Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning’s Scripture lesson is from Hebrews 9:1-10.

On first reading this passage seems totally impractical for 21st century Christians.

I have to admit that I almost skipped these ten verses.

However, the more I reflected on these 10 verses the more I realized just how practical they were, for the Tabernacle gives us a “sneak preview” of the glories of God’s holiness, the New Jerusalem and of Christ’s Redemptive Work.

Everyone loves a sneak preview of a movie, book, T.V. show or game they avidly follow.

As most of you know I am a huge Lord of the Rings fans.

When I read this week that Amazon has won the rights for a five-year T.V. series based on Tolkien’s works I was elated!

Amazon’s goal is to create the next “Game of Thrones.”

Expected production cost is estimated at one billion dollars!

When the first sneak previews hit the internet, you can count of me being at my computer the moment they are released!

It is this type of anticipation that motivated God to have Moses build the Tabernacle and the Old Covenant priesthood and sacrificial system.

As excited as we are for our favorite movie or T.V. show, the realities of God and His redemptive plan are even more exciting because they are about reality not fiction!

They meet our deepest needs and longings.

The first sneak preview that the Tabernacle gives us is...

A Sneak Preview of God’s Glorious Holiness

As I read our Scripture lesson I am sure you notice how frequently the word “Holy” appeared.

This is not accident.

The Tabernacle was designed to reveal God’s holiness.

The book of Leviticus is the Old Testament book concerned with the Tabernacle and the ministry that took place there.

The central message of the book of Leviticus is that God is holy, and he requires His people to be holy.

The key verse is Lev 11:45:

Now this does not sound practical and certainly it doesn’t sound exciting to most people, but this is because most people have a narrow view of God’s holiness.

Typically, when we speak of holiness we are thinking of moral perfection.

God is of course holy in this sense, but holiness means so much more.

The root meaning of holiness is to be set apart.

We see this in another verse in Leviticus.

Israel was “holy,” not because they were more righteous that other nations, but because they were set a part for God’s special purpose.

They were to strive for moral purity not, so they could become “holy,” but because they WERE holy!

The same is true for us.

So, when we speak of God being holy we must think first and foremost of what makes God so special and worthy of our worship and delight.

This is Good News!

A God who is not holy is a god who is not worthy of our love and delight.

God is holy first and foremost because He is Creator.

This sets Him apart from everything and everyone else.

He alone is self-existent.

He is not a “needy god” like the gods of this world.

Paul astonished the Athenians when he said...

God’s holiness is what makes Him so beautiful.

He is what your heart longs for and desires.

When Isaiah saw God in all His glorious holiness He was overcome by wonder.

This wonderful place that Isaiah was at when he saw God was the Heavenly Jerusalem.

In the book of Revelation John calls this city the New Jerusalem because when creation is renewed it will come down from heaven to earth to be a New Jerusalem.

The Tabernacle provides us with...

A Sneak Preview of the New Jerusalem

The author of Hebrews reminds us that the second section of the Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies or The Most Holy Place.

This room was a perfect cube: 15 feet high X 15 feet long X 15 feet wide.

It was the place where the Ark of the Covenant was.

Notice that the Ark is called the “Mercy Seat” in our text.

This is because on the top of the Ark was a seat or more correctly a throne.

On either side of this throne were two golden cherubim overshadowing the Mercy Seat.

When Moses or the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, God would appear to them in the Glory Cloud above the Mercy Seat.

Why was this room a perfect cube?

Because the Heavenly Jerusalem is a perfect cube!

What an amazing revelation this is!

Earlier we learned that the Tabernacle was a revelation of God’s holiness.

As we learned God’s holiness is what sets Him apart from Creation.

God’s holiness applies to all His attributes.

God’s Righteousness is holy.

God’s Justice is a Holy Justice.

God’s Love is a Holy Love!

You heard right.

God’s love is HOLY!

The presence of the Holy of Holies in the midst of Israel is revelation of His love for His elect people.

God is a God who desires a relationship with His people!

God desires a relationship with you!

But there is a problem—God is holy, but we are unholy.

Isaiah discovered this that day he saw God in His Heavenly Holy of Holies.

The rules and regulations of the Tabernacle were not there because God wanted to keep His distance from His people, they were there to protect His people and to point them to Christ.

The greatest and most exciting sneak preview the Tabernacle gives us is...

A Sneak Preview of Christ’s Redemptive Work

When an Israelite walked into the courtyard of the Tabernacle to offer his sacrifice he had to walk through a curtained gate.

There was only one way into the courtyard and that was through the gate.

Anyone who tried to climb over the walls would be treated like a “thief and robber.”

Jesus had this in mind when He said...

Then He adds...

When an Israelite man entered the gate into the Courtyard of the Tabernacle he saw three things before him: The Altar, The Basin, The Curtain leading into the Holy Place.

All three of these point to the redemptive work of Christ.

The need for the first two are found in Isaiah 6:

Notice that Isaiah needed two things to remain in the presence of God: His guilt had to be washed away and his sin had to be atoned for.

At the Altar of the Tabernacle sacrifices were made that atoned for sin.

At the Basin, ritual washings took place that removed the “uncleanliness” of sin.

When Jesus was on the cross, we read this...

It is Jesus’ death on the cross that washes away and atones for our sin!

And now the curtain.

We have already heard Jesus say He is the gate.

But listen to this:

There are many rooms in heaven, but there is only one room where Jesus and the Father are—The True Heavenly Holy of Holies!

Jesus is the Gate that takes us into the courtyard, through the Holy Place and finally into the Holy of Holies!

At the close of our text the author of Hebrews says something very interesting:

When a person trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, He brings them into the first section—the Holy Place.

There we enjoy the light of Christ through the preaching of the Word, corresponding to the Golden Lampstand.

There we enjoy Communion with Christ through the Lord’s Supper, corresponding to the Table of the Bread of the Presence.

There our prayers and worship are like the incense that came from the Altar of Incense and drifted into the Holy of Holies.

But the best is yet to come.

I can’t wait for that Day!

But aren’t you glad that in the Tabernacle God has given us a Sneak Preview!

Let us pray.