SEEKING JESUS

Jesus Is The Golden Altar If Incense

To put things in context we are discussing the Tabernacle and how the objects found in it are prophetic of Jesus Christ.

The Tabernacle Courtyard

To date we have covered the objects in the Tabernacle Courtyard as well as the objects found in the Holy Place of God.

Priest in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle

To summarize, the Courtyard is a place of grace. In it forgiveness of sin can be obtained. In addition, it is a place of cleansing ones self in preparation for a closer relationship with God. This closer relationship with God is achieved by entering into the Holy Place. The Holy Place is a place of enlightenment and empowerment. In it our pathway to the Father is illuminated and we are strengthened by the Spirit for spiritual warfare. All of this is achieved through prayer, as so the Holy Place is a place of prayer. We have previously discussed the Golden Lamp Stand that illuminates the Holy Place;

The Golden Lampstand which was present in old temple but damaged, was restored to its original form, kept outside the temple area.

as well as the Table of Show Bread that signifies a personal relationship with God.

The Table of Showbread

In our previous posting we initiated a discussion about the Golden Alter.

The Golden Altar is directly in front of the Most Holy Place

In it we indicated that the things burned on the Altar were to produce sweet incense for the Lord, and that the smoke and incense were thought to be the prayers of the people going up into heaven. Therefore, the Golden Alter is the center of spiritual warfare through prayer. In today’s posting we will present some examples of the life of Jesus that support our thesis that His life was a continuous form spiritual warfare. These will in turn lead to a conclusion that Jesus is our Golden Alter of Incense. In other words, prayers that come through Him get to the Father and are effective in bringing down the forces of evil in this world.

If you would like to get caught up to date on all of the above, the past ten postings will follow this one on this web page. In addition, most of these subjects can be found in the “Pages” section of the site, under the title “Seeking Jesus”. You can like directly to this section by clicking the following hyperlink:

https://possessthevision.wordpress.com/seeking-jesus/

Now on to the subject of this posting, Jesus is our Golden Altar of Incense.

Jesus Resists the Devil’s Temptation

The devils temptation of Jesus in the desert is a classical example of spiritual warfare. The goal of the devil was persuade Jesus to renounce His identity (the Father said He was the Son of God) and His purpose on earth (His mission to save us all). Interestingly, the weapon that Jesus uses is the Word of God quoted from scripture. This is an interesting lesson because this is exactly what the devil will attempt to achieve with us all. He will try to get us to give up on the fact that we are sons of the living God and that we were all born with a unique purpose in life. More on this later, for now let’s drill down on some supporting material for the above statements.

Let us start with the identity of Jesus. If you remember Jesus received confirmation of His identity when the Father called Him, “My Beloved Son,” as He was baptized in the Jordan. There are other examples but they came after the temptation of Jesus, so we will forgo them for now.

In terms of His mission on earth we reference the words of John the Baptist, who when he saw Jesus proclaimed; “Behold the Lamb of God”. Based on our previous discussion about the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, we know that the Lamb was slain and its blood sprinkled on the Brazen Altar for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, His mission was well known as well.

Some very important point must be noted here. The spiritual warfare of the devil came immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit, just prior to His entering into ministry. Also, Jesus initiated the attack as the Spirit led Him into the desert for testing. This leading by the Holy Spirit suggests that victory over the devil is necessary for proceed into ministry. Another key point is that the attack came when Jesus was at His weakest from fasting:

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’“ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’“ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’“ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’“ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 3:16 – 4:11)

So, all who take up the cross of Jesus can expect that the Holy Spirit will lead us into spiritual warfare and that they must be victorious to proceed into ministry. We must overcome all temptation and the desires of this world like Jesus did. Our intelligence, hard work, capability and desire will not offset any lust for the world or the things in it. The weapons of this world, be they the power of persuasion or military might, are useless in spiritual battles. We must demonstrate the ability to resist the temptations of the world prior to moving on to addressing our mission.

The spiritual warfare initiated by Jesus characterized His entire ministry right up to His ultimate victory over Satan on the cross. We should expect our ministry to be the same.

In our next posting we will present even more examples of how Jesus is our Golden Alter of Incense. Until then, may God bless every one of you.