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Series Code: SSOS
Program Code: SSOS190003B
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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. |
Revised 2019-08-27