Open your Bible with me for just
a minute to Hebrews chapter 10. The title of my message is The Shadow
of the Tabernacle. The Shadow of the Tabernacle. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
1, the apostle said, for the law is And before we read any
further, let's make sure we all understand what the apostle meant
when he said, for the law, he's talking about that law, which
was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The 10 commandments was certainly
part of it, but that was just a part of it. But it was an entire
law that was given to the nation of Israel. and it served as a
covenant that God made with the nation. For the law, we're talking
about that law which was given on Mount Sinai, the law having
a shadow of good things to come. The law, I want you to notice,
had the shadow of good things to come. In Colossians chapter
two, the apostle Paul speaks or names several things, which
he declares to be shadows of things to come. And then he says,
but the substance is of Christ. The substance, every shadow,
there has to be some substance to cast a shadow, has to be something
that's real for there to be a shadow. And so the shadow, of good things
to come, but the substance is Christ. And that's the thing
about reading and studying and preaching from the law, from
the Old Testament, and that is that we see Christ, that we see
Him as He was pictured in types and shadows and symbols. The law shadowed forth the Lord
Jesus Christ singular, shadowed forth Him singular, but in Him
it shadowed forth good things, plural, good things to come. And I hope to speak to us, the
Lord willing, a few times in the next few weeks on some of
these good things that were shadowed forth in the law, remembering
always that the substance is Christ. We'll look at the shadow,
and then we will look at the substance. Tonight, the shadow
will be the tabernacle, the tabernacle of Moses, the tabernacle that
was part of that law that God gave to Moses to be erected there
in the wilderness, and we know it was a shadow of Christ. First of all, it shadowed forth
that God would dwell among His people. That's the first thing
that we will think about. That God would dwell. The tabernacle
shadowed forth that God would dwell. That's a good thing. It's
a good thing that God would dwell among His people. It was shadowed
forth by the tabernacle. If you will, let's look now in
Exodus chapter 25. Exodus chapter 25 and verses
8 and 9. And let them, this is God speaking
to Moses, let them make me a sanctuary, that is, this is the tabernacle,
a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Notice that, make
me a tabernacle, a sanctuary that I may dwell among them according
to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle.
and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make
it." This tabernacle that was erected in the wilderness was
to be a dwelling place, a sanctuary where the Lord God Himself would
dwell among the nation of Israel. Now turn to Exodus chapter 40. Exodus chapter 40 and verses
33 and 34. And he reared up the court round
about the tabernacle and the altar and set up the hanging
of the court gate so Moses finished the work. In other words, on
this day, we read here, they finished the work, the tabernacle,
the court, that surrounded the tabernacle and all of it was
set up. Now notice, then a cloud covered
the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. God dwelt, he filled the tabernacle. He dwelt in the tabernacle. He dwelt among the people. The glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. This was a shadow of the good
thing which was to come. And the good thing which was
to come that God would come into this world and dwell among man,
mankind. Let's turn to John chapter one
now. You're very familiar with this
passage in John chapter one. Verses 1 and 2, we read, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. So we establish who this is. This is the Word of God, the
eternal Son of God. He was in the beginning with
God, He was with God, and He was God. He himself had no beginning. He is the eternal Son of God,
equal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. Every attribute,
every characteristic that is true of the Father is also true
of the Son. Then notice down in verse 14,
the Apostle says, and the Word, that same Word of verse 1, who
is God, who was in the beginning with God, the Word was made flesh
and dwelt Tabernacled, that's what the word actually is. The
word was made flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The tabernacle of Moses, it shadowed
forth this good thing, that the Lord God Almighty would come
and dwell among His people. Now that tabernacle of Moses,
it had three coverings. If you had been on a hill outside
the camp of Israel and looked down upon the tabernacle, the
first thing you would have seen was that covering, and it was
a covering that was made of badger skins. And these badger skins
were dull, As far as the color, you looked upon this tabernacle
covered over with badger skins. It was dull in color, a bluish
gray. And this, of course, answers
to Isaiah's description of the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath no
form nor comeliness. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire
him. So the covering that would be
seen from outside was a sort of nondescript type of covering,
nothing beautiful about it. It was a dull color. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world. He who is equal with the Father,
thought it not robbery to be equal with the Father, took upon
himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. That's the first covering. But
then under that covering, which you would never have seen, there
was another covering. And this covering too was of
badger skin, but it was of badger skin that was dyed red. Badger skin that was dyed, or
I'm sorry, it wasn't badger skin, it was ram skin. that was dyed
red. Ramskin was the second covering. And there can be no mistake in
the meaning of that covering. You remember when Abraham was
commanded of God to take his son Isaac and offer him as a
sacrifice. That's a wonderful picture in
itself, isn't it? And a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ, God offering his only son. But when they got up to
the top of the hill, the mountain, and Abraham told his servants,
he said, wait here till we come again. We're going there to worship
and wait here till we come again. And as they go start up that
hill, Isaac, now he's not a little boy. He's a young man. And he
asked his father, he said, we've got the fire and we've got the
wood, but where's the lamb? Where's the lamb? Remember, Abraham
said, the Lord shall provide himself a lamb. And you can understand
that one of two ways, right? He can provide himself. He is
the lamb. He provided himself a lamb. And
he provided the lamb. But what happened when Abraham
lifted his hand to slay his son in obedience to God? God stayed
his hand. And Abraham looked, and what
did he see? Caught in the thicket there,
but a ram. And that ram was taken and offered
in the stead, in the place, as a substitute for Isaac. Isaac was on the altar, ready
to die, but rather than him die, there was a substitute. And this
tabernacle, The Lord God coming into this world as a man and
tabernacling among us. First of all, we see that he
came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He had no sin of his own. He was never guilty of sin. But
he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. When you would look at
him, you would look at him as a Jewish man of that age at that
time. Nothing extraordinary about his
looks. But then the substitutionary
work of Christ was pictured in that tabernacle by the badger
skin, the fact that it was dyed red. But then there was another
covering under it. The badger skin, or the ram skin,
died red. I think I said badger skin again. Excuse me. Badger skin, ram skin,
then under that, goat's hair. Goat's hair. And we know this
has to have reference to the goat. on the great day of Atonement. Remember that one day in the
year when a priest, a high priest would go into the most holy place
in this tabernacle. There were two goats that were
brought to the high priest and they cast lots upon those goats
and one, the lot fell upon to be the Lord's goat, the other
one to be the scapegoat. And that goat that was the Lord's
goat it was sacrificed, it was offered on the altar, but the
blood of that animal was carried in to the Most Holy Place and
sprinkled on top of the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So the tabernacle picture shadows
forth the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming as a
man, His coming to be the substitute, and His coming to be the one
sacrifice that satisfies God or His people. The beauty, look
with me in Hebrews 9 just a moment. Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 11. The Apostle says, But Christ
being come, and high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle. And this tabernacle was the body
that was prepared him by God the Holy Spirit. Christ being
come, and high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. That body that
was prepared Him, it was not made with hands. The old tabernacle,
it was made with the hands of those men to whom God had given
wisdom. And they had made it perfectly
as the pattern that God gave Moses. They had made that tabernacle
perfectly, but it was made with the hands of men. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, the body, the tabernacle in which He ministers, It was
made without hands. Man had nothing to do with his
tabernacle. God the Holy Spirit came upon
the Virgin Mary so that that body that was prepared him, that
tabernacle that was prepared him from her was the holy thing
of God. Holy thing of God, the holy one
of God. by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands." I think about that stone in Daniel's
prophecy, that stone that was cut out of the mountain. You've
got these four kingdoms, Babylon, Persia, Greek, and Roman kingdoms,
all represented in that statue. But then there's a rock that's
cut out of the mountain, a stone. is cut out of the mountain without
hands. And that stone, of course, is
the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of those kingdoms fall
to Him, to Christ. And I think of that when I think
about the fact that His tabernacle was made without hands. That
is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once, just like
that high priest did. He did it every year. Every year
on the Day of Atonement, that high priest would go in there.
Why? Because the blood of those animals
could not put away sin. Could not satisfy God. Thank
God tonight we have a sacrifice, the blood of Jesus Christ, with
which God Almighty is satisfied. And all of us under that blood,
He's satisfied with us. We're accepted with God, not
because of what we are or what we have done, but rather because
of Christ and His finished and perfect sacrifice. He's entered
in once into the holy place, having notice, obtained. He's
obtained it. He's got it. Eternal redemption
for us. for you and I, those of us who
know Him as our Lord and Savior tonight. Now, the beauty of the
tabernacle that was a shadow, the beauty of the tabernacle,
it was all inward. It was all on the inside. As
I said, if you could have been on a hill and looked down in
the camp of Israel at that tabernacle, there wouldn't have It wouldn't
have been much of a pretty picture, so to speak. I mean, it's just
a dull colored tent. But inside, if you could have
gone inside, then you would have seen the glory. Then you would
have seen the beauty. The gold, every vessel in that
inside of the tabernacle was covered with or made out of gold. And the beautiful embroidered
colored work, the veil and overhead. It was beautiful within. And
that's what John means, I believe, when he said, we beheld his glory. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we, those apostles, we beheld his glory, full, full
of grace and truth. Paul said, for in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The apostles, they beheld
his glory. They beheld the glory of his
divine nature when they were with him and they saw his omniscience. Remember in the message last
Sunday morning about that woman, the Lord forgave Simon. He said, well, if he was a prophet,
he would know what manner of woman she is who's touching him. He did know. He did know her. And he also knew Simon. The apostles
of the Lord, and on that other occasion, when they brought that
man who was a paralytic, and they let him down before the
Lord, and first the Lord told him, Thy sins be forgiven thee. And those around him, they thought,
well, who is this that can forgive sins? He's blaspheming. And the
Lord asked him, what's easier? What's easier to say, thy sins
be forgiven thee, or take up thy bed and walk? But that you
may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins. I say unto you, take up your
bed and walk. They saw His glory. They saw
the inside of the tabernacle. In other words, the divine nature,
the beauty, the glory, full of grace and truth. Not only did
they see His omniscience, but they saw His omnipotence also. Think about the time when they
were scared to death, all of them in that ship. They were
scared to death, as we would say. They were gonna sink. They
were going down. Master! Carest thou not that
we're going to perish? And the Lord stands up and speaks
to the wind, peace. And the wind and the waves obey
his voice. And their question was, what
manner of man is this? And don't you know when he fed
the 5,000 Those disciples, they saw this.
They saw him take just a few fish and a few loaves of bread.
And they saw him bless the father. And he started dividing that
food up. And it just kept coming and coming
and coming. They saw his glory, his omnipotence. And he is truly God of very gods. And then Peter, James, and John,
they were with him that day on the Mount of Transfiguration.
And they saw his face shining like the sun in its noonday strength. And they saw the glistening of
his clothes, whiter than any fuller, any laundry man could
ever whiten clothes. His glory was breaking through. So the tabernacle, the law had
a shadow of good things to come. The tabernacle was part of that
law and it shadowed the coming of Christ, that he would come
and dwell among his people. But here's the second part of
the message, God dwelling in the midst of his people, not
only among his people, but God dwelling in the midst of his
people was shadowed forth in this tabernacle. You say, how
did it shadow forth God dwelling in the midst of his people? Well,
look back with me to Numbers, Numbers chapter one. Numbers chapter 1 and verse 50. God speaking, but thou shalt
appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and
over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong
to it. They shall bear the tabernacle
and all the vessels thereof, and they shall minister unto
it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. And when the
tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down, and
when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set
it up, and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death,
and the children of Israel shall pitch their tents. Now notice
this, every man by his own camp. Now remember, there was 12 tribes,
and every tribe had a standard. There were the Levites, they
camped around the tabernacle, because that was their work,
to set it up, to take it down, to transport it. They encamped
around the tabernacle. But in the front, or the east,
there was three tribes. In the west, there were three
tribes. In the north, three tribes. The south, three tribes. What
am I saying? I'm saying the tabernacle was
right in the midst, in the middle of the camp, in the midst of
Israel. And this was a shadow of good
things to come. Now let's see the substance. If you will, let's go to first
Corinthians chapter six. I want to say this individually
and also collectively. Individually, 1 Corinthians chapter
6. God dwelling in the midst of
his people was shadowed forth by the tabernacle. Now individually,
the substance is Christ in you. Christ in you. Every child of
God. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 19 and
20. What? Know you not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which
you have of God? And you are not your own, for
you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. The substance of the
shadow is Christ in every believer. Christ by His Holy Spirit dwelling
in every believer. Every believer, his body, her
body is the temple of Christ. He dwells in the midst of his
people. We have been bought with the
price of blood and we know that he bought all of us. He didn't
just buy our soul, he bought our soul and our bodies. And our bodies are included in
this redemption price And the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ,
by His Spirit, lives in the midst of His people. Paul said in Romans
chapter 8, Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's
none of His. No one is a believer, is a child
of God, who does not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in that
individual. Now, don't listen and don't be
deceived and don't fall for these people who come along and say,
well, you can be saved, but not have the Holy Spirit. That's
a big lie. That's one of Satan's lies, my
friends. There's no one ever been saved
apart from God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit lives in
every child of God, every child of God. In fact, the Word of
God says no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy
Spirit. The only way a person can come
to Christ, believe in Christ, trust in Christ, submit to the
Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is by the Holy Spirit. Man doesn't have the ability
in and of himself to come to Christ. It's the work of God
the Holy Spirit. And look in 1 Corinthians 12,
verse 13. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13,
we read, for by one spirit That's the Holy Spirit. For by one spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free. And notice, have been all made
to drink into one spirit. So individually, the substance
of that tabernacle in the midst of the nation of Israel is Christ
in you. but also collectively. And I
want you to look in 1 Corinthians 3 for this. And by collectively,
I mean the local church. Our Lord said, where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Many people who call themselves
Christians have a very low view of the local church. They do
not see the importance of the local church. But anyone who
thinks like that, anyone who believes like that, is certainly
not following the Lord Jesus Christ. He loved the church,
and I know that means his whole body, and gave himself for it.
But he said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there
am I in the midst of them. In chapter 3 and verse 16, Paul
said, no you not. And he's speaking to this church
at Corinth. They were divided, they had their
problems. No you not, that you are the
temple of God. and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you. When we come here, and we pray,
and we ask for His presence, but we ask knowing we have His
promise. Now His promise encourages us
in prayer. His promise gives us something
to hold on to, to lay hands upon, right, in prayer. Here's your
promise. where two or three are gathered
in my name. Now we pray for his presence,
but we come expecting and knowing he's going to be here. He's here. He's here tonight. And he's here
whenever his church, a local church, meets in his name. That
psalm says, God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. The church at Corinth. Notice
these three things in closing. The church at Corinth and the
church here. Sometimes people say, well, that's
Brother so-and-so's church. And I know we're bad about doing
that. That's a big mistake. We shouldn't
talk like that. No, the church is God's building. God's building. Notice that in
verse nine. We're talking about the local
church. We are laborers together with God. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building. It's
not brother so-and-so's church, it's God's building, God's church. And notice something else here
in verse 11. We're all on the same foundation,
and that foundation is Christ. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And the building
materials in this church, this local church, is the true doctrine
of the word of God, which is set forth here under the symbol
of silver and gold and precious stones, verse 12. Now, if any
man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble, When a man stands and preaches, and he's
giving you his ideas, and his thoughts, and his dreams, and
his visions, and all the things that people come up with, that's
all wood, hay, and stubble. And it's all going to be burned
up. The truth, the gold, the silver, the precious stones is
the word of God. And this is a building material
of this church and every local church. It should be at least.
Well, I pray that the Lord would bless this word to us this evening
and we would think that tabernacle of old, whatever else it symbolized,
it was a shadow of good things to come. And it was a shadow
of Christ's coming, him coming in the flesh and him coming also
to dwell in the midst of his people. May the Lord bless this
message. Bill, if you want to lead us
in a hymn.