THE PARABLES OF JESUS, #037
A Chronological Study
 

"To Him who opened His mouth in parables and
uttered things hidden since the creation of the world."
Psalm 78:2

Symbols And Metaphors
About
Jesus The Messiah

INTRODUCTION

RECAPPING THE REJECTED STONE
THE TEXT

Our last lesson concerned the Parable of the Landowner and the Murderous Tenants. This parable brought up a number of questions about how Jesus uses parables, metaphors, and similes to communicate His important messages to His disciples. He does that, as we’ve discussed a few times already, to communicate different messages to different groups who are listening to Him.

We’ll move away from Jesus’ Parables for much of this lesson and concentrate on places in the Old Testament that provided important information about Jesus as the Messiah as we saw in the last parable “The Murderous Tenants.” Verses found in Psalm 118 and Isaiah 5 gave us very important prophetic information concerning Jesus that was very comforting to Jesus’ disciples and very antagonistic to the Scribes, Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees.

We’ll focus, for the most part, in this lesson on information found in the Old Testament book of Exodus as God, through Moses, sets down plans for the building and functioning of God’s dwelling place on earth – The Tabernacle in the wilderness during Israel’s time of wandering.

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD

But first, let’s take a look again at the end of the study of “Isaiah’s and Jesus’ “Parable of the Vineyard.” Isaiah prophesied a “song” that God had given him to demonstrate how God had created the nation of Israel using a metaphor based on a Vineyard.

Isaiah 5:1-7

Isaiah tells the religious leadership of his time:

 

Let me sing now for my well-beloved.

 

These first two lines of his song tell us that Isaiah is now going to sing this song FOR HIS BELOVED – God Almighty.

 

A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.

 

That song which he will sing to the nation will be all about a vineyard that God has planted (a metaphor) that represents what God has done for the establishment of His covenanted nation Israel. Israel represents the struggle of the ongoing plan that God has for mankind who will believe exclusively in Him – In the Hebrew Faith this was called the “Shema.”

“And he said unto him,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind.”
       Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The Song

 

“My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.”

 

Isaiah’s “well-beloved” was Almighty God and He, the owner of the earth, owned a wonderful place on the earth that He had set aside for a Vineyard. He had set this place aside because it was specifically on “a fertile hill” – what a great place to establish a Vineyard. Now think about the message that is being revealed. This vineyard will be the “Promised Land” that He promised to Abram (Abraham). For God’s purposes this land was placed upon a “fertile hill.” Thus this is a metaphor for a place to set them as a nation where their desires to serve the Lord God would prove fertile and multiply greatly.

 

“He dug it all around, removed its stones,”

 

In God’s preparation of this Vineyard, He dug all the rough ground and removed all the troublesome stones from that land. Again, as the roots of this metaphor God had given them a special blessing that would result in the establishment of this nation as an easy establishment.

 

“And planted it with the choicest vine.”

 

God’s establishment of this nation, through Abraham, was to prove productive – God is here telling us that from His viewpoint, the work of the nation – the evangelization of the rest of the world for the growth of those who would “love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all their soul, and all their minds” was planted with the choicest men and women to accomplish that.

 

“And He built a tower in the middle of it”

 

We should be able to see that even through the time of the Wilderness Wanderings, that God Himself resided among His people and kept a watch over them – He was “The Tower in the middle of the Congregation.”

 

“And also hewed out a wine vat in it;”

 

Now you should see that if you wanted your vineyard to be successful – then you would definitely need to have a place to store your fruit storage… otherwise calling yourself a vineyard… wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

 

“Then He expected it to produce good grapes,”

 

Isaiah then sings about God’s expectations of the Nation of Israel would produce “good grapes” – Effective yield of souls who are turned from self and sin to turning to “loving the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all their soul, and all their minds!”

 

But then Isaiah reveals:

 

“But it produced only worthless ones.”

 

Isaiah’s revelation then tells that the Nation of Israel, after all that God had done for it, “only produced worthless product!”

 

Then God interrupts Isaiah’s song about His Beloved…

 

“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard. 

The Question God leaves for the Hebrews of 775 years before Jesus uses His Parable of the Vineyard is… “Look what I have invested in the Hebrew People, and look at what they have done with my vineyard.” And God asks them, and all those who followed reading God’s Word – “Judge now, between Me and My vineyard.” In Isaiah’s time that question would have seen the generations of infighting of the nation, they would have seen the advancement of the nation of Assyria, the captivity of the split off northern tribe into a spiritually rebellious new nation of Israel and the now growing nation of Babylon who would come and take Assyria and Israel into captivity, and drag most of their people off into foreign lands, many to become slaves. “Look between what I had done for them, and what that they have done – growing apart from me.”

Still in Isaiah’s time – God responds with the following questions placed to that nation.

“What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?”

 

We could ask ourselves that question, “What more could God have done to encourage Israel from working according to their calling?

 

“Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?”

 

And there is the question we all need to diligently seek answers for – because what was wrong with Israel needs to be understood by His people of today… in order to avoid such spiritual destruction in their lives that deprive them of God’s Salvation through His graceful gift through His willing servant Son in bringing forth the Salvation from Sin and the Adoption of Sons (men, women and children) becoming beloved and entitled physical children of our Almighty God for all of Eternity.

 

For the Israelites, God says… and before we go there, let me remind you that this version of this parable was written by Isaiah, some 770 years before Jesus began His earthly ministry. These are the words that would be effective upon Israel and Judah until Jesus began His public ministry.

 

“So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:

 

I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed;

I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.

“I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up.

I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

 

Why?

And then Isaiah speaks:

 

“For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the men of Judah His delightful plant.

Thus, He (God) looked for justice,

but behold, bloodshed;[He (God) looked] For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

 

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THE TABERNACLE OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS
Exodus 25:1-23

What you ask, “now we’re going to go back to the beginnings of the Bible and the Nation of Israel? Yes, because the building of the Tabernacle was the first in-depth revelation of the purpose to reveal much about the One who was to come in the Name of the Lord who would finally be revealed as the Jewish Messiah, The very Son of God who would come here to the earth as a God-Man and make His Father’s plans for the salvation of the men and women, boys and girls, whom God has chosen and called to be those persons who would be the physical humans who would take their place, for all of eternity, as the adopted members of God’s family to take His mission and word into eternity – eternally separated and saved from the effects, guilt and penalty of sin.

The building of God’s Tabernacle was God’s way to reveal and place into a regular system of their culture so that they would, as a nation, have to work with all the taught lessons from the Tabernacle that would explain God’s plan and His Person who was going to come fulfilling the prophecies – already made and a future one to be made – concerning the “Anointed One of God,” The “Messiah of God,” and “The Christ of God.” As those terms became part of the generations of the Nation of Israel, both Old and New Testament.

You see, the Tabernacle was made up of “parts,” posts, curtains, various precious metals, wood, wool, animal skins, etc., and every little piece has a descriptive tie to the qualities of the Messiah that was to come. This is a brief summary study. There is so much more to the imagery.

BUT FIRST, SOME DETAILS

The Tabernacle has at least five names in scripture.

1. Sanctuary - Set apart for a Holy God – and set apart for us to learn of God’s Son.
2. Tabernacle - A dwelling place for God while He is among them and a foreshadowing of the Son of God “tabernacling” among His chosen people.
3. Tent - a Temporary Dwelling place and a body for God’s Son for His stay here on earth to accomplish His ministry, death, and the beginning of His new “Church.”
4. Tabernacle of the Congregation - For a God who would meet with His people and communicate with them.
5. Tabernacle of Testimony - For a God who testified to Israel and the world of His existence, Truth, and Glory.

THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE

This was the courtyard that surrounds the Tabernacle.

It was Approximately 175' by 90' or twice the size of our sanctuary! And it’s purpose was to provide a hidden space for the practice of substitutionary animal sacrifice that would teach the Messianic message that one would come and give His substitutionary sacrifice of His own life for each and every person who would willingly believe in Him and: love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

There was a white linen fence around the courtyard, it was approx. 9' high, so it was too high for sinful man to look or climb in nor could they crawl in… for judgment met him in the Brass sockets which held the supports for the courtyard rails.

There was only ONE WAY in, The Curtain of Entry, For Jesus says: "I AM THE WAY"  THE WAY TO FORGIVENESS. This is the One and only door - like the Ark of Noah. This single doorway into the Tabernacle was on the East side – For Christ was Crucified on the eastern side of Jerusalem.

Colors of the door curtains:
Blue - Heavenly
Purple - Royalty
Scarlet - Blood
White Linen - Purity

Only this ONE DOOR, One way to God -  into the Tabernacle, through the courtyard, into the Holy place, and into the Holy of Holies... Christ is there...

THE SURROUNDING FENCE
175' by 90' (540' around) by 9' high. The White Linen speaks of Christ and His Walk, spotless and Holy. The Wood Posts, holding up the White Linen, speak of His humanity, plain and Earthy. The Brass (copper) Sockets, speak of Judgment. These items speak together of the fact that Man has been judged and found wanting. The Fence and Curtain keep him outside and away from the presence of God, were it not for that which has been provided for within...

THE BRAZEN ALTAR
First, we face the BRAZEN ALTAR - CHRIST OUR JUSTIFICATION - The substitutional sacrifice, the animal, was brought into the courtyard by it's owner, accompanied by a Priest with a knife. The knife was handed to the owner and it was he who cut the throat of his animal, it's blood both poured out on the ground and a portion saved to be sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat of God in the Holy of Holies - then the b ody cut up for burning on the altar, and the man was released - the animal was the image of Christ, Sacrificed like the Messiah would be in place of us. Christ would be Judged and made to be sin FOR US. This altar was made from Wood (Humanity, Christ's) overlaid with pure Gold (Deity, Christ's) and the firepit grill from forged Brass to deal with the hot flames (of Hell).

THE BRAZEN LAVER
Next, we face the BRAZEN LAVER. This was a washing place with constantly refreshed water (Christ's offer of Living Water) for the washing of hands and feet for service at the Altar (The Priesthood of Christ our Mediator). CHRIST OUR SANCTIFICATION - Christ Cleanses us by the Water of the Word. Christ makes one fit for God's presence by the Washing in His Blood. The Laver was Completely made of BRASS, for Judgment is God's business, and God's business alone.

It was there that the Priests washed their hands and feet. It was not only their Work that needed cleansing, but their Walk as well. There's no mention of the man who brought his sacrifice - perhaps he was made to go home covered in the blood of the one sacrificed on his behalf.

THE TABERNACLE ITSELF
A walled small building with two rooms, approx. 52' by 15' by 21' high. Made up of 20 wood boards, on each side, covered in pure gold. The wood boards spoke of His humanity, and the covering of pure gold spoke of His deity.

Each board rested on two Silver Sockets which spoke of Redemption, and which separated the Gold Covered boards from the ground which spoke of Christ’s humanity being separated by the Gold that spoke of His humanity but separated, not from the sinful seed of the man.

Over the Tabernacle was a roof made of animal skins. There was Badger. It had no comeliness on the outside as Christ was described as having no comeliness on the outside… that we should desire Him.

There was holy Ram skin dyed red - a Holy Animal who was Obedient unto Death. And Goat skin, The Sin offering Animal, and the Scape Goat who was sent out of the city.

INSIDE THE TABERNACLE

Inside there are TWO ROOMS and inside EVERYTHING was either covered with Gold or made of Gold with No Spot or Blemish. Like all the sacrifices – required to be without Spot or Blemish – certainly Jesus, the God/Man was without sin (spot or blemish).

How different the inside from the outside! On the outside there was just a man who was nothing remarkable to observe, but inside was a most remarkable loving God-Man who would die for every man, woman, boy, and girl in order to bring them salvation. How different the Appearance from the Real!

And genuinely…How interesting that the items inside the Tabernacle were laid out in the form of a CROSS!

Let us now begin our walk through the TABERNACLE and scrutinize each item and find REAL meanings for those things which appear only as shadows to those who look no further.

A. FIRST, THE HOLY PLACE, The first of Two Rooms.

Jesus Said: "I AM THE TRUTH" - The Only Way to Blessings. It was the ministering place of the Priests. It’s Entry way was closed off by a second curtain on five pillars.

The CONTENTS

1. THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK
"CHRIST OUR LIGHT"
It was made out of Solid Gold - The Perfect Light of Christ. It was about the size of a Man and had 7 branches and shaped like an Almond Tree – Christ the "Perfect light and revealer of Truth."

2. THE TABLE AND SHEWBREAD
"CHRIST -  THE PLACE OF FEEDING, AND THE BREAD OF LIFE"
It was Approx 40" by 21" and 30" high – It was made out of Wood (humanity) covered with Gold (Deity). It was called, "The Table of communion." There were no chairs – not a place to sit, but a place to serve. The bread was carried through The Wilderness W/O falling - "They shall not pluck them out of My hand"! The Bread was sprinkled with Frankincense – the pleasant fragrance of intercession. This bread was in loafs, 12 of them. Each one representing one of the Covenanted Tribes of Israel

3. THE ALTAR OF INCENSE
"CHRIST - OUR INTERCESSOR - The Great High Priest" after the Order of Melchizedek.
It measured approx. 21" square and 3 1/2' high and speaks of the universality of Prayer for all are loved – Christ is our Intercessor. This altar has carrying rings attached to it - Take Prayer with you where ever you go.

B. THE INNER PLACE   THE HOLY OF HOLIES   CHRIST HIMSELF
For Jesus Said: "I AM THE LIFE."
He is The Only Way into God's Presence. The High Priest, Once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), enters in for the Sins of the People with the Blood Offering and sprinkles it upon the Mercy Seat (the Angel covered lid of the Ark of the Covenant – The Throne of God the Christ where He now sits in heaven. This room is Closed off by a third Curtain… A hand's breadth in thickness, hung on 4 pillars. Until Christ's death it was a hindrance between man and God, both Spiritually and Physically, only the High Priest allowed once a year. That inner Veil was rent by God the Father at Christ's death (Heb 10:19 20) - Through Messiah's death (Christ's death) the way to God was now open and no longer barred by sin.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT - GOD'S EARTHLY THRONE "CHRIST HIMSELF"
It measured about 4' by 3' by 3' high and was made of wood overlaid with Gold – representing the Hyperstatic Union of this God/Man. And inside this Ark was:

1. THE LAW (The Standards of God)
2. THE MANNA (The Provision of God)
3. ARON'S ROD THAT BUDDED (The Sustenance of God) and Jesus’ birth – The "Root out of Dry Ground" - The Virgin Birth.

THE GOLDEN MERCY SEAT - OUR  PROPITIATION (in 2 forms) "CHRIST OUR SATISFACTION & CHRIST OUR PLACE OF SATISFACTION"
This was made out of Solid gold - beaten out of one piece. As said before this is an image of the Throne of God where the substitutional sacrificed animal’s blood (Jesus blood) was sprinkled once a year at the High Holy Day, Yom Kippur, “The Day of Atonement,” This would enable God to cover the sins of the High Priest and the people on the Basis of what Christ would eventually do on the Cross 1,500 years later... Bring them forgiveness for their sins. There were Cherubim Angels at each end of this seat - heads bowed - hands and upper wings covering eyes - lower wings touching walls of tabernacle - "hovering over the Seat of Mercy." The Shekina Glory (the visible Glory of God) dwelled between the Cherubim (Smoke by day, Light by night). The Mercy Seat is the Cover or lid of the Ark to keep man from experiencing "THE LAW" and dying from a terrible judgment; Man is unable to "keep" the LAW.

Thank God, Christ our Mercy Seat, for it COVERS OVER the LAW and Protects us from judgment.

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CONCLUSION             

So then, this completes our Walk through the Tabernacle. It is my hope and prayer that while there, you have seen Christ. For as He has said, "I am the Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

FOLLOW-UP:

Instead of questions on this lesson, please review this document and consider those things that represent Jesus Christ through illustration, metaphor, or simile – and write down the qualities represented there of our Savior, Jesus The Christ.

 

    

Also See:

Introduction to the study of Typology

Christ In The Tabernacle - AncientPath.net

Christ In The Tabernacle - W. W. Rugh

Typology in The Tabernacle, Priesthood and Offerings