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From Eternity Past
12:1
. Those who love Him with all the heart will desire to give Him
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the best service of the life, constantly seeking to bring every power of
their being into harmony with His will.
In the offering of incense the priest was brought more directly into
the presence of God than any other act of the daily ministration. The
glory of God manifested above the mercy seat was partially visible
from the first apartment. When the priest offered incense before the
Lord, he looked toward the ark; and as the divine glory descended
upon the mercy seat and filled the most holy place, often the priest was
obliged to retire to the door of the tabernacle. As the priest looked by
faith to the mercy seat which he could not see, so the people of God
are now to direct their prayers to Christ, their great High Priest, who
is pleading in their behalf in the sanctuary above.
The incense represents the merits and intercession of Christ, His
perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed to His people and
which can alone make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God.
By blood and by incense God was to be approached—symbols pointing
to the great Mediator through whom alone mercy and salvation can be
granted to the repentant soul.
As the priests morning and evening entered the holy place, the
daily sacrifice was ready to be offered upon the altar in the court. This
was a time of intense interest; the worshipers at the tabernacle were to
engage in searching of the heart and confession of sin. Their petitions
ascended with the cloud of incense, while faith laid hold upon the
merits of the promised Saviour prefigured by the atoning sacrifice.
In later times the Jews, scattered as captives in distant lands, still at
the appointed hour turned their faces toward Jerusalem and offered
their petitions to the God of Israel. In this custom Christians have
an example for morning and evening prayer. God looks with great
pleasure upon those who bow morning and evening to seek pardon
and present their requests for blessings.
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The showbread was a perpetual offering, part of the daily sacrifice.
It was ever before the face of the Lord (
Exodus 25:30
), an acknowledg-
ment of man’s dependence upon God for both temporal and spiritual
food, received only through the mediation of Christ. God had fed
Israel with bread from heaven, and they were still dependent upon His
bounty, both for temporal food and spiritual blessings. Both the manna
and the showbread pointed to Christ, the living Bread. He Himself