Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Exodus 25-26; Mark 1:1-22.
Good day!
As I read the Exodus portion of today's reading, I couldn't help but think of patterns. For the last year or so I've been doing a fair bit of crocheting, usually from patterns, although lately I've been venturing into my own designs. So I have patterns on the brain, and as I read the chapters in Exodus I thought "This is a pattern that God is giving to Moses for how he wants his dwelling place to be constructed." He gives very specific and detailed instructions and anyone who's ever tried to follow a pattern knows that the more information one is given in the pattern, the better a result one is going to achieve, especially if it is something you haven't done before or aren't proficient at yet. God is God. His dwelling place is to be holy, sacred, pure, undefiled. By giving them precise instructions on how the ark, the table, the lampstand and the tabernacle are to be constructed and decorated, and the materials to be used, God is ensuring that the people understand that this is not just someplace to be constructed according to their design, but according to his. It is not a place to be treated casually, to be walked into or even touched by just anybody, but a place that is to be revered and held in awe as the dwelling place of the Almighty.
This brought me to two other thoughts.
#1 - do I treat church too casually? Church is not the dwelling place of God the way the tabernacle et al was, but it is a place to worship God. Do I show reverence when I am in church? Should I treat it as just another public building, or with more reverence as a place where the Almighty God is worshipped? Does it matter, since it is not the actual dwelling place of God? My feeling is that we should be respectful of the worship itself, of glorifying God during the services and ensuring that we are reverent as we sing and pray and learn from the minister or pastor (or whatever title is appropriate in your church). The building itself, while it should not be used for anything and everything, is not on object of reverence in and of itself. Anyone else have an opinion?
#2 - as my body is now the temple of the Holy Ghost, do I treat my own body the way I should? Is our physical being important, or is it merely our spiritual being that we must care for? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (emphasis mine) This suggests to me that our physical being is important. For the most part I try to take good care of my body. I exercise regularly and eat mainly healthy foods, although I do indulge in sweets, which I am trying to keep to moderation (very difficult for me, as I have a terrible sweet tooth). I rarely drink alcohol and when I do it's a small amount. My grandpa told me a long time ago that the verse in 1 Corinthians that says our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit was what convinced him that he should quit smoking when he was a young man (this was before people knew how bad it was for you and many, if not most, men smoked).
Anyway, those were the things that I was contemplating - maybe some of you have thoughts on these subjects that you'd like to share. I'd love to read them.
Tomorrow's passage: Exodus 27-28; Mark 1:23-45.
7 comments:
Excellent post Miriam. I love your analogy of the crocheting patterns - so true that the more details the patterns are, the easier it is to follow and the more accurate the end result will be. I'd never thought of it quite that way - love that.
And I think I agree with both thoughts #1 and #2. :)
That was a great post! I have to admit, I didn't really enjoy reading this Exodus passage today, but you have some great thoughts here that make it much more exciting! I agree with your two points. Great reminder that my body is His temple.
I think those are great questions to ask ourselves, Miriam. And I think it all comes back to that issue of holiness ~ how do we respect God's holiness and how does "living like a royal priesthood" look in OUR everyday lives?
I wonder if Moses actually had drawings from God or if it was just verbal instructions that he was free to interpret? I mean, the instructions are very precise, but one man's pomegranates might look different from another's, you know what I mean? When God said the lampstand was to have four cups "shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms," was exactly HOW the flowers looked up to the crafstmen? Or did God put that knowledge into their minds?
In Exodus 31, God tells Moses who He has chosen to be the head craftsmen and designers and God says, "and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts ~ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship." This is apparently the first mention of anyone being filled with the Holy Spirit, so maybe the details of how the instructions were carried out was left up to him. (Sorry, that's a bit of a rabbit trail, but wondering about the plans reminded me that I'd heard a message about this dude in Sunday school not that long ago!)
In any case, the tabernacle must have been an absolutely amazing structure when completed. I'm positive the artists' renderings we see now don't even HINT at its magnificence!
What a perfect analogy! I sometimes get distracted when reading the passages that describe so many details but how true it is that the more detailed the instructions, the greater the possibility that it will turn out the way that it was intended (-something I find true with my Grade 1 friends as well!)
I agree with your 2 points as well..although I struggle with making taking care of my body the priority that I should.
I started off a little uninterested in these chapters until I stopped, prayed that God would tune me in - then kept going. I loved the detail! I had never before seen the details and instructions in these chapters. God does not leave room for questions. He places the instructions and skills in Moses' hands and they proceed! I love it. I also agree with your #1 and #2. I mostly think of church as "just a building" where we go worship, but you're right, there needs to be a biggers sense of reverence in that building. It is God's. Thank you for the challenge. #2 is one I've been comitting to Him for a long time and continues to be a work in progress! ;)
Thanks for a great post Miriam.
Thanks for your comments! I would venture to agree, Tammi, that God would have put an image in the mind of the craftsman of how it was to be completed. There is also a sentence in Friday's reading about something being completed as it was shown to Moses on the mountain, so I would take that to mean that Moses had seen a vision of what it was to look like, so he would be able to advise anyone who wasn't sure if they were doing something correctly.
Yeah, Miriam, I noticed that phrase a couple of times, too ~ that's kind of why I wondered if there was actually a literal visual image that God showed Moses that he could show or describe to the craftspeople.
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