The Morning Star Rising on the First Day
We of course have been using the Tabernacle of Moses as a prophetic model of Jesus Christ for quite some time. We have also been stating that the three chambers of the Tabernacle are prophetic of the three relationships we can have with God. These types of relationships come with there own set of support capabilities here on earth and there own privileges in heaven or in the spiritual realm. These postings can all be referenced by going to the home page of this web site and clicking on the hyperlink that leads you to these postings. Alternatively, a good posting to start with is: The-Tabernacle-is-Prophetic-of-Jesus.
The fact that a third heaven exists is communicated in the following scripture:
It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me (2 Cor 12:1-6.)
Like Paul I believe that is not profitable for me to boast, so just let me say that I also know of a man caught up in the third heaven, which is also called the heavenly Holy of Holies by some people. The following passages describe what happened.
Searching For the Holy of Holies
Years ago this man attended a bible study on the Tabernacle of Moses. The bible study group met once a week and the study went on for months. The classes were very informative, and all gained significant insight into the tabernacle of God through this teaching of the scriptures. For example, we learned about the blood sacrifices and how, where and why they were conducted. We learned about the golden lamp stand, golden altar of incense, the table of showbread and the brazen laver. We learned about the arc of the covenant, what it contained, and what it represented. In addition, we learned about the golden cherubim between the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence was to be found. The Tabernacle Courtyard
Each week we were presented a teaching for about an hour on a new aspect of the Tabernacle. This was followed by a prayer service, and we would pray that the people in the class would enter into the Holy of Holies. There were many breakthroughs reported by various people who attended, and some were even healed of significant illnesses.
During the classes this man developed a desire to enter into the Holy of Holies. He started praying every night as he lay in bed that God would grant him the privilege of entering into His secret place. He often prayed for hours, or until he fell asleep.
One night after one of these services he went home to bed and prayed with an increased determination to enter the Holy of Holies. He must have dozed off because when he awoke his clock read 2 a.m. He dozed off again and had a very unusual experience. He found himself traversing his way through the stars of the universe. He scanned the stars around him and noticed that there was one star that was slightly brighter than all the others. Somehow he knew that if he focused on it directly that he would enter into the passageway to the Holy of Holies. He knew that this was his chance so he turned and focused directly on the star with determination. He then was instantaneously transported to the location of that star. It was as if everything around him simply sucked him up and catapulted him across space and time and in the blink of an eye, bam, he was there.
As he looked up in this new place he could see the cloud of God’s power that stretched across the horizon in all directions as far as the eye could see. From this observation he thought that God’s power was infinite. He could also hear the sound of God’s power which sounded very much like the hum of an electrical power station, only much louder and somehow, mellower. By some unknown means, he also knew that God’s power was resting at the time. However, even at rest this power was strong enough to shake the ground [ii] so violently that he could not longer stand on his feet. He was in awe of God’s power and thought to himself, “if this is the awesome power of God at rest, then woe to those who arouse Him to anger.”
The Power of Prayer
Then, he found himself in a place where there were many others, but he could not see them clearly, for they were shrouded by a light, misty cloud of some kind. It was as if each entity was a point of light, and awesomely there were billions of them arranged in circles around God. God appeared as a giant ball of light in the center of everything. He could hear them as they were praising and worshiping God in song all around Him. The was a profound unity there as the billions were all giving fourth something like a song without words, like a series of musical notes.There was emotion in this music, it was a sound of awe and total surrender at the greatness of God. It was a song of blissful love. On and on this blissful music went in perfect harmony, in a way that can not be described in our current human form.
It looked like the universe of stars in orbit around a central sun except that the stars were arranged something like loosely configured rings of Saturn. He could hear voices and conversations praising God, and he also wanted to join in very much. At first he found it strangely difficult to open his mouth. After working on this task for a while he was successful in opening his mouth but when he attempting to speak, the words did not come out. Instead of words vomit came spewing out his mouth. This discharge apparently triggered something that he did not understand because everything closed up around him as quickly as he had arrived. He was once again sucked up by the environment around him and transported across space and time back to where he started. He awoke in bed and looked at the clock again, it read 4 a.m and he marveled that the whole journey had seemed like just a few seconds. He knew then that he was not ready to enter into the Holy of Holies but because of his steadfast prayer and desire, God had granted him a look at the promise to come.
[ii] Psalms 29:8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
SEEKING JESUS 