Daniel Hyde

He's speaking of the Holy Spirit, and he's speaking of himself, who is the truth.

That's why he can say to two and three believers, whenever there's just two or three, and wherever they happen to be, if they gather together in his name, there I am in the midst of them.

And so we need to read the Old Testament tabernacle story as fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Fifth, and just very shortly, you have to read them simply.

Read them simply.

What do I mean by that?

There's lots of symbols.

There are a lot of details.

But it's not important for us to get so bogged down in all the minutiae

that we miss the big picture.

So we have to read them simply.

We have to ask ourselves not about, well, what is the significance of the colors necessarily, one at a time, or the roundness of a clasp, or the kind of wood that was used to make the poles.

We have to ask ourselves bigger questions.

What does this passage say about God and about me, about my Savior, and about how I am to be saved by him?

Sixthly and finally, we have to read these narratives to instruct us morally.

They're not just for theology, but they're for ethics.

They're for godliness, for holiness.

We are to be holy as the Lord our God himself is holy.

Well, as we do this, as we read the Lord's word, as we read this tabernacle story in this way, with all these details and these big pictures in mind, we'll come to know the Lord experientially through his word.

He's entered a covenant relationship with us.