I
had just finished reading a description of an automated call from
someone calling from a prison when my telephone rang. I heard the
same words I had read moments before. "If you would like to
accept this collect call, please press 1. If you would like to refuse
this collect call, please press 2. If you would like to block this
caller from calling you again, please press 3" Like the woman in
the book I punched 1.
I had a hard time hearing her even with my good ear. Her voice was soft and broken, a reflection of her heart. She told me how lost and alone she felt. "Will you help me?" she asked with tears in her voice. "There is a place called 'Center of Hope' will you see if they would be willing to let me go there?"
After I hung up the phone I went back to reading my book, "Out of a Far Country". In it Christopher Yuan described how despondent he felt as he look around his prison cell. The walls were laden with graffiti, gang symbols and obscenities. He said, "I scanned the drawings and words on the rusty metal sheet above me, and my eyes were drawn to the far corner. The words were barely legible, and the letters were hastily scribbled. It was messy but I could make out the words; If you're bored, read Jeremiah 29:11"
These words in Jeremiah were written to a people who had been in rebellion against God and as a consequence of that rebellion they were on their way to captivity. The words in Jeremiah shows God's heart. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD,' plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
In Genesis when God had come in the cool of the day to find fellowship with Adam and Eve He found rebellion instead. Yet in the same chapter that tells them the consequences for their sin He also promises a way of restoration. Even though they had to leave the garden as a result of their sins His plans were not to harm them but to give them hope and a future.
I had a hard time hearing her even with my good ear. Her voice was soft and broken, a reflection of her heart. She told me how lost and alone she felt. "Will you help me?" she asked with tears in her voice. "There is a place called 'Center of Hope' will you see if they would be willing to let me go there?"
After I hung up the phone I went back to reading my book, "Out of a Far Country". In it Christopher Yuan described how despondent he felt as he look around his prison cell. The walls were laden with graffiti, gang symbols and obscenities. He said, "I scanned the drawings and words on the rusty metal sheet above me, and my eyes were drawn to the far corner. The words were barely legible, and the letters were hastily scribbled. It was messy but I could make out the words; If you're bored, read Jeremiah 29:11"
These words in Jeremiah were written to a people who had been in rebellion against God and as a consequence of that rebellion they were on their way to captivity. The words in Jeremiah shows God's heart. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD,' plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
In Genesis when God had come in the cool of the day to find fellowship with Adam and Eve He found rebellion instead. Yet in the same chapter that tells them the consequences for their sin He also promises a way of restoration. Even though they had to leave the garden as a result of their sins His plans were not to harm them but to give them hope and a future.
2014
is the 100th
anniversary of World War 1. It is the 75th
anniversary of World War 2. I am constantly being reminded that
freedom isn't free. It comes at price. The hope and future that God
offers us comes at a price as well. To understand somethings value
you must first understand it's cost. We can begin to understand that
cost when we see the picture God gave us in the tabernacle.
Just
as God came to Adam and Eve in the Garden seeking fellowship He came
to His people in the wilderness after they had been set free from
Egypt. God came to Moses and said,” Let them make me a sanctuary,
that I may dwell in their midst.” (Exodus 25:8) They were to be
very careful in following the instructions God gave because this
tabernacle was a shadow of what is in Heaven.
I
only have time today to describe the two articles in the outer court,
the Bronze Alter and the Bronze Laver but I think it will be enough
to begin to understand this hope and future that is given to us by
God and it's amazing value.
In
the Courtyard of the Tabernacle stood a Broze Alter. It was here that
those who were seeking to come to God would bring their sacrifice.
They would bring the bullock, the goat, or lamb and place their hand
on the animal's head. With their hand on the animal's head they would
begin to confess their sins--not generically, but specifically. Then
standing there they would watch as the animal's neck was slit and
it's blood was drained. "Without the shedding of blood the is no
forgiveness of sins." (Hebrew 9:22) To understand the value of
being forgiven you must first understand what it cost.
The Bronze alter was a place of repentance. It was a place to come and confess. A place to be honest with God. When David had sinned with Bathsheba he had attempted to hide his sin. But when the prophet Nathan confronted him, David finally confessed openly that he had sinned. In Psalm 51 he says, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me...The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Jesus is a picture of one sacrificed on our behalf. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) John recognized the sacrificial lamb; the one who was sent to die in our place. "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) Like King David we have gone astray and have chosen our own rebellious way. But when we come to this place of sacrifice with a broken and contrite heart and recognize that Jesus died in our place we find forgiveness
The Bronze Alter is not only a place of sacrifice it is a place of repentance. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) This word "if" is a conditional particle. To confess is to say the same thing God says. At the Bronze Alter those who came with their sacrifice would place their hand on the head of the sacrificial animal and confess their specific sins in the same way we are to come to the cross with a humble and repentant heart.
The Bronze alter was a place of repentance. It was a place to come and confess. A place to be honest with God. When David had sinned with Bathsheba he had attempted to hide his sin. But when the prophet Nathan confronted him, David finally confessed openly that he had sinned. In Psalm 51 he says, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me...The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Jesus is a picture of one sacrificed on our behalf. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) John recognized the sacrificial lamb; the one who was sent to die in our place. "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) Like King David we have gone astray and have chosen our own rebellious way. But when we come to this place of sacrifice with a broken and contrite heart and recognize that Jesus died in our place we find forgiveness
The Bronze Alter is not only a place of sacrifice it is a place of repentance. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) This word "if" is a conditional particle. To confess is to say the same thing God says. At the Bronze Alter those who came with their sacrifice would place their hand on the head of the sacrificial animal and confess their specific sins in the same way we are to come to the cross with a humble and repentant heart.
Before
the door of the Holy Place there stood the Bronze Laver. Only priests
were allowed to enter the Holy place but not before they washed at
the Bronze Laver "lest they die," (Exodus 30:20) There was
to be no trace of uncleanness in the presence of a Holy God. The
command was, "Be holy as I am holy." In the courtyard there
was cleansing both by blood and by water, the blood shed by the
sacrifice at the Bronze Alter and the water used for washing in the
Bronze Laver.
The Bronze Laver was a place of reflection. It was made by the mirrors given by the Israelite women. When the priests dipped their hands into the water they saw themselves. They had already been anointed and consecrated by Moses yet at the Bronze Laver they were to wash their hands and feet. This was a daily cleansing for those who had been chosen for a holy work. At the Bronze Laver they were to reflect on every thing they did and every where they went and cleanse themselves with the water they found there.
The water in the laver represents Jesus, the living Word of God. Daily we are to come to the water of life the living Word of God and reflect. We are not only to hear God's word, we are to act on it. "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James 1:23-25)
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep my judgment and do them." (Ezek 36:25-27) The Jewish leaders were pouring water from the pool of Siloam (Heb. Sent) onto the pavement of the temple symbolizing that someday God would pour out real water from heaven on His people as He had promised by His prophet Ezekiel when Jesus stood and cried, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink." (John 7:38) Only those who were washed by the blood and the Lamb and cleansed with living water could go into the presence of a Holy God.
The Bronze Laver was a place of reflection. It was made by the mirrors given by the Israelite women. When the priests dipped their hands into the water they saw themselves. They had already been anointed and consecrated by Moses yet at the Bronze Laver they were to wash their hands and feet. This was a daily cleansing for those who had been chosen for a holy work. At the Bronze Laver they were to reflect on every thing they did and every where they went and cleanse themselves with the water they found there.
The water in the laver represents Jesus, the living Word of God. Daily we are to come to the water of life the living Word of God and reflect. We are not only to hear God's word, we are to act on it. "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James 1:23-25)
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep my judgment and do them." (Ezek 36:25-27) The Jewish leaders were pouring water from the pool of Siloam (Heb. Sent) onto the pavement of the temple symbolizing that someday God would pour out real water from heaven on His people as He had promised by His prophet Ezekiel when Jesus stood and cried, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink." (John 7:38) Only those who were washed by the blood and the Lamb and cleansed with living water could go into the presence of a Holy God.
The
girl who called me was thirsty she was suffering the consequences for
the bad choices she had made she wanted to know if there was hope if
she still had a future. I called the number that she gave me the next
morning. I told the man who answered about how the book I was reading
and the telephone call intertwined. He laughed and then said, “If
she comes here she will find Jeremiah 29:11 written on every wall
because that is the motto of the Center of Hope.
“For
I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare
and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call
upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek
me and find me, when you seek me with all of your heart.” (Jeremiah
29:11-13)
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