Thank you
Chopper for bringing this scripture to light. If you will recall last week in your Matthew study thread I brought up Hebrews 9:8-9 and the necessity for the removal of the first tabernacle. In this thread you have brought to light the dedication of the first tabernacle. Now I do not know the significance of the number of animals sacrificed, nor do I have much of an interest, but there are some things within this passage that I would like to point out that you may consider them.
I know people like to think all kinds of thoughts when it comes to the lake of fire in the book of Revelation, and who am I to say whether they are right or not. Maybe it is to each of us what it needs to be for us in that moment of time. But none the less, just take a few minutes and try and picture for yourself the appearance of the Glory of the Lord as described in the opening verses.
2 Chronicles 7:1-3
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying,
the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the
glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord 's house.
And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Chronicles 7:12-16
And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him,
I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will
I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
The first thing I would point out is that it was called a house of sacrifice.
Psalms 40:5-7 (I would suggest reading all of Psalms 40)
Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done,
and thy thoughts which are to us- ward:
they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee:
if I would declare and speak of them,
they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire;
mine ears hast thou opened:
burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Then said I, Lo, I come:
in the volume of the book it is written of me.
The eyes and the ears of the Lord from Heaven attended to the prayers made on Earth in the Temple of the Lord, the house of sacrifice as long as the children of Israel obeyed the covenant. But they did not, and they broke their covenant, and the Lord removed himself from the Temple on earth; the ark of the covenant being removed forever after the destruction at the hand of the Babylonians.
Now what I would call you to pay closer attention to that you might consider for yourself would be the "eyes" and "ears" of the Lord, and were he chose to put HIS NAME forever. As the Psalmist declares: Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me. I do believe that most people receive this as a prophecy fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. With that thought in mind, pay attention to the eyes and ears, and hear what the Spirit saith unto you.
Zechariah 3:7-10
Thus saith the Lord of hosts;
If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge,
then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts,
and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou,
and thy fellows that sit before thee:
for they are men wondered at:
for, behold,
I will bring forth my servant the Branch.
For behold
the stone that I have laid before Joshua;
upon one stone shall be seven eyes:
behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts,
and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts,
shall ye call every man his neighbour
under the vine and under the fig tree.
Upon One Stone, the Chief Cornerstone; The stone that the Builder rejected, the BRANCH. It was to Him whom the Lord did choose to place HIS NAME forever, for though his death and resurrection Christ has become our House of Sacrifice, and based upon better sacrifices than those of bulls and goats.
Revelation 6:9
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Psalms 10:17
Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble:
thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.
John 14:1-4
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Seven times repeated in the book of Revelation for your warning, to each of the seven churches: "
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
