 Okay everybody, welcome once again. Thanks for joining in for today's session of worship ministry. It's good to see you all and good to hear that you all are doing well. Okay, continue to stay safe. So before we get started, can I request one of us to start us off the word of prayer please? Anybody, just go for it. Lord, we just want to say thank you for giving us this privilege to say more details about the worship ministry. Lord, we just want to say thank you again for your sacrifice that Lord, we can boldly enable to worship you wherever we want to in whatever world we are in. Lord, as we continue with the worship ministry, we take us all to be worshipers who worship you with spirit and truth, so that Lord Father, so that people will see you in the life of the Father. So Lord, I submit all these students' fast version into loving and Jesus' most precious name I pray. Amen. Amen, thank you. Let me share my screen. I hope you all can see what I'm sharing the notes. Okay, so I hope it's all visible. Yes sir. Okay, all right. Great guys, thank you. So let's do a quick recap of what we've covered so far. Okay, let's just go right to the top and just quickly, you know, recap everything that we've covered. So we started off by talking about the four altars of Abraham and we see that how what the altar is represented. The altar was a place of testimony. It was a place of worship. It was a place where sacrifice took place. It was a place of adoration, acknowledgement, appreciation. It was basically a place of worship. And we see how Abraham was a man of altars. You know, he built four altars. I'm sure he must have built more, but we don't know of, but he built four altars and we saw each altar signified something, an altar of obedience, an altar of intimacy, an altar of commitment and separation, the new covenant unto him, and the altar of sacrifice and all of these altars signified and symbolized something wonderful, something great. And at the end of that section, we see that God is not only expecting us to be men of altars, but he's also expecting us to be on the altar according to Romans 7 to 12 verse 1. And, you know, a huge takeaway and an encouragement for us is to live our lives that is worthy of a calling to offer up our bodies as living sacrifice, right? So that was section one. And then in the next section, worship in the Bible, we begin to see how worship ministry was organized in the Old Testament. And very briefly, we read a few scriptures from how it was organized in the tabernacle of David and also in Solomon's first temple, okay, and how they would offer up sacrifices and then music was being played and with loud instruments, with loud voices, with unity, they will all come together. It was a play, it was a time of celebration, it was a place of celebration, you know, there and just sing simple songs saying, Lord, your love endures forever. Okay, so that's what we saw and worship in the second temple was a little different because during that period, we saw that the Jews had been taken into exile because by then the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, by the invasion of the Babylonians, which Jeremiah also prophesies about this when you read his book. So in the section, they are away for 70 years in exile. And in that period, we see that, you know, they had no place to come together, you know, corporately in worship because the temple was being destroyed. And so they would meet in houses, you know, for the small gatherings and whatnot. And but when they do come back, when they get the permission to come back and build the second temple, you know, which spanned for approximately 420 years, as mentioned here. So we see that Ezra and Nehemiah in these scriptures follow and practice the same thing that King David and the kings before them had practiced, they would again appoint the priests with trumpets and musicians with musical instruments, everything with the sacrifices. They would follow the same thing. They had not forgotten their ways completely. Okay, so this was the return, the way worship was organized after their return from exile and after they built the second temple. And then in the next section, which was on the lighter note, we see that how, what the Psalms talk about music and worship, right? We cannot talk about worship and ministry and not talk about Psalms is what we looked at last week. And we tried answering, you know, some of the questions that the journalists would ask, you know, just to make it interesting. The Psalm commands who should praise him, everybody, everything that has breath and everything that does not has praise him. It encourages us where everywhere. Even on your beds, praise him. In the morning, in the noon time, in the evening, praise him. Praise him at all times. Let his praise always be on your lips. Let his praise always be on your lips. Let God be exalted at all times. And how the Psalms says we praise him by lifting up our voice with the shout of praise, with lifting up our hands, with dancing, with clapping, with loud music, with trumpets and cymbals and rams, horn, etc, etc. Okay. So those were the things that we saw in that section of what the Psalms talks about worship and music in the Bible. The next section was about worship ministry in the New Testament. This is where it gets a little interesting, a little, just a little different, because the introduction of synagogues is happening here. And we see again that this was developed during the Jewish exile of the Babylonian days. Okay. So they would meet in small houses, right, as we said, that so the people of Israel would gather around their leaders or their elders to listen to the Word of God, to receive instruction and to worship. Okay. You see that the people of Israel would gather around their elders to listen to the Word of God, to receive instruction and to worship. And this form was retained and matured after the return from the exile, and it became a normal part of Jewish religious life. Okay. And a number of scriptures we see in the New Testament that Paul and other disciples continue to observe just because they became Christians, right. They were Jewish Christians, the first century Christians. They did not forget the practices of going to the temple and praying and observing certain fasts and festivals and whatnot. So here are the scriptures of Paul and Peter and other disciples observing those practices that was followed in the New Testament. Okay. And then we concluded last week's class with just a different note of what the New Testament talks about singing, because singing is one of the aspects of worship, isn't it? It's not the only aspect of worship. It is one of the aspects of worship, and it is important. And that's why it is, you know, the multiple verses that encourages us to sing. Okay. We see that in Matthew 2630, that Jesus and his disciples sang after the last Passover meal together. In Acts 1625, Paul and Silas sang. We've looked at that scripture many, many times. And then in Romans 15 verse nine says, And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written for this reason, I will confess to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name. And so multiple verses like that and Ephesians 519 that says, Speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. So the definition for Psalm is simple, the Psalm of David. It was sung by the Jews at the temple. It was just another song, a hymn, a prayer. A hymn means, again, once again, a song, spiritual songs, songs related to spiritual things. And melody for these Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is assigned a source. The heart God has created. So melody was made by musical instruments, but here we are commanded to say we are commanded and to use our hearts. Let your heart be an instrument that makes melodies unto God. So this is where we concluded last class. It's quite a bit of a recap, but I hope we are all on the same page. Is everybody on the same page? Yeah, we are. Yeah, okay. Okay, Manu, I see that you're asking, you asked this question the last time as well, as why the temple was destroyed. So basically, the Babylonians invaded Israel, Jerusalem, and they destroyed the temple. So it was actually the acts of the sins of people of Israel that God let the enemy come and destroy. So that's one of the reasons. And Jeremiah prophesies in his book. So I would encourage you to just look into that. Okay, is that clear Manu? No problem. It's fine. But it's very interesting because now you have to, if you're going to read about this, the destruction of the temple and the exile of the Israel to the Babylon, it's very important that you read the book of Nehemiah, Ezra, and Jeremiah, and Daniel also. This is all happening, you know, parallely, around the same timeline. Okay, it's very important to read these prophets because it's all happening. Daniel, you know, was, Daniel was an official in Babylon. He served for four different kings during his time for over 60 years. So it was all, it was all happening during that exile. So it's important that we read Nehemiah, Ezra, Jeremiah, even Lamentations, and Daniel, you know, got parallely. Okay, cool. Yes. Any questions, guys, any other questions so far? Okay, is it all making sense? Are you able to understand this? Okay, Kiran is saying clear. Okay. Okay, that's, that's just wonderful then. Let's just continue. So today we look into a new topic. We look at how we're going back to the Old Testament again, but we're just going to look at in particular, specifically, exclusively worship in the Tabernacle of Moses, how worship ministry was organized, you know, in the Tabernacle of Moses, the importance and the significance of it all. Okay, and why we need to understand from it. Okay. So the Tabernacle of Moses, as it says, was a roadmap. Okay, that God gave Israel to help them understand how to enter his presence. Okay, we have to understand that very clearly. Okay, it was a roadmap. It was a blueprint that was like, almost like maps, you know, that God gave Israel to help them understand how to enter his presence. Okay, that means that they just could not enter however they liked or do whatever they wanted to do, but there was a clear instruction. There was a plan that was given. There was a roadmap. There was instructions. So it was a copy and a shadow of the sanctuary in heaven, the true heavenly Tabernacle. Okay, so let's see here in reading from Hebrews chapter 8, this. Now, this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man. Okay, the true Tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man, who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the Tabernacle. For he said, see that you will make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. Okay, and once in Revelation 11 verse 19 says, then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. Okay, so by these two scriptures in Hebrews and in Revelation it's very clear that there is an heavenly Tabernacle. Okay, and the Tabernacle of Moses was just a copy, a shadow. It was shown to Moses and he made a note of it and then out of those instructions he built. However, like it says in Hebrews initially, it says it is a true Tabernacle that the Lord erected and not man. Okay, so therefore the earthly Tabernacle will teach us something about the true heavenly Tabernacle and that is why it's super important for us to understand the significance of the Tabernacle of Moses and how worship ministry was organized. Okay, but before we get in, before we just start looking at the different aspects, like the outer courts, the inner courts and the holy place, we all know that, right? You've learned about it in the Old Testament survey in your first years and everybody, even a non-bible college student Christian, knows that okay, there's outer courts, inner courts and the holy place, but what was the significance? Why was it even important for Moses to come down with the blueprint, right? So for that, we need to just go back to the book of Genesis. Okay, I'm going to read for us. Okay, I'm going to just read. This verse is not again in the notes, but just please follow along with me. Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 onwards. Genesis chapter 3 verse 6. Just to give us context, it says, when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked. So they sued fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Verse 8. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord. They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden, but the Lord called the man, called to the man, where are you? I like the KJV verse. It says, Adam, where are thou? Verse 10. He answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid. We need to start the tabernacle from here. There was unity before sin entered mankind, before sin entered the world, before the fall happened, God and man walked hand in hand. But when sin entered, there was a separation that was created. There was a divide, it says, and verse 8. They hid themselves. They kind of distanced themselves from God. It was like a dislocated shoulder, like a deadly disease of some sort. It was the separation. And Ephesians 2 says, we were dead in sin. And every time we read death in the Bible, in the biblical context, it's talking about separation. So when we die physically, we are separated from our spirit. That's what death does. So the spiritual death is what happened here is when they ate of the fruit, when they disobeyed, their spirit was separated from the spirit of God. Sin had entered. And that's why God comes and asks, Adam, where are you? That doesn't mean that Adam didn't know where he was. It's God. He knows everything. It's almost like a kid searching for something. It's like, Adam, I cannot find your spirit. Where is it? Where are you? Because God is spirit, and he communicates to our spirit, isn't it? And everything. And so once that happened, from this chapter to somewhere in the in Exodus 20, that's about 2500 years, guys, approximately, more or less, from the time of the fall from Genesis to something in Exodus 20, the gap, the timeline gap is 2500 years more. So for those many years, there was no resting place for God. There was no abiding place like how he used to walk in the garden, how he used to talk with man face to face, like he would with Adam. There was no resting place. But you would see in the Old Testament until the time that he will only visit. The God would only visit, like his hand was upon Isaac. He would come and visit and speak and then go away. But there was never a resting place, a dwelling place. There was no abiding place. But then what God does is, years and years later, again, going back to the book of Genesis after the fall, and generations go by, generations go by. And then God starts a new race altogether, a new breed. He chooses Abraham. And then he prophesies to him in Genesis chapter 15. It goes with me. Genesis chapter 15, okay? Verse 13, it says, Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in the country, not their own. And they will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. Okay, if you're not with me, the reference is Genesis chapter 15, verse 13. It's amazing how the Lord is prophesying to Abraham about what's going to happen in the years to come, in the generations to come. Verse 13, one more time, just for our benefit, it says, Then the Lord said to him, Know for sure or know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country, not their own. And they will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. Verse 14, But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. Okay, so this is the promise that God is giving Abraham, this is a prophecy. And then we see that it being fulfilled, isn't it, that Jacob and his sons go into Egypt as a family. Right, Sunday School stories, we all know this. Jacob and his family go into Egypt because of Joseph and everything. They go in as a family and God uses Egypt as a furnace of affliction. He incubates them and they come out of Egypt as a nation. That's incredible, isn't it. So now Israel is not just a family that went in, but they come out as a nation. Okay, so, and once again, if you, now let's go to the book of Exodus, if you will please, book of Exodus chapter five, verse one. Okay, this is after Moses' encounter with God in Exodus chapter three, and he's given this, he's been given this mandate. He goes there and he sees Exodus five, verse one says afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, let my people go so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert. And Pharaoh says, who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go. I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. That's again, just a backstory of all these things, right. And now let's go fast forward to Exodus chapter 25. Exodus chapter 25. I'll wait for you guys. Can someone read? It's going to be quite a bit of reading and I hope that's okay. Okay, so all we are doing right now so far is setting the context as to why is the tabernacle of Moses important? Why was it important? Why was the tabernacle itself important? Okay, Exodus chapter 25. And I would like someone to read from verse one, all the way down to verse 22. Exodus 25, verse one to 22. What if we want to have two people read it? Let's one of you read from Exodus, from verse one to verse 11 and the other person from verse 12 to 22. Okay, someone please. And the Lord spoke on to Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering of every man that giveeth it willingly. This is heart, ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them, gold and silver and brass and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair and ramp skin, dyed red and bazard skin and sitting's wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense. On see stones and stones to be set in the airport and in the breastplate and legs. And then make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Okay, this is pause there. Thanks there. Just hold on one second there. Okay. So, let them give everything that they've been commanded to give. And verse eight, again, give, underline in your Bible if you have to. Okay. Then have them make a sanctuary for me. Okay. After they've given everything I've told them to give. Okay. Now just hold on. We have to remember these are the same people. By now the Ten Commandments was given and they had already built a golden calf. Okay. These were the same people who gave their earrings, their golden bracelets, their golden chains, the necklaces and everything for the golden calf to be built. But after that, God again in his great mercy, he tells make these same people who gave to that idol, let them give. Once they give everything, have them make a sanctuary for me. Okay. And that I will dwell among them. Okay. So, the tabernacle simply in the Hebrew word used there is O-L-M-O-N. It means a tent of meeting, a dwelling place. That's what the tabernacle is. Okay. It's a dwelling place, a tent of meeting. Okay. Okay. Right. Sorry, Dave. Go ahead. According to all that I've told them, so did after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall we make it. And they shall make an arc of chipping wood. Two cubites and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold within and without shalt thou overlay it and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. Thank you, Dave. Can I request somebody else to continue from verse 12 to verse 22, please? Verse 11, no? Verse 12. You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them in its four corners. Two rings shall be on one side and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of a cashier wood and overlay with them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the arc. That the arc may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the earth. They shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the arc the testament which I will give you. You shall make a marzipede of pure gold. Two and a half cubites shall be its length and a cubit and half and a half its width. And you shall make it to cherubim of gold of hammered workers. You shall make them at the two ends of the marzipede. Make one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with a marzipede. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the marzipede with their wings. And they shall face one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the marzipede. You shall put the marzipede on top of the arc. And in the arc you shall put the testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you and I will speak with you from above the marzipede from between the two cherubim which are on the arc of the testimony about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. Amen. Thank you, Manu. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dave. Why did I make us read this whole thing? Why is all these, you know, the cubits and the measurements important? Because God took this thing very seriously, isn't it? You know, He goes into the details of the colors, you know, of what it should look like, the curtains and everything which you would to use. And now here's the important part, okay. After God says, after they've given everything that I asked them to give, that they would give from their heart. And after you have built everything that I have told you to build, the way I told you to build, verse 22 it says, there above the cover between the two cherubims that are over the arc of the testimony, there I will meet with you. And there simply, there I will dwell with you, okay. After all these years, after 2,500 years, please, since the fall, without a dwelling place, without a place, without a resting place, here God says, okay, you know what? I've missed you since the separation. And I know that you miss me, so this place is going to be a bridge between heaven and earth. This was the place where humanity would meet with divinity. Okay, it was glorious, it was beautiful, it was supposed to be a marvelous. It was like a beautiful encounter, a beautiful exchange, a divine exchange that was happening. So this is the context and the importance for us to understand just the Tabernacle. And every time we speak about the Tabernacle of Moses, we can't just start off with the outer courts and inner courts. And this is the background that went in, that everything that happened. And the reason why the Tabernacle was given to them at that point of time, right? Are you all with me? Yeah, okay. So now with all of that in mind, let's start with the, in page, I hope you can see, yeah. One of the first things that you notice, and if you have to enter into the Tabernacle is the gate. And we don't talk about the gate as much. We only directly talk about the outer courts, the altar of sacrifice and whatnot. But without the gate, you're not going to come in, isn't it? And this famous psalm, as we all know at Psalm 100, verse 4 says, enter his gates with thanksgiving and praise. Okay, thanks is related to his goodness. We are acknowledging his goodness, his greatness, his mercy. We thank and praise him because he has saved us. We thank and praise him for, for we see what he's created. Okay. And in John chapter 14, verse 6, you see that the gate is the door into a Christian's life. Okay. Why do I say that? And we see this, Jesus said, you know, saying himself, he says, Jesus answered that I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And in John chapter 10, verse 9, he says, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and he will come in and go out and find pasture. Okay. So how is this gate or of the Tabernacle of Moses symbolizing Jesus? You know, all right. How is this portraying the image of that? So the gate was made of four colors. Remember we read that in Exodus 25, right? Blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen. That's pure white, beautiful white. Okay. The gate was made of four colors and each color represents something in the kingdom. Okay. So the color blue represents divinity, something of heavenly things. Okay. So Christ as the heavenly one, as the Son of God, I worship him. Okay. So Christ is the Son of God. He come, he's divine in his nature, he's divine in his origin. So that's, that's what the color blue signifies and shows. And the next color we see is the color purple. And the color purple is associated for a long time with the royals. It is the royal color, the color of the kings. Okay. You know, those long things that the kings would wear those days, the robe, right? That would be just to show off their royalty, it would be in the color purple. So the color of the king's garment and an acknowledging that in the Gospel of Matthew, how Jesus's portrait is, he is the king of the Jews. So as my king, I obey him. Okay. So the first color is color blue. He is a Son of God. And as a Son of God, I worship him. And as my king, I obey him. And in the Gospel of Luke, we see that he is the friend of sinners. Okay. So the scarlet is just red. Okay. The color of the blood typifies the suffering, the sorrowing, sympathizing savior, seeking and saving the lost as revealed in Luke's Gospel. He's shown himself as friend of sinners. And as my savior, I give my life in surrender. And finally, white or fine linen in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus as portrayed as a perfect and a righteous man, spotless and blameless without sin. So we encounter Jesus in all of these four colors. As you enter the gates, you are coming through those curtains of four colors, isn't it? And in a way saying that you are encountering Jesus in this fullness. Okay. So these are the colors also reflected in four Gospels that we just saw. So in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is shown once again as the Messiah, as the king of the Jews. And Luke, which signifies the color red, shows Jesus as a servant and the suffering servant as a friend of sinners dying for us and shedding his blood for us. And in Mark, we see that he's a perfect and a sinless man. In blue, we see that Jesus as a Son of God, as John portrays it in his Gospel. Okay. So once again, just to go back to this verse, Jesus says, I am the gate. When you enter through the gate, you are encountering me as the Son of God, as your king, as your savior, as your perfect and righteous man. So when you, and you are, and this is what's happening as you enter the gates with all of this, you are encountering Jesus in his fullness. Okay. And then after that is which we resume into the outcourt. Okay. So what we'll do right now is we'll pause here. And is there any questions, guys? Have you understood anything so far? I'm just going to stop presenting for this session. Yeah. Is there anything that you would like to add or any insight that you took from what we've covered so far? Come on guys. Okay. Siddharth, Dave, Prince, everybody. What kind of, what kind of, what could you take away from what we've covered so far? Okay. Where is everybody quiet? Come on guys. For me, it's something. Yeah. Sorry, Thomas, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead Siddharth. Yeah. For me, it's something about like unity before the fall of sin. I mean, that's something like interesting that there was always unity when we were with God. And when we sin, there's always a separation. And so do, I mean, Jesus was the only person who came to die for that, you know, so that we can connect back with God. And also another thing that I saw was the colors, you know, red, white, purple, cadillac. And I mean, the only thing that I knew was red, white, and I mean, those two, that's it. Like what does it clearly represent meaning? But after reading all these colors, like, you know, it made me, because I really like this to know because I like doing moment in worship. So I was trying to buy flags and stuff like that to do it. So I was really thinking like last week, what are the colors, especially big, because I wanted to know. And after reading this, you know, I would like to get more ideas, you know, what does really color represent, you know, so that I can get those stuff. Yeah, sure. I mean, I actually have a document on colors that signifies, you know, the kingdom. And, you know, just God created colors. Come on, I mean, he's the originator, isn't it? It's his idea. And so, I'll share with you, so that sometime you can go through it and hopefully it'll help you. Yeah. Thomas, go ahead. The thing is, you told the separation in the Garden of Eden, God gave the picture that I can see the heart of God want to dwell in the midst of his people, have a fellowship with them. So again, after a long gap, he sent Jesus, because the devil is a particular where so much of distinction like the barrier to send Jesus, that's really what I understand here. I'm teaching that. Yes. Yeah. Thanks, Thomas. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah. Yeah, God told Moses the tabernacle should be like a bridge between heaven and earth. Yeah. Anybody else? Kiran, would you? Prince? Kanan? You guys are there, no? Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for sharing. Okay, guys. We will stop here. We take a break. I'll stop the recording. We'll resume in our next session.