Cherubim No Longer Guard the Way

The Garden:
In the garden God dwelt with people, Adam and Eve were perfect, and walked with God.

Then sin entered the world and because imperfect cannot exist where there is perfection i.e. the immediate presence of God. They had to be where his immediate presence wasn't, "east of Eden" (Gen. 4:16)


"After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." (Gen. 3:24)

The Tabernacle:
When God again came down to dwell amongst his people he first called Moses up to the top of the mountain to give him instructions on how to prepare the way for him to come down and dwell. He gave him the instructions for the tabernacle so that he could dwell with us.

Heaven was coming to earth.

But not in its fullness yet. A piece of heaven would find it's dwelling place behind a curtain that blocked the way into the Most Holy Place, the way into the very presence of the Living God.


The interesting thing about the instructions for the curtain was that they were required to embroider cherubim on the curtain: "Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim worked into it by a skilled craftsman. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place." (Ex. 26:31-33)


The Temple:
When Solomon built the temple "He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it." (2 Chron. 3:14) God again dwelt in the midst his people but the way into his presence was still being guarded by cherubim.


In all three places, Eden, the tabernacle, and the temple, God dwelt, but in all three places Cherubim were put to guard the way into his presence from those who weren't perfect. (The high priest did enter once a year but was symbolically perfect and was a type for Christ, just as Moses was a shadow of Christ, being a mediator between God and people).

 "These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. (Heb. 9:6-10)


The Cross:
As Jesus hung in agony on the bloody tree, he cried out, "It is finished!". "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." (Matt. 27:49-51)

The curtain bearing the cherubim was torn away. They could no more guard the way. By his death Jesus bought our way back to God.

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Heb. 9:11-14)

Because of the work that Jesus finished on the cross the cherubim on the temple curtain have been torn away, and the cherubim that once guarded the way to the tree of life, the way to the presence of God has also been removed! Praise the Lord!

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." (Heb. 10:19-23)


This is a powerful song on this subject: The Reward by Jonathan David Helser


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Economy of the Kingdom

 The Short Version:

• God will always provided everything we need to obey his every word.

• We don't give to get blessed, we don't give to get something back, we give out of obedience and love. 

• Depend on God for what you need, not yourself, or others. 

• We are the tithe, lets give all of our self, not just 10% of our money.

• God provides what we need, not always what we want , but sometimes he will give us things we don't need just to bless us! 

The Full Version:

I started to learn about the economy of the Kingdom during my trip to Scotland. I counted all my resources as the Lords and stepped out into obedience and bought a plane ticket and God provided for literally everything else. Lately God has been teaching me to live all of life like this, not just an adventure here and there. Some examples from this last week:

• God told me to buy an iPod for a friend that didn't have one. I hesitated because that would once again drain all my resources. But God reminded me that it wasn't my resources but his. So I agreed and a few days later, the night before I went to get the iPod, a friend walked up to me and told me that God told him to give me some money. He gave me $120! I was able to get the iPod no problem and it really blessed my friend! I was blessed as well to receive and see God's provision and blessed by my friends obedience to the Lord. When we all walk in obedience with open hands, the blessings (not just monetary) just start flowing all around!
•  Jesus told me to drive to Lansing for a friends CD release, then all over Grand Rapids to visit a couple churches and a conference and a Bible study. This takes a toll on gas, and I didn't know how I was going to pay for it, but I felt that I was walking in obedience so I just trusted that there would be a way made to pay for it all or to multiply the gas in the car. At one of the churches a friend handed me $20 and said that God told her to give it to me! 
• This isn't just happening to me it is happening all over! It is starting to become the new normal for Christians who walk by faith in obedience to God's word, and not by sight. One of my friends from Hope College was told by God to by a plane ticket to Zambia. The problem is that he really wanted to go home to visit his family but if he bought the ticket he would not be able to afford the $70 train ticket. He obeyed, even though it seemed crazy, was severely blessed in Zambia by the trip and fellowship he had there. But to top it off, the day after he bought the ticket to Zambia, he got a card from his grandma with $20 in it and another friend walked up and handed him $50 because the he felt the Lord had told him to give the $50. So he had the $70 he needed to go home, the next day! The best part is that the guy who gave the $50 didn't even know my friend needed the $50 to buy the train ticket. He was just obedient. 

These are just a few of the stories! (The more tame ones I might add) 

Now I don't think that everyone or even many are called to sell everything, to give everything away, if so, we would all be poor and no one would be able to help anyone, but we all should be willing to give everything away. If we acknowledge that nothing is ours, and it's all on loan, then we would have no problem putting whatever amount of time, talent, money, etc... wherever God told you to put it.

Tithes: So we don't kill animals for sacrifices or wear pure linen robes to church or do any of the other things that they did in the Law because Christ came to fulfill the Law. So why are we still tithing, and mandating the giving of tithes in churches just like the Law requires. If you are going to live by the Law you have to live by the whole thing, you cannot just pick and choose: "This Law was fulfilled", "This one wasn't". Either all of them were fulfilled in Christ or none of them were. Praise God it is written, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matt. 5:17)

Many churches and Christians live like the tithe wasn't fulfilled, but I believe it was. Col. 2:6-23 talks about Christ being the fulfillment of the Law. Especially verse 17: "These (the laws) are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." So I started looking for the fulfillment of the tithe. The 'shadow' of the tithe is found in Gen. 14:18-20 where Abraham gives 1/10th of everything that he has to Melchizedek, a priest of God Most High. So I started there and dug into the '1/10th' and 'Melchizedek'.

• Melchizedek - In Hebrews 7 it talks about how Melchizedek was a 'shadow' of Jesus!
• 1/10th is found in Luke 17:10-19 where 10 lepers were healed by Jesus but only one came back to thank him, and he threw himself down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

In light of these I saw that the 1/10th was a whole person who bowed with gratitude at Jesus feet, the 'tithe' is for Jesus. But Jesus said things like 'leave your father and mother', 'you lack one thing, go and sell everything that you own', and other extreme things like that. I think the key words in these are 'your' and 'you own'. Nothing is ours, we don't own anything. It is all on loan from the Lord for the advancement of his Kingdom and the glory of his name. Again, I don't think Jesus is telling everyone to sell everything, but he does want us to get rid of the idea that something, anything is ours. IF something is ours then we can do what we want with it, but if it is God's then we only do what he wants with it. NEWSFLASH: Jesus doesn't need our money. And he is certainly worth more than just 10% of your money! The point is he wants us, EVERY PART OF US! As Christian rap artist Lecrae says in his song 'Don't Waste Your Life', "Your money, your singleness, marriage, talent, and time, they were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is divine!" One of the most used verses in the Bible to 'encourage' tithing is Malachi 3:8-12. But verse 7 right before that says, "Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty." God wants you! And when we don't give everything into his hands, we are robbing him, because we are are not our own.


GOD WANTS US! WE ARE THE TITHE!

** Unfortunately many churches have become dependent on people to keep the church financially afloat, rather than God. Thus they need to push tithing to pay bills that they are behind on or to get money for another program. ** 

Let it be known I am not against offerings, in fact when the offerings go by it is a good chance to ask God how much HE would have you put in if any! God is all about giving but since it is his money lets ask him where he wants it. I just don't like the trying to twist peoples arms/ guilt them into giving or tell them they have to give a certain amount to a certain place: Let God decide that.

Conclusion:
 
When we live within the Kingdom of God we have the resources of heaven at our disposal. We acknowledge that everything is from him. We the more we mature in Christ the more we "come up leaning on our beloved" (Song of Sol. 8:5) as we see more and more our dependency on him. The focus isn't getting or giving stuff, the focus is the person of Jesus Christ, and in him we have all resources we need to walk in obedience to his every word.


This was a lot of info so if you are someone who likes one-liners here are the two that sum up this blog:

• God wants the full tithe...and you are the tithe.

• God will always provided everything we need to obey his every word.

Power of Prayer

This past week I was at my friend Jerome's CD release concert in Lansing. The concert was great, and in the middle of it Jerome started preaching the gospel and gave an alter call...hundreds of youth came forward to declare Jesus as Lord of their lives! Some of them literally ran forward to accept Jesus! I was stunned. Then it hit me, this kind of thing doesn't happen because the music is good, or the speaking is powerful...the only thing that can make a heart turn toward Jesus is the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit moves in response to people's prayers! So I could only conclude that their had to be a bunch of people praying and interceding for the youth at the concert. After the show I asked Jerome who was praying, he smiled and told me that they had a whole ROOM FULL of adults praying throughout the whole show! That makes so much sense. That is why it was as impactful as it was, prayer.

Another incidence, also this past week, was a friend was struggling with severe depression to the point of giving up on life. He confided in me and another friend and we got to work praying and texting other prayer warriors to pray. The result of 4 days of people interceding, (some till 3am!), God moved and he was completely delivered and Jesus completely restored joy in his life! He is a new person! God is sooo good and prayer is soooo powerful!

Be encouraged. keep praying and don't lose heart! Perservere in prayer.

IT IS WRITTEN:

"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."  (James 5:16)

Provision and Prayer Request

God has put it on my heart not to ask for anything but prayer support in regards to the move to London. He told me that He would stir hearts to give. He is faithful. Already he has stirred hearts to support me with prayer and finances! He is faithful! I am still looking for more people to commit to praying for me. Ask God if this is you. Then if it is please let me know so i can start an email database to keep you all up to date.

Magnify Conference Teachings

Here is a link to some incredible teachings from the conference. And a nice quote I read yesterday in the book Fire & Fragrance 

http://www.24-7prayer.com/magnify2010video

Quote for the yester-day: "Physical children are the fruit of physical intimacy. Spiritual fruitfulness is the result of spiritual intimacy." 

The deeper we go into the heart of Jesus by spending time with him, the more fruitful our lives will (super) naturally be!