Unit 5: Entering God’s Presence in the Tabernacle

Entering God’s Promised Rest Brenda Vail

Unit 5: Entering God’s Presence in the Tabernacle

It’s 4:30 a.m. and I am awakened by the Holy Spirit who is so anxious to tell me something that it just can’t wait. Apparently, God thinks I can function just fine on 6 hours of sleep, so who am I to argue? I come downstairs and open the blinds to reveal complete darkness outside. I pour a cup of coffee, pick up my Bible, and sit down on the couch to pray. What is it, Lord? Speak, for your servant is listening. What is it that is so important I must get up right now? Perhaps these early morning wake-up calls, which have lately become the norm rather than the exception, are intended to impress upon me the importance – even urgency – of the message the Holy Spirit is giving me. This message is so vital to our freedom in Christ and understanding of God that it takes over my thoughts and compels me to follow trails of Scripture throughout the Bible. I bounce back and forth between the Old and New Testaments, stunned by the consistency of God’s Word.

The Holy Spirit leads me along on my hunt for buried treasure, thrilling me with each new discovery. The treasure we find in the Bible, however, is not an object, but a person. When I began to wrestle with the question of why God gave us the law, I did so with the assumption that the law must have been good because God is good. I don’t approach God’s Word with skepticism, but with a desire for revelation that will draw me closer to God. I not only delight in discovery of God’s Word the way an archaeologist might delight in an archaeological find, I sense God’s delight in leading me to discovery because I am seeking him.

In the previous units, we looked at why the law God gave through Moses is good and how it served an important purpose. Jesus said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:17-18).

We are now free from obligation to obey the commands of the law in order to be made right with God because they have been fulfilled by Christ, who makes us right with God through belief. However, within the Torah are moral precepts that are eternal. These moral precepts are the foundation for life in the Spirit, which is why Jesus followed up the above statement with a clarification of the law in his Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus lifts out the moral precepts underneath the law in order to teach us that what God desires is not legalistic obedience, but holiness of heart, which is accomplished by God’s Holy Spirit in us. So when we read the old covenant law, we no longer do so under condemnation for failure to perfectly obey the law, but under grace and the direction of the Spirit who lifts out the moral precepts that have eternal value.

The Holy Spirit continually amazes me with revelation of these precepts, not because of my intellectual abilities or knowledge, but because of my desire to draw closer to God. God extends this invitation to all of us in Jeremiah 29:13: “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” As I share with you my journey of discovery, I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to give you spiritual eyes and ears in order to understand the mysteries of God. All revelation comes from the Spirit. Without the Spirit’s intervention we may have knowledge, but not spiritual understanding.

“The wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God —his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when


they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ 10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:7-12).

What are the wonderful things God has freely given us? He has freely given us his Spirit in order to understand God’s deep secrets. God’s laws and instructions had practical purposes for training us in obedience, teaching us about holiness, and setting boundaries for our protection. However, the Israelites did not have the Spirit of God within them to help them understand the purpose of God’s laws and obey them. The law couldn’t save us because our sinful nature had to be overcome in order for us to be made right with God and receive his Spirit.

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).

Since Christ declared an end to sin’s control over us, those who are under his lordship are no longer hardwired to resist God’s instruction because our rebellious nature has been circumcised by Christ. As a result, those who eagerly desire to be instructed by God can now understand his plan of salvation as set up under the old covenant and fulfilled in the new covenant by Christ. What is the mysterious plan of God and how was it previously hidden? God’s plan for our restoration through Christ was previously hidden in the Tabernacle items, sacrificial laws, and instructions given through Moses. It was foreshadowed through the holy festivals given to Israel, each of which point to a revelation of God through Christ. The Apostle John chose to highlight the statements Christ made about himself at each of the festivals in his gospel in order to reveal Christ as the fulfillment of each festival.

The purpose of both covenants has always been to accomplish God’s desire to restore fellowship with us as he enjoyed in the beginning. He initiates the old covenant through Moses in order to prepare us to understand the new covenant through Christ. We cannot fathom God and his holiness, so God teaches us the way we teach little children, through pictures and experiences. (I write this with tears streaming down my face, overwhelmed by the grace and lovingkindness of God to reveal himself to his children!) God set up the Israelites to recognize his Son, and understand what must be done for us to be restored to relationship, by giving them the Tabernacle, sacrificial laws and prophecies of the Messiah. Without the old covenant, God’s people wouldn’t have had the preparation to recognize Christ or understand what he came to do. The first covenant prepared God’s people to understand the second, and the new covenant instituted by Christ reveals the spiritual purposes of the physical laws.

The apostles who wrote the New Testament often quoted the Old Testament Scriptures, giving us a new covenant understanding of their meaning, as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that the one who understands both the old and new covenants has a storeroom full of treasure. “Then [Jesus] added, ‘Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old’” (Matthew 13:52). In this unit, we are about to dig up some gems of truth that have revolutionized my understanding and experience of God, and I pray that they will draw you closer to God, as well!


Just as Jesus taught the crowds in parables, then explained their meaning to his closest disciples, the Holy Spirit reveals God’s hidden treasures to those who earnestly seek a relationship with God and desire to be like his Son. The treasure of God’s mysterious plan of salvation is buried throughout the Old Testament and uncovered through Christ. Let’s grab a shovel and dig in!

The Tabernacle Houses the Glory of God When God brought the descendants of Abraham out of Egyptian bondage, intending to finally take them to the land he’d promised Abraham, he made a covenant with them. In this covenant he gave them laws to govern them – for God intended to be their King – and promised blessings for obedience. God then told Moses, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you” (Exodus 25:8-9). The Tabernacle, sacrificial system, and purity laws were given in order to allow God to dwell among people once again. They help us understand what must take place in order for relationship with God to be restored. When sin entered the world because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, we could no longer approach God. As a result of sin, we must be purified in order for God to live with us. So God made provision for relationship by setting up the Tabernacle and its regulations so that God’s people would not die by coming in contact with his holiness.

The Tabernacle – and later the Temple in Jerusalem – was God’s holy dwelling place among his people. (The Tabernacle was a tent-like structure that traveled with the people until the Temple was built.) God’s presence was in the Tabernacle, but only those who were made holy could enter his presence. God used the ceremonial laws to teach us about his holiness, and the Tabernacle items themselves teach us about God. The writer of Hebrews tells us why the Tabernacle had to be built according to God’s exact specifications: it was a copy of God’s throne room in heaven.

“The first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal. 19 For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, ‘This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.’ 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship.22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

23 “That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. 24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:18-24).

After the first covenant was confirmed by the sprinkling of blood, God gave the Israelites a little snapshot of heaven. Exodus 24:9-11 tells us, “Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!” The vision of heaven that God gave the Apostle John describes God’s throne in similar terms: “In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal” (Revelation 4:6).

Just as Moses invited the elders of Israel to climb the mountain and witness the glory of God, Jesus invited his three closest companions to climb a mountain with him and behold his glory. “Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach


could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. 5 Peter exclaimed, ‘Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ 6 He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him’” (Mark 9:2-7).

God is so gracious that he allowed Moses – who never made it into the Promised Land during his lifetime – to meet with Jesus on this mountain inside the Promised Land! The same cloud of glory that met Moses and the elders of Israel on the mountain appeared to Jesus and his disciples so that these men would connect Jesus’ ministry to the God of glory. Peter didn’t know what to say when he saw Moses and Elijah, but God spoke from the cloud to tell the disciples to listen to his Son. In this unit we will learn how to enter the presence of the God of glory who wants to enjoy fellowship with us. When we come into the presence of God, like Peter, we need to learn how to be silent and listen because he speaks to us from his glory and transforms us. As Moses spent time in God’s glory, his physical appearance began to radiate light so that he had to cover his face with a veil. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV).

If we want to be transformed into the image of Christ, we need to spend time contemplating the Lord’s glory. God doesn’t just descend on mountaintops in his glory, but the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. How can we behold God’s glory without fear when God told Moses, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20)? Because Paul declares, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NIV). We can’t see God and live, so we had to die to sin and be reborn in the Spirit. It is now Christ who lives in us so that we can behold the glory of God! The glory of God can now manifest in us the way it did in Moses and Jesus because Christ is in us.

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory” (Romans 5:1-2). As we’ll discover in the few next chapters, we are also invited to share a covenant meal with the God of glory in his Tabernacle. God shared a covenant meal with the elders of Israel, foreshadowing the Last Supper between Jesus and his disciples when the new covenant was initiated. That covenant meal foreshadowed the marriage supper of the Lamb that will one day be enjoyed in heaven by Christ and his Bride, the Church, once the great commission has been fulfilled. Right there in the beginning of the first covenant, God gave us a snapshot of his ultimate purpose and deepest desire: for us to one day eat and drink in the presence of God. Hallelujah!

Questions for Reflection: 1. Does the thought of encountering God’s glory frighten or excite you? Why is that?

God of glory, you are holy, and yet you invite me to behold your glory with nothing between us. You desire to make me glorious like your Son as I listen to him and contemplate your glory. Thank you for cleansing me of sin so that I can enter your presence any time, any place. Teach me how to carry your glory and listen to you. Open my eyes and ears to understand the mysteries of your Word so that I can know your heart and walk closer with you. Remove any barrier of unbelief. In the name of Jesus, amen.


Day 2

The old covenant gave us a window to heaven. The Tabernacle was the physical representation of the spiritual reality of heaven. The visual pictures of God’s dwelling place on earth point us to heaven, where Christ accomplished the purpose of the Tabernacle by making us right with God so that he can not only dwell with us, but in us by his Spirit. We are now the Tabernacle in which God dwells. By studying the various objects of the Tabernacle and what they represent, we gain a clearer picture of who God is and how he works in us. The more we know of God, the better equipped we are to walk in God’s ways and not fall prey to false teaching that would lead us astray. By weaving together the threads of the Old and New Testaments, my hope is that the rich tapestry of God’s Word will be revealed in living color.

As we learn about the old covenant Tabernacle, we begin to understand the pattern God set up for how we can experience God’s presence and connect with him. Just like Jesus taught his disciples a pattern for prayer that was not a rule, but a pattern, we can follow the pattern of the Tabernacle to draw closer to God and develop a lifestyle of intimacy. As we work our way through the Tabernacle, we are inviting God to invade every part of our life so that we can love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We have been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus and washed by the Living Water, so let’s enter into the Holy Place of God.

“There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. 3 Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. 4 In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement” (Hebrews 9:2-5).

The Lampstand Each item that God set up in the Tabernacle teaches us about some aspect of God and our relationship to him. The golden lampstand was in the Holy Place, in front of the veil that separated it from the Most Holy Place that was only entered once a year by the High Priest. The lampstand was understood by the Jews to represent the light of God given to us. The lamps were to be filled with oil by the priests every morning and evening so that the light would never go out, symbolizing God’s continual light (and we know that Jesus, himself, is the Light). Even though it had seven branches and lamps, the lampstand – or menorah – was made of one piece, with all the branches extending from the center (Exodus 25:31). All the lamps were to be focused forward toward the center of the room.

This lampstand is a copy of the lampstand in heaven. The Apostle John tells us that in front of God’s throne in heaven are “seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God” (Revelation 4:5). The Spirit of God performs many functions (prophesy, gifting for ministry, counseling, convicting the world of the sin of unbelief, filling us with God’s presence, cleansing us, reminding us of what God has said, to name a few), but they are all functions of one sevenfold Spirit, just as the one menorah has seven branches. Seven is the number of completion because God completed the work of creation in 7 days. The sevenfold Holy Spirit completes the will of God toward and through us. Just as all the flames are focused toward God, the Spirit always points to God. God’s Spirit in us points us to God and others to God through us. (A spirit that points to the glory of man’s works is not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of religious pride.)


God is described in Exodus 24:17 and elsewhere as a “consuming fire,” and this fire is a physical representation of the Holy Spirit. God’s holy fire came forth from the cloud of his presence to consume the first sacrifice on the altar (Leviticus 9:24). The Holy Spirit led the Israelites through the wilderness at night as a pillar of fire, and the Spirit appeared at Pentecost as tongues of fire. The prophet Jeremiah described the Spirit’s message within him as a burning sensation. “His word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones!” (Jeremiah 20:9). To grieve the Holy Spirit is to quench it, as though putting out flames. The Holy Spirit sets our hearts on fire to do the will of God as lights in a darkened world.

This fire and light in the lampstand relies on a continual refilling of oil by the priest. The Apostle John was given a vision of who is continually refilling us with the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit. “I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. 19 Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen. 20 This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches’” (Revelation 1:13-20).

Jesus, the Great High Priest, now tends to the gold lampstands in heaven that represent his church. We have been given the Holy Spirit and carry his light, but we must be continually refilled with oil by Jesus. When we enter the Tabernacle, we come to Jesus to be refilled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate us and teach us. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is what enables us to do everything God calls us to do, just as it equipped Jesus for ministry. “And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). As we connect with God in the Tabernacle, we are empowered.

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven” (Luke 24:49). Jesus instructed his disciples not to go out and start ministering until they had been filled with the Spirit and power. As followers of Jesus, we need to heed this instruction and discipline ourselves to wait on the infilling of the Spirit. Apart from him we can do nothing. When we wait on the Lord in his Tabernacle, he renews our strength so that we can soar above the discouraging aspects of life on this earth and not grow weary (Isaiah 40:31). As I write this, I am continually pausing to check my spirit and wait on the Holy Spirit. If I don’t sense his anointing, I go back to where I did and wait on him to lead me. Ministry under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is energizing, instead of draining. I can fast all day while writing (and usually do) because the anointing fills me with strength. This is just one benefit of entering the Holy Place in the Tabernacle.

The Bread of the Presence According to Leviticus 24, the Israelites were to place 12 loaves of bread, one for each tribe, on a special table near the lampstand every Sabbath. The old loaves would then be given to the priests to be eaten in a sacred place because the loaves were made holy by being in the presence of the Lord. It was called the Bread of the Presence because they were to keep these offerings always before the Lord as “an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant” (Leviticus 24:8). The loaves were a gift from the Israelites


out of gratitude to God for his provision. Everything we have comes from God, including our daily bread. The Bread of the Presence is an earthly copy of the Bread of Heaven, Jesus Christ.

After Jesus fed 5000 men plus their families with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, gathering up 12 baskets of leftovers, the crowd followed Jesus, hoping for more free bread. John 6:14 tells us that the crowd also recognized this miracle as a sign that the prophecy of Moses was being fulfilled: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). But Jesus didn’t come to give them manna, as in the days of Moses. He had a greater bread in mind: himself. Jesus said, “’I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ 34 ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘give us that bread every day.’ 35 Jesus replied, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again’” (John 6:32-35).

When Jesus declared to the crowd that he is the bread from heaven, he was offering himself to us as the bread that is always before the presence of God. Jesus instructs us to pray to the Father for our daily bread. However, we are not only asking him for physical sustenance, but the bread of his daily presence. Jesus is the bread that gives us life, but this bread is not just a one-time gift, it is an ongoing expression of covenant. The Bread of the Presence was replaced weekly on the Sabbath. We are continually being regenerated and renewed in the presence of God each Sabbath as we rest in him and worship him. The Bread of the Presence shows us that we are made holy purely by being in God’s presence.

Bread also represents the Word of God, since Jesus is the living Word. We are not to live on bread alone, but feast upon the words of God as our sustenance (Matthew 4:4). We become more aware of God’s abiding presence with us as the Word of God becomes as important to us as food. The bread of God’s presence satisfies every longing so that we need never be hungry for the things of the world again. We remain in the love of God, and his eternal presence remains in us, as we symbolically eat the bread of life. The priests were made holy by eating the sacrificial bread and meat. “Anyone or anything that touches the sacrificial meat will become holy” (Leviticus 6:27). Jesus makes us holy by inviting us to eat the sacramental bread of communion as though we were eating the sacrificial meat that made the priests holy.

“So Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him’” (John 6:53-56). At the time Jesus spoke these words, they made no sense to his disciples. But later, during the Passover meal, Jesus broke the bread and offered it to his disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Jesus had taught his disciples that he is the Bread from Heaven so that they would understand the symbolism of eating the bread, but he also referred to the Passover bread as his flesh. Just as the priests were made holy by eating the sacrificial flesh God set apart for them, we are made holy by eating the bread in remembrance of Christ’s body that was sacrificed for us. The bread itself does not have magical powers; the power is in our remembrance of what Christ did for us. When we eat the bread, we are physically and mentally agreeing with God that Christ’s death and resurrection is what makes us holy and acceptable to God, not anything we have done. This regular practice keeps us from stumbling into legalism, and reminds us that holiness comes from God’s presence in us. We take in Christ’s body as bread, and he takes us into his Body, the Church. When we come to the table in the Tabernacle through


the sacrament of communion or the reading of the Word, we remain in Christ and his word remains in us. The physical elements help us understand spiritual truths. After revealing that he is the bread of life, Jesus went on to say, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up” (John 6:44). The Father draws us to Christ to be made holy, then Christ offers us back to Father so that we can enjoy his presence forever. The cycle begins and ends with God. The Israelites offered the Bread of the Presence as a gift to God, but God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and causes it to grow, enabling us to make bread. Everything was made by God and belongs to God. Just as the Bread of the Presence belongs to the priest, we belong to Christ, our great High Priest, who purchased us by his blood. We are promised that we will enjoy his presence forever because the Bread of the Presence was an expression of eternal covenant.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh” (John 6:47-51). By partaking of the Bread of Life, who is always interceding for us at the right hand of God, we can now enjoy the eternal presence of God. We do this spiritually by remaining in a daily relationship with the Father through Jesus, and symbolically when we eat the bread that represents Christ’s flesh during the sacrament of communion.

The Israelites were to offer twelve loaves for the Bread of the Presence, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. But when Jesus fed the 5000 he collected 12 baskets of leftovers, symbolically demonstrating that there is enough “bread” in the Kingdom of God for more than 12 tribes. The Bread of the Presence is for all who will receive it, and never runs out. There is always more. When Jesus broke the bread, he broke all limitations off of it so that it could multiply. Jesus died so that there would always be enough of whatever we need. We come to his table hungry for more of God, and he satisfies us with his unfailing love. When we become part of his Body, which was broken for us, he breaks all limitations off of us. We enjoy his presence and join him in his work, unhindered by the weaknesses of our flesh. (We still have weaknesses, but they don’t pose a problem to God, according to 2 Corinthians 12:9.) As we connect to God’s presence in the Tabernacle, we are reminded that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26)!

Questions for Reflection: 1. Do you believe that Jesus will anoint you with the same power that he carried and break limitations off of you as you come to him to satisfy every longing of your heart? 2. Why is it hard for us to believe that the Holy Spirit in us would look like the Holy Spirit did in Jesus?

Jesus, thank you for inviting us into the Tabernacle with you. Thank you for setting a table before me and feeding me with the bread of your presence. Satisfy me in the morning with your unfailing love. Anoint me with the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit so that I am a light to those around me who are in darkness. I am made holy as I remain in your presence, so show me how to stay in your Tabernacle. Lord, I want to be with you where you are. Thank you for preparing a place for me in heaven so I can be with you always. Fill me with your presence so that I can walk this earth as your hands and feet. I love you, Lord, and I worship you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.


Day 3

The Incense Altar Just outside the curtain that separated the Most Holy Place, containing the Ark of the Covenant, from the Holy Place was the incense altar. It was made of wood overlaid with gold, and had 4 horns – which symbolized authority in the ancient world – one on each corner. The horns pointed in all 4 directions, symbolizing God’s authority over all the earth. This altar was placed in front of the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement where God’s presence dwelled. Every morning, when the priest entered to add more oil to the lamps, and every evening when he returned to add oil for the night, he was required to burn a special incense blend on the altar. This blend of fragrant spices was only to be used for the purposes outlined by God. It was not only used in the incense altar, but placed beside the Bread of the Presence as a fragrant offering and pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The fragrant spices were mixed with salt, a preservative, as a symbol of God’s lasting covenant. The spices were not only aromatic, but had cleansing and detoxifying purposes. Galbanum cleanses the air from insects and parasites, thus ensuring that God’s holy dwelling place was kept pure and undefiled. Frankincense is a strong disinfectant that purifies the air and body. The scent is calming, and would have made service by the priests more enjoyable. It was a large component of the incense and was added by itself to the grain offering. With all of the blood used in animal sacrifice and bread left out for days, the incense kept the priests healthy and the Tabernacle free of pests.

Only the priests were allowed to burn incense before the Lord, and it had to be done according to God’s specifications. When King Uzziah entered the Temple to burn incense, the priests rushed in to reprimand him for doing something that was only allowed by priests. He argued with them, and was immediately struck with leprosy by the Lord because of his arrogance in overstepping his bounds (2 Chronicles 6:16-21). The importance of obedience is magnified when we realize that the altar of incense is where our prayers are offered up to God. Revelation 8:3-4 describes the purpose of the incense altar in heaven. “Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.” Our prayers ascend to the throne of God as a fragrant offering. King David, the man after God’s own heart, prayed, “Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering” (Psalm 141:2). When we pray with belief and speak God’s promises back to him in the form of a request, we demonstrate that we know him. Our belief, when activated through our mouth in prayer and upraised hands in praise, is a pleasing aroma to God. God not only wants us to understand that he knows us intimately, he wants us to demonstrate intimate knowledge of him by repeating to him the truths he’s taught us and miracles he’s done, and inviting him to do them again.

One of the specifications for burning incense was that the coals must be taken from the altar of sacrifice. Even though no grain or animals were offered on the incense altar, the two were connected in this way. When Aaron’s sons used other coals to burn incense, God consumed his sons with fire. God is serious about our obedience to do things his way. After the evening offering, the priest would take coals from the altar of sacrifice and use them to burn incense as a fragrant offering of worship before the Lord. It was at this time that the priest would then bless the people as God had commanded him in Numbers 6. God had already promised that when the priest pronounced this blessing, God himself would bless the people. This foreshadowed Jesus’ teaching on how we are to pray in his name with belief that what we speak will be brought about by God.


When we pray, it is an offering of faith to God that is enabled by the sacrifice of Jesus. That’s why the coals to burn incense had to come from the altar of sacrifice. Jesus instructed us to pray using his name because it is his sacrifice that empowers our prayers, just as the hot coals from the sacrificial altar ignited the incense. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, God has given all authority to Christ and will answer prayers that are based on belief in Christ. Jesus promised this to his disciples shortly before he was arrested, saying, “I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy” (John 16:23-24).

When our prayers are built on the wrong “coals” – fear, self-righteous entitlement, selfish ambition – they are not empowered by belief in God’s sovereign power and Christ’s supremacy, and will not be answered, according to James 4:2-3. “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” To pray in Jesus’ name, however, is to pray according to his will and nature with belief that he has the power and authority to do what we ask. But what about when our will conflicts with God’s?

While the Bible doesn’t expressly say so, I believe that the incense in heaven is mixed with our prayers in order to purify them, just as the incense purified the air in the Tabernacle. The Holy Spirit purifies our prayers by praying along with us and filtering out what is not in harmony with God’s will. “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will” (Romans 8:26-27).

When we pray as Jesus did, saying, “Not my will, but yours be done,” we are praying in the Spirit. But even when our prayers are a mixture of expressing our desires and wanting what God desires, without discernment if they’re the same, the Holy Spirit is able to purify our prayers. He acts as a filter before the throne of God. As we grow in spiritual maturity, our prayers become more and more naturally aligned to the will of God. But those who are new to the faith need not fear accidentally praying “wrong.” The promise of help from the Holy Spirit to purify of our prayers should encourage us to pray continually, whether we are confident we are praying according to God’s will or not. The incense was burned morning and evening as a reminder to us to pray without ceasing.

It’s not just our prayers that are purified by the Spirit, however. One of the functions of the incense was to rid the air of pests and disease. That’s essentially what we’re doing when we pray a prayer of invocation at the beginning of a church service. We’re inviting the Holy Spirit to rid our thoughts and the spiritual atmosphere around us of every pest. When I’m distracted by my surroundings or overwhelmed by my busy schedule, I can let those flies keep buzzing around me all day or come to God in prayer, inviting the Spirit to deal with them and purify my thoughts.

God listens to and answers the prayers of his people in accordance with his will. Sometimes, however, it’s not our circumstances that God changes through prayer, but our hearts. He cleanses us from toxic emotions and pestering thoughts when we pray, which is why we are to pray continually in all circumstances. God protects us from the fiery arrows of the enemy when we draw near to him in prayer, which is why Paul admonishes us to pray as an act of spiritual warfare. “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 6:18).


In the Tabernacle, only the priests were allowed to burn incense. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we are a royal priesthood. We offer prayers to God as a kingdom of priests, with Christ as our High Priest. Just as the priests interceded on behalf of the nation, we offer prayers of intercession for others, and these prayers have efficacy. Our prayers and our lives are a fragrant offering to the Lord, continually purified by the Spirit and given authority by Christ as we pray in his name. Revelation 8 tells us that the judgments upon the earth will come down from heaven as a result of the prayers of God’s people. When we pray for justice and God’s Kingdom to come on the earth, we are praying for Christ to return and set things right. Revelation 5:8 tells us that these prayers are collected in gold bowls filled with incense, awaiting the time when they will be released in judgment upon the earth. Jesus instructed us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and his will to be done. The prayer bowls of heaven await our obedience.

In the new covenant, Jesus invites you and me to access the power of his sacrifice and the authority that is attached to his name when we pray. We are to pray bold prayers before the throne of God. Jesus invites us to move mountains through our faith that he has accomplished all that is necessary in order for our prayers to be answered. So why do we need to pray? Why doesn’t God just do what he wants to do, with or without us? Because the purpose of prayer is to build relationship. God wants us to communicate with him because intimacy is built on communication. If I don’t talk to my husband, our level of intimacy will suffer. Intimacy is God’s goal for our relationship with him, and it involves both talking to God and listening to God in his Tabernacle on a daily basis.

God invites us to pray for our needs and intercede for others because he wants to partner with us. Remember, back in Genesis God gave mankind authority to rule over the earth. We lost some of our authority when we disobeyed God, but Jesus overcame temptation in the wilderness in order to restore our God-given authority over the devil and his works. We exercise that authority by speaking. Faith must be put into action, and one way we activate it is with our voice. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them” (Mark 11:23, NIV). Jesus tells us to speak to the mountain – not ask God to move it or just wish it would move, but speak to it.

When we speak the words of God, empowered by the authority of Jesus as we pray and declare God’s truth in Jesus’ name, mountains move in the spiritual realm and in the natural. Sometimes we think we’re waiting on God to move in a situation, when he’s actually waiting on us to activate our faith and tell the mountain to move. Sometimes we’re begging God to deliver us from mental torment, when he’s saying, “I’ve already given you authority to tell that demon to leave. Use your authority and command that spirit of oppression to leave in Jesus’ name.” (We will put this into practice in the coming units on breaking down strongholds!)

The key to unlocking the power of prayer is to recognize that God is a covenant God. He keeps his promises. So as we meditate on God’s past actions and promises (both in the Bible and in our lives), and speak them back to him with confidence that he will do what he says he will do, either the mountain in front of us will move or God will move us around it. I’ve discovered that God just loves it when I pray prayers like, “God, if you did it once, I believe you can do it again.” This is how I am saying, “Father, I know you. I hear what you’ve been saying to me through your Word and I’m going to speak it until I see it.” We pull the unseen Kingdom of Heaven into the natural realm by declaring spiritual realities until we see them manifest.

Jesus instructed us to pray for God’s kingdom to come, which means we have permission to declare anything God has revealed to us as a kingdom principle to be a personal principle. During his time on earth, Jesus delighted in healing people who demonstrated their faith in him. Childlike faith is a prerequisite for mountain-moving prayer. But many of us give up way too easily. If Namaan had given up


on the sixth time of washing in the Jordan, he would have missed his miracle. Jesus taught us that persistent prayer is not an irritation to God, but sometimes a requirement.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you” (Matthew 18:19).

Don’t give up! If you feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling, grab a person of faith to pray with you, but keep on praying and listening for God’s answer. If our faith is so fragile that it will crumble if God doesn’t answer the first time or in the manner we desire, then rather than our faith being a shield to protect us, we’re using unbelief to shield our faith from being damaged. Faith takes risks. Faith places a demand on heaven because Jesus told us we could do that by praying in his name. The Father is saying to us, “I’ve shown you what I can do in my Word. Will you believe me that I can do it for you? Will you ask me for what you need and not give up because you’re convinced of my love for you?”

Our prayers are empowered by praying the words of Scripture – as led by the Holy Spirit who gives us the mind of Christ – because the Bible is the revealed will of God. That’s how we pray God’s will! “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” (John 15:7). Jesus is telling his disciples and us to let the Word of God dwell in us so that our prayers will be powerful as we speak the Word back to God.

So what does this look like in daily life? As I was working on the lesson for this week, we suddenly had a disaster in our home. Our upstairs bathroom flooded and water was pouring through the downstairs ceiling. We’d experienced a similar disaster a few months ago that resulted in expensive and intrusive repairs, so because I know God teaches through repeat lessons, I recognized this as a test. God was giving me an opportunity to choose between reacting in faith or in fear. So as I rushed to gather towels and buckets, I cried out, “Jesus!” Sometimes, that’s the only word we need to speak in order to orient ourselves toward faith instead of fear. The Holy Spirit then takes over in guiding us through prayer.

As I prayed and asked God for wisdom, he reminded me that in the last disaster the repair crew came out with fans to dry out our walls. So after mopping up all the water with towels, my husband and I grabbed hair dryers and started blowing air under all the upstairs baseboards and in the door jamb where the water had flowed into the downstairs. As I sat there with my hairdryer, the Spirit reminded me of God’s miracle power. So I began to pray and declare, “God, you sent the winds to blow all night over the Red Sea until all the water dried up for the Israelites to cross it, so in the name of Jesus, I ask you to blow into the spaces of my walls that I can’t reach. Blow and dry it out, just as you did in the Bible.” The Holy Spirit then reminded me that I had recently prayed the blood of Jesus over my entire home, so I declared, “Lord Jesus, this house belongs to you. It is consecrated to you. So I pray for your protection as we are under the blood of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, I ask for complete restoration of my home.”

After telling the water – our “mountain” – to move in Jesus’ name, the Spirit led me to start singing praise to God with one hand in the air and the other still holding my hair dryer. When we lift our holy hands in praise and worship, not only does God draw near, but the enemy flees. If the devil wanted to distract me from ministry by messing with my home, then I wanted to be sure he knew he wasn’t welcome here. I kept worshiping and drying until we blew a fuse. At that point, I said, “God, was that you telling us it is finished?” God confirmed in my spirit that it was. We put away the hair dryers and


went back to our day in perfect peace that God had heard and answered our prayers. Peace is one of the many miracles of prayer.

It’s not what we say or when we pray that matters as much as how we pray – with belief that he hears and answers us. There is power when we pray in Jesus’ name and exercise our belief. God invites us to ask for wisdom (James 1:5-8). He invites us to ask for healing (James 5:14-15). He invites us to pray for anything in Jesus’ name and believe that we have received it. He gives us authority to command the devil to leave when he’s pestering us (Luke 10:19). He gives us the Holy Spirit to instruct us in how to pray and intercede on our behalf when there are no words. He does all this because he wants us to enjoy an intimate relationship of listening and response. We listen to his Word and respond by praying with belief in Jesus’ name. He listens and responds to our prayers through the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).

Whenever you are in a difficult situation and a verse pops into your mind, that is the Holy Spirit prompting you to declare that scripture over yourself. Pray it out loud, if possible, as a declaration of belief. Say, “God, I believe ____ is your promise to me, and in Jesus’ name I ask for you to do for me what you’ve done in your Word.” That’s all there is to praying the Scriptures. The more you pray God’s words, the more powerful your prayer life will become. The more you memorize through repeating the scriptures or singing them, the more easily they will come to you when you pray. Try it. Put a demand on your faith. God loves it when you do. He’s inviting you to the incense altar to lift your prayers of faith as a pleasing aroma to God.

Questions for Reflection: 1. Is there a particular pressing need that comes to mind? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal a similar situation from the Bible, or a Scripture promise that demonstrates God’s thoughts on that subject, then declare your belief to God that he feels the same way about your situation. Pray in Jesus’ name for God’s will to be done according to his revelation to you, and persist in praying until you hear him answer.

Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice so that my prayers can ascend to God’s throne and not only be heard, but answered. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for leading me in how to pray. Thank you, Father, for inviting me into your Tabernacle to talk and listen to you. As I bring my needs before you, you delight in every detail. Your thoughts about me are too numerous to count. You know everything before I speak, and yet you desire to hear what I have to say because we are building a relationship. In faith, I claim this truth from Psalm 91 over my life:

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue me from every trap and protect me from deadly disease. He will cover me with his feathers. He will shelter me with his wings. His faithful promises are my armor and protection.

I will not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. I will not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, these evils will not touch me. I just open my eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.

The LORD is my refuge; the Most High is my shelter. No evil will conquer me; no plague will come near my home. For he will order his angels to protect me wherever I go. They will hold me up with their hands so I won’t even hurt my foot on a stone. I will trample upon lions and cobras; I will crush fierce lions and serpents under my feet!


The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation” (Psalm 91, personalized).

(Jesus quoted the Psalms as Scripture, so these words are part of the living, breathing Word of God. If you struggle to declare any of this over your life, you can be honest with God and pray, “I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.” He answers that prayer, too!)

Day 4

A veil separated the lampstand, table, and incense altar from the Ark of the Covenant, which was in the Most Holy Place. God’s holy presence hovered over the Ark, so only the High Priest was allowed to enter after going through an elaborate purification ritual. Just in case he wasn’t completely pure and was struck dead by God’s holiness, a rope was tied around his ankle so that the priests could pull him out. The Ark and each of the items in the Tabernacle were made with gold rings through which carrying poles were threaded, so that no one would touch these holy objects while transporting them. Even touching them on accident would result in death. God’s holiness cannot be endured by sinful man, and the Most Holy Place teaches us this difficult truth. We do not approach God casually or on our own terms. The veil in the Tabernacle was for our protection from God’s holiness, but something peculiar happened to it when Jesus died on the cross.

The priests offered the daily sacrifices at the third hour and the ninth hour (9 a.m. and 3 p.m.). The last sacrifice of the day was the sin offering. When that offering was complete, the priest would announce, “It is finished.” This meant that the necessary sacrifices had been completed. Jesus was nailed to the cross at nine o’clock, the time of the morning sacrifice (Mark 15:25). “Then at three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’” (Mark 15:34). In this statement, Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of the suffering servant (Psalm 22). Metaphorically speaking, he had to leave God’s presence in the Most Holy Place in order to fulfill our legal obligation in the outer court at the altar of sacrifice.

“Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink (Mark 15:35-36). “When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). At the same moment the priest was declaring “It is finished” – that the necessary daily sacrifice had been completed – Jesus declared from the cross that all sacrifices were finished. And at that moment, “the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38).

When Jesus was crucified, the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was torn in two by God himself. This symbolized a change to the covenant. The separation from God that was once necessary for our protection was no longer needed because Christ’s sacrifice purified us once and for all, so that we could enter the presence of God. But in an unexpected twist, God entered us instead! By sending his Spirit to fill us, God made our bodies the Tabernacle wherein he now dwells. Our heart is now the Most Holy Place where God sits enthroned. The external has become internal. The tearing of the veil symbolizes that sanctification and holiness is now possible through the circumcision of our heart, the cutting away of our sinful nature. We are made holy by continually dwelling in the presence of our holy God with nothing between us.


The Most Holy Place Unlike the pagan temples, the Tabernacle did not hold an idol or physical representation of God. In fact, God prohibited the Israelites from making any graven image of God. Instead, the center of God’s holiest place held a box containing reminders of God’s covenant, provision, and authority. “Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant” (Hebrews 9:4). When the Israelites left the wilderness for the Promised Land, God told Moses to fill a jar with manna and place it inside the Ark, as a continual reminder of his provision for them. (If you’re not familiar with the Exodus story, God fed his people for 40 years in the wilderness with special bread, called manna, which appeared on the ground each morning.) The Ark also held the stone tablets containing his covenant promises and instructions. The staff of Aaron was a reminder to the Israelites of God’s sovereignty. When the other tribes began to grumble against Moses and Aaron’s leadership, God settled the dispute by telling each leader to set a staff before the Lord. The one that budded would indicate God’s chosen leader. Aaron’s staff not only budded, but grew almonds! The staff was then placed in front of the Ark as a reminder that God has all authority and chooses who will be in authority over us (Numbers 17:10).

The contents of the Ark were for the benefit of the Israelites, to serve as reminders of who God is, rather than present a physical picture. God is too glorious to fathom, but his activity points to his nature. Ark simply means box. The Ark of the Covenant was a treasure box containing reminders of God’s covenant gifts to his people. Even though they couldn’t see him, they could see evidence of his provision with the manna, evidence of his commitment to them through the covenant tablets, and evidence of his authority through the staff. The Bible is our treasure box that contains the evidence of God’s provision, promises, and authority. Though God’s Word is an external reminder of God’s faithfulness, the purpose of the Ark is now internalized by every believer as promised by God in Jeremiah 31:33. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

The new covenant is not written in stone by the finger of God and placed in an earthly box; it is written in Christ’s blood on our hearts. Our treasure box is full of promises from God and reminders of his faithfulness because the Holy Spirit helps us remember God’s Word (John 14:26). God gives us tokens of his goodness to store as treasures in our heart. Just as God’s presence dwelled above the Ark, his presence now dwells within us by the Holy Spirit. Just as the staff of Aaron reminded the Israelites that God chooses who will be in authority over his people, we have been given the Word of God in our treasure box to remind us that the Holy Spirit chooses whom to elevate to positions of leadership within the church. We don’t get to decide we’re going to do this or that for God because our flesh gets tangled up in pride, just as it did in the time of Aaron. The Word of God tells us that the Spirit gifts people within the church for ministry according to his discretion – not our selfish ambition – and we are to honor those whom God has placed in leadership (1 Corinthians 12:11).

The Atonement Cover The cover of the Ark was called the place of atonement because it is where the High Priest sprinkled the blood to atone for the sins of the people once a year, on the Day of Atonement. Atonement means “to cover over,” but in this context it can also mean “blotting out, erasing, or cleansing from sin.” The cover of the Ark symbolized the covering over or cleansing of sin that is accomplished by the blood so that God’s presence can manifest.

The cover was overlaid with gold, and the gold was molded into two cherubim with wings spread over the Ark, facing the center and looking down. The Ark was to represent God’s throne on earth, so it was


made as a representation of God’s throne in heaven. The prophet Isaiah was given spiritual eyes to see a vision of God’s invisible throne in the Temple.

“It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!’

4 “Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies’” (Isaiah 6:1-5).

If we could see God in all his glory and majesty, we would either be overwhelmed by our sin, as Isaiah was, or overwhelmed with worship, like the holy seraphim. This is why the Scriptures say that without holiness we cannot see God – we would be doomed. Much in the spiritual world is hidden from our view because, quite honestly, it can be frightening! Isaiah’s eyes were opened to see God in the temple, and see the purpose of the cherubim that were molded on the cover of the Ark. Revelation tells us that the four living beings that surround God’s throne in heaven each have six wings. The cherubim on the Ark are looking down, and the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision cover their faces, in awe of God’s holiness. The purpose of the seraphim, according to Revelation 4:8-11, is to lead worship.

“Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.’

9 “Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

11 ‘You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.’”

When we are in the presence of God, we cannot help but fall down and worship. God is surrounded by worshippers day and night because he is worthy of worship. Now that his presence dwells within us, the natural response from us should be continual worship. Whenever we behold the beauty of nature or wonders of God’s creation, our heart’s cry out, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.” When we experience a divine encounter or are filled with an awareness of God’s presence, we fall down in worship, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty.” God wants us to come close with pure hearts and experience his glory. Habakkuk 2:14 tells us, “For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD.” As each of us carries God’s Tabernacle in our hearts, we are carriers of the glory of God, filling the earth with an awareness of who he is in all his glory!

Just as the train of God’s robe filled the Temple, the fullness of the Spirit invades every part of our lives. To be filled with the Spirit is to worship. Honestly, worship has been an integral part of my writing for


this particular chapter. Every time the Spirit reveals something new, I cannot help but fall face down and echo the seraphim in worship. Perhaps we are spared a continual awareness of God’s presence because if we were constantly aware of it we would get nothing done! Since I began listening to worship music in the morning, I’ve had to allow extra time to get ready because I will inevitably fall to my knees in worship. Some days it takes hours to get ready because the Spirit of God invades my worship, and I don’t want to leave. But I’m finally recognizing that this is the purpose for which I was made.

Worship is connection. We were meant to have an emotional connection to God. You don’t have to be an emotional person to have an emotional connection to someone. When we love God with all our heart and worship him with our heart, he restores us emotionally. Healing takes place as we worship. Revelation happens when we worship. As we open our heart to God and invite him to sit enthroned upon it, he reveals his heart to us in powerful ways. You can’t argue with someone to become a Christian, but if they have an emotional encounter in which God touches their heart, they are forever changed. We can’t just love God with our mind. He wants all of us, which is why I engage as much of my body in worship as I can. When I take on a posture of worship that reflects my belief or the words I’m singing, it’s another way of activating my faith and experiencing God. Singing exercises both sides of our brain, engaging all of our faculties in worship.

After a hiatus from music ministry, the morning I was to sing my first solo in church in exactly 10 years and embrace music ministry again, the Holy Spirit woke me up with this verse. “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth” (John 1:51). When we worship, we are positioning ourselves at the bottom of the staircase to heaven because we are reaching out and connecting to Jesus. As we reach up, heaven opens and angels reach down to help us. Worship is connection. Do you need a miracle? Worship. Do you need emotional healing? Worship. An open heaven means that whatever we need is made available. This is how we remain in the Vine. We connect to Jesus, the Vine, through worship.

Worship is also warfare. Listen to the Word of the Lord to King Jehoshaphat when God’s people faced a mighty army. “This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”

18 “Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout. 20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, ‘Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.’ 21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

‘Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!’

22 “At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they


began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped. 25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today” (2 Chronicles 20:15-26).

When you sing and praise God, he fights battles on your behalf. Our greatest battle can end in the Valley of Blessing when we develop a lifestyle of worship. This is why we come to the Tabernacle, to meet God in the Most Holy Place of intimacy and find that he is a passionate, mighty God who fights for us. Someday, we will gather around the throne of God and worship him for all eternity. We will be given new bodies that can withstand the glory of his holiness. This life is practice. Heaven will be the real life.

Questions for Reflection: 1. How can you intentionally make time in your day to worship and connect with God? (Some ideas include switching to worship music in the car and listening to it at home while you do chores.) 2. Is worship just singing or is there more to it? The book of Psalms was written to teach us how to relate to God and worship him, so if you’re not a singer, try reciting the Psalms. (Today we’re going to practice that by praying Psalm 8.)

O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. 2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. 3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— 4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them[e] with glory and honor. 6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— 7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. 9 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Day 5

We’re now at the mid-point of our study on entering God’s promised rest. We’ve been learning how to approach God by faith and belief in his promises. We’re understanding that we have an enemy who is working against us, but the Triune Godhead is for us, working to restore us. We’re discovering the pattern God revealed in the old covenant for how to draw near to him and enter his presence. It is in the presence of God that we find our rest because of what Jesus did for us to enable the new covenant of

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+8&version=NLT#fen-NLT-13994e


restoration. In the next unit, we’ll explore the new covenant in more detail and learn how to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit so that we are continually abiding in God’s presence.

In the units to come, we’ll start applying the principles we’ve been learning to the strongholds that have held us captive. Theology that remains as knowledge in your head is useless unless applied, so let’s consider how the Tabernacle principles we’ve learned in units four and five play out in daily life. David, the shepherd/warrior/psalmist/king whom God called “a man after God’s own heart,” wrote about his longing to fellowship with God in his Tabernacle.

“The one thing I ask of the LORD— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. 5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. 6 Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.

7 Hear me as I pray, O LORD. Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming’” (Psalm 27:4-8).

The most important lesson I hope you take with you from this week is that God is the one who initiates our relationship with him because he wants to restore us to intimacy. He is inviting us to his Tabernacle, saying, “Come and talk with me.” When you feel like you are far away from God, let your heart respond, “Lord, I am coming.” We need to know that when troubles come, it is in the sanctuary of the Lord that we find help, hope, and joy. He will conceal us there from our enemy. This sanctuary is in the Tabernacle of our heart, where God’s Spirit already dwells, so we can meet with God there anytime. It’s not God who has left when we feel distance between us. Just like I can feel distant from my husband when he’s in the same room if I’ve been neglecting to talk with him on an intimate level, we can feel distant from God when we haven’t visited with him in the sanctuary of our heart in a while. Sometimes we feel distant because we’ve withdrawn from him in shame, like Adam and Eve withdrew from God. The Tabernacle pattern shows us how to return to intimacy when sin has created a barrier between us.

As we’ve learned, the outer court is the courtroom of God where legal matters are settled. If we are feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, God is saying to us, “Come and talk with me about this issue that is getting in the way of our intimacy.” If you recall from our last lesson, God is a merciful Judge who also happens to be our gracious, loving Father. At his right hand is Jesus, our Advocate, who continually reminds the Father of our human weaknesses because he knows what it’s like to walk in our shoes. The person leading us into the outer court is the Holy Spirit, our legal Counselor, who wants us to resolve any issues that come up quickly so we can return to intimacy and fellowship with God.

Hebrews 10 tells us how to move through the court and into the Most Holy Place of God’s glorious presence. ”And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the


Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

So, for example, if we’ve snapped at our kids, we may feel bad and need Jesus to sprinkle our guilty conscience with his blood from the altar. We know that he has supplied the blood, so all we need to do is confess our weakness and ask him to apply the blood to our conscience. We can be sure, based on the accounts in Scripture of Jesus’ frustration with his disciples, that Jesus is telling the Father that he understands the challenges of parenting! Jesus didn’t come to condemn us, but to save and help us. The Father listens to the Son and looks on us with mercy and grace because of what Jesus did for us.

If we are holding a grudge against our kids for frustrating or embarrassing us, the Spirit will counsel us to ask Jesus to wash that grudge off as we forgive them. If we need to ask our kids to forgive us for any damaging words we’ve spoken, the Holy Spirit will counsel us to do that, too. As soon as we are restored to peace, our heart is filled with joy and we can go right into the presence of God “with sincere hearts fully trusting in him” (v. 22). Some of us need to practice praising God for his forgiveness so we will stand firm in our belief that Jesus’ sacrifice and cleansing is enough. If we can’t accept his forgiveness, we’re essentially saying that the cross wasn’t good enough. Unbelief is a clue that we’ve been listening to the deceiver.

What’s going on when we feel guilty no matter how many times we’ve repented? Sometimes it’s not the Counselor, but the Accuser who is trying to drag you back into court so you won’t enter the Most Holy Place. This can happen when we fall into the trap of being judgmental. I will tell you that if I spend lots of time reading the more gossipy parts of the newspaper (which, honestly, is most of the newspaper), or reading judgmental articles online, I will start feeling dread of judgment. Why? Because Jesus said, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged” (Matthew 7:1-2).

When I am nurturing my relationship with the Holy Spirit, he warns me if I’m starting to stray into judgment, but if I go off and get caught up in judging, I open myself up to the enemy. Suddenly, I’m fearful of being judged and feel under condemnation for everything I do. Why? Because the standard by which I judge is the standard by which I will feel judged. The enemy has permission to torment me with a fear of judgment when I refuse to yield the right to judge to the Judge. He can drag me into court and accuse me of every stupid thing I’ve ever done when I walk myself into court and start pointing my finger at others. I willingly exit God’s grace when I refuse to give it to others.

Accusing is the work of the Accuser. When I am judging other people, I am joining the devil in his work! I’m voluntarily hanging out with him. It’s only a matter of time until he turns on me and starts pointing his finger at me. When I walk into court with the prosecutor to condemn others, he will flip the tables on me every time and put me on the defense. When he does this, I need to ask God to send my legal Counselor because he knows how to get me out of this trap. The Holy Spirit says, “Brenda, confess the sin of judgment and apply the blood of Jesus.” When I humble myself and ask forgiveness for trying to take God’s job and allowing the enemy to get the upper hand, my fear of judgment leaves instantly. As I am restored to the grace of God, and praise God for setting me free, an interesting change happens. The courtroom turns into a sanctuary.

The moment I begin to praise God, I move out of the outer court and into the Most Holy Place. Nothing unclean can defile God’s sanctuary, which means that the enemy must flee when I enter God’s presence to worship. He doesn’t want to hang around to hear me praise and worship God because “at the name


of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). The enemy doesn’t want to have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, so if you want him to leave, just start confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord!

Praise and worship is how we transition from the outer court into God’s presence. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4). Any time we want to enter the gates of the Tabernacle in our heart, we just need to start thanking God for every good gift he’s given us. But praise is also how we get rid of the enemy so we can hear God’s voice more clearly. If the enemy has been hounding us and we can’t discern God’s voice from his, the quickest way to shut him out and tune into God’s voice is to start praising. This can feel totally unnatural, but turning on praise music when you don’t feel like praising will help to lift you out of condemnation. When we praise, we cross the threshold into God’s presence because he is enthroned on the praise of his people (Psalm 22:3). Even if the Spirit is convicting us and we have some confession to do, praise clears the courtroom of the Accuser so that only the Triune God is present.

If we are not under conviction, we can still praise our way through the outer court by stopping at the altar to praise Jesus for his sacrifice. We then move to the wash basin to thank him for cleansing us and making us whole. When I listen to worship music, I mindfully move through these steps because they remind me of all God has done for me, which fills me with gratitude and awe. A thankful heart is mindful of all God’s blessings, and God just loves it when his children respond with gratitude for all he’s done.

With thanksgiving, we move deeper into intimacy with God as we reflect on the lampstand and role of the Holy Spirit in guiding us to God and empowering us for ministry. We meditate on the truth that apart from God we can do nothing. We invite the light of God to shine in us, and ask God to anoint us with more of the Holy Spirit.

As we move to the table to enjoy the Bread of the Presence, we may want to open the Word of God and invite him to speak, or just meditate on his promises. (Meditation can involve repetition of Scripture for the purpose of memorization or reflection on the words of God that is guided by the Holy Spirit.) This is where we tap into the Vine by seeking to know God through his Word and receiving revelation by the Spirit. The more time we can spend remaining in him and inviting his words to remain in us, the more we will begin to see the fruit of God’s Spirit – the nature of Christ – form in us as branches of the Vine.

As we meditate on God’s Word, we may become mindful of areas in our life or world that don’t line up with God’s promises, so we move to the incense altar – our internal prayer closet – to pray with bold prayers of faith. We declare God’s promises to be true, and ask God to bring his heavenly kingdom to earth through us. We lift up the concerns of people around us, and wage war in the heavenlies by calling on heaven to fight for us. We pray in the name of Jesus, believing that he has already won every battle necessary for our victory, and made possible the provision for everything we need.

With joy, we fall down and worship before the throne of God. With pure hearts we behold God in all his glory and majesty. We see him as our powerful God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, yet as a Gentle Shepherd who guides us continually. We worship him as a righteous Judge who is also a merciful Father. We thank him for saving us, and bow to him as Lord. We lift him up, and marvel that he lifts us up when we bow down to worship. We dance before the Lord with joy, knowing that we are dancing with angels. Then, suddenly, God touches our heart with love or a word of revelation, and we are completely undone in his presence. The glory of the Lord has filled the temple of our heart, and we are desperate for that glory to remain.


The more we experience this intimacy with God, the more we hunger for regular encounters with him. This is the purpose for which we were made. This is the joy of holiness. Obedience and holiness are not a burden, they are part of the path to intimacy with God that results in the greatest thrill we’ll ever know. God doesn’t want us to stay in the outer court, he wants to reveal himself to us in the Most Holy Place of our heart and reveal our true selves as we worship him. I didn’t know who I was or who I was created to be until I met God in his Tabernacle. Through worship, I enter God’s promised rest in his sanctuary and live in his peace. “For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. 6 Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music” (Psalm 27:5-6).

If a guilty conscience is preventing us from entering God’s rest in the Tabernacle, it is either because we haven’t learned how to respond to the counsel of the Holy Spirit or we’re submitting to the accusations of the enemy. If you can’t yet discern between the two, pray for God to give you spiritual discernment because that is his will for you. This took years for me, by the way. One of the things that interrupts the process of spiritual discernment is legalism or looking to religion to make you right with God instead of a relationship of yielding to the Holy Spirit. In the next unit, we’ll learn more about how to develop our sensitivity to the Spirit’s voice and cooperate with him so that we can enter God’s rest and stay there.

Questions for Reflection: 1. Does picturing the elements of the Tabernacle help you visualize how to draw closer to God? Which step stood out as one that could help you overcome obstacles to intimacy with God? Ask God to help you remember to apply it the next time that obstacle comes up.

Gracious Father, thank you for all you’ve done to restore intimacy with me. Every song I sing to you is one you’ve already sung over me. Every gift I have ever received was fashioned and commissioned by you. Thank you for making it possible for me to joyfully enter your presence. I pray that every attempt by the enemy to trip me up with false guilt will now be clearly exposed. May I never fall for his schemes again, I pray in the name of Jesus. Draw me close to you in your sanctuary, Lord. Make me holy as you are holy so I can see you. Put me up high on a rock where the enemy can’t reach me so I can bask in your glory and goodness, praising you all the days of my life. You are so, so good. Bless your holy name.

Unit 5: Entering God’s Presence in the Tabernacle

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Transcript of Unit 5: Entering God’s Presence in the Tabernacle