And you can be seated. You could turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews. If you're using one of the church Bibles, it's on page 1612. Be reading as usual from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hebrews chapter nine, for those visiting with us, we've been working our way through the book of Hebrews, and this will be kind of an interesting message as we think about a lot of the background of what he's talking about with the tabernacle. Hebrews chapter nine, beginning in verse one, now even the first covenant had requirements of divine worship and an earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first part in which were the lampstand, and the table, and the sacred bread, which is called the holy place. And behind the second veil there was a tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies, having a golden altar of incense, and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna. and the Aaron's rod which budded, and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's ask him for help. Oh Lord, open our eyes that we might see Christ and his glory and splendor. Prepare our taste buds to taste of the one of whom the manna pictured, the one whom whoever comes to him will not hunger or thirst. Help us, oh Lord, to see Christ in these ancient pictures and symbols. In Jesus' name, amen. I suppose if you were to do some street interviews and ask people things like, why do we celebrate the 4th of July? You might get some interesting answers. You might get some answers related to getting together in the backyard friends and family having a barbecue, shooting off fireworks. But all the while, the reality of what that holiday is supposed to point to is somehow missed and forgotten. It often happens with the rituals and symbols in any kind of civilization. In fact, it was the prophet Jeremiah during his time in which he preached to the people of Israel. In fact, we thought about this a couple weeks ago or actually last week as we were thinking about the New Covenant because Jeremiah was written during a time in which the ancient people of Israel were in rebellion against their creator. And it was after the time period of Josiah where there had been much reformation and revival that had taken place, but it didn't take long for the people to turn away from their Creator. in Jeremiah chapter 7, we find out that one of the things that the people were crying out as the prophet is calling them to repentance, they had a kind of little ditty that they would sing or maybe a phrase that they would say. They would say this, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. In other words, in the midst of their wicked lives, they self-congratulated themselves over the reality that they had the temple in their midst, the very symbol of the presence of God. And of course, the prophet rebukes them for this, for them thinking that because they had the symbol, they also had the reality. In fact, the very reality of the symbol was an indictment for their forgetting the reality, for them living lives in humility, subjecting themselves to the God who they pat themselves on the back as to being in their midst by the evidence of the temple. Now, similarly, we find ourselves in the book of Hebrews. And the author of Hebrews, as one writer has said, was a Hebrew writing to Hebrews that these Hebrews would stop being Hebrew, or something like that. Stop being Hebrew in a sense, okay? In other words, this is a group of people who they had come out of Judaism, and they had Believed in the Jewish Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ But somewhere along the way in the midst of the persecution and opposition they were facing they were tempted to go back to their Judaism And so the author is exhorting them to hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he highlights throughout this book that Jesus is better, that he's the mediator of a better covenant. In fact, in chapter eight and verse six, He says, but now we have obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. And you remember last week he went into the new covenant. And so the author of Hebrews quotes from Jeremiah in the old covenant, in the Old Testament, pointing forward to a new covenant. And so these ancient readers should have been reminded that, okay, our own scriptures declare that there was going to be a new covenant. Why would we go back to the old if the new covenant and this new mediator in the Lord Jesus has arrived? And so in chapter eight, he's arguing for a better covenant. And then in chapter nine, he's going to talk about a better sacrifice. But before he gets to this better sacrifice, he's giving us, in very abbreviated form, the backdrop of the better sacrifice that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the backdrop is the ancient system of worship in the Old Testament. The ancient system that has been shed with the coming of the new. The ancient system that we've been seeing throughout this was pictures and copies and shadows that we find the reality in the new. Now, if you notice in chapter nine and verse five, Yeah, in verse 5 it says, now, above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot speak, we cannot now speak in detail. Okay, so he doesn't go on and elaborate about this ancient tabernacle and the ancient holy hardware there. Now, I don't know if he doesn't elaborate because he didn't have enough parchment that he was writing on. Parchment was very expensive in the ancient world. I don't have the constraints that the ancient author has, okay? I don't have limitations in parchment, and also, I don't have the same audience that the author of Hebrews had. Most of us, in fact, in God's providence right now, In my yearly Bible reading, I am right in the section on the tabernacle in those chapters in Exodus 26, all the way really to the end of the book of Exodus, which if you're like me, you come to those sections of Scripture and you start to scratch your head and think, what is going on here? What is it about all this ancient tent with altars and basins and all of that? And so, I want us to spend some time this morning thinking about that ancient tabernacle and the symbols that were found there and the realities that they point to and then how that relates to us as new covenant believers. So, if you're taking notes, I entitled this message, A Typical Tent and A Typical Tent. Somebody complimented me on that and I said, well, the sermon will be all downhill from there, okay, because I'm breaking all the preaching rules possible with this message. In fact, I have 10 points as we are going to observe the 10 parts of the tabernacle, the furniture that is within it, so you young people are gonna earn your candy this morning with 10 points, not your typical three alliterated points at all, okay? So, now, to give you a little bit of the lay of the land here in Hebrews chapter nine, verses one through five, the author's talking about the holy space of the ancient tabernacle, and then in verses six through 10, He'll talk about the Holy Service, what took place in the tabernacle, and that's all setting up the argument for verses 11 and following, the perfect sacrifice that's in Christ. We won't quite get there this morning. We're just going to focus on verses 1 through 5, because I want us to understand the backdrop of this. So, in 9.1 it says, now even the first covenant, had requirements of divine worship in the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first part in which were the lampstand, and the table, and the sacred bread, which is called the holy place." So the author here is again reminding his audience of this ancient tabernacle, that was part of the first covenant. And part of that, it also had the requirements of how does one approach God. There was all kinds of requirements. You had to be a priest to go into that holy of holies. But he introduces this earthly sanctuary, this earthly tent, We see this, the beginnings of this, in the book of Exodus. And you remember from our study previously in chapter 8 about the tabernacle, you remember it all starts way back in Genesis, okay? Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve rebel against their Creator, but you remember in our studies in Hebrews chapter 8, that the Garden of Eden was a kind of a sanctuary, where there was the presence of God, where Adam was functioning like a priest, where when Adam and Eve were driven from that garden because of their rebellion, God drove them out, and he put cherubim outside of the garden, and the next time we find cherubim in the scriptures is later on when Moses is talking about the tabernacle. And so what we have in the tabernacle is a kind of replica of Eden. How do you get back to God? Because God's statement over and over, as the children's book says, because of your sin, you can't go in. Because of your sin, you can't go in. Because of your sin, you cannot get back to God. And so God instituted this way back to him that we see pictured in this ancient tabernacle. Now what's the first part of the tabernacle that the author reminds them of? He says in verse two, for there was a tabernacle prepared. the first part, and he's going to mention there's kind of two parts. There's the holy place, and then there's the holy of holies. This wasn't a huge tabernacle, but it had two chambers of it. The first place, the holy place, the ancient male Israelite could go into that part with his sacrifice, but the second part, the Holy of Holies, as we'll see later on in the chapter, only one person could go into, and it was only on one day of the year, and it was in that inner part that you had the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat over the Ark. This was the symbol of the very presence of God. But first, on the way back into it, we see the lampstand of life. Okay? Now, Exodus chapter 25, verse 31 says, then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand, its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work. Its cups, its bulbs and flowers shall be of the same. Six branches shall go up from its sides. Three branches of the lamp on the one side, three branches of the lamp stand on the other side. Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in which the one branch, a bulb and a flower and three cups shaped like almond blossoms and the other branch, a bulb and a flower. So this first part of the tabernacle contained this lampstand. If you remember from our study in chapter eight, and as you can just by listening to the passage from Exodus chapter 25, it sounds like a tree, right? It has blossoms, it has branches. And again, as I mentioned, the ancient tabernacle was a kind of replica of Eden. And what do you find in Eden but trees, right? Remember God's statement to Adam in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 16 and 17 that you can eat from any tree in the garden, but you cannot eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So you have here this lampstand, this tree that produces light back in the tabernacle. No doubt a picture of the tree of life. the God who gives and sustains light. And remember, when Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, it was so that they would not partake of the tree of life in their state of sinfulness and be confirmed in their state of sinfulness for all eternity. They had to be separated from the tree of life. So now, as God gives this ancient tent and the way back to him, we see here this kind of tree of life. And again, as the New Testament unfolds and we see, we get to the last book of the Bible. I mentioned when we were studying the tabernacle in Hebrews chapter 8 that when you get to the new heavens and the new earth, the tree of life is producing different fruits during different months. And we also see in Revelation 2 in verse 7, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. And so this ancient symbol was there of a reminder of God's promise of eternal life. that God was not giving up on his people, that, wow, because of their sin, they could not go in. Because of their sin, the wages of sin is death, and they deserve eternal damnation. Here, at the beginning of the description of the author of Hebrews with this mention of the lampstand, is the reality of hope that God had given a flicker of light. But that's not the only thing there. Notice in verse two of Hebrews nine, there was not only a lampstand, but there was also the table and the sacred bread, which is called the holy place. So you have here the table and the bread of presence. Exodus chapter 25, 23 and following describes this. Moses writes, you shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high, and you shall overlay it with gold and make a gold border around it. You shall make for it a rim of a hand breath around it, and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it. So there was to be this table, in the first section of the tabernacle in the holy place. But on top of this table, we find out in Leviticus chapter 24, was to be bread. Fresh bread every week was to be placed there. Leviticus 24 verses 5 through 8, then you shall take fine flour and bake 12 cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake and it shall be set in the two rows, six to a row on the pure gold table before Yahweh. and you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even in offering by fire to Yahweh. And every Sabbath day, he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel." So every Sabbath day, There had to be set out a fresh batch of 12 loaves of bread, no doubt symbolic of the 12 different tribes of Israel. But again, so again, God has this kind of replica of Eden, and there's food there. There's food on the way in. There's food just like the menorah, the lampstand is highlighting in a sense a kind of offer of eternal life, a way back to God. Here God also in a very symbolic way, he has loaves of bread there. It's as if to invite sinners, there is a way back to communion with God. That God wants to have table fellowship with people. Food is often a mechanism by which we enjoy company with one another, in which we invite friends and family. In fact, often holiday gatherings, as we invite friends and family over, it's filled with food and often lots of it, and we commune with one another, and we have fellowship with one another over the breaking of bread. And so God, again, in this very ancient way, highlights that he wants to have a relationship even with rebels who come back to him his way. And of course, we come to the New Testament and one of the ways in which sinners can Commune with their creator and remember the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is through what? It's through a meal through communion to the bread and through the cup And even the Lord Jesus, again, in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20, as he's speaking to the church in Laodicea, he says, Behold, I stand at the door knocked, and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him, and I will dine with him, and he with me. Jesus stands at the door knocking, but it's knocking not merely so that the door would be open and there would be a greeting. He wants to come in and eat. Much like that one episode in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 9 where Jesus locks eyes with that wee little man climbed up on the sycamore tree and he says to Zacchaeus, today I will eat with you at your house. God wants to have fellowship, a relationship with sinners. This is good news. But again, it has to be sinners coming to him on his terms. And again, this is highlighted. It's coming through priests, through sacrifice, through blood atonement, in ancient symbols, also in new covenant realities. And so, my friend, this morning, it's worth pausing at this point and asking, how is your fellowship with God? How is your communion with the Creator? He delights to have relationship with His own covenant people, His own blood-bought people, but have you been neglecting your relationship with Him? And what do you need to do to get back into a deepening, more robust relationship with Him? God has already, in a sense, paved the way for you to have a relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ and His high priestly ministry. But has your life and sin been getting in the way of that? Come back to Him. But the third part of the tabernacle is that which separated the holy place from the holy of holies. We see this in verse 3. This is what I'm calling the veil of separation. It says in verse 3, behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the holy of holies. Exodus chapter 26 verse 31 speaks of this veil. It says, you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet materials and fine twisted linen, and it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer. So this veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies had on it cherubim embroidered on the veil. And again, this is highlighting, again, this is imagery and picture that goes back to Eden. God saying to humanity, because of your sin, you can't go in. Because of your rebellion, there is a chasm between you and your creator. There is sin that must be dealt with through blood atonement. And any ancient Israelite was not allowed to go beyond that curtain, beyond that veil. There was, you know, as it were a big, the cherubim there were kind of big, do not enter sign. Do not enter, save according to Leviticus chapter 16, which the author of Hebrews will spell out later on in chapter 9 of Hebrews, once a year on the Day of Atonement, sometimes called Yom Kippur, the high priest, and only the high priest was allowed to enter into that holy of holies. And all of this was signifying God is holy. God is righteous. He is untainted by evil, wickedness, and rebellion. And so that there was a whole ceremony on that Day of Atonement, washings that the high priest had to go through, sacrifice on behalf of himself. There was a whole ordeal with the goats and the casting of the lots, and one of those goats was the goat to be sacrificed inside that sacred veil, that sacred curtain. But again, all of this was to highlight, as the children's book says, because of your sin, you can't go in, except with priest and sacrifice. And of course, by the time we get to the New Testament, one of the glorious realities as Jesus is suspended between heaven and earth, being crucified, as the author of Hebrews says, is that once-for-all sacrifice. Do you remember what God did as a most vivid picture? Not in the tabernacle, but in the temple, because the temple was then made as a more permanent structure after the tabernacle. You remember in Matthew chapter 27 verse 51, it says, And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split. Wonder of wonders, as Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth as that perfect sacrifice, as the perfect high priest, God put an exclamation point upon it. by shredding that veil between the holy place and the holy of holies, and two, highlighting that there was now a way back to God, not merely in pictures and symbols like the ancient tabernacle, but now in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He's done upon the cross. The author of Hebrews spells it out later, In chapter 10, in verse 19, it says, therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, he inaugurated through the veil that is his flesh. Again, highlighting just as Jesus' body was torn upon that ancient cross, the veil and the temporal was literally torn, and all this was highlighting the reality that we can get back to God through Jesus. So again, it's worth pausing and asking yourself here, have you come to grips with the reality of your own rebellion against this Creator. That you cannot approach the deity on your own merits. That as much as you might try to improve your life and try to get better, it's never quite good enough. I mean, how are those New Year's resolutions working out for you? Usually not very, even though self-imposed standards of goodness we fail to keep, we fail to keep even our own standards, let alone the standard of Almighty God. God tells us you should not lie. And how often do we fudge the truth? God tells us to not steal. Sadly and tragically, we often take from others He tells us to not commit adultery, and Jesus, as he explains that command, he says, even if you look at another woman with lust for her in your heart, you've committed adultery in the heart. Do not murder. Jesus goes on to say in Matthew chapter five, you've heard that it was said you should not murder, but even if you have anger in your heart against your brother, call your brother a fool. He says you're in danger of hell fire. Friends, because of our sin, we can't go in. But wonder of wonders, through the Lord Jesus, the veil is torn. You can go in. God is so kind that through the Lord Jesus, there's access back to God. But only through Him. You don't try to come in the back door of the tent. You don't try to sneak under the tent. In fact, even again in the Old Testament, Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire before the Lord, and fire comes down from heaven and consumes them. 2 Samuel chapter 6, David is giving instructions to move the ark, and Uzzah thinks it's a great idea to reach out and touch the ark. God strikes him dead. The Ark of God had been captured by the Philistines, and they put it on ox carts, and it makes its way to a town called Beth Shemesh, which, by the way, was a Levitical town, which meant they knew better. And they think it's a circus sideshow, and they start peeking into the Ark, and plague breaks out. 50,000 people dead. All of this God saying, Because of your sin, you can't go in. But in the New Testament, God in the person of Christ tears the veil. Fourth, the golden altar of incense. Verse four says, having a golden altar of incense in the Ark of the Covenant. So now, he's highlighting into the Holy of Holies, which by the way, the golden altar of incense was not actually inside the Holy of Holies, but because it was so closely associated with that sacred activity that went inside the Holy of Holies, it's mentioned here. It's called the golden altar of incense. Exodus chapter 30 verse 1, Moses records, moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense. You shall make it of acacia wood. Now, what is incense to be used for? It's used for aromatherapy, right? I mean, back when I was young, Neighbors who smoked weed usually burned incense alongside of it. Now, people don't even care. They just go around smelling like skunks. The whole city of Youngstown smells like skunk. Incense was to cover smells, right? Well, again, think about it. What's going on in this ancient tabernacle? There's a lot of blood. There's a lot of death. There's animals coming in there regularly, being slaughtered upon that altar and butchered and the blood drawn out there. I mean, can you imagine all the blood that would have been caked upon that altar in the holy place? And so the incense there was a pleasing aroma and there was even a special recipe for the incense there. And it was a fragrant aroma that ascended to God. And I think this is highlighting the reality that these sacrifices, that while they may have been offensive to the olfactory senses of the nose, they were a pleasing aroma to Almighty God. That this was a great delight to heaven as the incense ascended to heaven. Isn't it a wonder that when the Lord Jesus Christ is probably but a toddler, and those kingmakers from the East come and bring gifts to the Lord Jesus, that one of those gifts is frankincense? beautiful fragrance, a kind of aroma therapy, again, no doubt highlighting the reality that this Christ child is a pleasing fragrance to Almighty God. And do we not hear that voice from heaven, both at the baptism of Jesus and at the Mount of Transfiguration, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Or how about Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1 and 2, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us a sacrifice and fragrant offering to God. The incense is a picture, a symbol of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It also, in the scriptures, is a picture of prayer, that as God's people are united to him by faith, our prayers ascend to heaven as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Listen to Revelation 8, verse 3 and 4. Another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden incense, and much incense was given to him. so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints out of the angel's hand before God. So that as us as new covenant believers are united to the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice, our prayers become a pleasing aroma to the Lord. He likes to hear his children talk to him. It smells sweet to Him. Next, we have the Ark of Presence. So inside that innermost part of the tent called the Holy of Holies, in chapter nine of Hebrews, In verse 4, it says, the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold. The Ark of the Covenant. This is this ancient box. that is covered with gold, which by the way, each of these objects, each of these pieces of furniture in the ancient tabernacle, the further you get in, like when you get into the Holy of Holies, it becomes all gold, okay? Outside, it's less precious metals like the bronze altar in the first section of the tabernacle. But here, it's all gold. Listen to Exodus chapter 25, verse 10 through 12. And they shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. By the way, a cubit is roughly 18 inches. You shall overlay it with pure gold. Inside and out, you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. So, what was this ancient golden box? What's it all about? I mean, most of our knowledge of the Ark of the Covenant is related to Indiana Jones. But the significance of it was the reality that this was a symbol of the very presence of Almighty God. In fact, sometimes in the Old Testament, it's called the Ark of Presence. It symbolized God dwelling amongst his people. And again, this is one of the reasons why it was to be approached with such great care because God is to be approached with such great care. Leviticus chapter 16 in verse 2 on that Day of Atonement chapter, it says, and Yahweh said to Moses, tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, that would be the holy of holies, before the mercy seat, which is on the ark, so that he will not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. The mercy seat was the lid that was on top of this ancient ark. So again, this was highlighting that God was dwelling amongst His people. That the very presence of God was there with His people. Just as He was there in the garden with Adam and Eve, so He is with His people, but sin must be dealt with, lest you die. But not only that, notice placed inside this ark, in verse 4 it says, the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna. So there was a golden jar that had placed inside of it manna. And when we read Exodus chapter 16 verse 33, and it says, And Moses said to Aaron, take a jar and put an omer full of manna in it, and place it before Yahweh to be kept throughout your generation. So again, you remember back, the Israelites, God had miraculously brought them out of slavery in Egypt, and they're now in the desert, and they're a wandering nomad people in the desert. It's kind of hard to grow a garden in the desert. I can't even grow a garden in my backyard, barely. I mean, it's there. It gives me very little. And so what did God do to provide for his people? To care for his people? He would give them manna. In fact, the kind of funny thing is, is that the word manna in Hebrew literally means, what is this? And so no doubt, that's how it became called, what is this? Now there are some passages that highlight that it would taste like honey with coriander seed. And so God told, Moses, through, God told Aaron, through Moses, take a jar, this is Exodus 16, 30, take a jar and put an omer full of manna, place it before Yahweh to be kept throughout your generation. So again, this is a picture, it's a symbol. It was a symbol, it was to be there in the very ark of the covenant as a reminder of how Almighty God had provided, He had met the needs of His people in that ancient desert. It's no wonder when the Lord Jesus comes. In John chapter six, after what, remember the miracle that he did is the people were there, hungry, hadn't eaten all day. And out of five loaves and two fish, He creates enough bread to feed what may have been upwards 20,000 people. There was 5,000 men, but we don't know how many women and children were there. So He creates enough bread to feed thousands of people, just like Almighty God had done in the desert, creating bread, giving bread, manna from heaven. And it's later on as a group had followed him across the sea that he gives what's commonly called the bread of life discourse. And listen to this in John chapter six in verse 48. Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. Also the bread which I give For the life of the world is my flesh." God had met the need of his people in that ancient desert. God in the new covenant meets the greatest need of his people in Jesus. Jesus is the bread of life. The manna, the little golden jar that housed the manna that had been taken from the very first time in which manna came down from heaven was a picture of how God would meet the need of his people in the Lord Jesus. Because your greatest need, remember, because of your sin, you can't go in. But Jesus meets your need. What else is there? Another interesting object placed inside the ark. Hebrews 9 4 says that there was Aaron's rod which budded. This needs some explanation, right? Aaron's rod which budded." What was going on here? We find this in the book of Numbers, where three individuals by the name of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, while they were Levites, They didn't like the fact that Aaron and his sons were considered so special. I mean, why do they get to, you know, be the high priest? Why do they get to go into the Holy of Holies one day of the year? You know, they wanted equity. They wanted inclusion. They wanted to be able to go into the Holy of Holies, and they thought this was a bright idea. Didn't work out well for them, I'll just say. Because you remember, basically God says, you guys might wanna get away from them. Because God Almighty, the holy God of Israel, who had put his stamp of approval upon Aaron and his sons, was not in the mood to negotiate with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And the earth opened up and swallowed them. And then even God brought forth judgment upon those who joined them in their rebellion, so much that interestingly enough, you know who steps out to intercede for them as kinds of mediator? Well, listen to number 1647, then Aaron, took it as Moses had spoken and ran into the midst of the assembly for behold the plague had begun among the people so he put on the incense and made atonement for the people and he took his stand between the dead and the living so that the plague was checked." even though the rebellion was sinning against Aaron and ultimately against God, sinning against the mediator and sinning against God, it was the mediator himself who steps out and stands between the dead and the living to make atonement to check the plague. And it's right after that. that God says, okay, each of you 12 tribes of Israel, you have a rod, and you put the name on that rod, all of your names, and on the Levitical rod, you put the name of Aaron, and let's see what happens. And sure enough, it will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will rid myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel who are grumbling against you." And so sure enough, this is exactly what God does. He causes Aaron's rod to sprout. You ever see a stick grow before? That must have been quite a thing to see, and all this was God saying, this is my mediator, stand back. I put my stamp of approval upon him to be high priest. Things haven't changed all that much, have they? Because God has done the same with the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't like that, do we? Humanity rebels against the Creator and says, well, I will get to God however I want. I will be my own mediator. I will be my own defense attorney before Almighty God. You know that old adage, has himself, as his own defense attorney, has a fool for a defense attorney. But God has been clear in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5. He says, for there's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus himself, when he walked on this earth in John chapter 14 verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father but through me. The apostles declared in Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, for salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given amongst men whereby we must be saved. John declares in 1 John 5, verse 11 and 12, he who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. You say, Matt, that sounds so narrow and exclusive. It ain't my idea. It's God's idea. And God, again, because of your sin, you can't go in. And God, in his kindness, in his grace, has provided a way back to him. Will you be so arrogant as to say, I will go back how I want to go back, on my terms, in my way? You do so at your own peril, my friend. You go back to God through the appointed priest, through the appointed mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Moving on, the tablets we see there in verse four, the tablets of the covenant. You notice each time the tablets are made in the book of Exodus, and you remember Moses breaks those tablets in anger, And then in Deuteronomy 10, verse 2-5, again, it mentions these tablets. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark. So I made an ark of acacia wood, carved out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and one up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand, and he wrote on the tablets, like the former writing, the Ten Commandments, which Yahweh had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of assembly, and Yahweh gave them to me." Now, we hear these tablets, these two tablets over and over, and sometimes we think, well, maybe, you know, the first half were on the one tablet and the second half were on the other tablet. In fact, that's often how it's pictured. But, you know, it's not like there wasn't a rock big enough or that God's handwriting was too big. The two tablets are signifying that this is a covenant relationship. That's why notice they're called at the end of verse 4, the tablets of the covenant. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. Now, one fascinating tidbit of ancient history, when two nations would often go into a covenant with one another, there would be the covenant, the writing of the agreements of each nation, but there would be two copies. And two copies, the copies were to be placed in the temple of the gods of that nation. But of course, there's not two gods. There's one God, but there's two parties of the covenant, namely God and his people. And so, the tablets are there, there's two copies of the Ten Commandments that are there as a binding agreement between God and his people. And again, one of the realities is that one side of the party doesn't uphold their end of the agreement. And this is why God himself in his kindness takes upon the curses of the covenant himself. Galatians 3.13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And with that, God institutes a new covenant where the law is written not on stones that can be broken, but upon the hearts of His people. We saw that in chapter 8. Moving on, the cherubim of glory. It's cherubim of the glory of the King. Again, verse 5 of Hebrews chapter 9, and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these we cannot now speak in detail. And so above the Ark of the Covenant was this mercy seat, which we're gonna talk about next. But part of the mercy seat are what's called here the cherubim of glory. So not only were there cherubim, these kind of angelic wing-like creatures that were embroidered on the veil going into the Holy of Holies, but here as well, on top of the Ark of the Covenant, on the mercy seat, are these golden cherubim facing one another. And again, this is highlighting, as I mentioned in previous weeks, that this was a picture of the very presence of God, God's kingly presence amongst his people. Listen to 1 Samuel chapter 4. So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh of Hosts, who sits above the cherubim, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God. The presence of the cherubim, again, highlighting because of your sin you can't go in, but also it's highlighting that this is the very throne room of God. And who sits on a throne? But a king. This was God's way of saying, I am the king of my people, and I am in their midst. And again, even the color of purple on the veil that goes into the Holy of Holies is the color of royalty. Again, highlighting that God is the king. Highlighting God's holiness, his transcendence. So again, is God your king? Do you subject yourself to him? Is he the one who calls the shots in your life? One more, one last piece of furniture. Told you there was 10. The mercy seat of propitiation. We see here in verse five, the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. the mercy seat. This again is that gold lid which had on it the angelic creatures, the cherubim, but the fascinating thing about the mercy seat was this was also that place in the Holy of Holies that functioned like an altar where that one goat that was sacrificed on that one day of year would be brought and offered before Yahweh, God of Israel, as a propitious sacrifice on behalf of the sins of God's people collectively. And so all of this, obviously, is a picture of atonement. Some of your translations may even say, I think, place of atonement rather than mercy seat. The word here that's translated mercy seat is also in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 7 When it speaks of Jesus as the priest therefore he had to be made like his brothers and all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God and to make propitiation for sins. That word translated, propitiation, is the same word for mercy seat. Why? Because that is where propitiation was to be taking place. That's where sacrifice was to be taking place. Now, you see that big word, propitiation. What is propitiation? Propitiation means to appease the just wrath of God. Again, because of your sin, you can't go in. But because Jesus and his propitiation, you can go in. Because Jesus, in that sacrifice upon the cross, suspended between heaven and earth, for those three hours of darkness that fell over the face of the earth, even in the words that he says, remember, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He is being treated as a sinner. He is being treated as a rebel, even though it wasn't his own sin. It was the sins of others. It was our sin for which he's being punished. And so God is being propitiated as he's hanging upon that cross. And so the mercy seat, that ancient mercy seat, becomes the picture of propitiation. And it's, every time we see that word propitiation in the New Testament, it's hearkening back. to that one blood sacrifice once a year that is fulfilled ultimately in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to Romans chapter three verse 24 and 25. Being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith for a demonstration of his righteousness because in the forbearance of God he passed over sins previously committed. Jesus is displayed publicly as a propitiation, publicly as a mercy seat, publicly as appeasing the very wrath of God. And this demonstrated God's justice. God can't just wink at your sin. Because of your sin, you can't go in. He must pay the price. 1 John 2, verse 1. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is what? A propitiation for our sins. Not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Hopefully, my friends, you can see in these ancient symbols and pictures that seem so archaic, seem so irrelevant. Oh, my friend, they are of the utmost relevance because they are pictures and symbols that were part of the ancient system of worship that is now fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Covenant. And without them, Without the reality that is found in Jesus, we are all in eternal peril. But with them, we have the promise and hope of eternal life. And so, the ancient Israelites, one of their problems was to fixate upon the ritual, to fixate upon the symbol, and to forget the reality. In fact, in Jesus' own day, You remember how much they boasted of the reality of the temple that they had and the sacrifice and Jesus, he sees all the hypocrisy and the wickedness that's taking place in the temple because it had become a kind of a swap meet. It had become a kind of a flea market. Animals running around and the religious leaders were fleecing the people. And he, in his anger and rage, he drives all the animals out of the temple. And then they say, who are you to do this? And he says, destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days. They didn't get it in that moment, not even the disciples got it in that moment. but after Jesus had been raised from the dead the light bulbs went off the temple was the point to the Lord Jesus the tabernacle was the point to the Lord Jesus the hardware in it points to the Lord Jesus He is the reality to trust in let's pray Lord God Almighty we thank You for Your Word These ancient symbols, thousands of years before Jesus was even born, they all tell us a story. Help us to know that story, to know what these ancient symbols point to, and to have a heart of faith to believe. In Jesus' name, amen. You can start.