, is daunting.  This is not peculiar to me.  You know exactly what I’m talking about.  Ron laughs at me because no matter what time I get home (and Saturday night it was 2:30 a.m.), I have to go through the mail.  The next day, after a whirlwind 7-8 hours of re-organizing our lives, I say to myself, “Now, I’ll sit down!”  There’s nothing quite like the feeling of completion.  It calls for a cup of a coffee, sitting in my favorite chair, and surveying the clean and well-ordered landscape.

If this is true for you and me, can you imagine the sense of completeness Jesus felt when he sat down at the right hand of the Father?  I can assume that the celebration was a response to His last days on earth; his arrest, torture, and crucifixion.  It was not!  The joy of a finished mission was not even a response to the thirty-three years He lived among men.  The mission of the Lamb of God had been planned before God ever touched earth with His index finger.  His incarnation was conceived long before the Spirit hovered and breathed over our dead planet.  Before the foundation of the earth was formed, our perfect Lamb had been preparing.

The great events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus were foreshadowed all through the Old Testament. The setting up of the tabernacle was a teaser.  The near sacrifice of Isaac and God’s provision of a Lamb was a stunning prediction of what would take place on a hill outside Jerusalem.  There could only be one Lamb to take away the sins of the world.  All other lambs who were sacrificed down through the ages were only symbolic of the One to come.  The death of animals only covered the sins of the people for a brief time.  It wouldn’t be long until more sacrifices were required.  That’s why there were no chairs in the holy of holies, the place where High Priests sprinkled blood on the Ark of the Covenant. Not one of them sat down to enjoy a ‘once and for all’ sense of completion.  They would spend their lives in ritual ~ waiting for the day when the real Lamb of God would ‘once and for all’ die for the sins of the people, ever removing their sins as far as the east is from the west.

Our God-given imagination cannot begin to envision what Jesus’ homecoming was like, both the celebration and then the feelings inside of Jesus when he sat down to rest.  Assuming His throne meant that the plan of the ages had been completed.  He had anticipated it throughout the centuries, never second guessing it, so great was His love for His creation.  The plight of lost humanity with our individual faces on it propelled Him to incarnate without a thought for what lay ahead of Him.  Not once did He ever think, “Are they worth it?”

The deeply gratifying sigh of sitting down beside Your Father can be heard in my spirit today.  Let me never forget the joy You felt that when my salvation was won.  Amen

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Matthew 27:46

At the pinnacle of Jesus’ suffering, the cry of a child to His Father was heard but it was also a direct quote from the Psalms. He chose the words David spoke in Psalm 22 when David expressed his own anguish.  Jesus was tied to David just as we are joined with our spiritual ancestors.  Their lessons of faith become ours.  Their life experiences serve as part of our curriculum.  Their heroic moments inspire us.  Their stories of failure warn us and their stories of despair comfort us.  Their voices resound with clarity for any of us committed enough to read their stories.

If Jesus quoted scripture during His darkest hour, I see that it’s live-saving for me to do the same. How humiliating to recall how everything but scripture came off my tongue in the hardest of times.  My words revealed a distrust of God and despair.  I found that whatever words erupted out of spirit when I was in a lot of pain told a lot about my faith at that moment.  For Jesus, He was so immersed in scripture that He quoted it in His darkest hour.  He did not feel like He was quoting David’s words; no, they had become His own.

I’ve learned the hard way that if the only time I turn to scripture is when times get hard, I’ve not prepared well for inevitable time in the valley.  I’ve put myself in a position where there will be nothing but a dry reservoir from which to draw.

In my forties, I began immersing myself in the word of God.  Tragically, I missed the thrill of it for the first half of my life.  I was shortsighted for many reasons but I also failed to see the cumulative effect of such a discipline over the course of many years.  One reason God spoke His words was so they would run through my heart like a river, bringing continual refreshment, wisdom, and connection.  If I treasure them, I will hear the sound of running water.

Nothing is more critical today than making your Word my own.  It is the pen of Your Spirit that writes it on my heart so that my default language is your language.  Remind me of this, Father.  Amen

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Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God.”  Matthew 27:39-40

The majority who saw Jesus crucified thought he was weak.  If he had exerted his power by saving himself from the cross, they might have spoken of his strength but we would not have a Savior!  His accuser’s perception of what was weak and was was strong was entirely wrong.  They were living life in the moment.  They were not able to see that the power was in the cross, the thing that looked like it inflicted shame and defeat.

God has appeared feeble to me at various points in my past.  Like those who hurled insults, I have been known to cry out, “If you are God, come and down and change this.”  Yet, the sources of pain that seemed to much to bear tempted me to demand deliverance.  But in the end, they have become the very things through which the power of the cross has been showcased.  Where I was weak, through Christ I am strong.  Where my heart bled, through Christ my scars bear the handiwork of his grace and glory.  The things I thought would destroy me have, in essence, saved me.  All of them have been the doorway that brought me to the end of myself and to the beginning of new life.

We cannot live in the moment, daughter of promise.  Things are not as they appear.  We cannot judge whether or not God is powerful by looking at our present circumstances and setting up a criterion by which God must prove himself.  We need only look back to see that He has already done that.  We need only look ahead to see that he is a King who will rule throughout eternity.  What could be more powerful than the cross and future glory?

Your plan for me is redemptive Lord.  I trust you with my life today.  Amen

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Hebrews 5:8

There is a pregnant moment between an offense and sinful response – whether a thought or a behavior.  The offense happens and then comes the temptation.  Then, a pregnant moment of decision when the heart decides how it will respond.  To ‘learn obedience’ is to learn to handle the pregnant moments within that temptation time period.  That’s where Jesus achieved victory.  That’s where my victory lies.

• He’s a toddler. He’s happily playing with a new wooden toy Joseph carved for him. A sibling or a friend takes it away from him. Mary encourages Jesus to share it. If Jesus were tempted as we are tempted, there is a pregnant moment where Jesus is encouraged by Satan (not His own nature – since He is holy) to hoard it, not share it. He’s like me. Temptation says, “The toy is mine. My father made it for me.” But Jesus chooses to share.
• Jesus is outside playing with his friends and is having a good time. Mary yells from down the street that it’s time to come and help His father with the chores. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to ignore His mother’s voice. He’s having too much fun. But Jesus chooses to obey.
• Jesus is a teenager and sees a group of friends plotting to cheat. He speaks up to expose their sin. They turn on Him and He is beaten up and bruised badly. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to disown their friendship and find a way to get revenge. Anger is hot and His body is sore from their beatings. Jesus moves through the temptation successfully and chooses a righteous reaction.

None of this was easy for Jesus. None of these pregnant moments are easy for me. As I think of Him in the throes of temptation, having to learn obedience, I am very aware that Jesus is my refuge when my temptations are too great and I fear that I will choose to sin. He knows. He is the perfect confidant. He is the One who lives to pray for me day and night – that I will learn obedience. He, from the inside of me, gives moment-by-moment grace to move successfully through the temptation phase to victory.

Open my eyes to Your struggle with Your humanity. You are a refuge for a soul in distress today. Amen

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. Hebrews 4:14

Satan is my accuser. He’s relentless and he doesn’t play fair.

• He tempts me to sin and I buy his idea. I indulge and then he has plenty with which to charge me.
• He reports my sin to God and demands that the sentence of the law for that crime be carried out.
• When Satan comes to accuse me, he meets Jesus, my Priest and Mediator. I picture Jesus dressed like a priest.
• How does Jesus respond to the accusations? He cries, “She’s forgiven! She’s justified!”

Satan accuses me in two places; before the throne and to me directly. If I forget that I am forgiven and justified, and forget about that meeting between Satan and Jesus, I’ll be vulnerable in the presence of condemnation. I have to remember that he will mimic the voice of my conscience. He knows that I want to please Jesus and avoid sin. He knows that I take my conscience seriously ~ so how insidious for him to speak to me in a way that sounds like a guilty conscience. Here are some examples from personal experience.

SATAN’S VOICE	GOD’S VOICE
You should read your Bible more. What kind of a Christian are you?	Come home! I really miss you.
Your prayer life stinks!	I hope you’ll talk with me. I’m the perfect listener and I have so much to tell you.
You failed again? God is so dis- appointed in you.	I paid for your sins; past, present, & future. Today is a clean slate. It’s my gift to you. Live forgiven!

What is my strategy for overcoming the accusations of Satan? The blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. Rev. 12:10,11  I ask God for a hedge of protection, a blood shield, between me and the accuser.  Then, I speak up and state my status as God’s child.

Oh Jesus, I am forgiven, I’ve been bought with the blood of Christ, I am holy in Your eyes. I say to my enemy, ‘Be gone’! Amen

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.  Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

The anchor was a very popular icon in the culture of the early church.  Inside the catacombs, there are at least 60+ pictures of them.  As persecuted believers fled there to hide from those who were hunting them down in an attempt to annihilate them, the reminder that Christ was their anchor in the storm gave them strength and comfort. 

The writer of Hebrews says that ‘hope’ is found in the inner sanctuary, behind the curtain of the holies of holies but, in the old covenant, only the high priest was able to go there.  No one else enjoyed the privilege.  No one else felt the wonder of standing in God’s presence.  The hope that He experienced, he hopefully passed on but that would have been second hand. 

There is no comparison strong enough to really capture that but imagine that your best friend went to stand near the Matterhorn, or he stood on the shores of Lake Louise in Alberta.  You’d heard about both places, even seen pictures, but you could only dream of going.  Your friend returns and though you can see how it impacted him as he talks about it, and though your imagination is certainly enlarged, it’s still not the same as if you’d bought a ticket and gone there in person.  The most powerful things in life have to be experienced personally to really get it.      

Jesus coming removed all our limitations. Now, you and I have access that millions before us never had.  I don’t have to hear from someone else what God’s presence is like.  I don’t have to wonder how being near Him would affect me.  I don’t have to hear a priest’s stories and yearn to experience what he experienced.  I can gain the strength I need from God personally.  I can go behind the veil myself, right into His presence, and talk to Him as much as I want.  I can stay there as long as I want and feel the power of His indwelling Spirit filling my spiritual reservoirs.  After a season in prayer, I am energized to face my life.  I know that He is my anchor because I’ve felt the hopelessness of living outside of His presence. 

My anchor. My eyes are on You.  I hold fast.  Amen

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. Hebrews 6:13 

A person stands in a courtroom and takes an oath.  He has been summoned to be an important witness in a case. Either the prosecution or the defense is counting on him to strengthen their case.  But he will not give his most honest and accurate account without first taking an oath.  He must swear by someone greater than himself, someone by whom all parties present fear and respect.  That is the reason all swearing in ends with, ‘So help me God.’  A person giving testimony is saying that if they stood before God Himself, their account would match what they are about to say.  (Though it is disturbing how many lie under oath.  Getting caught is more about what the law will do to them for perjury rather than displeasing the God they swore by.)

If I am trying to persuade another person of the veracity of my story, I might pick someone we both highly respect and encourage the other person to check out my reputation.  Checks and balances are good for society. God made a promise to Abraham and to underscore His perfect intentions, He swore by Himself.  There was no one greater by whom He could swear.

Does this have anything to do with you and me?  Oh yes.  The next time the circumstances of life beg to disprove one of God’s precious promises, I will remember by whom He swore it.  It is a righteous and holy God that spoke the words.  He is incapable of lying and reneging.  All I need to do is review the covenant God made with Abraham.  Even though the people of Israel were unpredictable when, and in whom, they gave their loyalty, God still continued to keep His promise.  Even though they build a golden calf, His promise was still good.

If Jesus came today in person to where we are, looked us in the eyes and made a vow, we would forever hold it dear and believe it to be irrevocable.  Though we have not seen Him, He has made us promises with our names on each one of them.  No matter my ups and downs, no matter my crises of faith, no matter by lapses in obedience, no matter the degree of my anger against Him at times, no matter how needy, no matter how doubtful, no matter what ~ God’s promises are solid and will prevail.  He swore by Himself.  This is love – unmoved.  This is covenant – unshaken.

You whispered my name and said, ‘I promise.’  I whisper your name and say, ‘I believe.’  Amen