Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Real Reason Jesus Became a Carpenter

Exodus 25: 10-22

God gives Moses direct instructions about building the ark of the covenant. He starts with "how" instead of "why." I'll spare you all of the gory measurement details, but he instructs them to make a chest of acacia wood, cover it with gold both inside and out, and make a gold moulding around it. They are to make four gold rings and attach them to each foot, so that there are two rings on each side. Then they are to make poles out of acaia wood and cover them with gold. The poles go into the rings and are not to be removed- they are for carrying the ark. The pending testimony goes inside it.

They then need to make an "atonement cover" (on top of the gold covering and the gold moulding) and guess what- it's to be made out of pure gold. On the ends of the cover, they are to hammer out golden cherubim- one on each end. The cherubim and the seat are all of the same piece.

These angels need to have their wings spread upward overshadowing the cover and they are to face each other. And again, the testimony that's coming is go inside. And this is where God will meet with them.

So it seems that in addition to being men of faith- to be an Israelite in the day you had to have mad carpentry skills and be trained in metallurgy. I'd have been in trouble. My golden cherubim would look like robot potato-heads shaking hands.

I'm still a bit shaky about the purpose of the specificities- maybe Moses will expand in sections to come- but this "atonement cover" is translated in the New American Standard as a "mercy seat." I like that even in this time of law and stone tablets, at the center of where God met was a seat of mercy.



Knick-Knack Tabernacle

Exodus 25: 1-9

God tells Moses to tell the Israelites to make Him an offering. He's to take an offering from "each man whose heart prompts him to give." This seems like it's a totally voluntary kind of set-up, but how do you explain your heart not prompting you to give to God? So God asks for it if I don't mind, but there are these great Nike air-sandals I've had my eyes on...sorry God, maybe for the next tabernacle?

Anyway- God asks for the following items: "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 breastpiece."

Then God says to build Him a sanctuary- and if you do, I'll dwell among you. However, make it exactly the way I pattern it for you.

I tend to have a condescension toward ornate places of worship. Yeah, it's pretty, but how many people could have been fed with what it cost to simply pave the parking lot? The stained glass is breathtaking, but how much more good have been done if this money had gone to the homeless? Fancy pews, but what about the Africans with no clean drinking water? And to a large degree, I still feel that way- but if I were to make a case for a beautiful house of worship, I think this would be a good place to go for support.

God expects their sacrifice to make a beautiful place for Him to dwell in. He wants their financial commitment to His service. He doesn't demand it...but He wants it.

More importantly though- I think this is yet another contrast between the old and the new. Before Christ, the emphasis is on form, law, the outward...what you've done. When Jesus comes, everything changes. Yeah murder's bad- but hate is just as bad. Yep- adultery's a no-no, but lust is the same thing.

And maybe the principle holds true here. Before, build me an external house- I'll dwell there with you. But after Christ- you are that temple...I'll dwell inside of you.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Go Hear It On the Mountain

Exodus 24

So God tells Moses- you, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders come closer- but not too close. Worship at a distance- and then you alone Moses- come and approach Me- but come alone.

Moses reports to the people and they call out "we'll do everything God has told us to." This seems to be human nature to some degree- we talk a good game, but carrying out God's will is often another matter. It was for them, it is for us.

Moses documented all that God said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up twelve pillars to represent the twelve tribes and had young men offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as "fellowship offerings". Moses divides the blood in half- half in a bowl and half on the altar. The first half was then sprinkled on the people, Moses calling it the "blood of the covenant".

This is some major pageantry. To show the heavenly contract, the Israelites "washed" in bull blood. Sounds like a party your mother wouldn't approve of- but in order to show their allegiance, the people of God submitted themselves voluntarily to a less than enjoyable act.

This seems to be a foreshadowing of Christ's blood serving as our "blood of the convenant". Our rituals are a little less messy, but they serve the same function- drawing us closer to our Protector and proclaiming our allegiance to serve Him.

So Moses and company head up the mountain and see God. I bet those tickets could have been scalped for a pretty penny. I wonder how much of Him they saw though , since Moses' description consists of the sapphire-like pavement under His feet. A cool image, but if you've just seen God, you might be bit more descriptive- unless you only get a glimse, which seems pretty consistent with the way God sightings seem to work.

So they have a meal, or at least a snack and God tells Moses to come up with Him and get the tablets of commandments. Moses and Joshua his aide (is this THE Joshua?) start up for the private conference. I guess when God told him to come alone, He meant that his servant could come too.

Moses tells the group to wait- and if they have a disgreement while he's gone, Aaron and Hur could deal with it. This indicates to me that either Moses expected to be gone for a long time, or these were amazingly disagreeable people.

So Moses went up and a cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, God called to Moses from within the cloud. From the Israelites perspective, it looked like a consuming fire. He stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. I don't know if that included the first six, but either way, it must have been an amazing experience to spend a month with God. I would assume that Joshua stayed behind after the sixth day, but Moses doesn't specify.

I can't even imagine what that would be like. What would you talk about? Would there be long silences spent in meditation? Would there be any moments of laughter or frivolity? Or would it be all business?

And more interestingly, what will it be like for us when we get our chance to be in His presence?

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Angels Not From Anaheim

Exodus 23: 20-33

After giving the Israelites this list of laws to remember and carry out- God tells them that He will protect them. I'm going to send you an angel to protect you and guide you to your destination. Pay attention, listen, and don't rebel. He won't forgive rebellion for My name is in him.

That's an odd phrase- is God saying- since he is acting for Me, he has no authority to forgive rebellion? Is there something special about this angel- there's a little piece of God in him somehow?

He goes on to say that if you listen to him, and obey Me- I've got your back. Your enemies are my enemies- people won't want to mess with you, because if they do, they'll have to mess with Me- which wouldn't be too smart.

He tells them that He will wipe out the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites as He takes them through their lands. But don't be influenced by their religious practices. Demolish their sacred stones. Don't worship their gods or adopt their religious rites and rituals. Instead, worship Me and I'll bless your food and water (so He'll provide it? Make sure it's healthy? Tasty? Fat free?). I'll keep you healthy and prevent miscarriages and barrenness. You'll live long lives.

He repeats his promise to smite their enemies- saying He will send His hornet ahead of them. I'm guessing this is metaphoric but it paints a pretty cool picture. An epic B-film (literally) starring Charlton Heston as the stoic beekeeper Shaz-Belthan.

God says I'll take care of them- but it won't be all at once, if I just rubbed them all out, the land would become desolate and there would be too many wild animals for you to deal with. Once you've increased in number more, I'll make it all happen.

This seems like a pretty good example of the balance between God's care for His individual children and His control of the big picture. Why don't things work out when I pray? Why do problems still exist for those that love God? Why do I have to suffer? Surely, for many reasons- but maybe at times God is working to alleviate the problems in our lives, but the solution that we seek could cause even greater problems for ourselves and others. So, God in His wisdom, watches and waits- and when the time is right- when it doesn't put a kink in His plans or in the lives of others- He works to make things better for all involved.

Obbiously there's more to it than that. Suffering builds character- makes us long for our true home, gives us opportunity to help others and more and better reasons that you may be able to think of. My point is simply that at times our requests are more complicated than we may realize. If God gives us exactly what we ask for it may complicate a million other things.

Finally God says that He will give them land that spans from the Red Sea, to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river. I'll drive out your enemies (I'm sensing a theme) but don't make a covnenat with them or their gods (another theme). Don't let them live in your lands- they'll cause you to sin- the worship of their gods will be a snare to you.

Advice they won't always heed.

But how does this message apply to us- our circumstance is certainly much different- but do I isolate myself from those of demoninations different than mine? protestant from catholic? Chrsitian from Muslim? Christian from atheist?

Or with Jesus, have the rules all changed? Stay on guard but first and foremost...love. Don't kick them out of your lands- let your light shine...and love.

It's a hard question- but an important one.


Monday, October 01, 2007

It's Not a Party Without Unleavened Bread

Exodus 23:14-19

So God sets up three annual festivals for the Israelites to celebrate.

First is the Feast of Unleavened Bread- while I might have prefered Feast of the Funnel Cake, the feast is to commemorate coming out of Egypt. The Israelites are to abstain from bread made with yeast for seven days. They are to celebrate it in the month of Abib- I'm not sure when that is, but it coincides with their escape. They are instructed to not come before God empty handed.

Second is the Feast of Harvest- they celebrate with the first fruits of the crops grown in the field- which I guess means they sacrifice the firstfruits?

Third is the Feast of Ingathering- this happens at the end of the year when the crops are gathered in.

Those Israelites knew how to party.

Maybe they took these offerings and shared them for a big blowout (hence the feast)- that at least sounds like a celebration.

God instructs further- three times a year you appear before Me. Don't mix the blood of a sacrifice with any yeast. Don't keep the fat of festival offerings over night. Give God the best of the first fruits of your soil. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

I'm not sure if these rules would have made more sense to the Israelites than they do to me. Why no yeast? What's wrong with the fat? What's the milk deal?

Or if it was simply enough to know that God said so. And is it simply enough for me too?

Or is that what God wants? Does he want me to be baptized- or understand why? Does he want me to love my neighbor- or know why I should? And does that knowledge help us figure out which "commands" were intended for that specific culture- and which principles hold true for us today?

So today, in the spirit of the Israelites I'll refrain from goat's milk and no yeast in my blood offerings. Let's get this party started.