 THE
TABERNACLE OUTER COURT (part 2)
The Tabernacle of Moses is a picture for us of the Tabernacle of
God. REV 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the
tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His
people, and God Himself shall be among them. God's desire has always been to dwell among
His people and be their God, Father and provider. When Israel came to Mt. Sinai, God
revealed His heart's desire to them. He wanted them to come up the mountain into His
presence and hear His voice and obey. EXO 19:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and {how} I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. EXO 19:5 'Now
then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own
possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; EXO 19:6 and you shall be to
Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 'These are the words that you shall speak to
the sons of Israel. " God's desire was for all of Israel to be a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation and a people for God's own possession. For that reason God brought them
out of Egypt and brought them to Himself. God had tremendous plans for Israel but it
required that all of them come up into His presence and hear His voice, keep His covenant
and obey His voice. This is still God's desire and requirement today. Israel was afraid
because of the fire and turned back and stayed in the valley. DEU 5:4 "The Lord spoke
to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, DEU 5:5 {while} I was
standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord;
for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. They requested
that God not speak to them again but appoint a man to go up the mountain, hear His voice
and come and tell Israel what God said. This is also a popular concept today but will not
produce a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. DEU 5:27 'Go near and hear all that the
Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we
will hear and do {it.}' God presented His plan which the people rejected. Then the people
presented their own plan and God accepted it. However, Israel never fulfilled God's desire
to become a kingdom of priests etc. Still, God wanted to dwell among His people. For that
reason God gave Israel the pattern for the Tabernacle and all the requirements to sanctify
a place for His presence. EXO 25:8 "And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I
may dwell among them. EXO 25:9 "According to all that I am going to show you, {as}
the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall
construct {it.} This truth has various fulfillments under the New Covenant. Each of us
personally are designed to become a temple of God for the dwelling of God in the Spirit.
The church is also the corporate dwelling place of God. The Tabernacle of God is the final
fulfillment and the reality of all others. The tabernacle of Moses was constructed in
three parts. The Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The Tabernacle of
God also has three places. The New Earth, the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem. The Ark of
God was in the Most Holy Place and the throne of God is in the New Jerusalem. Man also has
three parts. He has an outer court, the body. A holy place, the soul and the most holy
place, where God dwells, the spirit. All three need to be sanctified and set apart for God
and His purpose. 1TH 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may
your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. While the whole tabernacle of Moses was the general dwelling place of
God, the exact dwelling place was in the Most Holy Place above the ark of the covenant and
between the two Cherubim. EXO 25:22 "And there I will meet with you; and from above
the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I
will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.
God speaks from the Most Holy Place. Those who only visited the outer court did not hear
the voice of God. There are hundreds of details in the construction of the Tabernacle.
Each one is important to our understanding of God's eternal purpose but too involved for
this study. We will just develop the more obvious truths. The Tabernacle was completely
closed in by a curtain around the whole perimeter with the exception of a gate. The
Tabernacle was about 150 feet long and about 75 feet wide, while the gate was about 30
feet wide. There was only one way into the Tabernacle and that was through the Gate.
Everything in the Tabernacle speaks of Jesus Christ. He is the Way to the Father and the
only Way. Unless we approach through Jesus Christ there is no access. The gate closed says
stay out, do not trespass. However, the gate will open to provide access to all who meet
the requirements. Our access through the Gate is by repentance. This means to change our
mind and change our direction. It means to turn and face God and at the same time turning
from sin. Those who acknowledge their error and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and
set their face to please God have open access through the Gate, which is Christ. However,
repentance and forgiveness are two different things. Repentance is on our part and is
initiated by us. Forgiveness is on God's part and has been provided by Him through the
blood of Jesus Christ. Repentance, like the gate, provides access to the altar. This
corresponds with Israel crying out to God in Egypt. Forgiveness is provided through the
sacrifice of God's Lamb, Jesus Christ, on Calvary. This corresponds to the passover lamb
in Egypt. This takes place at the altar of bronze, which is the first piece of furniture
in the outer court. The altar speaks to us of Calvary. LEV 1:3 'If his offering is a burnt
offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the
doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. LEV 1:4 'And he
shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to
make atonement on his behalf. LEV 1:5 'And he shall slay the young bull before the Lord;
and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on
the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. All the various offerings speak
of Jesus Christ and His all inclusive sacrifice on Calvary. It required many sacrifices in
the Tabernacle just to give us some insight into the tremendous provision God has made for
us at Calvary. Each sacrifice speaks of a different aspect of the provision of Calvary.
The sacrifices certainly speak of more than forgiveness of sins. Under the Old Covenant
they brought bulls, heifers, goats, sheep and birds along with various grain offerings and
drink offerings but each was a shadow of the reality of Calvary. Each of these sacrifices
and offerings looked forward to Jesus Christ and Calvary. None of these sacrifices was
able to take away sin or cleanse the conscience. That was reserved for the blood of Christ
alone. HEB 9:6 Now when these things have been thus prepared, the priests are continually
entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, HEB 9:7 but into the second
only the high priest {enters}, once a year, not without {taking} blood, which he offers
for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. HEB 9:8 The Holy Spirit
{is} signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed, while
the outer tabernacle is still standing, HEB 9:9 which {is} a symbol for the present time.
Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect
in conscience, HEB 9:10 since they {relate} only to food and drink and various washings,
regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. HEB 9:11 But when Christ
appeared {as} a high priest of the good things to come, {He entered} through the greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
HEB 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He
entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. HEB 9:13 For if
the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been
defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, HEB 9:14 how much more will the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? HEB 10:4 For it is impossible for
the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. HEB 9:22 And according to the Law, {one
may} almost {say}, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there
is no forgiveness. LEV 1:5 'And he shall slay the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron's
sons, the priests, shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar
that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Many more scriptures could be used but this
gives us a clear picture of the sacrifice and the blood of Calvary through which we have
forgiveness of our sins by faith and much more. The shadow of the altar defines for us our
approach to Calvary. The one who came for atonement of sins had to bring an offering with
him. He had to identify himself with the sacrifice that was going to die in his place. He
laid his hands upon the head of the sacrifice to identify his life with it's death. The
sentence of death was upon the sinner but God permitted them to bring a substitutionary
sacrifice to die in their place. God had ordained that the soul that sins shall surely
die. For every sin there had to be a death take place. God permitted Israel to bring an
animal to die in their place. It was Jesus Christ that died in our place at Calvary. The
blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin. It required a sinless and blameless man
to die and shed His blood to take away sins. 1CO 15:21 For since by a man {came} death, by
a man also {came} the resurrection of the dead. 1CO 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also
in Christ all shall be made alive. ROM 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered
into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all
sinned-- Since by man sin and death entered into this world, it must also be by man that
forgiveness and reconciliation be provided. However, it must be by a sinless and blameless
man who was not born into this world through the first Adam because all who were born of
him were already sinners. The only solution was for the Word of God to become man and die
for the sins of the whole world. He would have to live on this earth sinless and
blameless, without spot or disobedience until the time of His offering Himself as the
substitutionary sacrifice for all of mankind, that exercised faith. This is the reality of
Calvary. Each of us who want forgiveness of sins, must personally identify with Jesus
Christ and His sacrifice on their behalf. We must, in effect, lay our hands upon Jesus and
identify our life with His death knowing by faith that He died in our place. The sentence
of death was upon us but He took our place. His blood was shed for all of mankind but we
must appropriate it for our sins personally by faith. Without His blood there is no
forgiveness. Now, the rest of the Tabernacle speaks of going on with God to fulfill His
eternal purpose. God has not just called us to be "saved" but to be a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation and a people for God's own possession. He not only wants to
dwell with us, He wants us to hear His voice, keep His Covenant and obey His voice. Under
the Old Covenant, eleven of the tribes of Israel could go no further than the altar and
forgiveness of sins. Only the tribe of Levi could participate in next provisions of the
Tabernacle. They were the priests and Levites that served in the Tabernacle. Once again
God has called each one of us to be kings and priests to Him. REV 1:6 and He has made us
{to be} a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him {be} the glory and the dominion
forever and ever. Amen. REV 5:10 "And Thou hast made them {to be} a kingdom and
priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." REV 20:6 Blessed and holy is
the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no
power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a
thousand years. 1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for {God's} own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; Now, if we see how the sons of Aaron
were consecrated to become priests, we will see how God has called us. First they stepped
up between the altar and the laver and removed their normal clothes. This speaks to us of
laying aside our former manner of life. Our garments speak of our covering. These earthly
garments are like fig leaves in the garden. They don't hide our nakedness in the presence
of God. God's plan is for us to be clothed with Christ or to put on Christ as a garment.
After removing the garments, they stepped up to the laver and they were washed all over.
EXO 40:12 "Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of
meeting and wash them with water. EXO 40:13 "And you shall put the holy garments on
Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me. EXO 40:14
"And you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; EXO 40:15 and you shall anoint
them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and
their anointing shall qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their
generations. Aaron was the High priest and also had to be washed all over with the water,
the same as his sons. Jesus Christ is our High Priest and He also went to the Jordan to be
baptized by John. John didn't want to do it but Jesus said he must permit it because He
had to fulfill all righteousness. MAT 3:14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I
have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" MAT 3:15 But Jesus answering
said to him, "Permit {it} at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to
fulfill all righteousness." Then he *permitted Him. Baptism is required in order to
participate in the eternal purpose of God. LUK 7:28 "I say to you, among those born
of women, there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is
greater than he." LUK 7:29 And when all the people and the tax-gatherers heard
{this,} they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John.
LUK 7:30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not
having been baptized by John. This may seem like a very small thing to reject John's
baptism but God evaluated it as a pivotal experience. Our great High Priest treated John's
baptism as righteousness fulfilled. In the same way, all His sons who are to be priests
must also be baptized and put on the garments of God. GAL 3:27 For all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. The Amplified Bible says "
For all of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ as a garment".
There are also the garments of salvation, the garments of praise and the garments of
righteousness. This corresponds with the Red Sea baptism and the songs of Moses and
Miriam. The authority over Israel changed following the Red Sea. Of course, these garments
all speak of Christ. Our baptism precedes the garments. When all the garments, including
the bonnet, were put on, the next preparation of the priest was the anointing. The priest
stepped up between the laver and the doorway of the sanctuary. Then they brought out the
horn of anointing oil and poured it upon the bonnet. PSA 133:2 It is like the precious oil
upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, {Even} Aaron's beard, Coming down upon the edge
of his robes. PSA 133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Coming down upon the mountains of
Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing-- life forever. It was this anointing that
qualified the priest to minister to the Lord. EXO 40:15 and you shall anoint them even as
you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their
anointing shall qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.
" This anointing speaks to us of the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. This corresponds
with the Mt. Sinai experience and the Feast of the Fiftieth Day. Baptism speaks of an
immersion from the top of the head down to the feet. When Aaron was anointed with the oil
it flowed from the top of the head down to the feet. Jesus is our High Priest and He also
had to have this anointing in order to qualify as our High Priest. MAT 3:16 And after
being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, {and} coming upon Him, MAT 3:17
and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well-pleased." ACT 10:38 "{You know of} Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him
with the Holy Spirit and with power, and {how} He went about doing good, and healing all
who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him. LUK 4:18 "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me
to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those
who are downtrodden, LUK 4:19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. " LUK 4:20
And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of
all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. LUK 4:21 And He began to say to them,
"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." The baptism of the
Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of the anointing. It is this anointing that qualifies us to
minister as priests to the Lord. Of course, in the same way that the Levites ministered to
the people without the anointing, some today insist that is acceptable to God also. It is
true that the Levites, who did not have the anointing, did many things in the Tabernacle
and were valuable to support the priests but they could not enter into the Holy Place to
minister to the Lord, to burn incense, trim the lampstand or participate in the shewbread.
This was reserved for Aaron and his sons. 2CH 29:11 "My sons, do not be negligent
now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His
ministers and burn incense." 1JO 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you
received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His
anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has
taught you, you abide in Him. The New Covenant promises us that we will not have need of
men to teach us for we shall all be taught of God. It is that anointing that teaches us.
Jesus said JOH 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to
you. The Holy Spirit, who is the anointing, will teach us all things. Some have searched
for a better way, but God's way is by the anointing. Jesus would not permit His disciples
to minister in any way until they had received the anointing. They had to wait until the
fourth feast, the feast of Pentecost, to be clothed with power on high. That was the
garment they needed for the anointing oil. It should be obvious that all who speak in
tongues are not manifesting the power of God and the full anointing. Some invite Jesus
Christ to come and dwell in them as Savior. Some receive both Jesus Christ and the Holy
Spirit, along with His gifts. Some also receive the Father. JOH 14:23 Jesus answered and
said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. When the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
come to make their abode with us and in us, the reality of the Tabernacle is fulfilled in
us, for this time period. The requirement is to love Jesus and keep His word. The outer
court experiences are the foundation for fulfilling this reality. HEB 6:1 Therefore
leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying
again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, HEB 6:2 of
instruction about baptisms, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and
eternal judgment. HEB 6:3 And this we shall do, if God permits. These are the foundations
that first must be laid in our lives before God will permit us to go on to the reality.
Repentance, faith toward God, baptism in water and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are just
the foundations. If we have experienced these, we still need to go on to maturity or to
the reality of fulfillment. The foundations are not designed as our dwelling place but are
necessary for the proper building structure (the sanctuary ) where we are to dwell. In
this study, so far, we have seen six outer court experiences. First, repentance from dead
works. Second, faith toward God and forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. Third,
removing of the old garments of nakedness. Fourth, baptism in water. Fifth, putting on the
priestly garments, being clothed with Christ. Sixth, receiving the anointing, the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. As we might expect there are seven outer court experiences and
foundations. The seventh preparation is the consecration offering. After the priests had
completed the other six preparations, they still must be consecrated fully to God and to
the work that God called them. After Jesus had come to Jordan and was baptized, the Holy
Spirit came upon Him. Most would think that He was now ready to begin His ministry.
However, He must fulfill the type. Therefore, the Holy Spirit immediately drove Him into
the wilderness. LUK 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and
was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness LUK 4:2 for forty days, being tempted by the
devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry.
LUK 4:3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to
become bread." Following the anointing must come the consecration offering. The
consecration offering has to do with doing the whole will of God, whatever the cost. The
Devil tested Jesus' resolve to serve God, and Him only, in every way. When the Devil could
not deceive Jesus in any way and Jesus set His face to do the whole will of God, His
consecration offering was complete and He could begin His ministry. He still had to
complete the fullness and maturity of His consecration at Calvary. LUK 4:14 And Jesus
returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and news about Him spread through all the
surrounding district. Sometimes we confuse the fullness of the Spirit with the power of
the Spirit. Jesus went into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit but He returned
(following the consecration offering) in the power of the Spirit. We see many who have
received the Holy Spirit, been baptized with in Holy Spirit, been full of the Spirit but
fail when tested by the Devil. They fail to complete the consecration offering and forfeit
the power of the Holy Spirit. We attribute the failure to the "baptism" but the
failure was really in the consecration. We see this failure in an Old Testament picture of
Israel when they were ready to enter Canaan. Israel was delivered by the Passover lamb and
the blood in Egypt. They successfully crossed the Red Sea in baptism. They had
participated in the Manna from heaven. They drank the water out of the rock. Then they
came to Mt. Sinai on the 46th day. They had tremendous experiences on the fiftieth day,
Pentecost, when God came down upon the mountain. One year later they kept Passover at Mt.
Sinai and continued on to God's purpose. It was just a ten day march to Canaan. They could
easily have been in Canaan on the fiftieth day to keep the Feast Of Pentecost and bring in
the first fruits of the harvest to God. However, they had many delays. The greatest delay
came when they were faced with their consecration offering. This offering should follow
the Mt.Sinai, (Pentecostal), experience. They arrived, after much delay, at the border of
Canaan on about the 46th day and could have gone on in. DEU 1:19 "Then we set out
from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, on the
way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us; and we
came to Kadesh-barnea. DEU 1:20 "And I said to you, 'You have come to the hill
country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give us. DEU 1:21 'See, the
Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God
of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.' DEU 1:22 "Then all
of you approached me and said, 'Let us send men before us, that they may search out the
land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up, and the cities
which we shall enter.' Instead of going on into the land for the feast of Pentecost, they
wanted to send in spies to check out what God had said. Since they didn't fulfill their
consecration they couldn't go on. The Feast of Pentecost passed while they waited for the
spies. DEU 1:26 "Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command
of the Lord your God; They never returned to Egypt but died in the wilderness, short of
the plan of God for their lives.
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