There is a Fearfully Glorious Holy Temple in Heaven!
Heaven is Holy and the Temple Service of Heaven is central to that Holiness.
HOLINESS is the core attribute of Heavenly things.
HOLINESS adorns Your Temple, O LORD GOD, FOREVER.
The Heavens were Created in the First Few Words Spoken on the First Day of Creation Week in the First Book of Genesis. And we can see from the last book of John’s Revelation, chapter 15:8, that God’s Great Glory and Power are in there.
It is said in the context of,
“I saw another sign in Heaven:
seven angels having the seven last plagues,
for in them The Wrath of God is completed.”
They, the angels, sing The Song of Moses the servant of God, and The Song of The Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvellous are Your Works LORD GOD ALL MIGHTY!
Just and True are Your Ways, O KING of The SAINTS and of The Nations!
Who shall not fear You O LORD and GLORIFY YOUR HOLY NAME?
For You alone are Holy.
ALL NATIONS shall come and WORSHIP BEFORE YOU.
For Your Judgements have been manifested.”
After this singing, I looked, and The Temple of The Tabernacle of The Testimony in HEAVEN was Opened.
(The Temple is The Sanctuary and Innermost Shrine of God. It is most HOLY.)
And out of that Sanctuary came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in PURE BRIGHT LINEN, and having their chests girded with Golden Bands. Then one of The Four Living Creatures gave to the seven angels seven Golden Vials full of The WRATH of GOD.
The Temple was filled with smoke from The Glory of GOD and from HIS POWER, and NO ONE was able to enter The Temple Sanctuary till The Seven Plagues of The Seven Angels were completed.
Pay attention here because we are going to hear some new things. Things that have their root meanings in the Jewish Culture and The LORD’S very close relationship with mankind. It goes right back to The Beginning of Creation.
It’s a big subject, so let’s take a little time to pray to stir up our capacity to be able to hear and understand what He has been saying to His people over the six thousand years since the beginning. He is the same yesterday in Creation. He is the same today as we near the end of this age of Salvation purchased by the shedding of the blood of His Son. And He is going to be the same in the coming thousand-year Rule and Reign from Jerusalem, and on into Eternity forever and ever. And, most important, let’s invite The LORD into our reading and learning together.
I am going to ask you to do something very simple, but something which you may have never done before to show that we are serious about The LORD and respect His Wisdom and ways. Please kneel and pray after me:
“Dear Lord Jesus,
I am here today looking to learn more of Your Wonderful Ways.
I understand that You are a speaking God,
and can speak to me in many ways,
and that You have a plan and purpose for every life.
Whether it is through reading, or listening,
when I do hear You speaking to me,
I promise to respond.”
Amen.
This is important because there is not only a temple in heaven that will be filled one day soon, but Jesus spoke of His body being a temple, and that we too should be a living part of His Body as True Believers. A spiritual temple of which we are part, and He refers to us as “Living Stones” being built up as a Holy Temple to The LORD.
I am going Capitalise His Name and “The Name” because in the Hebrew language “the” is stronger than our English ‘the’ and means “The” as in “The One and Only LORD GOD of Israel!”
There is no other God like this One, who sought out a people for Himself, and brought them out of hard labour and slavery in Egypt, provided a Tabernacle of Meeting where He could meet them face to face. And a system of sacrifice for Sin by blood covenant, so that they too could be clean and Holy before Him. They then served Him and followed Him in the Wilderness until, 40 years later, they entered His Promised Land as His Promised people.
Let’s start “In The Beginning” with The Genesis Account of Creation: –
Genesis Chapter 1:1-5.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form, and void.
And darkness was on the face of the deep.
But the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good.
And God divided the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
So, the evening and the morning were The First Day.
Literally, “The evening and the morning were Day One”.
This is our basic text from the New King James Version (NKJV). This is included for those that may not have a bible to hand. Please feel free to compare the words with your own version. It may reveal other meanings that will increase your understanding. And this in turn helps to prevent “schisms” developing between believers of different groups. Remember, “There are no schisms, or Splits in The Body of Christ.” The Holes and wounds from His Crucifixion, YES!
But no splits!
Differences of doctrine are to be avoided and reconciled with the simple instructions of The Holy Scriptures. We have been given the Scriptures for that purpose.
This First verse in this Genesis Account has seven very precise words in the Original Hebrew (Hb.)
In the beginning God CREATED THE HEAVENS and the Earth.
No other verse in the Hebrew Scriptures is quite like this! In these seven simple words The Scripture introduces us to some remarkable concepts.
The beginning of Time,
The existence of God,
His tremendous ability to Create things,
both in the Eternal and Heavenly realm of the spirit above,
and in the Temporal realm of the physical below.
All the very fabric of the Universe.
Now it is in Heaven that He places The Temple and His Throne. There are also “Four Living Creatures”, and many angels, cherubim, and seraphim. Gabriel and Michael are among them, and they all have names and certain duties and specialities. Some of them have the appointed ability to ascend and descend between Heaven and Earth in order to Watch over mankind. But wives are not assigned to the angel.
Let’s now trawl the Hebrew meanings of these first few verses.
“In The Beginning”; Hb. upfront, and to take the first step,
God Created the Heavens above,
and the Earth below.
That is,
“To take the first step in Creation,
God Creates the Spiritual and Heavenly Realm above,
and then He also Creates the Earth below.
The miracle here is that both Heaven and Earth are Created with the intension that they will become a habitation for the wonderful creatures that He has in mind. This is confirmed in Genesis 1:26 when They, The Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, said in perfect unison,
“LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR OWN IMAGE!”
One can imagine the surprise and delight in all concerned.
“What a GREAT IDEA DAD!”
“And because they are like us, let them have dominion over every living thing, as we do.”
“They will need some serious Help.”
“Don’t worry. I will go and be their Helper when You, The WORD have been made flesh and dwelt among them, they will hand You over to wicked men and crucify You, The LORD of Glory. But by doing so You will have redeemed them by Your Blood. And I will teach them too and lead them into ALL Your Truth.”
And The LORD GOD made them male and female in order to occupy the whole Earth and subdue it.