Chapter 17
THE TEMPLE'S FURNISHINGS
Part III - The Altar of Burnt Offering, The Basin and Epilog
Before we begin The last portion of our study of the Temple's furnishings let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Father, please open our eyes, our ears and our hearts so we can come to a better understanding of You and Your ways. Father, please continue to reveal to us the wonderful teaching and instruction that comes to us from the Old Testament Temple. In Jesus' Name we ask.
Amen
In chapters 15 and 16 we studied the construction, placement, purpose and spiritual significance of the furnishings that were place inside the Old Testament Tabernacle.
Now it is time for us to exit the Tabernacle and enter into the outer court or courtyard. This portion of the Temple area surrounded the Tabernacle or Temple. It was here, in the courtyard, in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle, that the Altar of Burnt Offering and the Bronze Basin or Laver was placed. For our study of these furnishings let us begin with,
THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING
Since this altar was overlaid with bronze it is some times identified as the Brazen Altar or Bronze Altar. A description of this altar can be found in,
Exodus 27:1-8
""[1] Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. [2] Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. [3] Make all its utensils of bronze--its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. [4] Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. [5] Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar. [6] Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. [7] The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar when it is carried. [8] Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain."
Let us notice in verse 8 God again reminds us that not only was the Tabernacle designed by Him but so were its furnishings.
The spiritual significance of the Altar of Burnt Offering and the sacrifices burnt upon it were twofold. For the Old Testament days this was the place where the people of Israel would offer their whole burnt offerings to demonstrate their total dedication to God. In addition, it was here where the blood was spilled and the prescribed portions of the prescribed animals were offered to atone for their sins and transgressions. Secondly, the sacrifices upon the Altar of Burnt Offering were a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He would make to save us, both Jew and Gentile alike, from their sins. For a more in depth study of these sacrifices and offerings along with their spiritual significance please see part II.
Between the Altar of Burnt Offering and the entrance to the Tabernacle was,
THE BRONZE BASIN OR LAVER
Since the Basin was filled with water, during the days of King Solomon it was called the Sea. It was with the water from the Basin that the priests washed their hands and feet before they ministered at the Altar of Burnt Offering or inside the Tabernacle. This is described for us in,
Exodus 30:17-21
"[17] the LORD said to Moses, [18] "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. [19] Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. [20] Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, [21] they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.""
The priests washing of their hands and feet was a ceremonial act of cleansing. It was symbolic of washing away their sin or uncleanness. In other words it was a type of repentance. To see this let us read what God said through the prophet Isaiah to turn His people away from their sins.
Isaiah 1:16-17
"[16] wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, [17] learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
The importance of the priest's washing is given above in Exodus, chapter 30, verse 20. Specifically, if the priest did not do it, that is symbolically wash away his uncleanness and desire to sin, prior to ministering at the holy things of God, he would die. In other words he had to spiritually cleanse himself before ministering in the things of God.
This washing was also a foreshadowing to teach us that prior to coming to God or the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we too must repent of our sins. In other words we are to be truly sorry for committing our sins and have a heartfelt desire to refrain from doing them again. This was the whole mission of John the Baptist. Specifically, God sent him to prepare the people for the arrival of Jesus Christ, who is the Messiah. To see this let us read from,
Matthew 3:1-8
"[1] In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea [2] and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." [3] This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" [4] John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. [5] People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. [6] Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. [7] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? [8] Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."
Let us notice the following verses,
2 … The mission of John the Baptist was for the people to repent because the Kingdom of God was a hand.
3 … Notice the reason for repentance was to prepare the way for the Lord. In other words, to receive the Lord they had to be sorry for their sins and have the desire to live a holy and righteous life. It is the same for today.
6 … After the people confessed their sins, John baptized them in the Jordan River, which was a type of washing.
8 … Baptism or washing for cleansing of their sins was not enough. The people also had to repent. In other words, the baptism they did had to reflect what was in their hearts. Specifically, it had to represent their sincere desire to change their ways.
Today, in the New Testament times, once true repentance is made the path is now open to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, if by faith a person confesses their sins to Jesus to seek forgiveness, has a heartfelt desire to not want to sin again and has by faith accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are to be baptized. In the New Testament baptism the new believer is demonstrating that they have put to death and buried their old nature, received the Holy Spirit (the new nature) and are now going to live a new life in Jesus Christ. This is called the believer's baptism. For an example of this practice, let us go to the day of Pentecost and read what the Apostle Peter told the people of what was needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38-39
"[38] Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.""
Let us pay particular attention to verse 39. This promise is for:
For an in-depth study of water baptism please see Volume I, chapter 10.
This now completes our study for each of the major furnishings within the Tabernacle and its outer court. However, before we close this chapter I would like to offer you the following:
EPILOG
We have found that the Temple or Tabernacle was designed by God. We also discovered that it was to be made like the one in Heaven. We have found that the major furnishings and activities performed upon them provided the nation of Israel the means by which they could make atonement for their sins, profess their dedication to God and enter into fellowship with Him. In other words, the Old Testament days the Temple and it's activities provided the means by which the people of Israel could come before God with their petitions, prayers and praises. It was in the Temple where God would come to meet with His people. Hence, for the Old Testament people the Temple was the center for their religious life.
In addition, we discovered that the Tabernacle and the activities performed upon its major furnishings was a foreshadowing of the time when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would come to save His people from their sins. One of the most significant benefits of our salvation is that since the Messiah has already come, the born again believer in Jesus Christ can spiritually enter into the Throne Room of Heaven itself. It is here, in the Name of Jesus Christ, the born again believer can directly offer to God the Father their petitions, prayers, praises and thanksgivings. To see this glorious foreshadowing let us take another walk through the Old Testament Temple. However, this time we will view the Temple as it would have appeared to us, as a born again believer, before it was destroyed in 70 AD.
A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER'S JOURNEY INTO THE OLD TESTAMENT TEMPLE
As we enter the Courtyard of Temple area we see before us the Bronze Basin, Altar of Burnt Offering and the Tabernacle itself. The Bronze Basin brings to mind the time when we heard the good news of Jesus Christ. We can recall the moment when we realized that He is our Lord and that we were sinners. We can still remember how humiliated, ashamed and sorrowful we were. We remember how we confessed our sins to Jesus and professed to Him that we never wanted to do them again. We recall asking Him to save us and how we gave our life to Him.
The Altar of Burnt Offering brings back the memory of when we spiritually saw Jesus Christ on the cross with our sins laid upon Him. We can recall seeing the agonizing death He endured. We can still see His Blood flowing from His side to atone for our sins. At this moment we realized that because of His death and the shedding of His Blood we have been forgiven. Yes, we have been forgiven for every sin and transgression we have or will commit.
With these memories still vivid in our minds we pass through the entrance of the Tabernacle and enter into the Holy Place. Before us we see the Table of the Bread of Presence, the Golden Lampstand and the Altar of Incense. As we gaze upon these furnishings we come to realization that our Lord Jesus Christ is not dead but alive and well.
The Table of Incense reminds us that our Lord and Savior arose from the dead and is now in the Presence of God the Father interceding for you and me. Looking upon the Table of the Presence we are reminded that Jesus Christ is our Bread of Life. It is He who nourishing and sustaining us in our spiritual journey to eternal life with Him. The bright light shinning from the Golden Lampstand reinforces the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the second Person within the God Head. It also brings to mind that reality that when God the Father gave us to Jesus Christ it was His Light that convicted us of our sins and drew us to Him for forgiveness. The light of the Lampstand also brings home the reality that because of Jesus Christ and the salvation He purchased for us we now have the Holy Spirit living within us. He lives within us to lead us and guide us on our spiritual journey to the promised land of Heaven.
As we look beyond these furnishings we immediately realize that the Veil to the Holies of Holies is torn in two and we can enter into it. As we slowly enter into the Most Holy Place we see the Ark of the Covenant on top of which is the Mercy Seat or Atonement Cover. It is then we realize we have come into the God's Throne Room and are standing before God the Father. As the full impact of the tremendous privilege we have been given floods our minds, we fall prostrate upon the floor. Between sobs of sorrow and joy we can only cry out: "Thank You My God! Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son the save me from my sins!"
AMEN and AMEN