Reading the Old Testament for me back in the days was honestly an uphill task. I would in particular read ‘certain’ books and leave out the rest, either because I didn’t understand them and frankly speaking, I didn’t want to get in touch with the nitty gritty of how it went down back then. Then there’s also the point that I saw the New Testament as ‘most’ important and relevant because that’s where we read about Jesus, how He was born, walked this earth, died for our sins, resurrected from the dead and how His disciples started the spread of the gospel. I thank God that now I get to understand that every book of the Bible is equally important, and we need to read them all so that we can co-relate both the Old and New Testament.
I have been studying the book of Exodus in the Journey Through The Bible series and I must admit its incredible. What fascinates me the most is that there is absolutely nothing that God does that doesn’t have a meaning or purpose, its all connected. The last time I read Exodus was in 2021 and I remember reading about how God gave Moses’ instructions on building the Tabernacle, Ark of covenant and everything else as a by the way, shallow – not paying any attention at all. I am sure I am not the only one who has done this! To me I was like okay, so the Ark, Tabernacle were made, moving on swiftly, on to the next chapter! But reading it now, I love how God gave Moses exact instructions on how The Tabernacle and everything needed was supposed to look like. So, Let’s rewind and go back a little bit, Exodus gives us the story of how the Israelites left Egypt a land where they were slaves for over 400 years through a mighty showdown of God’s power and they are now a Nation. However, they have no rules no regulations and they don’t even know how to worship the God who just saved them, so God had to start from somewhere. He reveals Himself to the people, calls Moses up the mountain and he stays there for 40 days and 40 nights and while there, Moses is given details of how the Tabernacle should look like amongst many other things.
The Tabernacle was divided into three (3) areas, The outer courts, The Holy Place and The Most Holy place, Exodus 26:1-37. The outer courts was where sacrifices were made and it consisted of the alter made of bronze, wash basin the meat forks etc. Everyone (men & women) could enter the outer courts, when they wanted to present their offerings and sacrifices. Next was The Holy place where the golden lampstand and the table of showbread were placed and here only the priests were allowed to come in. The Priests were supposed to tend to the golden lampstand and make sure its light never went out. Then finally we come to The Most Holy place where the Ark of Covenant was placed and where the presence of God was, between the two mighty Cherubim’s facing each other on top of the Arks cover, also called seat of atonement or mercy seat. Only the High Priest could enter the most Holy place once a year, on the day of Atonement to atone for the sins of the Nation of Israel.
How relevant is The Tabernacle to us today or what lessons can we learn? As I mentioned earlier The Tabernacle had 3 major areas, Outer courts, Holy Place and Most Holy Place. As I was reading and learning about the Tabernacle, I felt a word drop in me, in your journey as a believer, where can you place yourself? Are you in the outer courts where everyone who calls themselves a Christian is? All you do is follow Christian traditions and celebrations, but they don’t really mean anything to you. You go to church as a formality, but you don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ. You are what we call tag along kind of Christian, for you anything goes. You will keep up with what the world is doing to keep yourself relevant in your friend circle.
Next is The holy Place: For some of us, we are in the holy place, you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and you have a relationship with Him, however you still worry and hold onto to things instead of releasing them to The Father. Doubt clouds your judgement every time you’re hit with seasons of hardship & trials – like the disciples in the boat Luke 8:24-25 you ask, “Master Master, am going to drown! Where are you?” Just like how God instructed the priests to tend to the light so that it never goes out, once you accepted Him, His light was lit inside you through The Holy Spirit and He will never leave you nor forsake you, do not fear.
Then finally we have The Most Holy Place: during the time of Israel’s wanderings in the desert, The presence of God was here – Most Holy Place. This should be our hearts desire, to yearn for His presence, to hear His voice and to do His will. That His Holy Spirit will be our guide and lead us through peaceful streams, renew our strength and guiding us along right paths, bringing honor to His Name. Our desire for Him should be so much, that we become so engrossed with His presence such that even when you walk through darkest valleys, you are no where near being afraid why? Because He’s with you, He’s got you!
Yes, reading through Exodus and the different animal sacrifices might seem irrelevant, but if you dig deeper, you realize that the wages of sin is death, but God accepted the death of the animal in exchange for the sinner. The blood of the dead animal symbolized that a life had been given in exchange for another and this continued until Jesus Christ died on the cross. The animals sacrificed had to be spotless and without blemish to symbolize Jesus Christ, The Lamb of God who is spotless, without any sin or iniquity. He took our place and His death symbolized that a life had been given in exchange for another – He took our place so that we should not die but be re-united back to God our source of livelihood. We no longer need to do any animal sacrifices. Let’s go even further, remember how the curtain in between the Holy Place and Most Holy Place was torn into two after Jesus died in Mark 15:38? It symbolized that we can now go directly through to The Father – The Most Holy Place and Jesus is now our High Priest, interceding on our behalf. You see how it’s all connected?
God’s desires that we get to learn about Him and the only way to achieve this is by reading His Word – The Bible to learn His character and personality which has never changed from Genesis all through Revelation. As we celebrate Easter, may you desire to move closer to God and accept Him for He died for you and I. If you’re in the outer courts, strive to move into The Holy Place, and if you’re in The Holy Place, strive to move into The Most Holy Place. Remember, draw near to God and He will draw near to you James 4:8.
Happy Easter and God bless you!!
Cynthia Gitonga Blog 