A Pattern For Approaching God
Hebrews 8:1-9
Hebrews 8:1-2, (NLT)
Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.
Hebrews 8:5, (NLT)
They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain."
Hebrews 9:2-4, (NLT)
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. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar (*golden censer) 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.
Hebrews 9:11 (NLT)
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.
The Tabernacle Moses Built
The Actual Tabernacle
Layout of the Tabernacle
1st Step: Enter the courtyard
Psalm 100:4, (NIV)
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
2nd Step: Bronze Altar
Psalm 103:2-5, (NIV)
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
3rd Step: The Lavar
Psalm 19:14, (NIV)
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
4th Step: Lamp
Galatians 5:22-23, (NIV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:6, (NIV)
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,
5th Step: Table of showbread
6th Step: Altar of incense
Psalm 141:2, (NLT)
Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
Revelation 5:8, (NLT)
And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God's people.
7th Step: Holy of Holies
Hebrews 4:16, (NIV)
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
