Dogtags and Pearls…the plain and the precious

Perry Stone is a prophetic teacher who looks for patterns in the bible. After listening to Perry teach this, I am convinced that God works in patterns and that we need to pay attention to that. Eccesiastes 1:9 seems to concur. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

The first mention of patterns in the bible is in Exodus 25:9 where God said to Moses “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.”

Exodus 25:40 “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

Exodus 26:30 “And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.”

In these two chapters, God repeats himself three times. I think it was important.

Numbers 8:4 uses the expression again, saying “Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.”

So during the time that Moses spent on the mountain, God was showing him things. And He was most emphatic that Moses make sure that what he built on earth followed that pattern exactly. When Noah set out to build the ark that would eventually save mankind  and animals from total extinction, again, God was very specific about how to build it. (See Genesis 6-7) I am certain that Noah was probably a builder already, but most likely had never built anything as huge as the ark and, since there had not ever been a flood on the earth, had also had no experience with something that could withstand the enormous waters of the flood. He would need supernatural insight into this project.

The instructions for the tabernacle were different. The instructions Moses received were for building the place where God’s presence would actually DWELL with the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness and beyond. It was to be built according to the pattern God had shown him on the mountain. The holy God would actually be able to dwell there without harming sinful man because of Moses’ obedience to these instructions.

Hebrews Chapter 8, verse 5 says the earthly priests “serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'” So the earthly tabernacle with its priests are a “picture” of the heavenly things.

I believe the Old Testament paints a picture of the heavenly kingdom through the lives of the Old Testament saints, while the New Testament reveals the spiritual realities, revealing in plain English the message of God’s love and salvation extended to mankind. The Old Testament is called a type and shadow of the New Testament. Man could not actually be born again until Jesus came, but there were men in the Old Testament who had the Spirit upon them and could actually hear from God. In the New Testament, EVERY man can have the indwelling Holy Spirit (be a tabernacle) and hear from God for himself.

My husband and I have a large framed print of the wilderness tabernacle on our wall. It is a beautiful print showing the shekinah glory of God descending on the inner court of the wilderness taberncle. It speaks to me of how great God’s desire was and is to dwell with men. All of the effort that went into building this tent tabernacle, which would eventually be packed up and moved to the next camping spot and reassembled, speaks of this great desire, and the Israelites’ dependency on the tabernacle. It is a foreshadowing of the future when Jesus would come, and the same Holy Spirit of God would actually come inside the hearts of men instead of a tent.

I know this post has been long and I haven’t yet arrived at my premise, but I am attempting to lay a foundation through examples and scriptures for the idea that there are patterns in the Bible. This post will give you some things to ponder!  Look for Part 2 to come.

Many years ago, I became part of an organization called Al-Anon. The group is for families of alcoholics. The twelve step program offered by this organization is based on Christian principles. The program aims at helping people start to believe in God again and to have hope in their seemingly hopeless family situations. Through weekly (or more) meetings with others in like situations and accountability with a sponsor, many find help. Many Christian leaders deny the effectiveness of twelve step programs, but it is only their pride that says that.

I’m not going to go into a big long defense of 12 step programs, but I will say this: The Scriptures say that only the Father can draw people to the Son. “No one comes to the Father except through Me, Jesus said. And no one comes to Me except the Father draws him.” The principles of Al-Anon, along with the fellowship and mentoring provided for me there by a Christian woman, brought me to the Son!

What these Christian leaders fail to see is that God is using 12 Step programs to draw people to His Son! God can use anything, or, anyone (even a donkey) whenever He wants! There are things that the church misses as far as relationships and mentoring, that 12 step programs have provided.

At this point in time, I was just learning how to have a relationship with God. I journaled everything. One spiritual thing I learned was that if the same thing came by me twice, or happened to me twice, that was usually God trying to get my attention. The key to relationship with God is surrender. God is ALWAYS right. I found that I was most always wrong back in those days. My thinking was messed up. I wasn’t thinking at all along heavenly ways. In the group,the pain from the way I had been living drove me to get honest with myself and others. I learned to make a personal inventory, and make amends to those I had harmed. After some measure of freedom had been obtained, I learned to daily continue aiming to be the best, but making amends immediately if I needed to. It became possible to have some measure of peace and not be plagued by guilt. God meets you where you are.

But there was a deeper surrender coming. I wanted to be free of a sin that had dominated my life for many years. I needed the power of the cross of Jesus Christ to get there, and even then, it was a battle. But I won. Finally.

All praise goes to Jesus Christ. He paid the price on the cross so that I could have His power living in me that would set me free from all sin. In my mind, the greatest gift from God is our freedom from sin that is provided for by the death of Jesus. He overcame all sin and works of darkness FOR US. He rendered the devil’s lies impotent FOR US. All of it FOR US. If you haven’t experienced release from the burden of your sins (and you do have them, believe me!), you simply must come to Him and acknowledge your need. You have not LIVED until you have experienced freedom from sin!!! Only then can you begin to TRULY LIVE!

Oh, how He loves us!

Pray with me: Dear Jesus, I am not living the way I would like to. I need help. I want to have a clear conscience. I want to experience this freedom from sin that You paid for me to have. I surrender my life to You. From this day forward, I pledge to read Your Word so that I can learn who You are and how much You love me and what You have done for me. I believe that only You can restore my life. Thank You for all You have done. Fill me with Your Spirit every day. I want everything You have for me.