A Dwelling Place (Pt. 2)

"And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God." Exodus 29:44-46

One of the subjects most rich with symbols for the New Covenant in the Old Testament is the Tabernacle (i.e., "dwelling place"). 

God's people, the Israelites, had been rescued from Egypt (i.e., sin), and were on their journey toward the promised land. The Ten Commandments had been given, and now God was going to instruct Moses to set up a way in which sinful people could approach a Holy God. 

The first article of furniture you came across upon entering the fenced-in area was the brazen altar. This is where you gave your offering to the priests to be sacrificed and burned. As a "layperson" back then, that was the extent of your involvement with the process! All you could do was acknowledge yourself a sinner, and bring your animal to atone for your sins. The priests took it from there. 

The second article was the bronze laver - a large vessel filled with water. Here the priests would ceremonially cleanse themselves in order to be fit to enter the Holy Place.The Holy Place was constructed of tent poles overlaid with linen and animal skins, and contained three articles of furniture: the lampstand (i.e., menorah), the table of showbread, and the incense altar. The lampstand had seven branches, and  was to be lit continually - using pure olive oil - to illuminate the Holy Place. The table of showbread was to be freshly stocked weekly with unleavened bread as a reminder of the Israelite's flight from Egypt. The altar of incense was thought to contain the prayers of the people. Behind this was a richly embroidered heavy curtain, beyond which lay the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant was positioned, containing the Ten Commandments and Aaron's budded rod. This is where the actual Presence of God dwelt. 

Sometimes I think about how awesome it would have been in Holy Place. Quiet and muffled from the thick animal skins; dimly lit with the menorah as the only light; fragrant with fine incense. And the very presence of God on the other side of the curtain! I can well sympathize with David as he wanted to "dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4). 

The Bible is clear that Jesus has made a way for us to enter the Most Holy Place by his Body and Blood (see Hebrews 10:19-20), and that there is no longer need for the Tabernacle or the sacrificial system. Yet the Tabernacle setup can still teach us about how to approach God. 

First we come to the brazen altar. Here, being delivered from sin (i.e., Egypt), all we can do is lay down our lives as a living sacrifice (see Romans 12:1). But now there is more! Christ has made us priests to our God! (see Revelation 5:9-10). Having cleansed us with the washing of water with the Word  (i.e., the bronze laver, see Ephesians 5:26), we are now fit to enter the Holy Place. 

To our left stands the menorah, or, the sevenfold Holy Spirit (see Revelation 4:5), constantly and lovingly convicting our consciences , refining us, and lighting our path. To the right stands the Table of showbread, containing Christ's life-imparting body. We offer our now-acceptable prayers at the altar of incense, and have boldness to enter the holiest place. 

As I lamented in A Dwelling Place (Pt. 1), how carelessly we treat God's presence! The unlimited access God grants us should thrill our hearts toward a burning love toward our Savior. 

Let us enter boldly into the most holy place, and never take for granted the grace by which we stand, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God! (Romans 5:1-2)

The Washing of the Word

"...that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word" Ephesians 5:26

Those of you who appreciate music may be familiar with the debate of "analog" versus digitally recorded music (if not, think LP records versus CDs). One website summarizes the difference this way: "Digital signals must have a finite set of possible values. That's the big difference between analog and digital waves: analog waves are smooth and continuous, digital waves are stepping, square, and discrete." Rock musician Neil Young described this difference as, instead of water pouring over you (analog), ice cubes are being poured over you (digital). Rock guitarist Carlos Santana similarly describes music as being "a complete ocean".

In our passage above (and elsewhere in the Bible), God's word is likened to water, and there is an ocean of water for us to swim and be cleansed in (cf. Ezekiel 47:1-5). Though we are cleansed from sin by the precious blood of Jesus, it is the daily reading, meditating, and applying this word to our lives that causes the "washing" and renewing of our minds (see Romans 12:2) Paul the apostle speaks of.

Unfortunately, some of us are still having an "ice cube" experience with God's word. We have a patchwork understanding of the bible, verses here and there clunking around in our heads, but no real organic, life-changing understanding. 

The apostle Peter tells us to "desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2). The Lord's brother James puts it this way: "receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21). 

So therefore we are to 1) desire God's word, and 2) approach it humbly. 

When by the Lord's grace I became "saved", God put in me an intense desire to study his word. I couldn't get enough of it. The universal testimony of Christians throughout the centuries is that a strong desire to read and understand God's word is felt. Unfortunately in today's churches many do not desire to read God's word, and the church suffers accordingly.

For those who do desire the word, however, the word is often not received with meekness. As I grew in my faith I developed spiritual pride, and interpreted the bible as I wanted to, which led me off course. The word translated "sincere" in the passage from Peter means "unadulterated". Although loose translations of the Bible have value, I believe someone only using loose translations will not ultimately be transformed, because too much of man's thought has already been inserted. We must approach God's "pure" word with our preconceived ideas set aside. 

The final step to keep us on track is to compare scripture against itself (see 1 Corinthians 2:13) to make sure we are not taking passages out of context.

The washing of God's word is a wonderful, ongoing experience that should be shared by all Christians. I leave you with a quote from a great scientist and medical doctor, Dr. Howard A. Kelly (professor of Gynecology at Johns Hopkins University from 1889 through 1940): "The very best way to study the Bible is simply to read it daily with close attention and with prayer to see the light that shines from its pages, to meditate upon it, and to continue to read it until somehow it works itself, its words, it expressions, its teachings, its habits of thought, and its presentation of God and His Christ into the very warp and woof of one's being."

Being a Fool for God

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

For anyone following this blog, this is another barefoot running post (exit now if you wish). For anyone unfamiliar, I run barefoot, for reasons I won't completely get into but can be partly found here if you're interested: A Firm Foundation. 

One of the reasons (if not the main reason) I gave up barefoot running years ago was that I feared what people would think of me (when I think of the alternatives I tried, from sandals to socks with rubber sprayed on the bottom, honestly I wonder what I was embarrassed about!). But recently as I got into running again and tried yet more "minimalist" footwear, I perceived that, for whatever reason, this was something God was testing me on. 

We often think God will test us in something heroic where everyone will look and say: "wow, what a man (or woman) of God!" I don't know about you, but my experiences aren't like that. God seems to test me in (seemingly) ridiculous little things, where even those closest to you don't understand what you're up to. Thus, you end up being a "fool".

So off I went up the hill on my lunch run, sans shoes. To my surprise however, as my colleagues slowly found out, I got more respect and curiosity than mocking. So one lesson I've gleaned from the experience is that most of our fears are unfounded (we are entering into the winter, however, and the "feet shall hit the road" so to speak as I see the reactions as I continue into the cold weather!). 

Another result I've reaped in this endeavor (other than increasing fitness and sheer fun) is that I find I'm emboldened in my witness for Christ (i.e., if you can handle running past a crowd of people barefoot during a winter day you can certainly talk to people about God!) Actually I believe this to be the main reason God was testing me: to lose some of my inhibitions.
 
Let us be clear, we are not being fools for foolishness' sake, we are simply being obedient. Some will mock us to be sure: this has been promised us (see 2 Timothy 3:12). However, many will be attracted to our "foolishness", wondering what is behind it when they see our unconcern for what others think. Those who never let themselves become "foolish" for God will only have their "boast" in themselves, not in God. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to become fools for Your Name sake, that we may boast in You alone and attract others to You. Amen.

God's Frequency

"If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." Mark 7:16

I have an amateur interest in frequencies: AM radio, shortwave radio, VHF scanners, you name it. I even have a frequency generator "app" on my phone which gives the corresponding tone to a frequency. Sometimes I see if I can guess the frequency to the note I'm hearing in my head (weird, huh? This is the kind of stuff that drives my wife crazy). 

We've all had cheap radios where it's frustrating to tune in to the station we want to, and I swear they're getting cheaper. Most of them don't have the "fine tuning" dial any more, and you're forced to accept whatever frequency the manufacturer has pre-programmed. Add to this all the competing frequencies in the air. If we can't tune in what do we get? Static. 

As "baby" Christians, we were "cheap radios". God's knew we didn't know what we were doing, so He "pre-programmed" some easy-to-find stations with music that was sweet to our ears, and we were happy and content. Then all of a sudden some of those stations didn't work anymore. He replaced our "pre-set" buttons with a manual knob, and we needed to search harder to find a clear station. And when it was clear, it was not what we wanted to hear! What's more, there was some evil radio programmer jamming the airwaves with hurtful garbage! (see Ephesians 2:2) Some of us became annoyed with the Designer of the instrument, but what we didn't know is that we were being re-built into fine instruments capable of hearing the softest sounds (see 1 Kings 19:12). 

The Body of Christ(i.e., the church) today is suffering from what I would call "spiritual static". We have many supposed leaders running to and fro, without any real discernment as to what we should actually be doing. This is because we are not in tune with God's "frequency". 

When we think of frequencies and "getting in harmony", unfortunately these terms have been hijacked in the spiritual realm by New Age religions. But God is the originator of these these! It's time the Body of Christ takes these terms back. For example,recently I've run across a harpist on the internet who claims to know the original pitch (i.e., frequency) King David was playing in, and that this specific frequency (A=444 Hz for you musicians) was given by God and (at least partly) responsible for the healing power David achieved with his harp (see 1 Samuel 16:23). Although I'm extremely wary of the idea of using frequencies for healing, I'm finding the concept interesting, to say the least. (Needless to say, I've begun tuning my guitar to 444!)

Regardless of frequencies in the physical realm, however, God's aim is for us to be more and more attuned to His will. May we allow Him to make us fine-tuned instruments of His, capable of hearing the softest whisper in an age of static.

On the Fence

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

I've heard it said that there are only two truly happy kinds of people in this life: those who have given themselves fully to God, and those who have given themselves fully over to the pleasures of this world. Everybody else in between is basically operating at different levels of misery. I tend to agree with this assessment.

Of course judgement awaits the second group of people (in addition to not truly being "happy"), but scripture tells us that those of us "on the fence" will have to give account of our lives to God (see Romans 14:10). 

The Bible is full of messages for us to "get off the fence". Joshua famously told the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land to "choose you this day whom ye will serve" (Joshua 24:15). Elijah told the people during the reign of the wicked Ahab: "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal (i.e., Satan), follow him.."(1 Kings 18:21). And the risen Lord Jesus told the church of Laodicea: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16). 

Strong words from "gentle Jesus, meek and mild"! The overall theme of these scriptures is for us not to take God's great salvation for granted. 

But why are we so reluctant to give ourselves fully to God? 

Some of us are afraid of what our friends might say. Some have fallen for Satan's lie that all earthly enjoyment will be taken away. Still others of us hold on to those one or two "precious" sins we refuse to let go of (though we may rationalize it away as not sin - see Luke 18:18-23). 

Friends, this is no kind of life to live during our short time on this earth. What we are essentially doing is choking the flow of God's Spirit in our life. His purpose for us will never fully be realized, and if we continually harden our heart, we risk joining those going to perdition (see Hebrews 6:4-6). 

God has great plans for us (see Jeremiah 29:11). The Promised Land Joshua (i.e., Jesus) was leading his people to in the Old Testament represents not life after death as some believe, but eternal life beginning now. God is looking for full commitment from His people, so they can live in victory each day, and be a "sweet savour" of His presence (2 Corinthians 2:14-16) wherever they go. Let us give ourselves fully to Him so we may have this honor and let His purpose be fully realized in our lives.