The Light Of The World: Tabernacle Series Part 4

Matthew 4:12-16

“Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.””

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400 years before Jesus was born, God was silent.  There was no word, no prophet, nothing.  Then suddenly, quietly, everything changed!  A tiny, helpless little baby was came into a poor family in Bethlehem.  Jesus, the Savior of the world, was born, would bring light and hope when it seemed that both were very far away.  It's kind of like that in the world today.

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“I am the light of the world." (Jesus said).  "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life...” in John 8:12.  

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(Hanuchah Samach:  Happy Hanuchah!)

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The Festival Of Lights:  Hanukkah

Interesting that the Festival of Lights is celebrated at this time of year.  Though not recorded in scripture, it's nice to know that God didn't forget His people, even though He was silent.

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Durning this dark, 400 years of silence, the people were ruled, or should I say, "oppressed," by the Greeks.  These detestable people actually desecrated the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar!  DISGUSTING!  They forced them to worship idols, forbid reading of theTorah and following it's laws.  

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But God delivered His people!  A priest named, "Matthiathias," and his sons led a small group of men against an overwhelming number of the Syrian/Greek army, 25,000 strong.

It was during the rededication of the Temple that this miracle occurred.  The priests discovered that there was only one bottle of undefiled oil to light the Menorrah.  That's enough for only one day!

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That's when the miracle occurred that the Jewish people commemorate in the holiday known as "Hanukkah," the Festival of Lights.  That one day's supply of oil lasted for seven days!

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The Light Of The World.

Jesus is The Lightof the world.  It's no surprise that God has a lot to say about light in His word.  You can see it so clearly in the Tabernacle of ancient Israel.  

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#1) Natural Light.

The entire structure is a picture of our Lord Jesus.  There is much about The Light of the world we can learn by studying it.

Biblically speaking, there are three kinds of light.  In the picture below, the illumination of the outer court of the tabernacle comes from the sun.  At night, it comes from the moon and the stars.  This is "Natural light."  Most people, like your friends and colleagues, live only in this kind of light.  It's all they know.

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#2) Light Of The Church:  The Menorrah.

Inside the tabernacle, in the Holy Place where the menorah, table of showbread and the altar of incense are located, you'll notice that there are no windows. The light in this place comes from the seven-lamp menorah, which depicts the Church as indicated by Revelation 1:13.  The light in this in-between place comes from the church.

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In the picture above, the tabernacle is completely covered by the four tent coverings.  The Holy Place is not visible from the outside thus the light from the lampstand, the church, cannot be seen from outside.  People of the world, who live only by natural light, cannot be expected to understand the light you have, Church.  It is inside you; no windows. They cannot comprehend it.

"And the light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."  John 1:5

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There is no use trying to convince them about the light, either. Our part, Church, is to PREACH, NOT EXPLAIN, the light which is that Jesus loves them and died for their sins.  Our task is to reconcile the world unto Jesus NOT to condemn them as well as to edify the church.

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#3) The Only Light: Jesus.

Above is a picture of the Holy of Holies.  Again, notice there are NO windows.

Note also that thought there is light, there is NO LAMP because Jesus is the light!

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The very first words spoken by God recorded in Genesis 1:3 are-"Let there be light."  In Hebrew, however, it is only two words:
[יהי אור]-e-yehi owr: "light be."
These two letters spell [יה]-yod-hei, spell "Ya," the short form of "Yahweh." God literally spoke His own Name and then spoke the word Light:  owr-[אור].

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It's a perfect portrayal of John 1:1-5
1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the LIGHT of men. 5 And the LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
That's our Jesus!  

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He was born on a night that was very, very dark until angels lit up the sky, making it as bright as day.  When Jesus suffered for the human race, for three hours mid-day became as dark as midnight so that you and I, Church, could always walk in the light!

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and darkness was everywhere.  Though world began with no light, it will end with no night because of Jesus!  Even so, Lord, COME!

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In these last days, it is once again a very, VERY dark time in history, perhaps the darkest it has ever been.  Now, MORE THAN EVER,  need Jesus!  We need the LIGHT of the World!