Paradise Primitive Baptist Church, Arlington Texas- Services Every Sunday 10:30 AM - Elder Keith Ellis Pastor

Morning Thoughts Daily Devotionals by Elder Philip Conley

Exodus 26:14, "And thou shalt make a covering for
the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above
of badgers' skins."

This morning, people are looking for beauty, and
unfortunately, they are looking for it in all the
wrong places. True beauty is not found in superficial
qualities, nor is it found in the natural man's
appetites. Rather, true beauty is found in things of
an unseen nature that go beyond this vale of tears
into a land where beauties untold await the family of
God. So, when looking for portions of that beauty
here, we need to search for it by faith (not sight)
and look past what our eyes behold into what our faith
perceives and sees.

The verse above has (I believe) a dual application
of thought to bring forth. While there may be more
applications than I have seen, I do believe that these
two can be sufficiently shown in the passage. This
verse is in the midst of God telling Moses the pattern
for the tabernacle, furniture, priestly garments, etc
while in the mount. God gave moral laws to keep, and
He also gave ceremonies to be performed in specified
manners. The verse above is declaring the pattern of
the Old Testament tabernacle that would house the ark
of the covenant, mercy seat, altar, etc that the
congregation would worship and sacrifice in. The
tabernacle had two types of skins that covered the
roof of it. While the red dyed rams' skins were in
the roof portion, the badgers' skins covered over the
rams' skins.

The first application that I believe can be seen in
this is that our Lord was outwardly not comely or
desirable according to nature. (Isaiah 53:2) He did
not come in gorgeous array with eloquent words while
of reputable social standing. Rather, He came in the
form of servant, making Himself of no reputation while
walking through this earth for 33.5 years. Outwardly,
one would not see Him pass and know (by His
appearance), "There goes the King of kings." This
should be ample enough evidence to know that He did
not walk around with a halo and sparkling white
garments. He looked like the common people around
Him, and even though gracious words proceeded out of
His mouth with no other man speaking like Him (John
7:46), it still took faith to be able to understand
that He is the Lord of glory.

So even though outwardly there was nothing desirable
(like the badgers' skins), inside that body dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead. (Colossians 2:9) Even
though that body was nothing desirable (according to
nature), it is still without spot, blemish, and has
Divinity in it. Jesus Christ was more than a man, and
today, He remains our GodMan to mediate on our behalf.
How does one understand that this One is the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world? How does
one understand that though outwardly there is nothing
comely that His blood cleanseth us from all
unrighteousness? It takes faith to be able to see
beyond what our eyes behold. It takes faith for the
righteousness of God to be revealed to us. (Romans
1:15-17) He is the ram typified in Genesis 22 that was
substituted for us (Isaac) to bear our sins and
reproaches.

Mystery of mysteries that our Holy Redeemer would
bear our reproaches and be stricken for our
transgressions! To the natural mind, He failed in
this life. Outwardly, He never travelled the world,
He never became king, sultan, or ruler of a natural
domain, He had no wealth of earthly goods, and His
life was ended at a young age. There is nothing
glorious in a natural way in that story. But, inside
that story is the grandest theme of redemption this
earth has ever known, coupled with the manifestation
of a love that passes all the knowledge this earth
could muster. Our Creator and Lord assumed flesh and
suffered in our stead. He bore the ridicule of those
not worthy to be considered in the same breath, and He
forever stamped His victory through eternity with the
most glorious declaration given on earth, "It is
finished." Truly, the rams' skins dyed red typifies
what faith speaks to us about our Jesus.

The other application of this is found in how we
assemble today. The worship service of the old
dispensation does not mirror the worship service of
the new dispensation. However, there are parallels to
be found, and one of the clearest parallels to be
found is that the old worship did not look appealing
on the outside. Outwardly, men saw a tent covered
over with badgers' skins. Inside, however, there was
gold, silver, furniture, and these red rams' skins
covering the whole thing. To the natural man, there
is nothing appealing about the church of the Living
God. The entertainments of man are nowhere to be
found, and the thrust of the worship is removed from
self and focused on the Lamb. Outwardly, the music
may sound off-key (due to the lack of musical
instruments), and the preaching may seem unlearned
(due to no formal training in the ministry).

Yet, the church has always borne these reproaches by
those without the walls that could only see badgers'
skins. To those inside, there is beauty that comes
from heaven itself when we see the real treasures that
our Lord has given unto us while we serve Him here.
It pains me to hear folks "beat up the bride" when
they are looking at things purely in a mercenary way.
They are focused on the sight and not the faith. They
see the problems and not the beauty. The inside
portions of the tabernacle still had vestiges of
things not beautiful. The offerings that were made
inside still had odours that were not well-pleasing,
and the incense could not completely annul the smell.
But, the inside of the house was glorious and
beautiful. Likewise, our service may still have
traces of the world and our own pride that needs to be
burned away, but the house of God is a beautiful place
as the saints assemble to worship.

Finally, all the glory that is found in the church
can only have meaning with the covering of the blood
of Christ. Notice that inside the walls the covering
that is seen is the red rams' skins. Our covering and
refuge when in service can only be the shed blood of
Christ that we trust is applied to us. We cannot come
to be made under the blood of Christ, but as His
family (Israel) we have the right to assemble under
His blood. As He was not seen as glorious, beautiful,
and grand while He walked this earth, we should not be
surprised when His manifest and visible bride is not
seen as glorious and beautiful in this world. They
saw badgers' skins around Him (flesh) even though His
blood is the only acceptable offering in God's court.
They see His bride today as being out-of-touch,
archaic, foolish, and about to die (badgers' skins),
but inwardly, the love of Christ flows from breast to
breast and faith to faith that gives us sweet peace
(for a little while) that we feel to be under His
blood and part of His family. May we earnestly seek
and press further into Zion's beauties to see more of
the red skins than we have before.

In Hope,

Bro Philip