Valuable: A Pattern
And He says to them [the religious elite], "It has been written, 'My house will be called a house for prayer.' But you make it a cave for robbers." (TENT - Mt 21:13)
Matthew 6:9-13
O Father --ours! O One in the spiritual realms [of YHWH], Your Name/identity/reputation be seen as pure.
Your Rulership come and Your will come to be, as in Heaven, so on earth.
Give us this daylight for our next day's bread, and forgive us our debts [wrongs/failures], just like we forgive our debtors [those wronging/failing us], then You would not carry us into testing.
Instead, pull us away from the bad thing/bad one/ [and] our bad.
v. 13b - [For the Rulership and the power and the influence (of YHWH) are Yours into the ages (of YHWH). It is so.]
(TENT - Mt 6:13b) Italics of vs 13b above are not original to the prayer. To see what this later addition might have obscured, go to We Don't Pray the Lord's Prayer
The Four-Way Pattern
Way One: YHWH's House of Prayer
King David said - Your Way is in the Pure Place, O YHWH! (Ps 77:13)
The first thing on this page (after its title) is Matthew's quote of Yeshua quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures. There is a connection between Yeshua's quote (see at top and the "Lord's Prayer" below it, both as they are translated in The TENT. The prayer Yeshua prayed as an example for His students is also an example for every local gathering of His believers. Wherever they meet, YHWH's House, or household/family, is there. Prayer is to be its lifeblood. Without prayer directed by His Spirit, the group will eventually become a "cave for robbers."
Without prayer there is no communion with God nor fellowship in the Spirit of YHWH among His children, though appearances may seem to the contrary. Where the true Body is lukewarm, the false Body grows. Where self-examination and judgment are lacking, error and deception spread until the flames of apostasy are mistaken for those of revival.
Is there hope for a harlot church that would rob God? Judgement begins at the House of God. I believe whether a nation stands or falls depends on the health of the Body of Messiah among its citizens. Does a nation's own citizens pray for it regularly, begging for a spirit of repentance to wash their land? A nation needs citizens who don't rob God, instead, who give Him his due in obedience and in offerings, in repentance and doing right, with sincere prayers and intercessions, and in testimonies of thanks and praise.
For them is reserved the Way into the Purest of Pure Places, where we find rest seated with Him and in Him, in spiritual places. God gave this Way for us to follow. The plan for God's Way was given to Moses in the wilderness, and to David for his son to build a Temple in Jerusalem, and to Yeshua, who, for all people in the world, embodies YHWH's House (Hebraism: family) of Prayer, the "Way" into YHWH's presence.
While using the N2LR method to translate the Lord's Prayer, I noticed that one line in the Lord's prayer contained two things that are also found together in the Old Testament --light and bread. Because I was using the N2LR method to create The TENT Lexicon, I knew that the word "day" in the Lord's Prayer had at least as much to do with light as it does with time. And where do we find both light and bread together in the OT? In the Tabernacle. The lampstand provided the light and the table directly across from it held the bread.
Then I thought to check if the Tabernacle/Tent plan was mirrored by the rest of the Lord's prayer. I came to the conclusion that the Lord's Prayer was a spiritual plan of action having the same plan as the Tabernacle/Tent that YHWH commanded the Hebrews to make. This was YHWH's Plan enabling Him to dwell with them. It is the same Plan enabling us to live in Him.
For anyone unfamiliar with the plan of the Tabernacle/Tent of YHWH, the following is a brief summary:
YHWH revealed to Moses the plan of the Tent of YHWH's Witness with its priesthood and service. It was created as an outpost of Heaven in the physical realm, YHWH's home among His children. It portrays YHWH's requirements for true fellowship between human beings and Himself. Each aspect of it symbolizes a spiritual reality. The main aspects were represented by symbolic objects, seven in number. Symbolic objects were the mobile devices of their day, containing a world of meaning in a portable form.
Among those objects, the menorah (seven-branched lampstand) and the table for the "bread of the Face" in the Pure Place of the Tent of Meeting are the only two objects which face each other. Interestingly enough, they also stand at the endpoints of a line perpendicular to a line which intersects every other sacred object in both the tent and court. These lines form a cross and connect all the parts of a whole. King David said, "Your Way, O God, is in the Pure Place. (Ps 77:13)" (see many other OT verses about God's Way here as translated from the Septuagint by the TENT Lexicon.)
In the courtyard
From outside the outermost Tent enclosure looking inward, these sacred symbolic objects (the strange numbering will be explained later) were positioned as follows:
0) First, appointed priests and sacrifices entered in through the only gateway into the court of YHWH.
1) the Bronze Altar:
was for offering the lives of animals acceptable to YHWH for sacrifices, as God-appointed burnt offerings to cover sins.
Such a sacrifice for sin graphically illustrated, without having to actually kill humans, the supremely destructive spiritual consequences of human wrongdoing. Since these animals were the kinds used for food, they were valuable, but the Law of Moses assigned them to be burned, unlike many other offerings eaten by the priests or by the offerers. The whole burnt offerings were completely burned. The givers received no other benefit from them other than God's forgiveness and acceptance.
The price of forgiveness for a wrongdoing was borne by the one giving the animal. What YHWH's justice required was the giving of the prescribed animal, the person's admission of wrong to God by placing his hands on the animal's head, and the person's trusting in YHWH's promised forgiveness, all of which Yeshua fulfilled by His death and resurrection, all except the admission of our guilt to God which is still left for us to do.
2) the Laver:
was a large basin of water for the priesthood's cleansing from the defilement accumulated by living in the world, including from dealing with sickness, death and unclean spirits.
In the Pure Place
3) the Table for the Bread of the Face/Presence:
held the bread of the Face/Presence of YHWH and which bread was replaced every day since it was afterward for the use of the priesthood.
4) the Menorah (seven-branched lampstand):
gave light in the Pure Place by seven oil lamps, and was maintained daily by the priesthood through wick trimming or replacing, and oil refilling.
5) the Incense Altar:
for offering incense with intercessory prayers by the priest on behalf of the people of YHWH. The fragrant smoke of burning incense is a scriptural symbol for intercessory prayer. That fragrance was the only thing which might move from outside the thick heavy veil into the Purest of Pure Places. Aside from that, only the High Priest could enter into the Purest of Pure Places once a year with a bowl of blood from the yearly Atonement sacrifice made for covering the wrongs and failures of YHWH's people as a whole.
From outside the outermost Tent enclosure looking inward, these sacred symbolic objects (the strange numbering will be explained later) were positioned as follows:
0) First, appointed priests and sacrifices entered in through the only gateway into the court of YHWH.
1) the Bronze Altar:
was for offering the lives of animals acceptable to YHWH for sacrifices, as God-appointed burnt offerings to cover sins.
Such a sacrifice for sin graphically illustrated, without having to actually kill humans, the supremely destructive spiritual consequences of human wrongdoing. Since these animals were the kinds used for food, they were valuable, but the Law of Moses assigned them to be burned, unlike many other offerings eaten by the priests or by the offerers. The whole burnt offerings were completely burned. The givers received no other benefit from them other than God's forgiveness and acceptance.
The price of forgiveness for a wrongdoing was borne by the one giving the animal. What YHWH's justice required was the giving of the prescribed animal, the person's admission of wrong to God by placing his hands on the animal's head, and the person's trusting in YHWH's promised forgiveness, all of which Yeshua fulfilled by His death and resurrection, all except the admission of our guilt to God which is still left for us to do.
2) the Laver:
was a large basin of water for the priesthood's cleansing from the defilement accumulated by living in the world, including from dealing with sickness, death and unclean spirits.
In the Pure Place
3) the Table for the Bread of the Face/Presence:
held the bread of the Face/Presence of YHWH and which bread was replaced every day since it was afterward for the use of the priesthood.
4) the Menorah (seven-branched lampstand):
gave light in the Pure Place by seven oil lamps, and was maintained daily by the priesthood through wick trimming or replacing, and oil refilling.
5) the Incense Altar:
for offering incense with intercessory prayers by the priest on behalf of the people of YHWH. The fragrant smoke of burning incense is a scriptural symbol for intercessory prayer. That fragrance was the only thing which might move from outside the thick heavy veil into the Purest of Pure Places. Aside from that, only the High Priest could enter into the Purest of Pure Places once a year with a bowl of blood from the yearly Atonement sacrifice made for covering the wrongs and failures of YHWH's people as a whole.
Beyond the veil in the Most Pure Place
6) the Ark (container) of the Covenant:
held three sacred objects -
a) YHWH's commands on two stone tablets (joined later by the scrolls of YHWH's history and teaching through Moses).
b) a pot of manna as a reminder of miraculous provision for YHWH's people.
c) Aaron's rod that budded as a symbol for life-giving spiritual power and authority of priests and prophets anointed by YHWH's Pure Spirit.
These three objects symbolize the "true riches" from YHWH for His people: His covenants/laws and promises, His provision, and His power and spiritual authority through people He calls and anoints with His Pure Spirit.
7) the seat/throne of YHWH's mercy -
was the solid gold cover for the Ark of the Covenant. It was sprinkled with blood from a pure animal sacrifice once a year by the High Priest alone, a symbolic payment required by YHWH's justice so that His imperfect people could come under the protection of His mercy. In Exo 34:6, when "YHWH, YHWH the Mighty One" hid Moses in the rock and proclaimed the attributes of His own pure Name, "full of pity/merciful" was at the top of the list, and at the same time, justice was not forgotten - "...and the ones entangled [fig.: unrepentant] He will not cleanse. (Exo 34:7b The TENT Septuagint)" Only the High Priest was ever allowed to come into the Purest of Pure Places. He was the model for our mediator, the one who stands between us and YHWH, the One who has sprinkled His own blood on the Mercy Seat, and who intercedes for us before the face of God.
Way Two: YHWH's Seven Yearly Feasts
0). Seven yearly feasts were commanded by YHWH, but there is another feast that provides the pattern for all the other seven. The first holy day set aside by God was His Sabbath of rest from all His creating. God blessed the seventh day and saw it as pure (Gen. 2:3). All the other feasts commanded by God are also considered to be Sabbaths of rest whether they fall on the 7th day of the week or not.
After our Lord's return to reign on David's throne, there will be a new creation, to coincide with our entering into our promised rest, our eternal Sabbath. That last and everlasting Sabbath, full of love, joy and peace will fulfill the promise of the first Sabbath. We enter in through the gate of the sheep. Yeshua called Himself the gate for the sheep.
We have seen how the plan of the physical Tabernacle, YHWH's Tent of Meeting, mirrors our relationship with Him through Yeshua, our great High Priest. Now we need to see the same blueprint applied to the fabric of time, as a backdrop for YHWH's great plan of redemption.
This particular aspect of the pattern under investigation, YHWH's seven yearly appointed times, has been studied and expounded on in Christian circles for at least half a century. These sacred days are often called by gentiles the "Jewish Feasts." The Word of God does not call them that. Instead, YHWH's Word refers to them literally as "The Appointed Times of YHWH," or as they are commonly translated in English Scriptures, "the Feasts of the LORD." They are not limited to the Jewish people, but are for the enrichment of all those who "are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the ones-seen-as-pure, and of the household of God (TENT Eph 2:19)."
How can gentile Christians feel comfortable celebrating holy days that are foreign to them? All it takes is marking them on your calendar and when the day comes, remember what Yeshua did to fulfill it, or what He will do to fulfill the ones not yet fulfilled. Embellish them as you will, by little or much. The important thing to do is to remember His faithfulness to fulfill the first four appointed-times on their actual Hebrew calendar dates in the same year, which points to a considerable probability that He will do the same for the last three "appointed days." From Teruah/Trumpets to the end of Sukkot/Booths is only three weeks. The last thing He said in His Word was, "Yes, I come quickly! It is true!" This word "quickly" in the Greek NT does not necessarily mean "soon", but can also mean "suddenly".
English: Passover
In Exodus 12:21 YHWH commands the children of Israel when to "sacrifice the Passover." Mark 14:12 indicates that "the Passover" is killed and eaten. The Passover is the sacrificial animal. As Paul says in 1 Cor 5:7, "...Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
Passover is the first of the three pilgrim feasts on which Jewish males were expected to travel to Jerusalem if possible and present themselves before God at His House. On any pilgrim feast the Temple courts were full of worshippers, many thousands. His parents lost the boy Yeshua among the crowds during a Passover feast, only to find Him teaching the elders in the Temple court. The other two pilgrim feasts are Shavuot and Sukkot. For these feasts many sacrifices were offered.
The Greek word for 'sheep' is πρόβατον (NT4263), either an individual or a collective singular just as in English. The Greek word for a single 'sheep' is ἀρήν (NT704), but it only occurs once in the NT, as a plural indicating more than one individual sheep - "I send you out as sheep among wolves (Luke 10:3)." Another Greek word, ἀρνίον (NT721), was used for a yearling ram, a ram having entered its second year, often with budding horns. These yearling rams were required for the Temple sacrifices.
The disciple John uses this word NT721 -"ram of sacrifice", for Yeshua thirty times, but only in the book of Revelation. It is usually translated there as "Lamb", but the Greek word for "lamb" is ἀμνός (NT286), and it is used only four times in the NT. Once it speaks of a lamb dumb before its shearers, and once it is used as an example of spotless purity. There are only two other times we see this "lamb" (NT286) in the NT.
Only twice in the NT is Yeshua called "The Lamb of God," and it is only by John the Baptist (John 1:29 and 1:36), who recognized the Lamb that YHWH sent who would become the sacrificial ram for all our wrongs and failures. John knew on that day of Yeshua's baptism, that Yeshua was still God's "Lamb." Yeshua later became our Passover "Ram of sacrifice". On that appointed day when the Passover yearling rams were sacrificed, Yeshua offered His own life as a sacrifice for all who would trust that it was YHWH Himself who provided the Ram for sacrifice (Gen 22:8).
In Exodus 12:21 YHWH commands the children of Israel when to "sacrifice the Passover." Mark 14:12 indicates that "the Passover" is killed and eaten. The Passover is the sacrificial animal. As Paul says in 1 Cor 5:7, "...Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
Passover is the first of the three pilgrim feasts on which Jewish males were expected to travel to Jerusalem if possible and present themselves before God at His House. On any pilgrim feast the Temple courts were full of worshippers, many thousands. His parents lost the boy Yeshua among the crowds during a Passover feast, only to find Him teaching the elders in the Temple court. The other two pilgrim feasts are Shavuot and Sukkot. For these feasts many sacrifices were offered.
The Greek word for 'sheep' is πρόβατον (NT4263), either an individual or a collective singular just as in English. The Greek word for a single 'sheep' is ἀρήν (NT704), but it only occurs once in the NT, as a plural indicating more than one individual sheep - "I send you out as sheep among wolves (Luke 10:3)." Another Greek word, ἀρνίον (NT721), was used for a yearling ram, a ram having entered its second year, often with budding horns. These yearling rams were required for the Temple sacrifices.
The disciple John uses this word NT721 -"ram of sacrifice", for Yeshua thirty times, but only in the book of Revelation. It is usually translated there as "Lamb", but the Greek word for "lamb" is ἀμνός (NT286), and it is used only four times in the NT. Once it speaks of a lamb dumb before its shearers, and once it is used as an example of spotless purity. There are only two other times we see this "lamb" (NT286) in the NT.
Only twice in the NT is Yeshua called "The Lamb of God," and it is only by John the Baptist (John 1:29 and 1:36), who recognized the Lamb that YHWH sent who would become the sacrificial ram for all our wrongs and failures. John knew on that day of Yeshua's baptism, that Yeshua was still God's "Lamb." Yeshua later became our Passover "Ram of sacrifice". On that appointed day when the Passover yearling rams were sacrificed, Yeshua offered His own life as a sacrifice for all who would trust that it was YHWH Himself who provided the Ram for sacrifice (Gen 22:8).
English: Unleavened Bread
Pride is the root of all sin and it's desire to increase itself to appear ever greater makes leaven an appropriate symbol used in the Word of God for the natural tendency of all sin to increase. Unleavened bread/matzah symbolizes Yeshua's sinless life, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. In the literal Greek of the NT this feast is referred to as "no-leaven", for all leaven was to be purged from every household, as it still is today.
In Mt 16:12 Yeshua said, "...do not beware of the leaven of bread, instead [beware] of the teaching of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." He knew that religious hypocrisy was the worst kind of hypocrisy, leading multitudes astray. Instead, He offered Himself as the unleavened bread sent down from Heaven. Luke 22:19 says that on His last night, "...taking bread, and giving thanks, He tore it and gave to them, saying, 'This is my body, being offered for you. This do for the reminder [in the sight of YHWH] concerning me'."
John 6:57 says, "Just as the living Father sent me forth, I also live because of Father-YHWH. Now the one devouring me, that one also will live because of me." 1 Cor 5:8 says, "Even as we might honor a sacred day, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of badness and bad intent; instead with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Pride is the root of all sin and it's desire to increase itself to appear ever greater makes leaven an appropriate symbol used in the Word of God for the natural tendency of all sin to increase. Unleavened bread/matzah symbolizes Yeshua's sinless life, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. In the literal Greek of the NT this feast is referred to as "no-leaven", for all leaven was to be purged from every household, as it still is today.
In Mt 16:12 Yeshua said, "...do not beware of the leaven of bread, instead [beware] of the teaching of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." He knew that religious hypocrisy was the worst kind of hypocrisy, leading multitudes astray. Instead, He offered Himself as the unleavened bread sent down from Heaven. Luke 22:19 says that on His last night, "...taking bread, and giving thanks, He tore it and gave to them, saying, 'This is my body, being offered for you. This do for the reminder [in the sight of YHWH] concerning me'."
John 6:57 says, "Just as the living Father sent me forth, I also live because of Father-YHWH. Now the one devouring me, that one also will live because of me." 1 Cor 5:8 says, "Even as we might honor a sacred day, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of badness and bad intent; instead with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
English: First Fruits
Yeshua was resurrected on the day of First Fruits, a sacred day for a priestly offering to God from the initial harvest of barley. It always occurs on the first day of the week, that is, the first Sunday after the Passover Feast. On this day Yeshua rose, the first to defeat death and offer to share with us His new life. This is one reason Paul refers to Yeshua as the "firstfruits" from the dead (1 Cor 15:20). Fifty days are then counted to the day after the seventh Sabbath, to arrive at the Feast of Weeks, in Hebrew Shavuot, and in Christianity, Pentecost (Fifty).
Yeshua was resurrected on the day of First Fruits, a sacred day for a priestly offering to God from the initial harvest of barley. It always occurs on the first day of the week, that is, the first Sunday after the Passover Feast. On this day Yeshua rose, the first to defeat death and offer to share with us His new life. This is one reason Paul refers to Yeshua as the "firstfruits" from the dead (1 Cor 15:20). Fifty days are then counted to the day after the seventh Sabbath, to arrive at the Feast of Weeks, in Hebrew Shavuot, and in Christianity, Pentecost (Fifty).
English: (7) Weeks
This feast marks the beginning of the wheat harvest, the last grain to ripen. Sacrifices and offerings similar to those on the feast of First Fruits were also made during Shavuot.
Yeshua had appeared at various times and places to His students over a forty day period beginning after His resurrection on the Sunday of Passover Week. Just before He left them ten days before Shavuot, Yeshua had told His students to stay in Jerusalem until He sent the promised Pure Spirit of YHWH (Luke 24:49). It was on this Shavuot (Acts 2) that Yeshua's students were gathered together "in the same place" along with thousands of other Jewish males, on the second of the three pilgrim feasts (the first being Passover), when Jewish males were to present themselves before YHWH at His "House".
They were there, inconspicuous among so many.
"Then suddenly there came an echoing from out of the sky, actually as being carried through forceful wind, and it filled completely the House [of-YHWH] where they were sitting (Acts 2:2)." Hearing and understanding the languages imparted to Yeshua's students, the crowds in the great courtyard rushed upon them and Peter preached to them, with about 3,000 Jews responding to his announcement of the good news. That pilgrim feast of Shavuot/Pentecost is considered to be the birth of the "Called out gathering of YHWH," or "Church" as many Christians call it. It was the last feast to be fulfilled until the time of the end, when the fulfillments of the last three feasts seem likely to close out the age.
This feast marks the beginning of the wheat harvest, the last grain to ripen. Sacrifices and offerings similar to those on the feast of First Fruits were also made during Shavuot.
Yeshua had appeared at various times and places to His students over a forty day period beginning after His resurrection on the Sunday of Passover Week. Just before He left them ten days before Shavuot, Yeshua had told His students to stay in Jerusalem until He sent the promised Pure Spirit of YHWH (Luke 24:49). It was on this Shavuot (Acts 2) that Yeshua's students were gathered together "in the same place" along with thousands of other Jewish males, on the second of the three pilgrim feasts (the first being Passover), when Jewish males were to present themselves before YHWH at His "House".
They were there, inconspicuous among so many.
"Then suddenly there came an echoing from out of the sky, actually as being carried through forceful wind, and it filled completely the House [of-YHWH] where they were sitting (Acts 2:2)." Hearing and understanding the languages imparted to Yeshua's students, the crowds in the great courtyard rushed upon them and Peter preached to them, with about 3,000 Jews responding to his announcement of the good news. That pilgrim feast of Shavuot/Pentecost is considered to be the birth of the "Called out gathering of YHWH," or "Church" as many Christians call it. It was the last feast to be fulfilled until the time of the end, when the fulfillments of the last three feasts seem likely to close out the age.
English: (Blowing) Trumpets
The Day of Blowing (trumpets), also called Rosh Hashanah ("Head of the Year"), is the first of three fall feasts. Many Christians belive this feast's fulfillment may coincide with Yeshua coming for His Bride, the Church, since both the feast and the event of His Coming are associated with the sound of trumpets. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 Corinthians 15:52).
God ordained that trumpets of animal horns be blown on special occasions such as His Feasts. Trumpets were heard on Mt. Sinai at the receiving of the 10 Commandments. The trumpets alerted God's people when to move as they camped in the wilderness and trumpets signaled the fall of the walls of Jericho.
Trumpets blown at the seventh month, signaled the people to be mindful of God, because He was thought of as writing names in His books for either good or bad during this time.
The Day of Blowing (trumpets), also called Rosh Hashanah ("Head of the Year"), is the first of three fall feasts. Many Christians belive this feast's fulfillment may coincide with Yeshua coming for His Bride, the Church, since both the feast and the event of His Coming are associated with the sound of trumpets. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 Corinthians 15:52).
God ordained that trumpets of animal horns be blown on special occasions such as His Feasts. Trumpets were heard on Mt. Sinai at the receiving of the 10 Commandments. The trumpets alerted God's people when to move as they camped in the wilderness and trumpets signaled the fall of the walls of Jericho.
Trumpets blown at the seventh month, signaled the people to be mindful of God, because He was thought of as writing names in His books for either good or bad during this time.
English: Atonement
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, calls the Jewish people to repentance and to afflict themselves by fasting. For Jewish people who fear God but have no knowlege of His offer of rescue, it is a day of dread, on which God decides the fate of people for the coming year. Some believe this festival points prophetically to Yeshua's second coming, when He has judged the world and carries out the judgement. As far as Israel is concerned, the prophet said, that the Jewish remnant will finally recognize Yeshua as Messiah when His feet touch the Mount of Olives.
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, calls the Jewish people to repentance and to afflict themselves by fasting. For Jewish people who fear God but have no knowlege of His offer of rescue, it is a day of dread, on which God decides the fate of people for the coming year. Some believe this festival points prophetically to Yeshua's second coming, when He has judged the world and carries out the judgement. As far as Israel is concerned, the prophet said, that the Jewish remnant will finally recognize Yeshua as Messiah when His feet touch the Mount of Olives.
English: Booths
The seventh festival, the Feast of Tabernacles or "Sukkot/Booths" pictures the future event when Yeshua returns in triumph as King David's heir. Rev 20 and Micah 4:1–7 describe the rulership instituted by Yeshua on earth for a thousand years. There will be a last battle, but the end will be a new creation.
The seventh festival, the Feast of Tabernacles or "Sukkot/Booths" pictures the future event when Yeshua returns in triumph as King David's heir. Rev 20 and Micah 4:1–7 describe the rulership instituted by Yeshua on earth for a thousand years. There will be a last battle, but the end will be a new creation.
Way Three: Yeshua's Model Prayer - the plan reversed
Now we have seen how the Lord's schedule of yearly sacred gatherings have functioned, and will function, as rehearsals for their final prophesied fulfillments. But two parts that are like one another only make a similarity, a likeness, a mirror image. Could the plan we have been studying also be a pattern? To be recognized as a pattern there must be at least a second likeness to the original. Is there at least a second likeness to this plan in Scripture?
For YHWH's followers, who have accepted His sacrifice of His only fathered Son for their wrongs, and have received a measure of His Pure Spirit, the order of the Tent of YHWH is seen reversed, from innermost to outside. YHWH's children are already spiritually seated with Him in "heavenly places" and in preparation to undertake what He calls them to do. That is why the following list is numbered in reverse order. As a rulership of kings and priests remaining in, and granted spiritual authority by, our King and High Priest, we have constant access to the Throne of Mercy. Therefore our prayer, given by our Lord for us as a model, follows the Tent/Tabernacle/Temple plan in reverse order, and is numbered in reverse order, flowing outward from the Mercy Seat of YHWH as living water for the world.
Below is The Lord's Prayer, which, just like any reflection, mirrors the plan in reverse. Each symbolic object and function of the Tabernacle plan is given, then its spiritual reality as found in the Lord's Prayer, from inside the Most Pure Place outward:
7) (Mercy Seat) the Throne of YHWH's Mercy
Yeshua offered Himself in obedient trust as a perfect and final blood sacrifice to cover all our wrongs and failures. The Mercy Seat is symbolic for this covering. His mercy is shown in YHWH's welcoming home with glad acceptance anyone trusting Yeshua, His only fathered Son, the Messiah, as Rescuer, Teacher and Lord. Yeshua's Father as "our Father in Heaven" dwells in us by His Spirit. When we are reborn into new life by YHWH's Pure Spirit we understand that, only in and through Yeshua's payment with His life blood for our wrongs, can we call YHWH "O Father ours, O One in the spiritual realms [of YHWH]."
6) (Ark) Container for YHWH's Name/Identity/Reputation
David says, "You have magnified your word upon [not "above"] all your name." "Your Name/Reputation be seen as pure." When we see His Name as pure, we can trust and pray YHWH's promises to shelter us by His ways, provision and authority.
6a-c) (Tablets of the Law/Aaron's Rod/Pot of Manna) a. YHWH's Word and standards, b. spiritual authority with life-giving power and c. miraculous provision. We can pray for our personal lives in those areas, "Your Rulership come (over us first)."
5) (Incense altar)
The High Priest interceded for YHWH's people at the incense altar, and our High Priest leads us by His Spirit in corporate intercession. As His priesthood we use the keys of His Rulership with praise and prayer for binding or loosing what His Pure Spirit shows us has been bound or loosed in Heaven - "and Your will come to be, as in Heaven so on earth."
4) (Menorah/Lampstand) We ask YHWH for wisdom and knowledge in the revelation of His will, for His Spirit of enlightenment, that He would "This day(light) give us..."
3) (Table of the Bread of the Face) "... for our next day's bread." Yeshua said, "I am the bread sent down from Heaven." He also said, "My food is to do the will of the one sending Me, and to finish his work (Jn4:34). As we eat from His goodness, our will is conformed to His. We should remember He said, "The darkness comes when no one can work." Points 3 and 4 can also refer literally to praying for time and light to work for our food. - 2 Thess. 3:10)
2) (Laver for water to wash hands and feet) How vital is interdependent personal forgiveness and correction in love, given to and received from others - "And forgive us our debts [fig.: wrongs/failures, i.e. sins of commission and omission] even the same way as we forgive our debtors [fig.: ones wronging/failing us];..." Of all these priestly tasks in YHWH's House of Prayer, Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, emphasized this one for His students: that we should "wash one another's feet." It's a messy business, helping someone get cleaned up, even just through prayer. Are we "qualified" to do it? Not unless we have asked Yeshua to do it in us first, even if it means only removing a speck from our eye.
1) (Altar of sacrifice)
Testing and correction from YHWH come to us for our failure to forgive another human being who asks for it. Those praying the Lord's prayer are begging God to forgive them, literally in the Greek, "the same way" they themselves forgive anyone, "...then (**) You would not carry us into testing." But He will carry us there if necessary. As a first step, all of His children are required to be willing to give forgiveness before being asked. That means completely giving up any unforgiveness as soon as we recognize it in ourselves. Why? Because when someone asks for our forgiveness, our Lord doesn't want us to stop and make calculations, unless of course that's what we want Him to do when dealing with us.
**[for use of "then", see "aorist subjunctive" in the TENT Grammar Glossary] (when posted)
As Yeshua's servants we are all required to "go", in however possible a way, to those we have wronged and ask them to forgive us. For the one asking for forgiveness, the saying of, "I'm sorry," is only the introduction. As the vital part, you must ask for what you are owed, "Will you forgive me (for...)?" This is because the asking for forgiveness works in one direction, and the giving of forgiveness works in the other direction.
It is a mutually beneficial transaction.
For the one being asked for forgiveness and who is always willing to forgive, forgiving is the only step --"I forgive you." Yeshua demands that we forgive because forgiving is the frontal assault on all our "me-ness", on our anger, our resentment, our pride and our rebellion. When we kill these things, deny them life, we enable ourselves to forgive, which is our sacrifice of "me" laid upon the altar. Then He will not carry us into testing for unforgiveness. Forgiving, as well as asking for forgiveness, both pass YHWH's test, bringing cleansing and restoration.
Now we have seen how the Lord's schedule of yearly sacred gatherings have functioned, and will function, as rehearsals for their final prophesied fulfillments. But two parts that are like one another only make a similarity, a likeness, a mirror image. Could the plan we have been studying also be a pattern? To be recognized as a pattern there must be at least a second likeness to the original. Is there at least a second likeness to this plan in Scripture?
For YHWH's followers, who have accepted His sacrifice of His only fathered Son for their wrongs, and have received a measure of His Pure Spirit, the order of the Tent of YHWH is seen reversed, from innermost to outside. YHWH's children are already spiritually seated with Him in "heavenly places" and in preparation to undertake what He calls them to do. That is why the following list is numbered in reverse order. As a rulership of kings and priests remaining in, and granted spiritual authority by, our King and High Priest, we have constant access to the Throne of Mercy. Therefore our prayer, given by our Lord for us as a model, follows the Tent/Tabernacle/Temple plan in reverse order, and is numbered in reverse order, flowing outward from the Mercy Seat of YHWH as living water for the world.
Below is The Lord's Prayer, which, just like any reflection, mirrors the plan in reverse. Each symbolic object and function of the Tabernacle plan is given, then its spiritual reality as found in the Lord's Prayer, from inside the Most Pure Place outward:
7) (Mercy Seat) the Throne of YHWH's Mercy
Yeshua offered Himself in obedient trust as a perfect and final blood sacrifice to cover all our wrongs and failures. The Mercy Seat is symbolic for this covering. His mercy is shown in YHWH's welcoming home with glad acceptance anyone trusting Yeshua, His only fathered Son, the Messiah, as Rescuer, Teacher and Lord. Yeshua's Father as "our Father in Heaven" dwells in us by His Spirit. When we are reborn into new life by YHWH's Pure Spirit we understand that, only in and through Yeshua's payment with His life blood for our wrongs, can we call YHWH "O Father ours, O One in the spiritual realms [of YHWH]."
6) (Ark) Container for YHWH's Name/Identity/Reputation
David says, "You have magnified your word upon [not "above"] all your name." "Your Name/Reputation be seen as pure." When we see His Name as pure, we can trust and pray YHWH's promises to shelter us by His ways, provision and authority.
6a-c) (Tablets of the Law/Aaron's Rod/Pot of Manna) a. YHWH's Word and standards, b. spiritual authority with life-giving power and c. miraculous provision. We can pray for our personal lives in those areas, "Your Rulership come (over us first)."
5) (Incense altar)
The High Priest interceded for YHWH's people at the incense altar, and our High Priest leads us by His Spirit in corporate intercession. As His priesthood we use the keys of His Rulership with praise and prayer for binding or loosing what His Pure Spirit shows us has been bound or loosed in Heaven - "and Your will come to be, as in Heaven so on earth."
4) (Menorah/Lampstand) We ask YHWH for wisdom and knowledge in the revelation of His will, for His Spirit of enlightenment, that He would "This day(light) give us..."
3) (Table of the Bread of the Face) "... for our next day's bread." Yeshua said, "I am the bread sent down from Heaven." He also said, "My food is to do the will of the one sending Me, and to finish his work (Jn4:34). As we eat from His goodness, our will is conformed to His. We should remember He said, "The darkness comes when no one can work." Points 3 and 4 can also refer literally to praying for time and light to work for our food. - 2 Thess. 3:10)
2) (Laver for water to wash hands and feet) How vital is interdependent personal forgiveness and correction in love, given to and received from others - "And forgive us our debts [fig.: wrongs/failures, i.e. sins of commission and omission] even the same way as we forgive our debtors [fig.: ones wronging/failing us];..." Of all these priestly tasks in YHWH's House of Prayer, Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, emphasized this one for His students: that we should "wash one another's feet." It's a messy business, helping someone get cleaned up, even just through prayer. Are we "qualified" to do it? Not unless we have asked Yeshua to do it in us first, even if it means only removing a speck from our eye.
1) (Altar of sacrifice)
Testing and correction from YHWH come to us for our failure to forgive another human being who asks for it. Those praying the Lord's prayer are begging God to forgive them, literally in the Greek, "the same way" they themselves forgive anyone, "...then (**) You would not carry us into testing." But He will carry us there if necessary. As a first step, all of His children are required to be willing to give forgiveness before being asked. That means completely giving up any unforgiveness as soon as we recognize it in ourselves. Why? Because when someone asks for our forgiveness, our Lord doesn't want us to stop and make calculations, unless of course that's what we want Him to do when dealing with us.
**[for use of "then", see "aorist subjunctive" in the TENT Grammar Glossary] (when posted)
As Yeshua's servants we are all required to "go", in however possible a way, to those we have wronged and ask them to forgive us. For the one asking for forgiveness, the saying of, "I'm sorry," is only the introduction. As the vital part, you must ask for what you are owed, "Will you forgive me (for...)?" This is because the asking for forgiveness works in one direction, and the giving of forgiveness works in the other direction.
It is a mutually beneficial transaction.
For the one being asked for forgiveness and who is always willing to forgive, forgiving is the only step --"I forgive you." Yeshua demands that we forgive because forgiving is the frontal assault on all our "me-ness", on our anger, our resentment, our pride and our rebellion. When we kill these things, deny them life, we enable ourselves to forgive, which is our sacrifice of "me" laid upon the altar. Then He will not carry us into testing for unforgiveness. Forgiving, as well as asking for forgiveness, both pass YHWH's test, bringing cleansing and restoration.
0) Walking out the gate of the Tent of Meeting to engage the world, we pray, "Instead pull us away from the bad one/bad thing/our bad." [See where the traditional meaning, "the Evil One" comes from on this page.] In context, this implies asking Him to help us to forgive if we find it very difficult. "Our bad" is what we do, or don't do, when we obey our own fallen natures. Letting go of our resentments from hurts, offenses and false accusations, is to lay our unforgiveness on the altar of sacrifice, a test of our trust in Him. Do we seek vengeance or even just self-vindication? Vengeance belongs only to Him and He will vindicate His own, in His own time.
[Note: our personal relationships are the only venue for us to "turn the other cheek." That metaphor has become wrongly used to criticize nations for defending themselves. Defense is the job of all national governments.]
We are born, both physically and spiritually, selfish and self-centered. Children need to be gently, firmly and consistently trained not to be selfish. We are His children, born again by His Spirit and guarded from defaulting to "our bad" only by an intimate relationship with YHWH's Word, because He is the Truth. We witness to His Truth in the world, either willingly or unwillingly. Whether that seems good or bad to us depends on whether we choose His Way or our way. He wants us to take advantage of our access to Him, so that we will learn to go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. "...for Yours is the Rulership and the power and the influence (of YHWH) into the ages (of YHWH). It is so."
Yeshua shared with His disciples the design of YHWH's Tent in the form of the Lord's Prayer so that His blood-bought people, whom He has chosen and redeemed from spiritual enslavement to wrong thinking and doing, can enter into His Presence wherever they may be, to find everything they need to serve Him according to His will. His people find refuge and glad acceptance in His presence through the blood sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua, our eternal High Priest.
Now, in the Lord's model prayer, YHWH's people could finally see the spiritual meanings of all the elements of the design of YHWH's Tent, His "House of Prayer for all people." But soon, as Yeshua forewarned them, the physical Temple was destroyed, and though the Lord's Prayer spread throughout the world, the design it shared with the Tent of YHWH eventually became unrecognized and obscured by many translations through many generations -- generations that had been separated from their Hebraic spiritual heritage by a corrupted institution, a self-proclaimed "Universal Church." The prophetic Word of YHWH seems to indicate that before the end, a self-proclaimed universal "Church" will again rise to power and influence in a new form. Work while it is yet day; the darkness comes when no one can work.
Way Four: Paul's Perfect Praise
We already have a pattern, but this fourth example seals it. The greatest purpose of human beings is to glorify their Creator and Redeemer, the one who made the Way to overcome fallenness and corruption, by Himself becoming the Way, the Truth, the Life, the High Priest and the Sacrifice. But by His own words he says He does not delight in burnt offerings, so how are we able to glorify Him, to increase His influence in the world? He Himself tells us how. "He who offers praise, makes Me influential...(Psalm 50:23)"
A fourth instance of the same pattern, hidden by ages, reappears through the TENT translation, in the most exalted praise in God's Word -- in 1Timothy 3:16 -- a gift to the true Church. Paul does not say whether this is a creed or a hymn, nor does he speak of its author. Perhaps he himself is the author of it. On the "Valuable: A Controversy" page, we have already investigated a major controversy in this passage and seen how The TENT deistic article solves the problem. Here, once more in reverse order, this one verse proclaims our God's greatness and faithfulness in fulfilling His all-encompassing redemptive Plan which governs time, space and eternity. Often referred to as a doxology, this perfect praise might also be called a capsule theology. Perfect praise leads His people into conscious unity with Him.
The Pattern in Praise: 1 Timothy 3:16
Paul introduces this fourth part of the pattern this way in 1 Tim 3:15:
"...I write so that you would know how much it is necessary to be turned around in YHWH's house(hold), which is YHWH's called out gathering, a living pillar and support for the truth [of-YHWH]."
Then, with incredible conciseness, verse 16 contains the whole Tent pattern in praise!
Here it is in a large font, with commentary in a smaller font, again in the pattern's reverse number order:
Now admittedly great is the mystery of the full devotion [of YHWH],
7. Throne of Mercy:
Yeshua, completely devoted to his Father and His Father to Him, was sent from Heaven with the commission to fulfill His Father's great Plan, dedicated Himself publicly then received the full measure of YHWH's Pure Spirit. He came to be a sacrificial offering, because of YHWH's sacrificial love and mercy, to make a way for our rescue from wrongdoing and death. As our High Priest, Yeshua offered His own life as a perfect atoning sacrifice, whose blood was offered upon YHWH's Throne of Mercy, fulfilling His role as our High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
We must never lose sight of the fact that these three 'persons' of the Godhead are One. This is the great "mystery" of which Paul speaks here. The 'Oneness' of these three is total, what Paul calls "full devotion" to one another. Among them, there is no possibility of separation as we know it. It is like an ultimate undivided perfect family in total unity, composed of Father YHWH, the Son of YHWH, and the Pure Spirit of YHWH. And we who tell Him that we want Him to rescue us from our oh-how-imperfect selves, are adopted and made one in the life of the Son of YHWH.
You might say that YHWH is the "family Name." I have found this description helpful at times. When the name YHWH is used by itself, no one in the "family" is excluded. Using appropriately one of the "titles" mentioned before is sufficient to describe one of the "family members." There are many "titles" that Scripture uses to identify "family members": Father of All, the Almighty One, Son of Man, Lamb of God, Spirit of Truth, etc.
Has the Adversary tried to blot out the name "YHWH"? He hates the idea of family, especially YHWH's family, and he works very hard to prevent anyone from realizing the simplicity of how we can be rescued. Yeshua was sent to make us part of His Oneness, saying in John 17:21, "...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."
[The Throne of Mercy is One with, and rests on top of, the Ark of the Covenant]
6. Ark of the Covenant containing:
the written record of YHWH's Promises, Covenant, and Law - symbolic of the Word of God in the flesh. The Ark also contained the High Priest's budded staff, symbol of Yeshua's authority over all Creation, and the pot of manna as a symbol of our Lord's miraculous power to provide for and sustain His people.
Yeshua, the human vessel for the Word of YHWH, having triumphed over death, now has full authority as the Lord of All, and is forever our all-powerful Provider of everything necessary for our life and obedience to Him.
who* became known in a physical body
5. Incense Altar:
Our High Priest from Heaven is our sinless sacrifice and mediator, the only fathered Son of YHWH, and intercedes for us before Father YHWH. He alone is the likeness of our, invisible-to-us, Father-YHWH.
[who* - how the deistic article solved this textual controversy]
He was seen as righteous in spirit.
4. Menorah (lampstand):
Yeshua, as a human being, was filled in full measure with the Pure Spirit of YHWH and no one could find any fault in Him. He was the pure offering for all wrongs and is the light given for the whole world by which to "see" Father YHWH.
He was perceived by prophetic messages.*(see after verse comment below)
3. Table for the Bread of the Face/Presence [of YHWH]:
Yeshua came and did exactly as prophesied in YHWH's Word under the first, pre-messianic, covenant. He gave His life to make it possible for the world of beings created in His likeness and whom He loved, to be saved through their trust in Him, because He is the prophetic Word of God, the Bread of Life.
*Sometimes NT authors used the Greek word ἄγγελος - "angel", meaning "messenger", as a metaphor for the prophetic word which an angel brought. This clears up a few verses that have puzzled people for quite a while: 1Tim3:16; 1Cor6:3; 11:10; Rev1:20; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14 ).
He was proclaimed by non-Jews.
2. The Laver:
YHWH gave His Law as a light for His people, to separate them from the spiritual darkness enveloping the gentile world. When the Jews were the only people on earth who knew YHWH as their God, it was necessary to protect them spiritually, so non-Jews had to be considered spiritually unclean. Yeshua was prophesied about and then sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but there were gentiles who also recognized Him as "King of the Jews (Mark 15:9)", and said, "Truly this was the Son of God (Mat 27:54)," and "This is indeed the Anointed One, the Rescuer of the world (TENT - John 4:42)." When speaking with a gentile about whoever would drink the water He gives, He said, "...the water that I will give them will become in them a spring of water leaping into permanent life (TENT -John 4:14b)." Through their trust in His identity as the promised Rescuer sent from YHWH, non-Jews were also cleansed, and the wall separating them from YHWH's people began to crumble.
He was entrusted with [the-] world.
1. Bronze altar:
Yeshua, the Anointed-One from YHWH, laid Himself down on the altar of sacrifice to die for the sins of the world's people. But because death had no dominion over Him, He rose again victorious over death and the grave, fulfilling John the Baptist's prophetic Word, "Look! the yearling Ram/Ram of Sacrifice from the Mighty One, the one taking away from the world the wrongdoing [in the sight of YHWH]." (TENT - John 1:29b)
He was taken up in honor.
0. The Gate:
Leaving the earthly Temple behind, Yeshua led His followers as far as Bethany, commissioned and blessed them and was taken up to Heaven in glory, honor and influence. "You crowned him in victory with influence and honor, and firmly placed Him over the works of Your hands. ...we see Yeshua having been crowned with influence and honor through His suffering from His death. (TENT - Heb 2:7b, 9)"
[Note: our personal relationships are the only venue for us to "turn the other cheek." That metaphor has become wrongly used to criticize nations for defending themselves. Defense is the job of all national governments.]
We are born, both physically and spiritually, selfish and self-centered. Children need to be gently, firmly and consistently trained not to be selfish. We are His children, born again by His Spirit and guarded from defaulting to "our bad" only by an intimate relationship with YHWH's Word, because He is the Truth. We witness to His Truth in the world, either willingly or unwillingly. Whether that seems good or bad to us depends on whether we choose His Way or our way. He wants us to take advantage of our access to Him, so that we will learn to go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. "...for Yours is the Rulership and the power and the influence (of YHWH) into the ages (of YHWH). It is so."
Yeshua shared with His disciples the design of YHWH's Tent in the form of the Lord's Prayer so that His blood-bought people, whom He has chosen and redeemed from spiritual enslavement to wrong thinking and doing, can enter into His Presence wherever they may be, to find everything they need to serve Him according to His will. His people find refuge and glad acceptance in His presence through the blood sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua, our eternal High Priest.
Now, in the Lord's model prayer, YHWH's people could finally see the spiritual meanings of all the elements of the design of YHWH's Tent, His "House of Prayer for all people." But soon, as Yeshua forewarned them, the physical Temple was destroyed, and though the Lord's Prayer spread throughout the world, the design it shared with the Tent of YHWH eventually became unrecognized and obscured by many translations through many generations -- generations that had been separated from their Hebraic spiritual heritage by a corrupted institution, a self-proclaimed "Universal Church." The prophetic Word of YHWH seems to indicate that before the end, a self-proclaimed universal "Church" will again rise to power and influence in a new form. Work while it is yet day; the darkness comes when no one can work.
Way Four: Paul's Perfect Praise
We already have a pattern, but this fourth example seals it. The greatest purpose of human beings is to glorify their Creator and Redeemer, the one who made the Way to overcome fallenness and corruption, by Himself becoming the Way, the Truth, the Life, the High Priest and the Sacrifice. But by His own words he says He does not delight in burnt offerings, so how are we able to glorify Him, to increase His influence in the world? He Himself tells us how. "He who offers praise, makes Me influential...(Psalm 50:23)"
A fourth instance of the same pattern, hidden by ages, reappears through the TENT translation, in the most exalted praise in God's Word -- in 1Timothy 3:16 -- a gift to the true Church. Paul does not say whether this is a creed or a hymn, nor does he speak of its author. Perhaps he himself is the author of it. On the "Valuable: A Controversy" page, we have already investigated a major controversy in this passage and seen how The TENT deistic article solves the problem. Here, once more in reverse order, this one verse proclaims our God's greatness and faithfulness in fulfilling His all-encompassing redemptive Plan which governs time, space and eternity. Often referred to as a doxology, this perfect praise might also be called a capsule theology. Perfect praise leads His people into conscious unity with Him.
The Pattern in Praise: 1 Timothy 3:16
Paul introduces this fourth part of the pattern this way in 1 Tim 3:15:
"...I write so that you would know how much it is necessary to be turned around in YHWH's house(hold), which is YHWH's called out gathering, a living pillar and support for the truth [of-YHWH]."
Then, with incredible conciseness, verse 16 contains the whole Tent pattern in praise!
Here it is in a large font, with commentary in a smaller font, again in the pattern's reverse number order:
Now admittedly great is the mystery of the full devotion [of YHWH],
7. Throne of Mercy:
Yeshua, completely devoted to his Father and His Father to Him, was sent from Heaven with the commission to fulfill His Father's great Plan, dedicated Himself publicly then received the full measure of YHWH's Pure Spirit. He came to be a sacrificial offering, because of YHWH's sacrificial love and mercy, to make a way for our rescue from wrongdoing and death. As our High Priest, Yeshua offered His own life as a perfect atoning sacrifice, whose blood was offered upon YHWH's Throne of Mercy, fulfilling His role as our High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
We must never lose sight of the fact that these three 'persons' of the Godhead are One. This is the great "mystery" of which Paul speaks here. The 'Oneness' of these three is total, what Paul calls "full devotion" to one another. Among them, there is no possibility of separation as we know it. It is like an ultimate undivided perfect family in total unity, composed of Father YHWH, the Son of YHWH, and the Pure Spirit of YHWH. And we who tell Him that we want Him to rescue us from our oh-how-imperfect selves, are adopted and made one in the life of the Son of YHWH.
You might say that YHWH is the "family Name." I have found this description helpful at times. When the name YHWH is used by itself, no one in the "family" is excluded. Using appropriately one of the "titles" mentioned before is sufficient to describe one of the "family members." There are many "titles" that Scripture uses to identify "family members": Father of All, the Almighty One, Son of Man, Lamb of God, Spirit of Truth, etc.
Has the Adversary tried to blot out the name "YHWH"? He hates the idea of family, especially YHWH's family, and he works very hard to prevent anyone from realizing the simplicity of how we can be rescued. Yeshua was sent to make us part of His Oneness, saying in John 17:21, "...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."
[The Throne of Mercy is One with, and rests on top of, the Ark of the Covenant]
6. Ark of the Covenant containing:
the written record of YHWH's Promises, Covenant, and Law - symbolic of the Word of God in the flesh. The Ark also contained the High Priest's budded staff, symbol of Yeshua's authority over all Creation, and the pot of manna as a symbol of our Lord's miraculous power to provide for and sustain His people.
Yeshua, the human vessel for the Word of YHWH, having triumphed over death, now has full authority as the Lord of All, and is forever our all-powerful Provider of everything necessary for our life and obedience to Him.
who* became known in a physical body
5. Incense Altar:
Our High Priest from Heaven is our sinless sacrifice and mediator, the only fathered Son of YHWH, and intercedes for us before Father YHWH. He alone is the likeness of our, invisible-to-us, Father-YHWH.
[who* - how the deistic article solved this textual controversy]
He was seen as righteous in spirit.
4. Menorah (lampstand):
Yeshua, as a human being, was filled in full measure with the Pure Spirit of YHWH and no one could find any fault in Him. He was the pure offering for all wrongs and is the light given for the whole world by which to "see" Father YHWH.
He was perceived by prophetic messages.*(see after verse comment below)
3. Table for the Bread of the Face/Presence [of YHWH]:
Yeshua came and did exactly as prophesied in YHWH's Word under the first, pre-messianic, covenant. He gave His life to make it possible for the world of beings created in His likeness and whom He loved, to be saved through their trust in Him, because He is the prophetic Word of God, the Bread of Life.
*Sometimes NT authors used the Greek word ἄγγελος - "angel", meaning "messenger", as a metaphor for the prophetic word which an angel brought. This clears up a few verses that have puzzled people for quite a while: 1Tim3:16; 1Cor6:3; 11:10; Rev1:20; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14 ).
He was proclaimed by non-Jews.
2. The Laver:
YHWH gave His Law as a light for His people, to separate them from the spiritual darkness enveloping the gentile world. When the Jews were the only people on earth who knew YHWH as their God, it was necessary to protect them spiritually, so non-Jews had to be considered spiritually unclean. Yeshua was prophesied about and then sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but there were gentiles who also recognized Him as "King of the Jews (Mark 15:9)", and said, "Truly this was the Son of God (Mat 27:54)," and "This is indeed the Anointed One, the Rescuer of the world (TENT - John 4:42)." When speaking with a gentile about whoever would drink the water He gives, He said, "...the water that I will give them will become in them a spring of water leaping into permanent life (TENT -John 4:14b)." Through their trust in His identity as the promised Rescuer sent from YHWH, non-Jews were also cleansed, and the wall separating them from YHWH's people began to crumble.
He was entrusted with [the-] world.
1. Bronze altar:
Yeshua, the Anointed-One from YHWH, laid Himself down on the altar of sacrifice to die for the sins of the world's people. But because death had no dominion over Him, He rose again victorious over death and the grave, fulfilling John the Baptist's prophetic Word, "Look! the yearling Ram/Ram of Sacrifice from the Mighty One, the one taking away from the world the wrongdoing [in the sight of YHWH]." (TENT - John 1:29b)
He was taken up in honor.
0. The Gate:
Leaving the earthly Temple behind, Yeshua led His followers as far as Bethany, commissioned and blessed them and was taken up to Heaven in glory, honor and influence. "You crowned him in victory with influence and honor, and firmly placed Him over the works of Your hands. ...we see Yeshua having been crowned with influence and honor through His suffering from His death. (TENT - Heb 2:7b, 9)"
...and that's how we get the perfect praise of 1 Timothy 3:16
Now admittedly, great is the mystery of the full devotion [of YHWH], who became known in a physical body. He was seen as righteous in spirit. He was perceived by prophetic messages. He was proclaimed by non-Jews. He was entrusted with [the-] world. He was taken up in honor.
To meet my own need I created a prayer/worship guide which incorporates the four-fold design of the TENT worship pattern. If you are among those who are especially prone to distraction, you may find it helpful in providing some structure, but without encouraging ritualism. Also as a free download is an in depth Sabbath prayer to help you recenter Yeshua in your thinking for the coming week. It being in plain text, you can copy/paste it into a format of your choosing and customize it to suit your individual needs. You will be able to find the prayer guide (when it gets uploaded) on the Downloads page under: "YHWH's Tent - His Way in Worship". The Downloads page will also include (when it gets uploaded) Bible Banquet, a daily four-course feast of God's Word in which you can read the whole Bible through in one year, each day in four different areas: history and wisdom in the OT and history and wisdom in the NT. (a balanced diet)
I will also include there two published teaching articles on worship, because David's Tent has fallen down. As James the Just said in Acts 15:14-18, "The Mighty One first looked in on people groups, to take out from [them] [a] people for His Name/identity/reputation. And with this agree the words of the prophets [of-YHWH]; just as it has been written,
I will also include there two published teaching articles on worship, because David's Tent has fallen down. As James the Just said in Acts 15:14-18, "The Mighty One first looked in on people groups, to take out from [them] [a] people for His Name/identity/reputation. And with this agree the words of the prophets [of-YHWH]; just as it has been written,
'After these things I will return, and will build again the Tent of David, the one having fallen down;
and I will build again the things of it having been undermined, and I will raise it up again;
so that the others remaining of the people [of-YHWH], and all the peoples,
by whomever my Name has been appealed to, would inquire about the Lord,"
says YHWH, He doing these things, things known since time began."
- from the OT book of Amos 9:11-12 - as quoted in the TENT (Acts 15:16-18)
and I will build again the things of it having been undermined, and I will raise it up again;
so that the others remaining of the people [of-YHWH], and all the peoples,
by whomever my Name has been appealed to, would inquire about the Lord,"
says YHWH, He doing these things, things known since time began."
- from the OT book of Amos 9:11-12 - as quoted in the TENT (Acts 15:16-18)