Lesson 29: Now - How Am I To Worship God? (4)

In this lesson we look at the order of events in tabernacle worship. We know the first two have been completed by Christ: He has become the sacrifice for our sin, and He is the one who cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The altar in the tabernacle was for sacrifices for sin, but it was also for bringing sacrifices of praise or thanksgiving or completion of a vow. These sacrifices the priests would attend to on a daily basis, and were corporate in nature. Then, the priest would turn toward the tabernacle itself for individual service. Before entering the tabernacle, however, the priest must first wash his hands and his feet at the laver. This reminds us of the night Jesus was betrayed when He was eating with His disciples and He stopped to wash their feet. He told Peter that he did not need a bath, showing that the cleansing was something other than salvation; it was the cleansing from unrighteousness that occurs in our daily lives as Christians.

When the priest entered the tabernacle itself he took care of the candelabra, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense. The candelabra is light, and God called us as Christians the light of the world. In this case the priest is serving alone, so the picture is of service we do along with God – service of allowing the light to enter us, of maintaining it by polishing or refilling, and by doing the rest of the tasks by its illumination. We as Christians do this by reading the Word, putting it into ourselves and allowing it to light our way.


The next service was tending to the bread. Since, again, this is a solitary task, it speaks of our meditating on the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. We must take time to eat and digest all that we have taken in from the Scriptures.

The last service in this first part of the tabernacle was the altar of incense. In the Scripture incense refers to prayer. Therefore, this is daily time with God in prayer.

Behind the altar of incense was the mercy seat, separated by a veil. At Christ's death this veil was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), telling us that every priest now has immediate and intimate access to God's mercy seat. What had been an annual function of the high priest alone now had become an as-needed access to every priest. This mercy seat is intimate communication with God. It goes beyond prayer to both speaking and listening with God, to sharing your heart with Him and He shares His with you.

*How do you spend personal time with Jesus each day?