Tabernacle Gifts

Michael Zarlengo

Description

God has incredible rewards waiting for His people. Jesus Christ taught that all Christians should seek to be rewarded when we enter heaven. We will receive our rewards from God based on our actions on earth. As we know, these actions cannot earn us heaven. That only occurs by grace, through faith. However, on our first day in heaven our earthly actions, after salvation, are evaluated by God in order to determine the magnificent rewards He will give us.

Did you know that the Bible describes our rewards and the exact actions we are to carry out in order to receive them? In the New Testament, the apostle Paul uses the Old Testament examples of the Tabernacle and Day of Atonement ceremony to teach us which actions, called gifts, we can bring to God for our rewards. Paul also teaches us that the Tabernacle and the Day of Atonement conceal the secret of what our first day in heaven will be like.

We work hard in this life to retire well. Yet earthly retirement lasts for a short time. Our life in heaven will last for an eternity. Don't you want it to be a well-rewarded time?

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 24 septembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780970454874
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 13 Mo

Extrait

About Tabernacle Gifts, Our First Day in Heaven :
 
 
Dr. William Boyd, President College of Biblical Studies, the largest Bible college in the U.S.:
 
“This book is a real breath of fresh air when it comes to interpreting the meaning and implications of the tabernacle. Typically, all you generally get about the tabernacle is a ‘spiritualized’ application. This book has real scholarship and hard data. I highly recommend it.”
 
Dr. Lars B. Dunberg, President Global Action, Past President International Bible Society, publisher of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible:
 
“I read your book. It is very good. In simple, straightforward terms it explains complex concepts. I learned a lot. Thank you, Mike!”
 
Dr. Harold O’Chester, Senior Pastor Great Hills, a 5,000-member church:
 
“Thank you for your newest book Tabernacle Gifts . It is good. The study of the tabernacle has been one of the studies I have done every several years in my church, and your study is one of the best I have ever seen.”
 
 
 
Tabernacle Gifts

OUR FIRST DAY IN HEAVEN
MICHAEL ZARLENGO
 
 
Joseph Publishing
Plano, Texas 75093
 
 
Scripture quotations not otherwise marked are taken from The HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House and Hodder & Stoughton Limited. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.
 
Scripture quotations indicated NASB are taken from The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
 
Scripture quotations indicated NKJV are taken from The New King James Version, copyright © 1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used by permission.
 
Scripture quotations indicated KJV are taken from The King James Version of the Bible.
 
Artwork: “Moses’ Tabernacle in the Wilderness” © 1976 John E. Gilman
 
Tabernacle Gifts, Our First Day in Heaven
Copyright © 2011 Michael Zarlengo
All Rights Reserved under International Copyright Law.
 
Cover Design by Dave Kramer
Interior Design by Pine Hill Graphics
 
Published in eBook format by Joseph Publishing
3308 Preston Road Suite 350-303
Plano, Texas 75093; SAN 253-4576
 
ISBN-13:978-0-9704-5487-4
 
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.
 
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
 
 
To my wife,
Marcy .
Without her encouragement,
this work would not have been completed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
A Well Rewarded Eternity
Chapter 2
The Tabernacle
Chapter 3
The Day of Atonement
Chapter 4
The True Picture
Chapter 5
Christ Our Example
Chapter 6
Our First Day in Heaven
Chapter 7
Be Encouraged!
Epilogue
Appendix A
Traditional Interpretations & FAQs
Appendix B
Bible Commentary on Leviticus 16
Afterword
Scripture Index
Bibliography
 
Foreword
T he book of Hebrews teaches that Jesus is our great High Priest. Building on the imagery of the Old Testament sacrificial systems and the Day of Atonement, Hebrews affirms in the strongest terms the perfect sacrifice of Christ and His finished work as High Priest. Jesus Christ made propitiation for our sins (Heb. 2:17), did away with sin (Heb. 9:26), bore sin (Heb. 9:28), and offered a perfect and final sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:12). Because of what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary, God remembers our sins no more (Heb. 10:17). There is no longer a need for sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:18), and sin has been forgiven (Heb10:18). The way of the Law and the levitical priestly system could not effectively deal with our sin (Heb. 10:1– 4,6,11). In contrast, the blood atonement of Jesus has dealt with sin once and for all (Heb. 10:10–12). He has paved the way for free and bold access even into the Holy of Holies by His blood (Heb. 10:10). Look at sin anyway you will, Jesus has dealt with it.
The work of Jesus is multifaceted. It would never be possible to exhaust its meaning and fathom its implications. In this work, Tabernacle Gifts, Michael Zarlengo gives attention to the tabernacle and the Day of Atonement, and especially what the Book of Hebrews says concerning Christ’s relationship to these important Old Testament realities. Michael explores possible understandings of Christ’s work in Heaven and present implications for the life of the believer. He has pursued his thesis diligently and with zeal. His goal is to challenge all believers to respond in faithful obedience to the Glorified Christ, who rightly deserves our very best. This book will make you think, challenge you, and, I pray, inspire you to love and obey Jesus with greater fervency than ever before. That is Michael’s desire, and I believe our Lord will reward his labors.
 
Dr. Daniel L. Akin
Dean, School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
 
Chapter 1
A Well Rewarded Eternity
T here is more to heaven than our admission. As Christians, when we arrive in heaven God will evaluate us on our action or inaction while on earth. Of course, this assessment has nothing to do with our eternal salvation. That was decided by our belief and confession of the Lord Jesus Christ while we were on earth.
This heavenly evaluation will result in many Christians receiving astonishing rewards and yet others will receive little or no reward at all. In heaven, some will live a more rewarded eternity than others. You will want to be one of those well-rewarded Christians. One might ask, “Why? Isn’t it good enough that I am saved?” Christ requires that each one of us seek to be well rewarded in heaven. This is not greed on our part, but in fact obedience to our Lord.
 
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. (Matt. 6:27 KJV)
 
Furthermore, if we are well rewarded in heaven we will have a higher position with greater opportunities to serve God. As the apostle Paul teaches, our treasure will become a foundation for eternal life, which is considered the true life.
 
In this way they [Christians] will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Tim. 6:19)
 
Finally, Jesus taught that on our first day in heaven each Christian will have the opportunity to bring sacrificial actions or gifts to God. God will then evaluate these gifts and reward us accordingly. It will be especially important for each of us to hear God say, “Well done.”
 
“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ (Matt. 25:21 NKJV)
 
This all sounds very good, but how do we know exactly what actions will result in being well rewarded? We must know which gifts of ours are considered rewardable by God so that we can be sure of pleasing Him.
 
The Tabernacle Picture
The New Testament provides us the answer to this question by using the tabernacle and the Day of Atonement from the old covenant as a picture guide to understanding our new covenant truth.
In other words, the New Testament briefly re-describes the tabernacle and the Day of Atonement and then explains its meaning to us. Using these examples, we are taught precisely which gifts God the Father is looking for. We are also provided with the fascinating New Testament description of Jesus Christ’s return to heaven after His resurrection. A spectacular ceremony took place in heaven when Christ brought His seven precious gifts to God the Father and received His seven incredible rewards. This event is our example of what God also desires for us. Finally, the New Testament supplies us with the amazing and detailed description of our own first day in heaven.
In order to discover which gifts we are to bring to our Father, along with the description of our first day in heaven, we too will first briefly look at the depiction of the tabernacle and the Day of Atonement.
When you examine the picture of the tabernacle, what do you see? Do you see a tired old tent, the picture of antiquity? Perhaps you see symbols having little application for our daily Christian lives. How can this picture be relevant to Internet-age Christians? Yet, we will discover that this picture is not only relevant to us currently, it is critical to our future.
The Bible has over fifty 1 chapters describing the tabernacle. Fifty chapters , not verses! The tabernacle must be very significant to God. In the Old Testament, God had Moses build the tabernacle. While in the desert, and for a time in Canaan, the children of Israel used the tabernacle as their place of worship; later, King Solomon built a permanent place of worship by converting the tabernacle into the temple. i God used the tabernacle to meet with His people. It was there that God had his people offer specified gifts and it was also the place where He rewarded them.
The most important gift-giving and reward-receiving day was the Day of Atonement. On this day, which occurred just once each year, God required His people to bring Him seven gifts. It was also on this day that God would present His people with seven wonderful rewards.
 
Astonishing Rewards
Does the Bible really list our heavenly rewards? Yes, in addition to describing the seven gifts we are to bring, the Bible describes the seven rewards available to Christians.
In Revelation 2 and 3, Lord Jesus provides the apostle John with seven distinct me