God in Our Midst

What biblical passage would you say best teaches you about your salvation? What text would you choose if you were limited to the Old Testament? In this series, Rev. Daniel R. Hyde uses the Old Testament tabernacle to instruct us about our redemption in Christ. In this "tent of meeting," we have much to learn about the triune God, our sins, His amazing grace, and how we are to serve Him. This lesson introduces us to the tabernacle, what it is, and how it fits into the big picture of redemption.

The tabernacle of the Old Testament, Rev. Hyde observes, is like a "crayon drawing" our children make for us. The people and the house in the picture point us to realities without being an exact representation of them. Yet, the tabernacle is a drawing that the Father gives his "son," Israel, rather than the other way around. This lesson considers how God provided the tabernacle to teach about true and heavenly things concerning Him and how He relates to His people. We will look at what the tabernacle teaches in terms of God's holiness, helpfulness, and heavenliness.

If something comes first, it is often important. The ark of the covenant is described at the beginning of the section in Scripture that describes the whole tabernacle. The concepts of God's presence and propitiation are essential to the ark's significance. In this lesson, Rev. Hyde discusses the significance of the ark -- a "surprise" that God gives His people from the start.

We tend to appreciate a delicious meal enjoyed in the company of good friends. Such delight in a common meal should not surprise us, because the Lord in His Word describes many times in both the Old and New Testaments how our relationship to Him is like a meal we sit down to enjoy together with Him. In this lesson, Rev. Hyde explains to us the "bread of the presence" in the tabernacle and how it communicates to us God's desire for intimate covenant fellowship with His people by way of presentation, preservation, and participation.

Maybe you've been somewhere so dark that you could hardly see right in front of your face. Inside the tabernacle, with its four layers of curtains, it was very dark. In addition to the curtains, keeping the light out, the smoke from the altar of incense made the room even darker. In this lesson, we consider the lampstand of gold that provided light in the darkness and made service to the Lord possible in His presence. Spiritually, the lampstand shows us our need for light in Christ to serve a holy God in a dark world.

"My God is a God of love. He would never punish people for their sins. That's the God of the Old Testament, but I believe in the God of the New Testament." Have you heard that before? The idea is that God's love rules over His justice. Unfortunately, our culture fosters this mind-set, since it cannot see how these two go together. As a result, real reconciliation can never take place. In this lesson, Rev. Hyde considers the altar of bronze which teaches us about the nature of God and how we relate to Him as both just and merciful.

We all possess a longing for permanence and belonging in a world that prevents them because of the fall. The Israelites experienced such a craving for permanence. One of the ways the Lord brought it to His unsettled pilgrim people was not just through the tabernacle, but also its courtyard. In this lesson, Rev. Hyde explores how the courtyard could provide the Israelites with what they were looking for in their wanderings. It also considers how we, as the new covenant people in Christ, leave our transient world behind to find permanence in public worship.

We live in a sin-stained world just as the Israelites did as they wandered in the wilderness. Our world bears similarities to and, at the same time, differences from theirs. One dissimilarity concerns the priesthood and all that it entailed. This institution seems strange to us. Yet this is the Word of God, and in this lesson we pay attention to the priesthood in detail, in order that we may learn how these specifics point to our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

"As long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him," John Calvin notes, "all that he has suffered and done for us, and the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value to us." In other words, Christ's benefits only become ours by faith. Such a faith must be a living one in order to lay hold of and be joined to Him. What He accomplished then becomes ours, as though we performed it ourselves. This lesson opens up such an idea as we study the benefits of the priesthood for Israel.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with you." In a post-Christian but otherwise religious world, it is amazing how many people will say something like this in response to someone's struggles. This is a mere religious expression, but Christian prayer remains a serious and sacred matter. After all, we are addressing a holy God when we pray. In this lesson, we take up the matter of prayer and its connection to the golden altar of incense inside the tabernacle and just outside the Holy of Holies.

Water is necessary for our lives and without it, we will die. This is not just true for our earthly life, but also our spiritual life. In the Bible, water symbolizes our relationship with God and that which we need for life and washing spiritually. We need the cleansing and forgiveness from sin that comes by God's grace. In this lesson, we will consider the bronze laver, the basin for washing in the tabernacle and its connection to such spiritual cleansing initially and continually.

The book of Exodus presents a sweeping narrative in which we read about the tabernacle as it serves as a copy and shadow of heavenly things, namely, our relationship with God in Christ. Yet, when we get to the end of the tabernacle narrative in chapter 40, we find a new beginning as Israel embarks on a new life of faith and obedience as they begin their journey into the Promised Land. This tabernacle and the relationship it represented was itself a new creation, a powerful testimony that the God of Scripture brings new life and beginnings for sinners.