Main Study 5: From the Beginning...

Before you start, in the first week, we learnt that it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us the truth about God's Word (John 16:13), and, He freely offers that gift and teaching to those who claim it with a whole heart, with the result been that when we search and seek with our whole surrendered heart, WE WILL find Him! (Jeremiah 29:13). So before you carry on, ask God to guide you (Psalm 25:5), compare everything with the Bible (Isaiah 8:20), and believe that God will guide you! (Mark 11:24).

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So far, we have seen some amazing facts about God's Word; the Bible... If you haven't read about those facts, then please go to "Main Study 1: God's SatNav" and see why God's Word is the ONLY thing to receive your directions from! Then from Main Study 2-4, we saw that God was the only One who actually backed up His claim of being the one and only true God with irrefutable evidence. The fact that He can perfectly tell the end from the beginning, or in other words tell the future, was His 'Let me prove it to you!' statement and we with Nebuchadnezzar then had the choice to accept this amazing evidence and say, as did Nebuchadnezzar:

"The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth [it is], that your God [is] a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret."- Daniel 2:47

If you haven't read those studies, Main study 2 to Main study 4 are those that talk about this amazing prophecy!

Now that we have seen these things, we can more confidently believe the statement Jesus made in John 17:17 which says "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." God's Word is truth, and so whatever it says, we can rely on! This is important, as the Bible gives us information about this world that no other book can... It is this information we shall spend some time looking at!

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These days, the news generally broadcasts only one type of news; bad news. Everyday we hear of wars, famines, earthquakes, murders, financial crises, economic downturns, civil wars, strikes, redundancies which are just the tip of the huge iceberg of problems that this world has to deal with on a day to day basis. In fact, we have been so accustomed to it, we are often surprised when we hear some good news, which is soon tainted and corrupted with even more bad news. The obvious question we have to ask is 'Why?' Why is it that these things happen? Who causes it? If God is so loving, then why is it that these things happen?!

Well, 1 John 4:8 says:

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

So the Bible affirms that if you could sum up God's characteristics all into one word, it would be 'love'. The question then has to be asked again... Why do these things happen? What is going on?

Well, before we answer about what is going on in earth now, we need to go all the way back to the beginning. Let's see what the Bible has to say about the beginning.

1) What does the Bible say about the beginning of this earth? 

Genesis 1:1 says:

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

So the very first text in the Bible tells us a fundamental point, that in the beginning, God was there, and that He created the heavens and the earth. Look at what Psalm 100:3 says about God and creation:

"Know ye that the LORD he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture."

God created US, we did not create ourselves, and as He is our Creator, He looks at us as sheep of His pasture. God looks on me and you tenderly, and with a watchful and protective eye, just like a shepherd would do for his sheep! 

So if God was there at creation...

2) Was God there before the earth was created?

Psalm 90:2 says: 

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God."

Before the earth and the world was formed, even from everlasting to everlasting, God is God. This text tells us that God has ALWAYS been, and will ALWAYS  be.


3) Is there anywhere else in the Bible where we see that God was at the beginning?
John 1:1-3 confirms this by saying:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." 

So here we see that from before creation, 'in the beginning', was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was in the beginning with God. Infinity before the time that humans can comprehend, God has been.

4) Who is the Word?
John 1:14, 17 says:

"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth... For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

The Word is Jesus. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (like John 1:10, 11) and is full of grace and truth, and then we see in John 1:17 that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, showing again that the Word is Jesus. So Jesus has always been, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was (and is) God. All things were made by Jesus, but loved us so much that He humbled Himself and took on the form of a man, to become like you and me, to die for us and offer to us freely the gift of eternal life (Philippians 2:5-8).

5) So as God has always been, WHERE has He been?
Psalm 11:4 says:

"The LORD [is] in his holy temple, the LORD's throne [is] in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men."

From this text we can see that God is in heaven, and that He has a throne. 2 Chronicles 18:18 tells us that God sits on His throne. (If the Bible text, like this text, isn't typed out, hover your mouse over the reference, and you should be able to read it as a window should pop up, and then disappear when you move your mouse of the Bible text) So God is in His holy temple, and the LORD's throne (which He sits on) is in heaven. 

Notice Psalm 113:5, 6 which says:

"Who [is] like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth [himself] to behold [the things that are] in heaven, and in the earth!"

So here we see that God is so high, that He humbles Himself to look at the things in heaven, and in the earth, so the heaven which God is situated in is different to the 'heaven and earth' which He looks at (which we see was created in Genesis 1). So God is in his holy temple, and the LORD's throne is in heaven, which is different to the 'heaven' which we can look at i.e. the sky or space. 

6) What does God's throne tell us about the state of heaven?

Yes! God's throne tells us about what heaven is like. We shall answer this question in parts. Firstly, notice these texts:
Psalm 103:19 says:

"The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all."

God has a kingdom that rules over all! The throne is the centre of the kingdom, from where the laws and commands are made, so God's throne rules over all! It is the greatest and most central point of a kingdom (Genesis 49:40). We also see that in Psalm 45:6 it says:

"Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom [is] a right sceptre."

So let's recap:

• God is love, yet this world is in turmoil, and the question we are asking the Bible is "why?"
• Before the Bible answers this though, we must first go back to the beginning, where we see that God was there. In fact, infinity before that, God has always been there!
• We then saw that God is in His holy temple, and His throne (which He sits on) is in heaven, so God is in heaven.
• Then we saw that not only does God have a throne, but a kingdom which rules over all! Hence, His throne rules over all.
• We also saw that His throne is for ever and ever; everlasting.

Now, put that to one side for the moment, and look at these set of texts:

Exodus 25:8, 9 says:

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, [after] the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make [it]."

Here we see that Moses and the Israelites are commanded to make the LORD a Sanctuary, that He may dwell among them. We also see here that this Sanctuary was to be made as the LORD showed Moses, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments. In other words, the Sanctuary on earth was to be made after a pattern of another. What was this pattern?

Hebrews 8:5 says:

"Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount."

The context of this text is talking about the priests of the Sanctuary which we saw before that the Israelites were commanded to make (see Hebrews 8:3, 4). This text tells us that these priests served to the example and shadow of heavenly things, and then the writer explains himself saying "...for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." (We have just read this in Exodus.) So here again we see that the sanctuary that the Israelites made was a shadow or pattern of something else, and this text tells us that the pattern was of heavenly things. A shadow can never be a different to the thing that it is causing the shadow, for example, a square box in the sun would only produce a square shadow, never a round one, so in the same way, the earthly Sanctuary being a shadow of heavenly things tells us that what we see in the earthly Sanctuary would not be different to what we would see in heaven. To make this clear, look at this text: 

Hebrews 8:1, 2 says:

"Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man..."

This text tells us that there is a heavenly Sanctuary, which the LORD pitched and not man, and so the earthly Sanctuary was made to the pattern of this! We see this point elsewhere in texts such as Hebrews 9:11; Hebrew 9:23 and Hebrews 9:24.

Why is this important? We can look at the earthly Sanctuary, and look where God dwells in that or what God does in that, and we can safely say that is where God dwells in Heaven, or that's what He does in Heaven too!

Psalm 11:4 told us that the LORD is in His holy temple, the pattern of this would be that the LORD is in the earthly sanctuary, and we also see that His throne is in the heavens, so somewhere in the earthly Sanctuary, (the pattern of that which is in Heaven) was God's throne (where He sat).

Before we answer this though, if you have never heard of the Sanctuary, or you do not know what it looks like, here is a basic image of the plan, setting out of the earthly Sanctuary:

A picture of how the whole Sanctuary would look (Read Exodus 25-40)

And here is a picture of what it would look like in the Tabernacle :

Here is a picture of inside the Tabernacle. There are two compartments here, separated by a veil. The compartment where the priest (the man in blue and white) is, is called the "holy place"- Exodus 26:33. The compartment to your far left, after the veil, is called the "Most holy place"- Exodus 26:34

Now look at what this text tells us about where God dwells/sits in the earthly Sanctuary, and remember this would represent His throne in the heavens. Exodus 25:21, 22 says:

"And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which [are] upon the ark of the testimony, of all [things] which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

So in the earthly Sanctuary, we see that God's throne, or where He sits, is above the mercy seat, between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, and there He gives all the commands to the children of Israel. Here is a representation of what this would look like:

Read Exodus 25:10-22 for a description of the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat which was on top of it

So in the earthly Sanctuary, God's throne was represented by the mercy seat on top of the ark of the Testament. Now here is the amazing thing! Look at what God says to put into the ark of the Testament:

Exodus 25:21 says:

"And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee."

So underneath God's throne would be this testimony, and remember, this represented God's throne in heavens which is for ever and ever and rules over all! So the foundation of God's throne in the earthly Sanctuary, the thing upon which He sat, was the Testimony which He would give Moses. What is this testimony that God gave Moses? 

Exodus 31:18 says: 

"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." 

What was on these tables of testimony?

Deuteronomy 4:13 says:

"And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, [even] ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone."

On the two tables of stone were written the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20:1-17). These tables were in the ark of the Testament, on which the mercy seat (God's throne) was on top of. In other words, at the very centre of God's throne, the foundation of His throne, was His Law, the Ten Commandments. Remembering that His throne lasts for ever, then the foundation of God's throne must last forever, and knowing that His throne rules over all, then God's kingdom, that is EVERYTHING, is governed by this Law. 

Now look at what Jesus says these Laws some up to.

Matthew 22:37-40 says:

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." 

The foundation of God's throne, the foundation of His whole kingdom is His Law, and these are summed up in two principles; love to God, and love to one another. So God's kingdom is a kingdom that is governed by these two principles, where every subject loves God supremely, and their neighbour selflessly, and this Law, the Ten Commandments, lasts forever. 

Love was the state of God's kingdom, total selfless love expressed in total obedience to God's Law, the foundation of His throne and kingdom. This is where it all began, this was the state of God's kingdom, where everyone chose to, and happily obeyed. So what went wrong? How did we become like this? By God's grace, we shall find out next week. Until then...

God Bless, 

Adam