day 896

“He put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil …” (Ex. 40:26, NKJV)

We are currently discussing the seventh myth regarding the contemporary church: the myth that organised praise and worship in the ecclesia is of central importance when praising God.

In the previous teaching we came to the conclusion that the mandate of the Old Testament praise did not carry over directly onto the New Testament. The importance of praise is highlighted throughout the new covenant, but that it was in no way organised is clear by the five core Scriptures we discussed.

In previous teachings we briefly referred to the golden altar of incense which is the typological symbol of praise, amongst other things, in the second dimension of the tabernacle. We read of its construction in Ex. 30:1-6; 37:25-29. In Ex. 40:26-27 we read about its placement: “He put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil; and he burned sweet incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses.” As our readers will know by this point, this dimension points to the Pentecostal or Charismatic movements, where praise plays an absolutely central role. (We are not going to the discuss the altar at this point – that will happen at a later stage. It is only used to illuminate our discussion today. In the teaching of Day 146 we got to just before the altar of incense, but before we can actually discuss it, we then explained, we had to go back to the first dimension to look at the various altar pieces in more detail, which we are still doing.)

It is clear from all Old Testament Scriptures that the altar of incense stood in the Holy Place, the second dimension, just before the veil. But in Heb. 9:4-5 it is explicitly stated that this altar stands with the “ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.”! In the transition from the Old to the New Testament there obviously also were other things that had to change – “for the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law” (Heb. 7:12). In the transition of covenants the altar of incense then moves from the second to the third dimension.

The typology of this is then very clear – whilst you are in the second dimension, praise is an individual, but also corporate/collective experience. But if you are in the third dimension, it is always SIMULTANEOUSLY a personal and corporate action. As the high priest entered the Holy of Holies alone, and no one else could function within it, so the believer functions alone in the third dimension (Ps. 87:5), but represents the corporate Body there; in his complete unity he represents the entire multiplicity of the people (Lev. 16:32-34). This mystery then also explains the shift with regards to the golden altar.

 

  • Selah: How would praise and the church service in the second dimension differ from its                                 counterparts in the third dimension?
  • Read: 17; Ps. 35; Ps. 54; Ps. 63
  • Memorise: 62:2-4 (and note the synchronicity!)
  • For a more in-depth understanding: Read N.T. Wright’s book Worship and the Spirit in                                                                 the New Testament.