Category: Tabernacle and Temple

Silent Building #6

Saturday, December 6, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

The Apostle Paul gently rebuked the Corinthians for their building pagan philosophy into their lives: “[12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; [13] Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. [14] If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. [15] If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

In Paul’s epistles alone we find our doctrine, duty, walk, and destiny; outside of Romans through Philemon, we find Israel’s doctrine, duty, walk, and destiny. According to the book of Proverbs (3:13-15, 8:10-11, 8:19, 16:16, and 20:15), gold, silver, and precious stones are related to spiritual wisdom, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual understanding. If we are to have spiritual wisdom, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual understanding in this the Dispensation of Grace—doctrine that is well pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ—we must go to Paul’s epistles, to the doctrine Jesus Christ spoke to him for him to then write to us.

Christendom’s constant push to “go back to Pentecost” and its persistent cry to “go by what Jesus said” (the Four Gospels), is a disregard for the new revelation that Jesus Christ gave after His earthly ministry and after Pentecost. The Holy Spirit said through Paul, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more” (2 Corinthians 5:16). Now, we know Jesus Christ according to His heavenly ministry, Paul’s ministry. Will we submit to God’s current building plans, or, like the Corinthians, will we continue to do whatever we want in religion…?

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What does ‘my kingdom is not of this world’ mean?”

Silent Building #5

Friday, December 5, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 3: “[9] For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. [10] According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. [11] For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Scripture is quite clear that we need to “take heed how [we] buildeth thereupon.” Beware! Beware! Beware! The Apostle Paul is “a wise masterbuilder,” the “chief architect”—the ascended Lord Jesus Christ gave him the blueprints of what He is doing today. If we go anywhere else in the Bible but Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, we will miss God’s blueprints for today, and we will thus build something God is not building. We will be using the wrong materials, placing those materials in the wrong place, thus weakening the structure, and so on. The “preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25), He is the foundation. We only read about this “mystery” (secret information) in Paul’s epistles.

If we do not “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), we will not recognize Paul’s special apostleship and ministry to us. As the builders of Solomon’s Temple were ever so careful to handle their instructions and their materials (today’s Scripture), we too are working. Are we following the directions God gave us through Paul? Are we using “gold, silver, precious stones?” Or, are we using “wood, hay, stubble?” Are we using God’s Word rightly divided, or worthless materials such as church tradition, human wisdom, and non-dispensational Bible verses? It will make a difference in the structure we build in our lives….

Silent Building #4

Thursday, December 4, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

In this the Dispensation of the Grace of God, the God of creation is doing something unheard of prior to the salvation and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Rather than forming the nation Israel, He has postponed that prophetic program, information “spoken since the world began” (Acts 3:21). Now, He has begun a mystery program, information “kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest [in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon]” (Romans 16:25,26). God is not continuing what He did with Israel, but has started a “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15), a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), the Church the Body of Christ.

If we fail to make even this most basic distinction between the Church the Body of Christ and the nation Israel, we have no hope whatsoever in understanding the Holy Bible. Unless we take the time to see that Paul is “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), and that his epistles, Romans through Philemon, are God’s message to us non-Jews being saved apart from Israel and her program, we will never know what God is doing with us today and never know what He wants us to do today.

We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 3: “[6] I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. [7] So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. [8] Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. [9] For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”

Again, God is doing a silent work, work that starts in our inner man and then manifests itself in our daily activities. Let us allow God’s spokesman to us, to delineate the materials we can use to work with Father God today….

Silent Building #2

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

Long ago, beginning with Abraham, God set the Jews apart to be His special people (Israel became a nation in Egypt). Letting the Gentiles go their way of ignorance (Romans chapter 1), He dealt solely with the nation Israel (Romans chapter 2). Beginning with the Ten Commandments (Exodus chapter 20), but throughout the Old Testament, JEHOVAH God constantly warned Israel not to pollute herself with false doctrine. He was building her into a marvelous nation, His kingdom of priests to reach the (Gentile) nations. Israel was not to sabotage that plan by forsaking Him and following pagan idols and bad doctrine.

Moses, just before dying, advised His people in Deuteronomy 4:1-2: “[1] Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. [2] Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

Simple! Simple! Simple! Israel was not to add and not to take from God’s Word. Israel did not listen. Before we point fingers at Israel, professing Christianity has added to and taken from the revelation the ascended Jesus Christ gave to the Apostle Paul, Romans through Philemon. They are not content with God’s grace as Paul presents it; they toss that away. Instead, they prefer everything He gave Israel—water baptism, tongues, tithing, miraculous demonstrations, Sabbath day, rules and regulations, angels, and so on.

When Solomon’s Temple was being erected (today’s Scripture), it did not go up haphazardly. Its elements fit together perfectly. Lest we upset God’s perfect plan for us the Church the Body of Christ, we are not going to carelessly use worthless building materials, elements that do not belong there and will actually weaken the structure….

Silent Building #1

Monday, December 1, 2014

“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” (1 Kings 6:7 KJV).

God is doing something similar today, very quietly too….

We normally associate construction sites with very loud noises—jackhammers, front loaders, drills, hammers, cranes, dump trucks, et cetera. Yet, today’s Scripture says that the builders of Solomon’s Temple (960 B.C.) were knowledgeable about geometry and masonry to the extent that they chiseled out stone blocks at the quarry and transported them to the building’s foundation, fully knowing that these stones would fit perfectly with each other! There was no hammer or axe or other iron tool heard at the Temple Mount; JEHOVAH’S house was literally erected silently! (I wonder if any architect or construction worker today could manage such a massive project so quietly?).

Ephesians talks about how God is silently building another house for Himself. Solomon’s Temple was built and destroyed centuries before Christ’s earthly ministry, but, today, God can be found in something other than a man-made structure. We read about this in Ephesians 2:19-22: “…[20] And [ye] are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; [21] In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: [22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

The “preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25,26)—His death, burial, and resurrection as the fully satisfying payment for our sins (Romans 3:24; Romans 4:24,25; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—is the means whereby God is building a new house. Hence, Christians are called “an holy temple in the Lord” and “builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Notice how verse 21 says that we are built in Jesus Christ—like the stones of the Temple, “fitly framed together” (meaning, “organized compactly/neatly;” cf. Ephesians 4:16).

Let us delve deeper into God’s blueprints for this new temple….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #9

Monday, June 30, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Daniel 9:26,27 says, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease….”

Firstly, the Holy Ghost moved the Prophet, 600 years in advance, to predict Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Secondly, Daniel foretold that “the prince,” someone after Messiah (a false Messiah), would arise and make a covenant with “many” (chiefly Israel, but probably with her Middle-East enemies also). The Apostle John indicates that this “one-week” covenant, or peace treaty, is actually a week of years (that is, seven years; see Revelation 11:3 and Revelation 12:6, which divide the seven years into two 1260-day periods).

There has not been a Jewish Temple operating in Jerusalem since A.D. 70 (when the Romans destroyed it), so the Antichrist will rebuild it and resume the sacrifices as commanded in the Old Testament (which sacrifices God forbade after Jesus Christ’s “once-for-all” sacrifice of Himself; Hebrews 10:1-31). Israel’s believing remnant will recognize the Antichrist’s religion as satanic, but the rest of Israel will be duped, captivated by its “godly appearance,” thinking they are serving JEHOVAH (after all, the Antichrist will be quoting Moses’ books as proof of his religion’s “godliness!”).

Halfway into those seven years, the Antichrist will force all sacrifices to cease (Daniel 9:27, quoted above). As Paul wrote, he will then sit in the Temple, “shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The Antichrist will demand worship (Revelation 13:1-18), and just as Abel refused to convert to Cain’s “sacrificial system,” so believing Jews will decline to partake of Antichrist’s wickedness. Hence, we read about the saints “beheaded for the witness of Jesus” (Revelation 20:4; cf. Revelation 6:9-11).

While we have merely scratched the surface, let us summarize this devotionals arc….

A Prophet in the Wilderness #5

Friday, June 13, 2014

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1,2 KJV).

Why is John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness?”

John the Baptist’s message to Israel was simple, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (today’s Scripture). Israel was to “repent”—change her mind about JEHOVAH, to remember God’s covenant with her, to acknowledge her failure to keep that covenant, to quit thinking like the Gentiles and to stop serving Satan and his evil world system. Israel’s confession of sins in the following verses was to acknowledge her breaking the Old Covenant, Law (see Leviticus 26:40-46). John’s water baptism was the means whereby Israel was cleansed of her idolatry, equipping her to become JEHOVAH’S kingdom of priests (Ezekiel 36:25; cf. Exodus 19:5,6).

Israel’s conversion was urgent: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand [near]” (today’s Scripture). In the near future, Jesus Christ would be baptized of John, thus manifesting Himself as Israel’s Messiah-King (John 1:31). Israel’s long-promised kingdom (foretold through the Old Testament prophets) was soon to be established.

Most of Israel’s priests were entangled in spiritual error, so John’s ministry was out in the wilderness, far from the Temple, far-removed from Satan’s religious system. This arrangement ensured John’s converts would be pure, untainted by the evil world system that had deceived Israel previously. God’s people would hear God the Father’s message about His coming Son and Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, from John the Baptist (see John 1:6-34)—it was a message unadulterated by Israel’s satanically-inspired priesthood.

The lesson we can take from this is simple: the same pagan religious system that gripped Israel still pervades Christendom, so we do not appeal to clergymen, denominational teaching-bodies, preachers, catechisms, creeds, seminarians, bulls, et cetera. We should go to the Apostle Paul (Romans through Philemon) to learn what God has to say to us Gentiles, just as the nation Israel was to go to John the Baptist to learn what God had to say to them. Thus, we will be a pure agency for the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:1-33).

A Prophet in the Wilderness #4

Thursday, June 12, 2014

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1,2 KJV).

Why is John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness?”

Over 700 years before Christ, the Prophet Isaiah wrote of John the Baptist: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3; cf. Matthew 3:1-11; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18).

The Prophet Hosea elaborates regarding Israel’s restoration to God: “[JEHOVAH speaking] Therefore, behold I will allure her [Israel], and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her…. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi [“My Husband”]; and shalt call me no more Baali [“My Master”]. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever… Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (Hosea 2:14,16,19,23).

John was preaching in the wilderness to fulfill prophecy, but why did prophecy have him preaching in the wilderness? John’s purpose is described in Luke 1:16,17: “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him [the Messiah, Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Through John, God the Father (John 1:6) was calling Israel away from the apostate, satanic religious system that had so gripped and entrapped her, the system that her religious leaders—those “vipers” (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7), those spiritual children of Satan (John 8:44)—had placed upon her and with which they led her away from JEHOVAH’s truth (Matthew 15:1-14).

In order to become JEHOVAH’S wife (Hosea’s prophecy above), Israel had to forsake her idols and vain religion (the center of which was the Temple). The Gospel of the Kingdom that John preached in today’s Scripture was Israel’s chance to escape Satan’s bondage and become God’s chief nation in the earth….

A Prophet in the Wilderness #3

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1,2 KJV).

Why is John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness?”

John the Baptist’s father Zacharias was a Levitical priest (Luke 1:5ff.), so John should have followed his father in serving in Israel’s Temple twice a year. Yet, the Bible never says John ever served as a Temple priest. Instead, Scripture says of young John, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel” (Luke 1:80). In fact, today’s Scripture says that John the Baptist, now about age 30, began his ministry in the wilderness. In order to understand John’s peculiar ministry, we need to be mindful of the spiritual condition of the Temple.

The Tabernacle—from King Solomon onward, the Temple—was the hub of Israel’s religious system: there, her priests served JEHOVAH, the Ark of the Covenant rested, and her male Jews visited three times a year. That building was highly important because it was the place where JEHOVAH manifested Himself to Israel: hence, it was called “the house of the LORD” (Exodus 23:19 et. al) and “the house of God” (Ezra 3:8 et al.). Jesus Christ called it “my house” (Matthew 21:13) and “my Father’s house” (John 2:16).

However, Israel’s religious leadership defiled JEHOVAH’S pure Temple, and thus His nation, in various ways. According to Malachi 1:8, her priests offered in it sick and lame animals (which God forbade in Deuteronomy 15:21)—a main theme of Malachi’s message is Israel’s corrupt priesthood. Micah 3:11 spoke about Israel’s priests who taught for “hire.” Isaiah 29:13 (which Jesus quoted to describe the apostasy in His own day; Mark 7:6,7) mentioned how the Jews “have removed their heart far from [JEHOVAH], and their fear toward [Him] is taught by the precept of men.” Religious tradition was venerated, and God’s Word (the Old Testament scrolls) was largely ignored. Sound familiar?

So, God the Father had sent John into the wilderness to call Israel away from the apostate Temple….

Having the Zeal of the LORD

Sunday, May 25, 2014

“And the disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (John 2:17 KJV).

May we rely on our Lord Jesus Christ, that His zeal may always consume us as it does Him!

A Christian emailed me, replying to our March/April devotionals arc, “A Heart Transplant for Israel:”

“Excellent study! Can’t help but think about today’s Christian. Those that have trusted Christ have indeed had ‘heart surgery’. But there are some who could use a stint or bypass to get the blood flow healthy again. Sadly many have lost their zeal for The Lord & have forfeited Godly joy, peace, & contentment for the lies of this world.”

Indeed, today’s lukewarm Christianity is in trouble (especially younger generations such as mine). Unfortunately, many Christians have surrendered: they are tired of the opposition and criticism, and have failed to pass on God’s Word to younger Christians (cf. 2 Timothy 2:1-4). While this world is most certainly hopeless—it is headed for the seven-year Tribulation!—we Christians need not cower in fear. Beloved, the mighty Holy Spirit of God worked in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will unquestionably work in and through us just as mightily if we take the time to study and believe our King James Bibles rightly divided (1 Thessalonians 2:13)!

Jesus Christ had become so consumed with, so passionate about, God the Father’s will, that He was delighted beyond words. The verse previous to today’s Scripture says, “And [Jesus] said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise” (verse 16). The apostles remembered Psalm 69:9, a Messianic Psalm that Jesus had just fulfilled (“For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”). God purposed His Temple to be His dwelling-place, not some marketplace where people overcharged and swindled others in His name. So, Jesus cleansed the Temple, literally running out these thieves using a whip (John 2:15)!

Beloved, may we rely on Jesus Christ’s faithfulness, to have His zeal to proclaim His message of grace to this lost and dying world, and to be “zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14)! 🙂