Sex, Sin, and The Sanctuary
From the Garden to Golgotha God is Gracious
Judah is a Lion's Whelp
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall dwell in his Holy Place?
Final Call
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life
MAT. 21 :36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
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This parable encapsulates God's dealing's with mankind and his efforts to redeem fallen humanity, culminating with the sending of his Son Jesus Christ. Notice that LAST OF ALL he sent his son. The final meesage of God to fallen humanity is that they would reverence his son and that through him they would have everlasting life. The word of God says that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. (2 Cor. 5:19). This parable is mirrored in Heb. 1.
Heb.1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.
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These two verses summarize God's interaction with mankind over the millennia of years. They identify six things about God's interaction with mankind.
1. Different Times - he spoke at different times
2. Different methods - He used different methods
3. Different audiences - He spoke to different audiences
4. Different messengers - He used different messengers
5. Different dispensations - He spoke in different eras
6. Same message - It was always the same message.
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From the beginning of creation until now God has had the same message. He exemplified the message in his creation works. God worked for six days. His work was finished and he rested on the seventh day. In Heb. 4:9 he says there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Jesus Christ echoed that call in Mat. 11:28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I shall give you rest. God foreshadowed that rest in the Sabbath. Exodus 20:9, Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Even in the Sabbath, God sent the message of Salvation. Remember God is speaking in different times and in different ways but he is speaking the same message - there remaineth a rest for the people of God. So the Sabbath was a symbolic message of the rest that remaineth to the people of God.
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The method is always relevant to the times and the audience.
He said: Heb. 4:2-4 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. He is not talking about the weekly Sabbath, he is talking about the Spiritual Sabbath that God has in store for all those who believe in him.​​​
The Message
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.(Heb. 4:2). When was the Gospel preached to the Israelites?
For we which have believed do enter into rest, (Heb.4:3). We enter into God's rest by believing in him. Even though they entered into the promised land they never got rest. Why? Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: They never enjoyed that rest because he that is entered in to his rest has ceased from his labour as God did from his. So God's rest was a foreshadow of the rest that the sinner would find in Jesus Christ. But even though they entered the land they did not enter into "Rest" because of unbelief. Heb. 4:6.
Who enters God's Rest
So who enters God's rest? Those who believe on Jesus Christ.
When one keeps the Sabbath they are not entering into God's rest; but are actually demonstrating the truth of the Gospel, that Rest in God is available for those who have toiled all their life. That message was preached by Moses and then the Prophets to our fathers in olden times. God does not obligate you to preach that message in that way. You'll be outta time. The message God wants you to preach is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Itr's the message that says when you cease from your labour you will find rest in Jesus Christ.
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The Now Message
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Now God commands all men everywhere to repent. And except mankind repents they will perish.
In Heb. 2:3 God is contrasting the olden times with "Now". He hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, And, this message was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
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​Hear Him
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As we have seen God did send divers messengers with the message in different forms. But when the disciples attempted to equate Jesus with Messengers like Moses and Elijah, what happened? 5 While he [Peter] yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Mat. 17:5).
The message of Moses was for a specific time, for a specific people but the message of Jesus is for us, and we are commanded to listen to him. And how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
And the Spirit and the Bride say come, and let him that heareth say come,and let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. (Rev, 22:17).