November 18, 1964
Henry F. Kulp
II Corinthians 5: 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Here it tells us that God as in Christ. God was in the tabernacle. God said to Moses, Build me a tabernacle, and I will come down in that tabernacle and meet with you.
Here Paul tells us God was in Christ. God was in the Tabernacle, so the tabernacle is a picture of Jesus Christ.
Exodus 25: 23 - 27 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.
We have been studying the table of shewbread. It was a table made of wood and of gold, and on it were placed twelve loaves of bread—one for each of the twelve Tribes. These Twelve loaves of bread were a type of Christ, for they are called the Bread of God, they were to satisfy God first, and then after they had been there seven days, they were to be taken away and fresh bread was tin their place, and those loaves which were taken away were eaten by the priest. The priests represent the people, were feasting on that on which God had been feasting. The type is that man and God sit at the same table, feasting on Christ. Christ is everything to God, and I wonder, is He everything to you? God finds all His pleasure in Christ. I wonder if you do. God said—made a wonderful statement—when Christ was baptized, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” And this could be translated—“This is My beloved Son in Whom is all My delight”. All God’s delight is in Christ. Is all you delight in Him? Man and God sit down at the same table, and eat of the same bread. That is the teaching of the Table of Shewbread.
1/ Also, the table of Shewbread speaks of fellowship with God. And our fellowship with God is because of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The twelve loaves of bread were alike, and so no one tribe could think itself superior or separate from the other tribes, and so as we have fellowship with god, we should not think one person or ourselves to be superior or separated from another. We are bound together in Jesus Christ.
2/ Verse 25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of a hand breath round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
There was to be a rim of a hand breath around the table. I think that was to hold the bread in place. This table they carried in the wilderness, and so the loaves could not move, they could not shift. God is not a God of confusion.
3/ Verse 26 - 28 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
Notice that these three verses here are given over to the making of the golden rings on the two sides of the table and the staves. More description is given to the staves and to the rings than to anything else. They are used to carry the table—it was to be moved, it was not stationary. God told them how to cover it. He told them how to carry it. So let us get the picture. There was a time when the cloud began to move, and when God moved, the tabernacle was to move. It was not stationary. So for forty years the nation marched, and they always carried with them the bread of God, and that, I believe, is a picture of missionary work. We are to carry the bread of life to the world. There are millions today who are starving and who will die eternally unless we take the bread of life to them. I was amazed just the other day, I was reading a missionary folder, and it said that 500,000 villages in India are without Christ, and they said, if someone wants to preach, he can have a whole city to himself in India. Here in this land we are fighting for pulpits, over there they don’t have enough missionaries for the cities and towns and villages. But we are to take this bread of life to the world, and that means to the shop, to our neighbor’s home, that means wherever we go.
4/ Now we come down to the candlestick.
Exodus 25: 31, 32 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
The golden candlestick stood on the south side of the holy place, opposite from the table of shewbread. The light of the candlestick was indispensable in the service off the priest. There was no other light in the tabernacle—there were no windows provided in the pattern of the tabernacle which god showed Moses in the mount. This, to the natural man, I guess he would say it is a mistake, an oversight. But in the plan and purpose of God, it has a definite design. Remember this point, not a single ray of light was allowed to come from the outside , not a ray of light from nature. The light of nature on the outside is the light of human reason, philosophy and I suppose we could say, speculation. And God does not want us to have any speculation or philosophy or light of human reasoning. I wonder if you recognize, you know nothing about God, except by the Bible? It is the only revelation of God. You know there is a God, you have evidence of a God in nature, but you have no idea what God is like, or how to please Him, or what He expects from nature. You must go to the Bible.
5/ There are those who say the candlestick is a picture of Jesus Christ. But here I must depart from the commentaries that I have read and studied. I do not believe the candlestick is a picture of Jesus Christ.
Notice, according to verse 31 that the candlestick was to be made of pure gold—it was to be beaten out of a solid lump of gold, according to God’s direction. It was to be a talent of pure gold which was worth many thousands of dollars even in that day, and many more thousands of dollars in our day. They were to take the solid lump of gold, perhaps a lump of gold almost as big as a football, and beat out the candlestick, which was, perhaps four feet high, and perhaps five feet to the top where the lights awed placed.
6/ Everything else in the tabernacle was made of wood, and gold. Remember the ark was made of wood and of gold, a very lasting wood, and then they covered it with gold, and that was because everything was a type of Christ, as God the man. The wood stands for His humanity, and the gold for His deity. That is everything except the candlestick was a made of wood and gold, the candlestick was pure gold. Folks tell us that this is a picture of Christ because Christ is the light of the world, But remember, this candlestick doesn’t give any light in the outside world. This candlestick was lighted and it gave light inside the Holy Place. It wasn’t the light of the world, it was the light in the tabernacle. It was a light in the Holy Place. This candlestick was the only light on the inside. As you went into the Holy Place, you would have darkness without the candlestick, there was no other light. Heavy curtains were the outer door of the Holy Place, and when you parted these curtains and walked in, the curtain fell back together behind you, and you were in the dark unless the candlestick was lighted, so the candlestick its that which gives light to everything that is in the Holy Place.
7/ Let us go to the New Testament.
John 16: 12 - 15 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Here Jesus Christ taught us very distinctly about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person. For you can see this by the use of the pronoun, “He”. He will guide you into all truth. He shall not speak of Himself. Then notice, verse 14. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you—He shall take of Mine and show it unto you. The work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ. Verse 14. The former verse says He shall not speak of Himself. The Holy Spirit does not talk about Himself, He talks about Jesus Christ and glorifies HIm. Isn’t this the work of the candlestick in the Holy Place? Isn’t the work of the candlestick to light up and show all the glory of Christ that is there? The candlestick lights up and show all the glory of Christ that is there? The candlestick is the light inside, not the light of the world.
8/ When you went into the tabernacle, you couldn’t see the bread, you couldn’t see the incense altar, you couldst’t see anything unless the candlestick itself was burning, so it is the work of the Holy Spirit to show us the things of Christ. I think the work of the Holy Spirit is very often forgotten. How often you hear people praying for power, they are praying for the power of the Holy Spirit, and I suppose that is all right, but that’s not the chief work of the Holy Spirit, the chief work of the Holy Spirit is to show us light, the glory of Christ—that is His chief work. Remember, the candlestick was made of gold which speaks of the deity and the Holy Spirit, of course, is deity—just as much as god the Father , and God the Son.
9/ Exodus 25: 32 - 34 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
There are seven branches, and of course, seven is the perfect number.
Revelation 1: 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
You notice the word, Spirits, is spelled with a capital, meaning the Holy Spirit, and the passage should be translated, to the seven-fold Spirit. It is said that the Holy Spirit is a seven-fold Spirit, showing again that the candlestick evidently is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
10/ We have the holy Spirit today within us, revealing to us the glory and majesty and the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but this light is not to stay in us, Philippians 2: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Notice, we are sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, that is exactly where we are—in a world in which everything is contrary to God, contrary to Jesus Christ. What are we to do? Among whom we shine as lights in the world. That is what God has called us to do—to shine—among whom ye shine.
Charles Spurgeon once used this illustration. He had never been in the United States, but he had heard about Niagara Falls, about the tremendous amount of water going over those falls—so he said, suppose I should be standing by the Niagara River, and I should see hundreds of souls coming down the Niagara River, going over those falls to destruction, and I am standing there perfectly helpless, and I cannot do a think for them. Suppose it were possible for me to have my right arm lengthened—I would hereafter be a hideous thing to look at, but suppose by a painful operation I could have my right arm lengthened so I could reach out and save some of those who are going over the falls to destruction. He saId, would I be willing to suffer the pain? Would I be willing to stand before man as a monstrosity with an arm 20 feet long, but able to save? Now may the Lord Jesus Christ speak to us about these things. We are in this world, and we are to give light to others. Thousands and thousands of churches are entertaining, they are trying to please the flesh, but they are not shining as lights. We aren’t to do this, because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
AMEN
11/18/1964 / 9 - STUDIES IN THE TABERNACLE / 02/07/2025
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