A Worldly Sanctuary
Hebrews 9:1
Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. (Hebrews 9:1)
  As we saw in Hebrews Chapter 8, verse 1, Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, the great transition begins, it is further displayed in Hebrews 9:1. Hebrews 8:13 is the finality of the Old, and a New era has come, and mankind has the opportunity to be free of sin and death. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. We can approach God through Jesus Christ His Son. God the Father has transitioned us from lowly beggars of sin to the sons of God. Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.
  In Chapter 8:1, it is the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, ministering in the heavenly tabernacle, the heavenly sanctuary. In Hebrews 9:1, the Holy Spirit reminds us of the earthly sanctuary which was the tabernacle in the wilderness. The tabernacle in the wilderness was of the earth, earthly, and the covenant of the tabernacle was of the earth where God would meet with man on earth.
  The New Covenant is where man meets with God in heaven. It was on the mercy seat IN heaven that Christ placed His blood. The veil on earth was rent to give us, in Christ, a clear and glorious path to heaven where through the Spirit of Christ we can fellowship with Him. The tabernacle and sanctuary of the earth was a shadow of the heavenly. The whole of the tabernacle was a sanctuary of God Almighty. It was separated from the world and had a perimeter around it of hangings that would keep the tabernacle in its own solitude away from the world. The tabernacle was a meeting place of God with man, and man was represented by Aaron, the high priest, who was of the earth, earthly.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1st Corinthians 15:45)
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (1st Corinthians 15:46)
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1st Corinthians 15:47)
  Now Christ in the good that HAS come, ministers in a heavenly sanctuary, and those who love Him not only seek those things that are above, but they set their affections on the One who is above all things, the Lord Jesus Christ.
  In Chapter 9 of the book of Hebrews, the Holy Spirit once again reminds us of the tabernacle and the Old Covenant were both of the earth and not of heaven. Although they both bore heavenly authority in things pertaining to God, however, when man contemplates this, he must say to himself, when I was a child, I thought as a child. This can be applied to all the children of Adam, and especially to the seed of Israel that was under the earthly sanctuary and the earthly covenant.
  The whole race of Adam needed a divine schoolteacher. This was done by God Himself, so God gave what the world calls the Law of Moses. However, the proper thought is this: these were the Laws of God in the hand of a mediator who was Moses. Moses was given to be a mediator on the earth in the realm of man to heaven above whereas Christ was given to lead man to heaven and to change that which was earthly to that which is heavenly in the new birth. All the heavenly things that were revealed to Moses would be duplicated as shadows of the heavenly. The tabernacle, and the articles within, all pointed to the glory of Christ in His purity and sufferings for sin. The relationship of the first sanctuary within the tabernacle was completely separated from the outside world. It was completely separated from the realm of sin, and Aaron (the earthly high priest) could only enter in with the blood of sacrifice so one should understand the dread and the darkness of sin.
  Sin is not only disobedience to God, but also a spiritual plague that in its force brings forth death. It came into the world by disobedience to God, however, this article, this dominion, this evil which is sin is much worse than mere disobedience. This sin brought a cloud over all that God is on earth. It brought destruction to all mankind as sin brought forth death. And disobedience became a long list of sins by the plurality of sin we see that sin BREEDS sin.
  God gives us the basic thought not the total conclusion in the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments are not separated one from the other. These Ten Commandments are a total wall of holiness. They are the primary directives given to mankind that he should avoid sin and not commit sin. Every one of the commandments must have weight in our hearts, souls, and spirits. Although we are unable to keep them, the fact of truth within the ten commandments still stands and condemns man in his sin. Man has proven that in himself, as a child of Adam, there is no good thing.
  As Moses came down from the mount with the Law of God in the two stones or tablets, before he could approach the people, they had already condemned themselves to death by breaking those very commandments. Moses in his fright and grief broke the stones because of the sin of the people and knew what the judgment of God would be. It is through God’s mercy that the whole nation was not destroyed, and another nation raised up in Moses. However, we see the intercessor in Moses, he interceded for the nation called by God. Moses again returned to the mountain where he received the the same set of Laws, the same commandments upon NEW STONES. And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. (Exodus 34:1)
  What brought mankind to this point? What brought God to this point? The sin which Adam brought into the world was dictating the history of the world. The Israelites would have to follow a strict set of rules and laws and conditions over and above the ten commandments. These were given to a world of sin and death. These laws were a reflection of the heathen world for the world was FULL of idolatry. Evil had overtaken the realm of man. And God called a nation in Israel to be His people, a people of righteousness upon the world. We know that Israel failed tremendously only to show what man is, and how helpless he is in the dread pool of sin.
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The Purpose of the Worldly Sanctuary
  Let us look at history from Mount Sinai backwards into time. The children of Israel had been led up out of Egypt, the descendants of Jacob had spent four hundred plus years in Egypt. However, these were not all years of slavery. If we return back to Joseph, he delivered his brethren from the famine that was in the known world at that time. These were the same brethren who previously had bound Joseph, threw him in a pit, and sold him into slavery in Egypt through the Midianites and the Ishmaelites. These were two of the longtime enemies of Israel. Ishmael was the first born of Abraham with Sarah’s Egyptian slave Hagar, and of the seed of Ham. Ishmael hated Isaac because Ishmael believed that the birth right of the first born belonged to him, and there has been earthly trouble ever since. The Midianites also came from Abraham, Abraham had a concubine, Keturah, and she bore Midian, and Midian although he was Abraham’s child was cut off from all the promises God had given to Abraham that would be fulfilled through Isaac; therefore, there was great resentment again against Isaac.
  Now we need to put together three names: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the transition of Abraham’s seed leading to the nation of Israel, remember that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, ‘a prince with God.’ This shows us the divine determinate counsels working through Abraham, Isaac, and through one of the sons of Jacob, (Levi) paid tithes when he was in the loins of Abraham showing us the divine plan for Israel as a nation even in the earthly days of Jacob. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. (Hebrews 7:4) And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. (Hebrews 7:9)
 We must realize the world that Abraham came from. He was called from Ur of Chaldees, at the time of his calling by God (who personally appeared to Abraham while he was in Ur of Chaldees also known as Mesopotamia.) (Acts 7:2) Ur of Chaldees was the center of idolatry and the center of the kingdom that Satan was building for himself. The whole world had drifted back to resemble the conditions of the whole earth as in the book of Genesis Chapter 6:5, And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
  God chose Abraham through the power of God’s election to not only have a man for Himself, but to flaunt the work of the devil. In the promises to Abraham in Genesis Chapter 17, we see that God will build a great nation out of the loins and seed of Abraham. As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. (Genesis 17:4) Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. (Genesis 17:5) And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. (Genesis 17:6) Thus, Abraham would be the father of this elect nation, and God would fulfill His promises to Abraham in that nation. We should understand the total spread of evil over the whole world in the days of Abraham. The wickedness of man brought forth the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we have this judgment because of the sin of sodomy and perversion that upset the world in Genesis Chapter 6 before the universal flood.
 In the new world order under Noah, we see that only one man, the preacher of righteousness built an altar and offered the animals from the ark to God: thus, sanctifying the earth. Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20) Notice that God differentiated between clean and unclean even in the animal world. Clean beasts were taken by sets of seven, and unclean beasts and fowls by one set of two’s. And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1) Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (Genesis 7:2) Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:3) After Noah there was no other altar mentioned until the days of Abraham, the timeline from Noah to Abraham was approximately four hundred years (400) when the earth was without an altar.
  We should also understand the tower of Babel and Babylon under Nimrod. Nimrod was the first recorded world ruler in the new world after the flood. He was a mighty man, a hunter, he was a man of blood. He shed blood which connected him to both Cain and Lamech. Nimrod was a brilliant man, a community organizer who organized the world around his throne of Babel. It was Nimrod’s genius that organized the worship of other gods around his tower to reach into the heavens. It was not to reach to God, but it was to show contempt against God that man was god himself fulfilling the lie of the serpent in Genesis Chapter 3. Both Cain and Lamech shed man’s blood, and Nimrod was of the same mind and heart. He wanted to exalt the works of mankind above the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.
<<A Psalm of David.>> The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalm 24:1) For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. (Psalm 24:2)
  In the days of Nimrod, the whole world was corrupt. Noah was gone, and man had no preacher of righteousness to stir him to the right path. Man had returned to his previous sins of Genesis Chapter 6. The new world, the new order, had copied the same heart and mind of Genesis 6:5. They had to be judged, therefore before they could fill their cup of sin, God scattered them through the whole world. Confounding their communication through language so that they could not unite against God in their sin. This slowed the progression of sin in the acts of many sins, and this should cause us to reflect on Noah and his three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. These three men came through the flood with their father, they also came through the flood with their wives, from the emerging of the ark in the new world, and in the new order, it was ONLY Noah who built an altar. There is no record of his sons either building or maintaining an altar for God. Noah alone sanctified the new earth with the animals that came through the flood. Noah was the only man in the new world who represented God, and Noah’s altar was the LAST recorded altar until the call of Abraham. Only AFTER Abraham had entered into the land, the land of God’s promise, did he build an altar at Bethel, the house of God.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. (Genesis 12:8)
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1)
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (Genesis 7:2)
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:3)
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20)
  It was approximately 400 years between the altar of Noah and the altar of Abraham. Not one of the sons of Noah carried the truth for God and of God into the new world, and the new world order. The preaching of righteousness ENDED with Noah and did not return until the call of Abraham. Abraham was GOD’S choice, Abraham was not looking for God, but God was looking for Abraham. Abraham became one of God’s elect. As Abel, the very first elect of God, Noah also comes under election as they were under election through faith. AFTER Noah faith was NOT FOUND on planet Earth until the elect call of Abraham because Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. (Genesis 17:1) And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. (Genesis 17:2) And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, (Genesis 17:3) As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. (Genesis 17:4)
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15: 6)
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (James 2:23)
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3)
[Cometh] this blessedness then upon the circumcision [only], or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. (Romans 4:9)
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (Galatians 3:6)
  Why was there NO TRUTH, nor righteousness in the days of Shem, Ham and Japheth? The sin of the old world had poisoned them, the seed of the men of renown, the seed of the giants, came through the flood in the daughters of men, the wife or wives of the sons of Noah. God is very particular and precise in Genesis Chapter 6, verse 8 and 9, it was ONLY Noah who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) It was only Noah who was pure in his generations. It was only Noah who was a just man. It was only Noah who walked with God after Enoch. It was only Noah who was a preacher of righteousness. And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.(2nd Peter 2:5)
  After Chapter 10 of the book of Genesis we get the corruption of the earth. This was the beginning of the kingdom of Nimrod which developed in its wickedness, although the citizens of Babel were scattered, their wickedness and their idolatry still existed in the days of Abraham.
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The Failure of the Worldly Sanctuary and the Sins of the Priesthood
  ALL the Laws that were given to Israel that are written in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were because of the sin and sins of Genesis Chapter 6 that were repeating themselves throughout the world. These Laws were given to Israel, and they were to keep these Laws and promote these Laws among the nations. However, Israel failed. They failed God, and they failed themselves, and they failed the rest of the world.
  The tabernacle or the first sanctuary became irrelevant because of the sins of the priesthood. In the days of Eli who became a blind priest both physically and spiritually because he refused to act against the sins of his two sons when they brought evil to the very door of the tabernacle. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD. (1st Samuel 2:12) Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD. (1st Samuel 2:17) This was the total failure of the priesthood under the Law. Once again, the sins of Genesis Chapter 6 returned in full strength for the sons of Eli had made the priesthood and the tabernacle a place of whoredoms, merchandising and all manner of sin.
Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (1st Samuel 2:22)
And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. (1st Samuel 2:23)
Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress. (1st Samuel 2:24)
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. (1st Samuel 2:25)
  God had already set the judgment of Eli’s two sons. they had defiled His sanctuary and broken the covenant that God had made with the Aaronic priesthood. Their sentence was that they would but cut off from Israel forever, they would be cut off from the world forever, and they would be cut off from God forever, and anyone of the descendants of Eli would never be allowed in the priesthood again or live to old age.
And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? (1st Samuel 2:27)
And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? (1st Samuel 2:28)
Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? (1st Samuel 2:29)
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (1st Samuel 2:30)
Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. (1st Samuel 2:31)
And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. (1st Samuel 2:32)
And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. (1st Samuel 2:33)
And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. (1st Samuel 2:34)
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. (1st Samuel 2:36)
  They had joined their souls to sin, and the works of the devil so they would have to endure the fires of hell until the great white throne judgment when all their sins will be read out against them. This is a somber thought for today for those who have defiled the word of God, those who have defiled the Son of God, and for those who have defiled the sanctuary of God.
And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. (1st Samuel 4:11)
And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. (1st Samuel 4:17)
And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. (1st Samuel 4:18)
And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. (1st Samuel 4:19)
And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. (1st Samuel 4:20)
And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. (1st Samuel 4:21)
And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken. (1st Samuel 4:22)
  The pollution of sin in this world has returned us to the mind set of Sodom and Gomorrah and the five cities of the plains. And of course, we have many more than five cities today. These five cities, however, come to mind, NY city, San Francisco, London, Paris, Rome, these are just a few of many who resemble the cities of the plains. This all lead us backward in time and forward in time in the blindness of sin.
A Small Side Note: The Seven (7) Major Points of Blindness in Scripture.
• The Blind Judge: The first blindness that we have is Samson. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. (Judges 16:21)
• The Blind Priest – Eli. Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. (1st Samuel 4:15)
• The Blind Prophet – Ahijah. And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. And in the days of Jeroboam we there was a blind prophet. (1st Kings 14:4)
• The Blind King – Zedekiah was also blinded. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. (Jeremiah 52:9) And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. (Jeremiah 52:10) Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. (Jeremiah 52:11)
• The Blind Nation of Israel. Up to this point we are dealing with God’s covenant people, and every position that God have them was broken by them. Judge, priest, prophet, and king. Paul wrote that blindness in part had fallen over Israel showing a nation of blindness. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)
• The Blind World of the Gentiles. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, (Ephesians 4:17) Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: (Ephesians 4:18)
• The Blind Church. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17) However, Israel is not alone because in the book of the Revelation, the last church, Laodicea is also blind. During the tribulation period, the whole world is in blindness until the Son of righteousness appears with healing in His wings. ♦ End of Side Note: Blindness. God reveals man’s failure in every position and realm in life.
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The Worldly Sanctuary and the Heavenly Sanctuary
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;Â (Galatians 4:1)
But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. (Galatians 4:2)
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:Â (Galatians 4:3)
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:7)
  In Galatians Chapter 4, verses 1 thru 7, we have the transition of the saints from the physical world of sin and the Law of Moses to the spiritual Law of our great High Priest in heaven, Jesus Christ. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) And we. in our adoption as sons, are connected to our heavenly Priest directly by His own Spirit.
 It is Christ who attends the heavenly sanctuary for He is the heavenly Priest. The heavenly priest (who is made higher than the heavens) serves the True Tabernacle, which is above in heaven, of which, we have more to speak. However, we need to stay with the priesthood awhile longer. God established the priesthood of Jesus Christ as our GREAT ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST. He is unique in that He was manifested as a Man upon the earth, and now is a Man in heaven, the fulfillment of a royal Priest after the order of Melchisedec, and He holds this position through all eternity. He is a priest forever, yesterday, today, and forever.
  It was Christ in His eternal priesthood who offered the first sacrifice of two lambs in the garden. A covering for sin for both Adam and Eve as a foreshadow of His own sacrifice for sin. It is the cross that divides the spiritual timeline of death and life. For Christ was there to DIE that He might bring life in the fullness of time.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)Â Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;Â (Hebrews 9:25)Â For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.(Hebrews 9:6) But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: (Hebrews 9:7)
  We see through the Scriptures that all the sacrifices in the Old Testament, all the shed blood of the victims under the Law and ordinances were only types or shadows of the true sacrifice and atonement for the blood of others could not atone for the sin of mankind. And the true atonement for sin was the trail of blood from the cross to the Holy of Holies in the TRUE tabernacle not made by hands. The True Tabernacle, which is in heaven, was pitched by the Lord and not by man.
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;Â (Hebrews 9:11)
A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. (Hebrews 8:2)
It was the mercy seat in the heavens where Christ placed His blood. [/pullquote]  The earthly sanctuary was a glorious shadow in the eyes of man, but we should see the full value of the true tabernacle, and the true glorious image that is in heaven above. The glory of that tabernacle above IS the Minister of that tabernacle, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His glory that fills the tabernacle, and the Temple above, and it is His glory that enlightens His throne above, and from that high and lofty position He sends that light, and that glory into the hearts of the redeemed through His Spirit. We have the true Tabernacle above, we have the true Holy Place above, we have the true Holy of Holies above, and the true Ark of God resides with two live Cherubims of glory with their wings spread over the mercy seat, the true mercy seat of God. These are the anointed covering cherubs who cover the mercy seat. It was upon this mercy seat in the heavens where Christ placed His blood. It took the death of the cross at the hands of wicked men and after the words, It is finished, there was a new spiritual world opened for the children of Adam.
  This new order or Covenant or Testament Christ had finished His sacrificial work by offering Himself to God once and for all. Nothing is impossible with God. God can do many things at the same time. He is not limited as man is limited. He is the Creator and not the creation. Therefore, He is quite capable of being both the High Priest and the Sacrifice of judicial judgment for sin at the same time. When HE offered Himself, He was doing it as the High Priest of heavenly things after the order of Melchisedec. For He was made sin for us, and yet He knew no sin. He was brought as a Lamb to the slaughter, and He was brought by the will and determinate counsel of God.
  In the old world of Aaron on the Day of Atonement, he would lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice placing the whole sin of the nation of Israel on that ONE day on that ONE sacrifice every year.
Side Note: The day of atonement is documented only three times in the Bible.
Also on the tenth [day] of this seventh month [there shall be]Â a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. (Leviticus 23:27)
And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it [is] a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. (Leviticus 23:28)
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. (Leviticus 25:9)
The words day of atonement are not recorded in the New Testament. The word ‘atonement‘ is mentioned in the Old Testament eighty (80) times throughout sixty-nine (69) verses, and only once in the New Testament in Romans 5:11. And not only [so], but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans5:11) ♦ End of Side Note.
  With Christ, being the fullness of the Godhead bodily, He presented Himself as the sacrifice for sin for the whole world, and then AS the sacrifice, He bore that sin into the darkness of death. In doing this, He gave to the world an effectual door in His priesthood, and His sacrificial death so that man could enter in through the door or veil into the very holy of holies.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:20) And having an high priest over the house of God. (Hebrews 10:21)
  Only God IN Christ could be both Priest and the Sacrifice for sin at the same moment in time, in the fullness of time. He became sin to defeat sin and death. It is recorded that sin was placed or laid upon Him showing no inward corruption, no defilement within the Son of God. He had to be pure of all sin to bear or carry sin away. As the Priest forever, He bore our sin in His own Body on the tree. He went into death to give us life everlasting, to overthrow the dread curse and the result of sin. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh to bear the sins of many. Now stay tuned in, don’t go away we are going to go on a spiritual treasure hunt with treasures for the children of God from above.
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. (Hebrews 9:6) But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: (Hebrews 9:7)
  The tangible tabernacle on earth was a shadow of the heavenly tabernacle. The ministry that was performed by Aaron was the shadow of the True Minister of the sanctuary, our great High Priest in the tabernacle which is above. The tabernacle on the earth was ordained by God and sanctified by the high priest. The Tabernacle in heaven was ordained by God and sanctified by the High Priest, Melchisedec. Christ did this in the heavens as the True High Priest of the Tabernacle which is above.
  Aaron had the service of God in the first tabernacle or the holy place, and it was there that he tended the lampstand by renewing the wicks and pouring in the oil. It was also there that he rotated the shewbread, and attended the coals on the altar of incense, and only ONCE a year he went through the veil into the holy of holies. This sanctuary on earth, this holy place, was God’s communion with Aaron as the representative for the nation of Israel; all twelve tribes of the earthly nation was represented by the twelve loafs of shewbread. Remember, that these were made without leaven speaking of the purity of Christ Himself as the bread of life without sin. Aaron then would maintain the candlestick where the light of the whole tabernacle went forth from the golden candlestick and its glow reflected off the altar of incense and the table and crown of shewbread. Here we see the everlasting light which is life in Jesus Christ; without any hesitation the Lord Jesus declared of Himself, that He, and ONLY HE was the light of the world.
  The lampstand is also prophetic; the lampstand was a shadow prophecy of the lampstands in heaven which symbolizes the seven churches; therefore, in the Holy place, we have a witness of the people of earth, the nation of Israel in the shewbread, and we have a witness in the lampstand of the church and the saints in heaven in heavenly places ministered to by the Holy Spirit symbolized in the OIL of gladness. All these articles speak of Christ; the altar of incense speaks of His glory and His suffering; the coals of fire speak of the judgment that came upon Him, and the BEATEN and CRUSHED incense made into powder speaks of His suffering on the cross of Calvary — and thus, the incense that ascended up to God in the smoke was a sweet-smelling savor unto God the Father. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2)
  When the tabernacle and all that was within was ordained and sanctified, the high priest would have the service of God in the first tabernacle. Christ BEFORE He was sent of the Father, was the Minister and High Priest attending the Holy Place in heaven. It was from there that He ministered to earth and to the nation of Israel through the shadows that were of the real Tabernacle above. Christ HIMSELF ministered through Aaron in the things pertaining to the tabernacle and to the holiness of God.
  When the time of reformation came in the fullness of time, Christ came out of heaven’s glory into the courtyard of the earth and presented Himself at the gate, and freely offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin.
The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:Â (Hebrews 9:8)
Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;Â (Hebrews 9:9)
[Which stood] only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed [on them] until the time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:10)
  Then, when His blood was shed, He took that blood and approached the Tabernacle in heaven again. He entered into the Holy place and then into the Holy of Holies where He sprinkled ALL with His blood seven times.
  When He looked upon all that He had done and that `it was good, and the evening and the morning was the fullness of time. Then He placed His blood on the mercy seat and the divine glory was encircled and all was made right in the earth below, and in heaven above. Sin had been erased from upon the earth and from heaven above. The blood of the Son of God today testifies on that same mercy seat to the things that the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross. He now walks among the candlesticks as the Great High Priest and Shepherd of our souls. He bestows, in the oil, His divine life, and trims the wicks so that they may serve Him and burn brighter on the earth below. He finished the work that the Father gave Him to do, and He is now surrounded with the very glory that He had with the Father before the foundations of the world. Now did you see all that in Hebrews 9: 6 and 7? Now hang on, for there is more. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. (Hebrews 9:6) But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: (Hebrews 9:7)
  As Christ entered into the heavenly Holy of Holies once for all, there would be no repetition of His sacrifice for He offered the ultimate atonement, His blood was better than all the sacrificial blood that was shed before. It is here that God opens His door to His determinate counsels and foreknowledge, and the last book of the Bible proclaims that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8) Concentrate now . . . . this was the SACRIFICE FROM the FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, this was BEFORE Adam was created. We see this in the determinate counsels and the foreknowledge of God, and to make sure that we do not read over this 8th verse in the 13th Chapter of Revelation, God gives us verse 9 to awaken our eyes and our ears to what we have read in verse 8. If any man have an ear, let him hear. (Revelation 13:9) Showing us the Son of God’s involvement in these determinate counsels, that it was the Lord Jesus in the beginning who laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens were the works of His hands.
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;Â (Hebrews 1:2)
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: (Hebrews 1:10)
  This also presents to us that when the Lord Jesus was manifested upon earth, He was the FULLNESS of the Godhead bodily. The Lord Jesus came out of His Temple in heaven to bring God to man, as the Son of man. He walked among man as the Son of man with no sin. He revealed to man the express image that once was – even to His disciples, Peter, James and John, on the holy mountain, He revealed His glory, and they beheld that glory and beheld the majesty of that glory. As the Son of man, Christ took man to the cross, for Adam had to be put out of the way. Adam, the old man, had to die so that the New Man (the second man) could give life and light to a world of darkness and sin. The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. (1st Corinthians 15:4)
  There at the cross, the Son of man as the Son of God embraced Himself and all that was against man, He embraced all the sin of the human race, and then embraced that with God’s love; and there through His atonement He opened the path and the doorway of heaven for those who believe on Him. And therefore, we can enter into heaven because Christ took us to God. He surrounded His own with the sacrifice of Himself and carried them into the presence of God and revealed Himself as the great Redeemer of mankind.
  When the veil in the temple on earth was rent at His death, it opened a door of life that was from above in heaven. In the tabernacle on earth, the veil separated the mercy seat from the rest of the tabernacle, the holy place. It also separated ALL men except for the high priest. When the veil was rent from top to bottom, it was a divine act to open the way to redemption, and not only did He enter into the Holy of Holies with His own blood, but unlike Israel, He takes us in with Him, thus we enter in through His blood.
 Now, we, the children of God, as the two Cherubims, can also look on the mercy seat in amazement on what He has done. As the angels desire to look into these things, we, the children of God, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, should have the same desire to look into these mysteries of God and allow the Holy Ghost to open the pages, to open the verses, and to open the words to our hearts, souls and spirits. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)
  The deadness of man’s heart has dimmed the glorious light that was revealed to the prophets in the Old Testament. They KNEW the prophecy given to them was in the future, and that THAT prophecy would be fulfilled to those in the days of the prophetic word. The prophets of old KNEW that they had the Spirit of Christ in them. They SPOKE the very words of God. For God is very precise in His prophetic word. For example, take Isaiah Chapter 53, (where the soul of God is disclosed) there is only one who has come upon the face of the earth who could fulfill this prophecy, and this ONE came in the fullness of time as the Son of God, the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
  We never think nor contemplate the value of the ministry of these prophets of old. But they do minister to us even now. Even Abel’s voice testifies of his faith in God from the beginning. And everything that we know in the Old Testament and in the New Testament was and is sent down by the Holy Ghost. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the preaching of the cross, but it is the revelation of who God is, and His holiness and His righteousness and His mighty power to usward. In Hebrews Chapter 1, the Almighty God tells us that He has spoken to us BY His Son in these last days. This should give urgency to every soul who is outside of Christ. And yet because of man’s blindness they neither see, nor come. When you read Isaiah Chapter 53 you are being ministered to by GOD and His prophets, and in Psalm 22 you are being ministered by His King. Do you see the wonder here? That we are listening to the very voice of God, and it is through this voice within that the Holy Ghost works. For He has been sent down from heaven to open the eyes of the blind. In Isaiah Chapter 53, we see the value and complete sacrifice of the Son of God. That His own soul was offered for the sin and transgressions of all. He endured the travail of His own soul in order to spread both light and life over ALL humanity. Under the Old Testament we have both the Law and the ordinances that were given to the nation of Israel. The Law was God’s condemning tool to show to mankind the failure of his heart, soul, and spirit. The ordinances, including the sacrifices, were given to release man from the heavy weight and judgment of the Law. These were all types and shadows. Even the very first commandment of God was a shadow of the fullness of time. That through His love for us, in giving Himself on the cross, we, as the children of God, should love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. When I think of the glory of God, I not only think of the intensity of the light of that glory, but I think of the intensity of the love within that glory. It is God’s love to us (who had no love for God), and now by God’s miracle of the new birth we can open our eyes, and our ears, and our minds, and our hearts, and our spirit and our soul to God’s love in Jesus Christ.
  All the sacrifices in the Old Testament, all the blood that was shed, all the animals that drew their last breath and then were consumed on the altar of judgment, all these was because of God’s love. Do you think for one instance that those sacrifices did not grieve the Almighty? He LOVES His TOTAL creation, and He only separates that which is evil from that which is good. However, man wanted to experience both, and he did not consider the very Law that God gave him. Adam was under the Law of Sin and Death, and he acquired this (sin and death) by his own disobedience to God. At the very point of Adam’s transgression, man BECAME helpless, he became helpless before God, he became helpless before sin, and he became helpless before death. The Law of Sin and Death was immediately enacted when Adam brought sin into the world; consequently, man, in Adam, became a vacuum of all that was good. Man’s thoughts became evil continually, and his own imagination planted and nourished and fed his own sin. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5) But God, in His mercy, covered them both (Adam and Eve) from the physical wrath of God’s own judgment. Although Adam and Eve were penalized to live in a world of thorns and thistles, they were covered from God’s immediate wrath. The covering of the two animals was only a symbol and not judicial satisfaction for their sin. They left the garden as man and woman in the unrighteousness of man and under the judicial punishment of God. And ALL the sacrifices from Adam throughout all the Old Testament to the day of reformation, the glorious fulfillment of the Day of Atonement was when Christ freely offered Himself as the article of God’s love for mankind. All the Old Testament sacrifices were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those types and shadows of the true were fulfilled when Christ offered Himself upon the cross of Calvary.
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All of the Old was and is Completed in the New
  Going slowly through the Chapter 9 of the book of Hebrews, we see the supreme value of the blood of Christ through this record of God. He not only puts forth a new covenant between God and man, but He also reaffirms that He will fulfill the covenant that He made with Abraham. But this is not all, for in the night that the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the cup and proclaimed . . . this cup is the New Testament in my blood. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup [is] the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:20) In Hebrews Chapter 9 we see the glories of that testament and the life and death of the Testator.
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. (Hebrews 9:16)
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. (Hebrews 9:17)
  It is Christ who offered Himself through the eternal Spirit for us. All the promises of God can be found and completed in the holy and righteous testament of the Son of God in both His life and in His death. Everything that speaks of redemption is fulfilled in the New Testament even the Old Testament that Moses gave to the children of Israel that was sanctified in the blood of others is fulfilled in the sanctification of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which sanctifies the New Testament in His blood. He sprinkled the whole Law, the books of His word, and the people, and the sanctuary, and all the vessels within with His own blood. He stated to His disciples that it was NOT the cup that was the New Testament, but His own blood was the New Testament and that it was HIS BLOOD that He would give for the sins of the people.
  When Peter was writing he stated that the angels desire to look into it. Look into what? Look into the love of God, look into the sacrifice, as those two anointed cherubs of covering look over and upon the mercy seat in heaven. The angels have the advantage, they have seen the whole history of man, they have seen the vileness of man, and they have seen man at his worst. When the Roman soldiers took the Son of God, Christ had already been beaten by the thugs of the high priest, He had already been humiliated before man . . . . His own creation spat upon Him in their contempt for their Creator, then after all this, the Roman soldiers (who also come under His creation) after placing a crown of thorns, and draping a royal purple robe on Him, bowed their knees and mockingly called Him King. He stood there as the ram caught in the thicket of Genesis Chapter 22:13, And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And as a lamb before his shearers is dumb, He opened not His mouth. They took and made a crown of the most wicked and horrible thorns. (The vine that was used by those soldiers of Rome is still grown today, but now it has a new name, this plant is called the ‘crown of thorns.’ This vine grows thorns that are in excess of 1″ long.) Remember that both Adam and Eve went into a land of thorns and thistles under the curse that God placed upon the land and upon the sinner who brought sin into the world. The Bible tells us that these Roman soldiers platted a crown of thorns and embedded it into the Lord’s skull. This alone would cause the most severe pain that man could endure, yet the Son of God endured this because of love.
  He was in the world and the world knew Him not. He came to Israel, His chosen people, and they received not their own Creator and their own Emancipator from the furnaces of Egypt. Is it any wonder that the angels wonder about these things? When anyone tells me that there is goodness in man, I tell them that there is one thing that denies that, and this is the wicked hands, the wicked hearts, the wicked spirits and the wicked souls who crucified the Prince of life. There is no point of evil in the history of mankind that is not reflected and shadowed by the evil in man’s heart at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet in all this suffering, in all this shame, and in all the belligerence against the Son of God, He was there for the joy that was set before Him, the joy of redeeming His own, the joy of calling His own sheep by name, the joy of walking with them, and presenting them to God His Father without blemish and without mark. These newborn creatures who are redeemed by His blood are a living testimony to His sacrifice and to His boundless love. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:21) At the cross, man in his evil belligerence and wicked sin came out aggressively against his own Creator. The devil in his enmity against God stirred the hearts of men, his children, in these wicked works. This should have ended mankind completely, however, God is love. God turned the stone over on that day. Death became life. Life became eternal. And the love of God would be manifested to all of His creation that there WAS and IS and FOREVER will be the day of atonement.
 Every leaf, every branch, every plant, every mountain, every beast, every star, every planet, every galaxy, all of creation was affected by these three words from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ: IT IS FINISHED. From the foundation of the world, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit had calvary and the cross before them. God’s great love would fulfill His own determinate counsels and foreknowledge. As the Lord Jesus appeared to Abraham as Melchisedec He revealed His plan of redemption to His servant in the bread and in the cup of wine. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. (Genesis 14:18) Abraham KNEW and was glad to be a part of the redemption that his God would accomplish on calvary’s cross.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. (John 8:56) Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? (John 8:57) Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)
  The words of the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul in Romans Chapter 10 not only explained the ministry of the Spirit of God but the value of the Scripture and those who are sent to preach the gospel of peace and to bring glad tidings. This includes the prophet Isaiah, But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? (Romans 10:16) Notice in this verse it is our report that they have not believed the gospel of peace and they have not believed OUR report, this includes ALL the prophets, and it includes the testimony of the Lord Himself in John 8:56 and it includes the testimony of the Lord that He gave to Abraham in Genesis 14 in sharing with the bread (His body being smitten), and sharing the wine (His blood being shed for the redemption of mankind). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. (Genesis 14:18) This is why Abraham had the confidence in Genesis Chapter 22 because he already KNEW that God was able to raise the dead. Abraham already KNEW from what the Lord had told him in Genesis 14, that God would provide Himself a sacrifice. Why do we not see these things? We see not because the world clouds our thoughts. Sin violates our righteousness and causes our eyes to be dim when we read and meditate in the Scriptures. Abraham rejoiced because he saw the day of the Lord’s manifestation, he saw the day of His life, and he saw the sacrifice upon the cross of calvary, and he rejoiced in the redemption of mankind. As the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was at the hands of wicked men, He was also the sacrifice of God’s judicial judgment to fulfill God’s righteousness and annul the penalty of sin which is death. Christ was made sin for us who knew no sin. It wasn’t man who made Him sin for us, it was God Himself who offered the soul of His Son for sin by placing sin upon the Lord Jesus. Now here is the wonder, in the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the Lord Jesus on the cross submitted Himself to bearing the sin of the whole world. He became God’s conflict with sin to defeat sin and death by the death of Himself. He went into the very depth of sin to overthrow both death and the curse which was the result of sin. God prepared a body from the foundations of the earth to be the Lamb without blemish, the Lamb without fault, the Lamb without any mark. This Lamb that came forth in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin He bore the sins of many.
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The Earthly Journey Compared with the Heavenly Journey
on the Day of Atonement
  Now stay tuned . . . . stay with me . . . for you can miss a lot if you don’t pay attention.
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. (Hebrews 9:6)Â But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:Â (Hebrews 9:7)
  When the tabernacle and all that was within was ordained and sanctified both Aaron and his sons were also sanctified and ordained by blood on their right ear, their right thumb, and on their right big toe. They were then ordained after their sanctification by the holy oil upon the right ear, upon the right thumb, and upon the right toe. The high priest wore on his mitre a golden plate that described his service to God which said HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the LORD commanded Moses. (Leviticus 8:9) And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. (Exodus 28:36) Aaron, as the high priest, and his sons (priests), had the service of the first tabernacle that is called the holy place. But only Aaron, as the high priest and only bearing blood, could enter in through the veil into the holy of holies.
  In the holy place Aaron and his sons all tended the shewbread, and they put the holy oil, and trimmed the wicks of the lampstand. The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. (Exodus 35:19) They placed the coals on the altar of incense, but ONLY Aaron, as the representative of all of Israel, could go through the veil into the holy of holies ONCE every year on the day of atonement. And as I previously said, he could not enter without the blood of the sacrifice.
  Let us follow Aaron’s journey on the day of atonement. It began in the courtyard at the gate. Here was where the sacrifice was presented by the high priest. Aaron placed his hands on the head of the sacrifice, in type, transferred the sins of the nation of Israel, and Aaron, being but a man, would include his own sin. After taking the life of the innocent victim, he then anointed the four horns of the altar with the blood of the sacrifice. The number four is the number of the whole world and they that dwell therein. However, the world was NOT God’s chosen people, the world did not come under the covenant of Israel. Many do not realize that Israel had the responsibility to be a voice for God to the nations, to glorify God, and to show the nations the mighty works of God.
  The high priest then took and offered the sacrifice upon the altar. This altar is called the altar of burnt offering and the brasen altar.
And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof. (Exodus 38:1) And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass. (Exodus 38:2)
And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, (Exodus 38:30)
  Aaron would then take the remainder of the blood of the sacrifice and walk to the laver and after washing his hands and his feet at the laver, he then entered into the holy place where he anointed all the articles and furniture of the holy place. After Aaron’s work was completed in the holy place, he would then go into the holy of holies and sprinkle the Cherubims of gold, the Ark of the covenant of gold, and the mercy seat of gold seven times. After sprinkling the blood seven times before the seven Spirits of God, he would place the blood of the sacrifice upon the mercy seat.
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5)
  Through Aaron’s journey on the day of atonement with the blood of the sacrifice, we also see the journey of the Lord Jesus Christ in the atonement of His blood from His manifestation to the cross, and from the cross into the darkness of death, and after His resurrection His ascension with His blood to the True Tabernacle above not made with hands. After Christ entered into the Holy of Holies, He placed His blood on the True Mercy Seat above.
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The Wonders in Heaven
  In Philippians Chapter 2, we have the wonderful footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ beginning in verse 5 to verse 11.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:Â (Philippians 2:5)
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:Â (Philippians 2:6)
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:Â (Philippians 2:7)
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:Â (Philippians 2:9)
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;Â (Philippians 2:10)
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)
  The first thing that we approach is the very mind of Christ. It was a mind of sacrifice for that joy that was set before Him. Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we as the redeemed of God should set or make our bodies a living sacrifice.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) This should not grate on us, each and every child of God should be willing to present themselves before the Almighty as a living sacrifice to the glory of the Lord Christ Jesus. This service is for every child of God, and one has to begin with sacrifice to achieve the perfect will of God in Romans 12:2, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
  In Philippians 2:6, Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, we have Christ being in the form of God, that is the completeness of Deity. It is the completeness of God in the Godhead bodily of Colossians 2:9. Before time, the Lord thought it not robbery to be equal with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were united in the fullness of the Godhead. When the Lord Jesus was manifested before man, He had that SAME relationship in the fullness of the Godhead. However, now this fullness was represented by the Body that was prepared for Him in the determinate counsels of God. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. (Hebrews 10:5) In His manifest image of God in the flesh, He still had the same equality with God, He was still a member of the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Upon the earth, in His manifestation, He was the FULL manifestation of Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There had been complete unity of the Godhead BEFORE creation, and that same unification existed when the Lord Jesus was manifested before man. He was equal with God, for He was God manifest in the flesh. He was Emmanuel, God with us.
  Mankind without Christ is blind to this wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ made Himself of no reputation. The world would say that He had done all things well, and the disciples would wonder as the angels wondered, What manner of man is this? The light of His deity could not be hidden on the holy mount, when His majesty was displayed to His disciples, yet this very Creator took on the form of a servant and made Himself in the likeness of man. As Christ on the holy mount was transfigured before His disciples as the glory of God, in like manner, He transfigured Himself back to the likeness of man. In all the miracles that He performed; they were done as a servant in complete humbleness: neither desiring nor wanting the accolades of mankind. All through His walk upon the earth, He carried Himself as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with all the grief of others. He laid upon Himself the burden of all men. And the ultimate, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross.
But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! (Matthew 8:27)
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:41)
And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him. (Luke 8:25)
And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. (Mark 7:37)
  Many have mentioned that it was through these seven vital steps in the book of Philippians Chapter 2 that the Lord Jesus took to the cross. We should see in this descent of the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross that He was fulfilling the whole righteousness of God in order for man to be set free from sin and death; the total aspect of God’s judicial righteousness HAD to be fulfilled. This meant that the sacrifice had to be spotless in life as well as spotless in death. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. (Philippians 2:9) In Philippians 2:9, we see the ascension of the Son of God, the first step of His ascension, He has been highly exalted. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. (Philippians 2:10) For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. (Hebrews 7:26) Christ has been given a name which is above every name; the whole description of the Godhead is found in that name.
  As also in the Old Testament He has a name described in Isaiah 9:6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. God has highly exalted that name above the names of man. Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace . . . . That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth (Philippians 2:10). That at the name of Jesus every knew should bow of things in heaven, of things of earth, and things under the earth. This takes in the complete realm of reconciliation for God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
  In John Chapter 1, we have the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s beloved in the bosom of the Father. John also tells us that they beheld His glory, and the purpose of His manifestation was to bring grace and truth to mankind. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
  Philippians 2:11 shows that all the exaltation of Christ is to and for the glory of God the Father. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. How many times in the gospel of John has the Lord Jesus shown us the unity of the Son with the Father, and the unity of the Father with the Son. The closeness is the same. There is no division, there Lord Jesus proclaimed that if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Again, in the Lord’s manifestation before man: His manifestation, His body, and His image represented the whole Godhead bodily. Once we understand this part of our redemption, as the angels, we wonder why every tongue has not confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now He is the Priest after the order of Melchisedec, and has been exalted higher than the heavens, and He is the Minister and the High Priest of the sanctuary which God has built and not man. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. (Hebrews 9:11)
  Hebrews 3:1, shows not only His steps, but His qualifications to be BOTH our Savior and High Priest. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. This verse is another verse that the Holy Spirit gave to reveal the wonders from heaven. The first aspect of this verse is that those who are of Christ are made holy IN Christ as holy brethren. This is not what they have accomplished through their own works. This is what they have received in their new birth in Jesus Christ. And notice, that this holiness is on the heavenly side. They are, or we are, partakers of the heavenly calling. And then, we get the two aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ: first, He is the Apostle who is the messenger from God to man; and then next, we get His Priesthood which is the heavenlies with His current ministry to those who belong to Him upon the earth; as well in His office of Priesthood He ministers in the sanctuary of God.
  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.(Hebrews 2:3) God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:4) We are presented through these verses the things that the Lord Himself began to declare through the centuries and millenniums, and we have received these words and precepts by those who heard Him, and by those who received their testimony. All who have proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven through the centuries, of course, had the divine testimony of the Living and the Holy Word of God.
  One of the greatest ministries that the Lord loves to participate in is the breaking of bread. He loves to walk among the candlesticks ministering to the children of God His thoughts for them, as they remember Him, is to expand their remembrance of Him within them. He pulls at the strings of faith and reveals Himself through His Spirit to bring the heart of the child to where Christ is in His sanctuary above. He delights in opening that door to heaven so that they might see this grand part of this salvation as He ministers among the candlesticks, He fortifies His children through the Spirit in the word of God. The psalmist states in Psalm 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. The memory and heart of the psalmist received something that few receive, he was speaking about the word of God conversing with his own heart showing him the things of Christ in the Old through the books of Moses, through the prophets and through the psalms how God through His Spirit is able to speak in a whisper in a still small voice to the one who is diligently seeking Him. For example, think on these words: Christ our Passover. If you know the word of God ,and you have hidden that word in your heart, then God opens the history, the wonder, and the glory of His beloved Son from the very first Passover in Egypt to the shed blood of the Lamb who came to take away the sin of the world, and further yet past time into timelessness when He placed His blood on the mercy seat in the True Tabernacle in the True Holy of Holies in heaven above.
  This was the Prince of princes, and the King of kings who offered Himself for the lowest of low. The comparison of the ministry of Adam, in Aaron, was not significant to overthrow sin and death; therefore, the symbolic nature of the Old covenant and the tabernacle would be replaced with the Tabernacle above which is the True. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. (Hebrews 8:9)
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A Greater Sanctuary than the Worldly Sanctuary
A Greater Sacrifice – A Greater Tabernacle – A Greater Blood
  The tabernacle and the ordinances of old were pictures of that which is above. The things that were shown on earth were not capable of removing and abolishing sin. It would take a GREATER sacrifice, a GREATER tabernacle, a GREATER blood to meet the judgments of God against mankind. There was only ONE in all of God’s realm who could do the work of justification. He was the righteous and holy sacrifice which met all the requirements of God, and yet in His perfection, God would have to make Him sin for us.
  In His ministry among the angels prior to His manifestation on earth He was the Priest after the order of Melchisedec . . . . and He was sent by God the Father to offer Himself a sacrifice for us.
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;Â (Hebrews 9:11)
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:Â (Hebrews 9:13)
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
  Going back to the day of atonement in the Old Testament and the tabernacle that Moses raised up: Aaron had to make the complete journey from the shedding of the blood all the way into the holy of holies. Now Christ, from shedding His blood on the cross and at His resurrection had to make the complete journey to the Holy of Holies above. Which we see in verse 12. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. When Adam sinned, sin brought many things with it. It transformed the heart of good to a heart of evil. It gave man an enmity within against God. In the book of Jeremiah, God shows us the deceitfulness of the heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) One can undoubtedly say that when Adam sinned it affected the body, the soul, the spirit, the mind, and the heart of Adam. So, it was impossible for Adam to atone for himself. Yet thousands upon thousands have tried to do this by their own works trying to justify themselves which only leads to utter failure in the sight of God. It is their own heart that deceives them. When God sets a parameter of salvation in His only begotten Son, there is no other way to approach God except through Jesus Christ. Everything that was required of God to justify and redeem mankind from the grip of sin was done by the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore, in His sacrificial death He had pleased the Father.
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2)
But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. (Leviticus 1:9) And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. (Leviticus 1:10)
  Beginning in Leviticus Chapter 1, we have the burnt offering. This is God’s part, this offering was a sweet savor unto God the Father concerning His Son, this is what came from heaven to earth. Not only what He was in heaven before, but what He would accomplish on the earth. The heart of God must have had tremendously intense emotions sending Him down into the vineyard as the heir apparent. In the burnt offering it is what Christ was and is in His very holiness to the Father.
 I’ll just mention a few of the other offerings: we have the meat offering which speaks of His spotless life on earth; we have the sin offering where sin is taken away; we have the peace offering where man can make peace with God, and there are others, but these offerings show us the different aspects of Christ’s death on the cross. Do you remember His first address to the Father before the cross as recorded in Luke 23:24? Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.These were words of privilege; Christ knew that He could say this to God the Father in His relationship as Son, and as the Son of His love.,
  On the day of atonement, the very last stop that the Aaron would make would be within the holy of holies, he sprinkled the blood that he had brought into this holy of holies, and seven times he sprinkled the blood on the ark, then he would sprinkle the two Cherubims seven times, and lastly, seven times on the mercy seat. (The number seven is predominant in Leviticus concerning the offerings, it was predominant within the holy of holies, and it was predominant in the seven sayings of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Each one of these seven sayings of the Lord Jesus speaks of a different facet of Him being offered up for the sin of the world.) The Bible tells us that this atonement was not only for the priest, but for the sins of the nation of Israel. There is a connection here with Christ being made sin for us, not His own transgressions, but ours, and on the day of resurrection He took those sins all the way to the mercy seat in heaven. Many miss the real point of the Lord’s encounter with Mary on the day of resurrection. I will try to be thorough in this because of its importance. We have this text in John 20, verses 11-18.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, (John 20:11)
And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. (John 20:12)
And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. (John 20:13)
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. (John 20:14)
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. (John 20:15)
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20:16)
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. (John 20:18)
  This was NOT the ascension from the mount of Olives. This was the ascension of the High Priest of God (after the oath of Melchisedec) that He would reconcile man unto Himself for God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. So, Christ ascended to the Holy of Holies to place His blood on the mercy seat in the heavenly sanctuary.
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Ephesians 4:8)
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? (Ephesians 4:9)
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) (Ephesians 4:10)
  Carefully read this: first, He ascended to lead captivity captive, to reconcile man to heaven above. It was there that He placed His blood on the Eternal Mercy Seat as the two covering Cherubims watched Him as they wondered with such admiration of His great love in His sacrifice for man. He had laid down His life for His friends, and THERE upon the Ark, and upon the Mercy Seat He placed His blood of atonement. This is the True Ark in heaven that the ark on earth was fashioned after. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19)
  Also remember that within the ark of the covenant on the earth there was the law and the testimony within, and Christ fulfilled the whole Law for us. There was also the rod of Aaron that budded and was placed in the ark as a symbol of resurrection which Christ fulfilled by the power of an endless life which was IN Him. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Hebrews 7:16) Also the pot of manna was within the ark. This shows the Bread of life in the Lord Jesus Christ which He declared of Himself in John Chapter 6:35, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35) I am that bread of life. (John 6:48)
 These articles were IN the ark out of the sight of man, as the reality of these objects were IN Christ when He walked upon the earth. Christ IS the Lawgiver. Christ IS the resurrection and the life. Christ IS the manna from heaven, and the grand fulfillment of this took place when He ascended and placed His blood on the Mercy Seat and on the Ark of the covenant in heaven itself. This was in the True Tabernacle of God that is jointly called the Temple in Revelation 15:5, And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. These are some of the verses that connect the Lord’s ascension with His blood to the mercy seat in heaven.
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (Hebrews 9:23) For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;Â (Hebrews 9:11)
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. (Exodus 25:17)
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. (Exodus 25:18)
And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. (Exodus 25:19)
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. (Exodus 25:20)
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. (Exodus 25:21)
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:22)
  It was Bezaleel specifically called by God (out of the tribe of Judah) who was filled with the Spirit of God in all wisdom, understanding, knowledge and workmanship to build and construction all things of the tabernacle in the wilderness on earth. Bezaleel took the pattern given by God to Moses of that which was real in heaven and made a shadow image of the heavenly upon the earth.
And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;Â (Exodus 35:30)
And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;Â (Exodus 35:31)
And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, (Exodus 35:32)
And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. (Exodus 35:33)
And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. (Exodus 35:34)
Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. (Exodus 35:35)
Christ had to ascend to the Ark above, and the mercy seat in the purity of His death for sin, and the purity of His resurrected life to reconcile man to God. [/pullquote]  Now let’s return to John 20:12 and compare the mercy seat in the tabernacle in the wilderness with the mercy seat in it fulfillment one earth in the tomb where the Body of Christ had been placed. The mercy seat on earth: And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. (Exodus 25:19) And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. (Exodus 25:20) The mercy seat in fulfillment on earth: And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Here is a wonderful message for us. Within the sepulcher, where the body of Jesus had lain, there were two Cherubims, one at each end of the resting stone in white shining garments. They were there for a purpose. They were guarding Him lest any would defile Him, and defile or touch His Body. The threat of defilement also includes any taint of sin and contamination from the devil and remember that this same devil desired to obtain the body of Moses and, therefore, he disputed with Michael the archangel over the body of Moses in Jude 1:9, Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
  While the Body of Christ laid in the darkness of the tomb of death, no defilement could be allowed to touch Him, therefore, the two Cherubims guarded the Lord’s purity while He slept the sleep of death. Christ had to ascend to the Ark above, and the mercy seat in the purity of His death for sin, and the purity of His resurrected life to reconcile man to God. (No priest in the Old Testament could enter the holy place with any impurity on him, only after immediately washing at the laver could a priest then enter in through the veil of separation.) Hebrews Chapter 9 shows us it was also to reconcile those things in heaven because heaven had been affected by Satan’s conflict with God when Satan sinned.Â
  Once the Lord Jesus entered the sepulcher, and the stone was rolled blocking the entrance and the tomb was sealed, NO ELEMENT OF MAN could touch Him. The irony is that the Jews (in their disbelief) ordered Pilate to seal the tomb, and in doing this, they reaffirmed God’s purpose, and protected the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through man’s history tomb raiders have been extremely active throughout all cultures: from the pyramids of Pharaoh’s to the vaults of Chinese overlords, no culture has been exempted from the ravaging raiders of dead men’s buried wealth and dried bones. This was not going to happen to the Sovereign of creation. And what is so amazing is that man DID not break that seal. The stone was rolled away by the angel of God. This was also to preserve the purity of the Lord Jesus Christ. In that same sense, when He met Mary, He told her, Touch me not. And He also gave her His reason for He had not yet ascended to His Father. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17) Here we have the Holy Priest after the order of Melchisedec. He was about to ascend with His own blood and place it on the mercy seat above for the sin that was laid upon Him and the trespasses of the people. He also identifies His brethren with God the Father. This is all of those who come under His atonement and have received the forgiveness of sin through the faith of the Son of God. Speaking to Mary and to us, He said I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. This shows us the strong tie though His blood with His own. It also shows the importance of Hebrews 9:
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (Hebrews 9:23) For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)
  In a moment of time, hidden from the eyes of man on earth, He ascended to His Father, and entered into the Holy of Holies. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12) It was THERE in the Holy of Holies in heaven that He finished the work of redemption for us. After He had completed His work as the High Priest, then He descended into the lower parts of the earth to preach to the disobedient spirits confined there.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:Â (1st Peter 3:18)
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;Â (1st Peter 3:19)
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1st Peter 3:20)
  I want to speak concerning these three verses, and add this verse from 1st Peter 3:12, For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Peter discloses that the Lord wasn’t descending to give the disobedient spirits a second chance; He descended to show them His power of His own righteousness over sin and evil. God is so precise that ALL men both IN body and IN spirit MUST receive the true witness of God against them. Christ revealed Himself as the Redeemer that they had rejected through the preaching of God’s righteous servant Noah. This not only condemned them, but it strengthened God’s mercy in the preaching of Noah that they had refused. God is not subject to time, and God can do many things in a short period of man’s time, the whole creation is a good example. Therefore, not only did He ascend into heaven, but He descended to spirits in prison beneath, and in that same day of man’s time, He revealed Himself to His brethren on earth.
  In Hebrews 2:12, we have something very precious, after He had returned from the Mercy Seat in heaven, and while He was STILL in heaven, He sang in the midst of the church, praise unto God. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12)
  In all of this until He returned . . . . NO ONE COULD TOUCH HIM until He had finished the course of the High Priest. Aaron had been an example of the High Priest appearing to His brethren after His work had been completed; Aaron returned (after completing his work on the day of atonement in the holy of holies to be seen by the children of Israel. Thus, when the people saw Aaron, they then knew that their trespasses were forgiven, and they had been accepted by God. Let’s finish John 20, verses 24 and 28.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. (John 20:24)
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. (John 20:25)
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. (John 20:26)
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. (John 20:27)
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. (John 20:28)
　 His wounds are still open in John 20:27. As in Zechariah 13:6, And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. God leaves these wounds as a testimony of the great love the Son of God has for His own, and as a testimony of the love of the Father for the Son, and for a testimony against that evil deed that was done by the hands of wicked men.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation1:7)
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30) And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)
  We realize that these things in the gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 happens at a later date when the Lord Jesus comes in His glory as the Lord of lords, and King of kings. This is not the anticipated translation of the saints, this is the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the King, When He comes in power and great glory to rule over the world, He exhibits His wounds with NO blood. We have this testimony in Luke 24:39 and 40, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39) And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. (Luke 24:40)
  The Lord declared of His Body that it was flesh and bone, there is no mention of BLOOD. The day of blood was over in the divine sense. His blood was on the mercy seat as a witness of the day of atonement when He gave His life for the sin of the world. Remember that Aaron (in the Old Testament) brought NO BLOOD OUT of the holy of holies; all of the blood was left in the holy of holies. Let’s look at to Hebrews 9:6 and 7, Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. (Hebrews9:6) But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people. (Hebrews9:7)
  There is only one place in the entire Bible that blood is called precious, and this is documented in 1st Peter 1:19, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. There is also one Person in the entire Bible who is called precious.
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (1st Peter 1:7)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:Â (1st Peter 1:19)
To whom coming, [as unto] a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, [and] precious, (1st Peter 2:4)
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (1st Peter 2:6)
Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, (1st Peter 2:7)
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:Â (2nd Peter 1:1)
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2nd Peter 1:4)
  As we look into the two epistles of Peter, we see the word precious seven (7) times in reference to the Lord Jesus in His various aspects as our Redeemer, and His position before God the Father. That there is ONLY ONE PRECIOUS in God’s sight. There is ONLY ONE who has PRECIOUS BLOOD making a distinguishing point between man’s blood and animal blood that could not atone for sin. ONLY THIS PRECIOUS BLOOD of Christ Himself could be placed on the mercy seat IN heaven. Seven (7) times this word precious is documented to confirm His statement on the cross, It is finished. The number seven completes the work of the High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews Chapter 7, verse 26, For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. As this ONE who is precious reveals Himself to His own, He has brought them into His royal priesthood for He is both King and Priest.
But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:Â (1st Peter 2:9)
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)
 As the children of God, we are encircled with the royal priesthood of our Redeemer. Everything that we are, and have, is contained within His kingly stature, and His priestly holiness which He endows us with as the children of God. There is no group on earth who can claim priesthood outside of the TRUE children of God. Each individual under the precious blood of Christ at any time day or night, or any place: in our closet or on an open plain, we, as the children of God, can worship God with the fruit of our lips because of His blood on the mercy seat in heaven. We can worship the Lord Jesus Christ at any time, and in any place. We can also lift the cup in remembrance of His shed blood, the only blood that is precious, and is there forever in heaven on the mercy seat.
  When Christ returned to His disciples, He mentioned His flesh and His bone, this also represented the bread from heaven returning from heaven for His disciples. Here was proof of the Living Manna of eternal life; now we have full representation because of the Man in heaven for us; a glorified Man, who snatched us out of the camp of Adam and the devil, to set out feet on the sea of glass before His throne. As priests, we have spiritual responsibilities to God to keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the world. We cannot allow the devil with his meaningless false professors convince us that it is alright to sin, or that God only winks at sin. The cross was there to show us that it took the BLOOD OF GOD to purchase us. There was no winking in His suffering. There was no winking in offering His soul. There was no winking in His death, all this proclaims to us the holiness of God, as He is holy, so be ye holy. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (1st Peter 1:15) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1st Peter 1:16) Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. (2nd Peter 3:11) There is no doubt that God wants us to be holy and separated from the world. God the Father wants us to embrace the preciousness of His Son, and the preciousness of His blood. He wants us to put on the garments of our royal priesthood and live within our responsibilities as priests before God. Aaron and his sons could not enter into the tabernacle without being totally cleansed, thus, before entering they had to first wash their hands and their feet at the laver. This brings in Psalm 24, Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? (Psalm 24:3) He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. (Psalm 24:4)
  What separated Abel from Cain? Abel obeyed God. What separated Enoch from other men? Enoch walked with God. What separated Noah from the men of Genesis Chapter 6? Noah was a preacher of God’s righteousness, and he was a child of grace. These are three fundamental things that draws us into priesthood: obedience, walk, and righteousness. These are all acquired by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The very first time that faith is linked to man it was by faith that Abel offered a more perfect sacrifice then Cain, and even today we do not recognize the priesthood of Abel as he offered his sacrifice to God in obedience. Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground, and we have seen a lot in earth and in heaven, and my pen is sore, and I have been writing for eight hours, and I need to rest and digest for myself all that we have seen. Let’s praise the good Shepherd and give holiness to His name and look forward to the good things to come.
Amen.
© Copyright 2022, Michael Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)