-Sermon on August 1st, 39th 2007 Bible Study Meeting for All from Home and Abroad   For he Has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.   Isaiah 61:10 The shadow of the true thingWe tell time by looking at a clock. Time has always existed, and a clock is simply a device that makes it easier to tell time. Time does not exist because the hands of a clock move, but because time exists, the clock was invented. The Bible says, "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" (Genesis 1:3-5). Before God named the Day and the Night, He divided the light from the darkness. Time passed and it became the first day as it says, "So the evening and the morning were the first day."Let us read Revelation. "There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever" (22:5). "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (22:1-2). This is very strange, isn't it? It says there shall be no night and that they have no need for sunlight, but each tree still yields its fruit every month. Isn't it strange? Another verse in the Bible says, "He appointed the moon for seasons" (Psalms 104:19). A day is 24 hours, and a month is 30 days. These units of time were created so it would be easier for humans to calculate time. In the Bible, we find that time is set by God, but in order for man to understand this, He has used the earth's orbit and rotation around the sun to express time. In other words, a month in the Bible and a month as we know it are the same. We use a month simply to express a period of thirty or thirty-one days. In the same way, I often feel there are so many things in the Bible we don't usually take into consideration. There is a hymn called, "The Holy City" (New Hymn 654). It is a very beautiful hymn. Last night I lay a sleeping,There came a dream so fair,I stood in old JerusalemBeside the temple there.I heard the children singing,And ever as they sang,Me thought the voice of angelsFrom Heav'n in answer rang; When it says, "the old Jerusalem," I feel as if I were reading Matthew chapters 22, 23, 24 and 25. And once again the scene was chang'd,New earth there seem'd to be,I saw the Holy CityBeside the tideless sea; Here the hymn mentions Jerusalem, the Holy City, once again. This time, it is the real Jerusalem. Jesus told His disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). He also said, "It is to your advantage that I go away" (John 16:7). And in Revelation it says, "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (12:2), and "Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel" (21:12). This is the real Jerusalem in heaven. In Colossians we read, "And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross" (1:20). Jesus played the role of the Mediator between the things on earth and the things in heaven. As it says, "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life" (Genesis 3:17), man was deceived by Satan and was cursed along with the earth. By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus reconciled God's creation, which was cursed, and the things in heaven. This is such an amazing thing. Whenever I read Colossians chapter 1, I feel my heart leap. In this chapter, the creation of the heavens and the earth are described, the new heaven and the new earth, which will come at the end of history, and the New Jerusalem. It says that God reconciled all these things with the things on earth through the blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, He combined reality with the shadow, the true image with the copy, through the blood. Things on earth are the copy of things in heaven. The sun is the shadow of God who shines on us. The moonlight, which is the reflection of sunlight that shines on darkness, is the shadow of Israel and the Church which appear in history. The tabernacle, which the people of Israel built and carried while walking through the wilderness, was also the shadow of the real one in heaven (see Hebrews 8:5). The city of Jerusalem, where the Israelites built the temple, is a shadow of the magnificent New Jerusalem which will descend from heaven. The mountains, rivers, trees and everything we see created by God are shadows of the perfect creatures which originally belong to the world of God. This is how it is recorded in the Bible. What did God create as His own shadow or copy? As it says, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Genesis 1:26), man was created according to His image and was made to live on the earth in the flesh. Humans, created according to His image, spend a lifetime in this world as a shadow of God. We are designed to search for God, who is the true image of us, by looking at the creation of God. This is how our minds are created. Also He has put eternity in their hearts.  (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Whether people believe in the Bible or not, everyone has vague ideas regarding time; their own death, the world beyond death and a curiosity of where they came from. This is human nature. Humans are created to think about the existence of God through creation, and of all people, we, who know the gospel, have received the word of God; He who bears witness of Himself as the Creator of all things through the Bible and through the people of Israel. The stories in the Old Testament which foretell the clear answers to comeLet us talk briefly about the priest, of whom we're going to study. The priest is also a shadow of something. Hebrews says, "For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins" (5:1), and, "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins" (10:11). This aspect of the priest is described in the latter half of Exodus. We have studied Exodus chapter 32 where the first tablets of stone were broken and the fate of the tribe of Levi changed. The tribe of Levi served as priests. They were scattered among the other tribes, ordained to do the work of God. Several times the book of Numbers mentions the priests attending to many kinds of works when they offer sacrifices (see chapters 1, 3, 18 and 35). However, just as the first tablets of stone were broken and the second ones were put into the ark, the fate of the twelve tribes changed as the first tablets were broken and the second tablets received. The tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes, was scattered, and Ephraim and Manasseh were officially included among the twelve. In the same way, while God commanded the tabernacle be built when the first tablets of stone were given, the tabernacle was completed after the first ones were broken and the second tablets received. In Exodus chapter 32, Israelites who worshipped the golden calf were rebuked by Moses, and were killed by the Levites who were on Moses' side. This incident was not recorded simply to convey "Do not worship idols" to the world. There is a greater significance when we consider the Bible as a whole. Underlying this incident is the question, "What is the significance of the Israelites making the golden calf and rising up to dance and play?" Should we understand their actions on a personal level, or should we consider them simply as sins having nothing to do with us, committed by the people of Israel? Here, we see two different approaches towards the Bible. The tabernacle the people of Israel carried on their shoulders was the first model of the temple built later by Solomon. After the tabernacle comes the temple. Likewise, Jesus Christ's glory is preceded by His suffering. The building of both the tabernacle and the temple follows this order. Isn't this strange? There was the command to build the tabernacle, but the tabernacle was built after the stone tablets were broken. The tabernacle was no more; then the temple was built. When the time of the temple was over, Jesus' blood covered all that took place in the tabernacle by offering the last sacrifice with His blood. Everything that took place in the history of Israel was a shadow until Jesus Christ came to the world and fulfilled God's will.This is the same with the people of Israel. At first, there were twelve tribes including the tribe of Levi. Jacob laid his hands upon Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to bless them as his own sons (see Genesis 48:5-20). After the first tablets were broken, the twelve tribes entered the land of Canaan. They divided the land, and the Levites were mixed in amongst the other tribes because of their priesthood. Manasseh and Ephraim were included in the twelve tribes as well (see Numbers chapter 1). The Bible says the people of Israel are models born again Christians, or more specifically the Church, should look at. The people of Israel are the shadow of Christians (see Hebrews 10:1, 1 Corinthians 10:6). As such, many stories in the Bible, especially the ones in the Old Testament, are constantly foretelling us that a clear answer will be revealed when everything is accomplished at the end of history. That is the meaning of the Old Testament.The stories in the Old Testament are repeated constantly. Some people read the Old Testament without fully understanding the meaning. When they read that the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea and the River Jordan, they say, "Because the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea and the River Jordan, we need to be baptized twice." They create their own doctrine in this manner. But when we look at these stories through the New Testament, we see that the historical events were signs, and the signs were repeatedly shown to us. One thing we know for sure is we are born again once and for all by receiving life in our hearts, just as it says, "[T]he faith which was once for all delivered" (Jude 1:3).Those who do not know the meaning of the many events in the Old Testament very well do not think they are good enough to stand before God if they don't live a temperate and devout life as seen in the books written in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul, Peter, James and so on. Of course, it is important to learn and know how to live in such a way through our Christian lives. However, we should know that all the requirements we cannot meet have been accomplished in Christ, and we partake in this. However, people ignore this, and because they have received salvation, thanks to Jesus, they try to be more devout than Him. This tendency is constantly present in people as they do not know the Bible very well and read it without much care. They interpret the Old Testament in their own way not understanding what they read.Sometimes I read books which people wrote concerning the Bible. Whenever I read these books, I think of the image of a virtuous wife in the verses, "... She brings her food from afar" (Proverbs 31:14), and "... does not eat the bread of idleness" (Proverbs 31:27). It's really inconvenient to bring food from afar, isn't it? The virtuous wife did not eat the bread of idleness. Whenever I read books written about the Bible, I don't feel right and I ask myself, "What attitude should I have when delivering the message in the Bible?" There are times when preparing for sermons is not possible because I am pressed for time. I could take the easy way out by reading books about the Bible written by authors you may have never heard of. It would seem I knew something about the Bible. Of course, many books written by evangelists contain some messages we must know.Just as well-chewed, organic food is digested through proper exercise and helps our blood circulation, the words we need to know should be the ones we come to understand through fellowship. If we drop a hamburger or spill a glass of soft drink we can get anywhere, we simply say, "Well, I can buy another one." Are we going to live our lives in such a lazy manner? Or are we going to live our lives cherishing every word of the Bible, our daily bread, realizing even a short verse in the Bible can influence each step we take in our lives like the woman who had a humble heart and said, "Even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table" (Mettjew 15:27).If we cherish each word of the Bible, our attitude towards the Old Testament needs to change. If you do not understand the Bible, will you just read other books that explain the Bible just as you want to eat food you can easily get? Will you only read the New Testament, because the Old Testament is difficult to understand? Of course it is much better to read the Bible than not to read it. However, as we live in the world, we need to know we have the responsibility to read the Bible accurately. The will of God God wants to tell us through the Old TestamentWhen we read through the Old Testament, we can find many places where it talks about the priests. I have often explained the significance of the priests, but when we read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, we need to know that individuals, groups, and nations, all have flaws. When we read about the kings of Israel who were the shadows of Jesus Christ, we find even the great King David had a flaw. He sent a man to his death in order to take his beautiful wife whom he fell in love. That aside, David was blameless before God. When we read the Bible, we find all the kings after David became progressively worse. King Solomon was obedient to God at first, but later took many gentile women and followed their gods. There were great kings such as Hezekiah, but there were also terrible kings like Manasseh. We see kings who were raised up and served by people having flaws and always having sin.Why is this? This is because they were only shadows of Jesus Christ, who would come as King of Kings, and were not Christ Himself. Neither David nor the prophets were Christ. There were many great prophets, but the Bible also warns of the corruption and filthiness of many prophets who appeared among the people of Israel. This is especially evident in Jeremiah. The priests were flawed as well. The high priests lived in Old Testament times and did many good things, as the shadow of Jesus Christ who would come to this world

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