We walking in today: Creating A Dwelling Place For The Most High!!!!!!!! PART 2
Witness friend throughout the Bible: H7453 rea' friend, companion, fellow, intimate
Pro 18:24 A man that hath friends H7453 must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. H7453 And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
The prophets proclaim..................
1 Samuel 30:26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, H7453 saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;
The writings bear witness...........................
Proverbs 17:17 A friend H7453 loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Pro 22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. H7453
Moses
Moses was another “friend of The Most High.” As the leader of a grumbling, dissatisfied people, he often cried out to The Most High. So when The Most High told Moses to take the people up to the Promised Land, but that He would not go with them lest He destroy the people as they traveled, Moses said, “No way!” He wasn’t going anywhere unless The Most High was going with him.
Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.’ If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:12-15).
What was The Most High’s response? The Most High agreed to do the very thing Moses asked because He knew Moses by name and was pleased with him.
Like Abraham before him and David after him, Moses was hungry for The Most High. He wanted to know The Most High and to find favor with Him. Not only that, he wanted to see The Most High. It wasn’t enough that The Most High spoke to him from the pillar of cloud whenever he entered the Tabernacle and that his face shown with The Most High’s glory even after he had left the Tabernacle. Moses wanted to see The Most High face to face.
The Most High knew that Moses’ request was a problem. No man in his sinful nature could see The Most High and live. But since Moses was so intent on seeing Him, and because Moses was His friend, The Most High agreed to let Moses see His glory.
What Moses saw... Wow! That must have been some close walk The Most High took past him. What else could Moses do but bow to the ground and worship. He had seen the glory of the Almighty! Now
he was more sure than ever that he didn’t want to go anywhere if The Most High was not going along. (See Exodus chapter 33.)
Temples for The Most High
The outdoor altars of Cain and Abel, of Noah, of Abraham and his descendants, and of Moses eventually gave way to the enclosed sanctuaries of the Tabernacle and the Temple, but their purpose remained the same. All were places of The Most High’s presence, and sacrifices were offered there with the belief that The Most High would accept them and be pleased with them.
In the Tabernacle and the Temple, however, the worship of The Most High became more regulated. Indeed, the building of the Tent and the Temple, as well as the praise and worship offered there, were governed by the specifications of The Most High Himself, with no room for variance.
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring Me an offering. You are to receive the offering for Me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze.... Then have them make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:1-3,8).
Do you see what verse 8 says? The Most High wanted a place to live among His people so He told Moses to bring an offering. All this money was not about having a nice building with soft comfortable chairs. The Most High told Moses to gather an offering from the people because He wanted to get His presence in their midst. It wasn’t enough for Him to meet with Moses on the mountain. He wanted to live with all His people.
Building a place for The Most High is always about having the presence of The Most High in the midst of His people. In fact, a big fancy building may look like a church and may even be called a church, but in reality it is very far from being one. Why is this? Nothing is happening there.
Building a church for The Most High is not about the building or the equipment. It’s about The Most High’s presence. If The Most High’s presence is not with you, it doesn’t matter how elaborate your building is, how well educated your staff are, how well planned your worship services are, or how dynamic the preaching is. Without The Most High’s presence all you have is a big building filled with people. On the other hand, you can meet in a plain room with simple worship and an untrained preacher but have everything. The difference is in the absence or the presence of The Most High.
The Most High’s presence is the only essential ingredient in worship. Our praise and the other elements of our meetings must lead us into the presence of The Most High. If they don’t, there is no reason to do them. Oh, yes, they may be nice and may make us feel good, but the purpose of gathering is to enter the presence of the Most High. Anything that does not contribute to this is simply unnecessary clutter. The Most High’s presence in our presence is the only worthwhile end to our meetings.
This was The Most High’s entire purpose for instructing Moses to build the Tabernacle: He wanted to get close to His people. Everything The Most High told Moses to do in some way revealed the lost condition of man and unveiled The Most High’s plan to rescue man from his wrong environment by getting His presence back in man’s presence.
The Most High’s blueprint for the meeting place between Himself and man ensured that man could not just stumble or wander into His presence, lest he be consumed by The Most High because of his sin. This is why The Most High’s dwelling place was in the central part of the Tabernacle. The Most High was safeguarding His presence to keep it holy. He also gave Moses very specific instructions concerning the priests, the sacrifices and offerings, and the atonement procedures so that nothing profane would come close to Him. Each of the furnishings, bowls, plates, and other utensils were also made according to The Most High’s exact instructions, as well as the Tabernacle itself and the curtains that hung within it. Particular attention was given to the Ark of the Covenant, where The Most High would dwell between the cherubim, and to the rest of the inner chamber that was known as the Holy of Holies.
The furnishings in the Tabernacle each revealed something about The Most High’s intent concerning His people and His presence among them. In the Outer Court stood the altar of burnt offerings, where the sacrifices of the people were presented to The Most High to atone for their sins. Beyond the altar, closer to the door leading into the Tabernacle, stood the laver, where the rites of purification were done. These washings were probably intended to make the priests and the sacrifices holy. Within the tabernacle in the Inner Court, also called the Holy Place, stood the table of shewbread, on which the priest put the fresh bread of the presence every Sabbath.
This was eaten only by priests and only in the Holy Place. Frankincense was also placed on the table of shewbread. This was burnt on the altar of incense, which stood before the veil leading into the Holy of Holies, to make atonement. Across from the table of shewbread stood the golden lampstand or candlestick.
The final part of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. On the Mercy Seat above the Ark and between the cherubim that were part of the lid to the Ark was the place where The Most High would dwell. Cherubim, the protectors of The Most High’s presence, were also woven into the veil that hung between the Inner Court and the Holy of Holies. (See Exodus chapter 25 and following.) All this was part of The Most High’s plans and preparations to provide a place where He could live in the midst of His people. The same was true for the Temple in Jerusalem, when The Most High gave the plans to David and entrusted David’s son Solomon with the task of building it.
With the coming of HaMashiach, each of the furnishings in the Tabernacle was revealed to be a type of Him. The Tabernacle, the very house of The Most High, was a type of the Church, where The Most High wants to live. The table of shewbread represented the physical body of Christ and the Christ that would be incarnated in the man. The lampstand, which never went out, represented the Word of The Most High and the Holy Spirit. The altar of burnt offerings was a type of the sacrifices of praise that continually arise from The Most High’s people. The courtyard, or Outer Court, spoke of the assembling of The Most High’s people. Even the material of the priests’ clothes and the things in the Ark of the Covenant revealed part of The Most High’s plan that would be consummated in Christ. The priests’ clothes were linen, not wool, so the priests would not sweat in The Most High’s presence. (Sweat represented work. See Exodus chapters 28-29 and Ezekiel 44:17-18.)
The articles in the Ark of the Covenant were the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron that budded, and a little jar of manna that was a reminder of the wilderness. All these represented important things to The Most High. The rod of Aaron represented the death we experience because of sin and the rebirth and new life that come through Christ. It also represented the burial of Yeshua HaMashiach and His resurrection. The manna represented The Most High’s grace, received through no work of man, and the tablets containing the Ten Commandments spoke of our helplessness to keep the law of The Most High and thereby be righteous before Him.
When the priests poured the blood on the top of the Ark, it covered all those things that revealed our sin and our lack of grace. Instead of seeing our sin, The Most High and the cherubim who protected His presence saw the blood. Thus, The Most High could come to dwell above the mercy seat without destroying the priest because of his sin and the sin of the people. The law that condemned us was covered by the blood of grace.
Through Yeshua, we gain access to every part of The Most High’s dwelling place. He is the sacrifice, the blood, the dwelling place, and the presence of The Most High. He is also the One whose death destroyed the veil that separated The Most High’s dwelling place from His people. Now everyone has access to The Most High everyone who accepts the gift of grace that is made available to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua.
Shema Selah, will you make a proper dwelling place for the Most High? https://youtu.be/Dd9xdPce26M
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