Monthly Archives: November 2020

Exodus 31- The Sabbath Part 2

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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Exodus 31:12-13

One of the great questions and debates that still goes on today, is what was the purpose of The Sabbath? God makes it clear here, “The Sabbath was a sign between You and Me” So think about it, God is trying to establish his people, The Israelites, that are set apart from the rest of the pagan nations. 

How will people know the Israelites are followers of the One true living God Yahweh, because the Sabbath was a sign they were the Israelites. When your in a covenant, there has to be a sign or symbol that your committed to it. For example, the covenant of marriage, we wear a wedding ring to show a sign of the covenant of Marriage. The wedding ring doesnt actually make you married, but its a sign between husband and wife

Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Exodus 31:14-15

The word Holy in the Bible means “Set Apart” The Sabbath is setting the Israelites apart from the other pagan nations. Notice God references Creation into the Sabbath, 6 days your work and the 7th day rest. The same is when God created the world, 6 days of creation and the 7th day God rested. The word Sabbath means Rest

Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. Exodus 31:16-17

Again scripture says “Its a sign between God and the Israelites” The sign of the Old Covenant was the Sabbath. As I said, every covenant has a sign, Jesus instituted a sign of the New Covenant.

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:15 (NKJV)

So what is the sign of the New Covenant? Its Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Sabbath, which I talked about in my previous posts. But Jesus is our sign, Communion (the blood and body of Christ) Baptism (The death and resurrection of Christ) These are all sacraments to remember the sign of the New Covenant Jesus 

The Sabbath was a foreshadow of Christ , Gods eternal Rest can only be found in Christ alone Amen!

Exodus 30- The Holy Spirit

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Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. Exodus 30:22-25

The past few days we were looking at foreshadows of the New Covenant, today is no different. The anointing of oil , is a total foreshadow of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We see this practice throughout the Old Testament, when someone was becoming a King or Priest, they were anointed with the Holy Oil as a seal of Gods favor

When Jesus began his Ministry, He declared that He was anointed to preach the Gospel (Luke 4:18) Does that mean Jesus was anointed with oil , no as He stated earlier “The Spirit of Yahweh was upon Me” Meaning he was anointed with the Holy Spirit

Being “Anointed” meant you have been set apart (Consecrated) and You have been ordained or selected for a position of authority. 

And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy Exodus 30:26-29

Notice the anointing of oil was to sanctify and make everything holy. This is the same the Holy Spirit does for us today, He sanctifies us and anoints us , to set us apart and lead us to Christ.  Without the Holy Spirit , we can’t become Born Again

The anointing of the sanctuary, we are now Temple of God and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. (1 Corinthians 6:19) These are all foreshadows of the New Covenant, these are the foreshadows of Christ Amen!

Exodus 29- Set Apart

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And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. Exodus 29:1-3

Today we are taking a look at the “consecration” of the High Priests. Now the word consecration means to be set apart, to be separated from anything unclean or unholy. This is actually another foreshadow of the New Covenant. As I explained in my previous post, as Christians we are “consecrated” or set apart by the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

This was a process the High Priests had to perform to be able to stand in the presence of God. Nobody could stand before God unclean or unconsecrated. Its the same for us today, we cant stand before God as sinners, however Christ consecrates us and declares us righteous so we now can.

Notice the elements here , more shadows of the New Covenant. The unleaven bread which is symbolic of the body of Christ ,which we partake in at Communion. And of course the innocent blood will be shed by the sacrifices. Jesus Christ is our perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God who paid the price for our sins.And the oil, which is symbolic of The Holy Spirit, that anoints us and sanctifies us to be more like Christ

And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod: And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. Exodus 29:4-6

Notice the next element they practiced, the High Priests were cleansed with water, this is a foreshadow of Baptism. The cleansing of our unpurity , the cleansing of our sins, the washing of water has been symbolic and literal since the beginning.

 And as Christians, just as the High Priests, one day you will receive your crown, as a faithful disciple of Christ, we are all High Priests in the New Covenant.

Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. Exodus 29:7

The anointing of oil over the head is a foreshadow of the New Covenant, the symbolism of oil is the Holy Spirit. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit we receive when we become Born Again in Christ.

The ritual of consecrating the High Priest , is the same ritual we receive when we become Born Again in Jesus Christ Amen!

Exodus 28- Garments of Christ

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And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. Exodus 28:3-4

In this Chapter we see the instructions by God for the High Priests of the garments they should wear. Now failure to follow these instructions by God, will lead to death, why? Because remember we are sinful people coming into the presence of a Holy God. The High Priest needed to be consecrated  in order to stand into the presence of God before Christ instituted the New Covenant

Here the garments we see are the breastplate, the ephod, the robe, the belt. These were physical garments that needed to follow specific instructions by God. Now the garments themselves obviously didnt save the High Priests, but it was the obedience of following Gods commandments and trusting in Him for salvation

And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. Exodus 28:41

After the High Priests put on these garments, they were to be anointed, consecrated, and sanctified before they can take the position of High Priests. This has many foreshadows of the New Covenant:

  • We are all High Priests in Christ (1 Peter 2:5-9)
  • We are anointed by the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20)
  • We are called to be consecrated for God (Romans 12)
  • We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Romans 6)

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Ephesians 6:13-14

This also reminds me of the Armor of God Paul taught about in Ephesians. As Christians , we are now priests for God through Jesus Christ. Therefor we need to put on our breastplate , just as the High Priest of the Old Covenant did, we need to put on our “belt of truth, just as the High Priest did, most importantly put on the Lord Jesus Christ! (Romans 13:14)

Jesus is our High Priest, any righteousness is because of Him, these are all foreshadows that point to him, our Lord and Master Amen!

Exodus 27- Lamps Lit

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And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. Exodus 27:20-21

As you study the Bible , you learn Oil is symbolic of The Holy Spirit. Anytime you see someone being “anointed with oil” or oil in the lamps, this is the anointing and filling of The Holy Spirit 

Notice also , this is a lasting ordinance, a commandment! This is a foreshadow for us to follow as an example, to keep our lamps full of oil

God commanded the Israelites to keep the lamps full burning with oil always! This is a foreshadow of the Holy Spirit to come, a foreshadow of Pentecost. Notice God wants the lamp to be full and burning in the tabernacle always. There are alot of foreshadows here:

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Matthew 25:1-4

This reminds me of the Parable of the Ten Virgins Jesus taught, The Virgins being symbolic of The Church or Christians, 5 were wise and kept their lamps full of oil. While the other 5 were foolish and lazy and let their lamps run out.

When Christ returned , the 5 with the lamps full were ready to meet The Lord. While the other 5 who were not filled with oil, were not prepared to meet The Lord. What was the difference between the two groups? The Oil, 5 were filled with the Holy Spirit, the other 5 were not filled, became lazy and unfocused on their calling

Jesus ended the parable by saying to the ones who were spiritual asleep and empty of Oil “Truly I tell you , I dont know You” (Matthew 25:12”  These are scary words by Christ, this is why you should listen to his commands and instructions, keep your lamps full!