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LET  THEM  MAKE  ME  A  SANCTUARY,  part  6  quotes

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1)     The offering up of the bullocks or oxen, goats and lambs were all clean animals.  This symbolized that nothing unclean by sin or selfishness would be acceptable to God.


The Bullock or Ox


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     A bullock or an ox is a male bull that has been castrated.  Before castration, a bull is naturally proud, arrogant and rebellious; it is naturally antagonistic towards following orders and usually forcefully follows its own will.  It does not allow itself to be led, but instead wants to be the leader.  In this condition it is not fit to offer as a sacrifice to God.



     After castration occurs, the bull becomes humble, submissive and obedient.  The bull no longer desirs to be the leader, but now is willing to patiently be led and to follow orders in bearing whatever burdens his master desires him to.  It no longer is seeking to follow its own will, but now its focus is to follow only the commands of its owner.  This great change means that the bull is now a totally new creature from what it once was, and thus its name is changed to signify this fact.

     This bull symbolizes you and me when we are dead in trespasses and sins, when we are unconverted and ever seeking to forcefully follow our own selfish will.  But once the love of God plainly manifested in this great plan of salvation is clearly seen and understood, it begins its miraculous work of transformation upon our hearts.  Pride, arrogance, rebellion and all selfishness is cut away and separated from us, leaving us humble, submissive, obedient and willing to patiently follow the commands of our God.  No longer are we self-willed because our hearts have been castrated from all self, and now we are willing to follow our Lord wherever He leads us.  We become a new creature in Christ Jesus, and become pleasing in God's sight.  This great and miraculous change is one reason why our names are changed.
     “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Revelation 2:17.


     Allowing all selfishness to be cut away and separated from your heart and becoming this new creature in Christ Jesus, also allows you to become yoked together with your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
     “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.





2)     
The Goat


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     Goats are naturally impulsive and unpredictable, devious and contrary.  Goats are never content with what they have, but are always stretching themselves to try and obtain those tender leaves just out of reach.  They are experts in opening gates and squeezing through small gaps because they hate to be confined.  They are not very good followers, as they prefer instead to lead themselves and will go wandering off on their own.  Since they desire to lead, this creates disunity when they come in contact with other members in the flock, and their independent natures often creates contention with the shepherd over who is going to lead the flock, and this causes other members of the flock to be led astray.
     But before it can become a sacrifice and thus connected with the service of God, the goat must decide to put away its independent waywardness and self-will, because only animals that willingly allowed themselves to be sacrificed were sacrificed.  As long as it continued to fight against being a follower of its master’s will, then it was unfit for becoming a sacrifice as a servant of God and of being allowed to enter into His service.

     This goat symbolizes that as long as you and me refuses to give up self and remain unconverted, then we are unfit for becoming a servant of God and of entering into His service.  We are naturally impulsive, devious, and never content; we are naturally independent and refuse to be contained within the confines of God’s law and will.  We desire to lead and not to be led, and are prone to go wandering off on some tangent depending on what we may believe or how we feel at the time.  This natural independence places us at odds with the Great Shepherd, and thus we will be more apt to create disunity among our fellow brothers and sisters, and in danger of  leading some astray.
     But once we allow the love of God to melt our hearts, decide to give up all self and independence, and humbly be willing to be led by God instead of to be the leader, then we can become a true follower of God.  We would then be willing to sacrifice anything in order to be with and to please our true Shepherd of the flock.  But if we are determined to continue in our independent self-will, eventually we will be disowned by God, set aside and separated away from being connected with His true followers, and will be destined for destruction (Matthew 25:33, 41).





3)     
The Sheep


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     Sheep are naturally submissive and are a good natured creature.  They naturally will herd and unite together, and thus will help one another in distress.  They also are content to follow the leadership of their shepherd, and to willingly respond to his commands by going wherever he leads them.
     Sheep are also timid and easily panicked, but just hearing the voice of their shepherd can calm them back down.  They also are prone to wander away from the flock, and if they are left alone for too long of a time, they lose their desire to be united again with the herd, or perhaps will become an easy prey for their enemies.  This is why when the shepherd becomes aware of the absence of any member of His flock, he must immediately go in search of them in order to bring them back to the safety of the fold.



Credit: mtcolumbiasheep.org

     These natural characteristics of sheep symbolizes the type of character that God’s followers should possess; being submissive, good natured, willing to unite together and help one another, and content to follow the voice of the true Shepherd Jesus Christ and to go wherever He leads.  But we also must avoid being timid and panicky in this life, so that we can then avoid the danger of losing our hold upon and faith in Jesus.  We must also avoid wandering away from being united together with others of like faith, because if we keep ourselves separated for too long of a time then we may lose our desire to fellowship altogether, and will just go off doing our own thing, or may become an easy prey for “the devil” who is going about “as a roaring lion...seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

     “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:23-25.





4)     
The Turtledove


Credit: Takashi_Yanagisawa from pixabay.com

     The offering up of the turtledoves or young pigeons were all clean fowl.  This again symbolized that nothing unclean by sin or selfishness was acceptable to God.

     Turtledoves are naturally gentle and good natured birds.  They tend to flock together, and are easy to tame.  If their nest should become disturbed, they do not immediately abandon it, but continue residing in it and work together to repair any damage.  Also, once they bond with a mate they remain forever devoted and loyal to each other, and if their mate should die, then remain single for the rest of their life.
     These characteristics symbolize the type of character that God’s followers should possess.  They should be gentle, good natured, willing to unite and fellowship together, and allow self to be easily tamed by letting God have control over them.  If their home or even their particular church group should become disturbed, then instead of immediately leaving and abandoning it, they lovingly remain within it and work together to repair any damage done.  And once united with Jesus Christ as their yoke-mate, they should remain devoted and loyal only to Him for the rest of their lives, and not seek out another lover to unite with.





5)     
The Wheat Flour


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     In order to get flour, grains of wheat were first crushed in a pedestal or mill until they were broken down to its very smallest part.  This grain flour was then mixed or combined with olive oil and salt and then either offered as flour or baked into bread.

     The olive oil represents the Holy Spirit, and the salt represents just the right seasoning that makes bland food more enjoyable and pleasurable to eat, and symbolizes the grace that makes our life enjoyable and pleasurable to others as well as ourselves

     The wheat represents Jesus.  Jesus referred to Himself as a grain of wheat (John 12:24).  This shows that this wheat flour symbolized that Christ would allow His body to be “broken for you” and me (1 Corinthians 11:24), and that He would “not fail nor become discouraged” (Isaiah 42:4) until He had fulfilled His part in this great plan of salvation, even though His sacrifice took Him to the cross, and was then buried in the earth, to rise again.
     Jesus had the Holy Spirit with Him all His life.  All the actions He performed and all the truths He shared were with just right seasoning or influence so that they could be easily accepted by others, and thus His life was well pleasing unto God.  And Jesus Christ gave all that He had, without reservation and even down to the very smallest part, in order to make possible our salvation!

     The offering of wheat flour mixed with oil and salt can also symbolize God’s followers.  Since this grain of wheat has a very tough and hard exterior which had to be crushed and broken down to the point that its very smallest parts were exposed, and even at this point it was then able to become an offering acceptable unto the Lord, so God’s followers must also allow self to be crushed and broken down in the mill of God until nothing of its hard tough exterior remains to be seen.  At this point the Holy Spirit will be given to us without measure, and we will then be able to perform actions and share the truths of God’s word that have just the right seasoning and influence that can be easily accepted by others, and then we will be well pleasing unto God, because none of self remains to ruin our life and our offering unto the Lord.


     No leavening or rising agents were to be added to this flour, because it would causing all of it to rise and become puffed up from is low position.  So once self is fully removed from us, we are never to allow it to enter into us to puff and rise us up.  If we do, then self will quickly permeate and contaminate our entire life, and thus make us an unfit offering unto God which will be rejected and will not be used in His service.