 Hey everyone, welcome back to our second session on the worship ministry. Let's continue the way we left off. So we finished, we spoke about very briefly the background of the tabernacle, why we needed it, and the importance of it, the significance of it, the instructions that God gives them, the details that He goes on to give them, and we will continue to see that. And we began with the gate, which is a journey of introduction being introduced to Jesus in all His offices, as a King, as a Lord and Savior, as a perfect Lamb of God. And then we encounter Him at the prison altar, an altar of sacrifice as well. Okay, so another furniture that is in the outer courts is the bronze laver, bronze laver or a brazen laver. So in Exodus 30, 17 to 21, it says, excuse me, you shall also make a laver of bronze with its base also of bronze for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. And Aaron and his sons, the Levitical priesthood. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water lest they die. So they shall wash their hands and their feet lest they die. And it shall be a statue forever to them, to Him and His descendants throughout their generations. Right, so the laver of bronze, a washing place and cleansing. Aaron and his sons had to wash their hands and their feet before they enter the holy place. We see that in Leviticus 8 as well. Now they were working. The priests, Aaron and his sons, they would touch the wood, the sacrifice and whatnot. So they had to wash their hands and their feet before they enter the holy place. So now, as we people in the new covenant, we don't have to work for our salvation, so to say. Because Jesus Christ, ultimate sacrifice has paid for it. So He is our righteousness. We don't attain salvation by works, by the things that we do. It has been given to us by grace and we simply have to believe in what Jesus has done for us. However, we have to continue this walk of life. We run this race, we walk this life. And so which is why we are called to wash ourselves. And in word we see that the Word of God cleanses us. So we wash ourselves with impurities of the day, the impurities of life with the Word of God. And in John 15 verse 3 and Ephesians 5, 26 and the work of the Spirit. So let's just go to John 15 verse 3 very quickly and Ephesians 5, 26. Just so you read the scriptures. Can someone read Ephesians 5, 26 and I'll read Ephesians John 15 verse 3. John 15 verse 3 says you are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you. Can someone read Ephesians 5 verse 26 please? Ephesians 5, 26. That you might sanctify and cleanse half of the washing of water by the Word. Thanks, Manghi. Do you mind reading it one more time for us please? Okay. It says that he might sanctify and cleanse half with the washing of water by his Word. Thank you. So to make a holy cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word. And then finally Titus chapter 3 verse 5. Titus chapter 3 verse 5. It says he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He has saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. So we are cleansed by his Word and by the Holy Spirit. So we are encouraged to read his Word every day. Isn't it? Thank you. Hi, Pastor. Regarding Ephesians scripture that was just read by Manghi. The washing of her. Who is the her? It is referring to. Wait, so the whole chapter is talking about... Sorry, you were saying something. Go ahead. I was asking is it the Jerusalem Israelites? Who is the her? So Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22 onwards. It talks about the relationship between the husband and wife. But what is really going on there is talking about how Jesus is the head of the church and the church being his bride. Right? So again that's imagery metaphorical. So that's the language that's being used by using the relationship between the husband and wife. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Yeah, but even verse 25 of the same chapter of Ephesians gives it clear that husbands love your wives, death does quite love the church and gives himself up for her. And now verse 26 is a continuation up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word. Yeah. Thank you, Charles. Yeah, I hope that clears. Another interesting thing also we see is that this brazen labor was made up of mirrors on the inside. Okay, mirrors on the inside. This is another interesting thing in James chapter 1 verse 22 and 25. We see that the word of God is being used as a mirror, right? So let's again, just go to James chapter 1. Okay, James chapter 1. Just read it for us. Just verse 22 onwards. It says, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror. And after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does. You see that beautifully read verse 25, but the man who looks intently into the perfect law, the man who looks intently into the perfect law, into God's Word, that's what it is. And not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does. So two things is that one, now we don't live by works. Like, you know, what the priests were involved with, they were working their hands would get dirty. They had to clean, you know, and so to speak. And now we don't attain salvation as I mentioned by the works. Okay, it's by grace. However, because we walk this walk of life, we are called to run this race. We are to read His Word and not just be the readers of His Word, but be the doers of His Word. Right, so this praise and labor, we're calling it the place of sanctification. Right, Psalm 119 verse 9, I think it says, How can a young man live his life pure by living according to the Word of God? Okay, so that's the outer courts. But here's another thing, right? And once again, it is possible for most of Christians to come through the gate to know about Jesus, to know about the cross, to know about the Word that cleanses us and be satisfied with it in the outer courts, continue to live our life in the outer courts and not go deeper. Right, but then there is this clear invitation for all of us when God says, Come boldly to the throne of grace, right? Come all the way to my throne. That's the invitation that we all have, isn't it? I say, don't just, you know, be at the gate, come in. There's another beautiful imagery that I am getting of the gate, and I think the gate is pretty wide. It's like his arms are always wide open so you can come through me, you can come to me because I am the gate and then encounter me in my world and my spirit encounter me at the cross, at the altar of sacrifice, see what I've done for you and what I'm empowering you to live your life like. And then there is more. Don't just stand there. Don't just be in the outer courts. Let's go in a little bit more deeper. Does anybody know this famous song by Petra says, Take me past the outer courts. Yeah, take me past the outer courts into the holy place. If you haven't heard it, you should listen to it. It's a song by Petra. Okay, so now we move into the inner court, the holy place. Okay, this, the holy place had three pieces of furniture. One is the table of showbread, golden lampstand, and the altar of incense. Let's just take a look at it. The table of showbread makes it 26, 30, 35 and 37. It says, and you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern, which you were shown on the mountain. You shall sit the table outside the veil and the lampstand across the table, across from the table on the side of the tabernacle towards the south. And you shall put the table on the north side. You shall make a screen for the front, for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple and scarlet thread and fine woven linen made by a weaver. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia wood and overlay them with gold and their hooks shall be gold and you shall cast five sockets of the bronze for them. I wanted us to show, which is, okay, here it is. Another image, guys, very quickly, which I thought is amazing. So from the bird's eye view, right, if this is how the tabernacle was set, they were all organized in groups of three, the tribes of three. So you see the camp of Judah. They were facing to the east. The gate was always facing the east. In case you have the camp of Judah and then you have to the south, you have the camp of Reuben. In Reuben, they had these three tribes with them. They're all set according to the population, the numbers that you see. And the camp of Ephraim. And to the north, you have the camp of Dan. So this is the east, south, west, north. Okay, so once we have this picture, we know, okay, which side the table of the shoe bread is kept, which side the golden lamp stand is kept, and which side is the gate and all of that. And also, to talk about the obvious thing that you see is, you know, the bird's eye view against the imagination based on the population of the way they were set up. If you were to take a picture, it looked something like the cross. But still I'd share that beautiful picture. Okay. Another scripture that is mentioned in your notes is Exodus 2720. Sorry, Exodus 25, 23 to 30, which won't read it for us. Exodus 25, 23 to 30 says, Make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Overlaid with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. Also make around it a rim, a hand breath wide and put a gold molding on the rim. Make four gold rings and for the table and fasten them to four corners where the four legs are. The rings are to be close to the rim and hold the poles used in carrying the tables. Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them and make its plates and dishes of pure gold as well as its pictures. Verse 30, Put the bread of the presence on this table to be before me at all times. Put the bread of the presence on the table. Okay, just want to pause and I know we've mentioned, we've used this word already about details. It just doesn't stop to amaze me of how detailed God is. And in all of this, one thing stands out to me is, you know, you don't tell me how you want to worship me. I will tell you how you should be worshiping me. You know, that kind of screaming at my face, which I think is just awesome, right? So the table of the showbread, in other words, also the bread of the presence or the bread of the face, it's also what it's called, was always set, you know, in the inner courts before the face or the presence of God. Let it be on this table, always before me. Right, so in the showbread represents our daily bread, as we read in Matthew chapter 6 verse 11, give us this day our daily bread. It is the meeting of our spiritual need through the word. This is what I'm calling it as a place of satisfaction. So we had the gate as the introduction, the altar as a reconciliation, the brazen labor as a place of sanctification, and then we are at the place of satisfaction in the inner courts. And Matthew chapter 4 verse 4, Jesus very famously says, by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And it is also a bread of divine provision. Philippians 4, 19, God shall supply all my needs according to his riches and glory. Right, and Matthew 15 verse 25 to 28, we know about the woman, the selfish woman, and they're having this conversation about the bread, Jesus and her. So, and she's fighting, interceding for healing and deliverance. Right, and then nevertheless, Jesus goes on to say that I am the bread of life. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. Right, some time ago, we were talking about the allegories, right, and the symbolism that God just loves to use. He's like, he's communicating something without communicating in a sense that he doesn't necessarily have to communicate everything verbally. He loves hiding messages in some of these things, you know. I mean, for example, like the bread of life, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Beth means the house of bread, that's what Bethlehem means. He has his own sense of humor, isn't it? The bread of life is going to be born in the house of bread. You know, it's just small things like that. And we are surprised and amazed by it. But then, you know, the young Jewish kids who are raised in the synagogues, who are sent to this Bible school from the age of two and three, they're like, oh yeah, you know, it's just, you know, don't you see it? It's, yeah, is this amazing how God communicates. Right, it is here we see that he satisfies us. You know, he's everything. He supplies for our needs, for our wants. He is our daily bread, right? And we live by every word that comes from his mouth. Another furniture is the golden lamp stand. It's a place of illumination. It says in Exodus 26, 30, 35, 37. And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern, which you were shown on the mountain. You shall set the table outside the rail and the lamp stand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle towards the south. Okay, so now we know which side the south is. So that's where the golden lamp stand was set up. Elasha, I see your hands being raised. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Satisfying deduction we are able to make from the table of showbread. Are we also able to make the deduction from the bread that was broken at the table? Yeah, could you repeat the question though, Elasha? Yes, I was saying that this satisfying deduction we are making from the table of showbread as the bread meeting our spiritual need, our divine provision, healing and deliverance. Can we make the same deduction from the bread that was broken at the law supper? Yes, so if you look at Leviticus chapter 22 actually, it says that the priests were entitled to eat the old loaves after seven days while standing in the holy place. So they will sprinkle some frankincense on it because it's bitter. So what they would do is they would pass the bread amongst the priests inside and then they would break it and they will eat it. And that's again when you see how the Passover happens, the last supper, the last table is they break the bread and they pass it around, which is again symbolic of Jesus saying that this is the body that was broken. And so it's also reminder of communion that we partake of the bread and the wine. Okay, all right. Thank you very much. All right, so the next piece of furniture as we were talking is the golden lamp stand. It's a place of illumination. You can see that he is the light of the world, Jesus is light of the world. And it's 119 verse 105. I think that word is a lamp into my feet and a light unto my path. So he illuminates our path, he illuminates our lives. He brings light into the darkness of people. We were dead in darkness, but he brought us into this eternal light. In Exodus 27 this instruction says, And you shall command the children of Israel that you bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light to cause the lamp to burn continually. Twice every day morning and evening a priest attended to the wick and replenished the pure beaten olive oil for the lamps. It also comes down to our responsibility to keep the fire in us burning in constant communion and fellowship with God. You can see that the process is, the progression is so clear from the gate to the altar, the lever to the showbread and to the golden lamp stand is, you just get taken as deeper and deeper and deeper into a relationship with God. So on the lamp there is oil and fire producing light, representing illumination and revelation. This is the illumination and revelation which the Holy Spirit brings into our lives both directly and through the illumination of the scriptures. So every time we read from his word, we encounter him, there's a new revelation that happens. A revelation simply means an unveiling. It comes from the root word of unveiling that's happening. So that is the golden lamp stand. And the last piece of furniture is the golden altar of incense, golden altar of incense which represents intercession. In Exodus 30, 34, 38 it says, incense was a mixture of four rich and rare spices which cannot be identified today. And so the priest would take this mixture, put it on the altar of incense and the whole inner courts will be filled with this smoke and the fragrance of this incense. It is the altar of incense, emotions are surrendered with intercession and spirit comes to life with worship. It is at this altar where intercession begins, where the inner court is the place of prayer, petition, requests and intercession. So after all of these things, of all the busyness that is happening in the outer courts with everybody running around, draining the sacrifice, done washing their hands and their feet and suddenly it seems like the things are getting a little bit, a bit more less busier in the holy place, right? And in the outer courts there are, I mean there's a lot of space, you can have 50 people, 100 people, whatnot. And then suddenly the room becomes a lot smaller in the inner courts. And then there is a veil that separates the inner courts from the holy of holies. So the outer court and the inner courts very much involves our duties as a Christian. What we need to do to move into the place where we really want to be, which is the holy of holies. Now every time we talk about the tabernacle, generally we talk about, we don't talk about the gate, but we talk about the outer courts and the inner courts and the holy of holies. But when you read Exodus 25, when we read Exodus 25 verse 10 onwards, God doesn't start with the outer courts, but he starts with the ark. He starts from the inside and then goes out. And we come in from the outside to the inside, but we always have to keep this in mind that the most important thing is his presence, is meeting him, you know, face to face, and then God has made a way for us. And we know about, as I don't really want to talk in depth about this place. This is where you would meet God face to face. And something that was shared to me a while ago was this. You can, in the outer courts, you praise him, right? You enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. There is like a group of people in almost a crowd. So you can praise them, you can thank him with the crowd in the outer courts. And then you come into the inner courts. You are tending to the table of shoe bread. You're making sure that there is oil in the lamp and you're making sure that there is incense always coming out from the altar of incense. So you are praising God with a group of people, with a crowd. And you are serving him with a group of people, right? You're serving, like I say, your ministries, your church ministries, you have a team. You are serving God with a group of people. But you can only worship him face to face. You can only worship him one-on-one, right? And so that's the invitation and the progression that we see that God is inviting us. He's saying, don't be satisfied at where you are in the outer courts. Yeah, praising me and worshiping, giving thanks and all of that is great. Knowing me as your Lord and Savior is important and it's amazing, it's a must. But then don't stop there. Come in deeper, come in deeper and taste and see that I am good, you know. Partake of me. And then again, don't just stop there, there's more. Now that the veil is torn, I have made a way through my blood. I've made a way so you can come boldly to the throne of grace, the Holy of Holies, the most holy place, right? So this is communion with God. Communion is being with God. And this should be the desires of our heart, is that you just want to be satisfied? And whichever ministry that you are leading, even if it's personal, walk with God and if you're pastoring a church, leading a church and whatnot, always push for more because there is more. Don't be satisfied or be content at where you are. Because the invitation is always there. We are being invited to come in deeper and deeper and deeper. Right? So that's kind of concluding with the tabernacle of Moses. Does anybody have anything to share or ask questions? Any questions? Right. So there are no questions or thoughts that you want to share. We can move on. So David's tabernacle, right? So just to give a very quick background of the tabernacle of David. So from the tabernacle of Moses, you know, everything that's happened, everybody builds the tabernacle. This is one last thing, guys. It's okay. We just go to the last chapter of Exodus. Can we do that? It's okay. Let's go to the last chapter of Exodus is something else that I wanted to share with us. Moses first encounters God in a burning bush, right? And that's where he gets his assignment. God tells him to go to Egypt and bring the people of Israel out. And then the next time he comes, it's not just a burning bush. The whole mountain is on fire, right? And then something significant happens in Exodus chapter 40. Exodus chapter 40. I'm not going to read the whole chapter to you. So about maybe just a couple of verses and Exodus 40. It says, then the lots of Moses set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting on the first day of the first month. Place the ark of the testimonies in it and shield the ark with the curtain. Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lamp stand and set up its lamps. Okay. Let's move fast forward. Let's go to verse 16. Verse 16. It simply says this, Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him. Can you read that with me wherever you are? It says, Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him. What does it mean? Moses obeyed God. Okay. Verse 17. So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month. In the second year when Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up posts. Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent. As the Lord commanded him. Underline that. Verse 20. He took the testimony and placed it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. Verse 21. Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the testimony. As the Lord commanded him. Verse 22. Moses placed the table in the tent of the meeting on the north side as the tabernacle outside the curtain and set out the bread on it before the Lord as the Lord commanded him. You guys with me? Are you getting bored? Verse 24. He placed the lamp stand in the tent of the meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle and set up the lamps before the Lord as the Lord commanded him. Verse 26. Can we go ahead? Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of the meeting in front of the curtains and burnt fragrant incense on it as the Lord commanded him. Then he put up the curtain at the entrance of the tabernacle. He set the altar of burnt offerings near the entrance of the tabernacle. The tent of the meeting and offered on it burnt offerings and green offerings as the Lord commanded him. He placed the basin between the tent of the meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. And Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. They washed whenever they entered the tent of the meeting and approached the altar as the Lord commanded Moses. Then Moses set up a country courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. Even this chapter, it starts off from the inside out, isn't it? So Moses did everything as the Lord commanded him. Moses did everything as the Lord commanded him. As the Lord commanded him. So after all of this, then we come to verse 34. It says, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Now, it was the same Moses who stood in the very presence of God for 40 days, 40 nights in the mountains while he got the blueprint from God. And now it is the same person, Moses, who is not able to enter into this presence of God because of the weight of his glory. What I want to emphasize here and leave is in everything God has told him to do, I think the key here is obedience. So for the first time, we see Moses encountering God in a burning bush. He obeys, he goes to Egypt, he comes back, now see the whole mountain is on fire and then God gives him a set of instruction to build a sanctuary, a meeting place. He finishes that and now God shows himself bigger and he's not able to step in. Something about obedience that God makes himself bigger in our lives and every time we obey him, it feels like he shows up bigger in our lives and that's simply what worship is and worship ministry is all about is that we don't do things our way. In any ministry that you might be leading is that we lean into his heart. We say, okay, Father, I want to worship you and only you can teach me how to worship you. And so when we obey him and he shows himself bigger in our lives and bigger in our lives and that's exactly what's happening and happened in the life of Moses as we read in Exodus chapter 40 that it was so thick that he could not enter and whatnot. I feel like I need to stop here because I think we've spoken enough about a lot about the tabernacle. The guy is doing all right. Okay. All right. Well then, I'll stop here and we'll resume with the latter part of the course the next week. I guess thanks for joining in and thanks for listening patiently and I hope you learned something and just continue to meditate on this and I'll see what God continues to speak to you and I'm sure he will. All right, so I'll see you all next week. Take care. Bye, Pastor. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Bye-bye.