The Tabernacle's Testimony

The tabernacle testified to the souls of believing Israelites that a holy God would one day come and dwell in the midst of sinners to remove their sins. It testified that the world of sinners needs the help only the Lord can give. It testified that God had to come to earth from heaven, that we who are on the earth might be brought to heaven. In short, the tabernacle testified of Jesus Christ.

--Daniel R. Hyde, God in Our Midst: The Tabernacle & Our Relationship with God (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust, 2012), Kindle location 1101.

No Conflict between Duty and Delight

All too often, we set up in our minds a contrast between duty and delight when it comes to serving the Lord. For instance, we contrast form and freedom when it comes to liturgy and worship as if form quenches all freedom or as if freedom cannot have form. But according to this text [Exodus 35:4-29], there is no contradiction between what we must do and what we want to do as God's people. The movement of the Israelites' redeemed hearts to give the Lord an offering was in complete unison with the Lord's will for their lives.

--Daniel R. Hyde, God in Our Midst: The Tabernacle & Our Relationship with God (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust, 2012), Kindle location 823.

The Blossoming of the Scriptures

[T]he Scriptures are like a rose, one that began to bud early in the Old Testament as God, the great Kingdom Builder, established His kingdom in the garden of Eden. Even when the Devil used Adam to desecrate this kingdom, the Scriptures continued to blossom as God began rebuilding His kingdom. He called Abram to be the father of a new kingdom-people who would live in a kingdom-place. He saved the Israelites from Egypt and brought them to the promised kingdom-place in the days of Joshua. Again, though it was defiled in the days of the judges, God reformed the church in the days of David and Solomon, giving His people a temple at which to worship. Finally, the rose of Scripture came to full bloom with the coming of our Lord--"God with us" (Matt. 1:23), "the Word" who was "made flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] among us" (John 1:14).

--Daniel R. Hyde, God in Our Midst: The Tabernacle & Our Relationship with God (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust, 2012), Kindle location 491.