_Sabbath School Summary

By ELDER DR MASIMBA MAVAZA

The Tabernacle

_Lesson 13_

Memory Text: “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. . . For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys” (Exod. 40:34, 38, NKJV).

Introduction

The principal task of God’s people in the Old Testament (as well as for us today) was to live in close relationship with the Lord; to worship and serve Him; and, also, to present the right picture of God to others (Deut. 4:5-8).

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid from God because their sin made them afraid of Him. Sinfulness makes humans naturally afraid of God, and this fear twists our view of His character.

The good news is that God takes the first step to span this rift and, on His initiative, He repairs the gap and the broken relationship.

He calls the sinner back to Himself: “ ‘Where are you?’ ” (Gen. 3:9, NKJV).Thus, our primary mission is to present the correct character of God and His loving and righteous acts to those around us.

When people are attracted to God and are convinced of His unselfish love toward them, they will give their lives to Him and obey what He tells them to do, knowing that it is for their own good.

The sanctuary demonstrated God’s closeness to humanity and revealed the greatest truths to them, which is how He saves those who come to Him in faith

SABBATH

The sinner does not find joy in holiness. So, when our first parents, Adam & Eve, sinned, they sought to hide from God’s presence.

All children of God, those in the OT times & us today, are called to dwell in God’s presence, to have a close relationship with Him.

We are to worship & serve Him, & portray a good image of our Lord to others (Deut. 4:5-8). God has repaired the gap sin created between Him & man & calls to the sinner, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). Our core duty is to be witnesses of God.

The Sabbath of the Lord

SUNDAY:

Our devotion to God demands that we keep the Sabbath. The creative & redemptive acts of God can be seen in the OT Sabbath message: 1. God is the Creator (Gen. 1:1; 2:2, 3; 20:8-11), 2.

The Messiah will come, 3. God will establish His kingdom & the Sabbath is a foretaste of it, 4. Salvation comes from the Lord, & 5.

God is the ultimate Judge of all men. The Sabbath was kept before any Jew (Gen. 2:1-3) or before the Jews heard of it in Sinai (Exod. 16:22-29).

It was always part of the Hebrew life.

Offerings and the Spirit

MONDAY:

“Stop giving! We have more than enough!” (see Exod. 35:4-36:7). Moses had to halt donations for the tabernacle because the people willingly gave more than enough resources.

They gave gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, olive oil, spices, unique fabrics, precious stones, etc. Tailors made garments for the priests.

God blessed Israel with gifts from the Egyptians & now they freely gave offerings.

God’s Spirit equipped men like Bezalel & Aholiab for the work. God empowers us/His men, for mission.

The Tabernacle Built

TUESDAY:

Moses built the tabernacle after a pattern which was shown to him (Exod. 36:8-39:31). It had: 1. different fabrics, curtains, & parts; 2. the ark; 3. the table of showbread; 4. lampstand; 5. the altar of incense; 6. the altar of burnt offering; 7. the basin for washing; 8. the courtyard; 9. materials used for the tabernacle.

The services showed 1. how God hates & deals with sin, 2. how he saves repentant people, 3. the fate of the wicked, & 4. how God will secure a future free from evil. There was the daily & yearly service (Lev. 16, 1 John 1:7).

God’s Presence in the Tabernacle

WEDNESDAY:

When the tabernacle was completed, God’s glory filled it. It was visible as a cloud, the Shekinah glory (Exod. 40:1-38).

The dedication of the tabernacle climaxed the events of Israel at Sinai. God’s glory is His holiness, character, & loving presence (Exod. 3:5; 33:18, 19).

Moses consecrated Aaron & his sons as priests (Exod. 40:9, 13-15, Num. 7:1, Lev. 16:2, 17). Creation & the sanctuary are linked; God will dwell with the saved (Rev. 21:2, 3; 22:1-4, Gen. 2:1-3, Exod. 40:33, 1 Kings 7:5).

Jesus Tabernacled With Humanity

THURSDAY:

The Son of God came into our midst to dwell with us. He was a real man.

Yet, He was God in the flesh.

The incarnation is a mystery which will be our study throughout eternity (John 1:14).

Jesus here is similar to the God of the OT who dwelt with the Israelites in the tabernacle at Sinai, in the wilderness journey to the Promised Land.

That’s, Jesus “tabernacled” with humanity. If 2 or more are gathered in His name, He’s there by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 18:20, Rev. 3:20; see Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22).

Further Thought

FRIDAY:

The building of the sanctuary followed Israel’s redemption from Egypt and God’s establishment of a covenant relationship with His people, defining how they would relate to Him and each other.

The tabernacle served as a meeting place where God and humans could connect after this redemption.

Ellen G. White explains that the sanctuary services taught the people about Christ’s death and the ultimate purification of the universe from sin.

—Ellen G. White, “The Tabernacle and Its Services,” pp. 353–358, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Keywords

_OT- Old Testament__Daily service- Through the daily sanctuary services, God assured those who repented that He forgave their sins and graciously offered them salvation.

To receive this gift of salvation, a sacrifice had to be made, and these sacrifices pointed to the death of the Messiah, whose blood “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7, NKJV).

Confession of sin and accepting the robe of Christ’s righteousness were at the center of this gift (Ps. 32:1, 2).

In this way, the repentant sinner was assured forgiveness and could rejoice in salvation.

Yearly service- The yearly service, performed on the Day of the Atonement, demonstrated how God eradicates sin, solves the sin problem, and secures the sinless future (Leviticus 16, John 1:29).

Presently, Christ’s twofold ministry in the heavenly sanctuary is another expression of God’s work for us (Heb. 7:25) and will bring the final solution to the problem of evil (Dan. 7:13, 14, 22, 27; Dan. 8:14; Rev. 21:4).

Worship in the Sanctuary

The sanctuary was a place for worshiping God, praising Him, and giving thanks.

Worship is about maintaining one’s relationship with God, who invites believers into that fellowship.

Installation of the Tabernacle

Moses set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month in the second year (Exod. 40:2, 17). He also consecrated everything—including Aaron and his sons to the priesthood (Exod. 40:9, 13–15)— with anointing oil.

He went through the Most Holy Place, the Holy Place, and the courtyard, dedicating it all to the Lord.

Through this process, he inaugurated the services for the whole sanctuary.

Dedication of the Tabernacle-God’s filling the tabernacle with His presence (Exod. 40:34) was the grand climax to events that began with the birth of Moses and continued with the defeat of the Egyptian gods during the 10 plagues, with the escape from Egypt, with the defeat of the Egyptian army, and, finally, with God’s revelation on Mount Sinai.

The Most Holy Place- Only during the inauguration of the tabernacle was Moses able to enter the Most Holy Place; thereafter, the high priest alone could minister there each year on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:2, 17).

Creation & Israel’s Sanctuary

On three occasions, the biblical text states that the work was finished: (1) at the end of Creation week, God underlines the completion of His creative works (Gen. 2:1–3); (2) on the completion of the tabernacle, the biblical text declares: “So Moses finished the work” (Exod. 40:33); and (3) it also is expressed when Solomon finished the work on the temple (1 Kings 7:51).

The New Jerusalem

The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven to the earth, and God will tabernacle with us.

There is no temple in the New Jerusalem because the whole city is the temple, God’s sanctuary.

The city’s length, breadth, and height are equal, as it was with the Most Holy Place in the sanctuary, which was in the shape of a cube, with all sides equal.

For eternity, in a world without sin, death, or suffering, we will dwell in the immediate presence of our God.

Discussion Questions

📌 Central to the worship services in the sanctuary was the shedding of blood. All sorts of animals were sacrificed, and their blood was used in almost all the temple rituals. What did the blood symbolize, and what did all these sacrifices ultimately point to?

📌 However amazing it is that God, the Creator of the universe, would in the sanctuary dwell among His people, how much more astonishing is it that He would come to dwell among us as one of us, a human being?

That itself would have been an amazing expression of love. But then to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin—that is, to die on our behalf?

What does this teach us about the character of God? Also, what does this teach us about how much God wants to see us saved into His eternal kingdom?

📌 Read Hebrews 8:1–6. What does it tell us about how the earthly sanctuary reflected what Jesus is doing for us now in the heavenly sanctuary?

𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧.