Now that we have accepted the works of Christ and are given access through the gate, we will enter into the outer court of the Tabernacle. Since God is always moving and in transition, we too should be ever moving and always in transition.
As I stated before, the tabernacle of the Old Testament was a physical building, whereas the tabernacle of the New Testament resides in our hearts. The Old Testament outer court was located just inside the Tabernacle East Gate. We have a New Testament Outer Court, as well. We are given access to it at our initial conversion, that is, after we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, as we recognize His four works – His righteousness, holiness, kingship and sacrifice.
In the Old Testament, the Outer Court area was open to the effects of the natural elements and lit by natural sunlight. The Outer Court was the very place the people of Israel gathered to discuss their opinions about God and other things. In the New Testament Outer Court, we are offered the eternal light of Christ through our salvation, but we haven’t yet received eternal revelation. We are still under the influence of natural light, that is, the influence imposed by our worldly views and values. Though we are saved, we are constantly being exposed to the world around us. Staying around negative influences for too long will eventually hinder our pursuit of God. We all know that the longer we stay around a particular influence, the more we become what we hang around. The conversations that take place in the Outer court will eventually begin to hinder our prayers. Outer court pray-ers are inconsistent, praying whenever, crying out to God in emergencies when it looks like something terrible is going to happen, admiring God, but never coming into a relationship with Him. Outer Court pray-ers never pass through the courts into intercession because they don’t know God well enough to understand His heart and agonize for Him in prayer. Outer court pray-ers are focused on washing, cleansing, and material things because they are still in their own infant state of their spirituality. Unsure of who they are in Christ, these natural believers spend more time praying for themselves than for others, understand however, God wants us to move from the natural into the supernatural. To pass through this stage, we must force ourselves to move deeper through the court to the brazen laver and the brazen altar, the place where we begin to lay down our life for God, letting go of anything that is not His will. This is where God begins to qualify us to serve in intercession.
God has prepared great things if we would only love and seek after Him with all our heart. The outer court is just the beginning of our journey, but we must move through it to become His ambassador! Staying in the outer court prevents us from finding true intimacy with God. In the outer court stage you see people who are crippled, sick and depressed in spite of your prayers for healing, deliverance and peace. What’s wrong? You cant pray effectually in the outer court! You must mature in the spirit by surrendering yourself to God and then His power will begin to fuel your prayer.
God constructs plans by way of a pattern. If you want God to speak intimately with you, if you want to receive divine revelation and impartation from Him, you have to go to the third dimension of prayer, in the Most Holy Place. Though you are saved and in the outer court, God is calling you to a deeper level of prayer. Follow Him. Pass through every level, every piece of furniture in the tabernacle, to enter the third realm of intercession. This is the level of intimacy with God where anyone whom He has qualified can enter and change the course of this world. We don’t want to get stuck in the outer court, satisfied with just a glimpse, just an aroma of God’s glorious presence. In the next lession, we are going to take a close look at the brazen laver and learn to move deeper in prayer through this experience of cleansing.
Oilofthespirit's Weblog 