SANCTUARY

TABERNACLE

SANCTUARY? ON EARTH?? IN HEAVEN???

In the Last part of Scripture, the book of Revelation, it is said of the New Jerusalem, dwelling place of God, (and meeting place for those who visit Him), that there is ‘…. no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. Revelation 21:22

Why is there a need of a Temple, or Sanctuary at all in the first place? Why is it sometimes, in Scripture, called a ‘Tabernacle’ which simply means ‘Tent’?

In this blog I won’t go into terrific detail, but I will endeavour to briefly cover some of the major questions I have heard regarding the reasons why a Temple is used in scripture and why God uses the illustration to help us understand the whole ‘Process’ of ‘Salvation’!

Please bear with me as I look at my understanding of the way God works in this world, through scripture and passing on knowledge from mouth to mouth verbally through generations and through History, along with conventional means of sharing information, country to country, mass preaching, small group discussions etc.

Let us begin……………………

MY VIEW OF THE WORK OF GOD IN THIS WORLD UP TO NOW

AN ‘OVERVIEW’

3/7/20

Gary Southwell

MY VIEW OF THE WORK OF GOD IN THIS WORLD                                

GARY SOUTHWELL

I believe the Holy Spirit convinces every man and woman, girl and boy, of sin in a basic way, gently prodding them to do right rather than wrong, to deal fairly with their neighbours and show affection and love to certain individuals they are close to.

I believe even the heathen religions show many facets of the true religion; that there is a God and that there are superior beings (such as Angels).  They also acknowledge that there must be sacrifices made for wrong doing, even a human sacrifice (although perverted version of Christ’s sacrifice).  Many believe in life after death, although perverted to mean the thinking goes on after the body perishes and/or they come up as lower forms of animal life etc.

With the Jews, Christians and Muslims, there is a revelation of unerring prophecies and telling of their experiences.  From this knowledge stems the highest forms of society laws and principles upon which the most advanced nations of the world are generally based upon (The more of this ‘scripture’ accepted, the more advanced the nation in knowledge, education and technology).  Historical and Archaeological discoveries are proving day by day the unerring accuracy of the books of the Jews and Christians (and partly Muslims), which contain writings of Prophets, Governmental Leaders etc. and which are believed to be divinely inspired by a greater being called God, the Creator of Man, the World, and Everything in it, including the Whole Universe.

The Times and Seasons are based on the Creation of this World, the 7 literal days of Evenings and Mornings, Night and Daylight in which this world and its inhabitants was created, this period of 7 days called Weeks, has been kept record of from the Time of Creation up to the Present;  7 days per week, Approx. 4 weeks per Month, Approx. 12 months per Year, Approx. 4,000 years to Christ’s Approximate Birthday and Approx. 2000 years bringing us up to the Present!

Through Writings and through Talking, many honest people have accepted God and His Principles in their lives and the heavenly ordained organized church arose from Christ’s time, because the Jews, as a nation, (strictly speaking ‘ Israelites’) rejected Him.

The Church became ‘Corrupted’ and Compromised her Principles in relation to God and Truth to ‘Fit – in’ better with the Government and Society of her Time thus becoming ‘Babylon’ or ‘Confusion’ to all coming to her for pure, saving ‘Truth’!

Another Church came out of ‘This’ Church, which upheld the original teachings, to a large degree, and worked towards learning ‘new light’ or understanding, of God’s will for them, at the time; Thus we learn of  the succession of organizations, and bodies of people, down through the times since Christ, who were once pure, and became corrupt through compromise with the Government, and Society of the World, right down to the Present time.

I believe all these professed bodies of Christ are used as bridges, to enable each individual in the world, to learn part of the truth; but the sincere and honest searching individual, will continue to read the Bible (the Scriptures), and compare this with the teachings of the churches, until he finds the Group of individuals, who are ‘Keeping ALL the Commandments of God, and accept Christ as their Creator and Redeemer,’ and then become ‘Part of this ‘body’’, being a Practical, Intelligent, and Spiritually aware Christian in this World, looking Forward to Eternal Life and this World Made New again!

The succession of God’s Church (representatives) throughout the Ages of this World!  –

1) Adam  2)  Seth  3)  Enoch  4)  Methuselah  5)  Noah  6)  Job  7)  Abraham   8)  Isaac  9)  Jacob  10)  12 Sons of Israel including descendents such as Moses, Joshua, David, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Amos, Malachi, John Baptist, Christ.

1. The Disciples and the 1^st Christian Church  – Ephesus 27-100AD – Pure, called Churches of Christ – persecuted by Jews or Jewish church, different countries around Israel & the then-known world = 1 organization but different name according to country of mission ie. Roman Church, Greek Church, Russian Church, Macedonian Church, African Church, Indian Church etc.
2. – Smyrna 100-323AD – Persecution by ROME – civil power, eventually compromised with the civil power led to many civilians joining the corrupted church, both Catholic and Orthodox, the Pagan day of Sun Worship gradually taking the pre-eminence over the 7^th day Sabbath.
3. – Pergamos  323-538 – Separate groups of Christians separating from Orthodox Mother churches to keep their faith pure.
4. – Thyatira  538-1798 – Orthodox churches of different nations accepting standards of the Romish Church, some would not accept the Pope as leader, ie. Russian, Greek, Serbian Orthodox & eventually Church of England;  Waldenses and Hugeonots kept a fairly pure faith in the mountains of Europe where they survived.
5. – Sardis  1798-1833 – Protestant Churches fully established, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Nazarene, Baptists,etc. fleeing from Catholic Persecution entered mainly USA, also Australia.
6. – Philadelphia  1833-1844 – Honest ones waiting and looking for Christ’s second coming in 1844 (According to Daniel 8:14, the time of the end and cleansing of the Sanctuary or Great Day of Atonement beginning)  Most churches didn’t like it, this proclamation, as they had grown cold and formal, mainly in the USA)  Some were expelled, many left to form the ‘Advent Movement’  Were disappointed when the event didn’t transpire –  The Sanctuary understood then as in ‘Heaven’ (not Earth)  The Ark of the most Holy as containing the 10 commandments, the Sabbath Commandment understood as being the 7^th not the 1^st day of the week, highlighting Creation memorial as opposed to Evolution theory, which was just coming to be promoted at this time.
7.  The Advent churches arose – Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of God, Christadelphians  etc.
8. – Laodicea  1844- The End  –  Other Advent churches rejected the Sabbath Commandment, did not fully comprehend the Sanctuary; Seventh-day Adventists then grew into a Church Organizing in 1863 but then became Lukewarm, Formal, lost enthusiasm, spirituality.
9. – ?????  Up to now there has been much controversy among this ‘group of ‘professed’ commandment-keepers as to ‘which of them has truly accepted the ‘Laodicean message of Christ’;  to ‘Sup with Him, and Invite Him into their hearts and lives – the Fruits bearing witness in their conduct and enthusiasm for outreach, but also uplifting the joyful and yet pure and elevated standards of True Christian Living!
10. We are often told today:  ‘Don’t Judge’!????   But is this well meaning phrase ‘Strictly True’?  In a thoroughly fair and just society?
11. If we never judged where would our deviants and delinquents in society spend their lives?  Roaming the streets and causing vandalism, theft, murder and utter chaos!!!!
12. True Judgment is being ‘Fair’, judging ourselves more critically than we judge others;  and therefore being able to judge which group of people or individual persons are closest to the standard set by us, the moral standard of law and order, coupled with patience and understanding and forgiveness and assistance in all aspects of life, human, plant and animal, in order to restore, as much as possible, the beauty of original creation as our Creator God is convicting of us, no matter our background, culture, nationality, age or religion, for we ‘all’ are endowed with a ‘Conscience’;  we need to ‘educate’ it and be humble enough to receive our Creator’s gentle Rebuke, accept His Salvation and be changed, not losing our Distinct and Unique Identity and the Talents that go with it, but allowing our Lord, Creator and Saviour to bring it to it’s ultimate Efficiency in His plan and service and our Ultimate Long Term Happiness – Eternity in this World made New!

AMEN

SANCTUARY

3/7/20

Gary Southwell

(Warning – 2 Peter 3:15   And account [that] the longsuffering of our Lord [is] salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 

 3:16   As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.  )

1. Is there a Sanctuary in God’s Word?

Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 

• Is it important?

Psalms 73:17           Until I went into the sanctuary of God; [then] understood I their end.  77:12     I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. 

 77:13            Thy way, O God, [is] in the sanctuary: who [is so] great a God as [our] God? 

• What is it for?

Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 

 25:9   According to all that I show thee, [after] the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make [it]. 

• What was the Sanctuary in the Wilderness?

Exodus 26:1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle [with] ten curtains [of] fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: [with] cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them. 

29:43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and [the tabernacle] shall be sanctified by my glory. 

 29:44            And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 

 29:45            And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 

 29:46            And they shall know that I [am] the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I [am] the LORD their God. 

Exodus 40:34           Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 

 40:35            And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 

 40:36            And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: 

 40:37            But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 

 40:38            For the cloud of the LORD [was] upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. 

• What was the Sanctuary in Israel?

1 Kings 6:1    And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 

6:27    And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the [one] wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 

 6:28   And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 

• Is there a Sanctuary in Heaven?

Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 

 8:2     A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 

• What is it’s purpose?

Hebrews 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore [it is] of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 

 8:4     For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 

 8:5     Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. 

9:23    [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 

 9:24   For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 

• What does it represent?

Hebrews 6:17          Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed [it] by an oath: 

 6:18   That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 

 6:19   Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 

 6:20   Whither the forerunner is for us entered, [even] Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

Romans 5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

 5:10   For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

 5:11   And not only [so], but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 

• Did all its meaning end at the Cross?

Hebrews 4:15          For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. 

 4:16   Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

6:1      Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,  

Daniel 7:9     I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire. 

 7:10   A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. 

8:14    And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 

Leviticus 16:29        And [this] shall be a statute for ever unto you: [that] in the seventh month, on the tenth [day] of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, [whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 

 16:30            For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 

 16:31            It [shall be] a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. 

 16:32            And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, [even] the holy garments: 

 16:33            And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. 

 16:34            And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. 

1. Are we to look to it and understand what it means now?

1 Peter 2:1    Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 

 2:2     As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  

 2:3     If so be ye have tasted that the Lord [is] gracious. 

Hebrews 5:12          For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 

 5:13   For every one that useth milk [is] unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 

 5:14   But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Luke 24:25    Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 

 24:26            Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 

 24:27            And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

Proverbs 4:18          But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 

John 16:12    I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 

 16:13            Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 

 16:14            He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show [it] unto you. 

2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen. 

Let’s keep ‘Growing, in ‘Grace, and Knowledge’, of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and follow Him, by faith, as Intelligent Christian Lambs, Growing up into fully mature, obedient and loving ‘Sheep’ in His Fold!

AMEN