THE OUTER COURT of the Tabernacle was a place of Thanksgiving and Praise. It was a place where the curious could “come and see.” Where people contemplated the Greatness of God, and began to understand His Goodness.
Just inside the Tabernacle, stood THE BRAZEN ALTAR. Covered in blood, it was a stark reminder of the price that must be paid for our moral rebellion. The price was one’s very life, for God warned humankind, if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die. But our just and loving God made a way by which we could be justified despite our sin. Instead of our blood, he shed the blood of lambs, until such time as the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, would lay down his life, his flesh for our flesh, his blood for our blood. We don’t progress an inch closer to God but by his mercy, by cross, by Christ’s blood.
Just past the Brazen Altar was THE LAVER. The Laver was a place of washing with water, and of consecration. As we saw last Sunday, the Laver typified baptism. That in view of God’s mercy, in view of Christ’s sacrifice, we then offer our own bodies as living sacrifices. We invite God to wash and forgive us our sins. We freely and fully offer all our heart, mind, body, soul to God—head to toe. As we saw in Romans 6, we die with Christ in baptism. The old self is crucified and buried with Christ in baptism. And then the new self is raised with Christ in baptism. We’re consecrated—we no longer offer our bodies to sin as instruments of wickedness; but we offer our bodies to God, and instruments of righteousness.
I think of the nation of Israel, fleeing Pharaoh, in the Exodus. They come to the Red Sea, and they are as good as dead. But by his mercy God makes a way for an entire nation, a million people, to pass through water from death to life. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 Bible says, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.”
I can’t explain why, but every time in the Bible God wants to do something new, a baptism of water is involved.
• In Genesis 1:2, at creation, the Spirit of the Living God hovers over the water depths and surface of water, and God speaks.
• In 1 Peter 3:18, Noah and his family are saved through water in an ark. Their first sign of hope was a dove that returned with an olive branch.
• In Exodus 2, Moses, at birth, is spared death. He passes through water in a basket from death to life.
• In Exodus, 1 Corinthians 10, the Nation of Israel is baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and pass from old life (death) to New Life and Promise.
• In John 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again of Water and Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. Interestingly enough, our physical life begins when the water breaks, we pass from darkness into light through water into this strange new world. Likewise, our Spiritual life begins we are baptized into water, and receive the Spirit, and we begin to live no longer unto self but God.
• In Acts 2:38, Jesus’ crucifiers are cut to the heart, as they realize they’ve crucified God’s Lamb. Guilt stricken they ask the Apostles, brothers what shall we do? And they are told, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the Holy Spirit.”
We saw how the Tabernacle had to be consecrated before God would fill it with his Holy Spirit Presence. In the New Testament, it’s evident, that the believer is consecrated unto God in baptism. His or her sins are washed away. And having been consecrated is then filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. This is the normative pattern of the Bible—consecration (washing and baptism) and then Holy Spirit Indwelling. Spirit doesn’t dwell within any tabernacle (whether a tent made by man, or the temple of our bodies) unless first consecrated.
After the LAVER, Moses and the Priest would next encounter THE CANDLESTICK. The Candlestick was located in an inner room, a smaller tent, an even more intimate place within the Tabernacle. The inner room would have been quite dark, except atop the candlestick, was a brightly burning flame. The flame was a reminder of God’s Holy Spirit presence and power. When the Israelites fled the darkness of slavery in Egypt, God led them through the dark nights of the soul, with a brilliantly blazing pillar of fire. When the Church was born on the day of Pentecost, tongues of fire fell from heaven, and rested upon the Apostles, and early Church, assuring the of God’s presence. Jesus at his baptism, received the Holy Spirit, whereupon the Holy Spirit drove him out into the Wilderness, where he overcame temptation. Likewise, the Believer when in view of God’s mercy, you offer yourself to God, as a living a sacrifice, as an instrument of righteousness, having let God consecrate you, and wash you in baptism… our first order of business is to welcome, and receive the Holy Spirit into our life!
So from Outer Court, to Brazen Altar, to Laver and Washing, to Candlestick we come!
As I mentioned, the candle stand or candlestick was placed in a dark, pitch-black inner room (tent), with no windows. After Jesus’ death, the Apostles evacuated to a dark upper room. It was dark because the disciples in that moment were feeling lost, cutoff, without hope and without God. They didn’t know what to think, or believe, or what else to do with themselves. They were yearning for there to be any flicker of hope, any flicker of light.
Like the Apostles in the upper room, modern man yearns for there to be any flicker of light and hope. Man looks upward, toward the heavens, and he wonders to himself, “Am I alone? Who am I? What am I? Is there is a God? Who or what created the heavens and the earth? Is there anything transcendent, above me and over me? Anything super-natural? Is there Truth to be known, Universals that ought govern my life, a Meta-narrative perhaps—a Story that helps me make sense of my story? Is reality really real, or is this all just an illusion? Is it an accident?” Let’s call this the problem of darkness.
Then man looks downward, deep within himself, and wonders to himself, “Is there any ground to my being? Any foundation, any sure footing? Does my life have actual value? Am I anything special? Am I anything more than a DNA machine, an animal, a creature, carbon, space dust?” Remember that song, “All we are is dust in the wind?” Man wonders, “Does my life have actual meaning or purpose?” Remember Solomon the writer of Ecclesiastes? His continual refrain was “meaningless, meaningless, meaningless. Everything is meaningless.” He pondered, “what is the meaning, the chief end, or the purpose of life?” He tested wisdom, pleasure, riches, fame & honor, religious piety. Yet observes how everything ends in death, nature is indifferent, God seems silent and unknowable, man is forgotten.” Let’s call this the problem of despair.
Then man looks to his left, out into the world, and wonders to himself, “Why is there so much suffering and pain?” A person is driving merrily, merrily down an interstate, on a beautiful hot sunny, summer day, not a cloud in the sky. But then suddenly is confronted with a dust storm, losing all visibility and sense of distance. He’s greeted by the horrifying sounds of screeching brakes, crunching metal, cries for help, smoke, flames, sirens, utter chaos and uncertainty. “Why do we live in an abnormal world like this?” Let’s call this the problem of chaos.
Then man looks to his right, out to his fellow man, and wonders to himself, “Why is there is so much injustice, anger, violence, exploitation, lawlessness, self-centeredness. . . evil? People seem to be going from bad to worse. What hope is there for the evil within my own heart, or the evil within my fellow man?” Let’s call this the problem of cruelty.
Modern man feels trapped as if in a windowless, pitch-black, room. There is darkness above. There is despair within and below. There is chaos and suffering to the left. There is cruelty and evil to the right. But alas, in the Tabernacle, as we draw near to God, a candle is lit, a bright flame glows, a light of hope appears. What does Genesis 1:2 say? It says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths…” Yet it also says, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters…” The darkness isn’t a problem any longer because God speaks into the darkness, “Let there be light!” The candlestick is a reminder that God has indeed spoken. 2 Peter 1:19-21, “We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
God has lit a candle indeed. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of light and truth. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of comfort! What does 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” In the face of all the chaos and calamity blazes God’s comfort—the hope of salvation and deliverance, the promise of eternal life!
The Holy Spirit is also a Spirit of Conviction. The Spirit is like the horse whisperer. He convicts sinful man in regarding to sin (evil), righteousness (what he ought to be, do, become), and also of judgement. We’re all called to serve God, I’m called to preach. But ultimately the burden of taming man’s sinful nature falls upon God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God will contend with us, and our fellow man. It’s not my place to play Holy Spirit on Facebook, Instagram, in any or all situations. God’s Spirit convicts but he also sanctifies. He’s a holy, holy-making spirit.
The Spirit is a Spirit who Guides, Inspires, Fills, Gives Gifts! The Holy Spirit testifies that we are sons and daughters of God. That our lives have value because God so valued us, He paid the highest price (even his own shed blood) to redeem us from death. By Grace you have been saved! And our lives have real meaning and purpose—Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” You aren’t a cosmic accident, you are a divine masterpiece! There in our darkness, blazes the light of the Holy Spirit, to give us hope in face of darkness, despair, calamity, cruelty.