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1. Where Did God’s
People Worship Before the Tabernacle?
Abel’s and Cain’s
Sacrifice – Gen. 4:1-8.
In
Genesis 4, Abel’s sacrifice is pleasing to God while Cain’s is definitely
not. One may assume that Abel’s sacrifice was pleasing to the Lord
be-cause it involved the offering of a slain animal, because it was
consistent with the instructions he had received from his parents, and
because his offering was sincere. Accordingly, Cain’s sacrifice likely was
rejected because it was inconsistent with the instructions of his parents,
perhaps because it did not involve the sacrifice of an animal and
because Cain’s heart was not sincere.
Noah’s Sacrifice
After the Flood – Gen. 8:20.
The motivation
Y
for worship here is quite obvious. Noah and his family have been
spared the dreadful
flood. This offering was driven by gratitude for God’s precious mercy to
only them. Again, the place of sacrifice does not seem to be an issue at
this point and it seems that Noah also built altars made of stones or
earthen material, in order to bum the sacrificed animal. Noah offered
numerous sacrifices and in each case the animal was “clean”
[unblemished].
Abraham’s Sacrifice to Confirm God’s
Covenant – Gen. 12:7.
Having sent Abraham away from his homeland, God appears to him and
promises the descendants of Abraham the land of Canaan. Abraham’s
sacrifice is to express deep gratitude to God.
Abraham’s Sacrifice on Mt. Moriah –
Gen. 22.
Abraham’s faith is radically put to the test. God commands him to go to
Moriah and offer up Isaac his own beloved son. This of course was contrary
to God’s nature. The offering of children was connected with Molech
worship, an abominable form of false worship and one which received the
greatest condemnation by God’s prophets [See Jer 7:29-34; Ezek 16:20-22;
23:37-39; Amos 5:26]. Hebrews 11:17-19 reveals Abraham believed God was
going to resurrect Isaac. God intervenes and provides a ram. This is one
of the clearest OT pictures of Christ as God’s provision for the
forgiveness of sins.
The First Passover Sacrifice – Ex. 12.
As part of the tenth plague on Egypt, the people of God are protected from
the angel of death by placing the blood of an unblemished lamb on their
ceremony was central to Jewish worship and was fulfilled when Christ died
as The Passover Lamb [1 Cor 5:7] demonstrating that the OT sacrifices were
pictures pointing to Christ as the one and only acceptable sacrifice for
the forgiveness of sin. Thus, the sacrificial system repeatedly
illustrated Christ’s death as the actual means of salvation.
Sacrificial Worship In the Tabernacle and Temple:
Following the construction of the tabernacle and the later construction of
the temples of Solomon, Zachariah and Herod, sacrifices were offered
daily, on special occasions like Passover and the Day of Atonement, and
with great variety in terms of the type of animal offered and the meaning
of each of these sacrifices
to God. The intricate procedure for these sacrifices
is set forth in Exodus and Leviticus. At the same time, individual
Jews continued to offer private sacrifices
at altars.
2. List Some of the
Advantages for Worship That NT Saints Have Which OT Saints Could Not
Experience.
The OT
repeatedly demonstrated that animal sacrifices
pointed to the sacrifice
of Christ which alone is the basis for God to forgive human sin.
Christ’s sacrifice
put an end to animal sacrifices
and placed believers in a very advantageous position to worship:
• Their bodies
are temples of God - 1 Cor. 6:9.
▪
They are part of the corporate temple of every believer – Eph.
2:20; 1 Pet. 2:5.
• They are to
present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God in gratitude for the
mercy of
salvation set forth in Rom. (chapters) 1-11; Rom. 12:1-2.
• They are to
offer up constant sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving - Heb. 13:15.
• The veil
separating God is gone. We are now to come directly through Christ to God
to
intercede with confidence and boldness – Heb. 4:16.
• All believers
have access as priests in the household of God - 1 Pet. 2:9.
3. List Several
Advantages Which Were Unique to the OT Saints and Their Tabernacle and/or
Temple Which Would Have Been Beneficial For
Us to Experience.
I need be very brief here. Some of what I find very unique about OT
Tabernacle or Temple worship is a follows:
▪
The immediate display of God's shekinah glory whether in a cloud by
day, a pillar by
night or within the holy of holies.
• The amazing
lessons taught so graphically through all the animal sacrifices
which
pointed to Christ as the one and only sacrifice
acceptable to God.
• The vivid
demonstration of God's holiness as demonstrated in the death of priests.
• Other: As a
family, list other aspects which you find unique to OT worship.
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