- [Tim] So if you lived in ancient Israel,
one of the most important places was the tabernacle.
- [Jon] The tabernacle was a sacred tent
that the Israelites carried
as they journeyed to the promised land.
- [Tim] And it was sacred because
it's where the heavenly presence of Israel's God
lived on Earth.
And the tabernacle had an important design
to show just how special it was.
There's the outer courtyard,
then an entry room into the tent,
and it leads into the center of the tabernacle,
the holy of holies, God's personal throne room,
and it's guarded by these heavenly hybrid creatures
called cherubim.
Notice the closer that you get to the center
the more sacred the space becomes.
- [Jon] The people who work in the tabernacle
are called priests, and they care for the sacred space,
offer sacrifices on behalf of Israel,
and announce God's blessing over the people.
- [Tim] Yeah, these priests represent God
to the people and they represent the people to God.
So think of both the tabernacle
and the priests who work in it
like gateways that link together Heaven and Earth.
And this is why the tabernacle
was eventually brought up to settle on a mountain—
because mountains are where Earth meets Heaven.
Now, one thing that's missing in this tabernacle
that you would find in every other ancient holy space
are idol images that physically represent the god.
- [Jon] Oh right,
Israel's God explicitly commanded them
to not make any idol images.
- [Tim] And that's because, in the Bible,
all humanity is God's image.
This is what we learn in the first pages of the Bible
where Adam and Eve,
in Hebrew their names mean human and life,
they're called God's image,
which means they represent God in his holy space.
- [Jon] And that holy space is a garden
in a land called Eden.
- [Tim] Yes, and the story is designed to show
that Eden is the reality
that the later tabernacle symbolized and pointed back to.
For example, look close at the descriptions of Eden.
There's the larger region on the land that's called Eden,
but then within Eden God plants a garden.
And then in the center of that garden
God plants the tree of life.
- [Jon] The design of Eden
matches the tabernacle design.
- [Tim] Yes, and there are details
in the Eden story
that are developed much later in the Bible
showing how Eden is on a high mountain.
- [Jon] Because they're in a place
where Earth meets Heaven.
- [Tim] Exactly.
And God tells these humans to work and to keep the garden.
These are the same words that are used later in the Bible
to describe what priests do in the tabernacle.
- [Jon] So Adam and Eve are God's image
and are like priests working and worshiping
in a type of Heaven on Earth temple.
- [Tim] Yes. They represent creation before God,
and as God's image they represent God to all of creation.
And they do all of this in this sacred space
that's saturated with the life and presence of God.
And so God tells them to rule creation on his behalf.
They're like priests who embody God's heavenly wisdom
and rule here on Earth.
- [Jon] You could call them royal priests.
- [Tim] Exactly.
Now, this whole setup, the royal priests
in God's presence where there's abundance and life,
in the book of Genesis, this is called God's blessing.
- [Jon] But it doesn't last very long.
- [Tim] No, humanity is deceived
by this rebellious creature.
They're unsatisfied with being images of God,
and so they make a grab at being God,
ruling creation on their own terms.
- [Jon] And so God exiles them from the garden.
- [Tim] And God places cherubim
at the door of Eden to guard the way back in.
- [Jon] This is tragic.
Humanity has given up the role God made them for.
- [Tim] But it's not the end.
The rest of the biblical story is about God's mission
to undo this tragedy so that humans can regain access
to the Heaven on Earth place
where they can finally become God's royal priests.
It all begins with a promise that God makes to Adam and Eve
that he will raise up one of their descendants to rule over
and defeat that deceiver.
God says that this coming descendant
will strike the head of that deceiver,
but also be struck by it.
- [Jon] So this priestly figure
will restore God's blessing
by offering up his own life like a sacrifice.
But this is still just a promise.
- [Tim] Yes, and so in the next story,
we find the next generation outside of Eden.
Two brothers at the door of the garden
are offering sacrifices to God, kind of like priests.
- [Jon] Maybe God will accept these offerings
and they can get back into Eden.
- [Tim] But sadly, one brother, Cain, gets angry
because God favors his brother Abel's sacrifice.
And so Cain murders his own brother.
Then Cain is exiled even further from Eden
and from God's blessing.
And over time, Cain's anger plunges humanity
into widespread violence.
- [Jon] Humans really need
that coming royal priest to rescue them.
- [Tim] Yes, and that's the hope
that this whole story is designed to generate.
And so in the next few videos
we're going to explore the theme of this coming royal priest
throughout the story of the Bible.
We're going to see how the stories of Abraham and Moses
and David all point forward to Jesus,
who is the ultimate royal priest.
- [Jon] Jesus,
the one who will restore the blessings of Eden.
- [Tim] So that all humanity
can become the royal priests that we're made to be,
ruling the world together, on God's behalf.
(soft instrumental music)