Monday Meditation
May 30, 2016
From the desk of A.J. Higgins
Continually
“And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before Me alway” Exodus 25:30
“.. to cause the lamp to burn always” Exodus 27:30
“A continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle” Exodus 29:42
“He shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” Exodus 30:8
“It shall be always upon his (Aaron’s) forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord” Exodus 28:38
Running throughout the narrative of the Tabernacle construction and its sacrifices and services, there is the theme of things that were continual, always, to every generation. There were offerings and offices that were never to know interruption.
At the entrance to the tent there was a continual burnt offering with its meal offering. Never was there the absence of that smoke ascending to heaven. There was never an occasion when an Israelite came into the court that he did not see the results of a victim on the altar. There was never a time when a priest moved from the court into the holy place that he did not pass by and recognize that his entrance was as a result of the brazen altar’s sacrifice.
In fulfillment of the picture, there is never a moment when the value of Calvary is not before God. He is in constant appreciation of the wonder and worth of that singular work. Our entrance into the holy place is eternally guaranteed because of that work.
Once inside the holy place, the shewbread was always there. It reminded him that God was always feeding on what he would enjoy on the Sabbath. There has never been a moment from a timeless eternity past that God has not feasted on Christ. The bread was always before the Lord.
Then there was the lampstand whose light was never to go out. In the outer court, natural light prevailed. In the holiest, the glory of God lighted the chamber. But here, in the holy place, the lampstand gave its light. There was always to be light for men in the sanctuary. Christ is that light. Our life in the “sanctuary” (Heb 8:1, 2), will never lack light.
In the holy place was an altar of incense. Christ our Great High Priest, is continually making intercession for us. A perpetual incense rose from the holy place heavenward as a reminder of the unceasing interest and care of Christ for His own. There is never a moment when He is not representing us and caring for us at God’s right hand. And that care is likened to incense with all its sweetness and fragrance.
Moving in the precincts of that holy place would be a high priest. He required vestments and garb to fit him for his office. Our High Priest does not need garments. His genuine humanity and His work at Calvary have given Him all the fitness needed to be our Priest. Aaron wore a plate of pure gold with the engraving “Holiness to the Lord” (Ex 28:36) fastened to the mitre on his forehead. That guaranteed the acceptance of the people of God before the Lord. Our acceptance, the acceptance of His people, needs no mitre or plate of gold. He is pure gold Himself and he is absolutely acceptable to God; and we are accepted in Him – continually, to every generation!
Consider:
Think of other aspects of the tabernacle and its service which were marked by the words “always,” “continually,” and to “every generation.”
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