THE SETTING UP
Directions for Setting up, in the Tabernacle
Exodus 40.1-8.
Verses 1, 2. "And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation."
THE first day of the first month is significant of a beginning, or beginning anew. A type of the commencement of the Christian dispensation at Pentecost. On the first day of the month the moon began to shine afresh on the earth with light reflected from the sun: so the Church, during the present night-time of the world, is appointed to shine in the light of an absent Christ. A dispensation altogether new; characterised by Messiah rejected, and the Comforter present, to communicate to the Church the truth of Christ, and to maintain His Lordship.
"The tabernacle of the tent of the congregation."
Both titles are here combined; the tabernacle being the type of a dwelling-place for God through the Spirit, and the tent of the congregation, typical of believers assembled in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
THE ARK.
Verse 3. "And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the veil."
The ark is first mentioned, for it sets forth Jesus, God’s centre of gathering to His own people, and in whom they are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2.22).
The veil was to be hung up before the ark, the Holy Ghost thus signifying that the way into the Holiest was not then made manifest; but to us, since Calvary, the veil is rent, and the way into the Holiest is open; for we gather to the name of a risen and glorified Christ.
It is here called "the Ark of the Testimony," for the purpose for which the Church is gathered is, that it should be a testimony to Him, and especially to the great "mystery of godliness, God manifested in flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
THE TABLE.
Verse 4. "And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it."
Where believers are gathered unto the Name of the Lord Jesus, and builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit, there in God’s presence, the sweet and sacred memorials of a Saviour’s sufferings and death are to be observed.
It is remarkable that after the ark, the table is first mentioned; and at Troas, on the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread (Acts xx. 7).
If the communion of saints in the presence of God, and in the remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ, is to be observed, it must be in God’s order. "God is not the author of confusion." He has His order, and this must be maintained. The table is to be a pure table, and all things which are done in connection with it, must be done decently and in order, as in the presence and fear of God.
THE LAMPSTAND.
"And thou shalt bring in the lampstand, and light the lamps thereof."
Ministry, according to God, in the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit, and in testimony to the truth of Christ, has its place in connection with God’s dwelling place. It is to be brought in, and its light maintained. Ministry in the power of the Spirit of God, is to be in God’s order, according to His mind and will; and the gifts of an ascended Saviour are "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ."
THE ALTAR OF GOLD.
Verse 5. "And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony."
Teaching us that the worship of the Father in the Spirit and in truth, is connected with Christ risen and glorified within the veil, through whom the believer has boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him.
THE HANGING OF THE DOOR.
"And put the hanging of the door [entrance] to the tabernacle."
Christ said, "I am the door, by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved." Faith in, and confession of the name of Jesus, living, dying, risen and glorified, is the way, no mere ordinance, nor anything else, is to take the place of Christ.
THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING.
Verse 6. "And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering [ascending offering] before the door [entrance] of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation."
Christ, in death and resurrection, in His atoning and accepted sacrifice, is to be set forth as the only ground of communion and acceptance with God. And only through faith in Him can the communion of saints be enjoyed.
THE LAVER.
Verse 7. "And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shall put water therein."
Christ is also to be set forth as made of God, SANCTIFICATION to the believer, as well as redemption; and the full provision of the Spirit of God for the sanctification of the believer through the truth, is to be testified to.
THE COURT AND THE GATE.
Verse 8. "And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate."
Consistency of character and conduct with the confession of the name of Christ is to be maintained, and the exercise of fervent charity one towards another, with separation from the world, is to be manifested even when not assembled together in Church fellowship.
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Few brethren were more generally beloved, and few faces more familiar in the assemblies of Christians who gather to the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ than Thomas Newberry.
Referring to his early days, he praised God for the blessing of a Christian mother and a godly elder sister, for through them, like Timothy of old, he knew the Holy Scriptures from a child; and it pleased God to reveal His Son to his soul as Saviour and Lord at an early age.
During the early years of his Christian experience he was but an ordinary reader of the Word of God for comfort and instruction; but sixty-one years ago he began the diligent study and searching of the Scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek languages. Pursuing these studies for twenty-five years, he felt constrained to commence that which will be one of the best memorials of his valuable life, "The Englishmans Bible,' which is now widely known and greatly prized by Bible students as one of the best helps ever published for enabling ordinary readers to discern the beauties of the original "sacred Scriptures."
This work has been highly commended by competent scholars, who express admiration at the immense labours bestowed upon the book, and the valuable and reliable information given in its marginal notes, which help Christians to understand somewhat of the precious treasure which God has given in this, His own Word.
Diligent Scripture study led Mr. Newberry into association with a remarkable revival which took place in the British Isles early in the 19th century, when the Spirit of God led many eminent Christians to search the Holy Scriptures in relation to their ecclesiastical associations. The conviction was forced upon many of their souls that much of the teaching was not in harmony with the Word of God; that many of the customs were based upon expediency rather than conformity to "the law and the testimony" (Isaiah 8. 20); that principles and practices (which were plainly recorded in the Epistle to the Corinthians and other scriptures, as characteristic of the churches of God as founded by the apostles, after the divine pattern given to Paul, "the wise master-builder") were not being observed, although 1 Corinthians 1, 2 said they were binding upon "all that in every place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord."
Great searchings of heart took place about the years 1828-1830, leading godly men to act as those did in Malachi's day.
Acknowledging the supremacy and authority ot the Holy Scriptures, and setting aside the creeds, rules, and regulations which men had devised, and which had become sectarian barriers to the communion of saints, they regarded it as a cardinal principle of God's assemblies that the Word of God should be their sole appeal for all matters of doctrine and practice, and its decisions were binding upon all in their fellowship; also that there should be liberty to preach, teach, and obey all that they found in the Bible.
Mr. Newberry's lectures and writings upon the tabernacle and the temple have been of spiritual profit to thousands. He constructed a model of the temple of exquisite beauty, and quite unique in its design and workmanship, the result of great research in the original Scriptures, so that it might convey to modern people some idea of that gorgeous temple which Solomon built from the patterns given to his father David by the Spirit of God, as Moses also constructed the tabernacle from the pattern which God gave to him in the holy mount. This model, with various writings in connection with it and bearing upon other subjects, will be lasting memorials to the value of his Bible research. For long years he expounded the Scriptures in many parts of the British Isles, gave numerous lectures on the model of the tabernacle, wrote valuable papers for The Witness and other magazines, conducted an extensive correspondence with Bible students in various parts of the world, and sought to be a helper to the saints in every possible way, falling asleep at Weston-super-Mare on 16th January, 1901, at the ripe age of ninety.