Illustrations for NOW: Tabernacle Part 2

Just a carrying-on point from last week - we have to remember that the Bible doesn't actually say anywhere what the standards of the children of Israel were (the Eagle, Ox, Lion, Man thing). Sometimes we can find allusions to the relation between Reuben and Man, Dan and Eagle, Judah and Lion, Ephraim and Ox, for example in Gen 49v9:

Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Yeah so those verses (what Jacob said to Judah before his death) could allude to Judah having a lion as his 'standard', but nothing is stated anywhere...But it's a pretty cool would-be-nice =) [Apparently Josephus, a historian from Jesus' time, referred to the whole Judah-lion, Reuben-man etc thing, but even was about 1000 years after (I think) so that's not proving anything]. If you're wanting the chapter where it talks about the formation and the standards, it's Numbers 2.



We looked at who went where when the camp moved off too. The Ark moved first, and then the tribes, with Levites carrying bits of the tabernacle, went too, something like this:
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
GERSHONITES (with tabernacle)
Reuben
Simeon
Gad
KOHATHITES (with Holy things from tabernacle)
Ephraim
Manasseh
Benjamin
Dan
Asher
Napthali

Some of that may be wrong, but I'm in a hurry cause Kirsty wants the blog before the end of the week.. so can you please correct me in the comments? =) merci =)

Layout of the Camp
The priests and Levites probably stayed either in the middle of the camp, or at the corners (between the tribes, if they had kinda equal parts along the sides (so each side was split into 6, and the tribes had 3 of them, and the Levites had little boxes in the corners.) We thought the in the middle (between the Tabernacle and people) was a little more likely, because Levi means 'Join' - so they were kind of joining the people and God's worship together?

And a little flashback to the whole tribes thing - Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who got a tribe each - this was because Jacob had chosen Joseph to be his firstborn, and firstborns got a DOUBLE PORTION (*click!*)

The tabernacle walls were above man height, so with not being able to see in, and the Levites being between the people and Tabernacle, the people were really quite separated from the Tabernacle. This is a nice little type for us - we can't SEE what's going on in heaven with Jesus and God, but that doesn't mean it's not there and it's not happening. The people weren't allowed to enter the Tabernacle, so their worship was in their everyday lives - following the Law in everything they do (it covered all the everyday stuff like food and washing too). So our worship isn't just a Sunday thing, it isn't saved for when we go to the meeting, it's to be a central part of our lives, just like the Tabernacle was in the MIDDLE of the camp. The priest would meet the congregation at the door to take the sacrifices to be burnt and do the judging etc. Jesus IS the door (He actually says 'I am the door') so we don't need a priest to come and meet us anymore - He is every role in one, and through Him WE can access the Most Holy (which before ONLY the High Priest could enter once a year.. that's pretty special!)

The Tabernacle wasn't a particularly grand structure, it wasn't showy - from the outside it was a bunch of skins, nothing special to look at. Our worship doesn't have to be grand and spectacular either, but it does have to always be with us, wherever we travel.

So why are we looking at the Tabernacle? Is it just a nice wee brain walk or is it meaningful to us? WELL. Heb 9:19-23 helps us on that
19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
This is all about everything that went on under the Law (the sacrifices etc) which includes the Tabernacle (which was where everything went on and also was a big part of the Law). The tabernacle is a 'pattern of things in the heavens'(23) - the tabernacle gives us an idea of the order of things in heaven, God's dwelling.