November 7: HOUSING OF GOD’S TESTIMONY
After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Revelation 15:5
Let us look more closely at other references to the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven. The most recent Scripture referencing, four chapters ago, states: Then the temple of the Lord was opened in heaven, and the ark of His Covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail (11:19). This particular verse marks the pre-advent judgment’s beginning in 1844 (…the time of the dead, that they should be judged – v.18) which continues up to the present, also known as the cleansing of the sanctuary and the Day of Atonement.* Beloved, we are living in the Day of Atonement now.
In the earthly model of the heavenly sanctuary, Moses was instructed: “You shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you” (Exodus 25:16). The ark symbolized God’s throne. Its contents, that which Moses put into it, was the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God (31:18). [God] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments (34:28). In case there is any question as to exactly what this testimony in heaven is, let us visit the review that Moses gave to God’s people before he died: And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing (you will remember that Moses broke the first set in anger upon finding the people worshiping a golden calf), the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. (Deuteronomy 10:4). That’s a BIG 10/4!
The heavenly temple is where God’s mercy and grace is found. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). You will recall that the seat atop the ark of His Covenant is called the mercy seat (Exodus 25:17,21). This heavenly temple is a reality, but we have an enemy who wants to intercept it in our understanding and replace it with an earthly counterfeit (see Daniel 8:11; Revelation 13:6).
God’s temple on earth is YOU! (see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16) His work in the Day of Atonement includes the cleansing of your temple, both mind and body. He is tenderly writing His Testimony with His finger upon your heart. He is at work to restore you according to the perfect standard of His law of love. James called it the law of liberty (James 1:12). The Lord wants to be seated on the throne of your heart. And in constant view of the mercy seat where He sits enthroned, there should be two “covering cherubim”**: your conscience, fully yielded to His Holy Spirit, and your will to take action, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
*Scriptures that support this date are found in Ezra 7:7 and Daniel 8:14. Scriptures that teach the precept are Leviticus 16:16, 33-34 (remember that yearly ceremonies pointed to one-time actual events); Ezekiel 45:18. Jesus reminded us of the pre-advent judgment in His statement of Revelation 22:12.
** And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. Exodus 25:18-21