“Then
God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen
the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.”
Revelations 11:19
This
verse has arrested me since I read it again for this series of blogs
on the book a Revelations. It is this idea that what God calls us to
build on earth is reflected in heaven. In Exodus 25: 8-9 God gives
Moses a command for the people of Israel. “... have them make a
sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.
Make
this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I
will show you.” Now the pattern and its significance are drawn out
for us in Hebrews 8:5 “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and
shadow of what is in heaven.”
Ancient Rabbinical
teachers add to our understanding of these truths.
"...
the structure of the Tabernacle corresponds to the structure of
heaven and earth." Soncino
Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 149a -
"Now,
the Tabernacle below was likewise made after the pattern of the
supernal Tabernacle in all its details. For the Tabernacle in all its
works embraced all the works and achievements of the upper world and
the lower, whereby the Shekinah was made to abide in the world, both
in the higher spheres and the lower. Similarly, the Lower Paradise is
made after the pattern of the Upper Paradise, and the latter contains
all the varieties of forms and images to be found in the former.
Hence the work of the Tabernacle, and that of heaven and earth, come
under one and the same mystery."1
Soncino Zohar, Shemoth,
Section 2, Page 231a –
The fall of man
meant of fall of creation and hence the Earth. This was not God’s
design for men or for the earth. His desire for man and creation is
that we reflect his glory. When glory is manifest, heaven is
manifested as well. Remember Jesus walked with Adam in the cool of
the garden.
The book of Hebrews
really brings out the ‘why’ of this heaven and earth connection.
“ because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent
priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely
those who come to God through him, because he always lives to
intercede for them. Hebrews 7: 24-25
The
ark was holy as Jesus was holy. The intercession and his atonement
do not make us better. They make us perfect. Therefore holy things
must be approached reverently, fearfully, and discretely as they are the vows of a wedding . One Old
Testament illustration and one New Testament illustration will
illuminate this for us. 1 Chronicles 13:9-10
“When they came to
the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark,
because the oxen nearly upset it. The
anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because
he put out his hand to the ark; and he died”
The
first point is that the ark was not supposed to be drawn by oxen but
carried by men. The second is that we need to be prepared to touch
holy things through the atonement of Jesus. Even as men carried the
holiness of God properly following the death of Uzza they made a
sacrifice of a bull every six steps.
In
John 20:17 Jesus speaks these words to Mary Magdalene
“Touch
me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your
Father; and to my God, and your God.” The resurrected Jesus makes
it clear that his Glorification is not complete until he appears
before the Father in the temple with the ark in heaven. In his
humanity he equates himself with Mary and with all of us. Truly, we
are coming to a time in which his will is the same on earth as it is
in heaven.
But
before that happens we will review heaven rebelling within itself in
Revelations 12 which will come next. As we get into the first verse
of chapter 12 we are going to see the nature of Jesus’ intercession
and Satan’s hatred of it.
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