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Understanding The Bible |
W. W. Rugh,
Bible Institute of Philadelphia
40 Page Printed Devotional Guide
1st Edition 1912
The Gate.
The only opening through the hangings of the Court of the Tabernacle was
the hanging made of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, which hung at
the east end of the Court. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, and
was supported by four brass pillars with their brass sockets, and silver
chapiters, hooks and fillets. Exodus 27:16.
Under this Gate, any or all the people of Israel might approach into the
Court of Jehovah, who dwelt in their midst.
Though God is fundamentally, absolutely, and eternally holy and righteous in all
His ways. He is also the God of infinite compassion, the God of love and mercy,
the God of all grace. It was His love that opened the Gate and said "Come unto
Me," to Israel and to us. Matthew 11:28.
For us, the Gate is a type of Christ as the Way, the only way that
God has opened for man to come to the Father. John 14:6.
The Gate was made of four colors, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.
The blue, the color of the atmospheric heavens encircling the earth, is
typical of Christ as the heavenly One, the Son of God who is in the bosom
of the Father, who came down from the Father's bosom that He might bring us into
the place from which He came. John 1:18; 14:3; 17:23, 24; 20:31.
The purple is the royal color, the color of kings' garments, and is
typical of Christ as the royal One, the King of Israel, as revealed in
Matthew's gospel. Matthew 1:1; 2:2.
The scarlet, the color of blood, typifies the suffering, sorrowing,
sympathizing Savior seeking and saving the lost, as revealed in Luke's
gospel. Luke 19:10.
The fine linen, ever a type of righteousness, Revelation 19:8, in the
Gate is typical of Christ as the righteous, faithful Servant of God's
grace, as revealed in Mark's gospel. Mark 10:45.
The Gate upheld by its four pillars of brass is thus a type of Christ as He is
revealed through the four gospel writers.
From this we learn that no man can come to the Father without a knowledge
of the historical Christ who came to earth and actually accomplished the work of
redemption. John 17:3; Acts 4:12.
But how could a sinful people come acceptably under this Gate into the
Court of the Holy One of Israel? Only as sinners, could they come,
confessing that they were guilty before God, by bringing their
trespass-offerings or sin-offerings. The sinner who sought acceptance before God
because he had reformed, or "turned over a new leaf," or because of his good
works, found that his bloodless meal-offering, like Cain's, was not accepted.
Genesis 4:3-7; Leviticus 2.
The first step God-ward which the sinful Israelite might take was thus to
acknowledge that he was a sinner by coming under the Gate with his sin-offering.
If he obtained favor through the acceptance of his sin-offering, then he might
offer a thank offering, which was either a peace-offering, a meal-offering, or a
burnt-offering. Leviticus 1, 2, 3.
The first acceptable step, therefore, which a sinner can take toward God,
is to repent, to acknowledge, or to confess that he is a sinner, dead in
trespasses and in sins. Matthew 21:28-32; Luke 7:29, 30; Ephesians 2:1, 4.
Repentance means a change of mind, with reference to sin, self, and God.
It is an act of faith, the result of a conviction inwrought by the Holy Spirit
through the preaching of the gospel. John 16:7-11; Romans 10:9-18. True
repentance affects the mind, the heart or the emotions, and the will of man. The
Holy Spirit through the gospel causes men to think of God, of themselves, and of
their sins which separate them from God, and thus He causes them to feel their
lost condition and also to be sorry for their sins. At the same time, the Spirit
seeks to persuade men by the word that God loves them and longs to forgive them
for Christ's sake, if they will only acknowledge their guilt and turn
from their sins to God. Psalms 32:1-5; Isaiah 55:7; I Thessalonians 1:9. When a
sinner yields to the convicting and constraining powers of the Holy Spirit, and,
falling before God as a
sinner, cries like the publican, "Oh God, be merciful to me, the sinner,"
he will quickly learn what it is to be saved by grace through faith. Luke 18:13,
14. R. V.
By W. W. RUGH, Associate
Dean, Bible Institute of Pennsylvania
1418 N. 16th Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
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