Sinning Against Things of the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 5:15,

"When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord's holy things, they are to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel."

The Lord made provision for the Israelites in the case of sinning "in regard to any of the Lord's holy things". Here the Lord gave Moses instructions on the guilt offering.

What catches my eye this morning is the phrase "the Lord's holy things". What all is referred to here of the Lord's holy things? In verse 16 we see that restitution was required.

We read of the sin of Achan in Joshua 7. When Israel entered into the promised land the first city they had to fight was Jericho. All of the booty from Jerico, following its destruction by the Israelites, was to be devoted to the Lord. "Devoted" means it was to have been offered up to the Lord either by burning or otherwise destroying it, or in the case of the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron it was to go into the Lord's treasury.

The Israelites were warned by Joshua, "The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury." Joshua 6:17-19.

When found out, Achan confessed, "When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath." Joshua 7:21. Because of Achan's sin the Lord caused Israel to be routed at the next city, Ai. Achan was stoned to death.

Sinning against the things of the Lord can be costly, just ask Achan. What are the "things of the Lord" today? One is human life. We say that human life is sacred because each life belongs to God. He gives each of us life. The taking of that life, including abortion, certainly qualifies as sinning in regard to any of the Lord's things.

Other things can be identified as things of the Lord today. Can you name some?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Responsibilities Toward Others - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 4:3,

"If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed."

Wow! Look at the responsibility the priest carried on his shoulders! When he sinned in some way, even unknowingly, he brought guilt on the people!

The purpose of this offering was to atone for sins committed unknowingly and later recognized. I try to picture myself in the position of carrying out responsibilities while realizing if I did anything the Lord considered a sin it would bring guilt on everybody.

Think about that... others might suffer because of my sin, my shortcomings!

As I think about it, I am reminded that each of us believers are priests, "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

While I am certainly not saying that as members of God's priesthood for today that we bear any responsibility for the guilt of others when we might sin, we nonetheless do carry real and important responsibilities for others.

What if I choose not to share my faith with others? Will I be held responsible for refusing to help others find Jesus Christ? What if I choose to not study my Bible to be prepared in every way to be useful to God in the lives of others? Will I be held responsible for that?

Today I am reminded of the responsibility I carry toward others in Peter's words, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15. Also, Paul's words to Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Ignorance is not Bliss! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 4:2,

"When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands... "

This is how the introduction to the sin offering begins. The sin offering, while used in various ways, is defined for us here as to atone for a known sin that was committed unintentionally. When a person recognizes, after the fact, they had sinned in some manner, this was an offering the Lord provided for the Israelites to atone for that sin to bring a renewed fellowship with him. In this chapter four groups of people are in view, with their respective instructions: the "anointed priest ", the whole congregation, one of the leaders of Israel and one of the common people.

Bob Deffingbaugh, a pastor at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas wrote a rather good article on the sin offering. It can be found at https://bible.org/seriespage/5-sin-offering-leviticus-41-513-624-30. In his conclusion he makes an interesting observation, "Then, too, let us be reminded of the seriousness of sin. God takes sin very seriously. God takes unintentional sin more seriously than we take willful sin. And God takes willful sin even more seriously than we wish to think about..."

He closes the article with these words, "Finally, I must say to you that 'ignorance is not bliss,' in spite of those who would have you think so. The Israelites were held accountable for the sins they committed ignorantly. Many contemporary Christians seem to think that if they don't study their Bibles, if they don't familiarize themselves with the standards and principles God has given in the Bible, they will not be responsible for their sins committed in ignorance. Not so! The Sin Offering strongly suggests that we had better become careful students of the revealed Word of God, for it is disobedience to His word that constitutes sin."

Here is yet further testimony that believers should become very knowledgeable when it comes to their Bibles!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Ownership - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 3:2a,

"You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting."

For the fellowship offering, the Lord told Moses that animals from the herd, the flock or a goat would be acceptable. The worshipper was to place his hand on the head of the animal being offered as it was slaughtered.

This speaks to me of recognition of our responsibility for our estrangement from God. Although this is not specifically a sin offering, it is an offering of thanksgiving, an offering seeking peace with God and fellowship with him. God knew the Israelites needed some venue to seek him, to express the felt need for peace and fellowship with him and he provided this for them through this offering.

The worshipper having to place his hand on the animal being sacrificed as it was being slaughtered provided the opportunity for ownership for the cause of the estrangement resulting in that felt need to seek peace and fellowship with God. Mankind fell from God's favor in the garden of Eden and with the resulting estrangement a way back to God was provided by him.However, God required ownership, recognition for the responsibility for that estrangement.

Of course, this offering is just like the others as they all prefigure the offering Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would make of himself. Through the sacrifice of himself, those of us who have embraced him in faith now have peace and fellowship with God.

There are many who feel no need for peace and fellowship with God. As regrettable as that is, they will enter into eternity apart from God. Only those desiring peace and fellowship with God are chosen by him for eternal joy and happiness in his family. All others are facing that fiery lake of burning sulfur, Revelation 21:8. 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Fellowship Offering - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 3:1,

"If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect."

The fellowship offering, or peace offering was not a commanded offering. Since it was an offering of thankfulness, it would not have been seemly for God to demand or require it.

God never demands our thanksgiving, but I'm quite certain he expects it. We are exhorted to give thanks to the Lord in many places in Scripture, and as believers it is certainly appropriate we do so. The famous refrain from Psalms comes to mind here, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136.

As redeemed believers, we certainly have the most to be thankful for. Paul wrote the church in Philippi, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:4-6.

In Colossians 1:9-14 we read, "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Surely we have so much to be thankful for! The Lord provided the means for his people to express their thanksgiving through fellowship offerings, and, as believers in Jesus Christ, we certainly have both the means and the motivation to do so!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Grain Offering: Mandate and Free Will - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 2:4-7,

"If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of the finest flour: either thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in or thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with olive oil. If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of the finest flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of the finest flour and some olive oil."

Here are the directions for the grain offering the Lord gave to Moses. I note that the offering could be either a thick loaf or a thin loaf baked in an oven or it could be prepared on a griddle. However, it was not to have any yeast in it.

I see in these directions the Lord allowed the worshippers to prepare their offering by their choice, thick or thin, oven or griddle. However, some things were not to be by choice of the worshipper. No yeast, only the finest flour, etc.

The Lord mandates certain things and allows us the use of our free will in others. Here is where a conscientious study of the Scriptures is important: which things does God mandate for us and which things does he leave up to us to make our own choice on?

Here is an interesting one: 1 Corinthians 7:36-40. What is your interesting example?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Finest - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 2:1,

"When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour."

As the Lord tells Moses how he wants the offerings that are to be brought to him to be, he uses the term "finest" (well, the term translated into "finest") as he describes the flour to be used. Four places in this chapter the flour to be used is the finest. Not the average, not whatever might be handy at the time, but the finest. The term here is not necessarily an indication of the size of the grind, but specifically the quality of the flour itself. Only the very best.

In that these offerings speak volumes about the offering Jesus Christ made of himself, the quality of items offered at the tabernacle were to be of the very best. Animals without blemish, flour of the finest quality, etc.

This speaks to me of the person of Jesus Christ, the perfect man, the perfect God, all in one person. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being..." Hebrews 1:3a. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul says that Christ is the image of God.

In Colossians 1:15-20 we read, "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

If you were to design an offering that spoke of Jesus Christ, would you require anything other than the finest?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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A Perfect Sacrifice Without Blemish or Defect - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 1:3,

"If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord."

The burnt offering is said to be a sacrifice of atoning, an acknowledgement of the sinful condition and the expression of desire for a renewed relationship with God. It might have been the offering Abel made that resulted in him being murdered by his brother, Cain, Genesis 4:4. Following the flood, Noah offered burnt offerings in Genesis 8:20. Abraham was ordered by God to make a burnt offering of Isaac (although God provided him a ram at the last instance), Genesis 22.

In Leviticus 1 God prescribed how the Israelites were to perform the burnt offering. When using a bull or a ram, the animal was to be a "male without defect".

This clearly is an allusion to the sacrifice the Son of God would make on our behalf. When Jesus sacrificed himself on that cross he did so as God's sinless sacrifice, a sacrifice without blemish or defect. Jesus has been the only man to walk the face of the earth as a sinless and perfect man. Consequently he was entirely qualified to pay the price for the sins of all others.

Peter tells us, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18-19.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Purpose of the Ten Commandments - Ruminating in the Word of God

"The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 40:1-3,

"Then the Lord said to Moses: 'Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain.'"

When the Lord gave Moses the design of the tabernacle he wanted built to provide for his presence among the Israelites, it was to contain a space called the "most holy place". Within that an ark was to be built and have "the covenant law" that had been chiseled on two stone tablets placed within it.

The "covenant law" is what we refer to as the Ten Commandments. These commands, that formed the basis for the covenant Israel entered into with the Lord, spoke to issues of the heart and issues of behavior. They are found in Exodus 20:3-17 and retold in Deuteronomy 5:7-21. Among these commands are prohibitions as well as things to do. Among the prohibitions are idolatry, objects of worship, using the Lord's name in vain, murder, adultery stealing, lying and coveting. The things to do include Sabbath keeping and honoring parents.

Paul provides us with the purpose of this law. It was to clearly communicate our sinful condition before God, our inability to do anything about it, and consequently our need of the Savior. "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." Romans 3:19-20.

Once we come to Jesus Christ in faith, we are no longer subject to the law, "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Romans 7:6. Paul goes on to use the tenth command as his example, "I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" Romans 7:7.

In Galatians 2:15-16 Paul says, "We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified." And, he makes a logical point, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:21.

I like the way Paul makes his observation here in Galatians 3:23-25, "Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Three Curtains - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 40:3,5,8,

"Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain... Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle... Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard."

There were three curtains providing access in the tabernacle. When the Lord gave Moses instructions on setting up the tabernacle for the first time, he did so from his point of perspective. He began with instructions starting with where his presence would reside and then worked outward. In the most holy place the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat was to be placed and then a curtain shielding it or separating it from the front of the tabernacle.

From there, he told Moses to place the golden lampstand, the altar of incense and the table for showbread in the remaining area in front of the veil that hid the ark and mercy seat. At the entrance of the tabernacle, another curtain was to be set in place to shield the tabernacle itself from the courtyard.

From there, he told Moses to place the bronze altar and the basin in the courtyard in front of the tabernacle. The courtyard was made of a system of curtains and frames that sat on bases and there was to be another separating curtain on the east end of the courtyard, at the front to enclose the tabernacle with its courtyard.

God describes it from the inside out. We would naturally describe it from the outside in. First you go into the courtyard through its separating curtain, next, for the priests, you go into the tabernacle itself through its separating curtain, and finally, for the high priest, and then only once a year (on the Day of Atonement), you go into the most holy place through its separating curtain, where the Lord maintained his presence.

Three separating curtains had to be entered to bring one from the environment of sinful mankind into the presence of God, and then, only by God's invitation for certain ones in God's prescribed way. Our holy and righteous God maintains a distance from lost and fallen mankind!

Today we can all approach God's throne through the blood of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews speaks of a new way. "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16. No longer does God restrict mankind from his presence as depicted by the separating curtains, but through Jesus Christ as our mediator with God, all are welcome!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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How to Get Prepared - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 39:32,

"So all the work on the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses."

The following verses, 33-41, provide a catalogue of all the items prepared for the worship and service to take place at the tabernacle. The tabernacle itself with its courtyard, its furnishings and tools and the vestments for Aaron and his sons, who were to serve as priests there, were all constructed according to God's design.

The book of Exodus closes with chapter 40 providing the account of setting up the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filling it, "Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." Exodus 40:35.

The preparation was complete. Serving and worshipping the Lord would begin. There are six chapters in Exodus devoted to this preparation. I am reminded we as the church require preparation for serving and worshipping the Lord as well.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

So, what is this "good work"? Jesus gave the church its marching orders in Matthew 28:18-20 with a fourfold imperative, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The Lord is building his kingdom today and he wants all believers involved and engaged in that effort. Just as we read of six chapters of preparation in Exodus for the worship and service at the tabernacle, so too we must be prepared for our duty. Our Bibles provide for that preparation.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God's Redemption Vehicle - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 39:42-43,

"The Israelites had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them."

Here is the comment made when the tabernacle and its furnishings were completed. We will read about the setting up of all these things in the next chapter of Exodus, the last chapter of the book. 

God chose to redeem mankind from his own justice following his fall in the garden of Eden. A big piece of that plan was to establish a people for himself through which he would communicate his plan of redemption to mankind and through which he would also bring his redeemer into the world, Jesus Christ. 

Among mankind God found a man, Abraham, who manifested the kind of faith God would look for in all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, that he would extend the riches of his redemption to. So, God entered into a covenant with Abraham to make a people from him to become that vehicle to bring about his plan of redemption.

A piece of developing this covenanted people, Israel, was to establish his presence among them and provide for worship, instruction and national life to aid his plan of redemption. The completion of the tabernacle is chronicled here for us as we observe how God developed Israel to be what he needed for his purposes. This is the whole point of much of the material we read in the Old Testament.

I find it all just fascinating!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Things of Beauty - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 38:21-24,

"These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law, which were recorded at Moses' command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. (Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses; with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan—an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel."

Over a ton of gold was used in the construction of the tabernacle! Designed by God and built by men God enabled, to get it done with a level of skill that was literally divine!

A thing of beauty!

As I have come to know the Lord through the pages of Scripture over the years, I find him to be just this way. He makes beautiful things, and he makes things beautiful.

What this causes me to think of this morning is the beauty he creates within those who embrace him in faith. As we come to him he replaces the ugly things in our lives with beauty. Where once we were dominated by an abiding sinful nature, he builds within us things like, "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23. 

We read of perseverance, character and hope, Romans 5:4. 

Peter tells us the Lord makes goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love available to us, 2 Peter 1:5-7.

The Lord provides for compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness and love, Colossians 3:12-14.

Are not these the ultimate things of beauty? 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Lord's Dwelling Place - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 38:9-11,

"Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts."

The tabernacle with its furnishings and courtyard must have been stunning. All of it designed by God himself who told Moses what needed to be done. The Lord gave the people a heart to provide the needed materials and gave certain ones special abilities to create it all at a divine standard.

The materials list was specific and the design itself was specific as ordered by the Lord. The size of the tabernacle and courtyard, the furnishings to be kept and used within it were all specified by him.

This morning I am reminded that we, as the church, have no such thing as the tabernacle mentioned by the Lord. No building, no specifications, no materials, no nothing. We build church buildings. Some very ornate and beautiful - I think I am partial to the little; country church buildings found in small towns built years ago. We use them for convenience, we worship the Lord within them, we call the main room the "sanctuary". But there really is no mandate at all from the Lord to have them. I don't intend to speak against the practice of churches to build facilities to meet and worship in, but we need to be reminded at times that where the Lord manifested his presence in the tabernacle in Moses' day, he makes his presence elsewhere today.

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" 1 Corinthians 3:16. In his letter to the Church in Ephesus Paul wrote, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Ephesians 2:19-22.

I find this just amazing!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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On a Sojourn Here - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 37:1-5,

"Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it."

When the ark of the covenant was made, it was according to the design the Lord described. One feature was that it had two rings on each side to insert poles for carrying it with. The table for use within the tabernacle had the same feature as well as the altar of incense.

The furnishings for the tabernacle, as well as the tabernacle itself were designed such that they were all portable. The reason for this was that the foot of Mt. Sinai was not to be their home. Their home as a nation was elsewhere-- the land of Canaan. As such, all they built, all they did, was to be with the view they had a homeland they were on a journey toward.

I am reminded that those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith are on a journey. Just as the foot of Mt. Sinai was not the home of the Israelites, so too, this life we find ourselves in is not our home. This is not a place of permanence for us and if we build our lives as though it were, we will find ourselves squandering our lives here.

Real life, eternal life, begins after this life. As we look forward to the return of Jesus Christ for us, it is with the understanding he will be taking us to another country than this one, a country of our own, "in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells." 2 Peter 3"13.

In speaking of the saints of old, the writer of Hebrews says, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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That Which is Precious - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 37:25-28,

"They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. They made two gold rings below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold."

As today, gold was a precious metal when the tabernacle was built. A very valuable commodity. All of the furnishings for the tabernacle were overlaid with it as seen in this snippet on the construction of the altar of incense.

The inestimable value of the tabernacle together with all of its furnishings was due to its dedication and use by the Lord. However, the use of gold throughout its design and construction speaks to me of the precious value of the things of God. Here are some of the ways I see that expressed in Scripture:

"Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." Proverbs 11:4. It simply makes no difference how rich we might find ourselves in this life, when we gain the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ our wealth simply cannot come close to the value of having that righteousness from God.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." The blood of Jesus Christ, that which brings us a righteous standing with God, is precious. Very precious. The things of silver or gold simply cannot measure up to it.

"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' Now to you who believe, this stone is precious." 1 Peter 2:4-7a. Jesus Christ: precious to God the Father and precious to us!

In communicating to the Israelites through the design and construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings, it becomes very apparent why gold was mandated by God.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Got Skills? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 36:1,

"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."

The Lord gave certain people skills and abilities in various crafts to build the tabernacle. The Lord somehow enabled differing ones to work, to perform, to create, a masterfully done tabernacle - something that was up to divine standards. It was not constructed by people who simply did what they could do in the best way they could do it - the Lord made them master craftsmen.

It causes me to wonder about the various types of professions that have developed within the history of mankind. Did mankind acquire expertise in various fields on his own? Or, did the Lord have a hand in enabling the birth and development of these various trades and professions within mankind, somewhat akin to what we read in Exodus 36:1? What if he did this to sit back and observe and enjoy what his creation would create?

Very early on in the history of mankind we see people moving into various fields of work. Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil, Genesis 4:2. Lamech had three sons that pursued differing careers. In Genesis 4:19-22 we read, "Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron." A bronze age and an iron age within the first generations of man! Who knew??

I certainly don't buy into the concept of cavemen. No one has ever met one and the suggestion that there was a prehistoric version of man with little skills and abilities is the fiction of imagination. It simply serves to support the notion of evolution (which I reject as well, as I have a high regard for real science born of real observation). Cave art and primitive tools discovered speak to me of odd-balls, castoffs and hermits from the mainstream of society.

The whole notion of a half-man, half-ape, all on his own, picking up a stick and whacking something with it as the beginning of technology seems ridiculous to me. I wonder if what we see in the Lord's enablement of skills and abilities for certain ones to build his tabernacle suggests that it was the Lord himself who implanted mankind with what he would need to create the engines of industrialization and technology, the Renaissance with its great works of art, the transistor that has brought us all the high-tech we enjoy today?

Just a thought... what do you think?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God Influencing Hearts? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 36:4-7,

"So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, 'The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.' 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, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work."

As the building of the tabernacle began, the folks who had a heart to give their materials and treasure to the effort gave more than could be used. They had to be told to stop the giving!

We have no way of knowing if the people who gave to the project and the people who worked on it were some of the same individuals who participated in the idolatrous golden calf event and revelry that had recently taken place. In any event, here we see God's people as a group responding to God in a radically different manner.

I can't help but think that the generous nature of the people here was a result of God moving within their hearts. I'm not thinking that God manipulates people's hearts such that they cease to be their own independent moral agents, but it does seem to me that the Lord can very effectively move people's hearts when he has his own purpose to do so. This seems to me to be a great example of this.

Just speculating here...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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"Everyone Who Is Willing" - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 35:5b,

"Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze..."

The phrase "Everyone who is willing" stands out to me this morning. As Moses began the project of building the tabernacle with its furnishings he asked all who were willing to bring the materials that would be needed.

In verse 21 we read that all who were willing and "whose heart moved them" brought their gifts of materials to the Lord as an offering for the construction. In verse 22 we read, "All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments." They contributed all the other items that would be needed as well.

In verse 26 we read, "And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair." It is clear the Lord only wanted items and efforts from those whose hearts were moved to give, "All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do." Verse 29.

Today the Lord is building his heavenly kingdom from among all who will embrace him in faith. It appears clear to me that he is looking for those "who are willing" to help in that enterprise. How many are willing to be trained in the Scriptures? How many are willing to utilize gifts he has provided us for the tasks needed? How many are willing to give their time to the effort?

How willing are we to pull our fair share of the load in God's great kingdom-building agenda?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Don't Show Up Empty Handed - Ruminating in the Word of God

"The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 34:20c,

"No one is to appear before me [the Lord] empty-handed."

As the Lord tells Moses what he requires of the Israelites, he makes this statement. When the Israelites come before the Lord they are to bring their offerings.

The Lord certainly had every expectation the Israelites could do so as it was a land "flowing with milk and honey" he was giving them. "Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 33:3.

I am reminded today that the Lord provides us all we need. Maybe not what we might want for ourselves, but certainly what it is we need. In Acts 17:25 we read, "... he [God] himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else."

After sending aid to Paul, Paul told the Philippian church, "...my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul reminds him "...God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." 1 Timothy 6:17.

Since the Lord provides for us all in this way, should we do no less than what he required of his people Israel?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.