Jesus is the Spiritual Journey of the New Covenant

As the components of the earthly Tabernacle are prophetic of Christ Jesus, so is the journey of Israel through the wilderness prophetic of our walk toward the spiritual Promised Land. Interestingly, the prophetic nature of this message applies to our Christian nation just as well as it does each one of us individually.

Our Christian nation is frightened of the giants reported in the Promised Land. We have refused to enter into the spiritual Promised Land not willing to trust in God to support us in spiritual warfare, but rather trusting in money and the ways of the world. We are taught how to deal with our short comings and misfortunes rather than to go into spiritual warfare. We have caved in to the ploys of the devil.

There is no unity in the body of Christ as the church is divided into hundreds of competing factions called denominations. Like military forces that have been overrun and scattered, the church has been infiltrated by enemy forces and has lost its influence over the once Christian nation of America. Can there be any doubt that the church is going through its own spiritual wilderness experience, where the untrusting die off and a pure church emerges, one that is totally dependent on God.

Many of us have turned our backs on God or refused to do His will at one point or another in our lives. Some keep silent when it is obvious that a Christian point of view would be unpopular. In fact, many of us have been through our own desert experiences where we had to die to our own self dependence and learn how to depend on God. Often times these situations occur because there was no other way out of the abominable circumstances that we made for ourselves. We had to turn to God or face the consequences. The point is that our spiritual walk may not be that much different than that of Moses and the nation of Israel. We must die to self and the lusts of the world to receive the promises of God, and we will have to fight to get in.

While this may be alarming on one hand, I have extremely good new on the other. Jesus gave His life for us and therein paid the penalty for our refusal to trust in God and fight to enter into His promises. In doing so Jesus took our rightful penalty of spiritual death upon Himself, thereby giving us a second chance just like the nation of Israel received.

Our walk is different than that of national Israel in that we do not have to physically die like those in the wilderness. This one man Jesus died for the nation and His blood covers us all. He is the one perfect sacrifice in the eyes of God and His sacrifice guarantees that we can find life in our desert experiences, not death. Jesus paid the price of our sin with His suffering, humiliation and death on the cross, and took upon Himself a fate that we justly deserved. He took it all upon Himself so that we would not have to suffer, be humiliated or die because of our poor choices and actions. The journey of Jesus’ life is a spiritual journey that resulted in spiritual victory over the devil who lost dominion over man in the process.

This spiritual victory stems from the body and blood of Jesus, which are the foundation of the new covenant and which are based upon a far superior Tabernacle. In this covenant we do not die in the desert but find everlasting life. It was for this reason that Jesus told us that He is the bread of life (as we presented in our discussion of the table Shoe Bread). In the context of our wilderness experience, He is the spiritual manna that we find along the way that sustains us until we get to the Promised Land. We eat the Bread of Life and we drink His blood until we learn to depend on Him totally and are ready to enter into our spiritual duty and receive our spiritual reward, which is His promise to us. His promise is that the Bread of Life will be there for us as we engage the enemy in spiritual warfare and that all will go well for us as we displace the evil that currently dwells in the spiritual Promised Land.

It is in this regard that the importance of storing the Pot of Manna in the Ark of the Covenant becomes apparent. It was placed there as a reminder to the nation of Israel that God would provide for them, that He would be faithful to them, just as He had been in the past.

It is also a reminder to us who have inherited the perfect covenant in Christ Jesus, of the perfection found in the promise of the spiritual Promised Land. This covenant includes becoming one with Jesus, He in us and the Father in Him, just as He prayed119. It is a promise of the end of death, sickness, and suffering74. Jesus the Lamb will provide every good thing for His wife the New Jerusalem74.

In addition, we each become a part of the Bride of Christ[i] and therefore will become one with Him:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. (1 Corinthians 12:1 – 12:27)

We become one with the Living Tabernacle that came down from heaven:

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!  Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’  And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation 19:6 – 19:9)

This being the case, then how can we help but become the fulfillment of the perfect Tabernacles promise, and become just like Jesus? Jesus walked the earth as a man and was victorious in spiritual warfare. Should not His Bride, who was left behind to finish His work, do as He did to inherit the promise? If we are truly one with Him how could it be any different? Should we not lead people into the promises of the Tabernacle? Should we not lead them toward the forgiveness of sin and purification through reflection on Jesus? Should we not lead them toward the promise of God’s enlightenment, fellowship, and victory in spiritual warfare? Should we not lead them toward the promise of God’s covenant, becoming a holy priesthood, God’s provision, communion with the Father, and the protection of His angels? All of these prophetic promises of the Tabernacle are to be delivered by the Bride of Christ to the world.

So, if we have lost our direction Jesus is the Way. If our life is a lie, Jesus is the Truth. If we are acting in a way that leads to death, Jesus is the Life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, just as He claimed. He is the passage way to the Father and is the way through which every form of relationship with the Father can be achieved.

This foundation of Jesus being our spiritual Tabernacle paves the way for us to enter into the Courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place.

This being the case, Jesus is also the veil (or passage way) through which we enter into all three types of relationships that we can have with the Father. It is through the Way that we enter into a relationship of grace with the Father. It is through the Way that we enter the Courtyard where Jesus is the sacrifice for our sin and where we are purified by reflecting on His life and seeking to become like Him. It is through the Truth that we enter into a relationship of enlightenment with the Father. The Truth leads us into the Holy Place where our pathways are illuminated with God’s direction. This illumination also leads toward communion with God and enables us to become victorious in spiritual warfare. It is through the Life that we enter into a relationship of covenant with the Father. The Truth leads us into the Most Holy place where we find peace from our enemies, talk with God directly, receive the protection of His angels, have His law in our hearts, become a royal priesthood and depend on God’s provision exclusively. It is hear that we can once again know only good, and in this regard we are restored to the garden once again.

We have presented quite a bit of material about the spiritual journey of the new covenant which is achievable by seeking and entering into Jesus, our Tabernacle. In our next posting we will present the topic, “Jesus Prepares the People to Enter into the Spirit.” In this document we will correlate how Moses prepared the people for entering into the Promised Land, to how Jesus prepares His people for entering into His Spirit. Subsequent material will also be presented that substantiates the three levels of relationship that we can achieve with God, which of course is based on the model of the Tabernacle.

May Gods blessings be upon you.

[i] Revelation  22:16 – 17  “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.