The Tent

Tents

Hebrews 9 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International

Bible Society



Hebrews 9
Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle
1Now the first covenant had regulations for

worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2A

tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the

lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread;

this was called the Holy Place. 3Behind the

second curtain was a room called the Most Holy

Place, 4which had the golden altar of incense and

the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark

contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff

that had budded, and the stone tablets of the

covenant. 5Above the ark were the cherubim of the

Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.[a] But

we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6When everything had been arranged like this,

the priests entered regularly into the outer room

to carry on their ministry. 7But only the high

priest entered the inner room, and that only once

a year, and never without blood, which he offered

for himself and for the sins the people had

committed in ignorance. 8The Holy Spirit was

showing by this that the way into the Most Holy

Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the

first tabernacle was still standing. 9This is an

illustration for the present time, indicating

that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were

not able to clear the conscience of the

worshiper. 10They are only a matter of food and

drink and various ceremonial washings—external

regulations applying until the time of the new

order.


Today, I'm feeling lazy. All I want to write

about is the vegetable garden. But then, this

morning, the oldest son was telling me about an

article he saw on Yahoo about alligators, and

asking me what 'superbugs' are. They like to

start their day with a quick round of computer

games, and the browser home page is Yahoo.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-08-gator-blood_N.htm?csp=34?se=yahoorefer#uslPageReturn


Where do you begin? Well, it's always

entertaining to skim through the comments

section, especially on Yahoo. They're always

good for some giggles, if you aren't distracted

by a few typos and bad grammar. So, this morning

the evolutionists are out in full splendor,

filling us in on the 'age' of the alligator, and

the wonders of chance (such luck!) that

provide this good fortune in the form of gator

immunity. And my favorite comment so far:

Hopped Up Harry wrote: 22h 43m ago
Has anyone thought about studying Keith Richard's
blood?


I'd like to see the evolutionistas speculate on

our good luck to have rock n' roll AND

psychedelic drugs evolve in the 1960's, and how

it promotes our survival as a species. Ah, the

fantasy of it all.


The alligator story gets my attention. You know,

the idea of developing medicines based on an

understanding of how gator immunity works. I'd

guess it is a fascinating bit of work. But what

I'm really interested in is more of the

scientific detail. Maybe I can find something on

the ACS web site. Nah. Subscription needed.


Today, I'd like to have a look at Hebrews 9. As

far as I can tell, Moses never said anything

about evolution. It seems he was a young earth

creationist. Here in Hebrews 9, the Apostle

gives us a quick overview of the tabernacle that

Moses built as it was described to him. This

tabernacle was a 'tent'. People lived in

'tents', in those days. There were so called

'cities' that had fixed buildings and walls as

well. But for the shepherd community, there

really was no good reason for a walled city, at

this point in time. The idea is to keep your

flocks and herds on good pasture. That requires

some mobility if your only source of income is

derived from your livestock. The hebrew kept

livestock. They needed mobility, until such time

as they were able to secure a sizeable tract of

land to support the entire community. If you

remember the story of Jericho, there were two

tribes that chose to settle the land on the other

side of the Jordan, because it had good pasture.


Take a look at verses eight and nine. '...the

way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been

disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was

still standing...' The entire description is

rich in symbolism. This quote lets us in on the

idea that the Most Holy Place, the part of the

tent that represents the heavenly realm where G-d

dwells, was totally off-limits to everyone except

that the High Priest entered once a year to offer

the annual blood sacrifice. There was no way to

approach G-d, except through a mediator. And

that mediator was required to acknowledge his sin

and the sin of all others by a blood offering.

The blood represents the guilt and just sentence

of death upon all who dare to approach a G-d who

is not able to overlook sin because it offends

every sense of fairness and justice. It implies

the absolute perfection of G-d. Nothing that is

imperfect is fit to enter his presence. The

blood is an admission of our guilt before G-d and

a recognition of his absolute sense of justice.

Justice wouldn't be just if it overlooked even

the smallest evidence of guilt. Not that we know

anything about justice, but we have an

illustration provided in the worship ceremony

provided by Moses.


The High Priest, of course, represents Jesus, who

offered his own blood, by giving himself up for

crucifixtion, and then entering into the Most

Holy Place once and for all. He now sits in the

Most Holy Place, with the offering of his own

sacrificial blood, admitting the guilt of his

people and recognizing the justice of G-d, acting

as the only mediator between G-d and man.


Hebrews 9 and the tabernacle, is an incredible

illustration of what took place in the life and

death of Jesus. How can you miss it? We are now

in 'the time of the new order'. There is no

place in this doctrine for any idea of evolution.

There is nothing to evolve from and there is

nothing to evolve into. There is only the strict

separation between the holy and the unholy, the

perfect and the imperfect, the just and the

unjust, the guilty and the faultless, the finite

and the infinite. The point is clear. The

serpent offers an empty promise of 'being as

gods'. But from the illustration we have in

scripture, that is so far fetched, it's beyond

rediculous. It's like the alchemist saying that

he's going to turn base metal into gold. Apply

all the wizardry that you wish . There's no way

you're ever going to 'evolve' through that second

curtain.