#62. The altar and the gate (Exod. xxvii. 1-19).

     We now leave the tabernacle with its glorious colouring, and its more glorious teaching, and step out into the court, to learn something more of the will and purpose of God.  The whole of the chapter, with the exception of the last two verses, is occupied with a description of the outer court of the tabernacle, and one solitary object within it, namely, the brazen altar.  In the chapters of Exodus that record the actual making of the tabernacle, we find one or two additions, as, for example, the altar of incense, which is described for the first time in  xxx. 1,  and in verse 18 of the same chapter we read for the first time of the laver of brass that also stood together with the brazen altar, between the door of the court and the door of the tabernacle.  It has pleased God, however, to leave in all its grandeur the brazen altar as the one great essential feature, reserving for a later period the additional laver.

The   brazen   altar

    Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.  Job speaks of the vein for the silver and of the iron that is taken out of the earth, and brass that is molten out of the stone.  Dr.Bullinger’s metrical version reads, “And copper may be smelted out of the ore” (Job. xxviii. 2).  Again, in describing the land of Palestine, Moses says, “And from whose hills thou mayest dig brass” (Deut. viii. 9), which also refers to copper.  It is fairly certain that the “brass” of Scripture is the metal we know as copper.  Just as the silver sockets of the tabernacle itself spoke of atonement, so the brazen sockets of the court would associate that place with the great altar of sacrifice.  On the altar was offered the whole burnt offering, and it was called “an altar most holy” (Exod. xl 10).  This altar was four-square, and had four horns, one on each corner.  These horns served several related purposes:

(1)     The blood of the sacrifice was placed upon the horns of the altar with the finger of the priest.

(2)     Sacrificial animals were bound with cords to the horns of the altar.

(3)     The horns of the altar appear to have been considered a place of sanctuary.  There is no definite statement to this effect in Scripture, but it seems from three passages that this was a custom from earliest times.

     The latter appears from the case of the murderer, “Thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die” (Exod. xxi. 14).  Adonijah and Joab fled to the tabernacle, “and caught hold on the horns of the altar”  (I Kings i. 50;  ii. 28),  although it availed them not, for no sacrifice was known under the law for the sin of murder.  Jeremiah uses the horns of the altar in a tragic setting:

     “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond:  it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars” (Jer. xvii. 1).

     Sin took the place both of the law of God, “the tables of the heart”, and of His offerings, “the horns of the altar”.  Punishment for sin is symbolized by the falling of the horns of the altar to the ground (Amos iii. 14).  The ark and mercy seat within the holiest of all, and the brazen altar before the door of tabernacle, are perhaps the two most vital symbols in the whole structure.

The   new   and   living   way

     Just as we have quoted the words “a new and living way” with reference to the veil, so we must quote them again with reference to the altar.  The court of the tabernacle, which is described in the same xxviiith chapter of Exodus, surrounded the tabernacle itself on its four sides, and had one gate hung upon four pillars.  It was impossible to enter into the tabernacle itself without passing the great brazen altar standing some nine feet in breadth and length and some five feet high.  Surely one might say that over the tabernacle could have been written the mistaken quotation of  Heb. ix. 22  once made in our hearing by a nervous Jewish boy, "Without shedding of blood no admission".  As a text it is garbled, but it nevertheless expresses a most important truth.

        Further, there could exist no two thoughts in the mind of any child of Israel as to the purpose of   the altar.  The Hebrew word mizbeach means “a place of slaughter”, and the construction of the altar, and the articles that went with it, left no doubt as to its purpose.  “Pans to received ashes”;  they speak of fire.  “Basons and flesh hooks”;  they speak of sacrifice.  The five great offerings detailed in  Leviticus.i.-vii.,  the offering on the day of atonement, the various offerings that formed part of the consecration of the priests, etc., etc., all were offered here.  The great altar standing alone in the court of the tabernacle was a type of the cross of Christ.  All the precious teaching concerning the sacrifice of Christ, the offering of Christ, without spot, to God, His being made sin for us, Who knew no sin, the shedding of His blood, and its connection with forgiveness and peace, the bearing of the cross upon the flesh and the world;  all these blessed features were concentrated in this great altar that stood midway between the gate of the court and the door of the tabernacle.  Its teaching lies at the dawn of human experience.  The provision of the coats of skin for our first parents pointed to the same truth.  A sacrifice that involved the shedding of life’s blood was constantly before the eye and the mind of every Israelite.  This is a fundamental not of dispensational truth merely, but of all truth.

    If we would reject those books of the N.T. that are committed to the necessity of a sacrifice by the shedding of blood, we should have to set aside the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, and Hebrews, the first epistle of Peter, and the first epistle of John, as well as the book of the Revelation.  We should have, as a matter of fact, a record with neither beginning (Gospels), nor end (Revelation), foundation (Romans), nor top-stone (Ephesians).  The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms speak with one voice, that the way of the cross of Christ is the one way back to God.  The blood of Christ is the pledge of the new covenant (Matt.xxvi.28), and also the purchase price of the church of God (Acts xx. 28).  It is the basis of propitiation (Rom. iii. 25), justification (v. 9), and communion (I.Cor.x.16).  Redemption and forgiveness, access and peace are ours through the same shed blood  (Eph. i. 7;  ii. 13;  Col. i. 20),  and by that precious blood the overcomers at the end shall prevail (Rev. xii. 11).  Christ’s one sacrifice for sins, for ever, has been offered (Heb.x.12).  Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us (I Cor. v. 7).  He has given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour (Eph. v. 2).  Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb. ix. 28).

     The various offerings that were offered upon this brazen altar cannot be dealt with here.  A fairly comprehensive study of them will be found in the series entitled “Redemption” now appearing in our pages.  It may be a point worth noting that we have three spheres suggested in this tabernacle and its court:

(1)  The innermost, the holiest of all, entered by the high priest alone once every year.

(2)  The holy place, where the priests ministered daily.

(3)  The outer court.

     The fine twined linen of the outer court speaks as loudly of righteousness as did the fabric of the tabernacle itself.  The silver hooks and brazen sockets are both connected with atonement and sacrifice, and just as the veil spoke of Christ, so too He can be heard saying, “I am the door”.  From the innermost shrine of the tabernacle to the outermost gate post of the court, it can truly be said, “Christ is all”, and anything that enforces that lesson of the ages is fundamental in the last degree.  Without the altar and its offerings that tabernacle would have stood unserved, unentered, empty.  There would have been no ministering priests, no sweet-smelling incense, no table of remembrance, no reconciliation, no propitiation.  Without the cross of Christ and His great sacrifice “heaven itself” would never be entered by any child of Adam.  No single soul would ever perform one act of service to the Lord, there would be no acceptance and no fellowship, no forgiveness and no peace.

    As we ponder these things and learn these lessons from the brazen altar in Israel’s court, may we be able to say with deeper reality than ever before:

"When I survey the wondrous cross,

        On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

        And pour contempt on all my pride."

#61. The Tabernacle, its fabric and foundations (Exodus.xxvi.).

     While the typical teaching of the ark and the mercy-seat are at the very foundation of access to God, and while the table of shewbread and the lampstand speak so much of service, these are really subsidiary to the purpose expressed in  Exod. xxv. 8:  “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them”.  The actual tabernacle is described in  Exodus xxvi.,  and while the whole structure with its boards and coverings may be spoken of as the tabernacle, this title is used in a more limited sense of the innermost set of beautiful curtains described in  Exod. xxvi. 1-6:

     “Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet;  with cherubim of cunning work shalt thou make them … it shall be one tabernacle.”

Tabernacle,   tent,   covering.

     While it is not easy to distinguish between tabernacle and tent in the A.V., there is no confusion in the original.  We find upon examining the Scripture that over the “tabernacle” was spread a “tent”, and that over this tent was placed a two-fold covering.  The tent was made of goats’ hair, and is described in verses.7-14 (once called “covering’), the twofold covering of the tent being made of rams’ skins dyed red, and of badgers’ skins.  We must therefore distinguish between the tabernacle proper, made of the glorious linen curtains, and the goats’ hair tent and covering of skins, as we find them distinguished for instance in  Exod. xxxv. 11:   “the tabernacle, his tent, and his covering”;   also by comparing the record of  Exod. xxvi. 6 & 11  together.

     “And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches:   and it shall be one tabernacle.”

     “And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.”

     In order that we may appreciate these three features we will set out the meaning of each word.

     TABERNACLE. — Mishkan, from shakan = to dwell.   Exodus xxv. 8;  Gen. ix. 27  and  Genesis iii. 24,  “placed”.

     TENT. — Ohel occurs frequently.   Genesis iv. 20;  Exod. xxxiii. 10.

     COVERING. — Miskseh, from kasah = to cover, as in  Exod. xl. 34;  Isa. xi. 9.

     We have here three features that must be taken into account in any attempt to discover the typical teaching of the tabernacle.

(1)  The tabernacle was essentially a dwelling place for God.

(2)  The pilgrim character of the children of God necessitated a tent and not a temple.

(3)  The beauty of this dwelling was not seen from the outside, but was veiled or covered.  This covering was also a protection, for the word is first used in  Gen. viii. 13,  where we read that “Noah removed the covering of the ark”.

     The pilgrim nature of the tabernacle is witnessed by  II Sam. vii. 2 & 6:

     “See now, i dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.”

     “I have not dwelt in any house since the time I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.”

     Seeing that every detail of the tabernacle was made according to the pattern of heavenly things, we must not consider it too fanciful to see significance in the colours and materials that are so carefully specified.

     Fine linen. — Of this material was made not only the tabernacle itself, but the hangings for the court, the ephod of the high priest, the girdle, the breastplate, the coat and the mitre.  “The fine linen is the righteousness of saints”, or as ton hagion might mean, “the righteousness of the holiest of all”.  It can truly be said that righteousness was the warp and woof of the dwelling place of God.  It is a lesson that bears repetition, lest at any time we should be inclined to entertain doctrines that necessitate the lowering of this high standard.

     Blue is intimately connected with the high priest by the “ephod all of blue” (Exod. xxviii. 31), and with the separation of Israel unto God (Numb. xv. 38).  Purple is the colour of kings  (Judges viii. 26  &  Esther viii. 15).   Scarlet speaks of redemption (Josh. ii. 18).  The great Babylonian travesty seizes upon these symbols for its own ends.

     “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour” (Rev. xvii. 4).

     “Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet” (Rev. xviii. 16).

     The cherubim speak of the great goal of the ages, the restoration of man, and his dominion in and through Christ.  This subject is too vast for a note of this character:  the interested reader is referred to a fuller exposition of the matter in volume XV, page 181.

     The tabernacle and its symbolism sets forth the only possible way whereby the lost paradise of  Genesis iii.  with its cherubim and flaming sword, its curse and its death, can ever be exchanged for the paradise of God with its river of life, where there shall be no more curse or death.  That way was shown to our first parents before they left the garden, their covering of skin being perpetuated in the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, a symbol too patent to need much proof.  The fabric of the tabernacle therefore speaks of redemption and restoration, a king and a priest, and we have not found any N.T. passage that would lead us to alter that testimony.

     The tent of goats’ hair could never be, in the mind of an Israelite, dissociated from the great offerings that occupied so large a place in the daily life of the people.  Goats were used as well as lambs for the passover (Exod. xii. 5);  they were also used for the burnt offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and for the great day of atonement,  Lev. i. 10,  iii. 12,  iv. 23,  and  xvi. 5,  &c.   It was the purpose of God that the glorious prophecy of the tabernacle should ever be seen beneath the shadow of atonement, the tent of goats’ hair.

     Protecting this tent was a two-fold covering, one of rams’ skins dyed red, the other of badgers’ skins.  Rams’ skins alone would have spoken plainly of sacrifice and consecration  (Exod. xxix. 27;  Lev. v. 15;  &  xix. 21),  but the red dye would emphasize sin and its cleansing (Isa. i. 18).

     Badgers’ skins are not so easy to interpret.  The usual suggestion is that the beauty of the tabernacle was hidden from view, and only rough badgers’ skins were seen, just as it is written that Israel saw no beauty in the Lord when He walked the earth in the days of His flesh.  Apart from the tabernacle, badgers’ skins are only mentioned once in the Scriptures, viz.,  Ezek. xvi. 10,  where the other references to silver, linen, and embroidered work are considered by many to be an allusion to the tabernacle itself.

     While modern translators consider the Hebrew word tachash to mean a badger or some such animal, this has not been always the case, for the voice of the ancient versions is practically unanimous in stating that the word stands for a colour.  Josephus has the following remark in his Antiquities:

     "There were also curtains made of skins above these which afforded covering or protection … and great was the surprise of those who viewed these curtains at a distance, for they seemed not at all to differ from the colour of the sky" (book iii., chapter vi.).

     The LXX and Jerome translate the word by hyacinthus, the “jacinth” of  Rev. xxi. 20,  which is azure or sky-blue.  Other ancient versions, together with the Vulgate, translate the word by ianthinus, violet coloured.  That hyacinth was an article of commerce, and used in the dyeing of dress material, can be seen by consulting the LXX of  Ezek. xxvii. 24  &  Isa. iii. 23.   It will be remembered that Moses was instructed to make the tabernacle according to the pattern shown him in the mount  (Exod. xxv. 9, 40;  xxvi. 30;  xxvii. 8;  Acts vii. 44;  &  Heb.viii.5).   It is also very plain that the tabernacle in the wilderness was an example and shadow of “the heavenly things themselves”, that “true tabernacle”, which the Lord pitched, and not man  (Heb. viii. 2, 5;   ix. 23, 24).   May we not have in this fact an explanation of the added covering, and the reason of its azure colour?  The true external cover of the tabernacle was the one of rams’ skins dyed red, the superimposed covering of blue representing heaven itself in which the true tabernacle really existed.  This was but an anticipation in type of Solomon’s prayer:  “Hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place”.  There are many other features of interest in the details revealed in this wonderful structure that we must leave to the reader to investigate, while we notice briefly the framework, foundations, and the vail, before concluding this survey.

Golden   boards   and   silver   sockets.

     The walls and framework of the tabernacle were made of shittim wood (or as the LXX renders it “incorruptible wood”), overlaid with gold.  Forty-eight boards were used altogether, twenty on either side, six across the back, and two to form the corners in some way not revealed.  These boards were held in place by a series of bars and rings, and the boards terminated at the bases in two tenons or “hands” that fitted into silver sockets placed in the earth to receive them.  When we read in  John i. 14,  “The Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us”, we can readily see in the gold and the wood a type of the true deity and the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, while the sockets of silver are explained in the book of Exodus himself.  In  chapter xxx. 11-16  we find that every man of Israel gave for the ransom of his soul a half shekel of silver.  This atonement money was appointed for the service of the tabernacle.  Exodus.xxxviii.25-28  tells us how this silver was used.  One hundred sockets of silver weighing one talent each were made of this atonement money, and constituted the great foundation upon which the whole typical fabric rested.  No words of ours are necessary to illuminate the lesson here.  Fine linen and silver, righteousness and atonement, the warp, woof and foundation of the great plan of the ages!

The   new   and   living   way.

     The record of  Exodus xxvi.  is not completed until a description is given of the vail and the door hanging.  Both vail and hanging are made of the same material, the vail alone having the cherubim.  Beautiful as this vail must have been, its presence spoke of man’s failure.  Before the typical prophecy of the tabernacle could be fulfilled, that vail must be rent, that golden mercy-seat spattered with blood, such is the nature of sin and of holiness:--

     “Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us THROUGH THE VAIL, that is to say, His flesh” (Heb. x. 19, 20).

     “And behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matt. xxvii. 51).

     In the writings of the apostle Paul there is scarcely a reference to the earthly life of the Lord, but we find constant reference to His death:--

     “In the body of His flesh through death” (Col. i. 22).

     “The children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;  that through death He might destroy … and deliver” (Hebrews.ii.14,15).

     Such is the continual testimony of Scripture.  There is no gospel in the spotless life of the Son of God taken by itself, that only aggravates our sinfulness the more, and, like the vail, bars our access to God.

     Through the rent vail, through that spotless life laid down in death is found a way into the holiest.  Just as the tabernacle rested upon the silver sockets of atonement, and was covered by the rams’ skins dyed red, so no part of the mighty purpose of the ages shall be accomplished apart from the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is a fundamental of all truth, yea a very chief corner stone.

     We earnestly ask our younger readers, for whom this series is particularly written, to test all the modern “gospels” and schemes by this great exhibition of the mind and will of God.  No one can believe its message and trifle with the vitals of the faith, which are everywhere proclaimed through type and symbol, by fabric, colour and position, to be the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

     “Without shedding of blood is no remission . . . . . For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true:  but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. ix. 1-28).

#60. The golden lampstand (Exod. xxv. 31-40). Unity in witness.

     If it be true, as we sought to show in our last article, that the holy place is connected with worship and service, that will be true not only as it relates to the table of shewbread, but as it relates to the golden lampstand.  The word candlestick is misleading.  No candles were used, but oil for the lamps is specifically mentioned:--

     “And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof” (Exod. xxv. 37).

     “Oil for the light” (Exod. xxv. 6).

     “Pure olive oil beaten for the light” (Exod. xxvii. 20).

“Not   by   might,   nor   by   power.”

     There is a chapter in Zechariah that deals so pointedly with the symbolism of this golden lampstand, that to attempt an interpretation of  Exodus xxv.  before first considering this passage would be to insult the Author of Scripture, therefore, let us turn to  Zechariah iv.   Here we have one of a series of visions, all concerned with one object, the fulfilling of the age-abiding covenant, whose memorial or reminder we have seen was found in the twelve loaves of presence, the shewbread.  These visions are eight in number, and occupy  chapters i.-vi.,  a new section of the prophecy commencing with  chapter vii.   Readers of The Companion Bible will notice a light change in the structure of these visions, as we feel that there is no warrant for uniting the sixth and seventh as one member.

     It will be seen that the common theme of these visions is the restoration of Israel, showing the satanic opposition (manifested through Gentile powers and finally at Babylon), and the triumph of the Lord (manifested through Joshua and Zerubbabel, and finally through Christ, the Branch).  We are not, however, dealing with Zechariah, but seek light from  Zech. iv.  upon the symbolism of the candlestick.

The   Branch.

     In  Exod. xxv. 31-36  when reading the description of the lampstand we come upon the word “branches”  repeatedly, in fact twelve times.  The word branch here is qaneh.   In  Zech. iv. 12,  where we read of  “the two  olive  branches”,  the word is  shibboleth.   In  Zech. iii. 8  &  vi. 12  the Branch is Tsemach.  Now although these seem so diverse at first, they are nevertheless intimately related.

     In  Gen. xli. 5  we have the first occurrence of shibboleth, where it is translated “ears of corn”.   In  Gen. xli. 5  also we have the first occurrence of qaneh, where it is translated “stalk”.  This establishes a connection between the “branches” of the golden candlestick of  Exodus xxv.  and the “two olive branches” of  Zechariah iv.    In  Psa. lxv. 9, 10  tsemach is used of corn, “the springing”.  So also in  Hos. viii. 7  where it is translated as the “bud” that yields no meal, and is connected with sowing, reaping and standing corn (see margin).  It is demonstrated, therefore, that the three words translated branch are all used of corn, and therefore cannot be widely dissimilar, but, to adopt the words of Scripture, may be as closely allied as “the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear”.  We have here a sequence.  First the type of the lampstand in the tabernacle, next the vision of the lampstand in  Zechariah iv.,  and finally the prophetic fulfillment of both type and vision in “The Man Whose name is the BRANCH”.

     It is readily granted that we should naturally have considered the lampstand in the tabernacle as a type of Christ, the light of the world, but we should have made the same mistake that we observed is made by making the shewbread a type of Christ as the bread of life.  As the light of the world Christ is set forth by other figures, but as the light in the holy place another office is implied.  Prophecy is said to be a “light that shineth in a dark place” (II Pet. i. 19), until the day dawn, and the Lord comes.   Zechariah iv.  is most certainly prophetic of the day of Israel’s restoration and the coming of the Lord.  The explanation of the vision of the lamp fed from the two olive trees is given by the angel:--

     “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. iv. 6).

     There can therefore be no two thoughts as to the symbolism of the olives.  They speak of the witness and the work of the spirit in contrast with the arm of the flesh.  The seven lamps are evidently “those seven” of verse 10, which are explained to be “the eyes of the Lord” that watch over His purpose.  The last word of explanation in  Zech. iv. 14  forces us to turn to the book of the Revelation.

     “These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

The   two   witnesses.

  

     The state of things under Joshua and Zerubbabel at the return from the captivity is to be repeated on a vaster scale in the time of the end.   In  Revelation xi.  we have the measuring of the temple by an angel (xi. 1), parallel to the measuring of Jerusalem by an angel in  Zechariah ii.   The two witnesses withstand the beast until their testimony is finished.  This testimony lasts for 42.months.  Upon their martyrdom resurrection and ascension follows the sounding of the seventh angel:--

     “The kingdom of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ” (Rev. xi. 15).

     To this the two witnesses, the vision of  Zechariah iv.,  and the golden lampstand of the tabernacle  bore their  testimony.  “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. xix. 10).  It will  be  seen  that “oil for the light” and for the “anointing” (Exod. xxxv. 28) come to much the same thing.  Every anointed priest and every anointed king bore testimony to the day when  Zech.vi.12,13  should be fulfilled:--

     “Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH . . . . . and He shall be a priest upon His throne.”

     All point forward to the King-Priest, after the order of Melchisedec.  They too are to combine kingship with priesthood.  They are to be “a kingdom of priests” (Exod. xix. 6), “a royal priesthood”  (see Rev. i. 6;    I Pet. ii. 5, 9).

The   seven   lampstands.

     While the unity of Israel, so far as God’s view-point is concerned, remains unchanged throughout their whole chequered history, their manifest witness as set forth by the seven-branched lampstand did not remain intact.  When we come to the book of the Revelation, we have seen separate lampstands, each standing for a church in Asia that was bearing a testimony of some kind.  Christ is seen in their midst as the great King-Priest, upholding the seven angels who are responsible for the testimony of these seven churches.  Failure could involve the removal of a lampstand out of its place (Revelation ii. 5).  Israel were the Lord’s witnesses (Isa. xliii. 10), the tabernacle was called “the tabernacle of witness” (Numb. xvii. 7), they who reign for the thousand years include those who were beheaded “for the witness of Jesus” (Rev. xx. 4).  The ark is called both the ark of the covenant, and the ark of testimony or witness* (Exod. xl. 3), and when the seven angels appeared, then John said, “Behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony (or witness) in heaven was opened”.

[*  -  Both in the Hebrews and the Greek, witness and testimony are the same.]

     The great thought of the lighted lampstand in the holy place is that of witness bearing.   Genesis i. 3  differentiates “light” itself from a “light bearer” (Gen. i. 14, 15), light being or in   i. 3   and  maor  in  Gen. i. 14, 15.   This distinction is carried over into the LXX.   Exodus xxv. 6  “oil for the light” uses maor, the light bearer. “Light” (or) occurs but once in  Exod. x. 23,  whereas “light bearer” (maor) occurs seven times, and each time is used of the lampstand.

     In  Isa. xi. 2  we have the sevenfold anointing of Christ:--

     “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

     He is pre-eminently “the faithful witness”, and all other witness must draw its inspiration from Him, the great Anointed, and receive its light from Him, the true light.

     In the description of the lampstand we sometimes use the expression, “The seven-branched candlestick”.  This is incorrect.

     “Six (not seven) branches shall come out of the sides of it;   three branches … out of the one side, and three . . . . . out of the other side” (Exod. xxv. 32).

     Though there were seven lamps, there were but six branches, the central stem supporting both its own lamp and the remaining branches.  It is a fit symbol of the essentials for witness, whether in Israel or the church.  The central supporting and uniting shaft is the Lord Himself;  the oil for the light, the Holy Spirit;  and apart from union with the Lord, and the Spirit of God, we shall have neither light nor testimony.  This sevenfold arrangement is well seen in the special testimony for the church of the mystery as given in  Eph. iv. 4-6,  where the one Lord is in the midst with the two sets of three on either side.  “Oil for the light” is a word that should make us examine our own testimony to see that the source of our illumination is that of which God can approve.

     The two features of the holy place specified by  Exodus xxv.  are the table of shewbread and the golden lampstand.  They stood over against each other.  The light from the lamps would shine upon the pure gold of the table, the twelve unleavened loaves and the pure frankincense.  Testimony in the holy place is not taken up with flesh and failure, but with the purpose of grace as seen in Christ.

     One more article of furniture that was found in the holy place, viz., the altar of incense, is not mentioned here, but its description is deferred until after  chapters xxviii. & xxix.   These chapters are devoted to the consecration of the priests, and then, with the opening verse of  chapter xxx.,  comes the first reference to the altar of incense.  The reader will realize the necessity to abide by this divine order, and we therefore follow the leading of the Lord and likewise refrain from comment upon this third item until the proper time, which will be after  chapters xxvi.-xxix.  have been considered.  This in itself, small detail as it may appear, is a practical outworking of what we realize underlies the words “oil for the light”, for true witness must always flow from faithful adherence to God’s Word given by inspiration.

     May our witness ever conform to the essentials set forth in the beautiful symbol of the golden, oil fed lampstand in the holy place.

#59. The table of shewbread (Exod. xxv. 23-30). “All one in Christ.”

     Having considered something of the rich teaching set forth by the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat within the second veil, we now, following the order of the narrative before us, pass into the holy place and turn our attention to the furniture there.

Divine   service.

     Before passing on to detailed descriptions, however, we must have some idea of the typical meaning of the “holy place” in which this furniture stood:--

     “There was a tabernacle made;  the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread;  which is called the sanctuary (margin, the holy, Gr. hagia).  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all (Gr. hagia hagion)” (Heb. ix. 2, 3).

     Here we have very clearly the subdivision set forth with the distinctive names of the two parts, the division being made by the second veil:--

     “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood” (Heb. ix. 6, 7).

     Without seeking to force a distinction beyond its limits, it appears from the usage of the words “service” and “serve” that these do not so much describe the great atoning work of Christ, as that they refer to the worship and service of the redeemed.  Both the Saviour and the saved were set forth in type in the tabernacle.  The Saviour being typified by the solitary act of the high priest “alone once”, the saved being typified by the priests who went “always” accomplishing the “service”.  Latreia (service) occurs in  Heb. ix. 1 & 6,  latreuo (to serve or worship), in  Heb. viii. 5;  ix. 9, 14;  x. 2;  xii. 28;  xiii. 10.   It will be seen that the “service” is entirely connected with the Levitical priesthood, or its N.T. counterpart.  They that did the service were not perfected as pertaining to the conscience by the daily ritual then imposed (Heb. ix. 9).  It necessitated a greater high priest than Aaron, and a better sacrifice than was offered on the day of atonement to purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb. ix. 14).  The shadows of the law with its typical sacrifices could not make the comers thereunto perfect, for their consciences were not really purged from sin (Heb. x. 1, 2).  The gifts and sacrifices that constituted the service of the typical tabernacle “stood only in meats and drinks, and divers baptisms, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation” (Heb. ix. 10).

     Latreuo and latreia, are not found in the Septuagint of Genesis, they appear for the first time in Exodus.  The Passover feast is called “this service” (Exod.xii.25,26).  Pharaoh understood “service” to involve the offering of sacrifice, for in  Exod. iii. 12;  iv. 23;  vii. 16;  viii. 1 & 20  the demand had been made that Israel should be liberated to “serve” God, Pharaoh’s words are, “go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land” (Exod. viii. 25).  Moses, moreover, when speaking once again to Pharaoh, uses another expression of similar import.  To Pharaoh’s “go, serve the Lord”, Moses replies, “We must hold a feast unto the Lord” (Exod. x. 8, 9).

    

     While latreuo seems to have special reference to “the service of a worshipper”, and is omitted from Genesis, douleuo is of frequent occurrence in that book.  It is used of the service rendered of kings  (Gen. xiv. 4);  of Israel’s bondage (xv. 14);  of the elder serving the younger (xxv. 23);  of men serving man (xxvii.29,40);  and of Jacob’s service to Laban  (xxix. 15, 18, 20, 25, 30;  xxx. 26, 29;  xxxi. 6, 41).   The apostle uses the two words in  Romans i.:--

     “Paul, a bond slave (doulos) of Jesus Christ” (Rom. i. 1).

     “Whom I serve (latreuo) with my spirit in the gospel” (Rom. i. 9).

     “Who worshipped and served (latreuo) the creature” (i. 25).

     If the distinct aspects of service that these two words indicate are kept in mind, the meaning of the apostle will become more clear.  Coming now to  Exodus xxv.  we bring with us the thought that here in the first tabernacle, where priests ministered daily, we are dealing with service, and it is in connection with service that we must view the table of shewbread.

Divine   sustenance.

     The table not only held the twelve loaves of shewbread, but also was laid with “dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls of pure gold”.  It was a table, not an altar, a table spread in the presence of the Lord with food wherewith those who rendered service might be fed.  The margin of  Exod. xxv. 29  renders “to cover withal” by “to pour out withal”, and the LXX reads:--

     “And thou shalt make its dishes and its censers, and its bowls and its cups, with which thou shalt offer drink offerings;  of pure gold shalt thou make them” (Exodus xxv. 29).

     This makes us think of the supreme act of service contemplated by the apostle Paul in  Phil. ii. 17,  and carried through in  II Tim. iv. 6,  where we have the only occurrence of spendomai in the N.T.   He was willing to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of faith.  While therefore the bread is the important item on the table, the drink offering must be remembered.  The ingredients and the quantity for the making of the twelve loaves were not left to human judgment, they are given in  Lev. xxiv. 5-9:

     “And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof:  two tenth deals shall be in one cake.  And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.  And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.  Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.  And it shall be Aaron's and his sons';  and they shall eat it in the holy place …” (Lev. xxiv. 5-9).

    It will be noticed that no leaven enters into the composition of these twelve loaves;  leaven being a type of evil, therefore whatever or whoever is represented by these loaves is viewed as perfect.  Moreover, upon each row is place frankincense, which would impart a sweet smelling savour.

     The words “taken from the children of Israel” have been variously interpreted.  Spurrell suggests "a presentation from".  The R.V. reads “on behalf of”, which is quite an opposite idea.  The Hebrew "M" which is frequently translated “from” does sometimes carry the thought suggested by the R.V.  For example,  Gen. v. 29,  “because of”;  Exod. ii. 23,  “by reason of”;  Isa. xxviii. 7,  “through”.  Though taken from the children of Israel, it was also a memorial before the Lord on the behalf of the children of Israel.

     These loaves were eaten by the priests in the holy place.  There are several things specified as eaten by the priests in the holy place, among which we find the flesh of the sin offering (Lev. vi. 26);  the flesh of the trespass offering (vii.6);  the peace offering (vii. 14);  and the shewbread (xxiv. 9).

The   memorial.

     The twelve loaves of shewbread are not said to be a memorial, much as we may have expected it;  the pure frankincense upon each row constitutes the memorial.  It will be helpful if we seek a clearer understanding of this term, Azkarah.  This feminine form of the word occurs seven times in Scripture.  The passages are  Lev. ii. 2, 9, 16;  v. 12;  vi. 15;  xxiv. 7  and  Numb. v. 26.   Zikkaron, the masculine form, occurs twenty-four times.  We give a selection only.  We use the word “reminder” as variant, as familiarity with the A.V. sometimes blunts our senses:  “This day shall be unto you for a reminder” (Exod. xii. 14).  “It shall be for a sign … and a reminder” (Exod. xiii. 9).  These two passages refer to the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread:  “Stones for a reminder unto the children of Israel … their names before the Lord … as a reminder” (Exod. xxviii. 12, 29).  Here the names of Israel engraven upon the stones of the ephod and breastplate are a reminder both to Israel and to the Lord.  We cannot give all occurrences, they can easily be found.  Zikkaron is used seven times in blessing, and once in judgment against Amalek in Exodus.  Zeker, another masculine form, occurs several times.  The first occurrence is  Exod. iii. 15,  “This is My name for the age, and this is My reminder unto all generations”.

     The Passover was a reminder of redemption, the unleavened bread of the bondage endured and the exodus effected, together with the need to “purge out the old leaven of wickedness”.  The name “Jehovah Elohim of your fathers” was a sufficient reminder for God to “remember His covenant” (Leviticus xxvi. 42, 45).  The frankincense upon the twelve loaves was a reminder.  A reminder of what?  Before we can answer that question we must answer another:   “What did the twelve loaves typify?”

The   bread   of   the   presence.

     It is good to see in books dealing with the tabernacle and its typical teaching that every opportunity  is seized to bring forward the fulness of Christ, but there may be even in this, zeal without knowledge.  We refer to the interpretation that speaks of the twelve loaves as typical of Christ as “the bread of life”.   In  John vi.  the Lord says, “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead ... I am the living bread” (John vi. 49, 51).  It will be seen that lying upon the ground outside the tabernacle morning by morning was to be found the type of Christ as the bread of life.  That therefore can scarcely be the meaning of these twelve loaves also.  This “bread of presence” before the Lord “always” (Exod.xxv.30), the “continual bread” (Numb. iv. 7), like the names engraved upon the stones of the ephod and the stones of the breastplate, represented the twelve tribes of Israel.

     The table of shewbread is mentioned in  II Chron. iv. 19  under Solomon, and again in  xiii. 11  it is mentioned in king Abijah’s appeal to the ten tribes when he pleaded for the true unity of Israel, also in Hezekiah’s reign (II Chron. xxix. 18).  When the captivity returned under Nehemiah, even though called by their enemies “these feeble Jews” (Neh. iv. 2), and even though the restored temple was in the eyes of those who knew the Lord’s house in its first glory “as nothing” (Hag. ii. 3), there is not the remotest suggestion either by Abijah, Hezekiah, or Nehemiah that any number of loaves than twelve should be used, or that the frankincense should be omitted.  The twelve loaves set forth Israel as viewed in Christ, not as viewed in themselves.  “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel” (Numb. xxiii. 21).  This was no “legal fiction”, but based upon the offering of their Messiah:--

     “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Rom. iii. 25).

     Whatever the personal state of Israel may have been whether united as one nation or divided into two, whether humbly seeking God or wickedly departing from His commandment, one thing remained “always” and “continual”.  That was the “everlasting covenant” or the “covenant of the ages”.  This it will be remembered is connected with the command concerning the shewbread in  Lev.xxiv.5-9.   Just as the memorial in the offering for jealousy was to bring “iniquity to remembrance” (Numb. v. 15), so the memorial upon the shewbread was to bring the sweet savour of Christ to remembrance.

The   age-abiding   covenant.

     The first mention of berith olam, “an age-abiding covenant”, is in  Gen.ix.16,  where God sets His bow in the cloud as a “reminder” (“that I may remember”) of His covenant with all flesh.  Now this covenant was made notwithstanding the fact that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. viii. 21), and in close association with the “sweet savour of rest” that spoke of the offering of Christ.  So with Israel.  Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, and the Lord said:--

     “I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an age-abiding covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee,  And I will give unto thee,  and to thy seed after thee,  the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an age-abiding possession;  and I will be their God” (Gen. xvii. 7, 8).

     Though Israel broke this age-abiding covenant (Isa. xxiv. 5), yet in the person of their Messiah that covenant is established  (Isa. lv. 3  &  lxi. 8).   This age-abiding covenant lies behind the new covenant which was sealed by the blood of Christ  (Jer. xxxii. 40  &  xxxi 31-37).   Perhaps there is no more marvellous setting for this covenant, nor a passage that emphasizes its utter independence of human merit than  Ezek. xvi. 60.   Charges are made against Israel in  Ezekiel xvi.  that reveal a condition that dwarfs the sin of Sodom “as a very little thing” (xvi. 47), and by comparison can justify the words “they (Sodom and Samaria) are more righteous than thou” (xvi. 52).  Then come the words of verse 60:--

     “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish with thee an age-abiding covenant.”

     All this is set forth in the table of shewbread.  Twelve loaves show Israel complete and undivided before the Lord.  These twelve loaves are all unleavened, Israel’s righteousness is fully provided for in Jehovah Tsidkenu.  “Pure” frankincense above, and a “pure” table beneath, indicate their perfect acceptance in the Beloved.  Here is a “reminder” of that “age-abiding covenant” that glorifies the end of  Ezekiel xvi.,  and will glorify the end of this stiff-necked and gain-saying people.

The   shewbread   and   service.

     Returning to our opening thoughts we can see the relation between this tremendous fact of Israel’s position before the Lord, and the strength such a recognition would afford to all who truly appreciated it, who in type eat that bread in the holy place.  Is there no word for the members of the one body?  The dispensation of the mystery may not appear in type or symbol in the O.T., yet parallel principles are everywhere discoverable.  May we not substitute “chosen in Him before the overthrow of the world” for Israel’s “age-abiding covenant”?  May we not see the frankincense in the purpose “holy and without blemish”?  May we not see in the risen and ascended Christ “far above all” the pledge that we too are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ”?  However broken and divided the church may appear to the human eye, we too may contemplate by the eye of faith, as in the presence of God, the “one body” (Eph.iv.4), and comprehend with “all saints” the love of Christ.  Our inheritance is as inviolable as that of Israel, and we too have as the ground and base of this perfect presentation (Eph. v. 27) the “offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Eph. v. 2).  For us no type or symbol is necessary.  “The bread of presence” is expressed for the church once and for ever in the blessed words, “Accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. i. 6), and “Made meet” (Col. i. 12).

#58. The Tabernacle. The ark and the mercy seat (Exodus.xxv.10-22).

     The first item of the tabernacle that is specified is the ark.  This is severally called:--

“The ark of the testimony” (Exod. xxv. 16);

“The ark of the covenant” (Numb. x. 33);

“The ark of the Lord” (Josh. iii. 13);

“The ark of God” (I Sam. iii. 3);

“The ark of the Lord God” (I Kings ii. 26);

“The ark of Thy strength” (II Chron. vi. 41);

“The holy ark” (II Chron. xxxv. 3).

     These seven titles are doubtless distributed throughout the Scriptures with that discrimination which we always find whenever we subject the Word to a careful examination.  For example, the title “The ark of the testimony” is reserved for the period covered by Moses and Joshua, whereas the title “The ark of the covenant” extends from Moses’ tabernacle to Solomon’s temple, from wilderness to kingdom.  We must leave the tabulation of these titles, with the added one “The ark of the God of Israel” (I Sam. vi. 3) and others, to those who may be able to spare the hours that verification and accuracy demand.

The   ark   and   its   contents.

     The ark was an oblong wooden chest 2-1/2 cubits long, 1-1/2 cubits wide, and 1-1/2 cubits high,  covered within and without with gold, and having upon it round about a crown of gold.  For the purpose of transport four rings of gold were fixed to the four corners, and two staves of shittim wood overlaid with gold were placed in the rings, and left there in constant readiness for the removal of the ark.  The shittim wood of which the ark was made is most probably that of the acacia tree.  It is mentioned, together with the cedar, the myrtle and the oil tree, fir tree, pine, and box, in  Isa. xli. 19,  and appears to be one of seven trees that indicate blessing:--

     “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary’ (Isa. lx. 13).

     Jerome says that the wood of the shittim tree affords long planks smooth and free from knots, and that it does not grow in cultivated places, or in any other place of the Roman Empire, except in the desert of Arabia.  It is intensely interesting to note that the LXX renders the word shittim wood xulon asepton = “incorruptible wood”.  The woodwork of the tabernacle was covered; it was designed for constructional purposes, and not for beauty, and the humbler office was fulfilled throughout by the shittim or acacia tree.  Where every detail is so specifically shown, and where the typical character of every item seems so apparent, we can hardly dismiss as fanciful that suggestion that the two natures “flesh” and “spirit” (Rom. i. 3, 4) are set forth by the wood and gold used in the construction of the ark.  Within the ark was placed, at different intervals of time:--

1.      The tables of the covenant.

2.      Aarons’ rod that budded.

3.      The golden pot of manna.

     The tables of stone are called “the testimony” and “the covenant”, and give their names to the ark.  These were the only articles placed in the ark when it was first made (Exod. xxv. 16).  The tables of stone originally given to Moses were broken by the angry law-giver at the sight of the people and the golden calf, and after having demonstrated that they had so soon broken the covenant into which they had entered, Moses prayed for the people:--

     “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.  Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin---;  and if not, blot me, i pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written” (Exod. xxxii. 31, 32).

     Passing over much that we shall have to consider later, we find the Lord restated the covenant, after bidding Moses to hew tables of stone like unto the first.  After the proclamation of His mercy and graciousness, the Lord in restating the covenant lays particular stress upon idolatry (Exod. xxxiv. 10-28).  Moses returned to Israel with the new tables of stone, and  Exod.xxxv.4  re-introduces the question of the tabernacle.  What we have to learn from this rather complicated parenthesis is the old lesson of the ages.  Before Israel actually received the tables of stone, they had broken them, and when Moses once more returned with the fresh tables of stone, he said in effect:  “Make an ark.  This covenant cannot be kept by you.  All that you can hope for is to have a system of types and shadows, and await the advent of Him Who alone can magnify the law and make it honourable.”

     The same story is found in  Genesis iii.  Man failed, and is shut up to the promised Seed.  Israel failed, and is shut up unto the faith that should afterward be revealed.  The important fact for us at the moment is that the ark contains the unbroken law.  It is fundamental to both doctrinal and dispensational truth that it should be so.  One cannot imagine, after a knowledge of the truth, the broken tables of stone being placed in the ark.  The ark speaks of a law and a covenant fulfilled.  Now the tabernacle and its furniture were shadows of the true or heavenly reality.  Two references from the Apocalypse will be sufficient to prove that the ark was a pattern of a heavenly reality:--

     “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant” (Rev. xi. 19).

     “Behold, the inner shrine of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened” (Rev. xv. 5).

     Following the former quotation came lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquakes, and great hail, which in turn is followed by the sign of Israel and the dragon (Revelation xii.).  Following the latter quotation we find the seven angels with the vials of wrath spoken of as a sign “great and marvellous” (Rev. xv. 1).

     This is the covenant of marvels, which God made upon the restatement of the covenant with Israel:--

     “Behold, I make a covenant:  before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation” (Exod. xxxiv. 10).

     Thus it is that the plagues which fell upon Egypt are repeated in the Revelation upon a grander scale.  They are aimed at the same idolatry and blasphemy, and are marked by the same hardening effect.  Little as we may be sensible of the fact, the whole controversy of righteousness and lawlessness, of Christ and Satan, is summed up in the first and second commandments.  The destruction of the Canaanites by Israel, their altars, images, and groves, was the only preservative against being enticed into making a contrary covenant with them.  The terrible judgments of the Revelation fall upon those who “had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image” (Rev. xvi. 2).  Idolatry was the outward visible sign of an inward and invisible apostasy.

     The sin of Israel, whereby they broke the covenant of Sinai, was exactly the same, idolatry (the golden calf), and their chequered history from the time of the Judges until the captivity in Babylon was one series of lapses into idolatry.  Man can have but one of two masters:  Elijah may call them Jehovah and Baal, and Christ may call them God and Mammon, while Paul may call them righteousness and sin, or God and Satan.  It is all the same, and whosoever serves not the one serves the other.  The ark with its unbroken law enthroned the Lord;  an ark with a broken law enthrones Satan.  The prophet Zechariah had a vision of this very travesty:

“… i see a flying roll;  the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits … everyone that stealeth is declared innocent according to it on this side, and every one that sweareth is declared innocent on the other side to it … Lift up now thine eyes, and see what goeth forth … This is an ephah … and, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead … This is wickedness ... Then . . . . . two women with the wind in their wings, for they had wings like a stork, and they lifted up the ephah . . . . . To build it an house in the land of Shinar . . . . .” (Zechariah v. 1-11, ?version?)

     Here we have the law definitely broken;  an ephah (a measure equalling about three pecks) instead of the ark;  a lid made of lead, instead of the mercy seat made of gold.  Wickedness within instead of righteousness, and two women with wings like those of an unclean bird to serve as cherubim, finally taking it back to its own resting place, Babylon.  A remarkable statement in Jeremiah leads us to understand still further the typical character of the ark:--

     “In those days (of Israel’s restoration) saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord;  neither shall it come to mind;  neither shall they remember it;  neither shall they visit it;  neither shall it be made again” (Jer.iii.16),

the reason being, according to verse 17, that the throne of the Lord will then be at Jerusalem, and therefore the type will no longer be necessary.

Priesthood   and   provision.

     Beside the two tables of the covenant, there were placed in the ark Aaron’s rod that budded, and the golden pot of manna.  The rebellion of Korah and Dathan, that foreshadows the great revolt against the Lord Himself, was followed by the command to lay up in the tabernacle, before the testimony, the rods of the leaders of Israel, among them Aaron’s.  On the morrow it was discovered that Aaron’s rod had budded, bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.  This symbol of life, while it confirmed Aaron in his office, pointed on to Him Who by means of resurrection hath an unchangeable priesthood.  The golden pot of manna was a constant memorial of the faithfulness of God in supplying all pilgrim needs until the land of promise was reached, and is a very real type of Christ.  Is it no comfort to us in our wilderness journey to know that beside the unbroken law, there is the reminder of that Priest Who ever liveth to make intercession for us, and of that faithfulness that has said no good thing will He withhold while we walk the pilgrim pathway?

     The golden ark with its crown, its unbroken covenant, its pledge of the ever living Priest, and its memorial of ever faithful care, was incomplete without the mercy seat that rested upon it.  Righteousness without mercy would not bring salvation to sinners:--

     “Though justice be thy plea, consider this, that in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation.”

     In the ark and the mercy seat, “righteousness and peace have kissed each other”.

The   mercy   seat.

     The mercy seat was made of pure gold, unlike the ark which was made of wood overlaid with gold.  Made of one piece with it were the cherubim with their wings stretched forth on high, and with their faces toward the mercy seat:--

     “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark;  and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I will give thee.  And THERE I WILL MEET WITH THEE, and I will commune with thee . . . . .” (Exod. xxv. 17-22).

     The N.T. word mercy seat in  Heb. ix. 5  is translated in  Rom. iii. 25,  “propitiation”, and is the word used by the LXX to translate the Hebrew word mercy seat.  The word mercy seat (kapporeth) is from the word kaphar, to make atonement.  Now whatever our conclusions may be as to the exact meaning of the word translated “atonement”, one thing is established, and that is that it is an essential part of the great sacrificial work of Christ.

     We endeavour in this series to avoid arguments that are complicated, or that necessitate too close an investigation into the originals, and as we hope to give the doctrine of the atonement a careful study in the series headed “Redemption”, we leave the controversial side alone in this article.  If we were asked what ideas came to the mind at the mention of the mercy seat, we should probably say, something to do with atonement, acceptance, or forgiveness.  All these are true, but they are not the primary truth.  This atonement is necessitated by our sins, but what is the object before us which necessitates the removal of the barrier, sin?  We may receive a precious lesson from the very first statement made concerning the use of the mercy seat.  To Moses the Lord said, “There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee”.  Fellowship and communion, these are the real objects;   all else but makes a way.

     I will meet. — The words to meet mean “to meet by appointment”, and the Hebrew word enters into one of the names of the tabernacle, viz., “the tabernacle of the congregation” (Exod.xxvii.21).  It is translated “to betrothe” in  Exod. xxi. 8, 9,  and “agreed” in  Amos iii. 3.   It will be remembered that the tabernacle number was given as number 5, and 5 times in the book of Exodus does the Lord speak of the mercy seat, or the altar, where the blood was shed that sprinkled the mercy seat, as the place where He would meet Moses, and the children of Israel  (Exod. xxv. 22;   xxix. 42, 43;   xxx. 6, 36).

     The meeting place, a beautiful symbol of the result of the atonement, contains within itself the ideas of entrance, access and acceptance.  A most interesting and helpful suggestion of the fulness of this meeting with God is contained in the LXX rendering of the word “meet” in these passages, where the translation reads, “And I will make Myself known to thee from thence”.  The knowledge of Himself and His ways are made known there.  Knowledge in the Scriptural sense is far removed from mere scholarship, valuable asset though that is.  Asaph learned this lesson, and recorded it in  Psalm lxxiii.,  for when he went into the sanctuary of God he understood that which before he could not discover.

     I will commune. — The Hebrew word dabar, which is translated “commune” 20 times, is translated “speak” 814 times, so that while we lose an apparently spiritual idea by giving up the deeper word “commune”, we in reality gain by using the commoner word “speak”, for instead of thinking of set occasions, and for specially holy purposes Moses heard the voice of the Lord, it was here at the mercy seat that every word was heard, every instruction given, every problem settled.  Here it was that the Lord “spake (dabar) with Moses face to face, as a man speaketh (dabar) unto his friend” (Exod. xxxiii. 11).  Here it was that the Lord “talked” with Moses (Exod.xxxiii.9):--

     “When Moses was gone into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of One speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, and he spake unto him” (Numb. vii. 89).

     Who will have the temerity to decide that the meaning of the last clause should be written, “and He spake unto him”, or “and he spake unto Him”?  Is it not the very essence of this meeting place that both should speak;  Moses speaking with God, and God speaking with Moses?  Is not this “communion”?  To speak with God, and to hear His word, before the blood sprinkled mercy seat?  Truly we have yet to learn of burnt offerings and sin offerings, offerings to make atonement and peace, yet are they not all with the very object to remove all barriers and unfitness so that, unhindered, we may enter into the presence of God, to “meet” with Him and to have this “communion”?

     So important is this somewhat forgotten aspect of the result of atonement, that the word dabar was used as a name for the holiest of all, and appears in the word “oracle” (II Sam. xvi. 23), and in the slightly modified form (debir) in sixteen other passages in the O.T.  The mercy seat, though associated with the work of atonement, is essentially a place of fellowship, and the hearing of the word of God.

     The references to the mercy seat (kapporeth) in the tabernacle are 26 in number, and those who have Dr. E. W. Bullinger’s Number in Scripture will find examples tending to show the connection of the number 13 and its multiples with the subject of atonement.  These 26 references to the mercy seat are divided into three groups:--

1.      Those in Exodus which speak of the actual making and placing of the mercy seat.

2.      Those in Exodus and Numbers that refers to it as a place of meeting and communion.

3.      Those in  Leviticus xvi.  which deal with the great day of atonement.

     The references in  Leviticus xvi.  are seven in number.  What was the actual origin of the day of atonement?  The sin and death of Aaron’s two sons Nadab and Abihu.  These men offered strange fire before the Lord, and were destroyed:--

     “Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is that the Lord spake, saying, I WILL BE SANCTIFIED in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified” (Lev. x. 1-3).

     Leviticus xvi.  begins with the words:--

     “And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died . . . . . Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark;   that he die not.”

     The words “at all times” mean “just at any time”.  Aaron and his sons were becoming too familiar, and made certain religious conventions necessary.  It is the habit of the superior person to sneer at conventions, but with some natures they have their place, and while set forms, solemn ritual, and ceremonial may degenerate into superstition and empty formalism, they have their place.  The solemn ritual of the day of atonement, and the restriction of access to the high priest once every year, would have the tendency to hallow the name of God and prevent that unholy familiarity that was evidently developing.  And so there is the washing of the flesh, the linen clothes, the sin offering and the atonement, the incense and the seven times sprinkled blood.  The words of the wise man are very appropriate here:--

     “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools;  for they consider not that they do evil.  Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God:   for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth:   therefore let thy words be few” (Eccles. v. 1, 2).

     The cherubim [which are so closely associated with the mercy seat as to be made “of the matter of the mercy seat” (Exod. xxv. 19 margin)], have been dealt with in the series Redemption, both in connection with the cherubim themselves, and in connection with the original office of Satan, and though we do not pretend to have exhausted the teaching of Scripture, we can say nothing more to profit at the end of an article.  May the four simple features brought before us in connection with the ark and mercy seat be a blessing to us:--

1.      An  unbroken  covenant.

2.      An  undying  Priest.

3.      An  unfalling  supply.

4.      A  place  of  fellowship  and  communion.

     “And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ … If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John i. 3-7).