Sanctuary, Salvation, & Our Savior

Justified in the Courtyard

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Home

Series Code: SSOS

Program Code: SSOS190003B


00:01 Welcome back...
00:02 before the break, we noted that in Scripture
00:05 the Bible points out that when Adam and Eve sinned,
00:08 they had an immediate sense of their nakedness.
00:11 What was their response?
00:12 They attempted to cover themselves in fig leaves
00:17 this sense of nakedness and shame was immediately there
00:21 and they went around and they found these fig leaves,
00:24 I don't know how they did it... it must have been very difficult
00:26 and they covered themselves
00:28 and God's response to their nakedness was immediate,
00:31 the Bible indicates that they were given these coats of skin
00:37 to cover their nakedness.
00:40 Now, any time you make coats of skin
00:43 this implies that there was an animal that had to die
00:48 in order for the skins to be provided.
00:52 So, God covers their nakedness but there's an implied sacrifice
00:58 right there at the beginning.
01:00 And scholars and theologians believe
01:03 that this is the first place that the sacrificial service
01:08 was instituted...
01:09 because the very coats of skin,
01:11 the very coverings that Adam and Eve wore out of the garden
01:16 were provided by the death of an animal
01:20 and I believe that it was a lamb
01:23 that was providing that covering
01:25 and that covering represented the robe of righteousness...
01:30 the robe of Christ's righteousness
01:33 that covers us and covers our shame.
01:36 Now, you'll notice what the Bible says
01:39 in Genesis chapter 3 verse 24, God placed on the east side
01:43 of the garden of Eden
01:45 cherubim's and a flaming sword flashing back and forth.
01:51 Notice that the Bible says
01:54 that as Adam and Eve were led outside of the Garden of Eden,
01:58 that the Garden of Eden... the gate
02:01 or the entrance to the Garden of Eden
02:04 was on the east side.
02:07 Now, you notice, in our bird's eye view of the Mosaic Sanctuary
02:11 that we've been referencing this entire time
02:13 that the east side is exactly
02:17 where the entrance to the sanctuary was,
02:19 and here you have the entrance to Eden
02:22 also being on the east side
02:24 and here you have other sanctuary imagery
02:26 that's coming in...
02:27 Cherubim... and the flaming sword flashing back and forth
02:31 and scholars have also noted that this flaming sword...
02:36 this glory is typified by the Shekinah Glory of God
02:40 typified also in the Ark of the Covenant
02:43 where you have cherubim covering and hovering
02:45 over the glory of God,
02:47 this is sanctuary language
02:49 and there are on the east side of the Garden,
02:52 is this gate that is there,
02:54 now, this is from the book,
02:56 "Patriarchs and Prophet" page 62,
02:58 "At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise
03:02 the divine glory was revealed.
03:04 Hither came Adam and his sons to worship God.
03:08 At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise
03:11 the glory of God was revealed
03:15 and hither came the first worshipers. "
03:19 When you read the Bible,
03:20 you can see that this was the place of worship
03:26 that is implied by Scripture.
03:28 Even when Cain and Abel came to offer their sacrifices,
03:31 according to Patriarchs and Prophets,
03:33 this was the place that Adam and Eve and his descendants
03:37 would come to worship God.
03:38 The entrance to the Garden of Eden.
03:42 Now, remember that we've noted that the sanctuary
03:46 is about how God wants to bring us back to Eden.
03:50 God wants to bring us all the way back into the Courtyard...
03:54 into the Holy Place... into the Most Holy Place...
03:57 and this was the place that the first worshipers
04:00 came to worship back after the fall.
04:04 Patriarchs and Prophets goes on,
04:06 "Here their altars were reared, and their offerings presented.
04:10 It was here that Cain and Abel had brought their sacrifices
04:13 and God had condescended to communicate with them. "
04:19 Patriarchs and Prophets here is using sanctuary language again
04:23 to describe the interaction of Adam and Eve and his descendants
04:27 before the flood, when the garden gate was still there.
04:30 Here is a picture of Cain and Abel worshipping
04:34 and worship is going to be a central issue again
04:37 in the end of time
04:38 and notice that Cain brought a lamb...
04:42 I should say Abel brought a lamb
04:44 while Cain brought fruit.
04:47 The sacrificial service did not originate with Moses.
04:52 It originated back in Eden...
04:54 all of these sacrificial services and the lamb dying
04:59 pointed forward to Jesus Christ.
05:02 Now, when Cain and Abel were worshiping there,
05:05 there was a conflict that arose,
05:08 there was true worship and there was also false worship.
05:12 True worshipers brought the lamb
05:14 and here Cain did not bring a lamb...
05:17 he brought his own offering to God
05:19 and there was a conflict that arose
05:21 and Cain killed Abel.
05:24 After Cain kills Abel, God comes down
05:28 to have a conversation with Cain
05:30 and notice what God says to Cain after he has killed Abel.
05:36 In Genesis chapter 4 verse 17, the Bible says,
05:39 "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up
05:45 and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. "
05:51 Now, when I first read this text,
05:55 I thought that sin metaphorically
05:58 was crouching at the door.
06:00 Ah... I could not understand how sin could crouch
06:04 but I thought maybe this was a metaphor.
06:07 Later on, Bible scholars have discovered
06:10 that this term "sin" can also be in the Hebrew
06:15 interpreted as sin offering
06:17 and I've come to the conclusion as has other Bible scholars
06:21 like Richard Davidson who is Old Testament Professor
06:24 at Andrews Theological Seminary,
06:26 has come to the conclusion
06:28 that this should actually be "sin offering. "
06:32 Now, let's read it again because it makes a lot more sense,
06:34 "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up
06:37 and if you do not do well,
06:39 a sin offering is crouching at the door. "
06:44 Now, this is a quotation from Richard Davidson,
06:47 he says, "Recent studies of this verse,
06:49 provide evidence from the original Hebrew
06:52 that the word "Hatat"
06:54 which can either mean "sin" or "sin offering"
06:57 should better be translated as "sin offering"
07:00 and not "sin" in this verse
07:02 and the word "Pethach"... door opening.
07:06 Now, let's read the verse again...
07:08 before we do that, let's go back to this quote here
07:11 the reference to the cherubim door gate of Paradise
07:15 where sinful human beings were to bring their sacrifices
07:18 paralleling the numerous uses of Pethach
07:21 in the Torah over 40 times
07:24 describing the door of the tabernacle.
07:27 According to Bible scholars,
07:29 this reference... in Genesis chapter 4,
07:33 where it says a sin offering is crouching at the door...
07:38 what crouches?
07:39 It's an animal that crouches.
07:42 So, here God is saying that if you do not do well,
07:47 there is a sacrifice that is at the door.
07:51 In other words, God is being redemptive
07:55 in His approach to Cain.
07:59 "If you do not do well, there is a provision,
08:01 there is a sacrifice... there is a Savior... "
08:04 Genesis chapter 4 verse 7,
08:06 reading it again with the term "sin offering"
08:08 "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?
08:12 and if you do not do well,
08:14 a sin offering is crouching at the door to Eden. "
08:20 The provision of salvation...
08:22 the provision of a sin offering was being offered to Cain
08:29 even though he had just killed Abel.
08:33 Now, let's go to the sanctuary model...
08:37 this is a bird's eye view of Moses' tabernacle
08:40 and you can see, as you come to the door
08:44 of the Altar of Burnt Offering,
08:46 that is where a sin offering was made.
08:50 In other words, not only is this a model
08:54 of the heavenly sanctuary,
08:56 but Bible scholars believe that Eden and the entrance to Eden
09:00 was the first sanctuary.
09:03 It was the place where they brought their offerings
09:06 and Cain was told, "A sin offering is there
09:10 at the door. "
09:12 In Isaiah chapter 61 verse 10, the Bible says,
09:16 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
09:18 my soul shall be joyful in my God;
09:21 for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
09:27 He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. "
09:33 We all need a covering.
09:34 We may not be physically naked like Adam and Eve,
09:39 but the Bible tells us in Revelation,
09:42 that all of us are spiritually naked.
09:45 We are in need of covering by Jesus Christ
09:49 and the first thing that God does,
09:51 is He covers us with His robe
09:54 just like Adam and Eve back in Edenic perfection
09:58 they noticed their nakedness,
09:59 they covered themselves with fig leaves
10:01 and God says, "No, that is not sufficient
10:03 and there has to be an animal that dies typifying Jesus Christ
10:07 in order to provide that covering.
10:10 Jesus covers us with His robe of righteousness.
10:15 Now, we are not to cover our own sins.
10:18 The Bible tells that he who covers his own sins
10:23 will not prosper... "
10:24 but God is the One Who only can cover
10:29 and when we come to Jesus, just the way that we are
10:33 we can receive that covering and that cleansing.
10:37 In the Courtyard we experience that justification.
10:41 Now, in the book of Matthew, there's a story
10:46 of Jesus coming down from the greatest sermon
10:50 that He ever preached
10:51 and as He comes down from the mountain,
10:53 the Bible tells us that a leper came out to meet Jesus.
10:58 Now, imagine this in your mind's eye,
11:00 a leper who has this contagious disease is coming to Jesus
11:04 and you can imagine as this crowd is following Jesus,
11:08 they part like the sea
11:11 and there, according to the gospel of Matthew,
11:13 there in front of Jesus,
11:16 is the leper and Jesus...
11:17 no one else is around...
11:19 and the man says, according to Matthew chapter 8,
11:22 "If you can... "
11:25 or "If Thou wilt... "
11:27 Thou canst make me clean. "
11:30 He's asking for cleansing.
11:33 What is Jesus going to do?
11:36 And notice according to the gospels,
11:38 the first thing that Jesus does
11:40 is, He reaches out His hand and touches him.
11:44 That touch meant a lot to that leper.
11:49 He probably had not been touched by a human being
11:52 that was clean... who knows how long
11:54 and Jesus reached out His hand and touched him.
11:57 In other words, Jesus did not say,
11:58 "Oh, you're clean...
12:00 and then I will touch you. "
12:03 Jesus said, "I will touch you... "
12:06 in other words, that implied acceptance.
12:09 That was a form of acceptance... a symbol of acceptance
12:14 just like Jesus covers us and then He cleanses us,
12:16 He doesn't cleanse us and then cover us,
12:18 He accepts us...
12:20 He covers us and then He cleanses...
12:23 and then the Bible says that Jesus said to the leper,
12:25 "I will... be thou clean. "
12:29 There's an important lesson for us
12:31 that Jesus loves to have us come to Him
12:36 just the way that we are.
12:39 He accepts us just the way that we are
12:43 but He loves us too much to leave us in that condition,
12:46 and sometimes we assume
12:47 that God is this vindictive individual
12:49 that says, "Look, I'm going to accept you after I cleanse you"
12:53 but here we see the way that Jesus relates to the leper,
12:56 is the same way that Jesus relates to you and I.
13:00 Won't you come to Him today just like that leper?
13:04 Won't you come to Him and say,
13:06 "Lord, make me clean... "
13:08 and Jesus will encircle you in the arms of His love.
13:13 Jesus will accept you...
13:16 Jesus will cleanse you...
13:19 won't you make Him the Savior of your life today?
13:22 Join us again as we study
13:24 the sanctuary, salvation and our Savior.


Home

Revised 2019-08-27