What if I told you that A=100, B=5, and C=25? Could you tell me what D equals? Now what if I also told you that A-B+C=D? This makes it much easier, right? Why? The answer is because in the first scenario you have only information. The second scenario shows you the relationship between the information. This is a simple illustration of going from knowledge to understanding.
Now what if you had 100 apples and I said I would give you 25 of my apples for 5 of yours? Is that a good deal? The obvious answer is yes. How did you get to that? This is an example of wisdom. Wisdom is taking the knowledge you have, gaining an understanding of that knowledge, and then being able to use it to make real life decisions.
For a long time I struggled with the fact that many knowledgeable Christians were making such bad life decisions. Finally, God showed me that they had great knowledge but no real understanding of that knowledge. God explained it to me like this. Letís say your brain is a piece of notebook paper. As you gain knowledge itís like writing A=100, B=5, C=25, and so on. For many, their paper is filled with this type of information. However, as seen in the example above, this does no good without knowing how the information relates to each other.
We live in a world where information is available at our finger tips. Daniel prophesied this when he said ďIn the last days they will run to and fro, and knowledge will increase.Ē In order to be wise Christians we need to take the time to understand all of the knowledge we are gaining. We need a God equation to show us how the information relates. I believe God has provided this equation in the form of the Old Testament Tabernacle.
I know that reading about this subject in the Bible can be boring, but in this information age of technology there are so many ways to learn. I encourage you to take the time to do so. The following will be a basic outline of the tabernacle and how to use it.
The Outer Court
The Brazen Alter (Sacrifice)
The Brazen Laver (Cleansing)
The Inner Court
The Table of Shew Bread(the word of God)
The Menorah (The Holy Spirit, understanding)
The Altar of Incense (Prayer)
The Holy of Holies
The Ark of the Covenant (Godís Promises)
The Mercy Seat (The rest of God)
Now, for a simple illustration on how to use this equation we will plug in some information about salvation.
The Outer Court= The Body (see, hear, touch, taste, smell)
The Brazen Altar= sacrifice of Jesus on the cross
The Brazen Laver= seeing your sins as dirt
The Inner Court= Soul (thought)
The Table of Shew Bread= thinking on the information about salvation
The Menorah= gaining the understanding that Jesusí sacrifice on the cross can wash
away the dirt (sins) in your life.
The Altar of Incense= the prayer of salvation
The Holy of Holies= Spirit
The Ark of the Covenant= having faith in the promise of God for eternal security
The Mercy Seat= Resting from trying to live life by your own power and giving God full control of it.
This is very basic and much more can be said about the subject, but I hope you see how the layout of the Tabernacle can be used to understand the knowledge of the salvation process. As seen in the layout, just like the presence of God was in the Holy of Holies, true salvation is more than just saying a prayer. You must go through the veil and surrender everything to God.
Some other examples of how to use the Tabernacle are:
The Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Revelation
Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God the Father
Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom
Natural, Physical, Spiritual
Water, Blood, Spirit
First Heaven, Second Heaven, Third Heaven
New Jerusalem, Israel, the Church
Body, Soul, Spirit
If you enjoyed this article please go to my site, Shining Godís Light, at www.josephclarkblog.com.
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