Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 1-2 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Numbers 1: 1-4; … 17-19 : … [God Calls His Children to Order] … 1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. 4 One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.
>>> 17 Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified, 18 and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month. The people registered their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men twenty years old or more were listed by name, one by one, 19 as the LORD commanded Moses.
Numbers 2: 1-2, 17 : … [God Readies His Tribes for the Journey] … 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.”
>>> 17 Then the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps. They will set out in the same order as they encamp, each in their own place under their standard.
>>> 34 So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.
My Journal for Today: Well, … the chronological reading plan moves out of all those rules in Leviticus into the Book of Numbers; and now we begin to see the monumental task ahead for Moses, Aaron, and God’s people to get packed and to journey TOGETHER through the wilderness to where God’s promise was taking His chosen people, the Israelites.
And if one studies and meditates, as I have this morning, on all of God’s organizational orders in Numbers, chapters 1-2, you have to be impressed with how God laid out the packing and pecking orders for the journey. From just in the passages which I’ve copied above, you see that the people had to be counted/documented, ordered into tribes, and placed strategically for the journey in a specific encampment order. And did you note that all of the tribes, which were ordered by family and tribal banner to help them identify and stay ordered for the journey, were placed carefully around the exterior of God’s ordering for the travels ahead. And note where God places the Tabernacle, the Ark where the Lord was to reside during the journey, as well as the leadership of the people; yes, … right in the center of the encampment. This, of course, placed all the people, in this social/geographical arrangement, where they all could see that God was at the center of everything, leading His children, under the guidance of Moses and the Levites. God had His Tabernacle where it could be prominent and protected and where everyone could see where God was leading His people … i.e., toward the promised land.
All of this, I believe is a picture of how God wants His New Covenant CHURCH to be at the center of our world as we sojourn to His promised land … and that is, of course, heaven. God wants His church, the physical representation of His tabernacle in the world today, to be at the center of His world as we journey in this land where we must travel through the trials of life. And we know and can see what God’s primary enemy, Satan (and his system, the world), is doing everything that can be done to tear down the walls of protection for God’s church in the world. In fact, Satan is doing all he can to infiltrate His church and get into the Holy of Holies, which has been implanted into the hearts of God’s people.
But God’s Tabernacle, in the Person of God’s Spirit, is still at the center of the encampment of His true sojourners as they trek to the Promised Land. He resides in the center of my Spiritual being, my heart; and as long as I keep my heart protected and at the center of my Spiritual well-being, I will be able to follow my God as He leads me to His promised land, which is my destination, just as was depicted by the organizations of Numbers 1-2.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, keep my heart of heart, Your Holy of Holies, protected and at the center of my being as I travel through life, following You. Amen
Showing posts with label Tabernacle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tabernacle. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
February 11, 2012 … The Fellowship of Community Service
Exodus 36: 1-7 … : … [God’s Kingdom Work] … 1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.”
2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
My Journal for Today: Reading through the Chapters designated for my chronological reading plan this morning, I was re-stricken by the highlight passage above, especially Exodus 36, verses 4-7, where Moses had to order the people to quit giving to the project of building the tabernacle because they had more than enough, from communal effort, to complete the project which honored their God and provided for their communal worship.
God called His people, through Moses, to get this tremendous project done which would house and honor their God as they traveled together though the wilderness; and not only did the people come together to build the tabernacle, they did, by coming together, way more than was required. This reminded me of the work of God’s people, under the leadership of another of God’s called leaders, Nehemiah, when the people came together in Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, which we read about in Nehemiah, Chapters 4-6, especially note chapter/verse 6: 15), where it took a communal effort of God’s people to vigilantly, and with tremendous communal spirit, to rebuild the gates and walls of the city of God in just 52 days.
What a delicious dilemma it would be for any Pastor of a church in today’s world to call God’s flock together under his shepherding to carry out some difficult task and to see God’s people come together with way more people, treasure, talent, and time than would be necessary to carry out the task. It’s just not happening in today’s church, is it?
It is said that if only 50% of the evangelical Christian peoples would come together and tithe (i.e., give 10%) of their gross income in the USA, we wouldn’t need a welfare system in America; because that amount would way more than is needed to take care of ALL the people in need in our country. Yes, right now – in CHRISTIAN AMERICA – less than 5% of the church people tithe on their income to God’s work for His church. Certainly we’re not coming together as God’s chosen to do His kingdom work as His people did in the times of Moses or Nehemiah, are we?
I’ll leave it to you and God if this is a convicting message to anyone who might read this. We certainly need more of the Tabernacle building – wall building communal effort by God’s church people to do so much more for His glory; and that’s just a matter of His chosen ones coming together and doing what HE is calling us to do – again, …TOGETHER – to build His kingdom for His glory.
Sadly enough, … enough said!!!
My Prayer Today: … Lord, may the heart of Your church come together – in Your Name – to work TOGETHER for Your glory!! Amen
2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
My Journal for Today: Reading through the Chapters designated for my chronological reading plan this morning, I was re-stricken by the highlight passage above, especially Exodus 36, verses 4-7, where Moses had to order the people to quit giving to the project of building the tabernacle because they had more than enough, from communal effort, to complete the project which honored their God and provided for their communal worship.
God called His people, through Moses, to get this tremendous project done which would house and honor their God as they traveled together though the wilderness; and not only did the people come together to build the tabernacle, they did, by coming together, way more than was required. This reminded me of the work of God’s people, under the leadership of another of God’s called leaders, Nehemiah, when the people came together in Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, which we read about in Nehemiah, Chapters 4-6, especially note chapter/verse 6: 15), where it took a communal effort of God’s people to vigilantly, and with tremendous communal spirit, to rebuild the gates and walls of the city of God in just 52 days.
What a delicious dilemma it would be for any Pastor of a church in today’s world to call God’s flock together under his shepherding to carry out some difficult task and to see God’s people come together with way more people, treasure, talent, and time than would be necessary to carry out the task. It’s just not happening in today’s church, is it?
It is said that if only 50% of the evangelical Christian peoples would come together and tithe (i.e., give 10%) of their gross income in the USA, we wouldn’t need a welfare system in America; because that amount would way more than is needed to take care of ALL the people in need in our country. Yes, right now – in CHRISTIAN AMERICA – less than 5% of the church people tithe on their income to God’s work for His church. Certainly we’re not coming together as God’s chosen to do His kingdom work as His people did in the times of Moses or Nehemiah, are we?
I’ll leave it to you and God if this is a convicting message to anyone who might read this. We certainly need more of the Tabernacle building – wall building communal effort by God’s church people to do so much more for His glory; and that’s just a matter of His chosen ones coming together and doing what HE is calling us to do – again, …TOGETHER – to build His kingdom for His glory.
Sadly enough, … enough said!!!
My Prayer Today: … Lord, may the heart of Your church come together – in Your Name – to work TOGETHER for Your glory!! Amen
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
February 8, 2012 … Dressed for [Spiritual] Success
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 28-29 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Exodus 28: 1-5 … : … [Dressed for Leadership in Worship] … [Yahweh’s Instructions to Moses … 1 “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. 2 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. 3 Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. 5 Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. …
31 “Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, 32 with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. 33 Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. 34 The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. 35 Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die.”
==========
Exodus 29: 44-46 … : … [Consecrated for Worship] … [Yahweh’s Continued Instructions to Moses … 44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.”
==========
1st Peter 2: 9-10 … : … [A Royal Priesthood] … [Yahweh’s Continued Instructions to Moses … 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
My Journal for Today: Today, in my chronological trek through the Bible, I was led to read from Exodus, Chapters 28-29 where God instructs Moses in the establishment of the line of Levite priests, … as well as, in detail, how these descendants of Aaron were to dress and be consecrated for worship. And, from the highlighted passages, which I’ve copied above from these two chapters in Exodus, that’s why I titled my devotional today, Dressed for [Spiritual] Success. There was great detail from God about how the Tabernacle Priests were to be outfitted and God took great lengths to give instructions to Moses about the leadership of the Tabernacle and how He, Yahweh, was to be worshipped during His people’s trek through the desert.
And as I read through and meditated upon these chapters this morning, another passage reference from the New Testament bubbled into my consciousness [i.e., 1st Peter 2: 9-10], which I’ve also copied above for your edification. I brought up the latter passage because, not only are we, as His chosen New Covenant Christians, charged to be worshippers who are “living sacrifices” [see Romans 12: 1], we are, according to the NT passage above, The Lord’s “royal priesthood.”
And as I was meditating on all of this, it caused me to contemplate on how our corporate worship has become so contemporized and “culturalized” (I know, not words – but concepts which hopefully communicates) that our attempts to accept anyone to “come as they are” to our worship services has “dressed-down” our roles as God’s “royal priesthood” in our world of corporate worship today.
Now please don’t mistakenly take what I’m about to say as prideful or judgmental; but, I’ve been asked by some in my church why I choose to ALWAYS wear a suit and tie or the best threads I have to worship service in our church on Sundays. Many come to our worship service in their everyday jeans or very casual “threads.” And I have to confess being “turned-off” a bit by such dress for Sunday worship.
Years ago, my Christian grandmother taught me a lesson about how I should dress; and this was years before I became a Christian. She told me, in preparing to go to our church on Sunday, “Bill, when you go to someone’s wedding or funeral, your mom and dad will always want you to wear your best to honor the couple being married or the person being buried. So, shouldn’t you wear your best to Church each Sunday to honor God?” I’ve never forgotten that lesson; and I apply it today to the way I dress for “Spiritual success” for my worship. And this is especially the case since I happen to be one of the Elders in my church as well as an “Ordained Minister” of the Gospel by my church.
But really, and I have to guard against being judgmental here, since we’re all part of God’s “royal priesthood,” when you read the above passages, wouldn’t you say that we – God’s royal New Testament priesthood – who have become God’s temple of worship (see 1st Cor. 6: 19), should be dressing the part and witnessing our worship in the same way God instructed for worship by the Levites in the time of their exodus toward the promised land. We – in the New Covenant – are also trekking through life toward the “promised land” [of heaven]; and we have God’s tabernacle in our hearts. Therefore, I think (just my belief and opinion) we should be witnesses to our LORD, the Yahweh of the Old AND New Covenant, by the way we dress when we come for corporate, or Temple, worship. Hence, I don’t see myself wearing my jeans or khakis and a sweatshirt on Sunday mornings. I choose to wear my best – as I would to your wedding or funeral – honoring the One true and living God, Who mercifully saved me and has sanctified me to be part of His “royal priesthood.”
My friend, you can wear what you want to church; because God will, in fact and in truth, accept anyone’s genuine and humble worship from the heart, no matter what they wear. However, if you come to Collierville, TN, and to Central Church on Sunday mornings, you will see Bill Berry wearing his “Sunday best” as I come into the House of God to worship and praise the LORD Who saved me. And I hope you don’t think that’s an “uppity” attitude. It’s just one member of God’s “royal priesthood” trying to live up to the instructions God has given to His line of priests [see above] as to how our LORD is to be worshipped.
And as Lily Tomlin used to say with a childish lisp as “Edith Ann,” on Laugh-In … “That’s the truth!” … [and you can see it with this link]
My Prayer Today: … Lord, there is no laughing at the way we present ourselves as Your “royal priesthood” and as we worship You in loving witness, coming to Your tabernacle of deliverance on Sunday mornings. Amen
Exodus 28: 1-5 … : … [Dressed for Leadership in Worship] … [Yahweh’s Instructions to Moses … 1 “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. 2 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. 3 Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. 5 Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. …
31 “Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, 32 with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. 33 Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. 34 The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. 35 Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die.”
==========
Exodus 29: 44-46 … : … [Consecrated for Worship] … [Yahweh’s Continued Instructions to Moses … 44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.”
==========
1st Peter 2: 9-10 … : … [A Royal Priesthood] … [Yahweh’s Continued Instructions to Moses … 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
My Journal for Today: Today, in my chronological trek through the Bible, I was led to read from Exodus, Chapters 28-29 where God instructs Moses in the establishment of the line of Levite priests, … as well as, in detail, how these descendants of Aaron were to dress and be consecrated for worship. And, from the highlighted passages, which I’ve copied above from these two chapters in Exodus, that’s why I titled my devotional today, Dressed for [Spiritual] Success. There was great detail from God about how the Tabernacle Priests were to be outfitted and God took great lengths to give instructions to Moses about the leadership of the Tabernacle and how He, Yahweh, was to be worshipped during His people’s trek through the desert.
And as I read through and meditated upon these chapters this morning, another passage reference from the New Testament bubbled into my consciousness [i.e., 1st Peter 2: 9-10], which I’ve also copied above for your edification. I brought up the latter passage because, not only are we, as His chosen New Covenant Christians, charged to be worshippers who are “living sacrifices” [see Romans 12: 1], we are, according to the NT passage above, The Lord’s “royal priesthood.”
And as I was meditating on all of this, it caused me to contemplate on how our corporate worship has become so contemporized and “culturalized” (I know, not words – but concepts which hopefully communicates) that our attempts to accept anyone to “come as they are” to our worship services has “dressed-down” our roles as God’s “royal priesthood” in our world of corporate worship today.
Now please don’t mistakenly take what I’m about to say as prideful or judgmental; but, I’ve been asked by some in my church why I choose to ALWAYS wear a suit and tie or the best threads I have to worship service in our church on Sundays. Many come to our worship service in their everyday jeans or very casual “threads.” And I have to confess being “turned-off” a bit by such dress for Sunday worship.
Years ago, my Christian grandmother taught me a lesson about how I should dress; and this was years before I became a Christian. She told me, in preparing to go to our church on Sunday, “Bill, when you go to someone’s wedding or funeral, your mom and dad will always want you to wear your best to honor the couple being married or the person being buried. So, shouldn’t you wear your best to Church each Sunday to honor God?” I’ve never forgotten that lesson; and I apply it today to the way I dress for “Spiritual success” for my worship. And this is especially the case since I happen to be one of the Elders in my church as well as an “Ordained Minister” of the Gospel by my church.
But really, and I have to guard against being judgmental here, since we’re all part of God’s “royal priesthood,” when you read the above passages, wouldn’t you say that we – God’s royal New Testament priesthood – who have become God’s temple of worship (see 1st Cor. 6: 19), should be dressing the part and witnessing our worship in the same way God instructed for worship by the Levites in the time of their exodus toward the promised land. We – in the New Covenant – are also trekking through life toward the “promised land” [of heaven]; and we have God’s tabernacle in our hearts. Therefore, I think (just my belief and opinion) we should be witnesses to our LORD, the Yahweh of the Old AND New Covenant, by the way we dress when we come for corporate, or Temple, worship. Hence, I don’t see myself wearing my jeans or khakis and a sweatshirt on Sunday mornings. I choose to wear my best – as I would to your wedding or funeral – honoring the One true and living God, Who mercifully saved me and has sanctified me to be part of His “royal priesthood.”
My friend, you can wear what you want to church; because God will, in fact and in truth, accept anyone’s genuine and humble worship from the heart, no matter what they wear. However, if you come to Collierville, TN, and to Central Church on Sunday mornings, you will see Bill Berry wearing his “Sunday best” as I come into the House of God to worship and praise the LORD Who saved me. And I hope you don’t think that’s an “uppity” attitude. It’s just one member of God’s “royal priesthood” trying to live up to the instructions God has given to His line of priests [see above] as to how our LORD is to be worshipped.
And as Lily Tomlin used to say with a childish lisp as “Edith Ann,” on Laugh-In … “That’s the truth!” … [and you can see it with this link]
My Prayer Today: … Lord, there is no laughing at the way we present ourselves as Your “royal priesthood” and as we worship You in loving witness, coming to Your tabernacle of deliverance on Sunday mornings. Amen
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
February 7, 2012 … Building The Tabernacle
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 25-27 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Exodus 25: 8-9, 40 … : … [God’s Place of Residence] … [Yahweh’s Instructions to Moses] … 8 “Then have them [i.e., specially selected craftsmen from God’s people] make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. … 40 See that you make them [i.e., everything in the tabernacle] according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
==========
Exodus 26: 31-33 … : … [Setting the Holy Place] … 31 “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place."
==========
Exodus 27: 1 … : … [God’s Altar of Sacrifice and Atonement] … [More of God’s Instructions to Moses] … 1 “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide."
==========
My Journal for Today: Okay, … for those who’ve taken your time to read what God (I believe) has given me to write in this blog through Exodus, admittedly the second book of Moses can get a bit tedious; but that doesn’t detract from it’s importance. For example, in the next few days I’m going to be plowing through God’s description – to Moses and to God’s people – of how they should build THE TABERNACLE, … that place where God was going to reside as God’s people journeyed to the promised land. And there was great detail in Yahweh’s description through Moses and his scribes to the craftsmen who would do the building of the Tabernacle. And this detail can seem – on the surface – as tedious and non-essential reading. But stick in there and read these chapters (linked for you as usual above); because there are several reasons for the importance of all of this description. And the commentary that I use as I read along in my chronological study this year describes these three reasons why all of this is important. Therefore, quoting from the Parsons Online Commentary, it offers the following description as to why God gave such detailed instructions for His dwelling place.
>>> “First, the high quality of the precious materials making up the Tabernacle shows God’s greatness and transcendence. >>> Second, the curtain surrounding the Most Holy Place shows God’s moral perfection as symbolized by his separation from the common and unclean. >>> Third, the portable nature of the Tabernacle shows God’s desire to be with his people as they traveled.”
Those truths are worthy enough for us to pay attention as God also gives us a physical description of the most important reason He was building this tabernacle for His dwelling; and that was as a picture of the place His Son, Jesus, … the Messiah, … would dwell one day in the hearts of believers like you and me. And in this description, which we’ll be reading about in the next chapters of Exodus, we begin to see that Yahweh, as the the Messiah, would one day dwell in the hearts of His disciples as our place of worship and sacrifice.
Think about it, fellow Christian. As Parson’s Commentary again puts it, ” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the curtain in the Temple (which had replaced the Tabernacle) tore from top to bottom (see Mark 15:38), symbolizing our free access to God because of Jesus’ death. No longer did people have to approach God through priests and sacrifices.”
… And now, dear one, because of Jesus, the living tabernacle, we can come into the Holy of Holies anytime, any place, for anything. I have the Tabernacle and the High Priest, in Person of Christ, in my heart; and I don’t need a human high priest to bring my blood sacrifice to God’s altar of grace. No, every day … every moment … becomes my living sacrifice on God’s holy altar of worship in my heart; because Jesus made the ultimate - and last - blood sacrifice on Calvary so that He could (and does) tabernacle in my heart, which is His Holy of Holies.
ISN’T THIS MAGNIFICENT!! And it certainly brings pertinence and power to the reading in Exodus of all the details of God wanting His tabernacle for His people to be so perfect and infinitely special.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank You for dwelling in the Tabernacle of my heart where I can become and be a living sacrifice before Your altar of grace. Amen
Exodus 25: 8-9, 40 … : … [God’s Place of Residence] … [Yahweh’s Instructions to Moses] … 8 “Then have them [i.e., specially selected craftsmen from God’s people] make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. … 40 See that you make them [i.e., everything in the tabernacle] according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
==========
Exodus 26: 31-33 … : … [Setting the Holy Place] … 31 “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place."
==========
Exodus 27: 1 … : … [God’s Altar of Sacrifice and Atonement] … [More of God’s Instructions to Moses] … 1 “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide."
==========
My Journal for Today: Okay, … for those who’ve taken your time to read what God (I believe) has given me to write in this blog through Exodus, admittedly the second book of Moses can get a bit tedious; but that doesn’t detract from it’s importance. For example, in the next few days I’m going to be plowing through God’s description – to Moses and to God’s people – of how they should build THE TABERNACLE, … that place where God was going to reside as God’s people journeyed to the promised land. And there was great detail in Yahweh’s description through Moses and his scribes to the craftsmen who would do the building of the Tabernacle. And this detail can seem – on the surface – as tedious and non-essential reading. But stick in there and read these chapters (linked for you as usual above); because there are several reasons for the importance of all of this description. And the commentary that I use as I read along in my chronological study this year describes these three reasons why all of this is important. Therefore, quoting from the Parsons Online Commentary, it offers the following description as to why God gave such detailed instructions for His dwelling place.
>>> “First, the high quality of the precious materials making up the Tabernacle shows God’s greatness and transcendence. >>> Second, the curtain surrounding the Most Holy Place shows God’s moral perfection as symbolized by his separation from the common and unclean. >>> Third, the portable nature of the Tabernacle shows God’s desire to be with his people as they traveled.”
Those truths are worthy enough for us to pay attention as God also gives us a physical description of the most important reason He was building this tabernacle for His dwelling; and that was as a picture of the place His Son, Jesus, … the Messiah, … would dwell one day in the hearts of believers like you and me. And in this description, which we’ll be reading about in the next chapters of Exodus, we begin to see that Yahweh, as the the Messiah, would one day dwell in the hearts of His disciples as our place of worship and sacrifice.
Think about it, fellow Christian. As Parson’s Commentary again puts it, ” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the curtain in the Temple (which had replaced the Tabernacle) tore from top to bottom (see Mark 15:38), symbolizing our free access to God because of Jesus’ death. No longer did people have to approach God through priests and sacrifices.”
… And now, dear one, because of Jesus, the living tabernacle, we can come into the Holy of Holies anytime, any place, for anything. I have the Tabernacle and the High Priest, in Person of Christ, in my heart; and I don’t need a human high priest to bring my blood sacrifice to God’s altar of grace. No, every day … every moment … becomes my living sacrifice on God’s holy altar of worship in my heart; because Jesus made the ultimate - and last - blood sacrifice on Calvary so that He could (and does) tabernacle in my heart, which is His Holy of Holies.
ISN’T THIS MAGNIFICENT!! And it certainly brings pertinence and power to the reading in Exodus of all the details of God wanting His tabernacle for His people to be so perfect and infinitely special.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank You for dwelling in the Tabernacle of my heart where I can become and be a living sacrifice before Your altar of grace. Amen
Friday, February 05, 2010
2010 – Day 36. Feb. 5 – A God-Centered Community
Study from Numbers 9: 1-12; then from Numbers 1 - 2; Passage for Reflection: Numbers 2: 1-2 … NIV 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 2 "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family."
My Journal for Today: Sometimes when one (well, at least yours truly) reads passages like those from Numbers, as I have this morning, it’s a bit hard to extrapolate God’s intent from the historical context to the personal one in the here-and-now, going through centuries of sociological change to get from then to now. But with the help of my devotional author today, Dr. Smith has taken me from the documentation of the Israelite soldiers and even the counting of the Priesthood, centuries before Christ, to an application which would apply from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant and right into my heart as a 21st century Christian. And Dr. Smith does so by asking a very simple, but pointed question: “If I were a community of one, where would God’s special place be?”
And as God’s very special timing would have it, last night in our weekly small group, which is somewhat like a first century home church, I was teaching on the subject of putting God (i.e., Christ) at the center of our lives; i.e., giving Him the center-piece of our worship, which is our 24/7 lifestyle, … where He is the focus of our living. And in that teaching our group was to study and memorize two passages from the New Testament, Luke 9: 23 and Matthew 6: 33 (which I really hope you have already memorized – and if not I’ll leave it to you to seek them out for study. These passages help the New Testament Christian disciple to see the essence of Christian living (or “worship,” if you will); and that is to place our relationship and walk with Christ at the center of our community of the heart, where God’s temple resides Spiritually in the lives of any Christian.
If you read through the passages from the Book of Numbers [mentioned above], you’ll read that God wanted to put Himself, in the Tabernacle, no matter where it moved with these nomadic people, smack dab in the center of His people. And God dictated to Moses exactly how this would take place, … which tribes would be on the East, the West, the North, and the South; and the designation of the Levites to watch over the Tent of Meetings, i.e., the Tabernacle, which was to be placed strategically in the center of the guardians of God’s community … at the center of the lives of His people. And as we move forward in time, God’s New Covenant Tabernacle has been established in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who now resides in the hearts of each Christian, who becomes a community of one. And God expects to be established with each of us as His priesthood; and we are to place His Tabernacle – i.e., our relationship with Christ - at the center of our hearts so that everything in our lives will center on a lifestyle of worship of Him.
That is what Jesus was saying to His church and to us in the two passages referred to above (from Luke 9: 23 and Matt. 6: 33); and isn’t it wonderful how even the structure of the first community of believers in the Old Testament in the Book of Numbers spoke to this truth by the structure of how the community was to be constructed … the Tabernacle at the center for worship and with God residing there for His worshipping people to be able to focus on Him as our Center of their sacrificial worship.
Think on that for a while; and see that even the listings of people and the construction of the earliest of God’s communities became a picture of how our hearts should be put together for worship today. Can I hear a witness of “Hallelujah!” from anyone reading here?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, …Oh Lord, Hallelujah that You were preparing Your Tabernacle of Worship in ancient Israel to be a picture of where You now reside in my heart. And may my life be a reflection of You being the center of my worship this very day. Amen
My Journal for Today: Sometimes when one (well, at least yours truly) reads passages like those from Numbers, as I have this morning, it’s a bit hard to extrapolate God’s intent from the historical context to the personal one in the here-and-now, going through centuries of sociological change to get from then to now. But with the help of my devotional author today, Dr. Smith has taken me from the documentation of the Israelite soldiers and even the counting of the Priesthood, centuries before Christ, to an application which would apply from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant and right into my heart as a 21st century Christian. And Dr. Smith does so by asking a very simple, but pointed question: “If I were a community of one, where would God’s special place be?”
And as God’s very special timing would have it, last night in our weekly small group, which is somewhat like a first century home church, I was teaching on the subject of putting God (i.e., Christ) at the center of our lives; i.e., giving Him the center-piece of our worship, which is our 24/7 lifestyle, … where He is the focus of our living. And in that teaching our group was to study and memorize two passages from the New Testament, Luke 9: 23 and Matthew 6: 33 (which I really hope you have already memorized – and if not I’ll leave it to you to seek them out for study. These passages help the New Testament Christian disciple to see the essence of Christian living (or “worship,” if you will); and that is to place our relationship and walk with Christ at the center of our community of the heart, where God’s temple resides Spiritually in the lives of any Christian.
If you read through the passages from the Book of Numbers [mentioned above], you’ll read that God wanted to put Himself, in the Tabernacle, no matter where it moved with these nomadic people, smack dab in the center of His people. And God dictated to Moses exactly how this would take place, … which tribes would be on the East, the West, the North, and the South; and the designation of the Levites to watch over the Tent of Meetings, i.e., the Tabernacle, which was to be placed strategically in the center of the guardians of God’s community … at the center of the lives of His people. And as we move forward in time, God’s New Covenant Tabernacle has been established in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who now resides in the hearts of each Christian, who becomes a community of one. And God expects to be established with each of us as His priesthood; and we are to place His Tabernacle – i.e., our relationship with Christ - at the center of our hearts so that everything in our lives will center on a lifestyle of worship of Him.
That is what Jesus was saying to His church and to us in the two passages referred to above (from Luke 9: 23 and Matt. 6: 33); and isn’t it wonderful how even the structure of the first community of believers in the Old Testament in the Book of Numbers spoke to this truth by the structure of how the community was to be constructed … the Tabernacle at the center for worship and with God residing there for His worshipping people to be able to focus on Him as our Center of their sacrificial worship.
Think on that for a while; and see that even the listings of people and the construction of the earliest of God’s communities became a picture of how our hearts should be put together for worship today. Can I hear a witness of “Hallelujah!” from anyone reading here?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, …Oh Lord, Hallelujah that You were preparing Your Tabernacle of Worship in ancient Israel to be a picture of where You now reside in my heart. And may my life be a reflection of You being the center of my worship this very day. Amen
Friday, January 29, 2010
2010 – Day 29, January 29. A Patterned Sanctuary
Study from Exod. 25-28; Passage for Today ; Exod. 25:8-9 … NIV Then have them make a sanctuary for Me; and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
My Journal for Today : If we can accept – and we should (without question) – that our bodies individually and the church collectively are the temple in which God, The Holy Spirit, dwells, why should we be surprised that God – as He describes in today’s reading from Exodus 25-28 – expects the place where He dwells to be built and furnished with the finest specifications and appointments?
We know from God’s word that He dwells in us (see 1st Cor. 6:19 and 1st Cor. 3:16 ); and so it would behoove us, as stewards of God’s Temple, to keep His dwelling place as well organized and well appointed as we can. But do we?
And here I stand ignominiously convicted by letting God’s home-place (i.e., my body and soul) become somewhat of a mess. … Well, I’m doing better recently, getting my organizational act and my discipline together so that I may honor my Lord’s presence; but I have quite a lot more to do to keep His Tabernacle clean and as well appointed as He would desire for me to have His dwelling place to be to honor His presence.
F. LaGard Smith closes his devotional entry for today by asking, “If God expects nothing but the finest wherever He dwells, how comfortable can I expect Him to be while living in my sanctuary?” I’m doing my best to answer that one for myself; as I would expect you would have to do so as well for yourself.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, may I Keep Your Home in my Heart as Lovely as You need for it to be. Amen.
My Journal for Today : If we can accept – and we should (without question) – that our bodies individually and the church collectively are the temple in which God, The Holy Spirit, dwells, why should we be surprised that God – as He describes in today’s reading from Exodus 25-28 – expects the place where He dwells to be built and furnished with the finest specifications and appointments?
We know from God’s word that He dwells in us (see 1st Cor. 6:19 and 1st Cor. 3:16 ); and so it would behoove us, as stewards of God’s Temple, to keep His dwelling place as well organized and well appointed as we can. But do we?
And here I stand ignominiously convicted by letting God’s home-place (i.e., my body and soul) become somewhat of a mess. … Well, I’m doing better recently, getting my organizational act and my discipline together so that I may honor my Lord’s presence; but I have quite a lot more to do to keep His Tabernacle clean and as well appointed as He would desire for me to have His dwelling place to be to honor His presence.
F. LaGard Smith closes his devotional entry for today by asking, “If God expects nothing but the finest wherever He dwells, how comfortable can I expect Him to be while living in my sanctuary?” I’m doing my best to answer that one for myself; as I would expect you would have to do so as well for yourself.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, may I Keep Your Home in my Heart as Lovely as You need for it to be. Amen.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
2009 – Day 90.Apr. 1 – Doing Time
April, 2009 Topic: Moses … Continued from March 31, 2009
Blogger Bill’s Note: We continue in the life of Moses as I move from March to April. If you want to read or review the journal entries concerning Moses for March, 2009, the reader can do so at this website … <’BB><
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2009 – Day 90.Apr. 1 – Doing Time
Passage of the Day: Exodus 24: 12; 25: 1 – 9 … Link to Exod. 24 – 25 …
My Journal for Today: New month, … same study extended. And today – on April Fool’s Day - we see Moses extended way out of his comfort zone, going up the mountain to be with God and to receive His Holy, WRITTEN word. This was HUGE! … not just for Moses … but for mankind. And in many respects the motivation for God’s command to Moses is much the same as it is for you and me today on this day when we really ought to see just how foolish we can be in the presence of the God of Moses.
God wanted to give His children (think of it as you and me), His very character, defined and written for them to follow; and He wanted to dwell with them. Hence, God Himself gives, through Moses, His own word, written for the people to read and follow forever. Then He gives instructions for the Tabernacle where He could dwell with the people in His own special way. And what a picture this is of what the Lord has given us.
But we have His word in a much more elaborate and clearly defined package – the Bible. And we have “The Tabernacle” in Christ, Who now can – and does for the reborn Christian – dwell in the hearts of mankind. Who could ever refuse such a deal; but as we know from reading on ahead in the Moses account, those people became April fools – bigtime! The Hebrews, whom we read of yesterday, were declaring that they would obey and follow God anywhere and everywhere turned into the same people who would – in a very short time – reject God and begin building a golden calf at the base of the very mountain where God was dealing with Moses. … And flashing forward centuries, we see the same short-memory mentality where the people cried “Hallelujah, Messiah!” when Jesus entered the gates of the Temple during his Passion; and then, just a few days later, these April Fools were railing “Crucify Him!”
Swindoll makes some probing observations about how we are doing our time as Christians. He writes, “How many of us take a course in prayer but rarely pray; or we learn the techniques of evangelism but seldom share our faith?” And if you’re reading this, as I am, how many of you are feeling the barbs of conviction right about now?
Last night I shared with a group of men from the ministry I’ve been called to lead; and I told them that we are no different than the Hebrews who were at the foot of that mountain when Moses went up to be with God; and we are no different than the mob which crucified our Savior. We will worship our God with our lives as living sacrifices to the degree we know and see God. If we see ourselves as big and God small, we will serve self. But if, as Moses was getting the picture of God, we see our Lord as big – no, I mean really HUGE! – we will obey Him and serve Him with a life of worship and service He commands … and He deserves.
As I’ve said many times in my devotionals … the more clearly we see and know the God of Mount Sinai and the God Who died for us on the cross, the more readily we will obey and serve the real God. But when we see other things in our life, including our selves, as bigger than God, we will tend to serve them and turn aside from “doing time” for God. I pray that we all get to know God for Whom He is. We are loved by a REALLY BIG GOD; and I go on to pray that I’ll always be in awe of the God Who has given me His word so that I can live and serve Him with the reverence He deserves.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You are God and I am not! Amen
Blogger Bill’s Note: We continue in the life of Moses as I move from March to April. If you want to read or review the journal entries concerning Moses for March, 2009, the reader can do so at this website … <’BB><
==================
2009 – Day 90.Apr. 1 – Doing Time
Passage of the Day: Exodus 24: 12; 25: 1 – 9 … Link to Exod. 24 – 25 …
My Journal for Today: New month, … same study extended. And today – on April Fool’s Day - we see Moses extended way out of his comfort zone, going up the mountain to be with God and to receive His Holy, WRITTEN word. This was HUGE! … not just for Moses … but for mankind. And in many respects the motivation for God’s command to Moses is much the same as it is for you and me today on this day when we really ought to see just how foolish we can be in the presence of the God of Moses.
God wanted to give His children (think of it as you and me), His very character, defined and written for them to follow; and He wanted to dwell with them. Hence, God Himself gives, through Moses, His own word, written for the people to read and follow forever. Then He gives instructions for the Tabernacle where He could dwell with the people in His own special way. And what a picture this is of what the Lord has given us.
But we have His word in a much more elaborate and clearly defined package – the Bible. And we have “The Tabernacle” in Christ, Who now can – and does for the reborn Christian – dwell in the hearts of mankind. Who could ever refuse such a deal; but as we know from reading on ahead in the Moses account, those people became April fools – bigtime! The Hebrews, whom we read of yesterday, were declaring that they would obey and follow God anywhere and everywhere turned into the same people who would – in a very short time – reject God and begin building a golden calf at the base of the very mountain where God was dealing with Moses. … And flashing forward centuries, we see the same short-memory mentality where the people cried “Hallelujah, Messiah!” when Jesus entered the gates of the Temple during his Passion; and then, just a few days later, these April Fools were railing “Crucify Him!”
Swindoll makes some probing observations about how we are doing our time as Christians. He writes, “How many of us take a course in prayer but rarely pray; or we learn the techniques of evangelism but seldom share our faith?” And if you’re reading this, as I am, how many of you are feeling the barbs of conviction right about now?
Last night I shared with a group of men from the ministry I’ve been called to lead; and I told them that we are no different than the Hebrews who were at the foot of that mountain when Moses went up to be with God; and we are no different than the mob which crucified our Savior. We will worship our God with our lives as living sacrifices to the degree we know and see God. If we see ourselves as big and God small, we will serve self. But if, as Moses was getting the picture of God, we see our Lord as big – no, I mean really HUGE! – we will obey Him and serve Him with a life of worship and service He commands … and He deserves.
As I’ve said many times in my devotionals … the more clearly we see and know the God of Mount Sinai and the God Who died for us on the cross, the more readily we will obey and serve the real God. But when we see other things in our life, including our selves, as bigger than God, we will tend to serve them and turn aside from “doing time” for God. I pray that we all get to know God for Whom He is. We are loved by a REALLY BIG GOD; and I go on to pray that I’ll always be in awe of the God Who has given me His word so that I can live and serve Him with the reverence He deserves.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You are God and I am not! Amen
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