Rose Guide to the Tabernacle
This handy eBook:
- examines the Tabernacle, Gods dwelling place after the Israelites left Egypt
- contains illustrations, charts and diagrams that are not available anywhere else
- Winner of the 2009 Christian Retailers Choice Award for best Bible Reference and Study Book
Rose Guide to the Tabernacle
Copyright 2008 Bristol Works, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Rose Publishing, LLC
PO Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 0196-3473 USA
www.hendricksonrose.com
Conditions of Use
Permission is granted to make up to 300 copies of individual pages from the book for classroom use only. The pages may not be modified in any manner. Permission is not granted to modify pages, to reprint charts, maps, and time lines apart from the page setting, to reprint groups of pages in bound form, either electronically or physically, or to offer copies for sale or donation either at cost or profit. All commercial use of this material is reserved by Rose Publishing, Inc. These charts, maps, illustrations, and time lines may not be placed nor used on Web sites. Any other use must be approved in writing by Rose Publishing, Inc.
Photographs, Illustrations and Other Credits
Jerry Allison Studios: Illustration of the Tabernacle Courtyard and the Tabernacle Holy Place.
Stan Stein: Illustration of the Tabernacle and Sinai, and the High Priest.
Todd Bolen/BiblePlaces.com: Tabernacle model from outside courtyard, tb030807087, Tabernacle golden menorah, tb052605177, and Ark of the Covenant through veil, tb022804719.
Matt Floreen/www.mattfloreen.com. Tabernacle Holy of Holies behind the veil, mf110902489.
Contributing authors: William Brent Ashby and Benjamn Galn, MTS, ThM, Adjunct Professor of Hebrew and OT Literature at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Thanks to Professor Alfred Hoerth, PhD, for his comments and help with this project.
Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture was taken from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION NIV. 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
T HE T ABERNACLE
- The Tabernacle was a movable tent that God commanded Moses to build. God gave Moses precise instructions about materials, dimensions, and structure of this tent.
- On the one hand, the Tabernacle was a visible expression of Israels faith. It represented a fundamental truth and conviction about God: He desires to live among his people.
- On the other hand, the Tabernacle represented Gods plan to intervene in human history to fix a broken creation.
- The Tabernacle was a microcosm of Gods original intentions for his creation. The Tabernacle encapsulated in miniature the characteristics of Gods original design for the world. From the beginning, God showed his desire to dwell with his creation and have a relationship with human beings.
- The Tabernacle is also the answer to the question, How can a holy God live among corrupted people? Sin separates us from God, it makes us impure, it corrupts us: But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). The Tabernacle, the sacred objects and the sacred activities within it help us understand how this holy God has planned to live among us. In addition, it gives insight into what Jesus did for us during his life, his death, and his resurrection.
- Studying the Tabernacle will give us greater appreciation for Gods desire to dwell in our midst, help us understand his plan of redemption, and allow us to better understand our calling to be holy.
Section 1
GOD WITH U S
A panoramic view from the top of Mount Sinai. The rainbow in the background is a reminder of Gods presence and faithfulness to his promises.
G OD L IVING WITH H IS P EOPLE
Michelangelo
C REATION
In the beginning God created an ordered, harmonious universe. It was a creation where everything had its place and function. It was a beautiful, good, and blessed creation. God also made special creatures: humans. Humans represented God in his creation. In addition, God created humans as relational beings. Humans were meant to relate to God (he walked alongside them), to creation (they were the caretakers of the garden), and to each other (God instituted marriage and family life).
However, humans rebelled against God. God had created humanity in his image; but being in his image was not enough for them: they wanted to be like Godthey wanted to be independent from God, to do with their lives as they pleased. Their rebellion overturned the order of creation. For that reason, God cursed the ground and punished humanity. God expelled humans from the garden. Thus, humanity began a journey away from the presence of God. The order of creation was broken. Relationships were also broken. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. God no longer strolls alongside us.
G OD S SPECIAL PRESENCE
God is present everywhere at all timesomnipresence is the name of this divine attribute. However, the Bible suggests that there are occasions, times and places, when God is especially present. When Gods special presence occurs, it can be very good newsin deliverance or blessing; or it can be very bad newsin judgment. This concept is very important for the theme of this book, which highlights many examples of Gods special presence.
C AIN AND A BEL
The story of Cain and Abel illustrates well the broken relationships after the Fall: relationships with God, creation, and one another.
Brokenness with God . The need for altars and sacrifices to relate to God shows the brokenness in humanitys relationship with him.
Brokenness with Creation . Your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground (Genesis 4:1011).
Brokenness with each other . It is the first fratricide, a man killing his brother. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. Perhaps to prove his devotion and desire to be in the presence of God, Abel brought God the best of his flock, the first-born. Cain also brought some of his crop to God. God was pleased with Abels gift and displeased with Cains.
The sacrifice reveals the heart of the worshiper. Cains gift was not much of a sacrifice; it did not take an enormous amount of faith and trust to hand over to God some of his fruits and vegetables. Abel trusted God to provide for him. He was demonstrating that by sacrificing a significant portion of his livelihood. He was trusting God instead of that lamb to provide for his daily needs. The gift is not the central issue. It is about how much the gift demonstrates ones reliance upon God and desire to please him. God wants to dwell with people who love and trust him with all of their hearts.
G ENESIS 4
Then the L ORD said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? (4:9)
N OAH
The story of Noah continues showing the effects of sin in the world. Evil continued to spread, polluting the whole world. That is what God saw in humanity: great evil and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5). God had created the world as the stage for his relationship with humanity. However, as sin and evil spread, violence grew and the brokenness of relationships grew as well. Gods presence this time was for judgment. Gods terrible judgment was an act of un-creation: a flood that destroyed all except Noah and his family. God overturned creation back to a state of chaos and disorder.