Matthew 4:1-11 tells of Jesus as He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan after he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus combated Satan with scripture, but Satan could quote scripture too. In the end Satan left him “for a season”.
Exodus 27 tells how the altar of burnt offering was to be constructed and how to construct the courtyard around the tabernacle. It also specifies there must always be oil for the lampstand.
In Exodus 28 the priestly garments are specified, in detail, with the breastplate, down to the urim and thummim, and the plate “HOLINESS TO THE LORD”. Even the undergarments are specified.
Exodus 29 specifies how the consecration of priests was to be performed.
The scripture for today tells that even Jesus was tempted by the devil and had to use scripture to defend against it. We get the advice from scripture: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7). This usually works, but with sexual sin the only advice is: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is important, since the importance of the tabernacle was God’s dwelling here on earth, and in the New Testament the body of the believer is called the Tabernacle or Shrine of the Holy Spirit in Greek: Do you not know that your bodies are temples (shrines)of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 