Texts
Old Testament Worship
• Worship in the Old Testament started out as private or family worship. The first incident mentioned is that of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4). By the time of the exodus and the Law given at Mt.
Sinai, the emphasis became national and ceremonial.

• This is true for the Israelites, and so little record is given for the Gentile world that it is difficult to come to any conclusions about them.

• Hints are given along the way for
Gentiles, and perhaps one of the best known outside of the Law of Moses is that of Cornelius in New Testament times. His prayers and alms went up before God acceptably (Acts 10:1-4).

• Worship is universal. All human persons have the innate desire to worship something. Worship has its root in the necessity of the human soul to recognize something or somebody greater than one’s self.

• It may be the God of heaven, it may be any number of worldly interests, it may even be one’s own self judgments. In every person’s life, one can find respect, devotion, honor, and service paid to something.

• The basic idea of worship is service.
The English word comes from
“worthshipe” (Middle English), and
“weorthscipe” (Old English). A common definition includes:

• “ 1 a. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object. b. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed…

• …2. Ardent devotion; adoration.”
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton
Mifflin Company . Updated in 2003.
Published by Houghton Mifflin
Company . All rights reserved.)

• Some basic ideas for the Hebrew language include:

• caghadh , "prostrate," occurring in
Isa 44:15,17,19; 46:6, but rendered
(English Versions of the Bible) "fall down." In Dan 2:46; 3:5-7,10,15,18,
28, it (Aramaic ceghidh ) is "worship"
(English Versions of the Bible),…

• …7 times associated with "falling down" and 5 times with "serve."
`abhadh , "work," "labor," "serve," is rendered "worship" by English
Versions of the Bible in 2 Kings
10:19,21ff: "the worshippers
(servants) of Baal.“…

• …" In Isa 19:21the Revised Version
(British and American) has "worship with sacrifice and oblation" (the King
James Version "do sacrifice"). Isa
19:23the King James Version has
"served,“…

• …the Revised Version (British and
American) "worship." `atsabh ,
"carve," "fabricate," "fashion," is once given "worship," i.e. "make (an object of) worship" (Jer 44:19, the American
Revised Version margin "portray")….

• …The Old Testament idea is therefore the reverential attitude of mind or body or both, combined with the more generic notions of religious adoration, obedience, service.
(International Standard Bible
Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database
Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)

• The basic worship of the Old
Testament shows monotheism among the earliest persons, though polytheism reigned later among the
Gentiles in the time of the Law of
Moses.

• It seems that prayers and offerings were offered by the patriarchs, who evidently were in charge of priestly functions for their families. Wherever they pitched their tents, they built altars, simple mounds of earth and stone, and the animals offered were edible.

• “Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the
LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground,…

• …and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.”
(Genesis 4:2-5 ESV, and all following quotations)

• This incident is the first mention of worship actions in the Old Testament.
Numerous questions arise:
• 1. How did Can and Abel know to offer sacrifices?
• 2. Did they learn it from their parents or directly from God?

3. Did they offer at the same spot?
• 4. Did they offer before their father
Adam as their priest?
• 5. If so, did Adam approve of
Cain’s offering?

• 6. Does the word “also” in reference to Abel’s offering mean 2 offerings?
• 7. Was a harvest offering a thank offering as in later times?
• 8. Was an animal offering, a blood offering for sin?

• Further thought should be given to additional scriptures:
• “Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?...

• …And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it"
(Genesis 4:5-7).

• “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks”
(Hebrews 11:4-5).

• A very interesting statement is made by the Lord to Abel, “sin is crouching at the door.” Scholars are divided as to what this means.

• Some conclude that the Lord is warning Cain about his course of life, and if he continues in rebellion to
God, sin will continue to come through the door of his life and heart.
Such a conclusion is reasonable if that is what the word for “sin” means.

• However, more than 100 times in the
Old Testament, this Hebrew word for
“sin” is used to mean “sin offering”
(Adam Clarke, Vol. I, p. 59).

• If it is true in the case of Cain, then he is told that he could yet offer a second sacrifice, a bloody offering for sin, and be acceptable to God.

• This lends credence to the idea that a harvest offering was a thank offering, while a bloody offering was a sin offering. This bloody offering involved the giving of a life.

• The little word “also” enters in (v. 4).
This suggests that Abel brought a thank offering, and in addition, he also brought a blood offering for sin.

• This may be lent additional proof in the fact that the Greek word for “more acceptable” (plei/ona – Hebrews 11:4) refers to quantity, not quality. It generally refers to “more…a greater sum…several” (see Arndt & Gingrich, p. 689).

• This can either mean Abel brought a greater amount of what he offered, or that he offered two kinds of offerings.
There is also the fact that Abel’s offering as a blood offering demanded the giving of a life.

• It demanded the whole animal, the entire gift. Cain’s offering was only a portion of his harvest. Some OT students conclude that both Cain and
Abel offered bread offerings as the harvest offering.

• Again, the fact that Abel offered by faith requires that he had instruction from God as to his offering. To do something by faith is to do what God instructs.

• Noah did all that God commanded him in building the ark (Genesis 6:22), yet he did it by faith (Hebrews 11:7).
Doing God’s commands is acting by faith.

• This distinction, given so plainly in the
New Testament by implication, indicates that Cain did not follow
God’s instructions. His offering was not by faith, it was by his own inclinations and desires.

• One must conclude that Old
Testament worship was highly significant to God, as it indicated the place that God was held in the minds of men.

• Numerous blunders were involved the mistakes of Nadab and Abihu, sons of the High Priest Aaron, when they burned incense before the Lord.
Most seem to pass lightly over the incident as if strange fire were the only problem.

• “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the
LORD, which he had not commanded them….

• …And fire came out from before the
LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD….

• …Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD has said, 'Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'" And Aaron held his peace” (Leviticus 10:1-3).

• A paramount concept, often overlooked, is when the Lord said, “I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified,” v. 3.

• The context from chapter 9, where instructions were given for various actions of worship, “as the Lord commanded” is seen in vv. 6, 7, and
10, as well as in 10:15.

• The emphasis in the complete context is that Moses gave the priests the exact instructions of the Lord, and those instructions were to be carried out to the letter.

• The fact that so much detail was involved in these commands of the
Lord indicates how important they were. Any other actions did not sanctify and glorify God.
• Disobedience has never glorified
God.

• The clear fact is that Nadab and
Abihu did not obey God.
• Whatever they did, or failed to do, was in conflict with the Lord’s instructions.
• They were either presumptuous, rebellious, or ignorant.
• The latter is the least probable.

• About the fire, God-originated fire consumed the sacrifices at the altar
(9:14).
• The fire at that altar was to be kept burning continually (6:13), and the altar fire was considered a holy fire since it came from God.

• This fire signified the presence of God to the Israelites.
• This surely points to the significance of using the correct fire.

• In the burning of incense, one commentator writes that one priest gathered ashes from off the altar in a golden vessel, another brought a vessel full of the proper mixture of incense,…

• …a third brought a censer with fire and put coals upon the incense altar, and the priest, whose turn it was to burn incense, then put the fire upon the incense (Clarke, Vol. I, p. 537).

• Numerous questions help to point to blunders of Nadab and Abihu.
• Were they to be burning incense at all?
• Was it their lot to burn incense?
• Did Aaron know about this and did he try to restrain his sons?

• Was this strange incense as well
(Exodus 30:9)?
• Why did both men go in, when only one priest was to burn at a time?

• Was this the proper time to offer incense, that is, between the sacrifice of chapter 9, and the meal to be eaten (10:12-15)?

• Did the sons violate the Holy of Holies as the incense was to go into that room? Did they part the veil that the incense smoke might go over the
Mercy Seat?

• Did they presume on a prerogative that belonged only to God, what
God “commanded not”?
• Where did they get the common fire?
• Could it signify God’s presence?

• As priestly sons of Aaron, did they assume they could do as they pleased?
• Was this done in ignorance or presumption?
• Is it possible they were rebellious?
• Some scholars indicate the possibility of jealousy.

• Since laws about drunkenness are given immediately after this incident, v. 9, is it possible Nadab and Abihu had been drinking intoxicants?

• Was their blunder in principle the failure to distinguish between the holy and the common, the clean and unclean, v. 10?

• Did their blunders sanctify God?
• Could their worship prefigure accurately the worship of the church?
• Did their disobedience accomplish
God’s purpose in the Law of
Moses?

• Why punishment so severe?
• “For (as bishop Hall well observes here) "It is a dangerous thing, in the service of God, to decline from his own institutions; we have to do with a
God who is wise to prescribe his own worship,…

• …just to require what he has prescribed, and powerful to revenge what he has not prescribed."
• (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern
Edition, Electronic Database.
Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson
Publishers, Inc.)

• This incident, quite distinctively, shows how important unto God is worship.
• One cannot trifle with God’s commands, nor presume upon the silence of God.

• Both principles were violated by
Nadab and Abihu.
• They rejected the commands of God.
• They presumed they could offer fire of their own choice.

• “ Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
• make known his deeds among the peoples!
• Sing to him; sing praises to him;
• tell of all his wondrous works!...

• …Glory in his holy name;
• let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
• Seek the LORD and his strength;
• seek his presence continually!”

• This is the great psalm of thanksgiving by David when the
Ark of the Covenant was brought into the tent. It is remarkable in its principles of praise, glory, and thanksgiving.

• It emphasizes many things that please God in worship. It is the same as portions of Psalms 96,
105, and 106.

• It is a psalm to summon people into the presence of God,
• it calls for remembrance of great providence,
• it extols the praise and homage of
God,
• and it calls for rejoicing in salvation.

• One commentator gives it thus:
• Let God be glorified in our praises.
• Let others be edified and instructed.
• Let us be encouraged by our triumph and trust in God….

• …Let God’s word be a matter of joy and praise.
• Let God’s former mercies to ancestors be extolled.
• Let salvation be in our praise,…

…Let our offerings be a subject to
His glory.
Let universal monarchy be the joy of all people.
Let salvation be in our praise,…

• …Let God be the Alpha and
Omega of our thanks and praise.
give thanks unto Jehovah, with the conclusion:…

• …v. 36 blessed be Jehovah.”
•
• (from Matthew Henry's
Commentary on the Whole Bible:
New Modern Edition, Electronic
Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

• It surely points up that God cannot be pleased with mere hoofs and horns:

(Psalms 69:30-31)
• “I will praise the name of God with a song;
• I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
• This will please the LORD more than an ox
• or a bull with horns and hoofs.”

• How important is it really to follow
God’s instructions in worship?
• Are these examples in the Old
Testament worth one’s study?
• Should Christians pay any heed to these examples?

• One very important comment about the worship of the church is found in this context of 1 Chronicles 16:42:
“Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song.”…

• …Query, Did God ever ordain instruments of music to be used in his worship? Can they be used in
Christian assemblies according to the spirit of Christianity?...

• …Has Jesus Christ, or his apostles, ever commended or sanctioned the use of them? Were they ever used any where in the apostolic church?...

• …Does the use of them at present, in
Christian congregations, ever increase the spirit of devotion? Does it ever appear that bands of musicians, either in their collective or individual capacity, are more spiritual, or as spiritual, as the other parts of the church of Christ?...

• …Is there less pride, self-will, stubbornness, insubordination, lightness, and frivolity among such persons than among the other professors of Christianity found in the same religious society?...

• …Is it ever remarked or known that musicians in the house of God have attained to any depth of piety, or superior soundness of understanding, in the things of God?...

• …Is it ever found that those churches and Christian societies which have and use instruments of music in divine worship are more holy, or as holy, as those societies which do not use them?...

• …And is it always found that the ministers which affect and recommend them to be used in the worship of Almighty God, are the most spiritual men, and the most spiritual and useful preachers?...

• …Can mere sounds, no matter how melodious, where no word nor sentiment is or can be uttered, be considered as giving praise to God?
Is it possible that pipes or strings of any kind can give God praise?...

• …Can God be pleased with sounds which are emitted by no sentient being, and have in themselves no meaning?...

• …If these questions cannot be answered in the affirmative; then, query, Is not the introduction of such instruments into the worship of God antichristian,…

• …and calculated to debase and ultimately ruin the spirit and influence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?...

• …And should not all who wish well to the spread and establishment of pure and undefiled religion, lift up their hand, their influence and their voice against them?...

• …The argument from their use in the
Jewish service is futile in the extreme when applied to Christianity.”
• (from Adam Clarke's Commentary,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1996 by Biblesoft)

• “I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the divine worship of which we read; and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly reprehended by this prophet;…

• …and I further believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the
Christian church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful….

• …If there was a woe to them who invented instruments of music, as did
David under the law, is there no woe, no curse to them who invent them, and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian church?...

• …I am an old man, and an old minister; and I here declare that I never knew them to be productive of any good in the worship of God; and I have had reason to believe that they were productive of much evil….

• …Music, as a science, I esteem and admire: but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor….

• …This is the abuse of music; and here I register my protest against all such corruptions in the worship of the
Author of Christianity….

• …The late venerable and most eminent divine, the Rev. John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the
Methodists said,…

• …in his terse and powerful manner, "I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither HEARD nor SEEN.“…

• …I say the same, though I think the expense of purchase had better be spared.”
• (from Adam Clarke's Commentary,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1996 by Biblesoft)

• “Moses had not appointed any musical instruments to be used in the divine worship; there was nothing of the kind under the first tabernacle….

• …The trumpets or horn's then used were not for song nor for praise, but as we use bells, i.e., to give notice to the congregation of what they were called to perform, etc….

• …But David did certainly introduce many instruments of music into God's worship, for which we have already seen he was solemnly reproved by the prophet Amos, Amos 6:16….

• …Here, however, the author of this book states he had the commandment of the prophet Nathan, and Gad the king's seer; and this is stated to have been the commandment of the Lord by his prophets:…

• …but the Syriac and Arabic give this a different turn-"Hezekiah appointed the Levites in the house of the Lord, with instruments of music, and the sound of harps, and with the HYMNS of DAVID, and the HYMNS of GAD,…

• …the king's prophet, and of NATHAN, the king's prophet: for David sang the praises of the Lord his God, as from the mouth of the prophets.“…

• …It was by the hand or commandment of the Lord and his prophets that the Levites should praise the Lord; for so the Hebrew text may be understood:…

• …and it was by the order of David that so many instruments of music should be introduced into the divine service….

• …But were it even evident, which it is not, either from this or any other place in the sacred writings, that instruments of music were prescribed by divine authority under the law,…

• …could this be adduced with any semblance of reason, that they ought to be used in Christian worship? No: the whole spirit, soul, and genius of the Christian religion are against this:…

• …and those who know the church of
God best, and what constitutes its genuine spiritual state, know that these things have been introduced as a substitute for the life and power of religion;…

• …and that where they prevail most, there is least of the power of
Christianity….

• …Away with such portentous baubles from the worship of that infinite Spirit who requires his followers to worship him in spirit and in truth, for to no such worship are those instruments friendly…

• …See the texts in the margin; also the use of the trumpets in the sanctuary, Numbers 10:2, etc., and the notes there.”
• (from Adam Clarke's Commentary,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1996 by Biblesoft)

• Do you suppose our pulpits are filled with this kind of preaching today?
• Wonder why not?
• Was that old-time Methodist preacher willing to stand up for truths where our preachers today are not?

• “When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin.
• The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did….

• …They did not depart from them, until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.” (2 Kings 17:21-23)

• One of the most prominent examples of rejected worship in the Old
Testament is what Jereboam led the nation of Israel, the Northern
Kingdom, the ten rebellious tribes, to do.

• As a result of these man-made changes, God used Assyria as the
“rod of mine anger” (Isaiah 10:5) to put them into bondage, a bondage from which they never escaped, and a bondage in which their lost their distinctive identity.

• The things which Jereboam led them to do included:
• Placing golden calves placed in Dan and Bethel;
• Building houses in high places;
• Appointing priests that were not of the tribe of Levi;

• Ordaining a feast in the eighth month to rival the Passover in the seventh month;
• carving Asherahs;
• worshiping the hosts of heaven;
• serving Baal;

• causing their children to pass through the fires;
•
• using divinations and enchantments.
(1 Kings 12:25-33; 2 Kings
17:7-18)

• All of these changes occurred due to
Jereboam devising them in his own heart (1 Kings 12:33).

• Is this not where all unacceptable worship begins?

• When Jereboam had charge under
Solomon of the labor of the house of
Joseph, the prophet Ahijah met him in the field and gave him a solemn promise and warning.

• Ahijah took a new garment off of himself, tore it into 12 pieces, and told
Jereboam to take 10 of the pieces.
• This indicated God would give
Jereboam rule over 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel.

• Ahijah concluded his prophecy to
Jereboam by telling him that God promised him a “sure house” if he would keep God’s commandments
(1 Kings 11:28-38).

• However, Jereboam distrusted his own people, thus he started different worship to keep his people from returning to Jerusalem.
• Worst of all, he distrusted God.
Rather than build a temple he thought
2 golden calves would suffice.

• It is thought the calves were the same size as the cherubim on top of the Ark of the Covenant, but most likely, they were cheap imitations made of wood and overlaid with gold.

• It is significant that Jereboam used the same words as did Aaron at Mt.
Sinai, saying that these calves were the gods who brought them out of the land of Egypt (1 Kings 12:28; Exodus
32:4-8).

• He thus laid claim to no new worship, but the same worship as in the wilderness.
• Had Solomon’s recent idolatry contributed to Jereboam’s actions
(1 Kings 11:3-8)?

• The feast that he ordained was to the day one month later than the
Passover. He may have claimed a later date due to a later harvest in the northern part of Palestine where most of his people lived.

• Jereboam imitated the Egyptian rulers in that he made himself a theocratic king. He not only ruled the 10 tribes as king, but he also served in priestly functions of offering sacrifices for the people (1 Kings 12:32-13:1).

• One of the calves was placed in Dan, a remote northern site, but the other was placed in Bethel, near to the remaining faithful tribes of Judah and
Benjamin.
• Was this a deliberate insult, or a temptation to draw Judah away?

• It is thought the Levites had the grace to refuse any part of this worship, so men of the lowest order were ordained to be priests.
• Jereboam actually snubbed the
Levites, and they left their homes and went to the Southern Kingdom of
Judah (2 Chronicles 11:13-15).

• One of the more important texts concerning Old Testament worship is the study of the Tabernacle in the
Wilderness. While encamped at Mt.
Sinai, Moses was given explicit instructions (Exodus 25-30).

• Those instructions were carried out minutely by men inspired of the Lord
(Exodus 35-40). Later, it is found that one of God’s major purposes was to prepare for the gospel (Gal. 3:24).
• Thus the study of type and antitype is most important.

• The Tabernacle was a provisional tent where the Lord met with His people.
• It was designed to be portable, within it was placed the sacred Ark of the
Covenant that symbolized the presence of Jehovah.

• The Tabernacle was surrounded by an outer court, also included in the instructions.
• An exact pattern was shown:

• “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it….

• …And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.” (Ex.
25:8-9, 40)
• “Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.”
(Ex.26:30)

• “Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded
Moses; so they did. According to all that the LORD had commanded
Moses,…

• …so the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it.
• Then Moses blessed them.”
• (Ex 39:32, 42-43)

• The materials used included metals, fabric, skins, wood, oil, spices, and precious gems. The superintendent of the construction was Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, with Aholiab of the tribe of Dan, who was “skilled in all manner of workmanship” (Exodus
31:2, 6; 35:30, 34).

• In the outer court, one hundred cubits by fifty cubits, stood the Altar of Burnt
Offering, as well as the Laver at which the priests washed prior to entering the tent (Exodus 27:1-19;
30:17-21).
• The court faced the east.

• The Tabernacle itself was thirty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits in height. The tent was placed at the western end of the court, and it also faced to the east.

• Within the Tabernacle was the Table of Showbread on the north wall, the
Candlestick (in reality oil pots) on the south wall, and the Altar of Incense on the west before the veil that separated the two rooms, the Holy
Place and the Holy of Holies.

• The Table of Showbread contained twelve loaves of unleavened bread to be eaten each Sabbath day by the priests.
• The candlestick was to be left burning continually with oil added each morning and evening.

• The incense was to be burned each morning and evening, and the kindling fire was to come from the burnt offering altar in the outer court.
• That fire was kindled by God.

• Within the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, with the Mercy Seat as the cover. The blood of atonement was to be sprinkled on the Mercy
Seat once each year by the High
Priest.

Ark of the Covenant
Mercy Seat

• Particular attention was paid to each of these items of tent and furniture, as well as the makeup of the incense, and even the garments of the priests as they offered for the people.

• These actions all were types to be followed by the antitypes in New
Testament worship.
• They were shadows that preceded the substances.

•
• They were all “according to the pattern.” If not, they would not teach what Jehovah intended them to teach:
• “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came,” (Gal. 3:24).

• “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Cor. 10:6).

• “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).

• Several things are necessary for one to understand types and antitypes.
–1. It must be a true picture or representation of what it prefigures.

–2. It must be of Divine appointment.
Only God can make a type and an antitype.
For it to teach God’s truth, it must proceed from God.

–3. It prefigures something future.
A scriptural type and predictive prophecy are in substance much alike.
They both point to something future.

• 1. Adam was a type of Christ.
• “Nevertheless death reigned from
Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come”
(Romans 5:14).

• “So also it is written, The first man
Adam became a living soul. The last
Adam (became) a lifegiving spirit”
(1 Corinthians 15:45).

• 2. Moses was a type of Christ
• “For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
• Or, grace and reality came in Christ.

• 3. The Law of Moses was a type of the gospel of Christ.
• “For the law having a shadow of the good (things) to come, not the very image of the things,” (Hebrews 10:1).

• 4. Aaron was a type of our High
Priest, Jesus Christ.
• “Now in the things which we are saying the chief point (is this):…

• …We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,”
• (Hebrews 8:1).

• 5. The paschal lamb was a type of our Lamb, Jesus Christ.
• “On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

• “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our passover also hath been sacrificed, (even) Christ:”
• (1 Corinthians 5:7).

• 6. The brazen serpent was a type of
Jesus Christ.
• “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;” (John 3:14).

• 7. Melchizedek was a type of Christ.
• “whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of
Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:20).

• “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met
Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,”
• (Hebrews 7:1).

• “Behold, the man whose name is the
Branch, and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Jehovah, and he shall bear the glory…”

• “…and he shall sit and rule upon his throne; and shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both”
• (Zechariah 6:12-13).

• Jesus is king and priest at the same time!
• This is a very significant type and antitype, as it shows Jesus is now the
Christ who is reigning on his throne during the Christian, or church age.

• 1. The Holy of Holies is a type of heaven.
• “But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come…entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption”
• (Hebrews 9:12).

• “For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us:” (Hebrews 9:24).

• 2. The Holy Place is a type of the church.
• “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,” (Hebrews 10:19).

• 3. Incense prefigures prayers.
• “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before thee; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalms
141:2).

• 4. The Table of Showbread was a type of the Lord’s Supper.
• The Hebrew word for “bread” is literally “bread of His presence.”

• “for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of
God…and I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom;
• (Luke 22:16, 29-30).

• 5. The “candlestick,” or oil lamp is a type of the gospel of Christ, the truth.
• “In him was life; and the life was the light of men…There was the true light, (even the light) which lighteth every man, coming into the world”
• (John 1:4, 9).

• 6. The washing at the laver is a type of washing, or baptism, into Christ.
• “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name”
• (Acts 22:16).

• Christians are to “enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus Christ”
(Heb. 10:19), thus the antitype refers to the Lord’s church.
• First, their bodies are “washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22), which refers to baptism as the antitype of washing at the laver.

• The mention of “hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (v.22) refers to the blood of Jesus Christ (v. 19), the antitype of the blood of Atonement sprinkled at the Mercy Seat.

• Such sprinkling takes place at the washing, giving added emphasis on the importance of baptism for the remission of sins.

• Christ entered into the holy place not made with hands, heaven itself (Heb.
9:24), thus the most sacred room of the Tabernacle is a type of heaven.
Prior to entering the Holy of Holies, the High Priest had first of all to enter the first room, the Holy Place.

• Does this not give strong emphasis about being a part of the Lord’s church before one can enter heaven?

• Numerous conclusions can be drawn.
One is again impressed about how valuable is the Old Testament. It is most worthwhile to study worship texts out of the Old Testament, due to the fact of what they teach us about how God related to them.

• Principles of respect and devotion to
God and His wishes have never changed since creation. Great will be the gain if men teach and preach types and antitypes, as well as the historical perspectives of worship.

– God will be sanctified and glorified.
– God will not be glorified by manoriginated worship, devised to please men.
– God will consider such worship as false.

– God will not accept such worship.
– God’s punishment awaits those who flaunt His instructions.
– God’s holiness demands severe punishment.

• Since these things have been written for our example and admonition, we best listen.
• “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him”
(Hab. 2:20).