THE MICROCOSM OF THE TABERNACLE

John 1:14

And the word … dwelt among us

What does the Tabernacle teach us? Let me now take you on a journey to the feet of Jewish sages who have pondered the question for hundreds of Years.

Many have suggested that as he built the Tabernacle, Bezalel saw it as a microcosm of the creation of the universe. Here is how it works. King David describes the first day of creation when God created the Heavens and the Earth using the following words, "stretching out the heavens like a tent" (Ps. 104:2). So we find that a curtain (similar to that of a tent) was stretched out above the Tabernacle. The colors of the material used also corresponded to the colors of sky and earth. On the second day of creation, God made the firmament as a separation between the waters above and the waters below. Similarly, in the Tabernacle there was a curtain separating one part from another. Just like on the third day of creation God gathered the waters into one area, in the Tabernacle there was also a designated place to gather water in a basin. Corresponding to the luminaries created on the fourth day, we find the menorah with its lights in the Tabernacle. On the fifth day of creation, God created the birds. Similarly, there were birds brought as offerings on the altar of the Tabernacle. And corresponding to the creation of man on the sixth day, the service in the Tabernacle was led by the High Priest. The Torah describes how the work was completed on the seventh day of creation and how that day was blessed and sanctified by God. The idea of the Tabernacle was to make a place for Hashem to live on earth. It represents therefore the restoration of all things to the day when the voice of ADONAI could be heard in the Garden of Eden.

Some have also viewed the Tabernacle as a microcosm of the human body with the Ark as the heart of a person and the cherubs with their wings over the Ark as the lungs that spread out around the heart. They saw the table with the showbread as a person's stomach and the menorah with its oil lamps as a person's mind. The frankincense reminded them of the sense of smell and the water basin of the fluids in the human body. Finally, the curtains were to them a person's skin and the beams represented the ribs. Jewish sages taught that every person is a microcosm of the entire universe just like the Tabernacle.

Jjust like it is the light of the world and of the body, the goal of the making of the Tabernacle was for the light of the Shekinah to come dwell within it, and thus within Israel (Exod. 25:22). ;. As farfetched as these musings may seem, we can’t help but realize that our Jewish sages were on the right track in their understanding of the Tabernacle. After all, did not Paul say that to their advantage, the Jewish people had been entrusted the oracles of God (Romans 3:1-2)? As the spirit of God came to fill the earthly Tabernacle, so it filled the earthly ‘tabernacle’ of the human body of the person of Yeshua who is the representation of the presence of God among us, in God’s created universe (Heb. 1:3; John 1:4; 8:12).

As we study these things, may we look forward to the time when Messiah will once again walk the earth among us.

May it be soon Abba, even in our days!

THE OIL OF THE SHEKINAH

From the time of its introduction to Israel, the world has been rich in speculations concerning the seven-branch candelabrum of the Tabernacle. Since He hasn't told us what its seven mysterious lights are about, studies abound with Menorah enthusiasts desirous to fill this knowledge void. They may all be right, they may all be wrong. Hashem certainly has a way of teasing our curiosity.

From their position in the tabernacle, the menorah lights shined on the twelve loaves of the bread of presence representing the tribes of Israel. Agreeing with Jewish sages of the past, Yeshua not only informed us that He was the light of the world, but that His disciples were also the light of the world (John 8:12; Matthew 5:14). In the words of Jewish sages, the Hebrew word 'or' which stands for 'light', not only refers to physical illumination, but also to mental understanding and mostly, spiritual enlightenment.

The menorah was fueled by scented oil specially prepared for that purpose (Exodus 25:6). In the mouth of the Torah sages, this oil represents our earthly works of obedience to Hashem's commandments. In telling us 'let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5;16), the Master encourages our obedience to Torah in a way that it becomes a light bearing witness to God in the world. In that 'light', the Master's parable of the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom becomes 'clear'. They all had the 'light', but without the oil of obedience the five foolish virgins' lamps quit burning exposing the shame of their dark spiritual state in which they could not face the bridegroom.  

Scholars taught that Hashem's shekinah (indwelling presence) rests on His children like the wick of an oil lamp. To burn bright and strong this wick not only needs to be trimmed, but also deeply immersed in oil. May our lives provide this oil that the presence of God in us through the agency of His Mashiach may be seen and felt by all, providing light and warmth to the very dark and cold world around us.

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

John 9:5

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Adonai said to Moses, "You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. …. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel (Exodus 27:20-21). This lamp was a seven branch candelabrum called: the Menorah. This Menorah was to be perpetually lit in the first chamber of the Tabernacle usually called the holy place. In the letter to the Hebrews, this chamber was also called the ‘first’ (In Hebrews 8:13, the word ‘covenant’ was added in the text by KJV editors thus changing the context of Hebrews 9; that is why it is italicized in KJV Bibles) in front of the ‘second’, the Ark’s chamber (Hebrews 9:7) which represented the very presence of God.

When the Temple was built, this lamp was again placed in the ‘first’, right in front of the ‘second’. The Aaronic priesthood alone had the charge to care for it, to make sure it was perpetually lit, but all of the people had the charge to provide the oil; in this way, all of Israel was represented before God and had a part in being the 'light of the world' in Jerusalem. Now, without a temple the command cannot be performed, but in the days of the Third Temple the practice will again resume since it is a ‘forever’ commandment given to Israel (Exodus 27:21).

In the mean time, the Menorah is charged with messianic symbolism. Several prophets and servants of God were privy to enter the Father’s throne room. The first one we know of is Moses who was asked to reproduce what he saw and therefore to put this seven-branch candelabrum in the room in front of the Ark (Exodus 25:40). The last one we know of is John who wrote what he saw in the following words, And between the throne and the four living creatures … I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God … (Revelations 5:6).

Yeshua well proclaimed ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5)  Yeshua is now with the Father, and He also told to His disciples, "You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

We are on a mission. We who proclaim the Name of the Messiah, the Almighty’s Agent of redemption, have a role to perform, a duty to be the Menorah or the ‘Light of the world’. When He was on earth, the Light of Messiah shone for all to see. He did not hold back no matter how dangerous it was. Now the staff (the baton) is passed on to us and we must also perpetually let our light (the Light of Messiah in us) shine before others, so that they may see our 'mitzvot' (good works of obedience to Torah) and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). 

As the light of Messiah, we stand as His representative to the world. When the day of reckoning comes, may we not be found to have hid our light under a bushel (to have been a believer in secret for fear of man), but through obedience, to have set it on a candlestick for all to see (Matthew 5:15).