Prayer Focus: Afghanistan
Bible Reading: Exodus 25-28
Scripture
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast piece. “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. (Exodus 25:1-9)
Observation
God told the Israelites to bring all the supplies to create the ark, temple, alter and vestments. Then he gave them plans to create each article in exact detail, right down to the underwear that the priests were to wear! All of those items were to be symbols that represented His coming son, His throne, and heaven. The only other time I immediately recall God giving architectural plans to man was when he instructed Noah to build the other ark, the one for human kind to survive the coming flood.
He said “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.”
And so they did …and so He did.
Application
I am reminded of all the times, places in time and history that God has breached the void, and reached down to us. In the garden, he walked with us. In the desert, he led us with fire and smoke. In the passage we are reading this week, he dwelt in a tent, making his home with us there. Later in scripture, he spoke to us through prophets. He made a cameo appearance to Ezekiel (in 1:4-5, 26-28) who recorded it. Then two thousand years ago he sent his son, he became flesh, and through that sacrifice he made it possible for the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 10:16)
All through history, God has been working to find ways to show us who He is, what heaven is like, and reached out to us through our sin. He left us clues through symbols and rituals, alters and tabernacles, and arks filled with the manna from heaven to point to Jesus who would be the bread of life, so that we would come to know Him, so that we would recognize Him when we saw Him.
Prayer
Lord, you said in those verses in Jeremiah and Hebrews that you would put your laws in our heart and write them in our minds; that our sins and lawless acts you would remember no more.
The specifications for the construction of this place that you would dwell inside us, you made simple; that we love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Please examine me, Lord. See if there be any wickedness in me. Forgive me and clean me, make me a proper dwelling place for you to live. Give me the courage to look in the dark corners of my heart, I confess my sin and beg the forgiveness that you bring when I repent (1st John 1:9).
Amen.
February 10, 2012 at 5:29 PM
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.
This part reminds me of this – God told Moses to tell everyone. . . then, He says – for those whose hearts prompt them to give – receive their offerings.
God never forces or demands . . .and if I remember correctly, at some point God had to tell the Israelites to stop – they kept giving over and above what was needed for building.
How often do we hold fast to blessings we’ve been given? How often do we demand an audience with God or blame Him when He doesn’t intervene on our behalf or we don’t see Him work the way we want Him to. The Israelites surely didn’t get things right all the time, and their overwhelming generosity had an end, but in this situation, they had it right.
May we be as generous with our time and resources, as inviting, so that God will dwell among us in a way that others will see and recognize Him. May we lift Him up before men, that they will see Him and be saved.
February 10, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Very well written observation. Enjoyed reading and thinking on it.
February 10, 2012 at 7:47 PM
“May we be as generous with our time and resources, as inviting, so that God will dwell among us in a way that others will see and recognize Him. May we lift Him up before men, that they will see Him and be saved.”
Yes! Thanks for posting, Rebekah and Lewis.
February 11, 2012 at 1:13 AM
I was struck by the craftsmanship involved in making the ark, poles, curtains, vestments and jewelry. The colors involved were the most difficult to dye. And where did they get the dye out in the wilderness? Perhaps they brought it with them – or found flowers and roots in the desert to make dye.
The linen made such fine threads that it was very time consuming to weave. There were instructions to weave angels into the cloth and to embroyder on the cloth. I have done weaving, sewing, embroidery, jewelrymaking and woodworking and know the time and craftsmanship involved in these arts.
Also interesting was the variety of precious gems included in the breastplate of Aaron, the high priest. It is easy to read over the list of gems without noticing the detailed color pattern. Translations differ on the exact names of the gems, but a similar pattern exists.
RED ROW Row 1: ruby, topaz, beryl
BLUE ROW Row 2: turquoise, sapphire (or lapis lazuli), emerald
PURPLE ROW Row 3: jacinth, agate, amethyst
GOLD ROW Row 4: chrysolite, onyx, jasper
It is the same colors as the threads involved in the vestments and curtains: Red, Blue, Purple and Gold. God is such a beautiful designer.
February 11, 2012 at 11:29 AM
I know this will will be deep or insightful as some of the previous post on this reading, but in chapter 26 describing the Most Holy place in the Tabernacle I measured out the “10 cubits (’15ft) and saw the size of the Most Holy Place where God would meet his people. I don’t know, gave me a sense of His closeness to this reading somehow. : )
Also while reading in 28:34-35 where the Aaron had to where the bells, just reminded me of the Holiness of our God.
February 11, 2012 at 11:30 AM
*will NOT be deep or insightful.