When I was a child I would see in magazines this exercise: the reader would be asked to copy a drawing presented there in the magazine. If he or she could take a pencil and accurately reproduce the drawing, so that the rendition closely resembled the original, the reader/imitator was supposedly had artistic ability. (And, could purchase an art course, lol!) I was a dismal failure at such tasks, because I possess not one iota of visual art talent! My sketches did not bear more than a shadow of resemblance to the original!
In Hebrews 8:1-7 (ESV), our main text for this morning, we are reminded of a similar relationship between the Temple of God in the third heaven and the earthly Temple(s) here on earth.
1Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2a minister in the holy places, in the true tenta that the Lord set up, not man. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6But as it is, Christb has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
First, a clarification:
What is this term "third heaven" I mentioned just now? Paul referred to the dwelling place of God as the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Our earthly atmosphere is the first heaven. The universe beyond the earth's atmosphere is the second heaven. What Christians generally refer to as "Heaven", and the "heaven" mentioned in verse 1 here, is the "third heaven".
Verse 1 reminds us that, when Jesus ascended to Heaven, He ultimately sat down at the right hand of God the Father, referred to here as the Majesty, where He began to carry on as our High Priest. But, do we have a scriptural record of that occurring?
And, what's all this about tents? Verse 2 refers to "the true tent", and goes on to remind the Hebrews of how Moses was given the "specs" (as builders say) for the first "temple" when he was spending all that time on Mt. Sinai with God. You can find this in the book of Exodus, ch. 24-31. The first "temple" was actually a grandiose tent, which the Hebrews called the Tabernacle. (All of the Hebrews lived in tents in those days, as they were vagabonding it across the desert on a regular basis.) The Tabernacle was the first place that the people of God met together WITH their God, as His presence, the Shekinah Glory, came down to meet with them, filling the tent (Tabernacle). However, the true tent, "the original", is now and evermore in Heaven. Later on, when the people were established in the Promised Land, a more permanent structure was built by King Solomon, a Temple based on "specs" given by God to Solomon's father, King David. In both the Tabernacle and the Temple, the structures were built to God's exact specifications.
The writer, in Hebrews 6-13, spends a great deal of time examining the importance of the heavenly "tent", the Tabernacle and so forth. We'll look at this theme in more depth as we move on through this amazing book of the Bible. But, this morning, let's hone in on this point.
It was not until our Melchizedekan high priest, Jesus, finished His work on earth and presented Himself before God the Father in Heaven that mankind was finally granted access to the Heavenly Tabernacle.
I just went and read Revelation 5 again, end-to-end. It depicts Jesus Christ presenting Himself, immediately after His ascension, before His Father's throne, having been found worthy to take the scroll and break its seals. Look at verses 5-10 (The Message)
One of the Elders said, “Don’t weep. Look—the Lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David’s Tree, has conquered. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals.”
6-10 So I looked, and there, surrounded by Throne, Animals, and Elders, was a Lamb, slaughtered but standing tall. Seven horns he had, and seven eyes, the Seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth. He came to the One Seated on the Throne and took the scroll from his right hand. The moment he took the scroll, the Four Animals and Twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. Each had a harp and each had a bowl, a gold bowl filled with incense, the prayers of God’s holy people. And they sang a new song:
Worthy! Take the scroll, open its seals.
Slain! Paying in blood you bought men and women,
Bought them back from all over the earth,
Bought them back for God!
Then, you made them a Kingdom, Priests for our God,
Priest-Kings to rule over the Earth
And, as our forerunner, He opened the way with the payment of His blood, to redeem us, to buy us back - - Believers of every tribe and from every nation - - not only giving us an eternity in Heaven with Him, but also making us into a Kingdom of priest-kings, who are empowered to walk in spiritual victory here as mortals, yet who will one day rule over the Earth.
I really cannot even grasp that with my finite mind. Paul stated that our understanding of such things in this earthly plane is like looking into a cloudy mirror. But, in that day, when we leave this mortal life, we will "know even as we are known". The original Greek of that verse, 1 Corinthians 13:12 puts it like this: "I will know fully, as also I have been fully known."
No more "sketch and shadow" in that glorious day! Hallelujah and amen!
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