Old Testament Worship: Honoring The Trinity

  

    

Photo of Ark replica by Ben Schumin 2007

God is a Triune Being – God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of His creation reflects His three-part nature, and the attributes of God the Father and names of Jesus also echo their three-fold Divinity. 

Not surprisingly, God designed our worship of Him to praise and to celebrate the three facets of His Being, beginning in the Old Testament, and continuing through the New Testament and into the future.

The benediction given by God for Aaron to speak unto the Hebrew people used the name of Jehovah (the LORD) three times, each with a different blessing:

Numbers 6: 24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Another Old Testament type, or precursor, to the ultimate worship believers will experience in Heaven appears in the Tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build as the place of worship (Exodus 25). He ordered Moses to collect from the people the materials for the Tabernacle as an offering to Him: three fine metals (gold, and silver, and brass, v.3); fine linen (made from the hemp plant) in three colors (blue, purple, and scarlet, v.4) and coverings of three animals (goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, v.5). These offerings represent the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal categories of His creation over which He gave man dominion (Genesis 1:26-28).

The holiest place in the Tabernacle was the most holy (Exodus 26:33), or Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum approached only by the high priest, and only once each year, to make an offering to atone for the sins of the people. This atonement for sin by the shed blood of a sacrificed animal foreshadows the ultimate atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, once and for all, as the perfect, sinless sacrifice to pay for all our sins, past, present and future (Hebrews 9:11-15).

Within the Holy of Holies was the ark of the covenant, with the finest gold overlaying shittim wood (Exodus 25:10-22) to symbolize the mystery of Christ in His divinity becoming human flesh (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:14). The ark contained three items (Hebrews 9:4): the stone tables on which God engraved His law to give to Moses (Exodus 25:16, 22); the golden pot containing manna (Exodus 16:33-34) that God provided to feed the Israelites on their journey through the desert to find the Promised Land; and the rod of Aaron that budded forth with almond blossoms (Numbers 17:10), symbolizing purity and eternal life.

Thus, these three items symbolize God’s judgment in His Ten Commandments that no one (except for Jesus) can keep perfectly (Romans 3:23); God’s sustenance and provision for all our needs (Ephesians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 9:10-12); and God’s reconciliation with sinful man through His Son (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17). Through Jesus’ sinless sacrifice, His perfect righteousness is attributed to our account (Romans 4:22-24), allowing us eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Moving outward from the Holy of Holies was the sanctuary, or holy place, containing three pieces of furniture: the table of shewbread (Exodus 25:23-30), the lampstand (Exodus 25:23-31), and the altar of incense (Exodus 30:1-10). In Hebrew, the word for “shewbread” means "bread of the face of the Lord," foreshadowing Jesus as the bread of life (John 6), the only sustenance the believer needs. The loaves of shewbread were set before God for one week before the priests were allowed to eat of it, suggesting that worship should come before fulfilling our daily needs (Matthew 6:33).

The lampstand, which later symbolizes the church (Revelation 1:12-20) was the only source of light in the holy place, just as Jesus Christ will be the only source of light in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23). The altar of incense symbolizes the prayers of men rising as a sweet-smelling savour to God, as an act of worshipping Him (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:3-4).

Like the Tabernacle, the Temple was also designed by God in three parts: the outer Court surrounding the Holy Place, and the innermost Sanctuary or Holy of Holies), with the Holy of Holies in the shape of a cube of three equal dimensions (1 Kings 7).

God prescribed and ordained not only these places and articles of worship, but also times and holy days of worship. These were needed before the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins reconciled sinful man to Holy God, allowing believers instant, continual access into His Presence. Praise God that we may now enter boldly unto the throne of grace! (Hebrews 4:16)

© 2012 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Old Testament Worship: Honoring The Trinity

God is a Triune Being – God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of His creation reflects His three-part nature, and the attributes of God the Father and names of Jesus also echo their three-fold Divinity. 

Not surprisingly, God designed our worship of Him to praise and to celebrate the three facets of His Being, beginning in the Old Testament, and continuing through the New Testament and into the future.

The benediction given by God for Aaron to speak unto the Hebrew people used the name of Jehovah (the LORD) three times, each with a different blessing:

Numbers 6: 24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Another Old Testament type, or precursor, to the ultimate worship believers will experience in Heaven appears in the Tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build as the place of worship (Exodus 25). He ordered Moses to collect from the people the materials for the Tabernacle as an offering to Him: three fine metals (gold, and silver, and brass, v.3); fine linen (made from the hemp plant) in three colors (blue, purple, and scarlet, v.4) and coverings of three animals (goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, v.5). These offerings represent the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal categories of His creation over which He gave man dominion (Genesis 1:26-28).

The holiest place in the Tabernacle was the most holy (Exodus 26:33), or Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum approached only by the high priest, and only once each year, to make an offering to atone for the sins of the people. This atonement for sin by the shed blood of a sacrificed animal foreshadows the ultimate atonement of Christ, once and for all, as the perfect, sinless sacrifice to pay for all our sins, past, present and future (Hebrews 9:11-15).

Within the Holy of Holies was the ark of the covenant, with the finest gold overlaying shittim wood (Exodus 25:10-22) to symbolize the mystery of Christ in His divinity becoming human flesh  (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:14). The ark contained three items (Hebrews 9:4): the stone tables on which God engraved His law to give to Moses (Exodus 25:16, 22); the golden pot containing manna (Exodus 16:33-34) that God provided to feed the Israelites on their journey through the desert to find the Promised Land; and the rod of Aaron that budded forth with almond blossoms (Numbers 17:10), symbolizing purity and eternal life.

Thus, these three items symbolize God’s judgment in His Ten Commandments that no one (except for Jesus) can keep perfectly (Romans 3:23); God’s sustenance and provision for all our needs (Ephesians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 9:10-12); and God’s reconciliation with sinful man through His Son (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17). Through Jesus’ sinless sacrifice, His perfect righteousness is attributed to our account (Romans 4:22-24), allowing us eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Moving outward from the Holy of Holies was the sanctuary, or holy place, containing three pieces of furniture: the table of shewbread (Exodus 25:23-30), the lampstand (Exodus 25:23-31), and the altar of incense (Exodus 30:1-10). In Hebrew, the word for “shewbread” means "bread of the face of the Lord," foreshadowing Jesus as the bread of life (John 6), the only sustenance the believer needs. The loaves of shewbread were set before God for one week before the priests were allowed to eat of it, suggesting that worship should come before fulfilling our daily needs (Matthew 6:33).

The lampstand, which later symbolizes the church (Revelation 1:12-20) was the only source of light in the holy place, just as Jesus Christ will be the only source of light in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23). The altar of incense symbolizes the prayers of men rising as a sweet-smelling savour to God, as an act of worshipping Him (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:3-4).

Like the Tabernacle, the Temple was also designed by God in three parts: the outer Court surrounding the Holy Place, and the innermost Sanctuary or Holy of Holies), with the Holy of Holies in the shape of a cube of three equal dimensions (1 Kings 7).

God prescribed and ordained not only these places and articles of worship, but also times and holy days of worship, as we will see innext week’s post. These were needed before the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins reconciled sinful man to Holy God, allowing believers instant, continual access into His Presence. Praise God that we may now enter boldly unto the throne of grace! (Hebrews 4:16)

© 2012 Laurie Collett

Jesus, Christ and Lord: Reflecting the Trinity

As we have discussed previously, God is a Triune Being, and the nature of the Trinity is reflected throughout His creation.

Jesus of Nazareth, wholly God yet wholly man as He wrapped Himself in human flesh, is also Christ and Lord (Acts 2:36; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 4:5). Jesus walked the earth teaching and preaching His divine wisdom; as Christ He was the perfect sacrifice to reconcile sinful man with holy God; and in His omnipotence He is Lord and Master of all and over all (Acts 10:36; Romans 10:12). These three aspects of God the Son are also described as Prophet, Priest, and King. 

In His earthly ministry, Jesus was the greatest Prophet of all (Matthew 21:11; Luke 7:16, 24:19; Acts 3:22,23), sent to earth as the Revelation of the Father, with the words of eternal life. His teachings, parables, miracles, and words are recorded forever in God’s Word, which will never pass away. He Himself is called the Word, for He spoke the worlds into existence (John 1:1; Revelation 19:13; I John 1:1).

Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14) after the order of Melchisidec (Hebrews 5:6; 6:20). Because Christ is the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24; Isaiah 49:7; Acts 2:27; 3:14), He exemplifies ultimate perfection as the Priest, the Temple, and the Sacrifice, and deserves to be praised three times as Holy, Holy, Holy (Isaiah 6:3).

As the Priest, Christ is the Minister (Mark 10:45; Romans 15:8, Hebrews 8:2), the Intercessor, constantly interceding on our behalf (Hebrews 1:3).and mediating between us and God the Father (Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5), and the Counselor or Advocate (I John 2:1), representing and defending us when Satan accuses us. Since He rose from the dead, Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the throne of God where He is perfectly positioned to fulfill these three roles, for He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus Christ is All-in-All, and in His self-sufficiency, He is not only the Priest, but the Temple (Revelation 21:22) or Sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14), and He Himself serves as the Veil, the Altar (Hebrews 13:10, and even the Offering (Ephesians 5:2). Just as the veil of the temple separating the Holy of Holies from the people was torn in two at His crucifixion, His torn flesh was the new and living Way  (Hebrews 10:20) allowing sinners to approach Holy God.

Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 7:9; 13:8), made the perfect sacrifice of His shed blood to be the perfect atonement or propitiation (Romans 3:25) for our sins, once and for all (Hebrews 7:27). He was the offering and sacrifice to God that He would accept as a sweet-smelling savour far better than any incense (Ephesians 5:2).

As Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16), Jesus Christ is the Lord Both of the Dead and Living (Romans 14:9), the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5), and the Lord of Peace (II Thessalonians 3:16). The Lord of Hosts (Zecharaiah 14:16) is the King of Glory (Psalm 24:10), the King of Righteousness, and the King of Peace (Hebrews 7:2).

As King of Kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16), He shall reign forever and eternally (Psalm 29:10; Revelation 11:15). He shall be not only the King of Israel (John 1:49), meaning the King of the Daughter of Zion (John 12:15) or the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2; Mark 15:2; John 19:19), but He is also the King of Saints (Revelation 15:3), meaning of all believers, and King Over All the Earth (Zechariah 14:4,5,9)

As would be expected from the Almighty Lord and King, Jesus will fulfill three roles in His second coming: Warrior, Judge, and Ruler. As Supreme Warrior (Psalm 45:3), He will lead armies of resurrected saints to defeat the enemies of Israel at the battle of Armageddon with the Sword of His Word (Isaiah 55:4; Revelation 19:13), and He will even defeat Satan and death. Jesus Christ as Warrior is all-powerful, fierce, and noble, represented by The Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). He is the Captain of the Host of the Lord (Joshua 5:14) and of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10), and our Leader and Commander (Isaiah 55:4). The Self-Sufficient Warrior is also His own weaponry and armor: the Polished Shaft or arrow (Isaiah 49:2), the Shield (Psalm 84:9), and the Destroying Sceptre (Numbers 24:17) with His mouth the Sword of the Word (Isaiah 49:2).

As the Just One (Acts 7:52; 3:14, 1 Peter 3:18) or perfect and righteous Judge (Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:8), He will fairly bestow rewards to His children, and punishment to souls and to nations who rejected Him (Revelation 19:11).

As Ruler (Micah 5:2), the Lord Jesus will preside over the Millennial Kingdom of perfect peace and harmony (Isaiah 9:6; (Psalm 45:6) as their Governor (Matthew 2:6), Ensign of the People (Isaiah 11:10), or symbol of national power, and Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:25) and Saviour.(Acts 5:31).He is not only the Prince of all Rulers (the Prince of Princes (Daniel 8:25) and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth (Revelation 1:5)), but He is also the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

As the Prince of Life and of Peace, He gave us life, maintains our life, and paid our sin debt to redeem us from death to eternal life! Praise God that Jesus Christ and Lord is our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer – as we will discuss in our next post!

© 2012 Laurie Collett