Why were temple ordinances given anciently and in our day? How do the temple ordinances testify of Jesus Christ?
"12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of thetabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.
13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
14 And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:" (Exodus 40:12–14)
"2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 51:2)
"25 ¶ Then will Isprinkleclean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all yourfilthiness, and from all youridols, will I cleanse you.
26 A newheart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:25–27)
"10I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)
"11 ¶ And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a weddinggarment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for themarriageof theLambis come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (Revelation 19:7–8)
"18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preachdeliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18–19)
"38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." (Acts 10:38)
And here's the commentary entitled: "Temple ordinances were given anciently." :
"Exodus 40:12–14 refers to ancient ordinances that are also administered in our day in the house of the Lord. Here are some additional verses that can help you learn about how these ordinances testify of Jesus Christ:
Even after we get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, we still have the tendency to make mistakes and commit sin. It just makes sense that the Lord provided a way for us to be washed from our iniquities and be cleansed from our sins, even after we get baptized. This is true both anciently and in our day. And just as we would wear white clothing for our baptism, the clothing for the temple ordinances is also white to signify our cleanliness and worthiness to enter God's kingdom. Just as anciently, we also receive special blessings through the temple ordinances. These blessings strengthen us and cause us to keep the covenants we have entered into with the Lord. All these blessings became available for us because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
What do you learn from the Israelites that could help you better serve the Lord?
He may not ask you for precious metals, linens, or wood for a tabernacle. What has the Lord given you, and what is He asking you to offer? When has your “heart stirred [you] up to come unto the work”?
"4 ¶ And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, Thisisthe thing which theLordcommanded, saying,
5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,
6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded;
11 The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
12 The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering,
13 The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
15 And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,
16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
17 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,
18 The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
20 ¶ And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offeringto the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.
22 And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them.
24 Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord’s offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.
25 And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.
26 And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.
27 And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;
28 And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
30 ¶ And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31 And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
32 And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
33 And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
34 And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35 Them hath he filled withwisdomof heart, toworkall manner of work, of the engraver, and of thecunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver,evenof them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work." (Exodus 35:4–35)
"1 Then wroughtBezaleeland Aholiab, andevery wise hearted man, in whom theLordputwisdomand understanding to know how to work all manner of workfor the service ofthe sanctuary, according to all that theLordhad commanded.
2 And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:
3 And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.
4 And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;
5 ¶ And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.
6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
7 For thestuffthey had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much." (Exodus 36:1–7)
And here's the commentary entitled: "The Lord asks me to make my offerings with a willing heart." :
"In the year after leaving Egypt, the relationship of the children of Israel with Jehovah could be described as inconsistent. And yet, as you read Exodus 35:4–35 and 36:1–7, notice how the Israelites responded to the commandment to build the tabernacle. What do you learn from the Israelites that could help you better serve the Lord?
He may not ask you for precious metals, linens, or wood for a tabernacle. What has the Lord given you, and what is He asking you to offer? When has your “heart stirred [you] up to come unto the work”?
See also Topics and Questions, “Sacrifice,” Gospel Library.
The children of Israel were giving all they could. They kept on giving their offerings until they were told to stop because what they had given was already too much. This could help me better serve the Lord. If I have a willing heart, just as they had, I will keep giving my own offerings, and I will give all that I can give without holding back or thinking I have already given more than enough.
The Lord has been extending my time here on earth. He's been lending me breath from one moment to another continually. He's been giving me more knowledge and wisdom, so that I am able to make better choices, which gives me more peace and joy in this life and joy without end in the next life. He is asking me to offer more of my time to help in building up His kingdom. My heart stirred me up to come unto the work so many times in the past. I am striving to get more organized, and I am striving to be able to live on my own terms instead of being tied to an 8-hour job to free up my time and be able to use more of my time in serving the Lord more than ever before.
