Holy Land Tour article from the Swindoll Study Bible

The Tabernacle had barriers that stood between a sinful people and a holy God. Inside the courtyard, a brazen altar stood where the majority of sacrifices occurred on a daily basis. Just past the altar for burnt offerings was the bronze washbasin where the priests would scrub up in preparation for making offerings. Entering the Holy Place was something only priests could do. Inside on the right, the table for the Bread of the Presence, with its twelve loaves, represented Israel’s twelve tribes. The menorah on the left offered lighting to the space, and the incense altar stood in the back before the small room called the Most Holy Place, where only the high priest would enter once a year.

Leviticus 16 describes the events that occurred annually on the Day of Atonement. The high priest would offer a bull on the altar for burnt offerings for the sins of the priests. Then he would take a fire pan of coals from the altar and enter the Holy Place with incense and the blood of a goat. As the high priest entered behind the veil into the Most Holy Place—something only he could do once per year—he would sprinkle the blood of the bull and one of the goats on and in front of the atonement cover—the top of the Ark of the Covenant. These rituals made the impossible possible. By one man cleansing the sanctuary, the holy God continued to dwell among an unholy people.

The New Testament reveals what these rituals ultimately represented. There is one Mediator between God and humanity who offers the blood of a substitute who died on behalf of everyone. When Jesus died, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The veil that separated God from humanity was removed by Jesus’ death. Because of His sacrifice, anyone may enter God’s presence by faith in Jesus (Heb. 10:19-23).

Learn more about the Swindoll Study Bible

Scripture, Science, and geography converge at the Cove of the Sower, also called the Bay of Parables. As its name suggests, this small cove beside the Sea of Galilee is possibly the location where Jesus told the parables in Matthew 13. B. Cobbey Crisler’s study of the natural acoustics at the site estimated that between five thousand and seven thousand people could have clearly heard a lone speaker on the shoreline as they gathered on a slope that forms a natural theater above the cove.

When Jesus performed miracles of healing in Capernaum, amazingly, the people did not respond with repentance (Matt. 11:20-23), and the religious leaders attributed His miracles to Satan (Matt. 12:22-29). On that same day, Jesus anticipated that the nation of Israel would reject Him, so He began to teach the crowds in parables because the stories would conceal the truth from those who were unable to hear it but would reveal it to those ready to accept His Kingdom (Matt. 13:1-3, 34-35).

When Jesus’ disciples were alone with Him, they asked Him to explain the meaning of His parables (Matt. 13:36). He did, and then He declared, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (Matt. 13:43). He told them that His parable of the sower who scattered seed on various soils represented the various responses to God’s Word—that
of the hard heart that ignores the truth, the soft heart that hears and applies it, and others in between.

Jesus’ story also calls all of us to examine our own responses to the Bible. Do we hear God’s Word in order for God to change us? Do our hearts long to bear much fruit for the Lord? Or, like the crowd around the Cove of the Sower that day, do we just gather with others to hear stories from a gifted teacher? This Sunday, you’ll likely hear another sermon to add to the thousands you’ve heard already. How will you listen?

Learn more about the Swindoll Study Bible