Numbers 4:29-33
(29) As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; (30) From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. (31) And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof, (32) And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. (33) This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Isaiah 54:2-3
(2) Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; (3) For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
Isaiah 33:20, “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.”
Brass Pins/Stakes were used in the Tabernacle in the wilderness to secure the gold pillars of the Outer Court upright.
These pins were driven in the ground at one end and fine twined linen was attached to the pins there and to the top of the wooden pillars overlaid with gold to which sheets of fine linen were attached.
This created a type of fence and there was only one entrance into the outer court.
The Ark had one entrance – there is one gate to the sheepfold – 0ne way to enter
The wood of the pillar represents Christ’s humanity.
The gold of the pillar represents Christ’s divinity.
Humanity wrapped in deity.
Fine twined linen was drawn tightly and fastened with the pins.
The relationship between you and God has to be mutual.
There must be as much as a desire on your part to draw close to Him as He has to draw close to you.
These cords speak to us of the drawing power of God and His love for men and women:
“I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love…” (Hosea 11:4).
Without the cords the pins and stakes would be useless.
It is God’s love that constrains us, that holds us together:
“For the love of Christ constraineth [to hold together us]; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
Matthew 15:8-9
(8) This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
We must keep the cords tied to the stakes and posts.
Consider that your identity with the Father is tied to how you treat those who mistreat you: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45).
The cord of love is to be drawn tight or everyone.
We are to love each one as our own self.
Our text says, “lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.”
STORY: Camping one night when the wind began to blow and a strong storm blew in. Someone forgot the fasten the tent to the ground with the provided stakes.
A stake, a pin, will do you no good if left on the ground and not driven into the ground. The strength of the stake refers to its security in the ground, not whether it’s steel, iron, or brass.
There are some stakes we need to secure firmly into the ground firmly, and keep coming back to them in order to make sure they remain strengthened.
There are, among many, four fundamentals of faith that I will mention, and these four pins that will keep us attached to the love of God:
- Dogma = One God
- Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God created…” God here is the transliterated form of Elohim, which means “plenitude of might,” or more simply, “one God whose characteristics are many.”
- Deut. 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD.”
- In Colossians 2:9 we are told that in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (all the characteristics of God) bodily, and we (the Church) are complete in Him (Jesus).
- Paul did say that the Godhead was a mystery, but then he went on to explain what the mystery was, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (I Timothy 3:16)
- Only Jesus Christ fulfilled those six points. Therefore, Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament
- Duty = Love (to God and to one another)
- Jesus & People
- Discipline = Study of Scriptures
- 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “(16) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
- Doctrine = What is right <<Thank you, Harold Hoffman.>>
- Reproof = What is not right
- Correction = How to get right
- Instruction = How to stay right
- Method = Union (Balance) of the Spirit and the Word
- Philippians 4:5, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
- Modesty, Humility
- 2 Corinthians 3:3-6, (3) Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (4) And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: (5) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; (6) Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
- Maintaining a balance in the Word and in the Spirit is necessary for complete growth. Without balance you can get too far on one side of the road. The best way to keep balanced is to realize that the Spirit of God will never contradict the Word of God.
- “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
- A balance of Word and Spirit will result in a heavenly reward:
- Ephesians 1:13-14, “(13) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
- Philippians 4:5, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
Jeremiah 10:19-20, “(19) Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. (20) My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.”
Instability in the Church, in our lives, occurs when we don’t strengthen our stakes and lengthen our cords by drawing closer to God.
James 4:7-8, (7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Why had this happened? Their hearts were not secured, strengthened, and lengthened.
“…I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (17) But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; (18) I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. (19) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (20) That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Love the Lord your God.
Obey His voice.
Cleave unto Him – Get as close to Him – draw near to Him
The Father is seeking people who will draw close to Him:
“…the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9a).
There are moment in life where we are overwhelmed by life’s struggles that we begin to think that God is no longer drawing on us, that our walls are about to fall, BUT GOD IS ALWAYS THERE:
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined” (Job 23:8-11).
Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
The Drawing Power is here right now…
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
He wants to bring you home…
The Drawing Power of God is pulling you home.
The Father was looking for the son to come home (Luke 15).
He was seeking for his return.
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 