Week 6 Day 1 – Healthy Sexuality
Leviticus 15:1-33, 18:1-30
Sex sells. It is the American way. Americans will use sexuality to sell just about anything. Think about this for a minute. What does a scantily clad woman really have to do with a car? Is she an expert on its fuel efficiency or horsepower? Is she a mechanic? The model hired to sprawl over the hood -- probably not. So why is she there? She’s there because the typical American male has given in to his animal-like sexuality. In fact, in our culture we have even exalted this type of voyeuristic and consumerist sexuality as the norm and as good.
When it comes to sexuality there seem to be two camps. On one side we have the pin-up girl, free-love, recreational, voyeuristic, barn-yard sexuality where women are sex objects and men are competing to be the alpha male. In the other camp there is the "Victorian" approach to sexuality. Somewhere along the line the church bought into the notion that sexuality was dirty and evil. The church has clung to the notion that spiritual things are good and physical things are bad. Since sex is one of the most physical things humans can do, it was seen as debase and obscene.
Unfortunately, most Christians are very confused in this area which has led to a great deal of emotional pain and confusion. Much of the confusion about sexuality has come from a misunderstanding of passages like we find in Leviticus 15 and 18. Upon first reading it sounds like God is saying that sex is bad and that if you do it you will be "unclean."
Within the confines of the covenant relationship of marriage, sex is a beautiful and ordained gift from God. It was meant to be enjoyed. However, outside of the confines of a covenant relationship (e.g. Lev. chapter 18...sheep? hello!) sex can be one of the most emotionally, physically, and spiritually devastating experiences in a person’s life.
Sexuality is sacred to God. That is why sexuality is under such intense attack in our culture. If culture sees sex as nothing more than a recreational pastime, then we will be destroyed by the damaging effects of promiscuity. If the church is convinced that sex is "dirty" and a desire to be suppressed or overcome, then good marriages will be destroyed and Christians will be attacked by shame, leaving them wounded in the battle.
Week 5 Day 5 – Infection in the Camp
Leviticus 12:1-14:57
In the middle of this passage of Leviticus which deals with the very physical reality of infection in the camp of Israel, there is a spiritual lesson to be learned for the church of today. Infection has disastrous effects on the community. In the OldTestament, physical infection represented sin in the minds of the people. If a person, clothing, or a house, had become infected, it had to be isolated from the Tabernacle (worship of God) and the community (fellowship). If the infection never went away then the infected person essentially became the "living dead" and would have to stay outside the camp, in complete isolation, crying out "unclean, unclean." While this seems like cruel and unusual punishment, we must remember that the person was not necessarily being made to pay for their own personal sin. Rather, they were a living testimony to the reality of the infection of sin and its effects on worship and community.
Sin isolates. There are just no two ways around it. Today, when we allow sin to creep into our lives, we are infected. When this infection is detected by the priest (we are all priests...remember) it is the duty of the priest to take drastic action to isolate the infection and get rid of it. What would have happened if the priests in Moses’ camp had just let the infection slide out of "grace and compassion"? The tabernacle would have been defiled, God would have been dishonored, and the infection would have spread like wildfire throughout the camp, perhaps killing everyone. So it is with sin. Sin in the camp of God is serious business. It is a spiritual infection that goes way deeper than any skin disease, it worms its way into the soul of a person and kills him with eternal death. Sin must be identified and isolated.
Is that where it stops? Should we just take anyone who is a "sinner" and throw them out of the camp? Not at all. Yes, we must isolate the sin. We must not deal lightly with sin. We must isolate it, but then we must wait "seven days" and see if the infection is gone. In the Old Testament the number seven was a symbol of perfection. It was God’s number. It is during those "seven days" of isolation when the healing can take place. When there is sin in the camp, it is not God’s desire to punish the sinner. God loves the sinner. Yet, sin isolates. Sin cannot come into the presence of God. If it does it throws the whole worshipping community into chaos. God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin that isolates His child from Him. The purpose of the isolation is not punishment, the purpose is healing. If after seven days the person returns and is found to be without infection, if the sin is gone, then they can be reinstated into proper worship of God and fellowship with the community. They must make their sacrifices, shave their head, wash from head to foot, and then they are back.
When we sin, it takes some doing to get back into the swing of things. We need to sacrifice ourselves before God again. We need to ask God to forgive us for our sin. We need to humbly stand before the community and seek forgiveness and restitution. We must be cleansed with the Spirit of God. Then we will be renewed. Never again will that sin have effect on our worship and our fellowship. We are clean. God doesn’t hold it against us. The community doesn’t hold it against us.
Do you see the point here? It’s not that God delights in punishing us for sin and sits around waiting to zap anyone who steps out of line. The natural effects of sin are the punishment in themselves. When you sin you are hurting yourself and everyone else in your community. You are disrupting your relationship and open worship of God. You are dishonoring His name. You are jeopardizing the health of the community. That sin must be isolated or else everyone, starting with you, is going down. As a community we cannot allow sin to fester in our people. We must deal with it quickly, speak the truth about it, isolate it, repent of it, get healed from it, seek forgiveness, make restitution, and experience the cleansing power of God once again. Too many times, in our Christian perspective, in light of Grace, we think that sin is no big deal and that God will just forgive us automatically. That’s not how it works. Grace happened in the fact that God made the once-for-all atoning sacrifice for our sins and made it possible for all people to enter into His presence without a human mediator. That didn’t wipe out the effects of sin in our day-to-day lives. Sin is a nasty infection. It must be dealt with in truth and in love.
What infection do you have today? Is there cherished sin that you hold on to? Perhaps you struggle with lust and private fantasy in your thought life. Perhaps you harbor resentment or bitterness toward someone. Perhaps there is an act that you have done in secret that haunts you. Perhaps you have an addiction that seems "safe and harmless" but hangs around your neck like a 100 pound chain. That infection is destroying your fellowship with God and your fellowship with others. Oh, you may be able to go through the churchy motions, but deep down inside you know you are already standing outside the camp screaming "unclean, unclean". Remember that Jesus went outside the camp. He touched the unclean one and said, you, too, can be forgiven. God loves you. He does not want you to suffer from this infection. Your community loves you. If you want to be clean, here’s’ what you need to do.
- Find at least one godly person who will sit down with you and listen.
- Verbally name the sin and confess to that person that you have been committing that sin.
- Pray, verbally, with that person and ask God to forgive you for the sin.
- Commit to God that it is your desire to not go back to that sin in your life.
- Verbally speak the name of Jesus and claim that it is through His blood sacrifice that you have been forgiven and through the power of the Holy Spirit that you can be set free from your sin.
- Ask God, verbally, to give you the strength to move away from that sin.
- Ask the person to hold you accountable through regular follow-up conversations to not repeating that sin.
- Make any restitution to offended people that need to be made.
- Publicly, in the context of your true spiritual community, confess (not necessarily in the same level of detail as with the individual) that you have sinned and would like to re-enter a healthy relationship with the community.
If we, as the church, would function in this way, we could begin cleansing our camp, and the Spirit of God could be unleashed to do His work in us and through us.
Week 6 pdf is now available
We're staying one step ahead of the reading plan. Week 6 - Leviticus part 2 - is now available at the reading schedule page.
Week 5 Day 4 – Bad Boys!
Leviticus 10:1-3
There are three thoughts for today.
1. God takes disobedience seriously. In our age of cheap-grace we often forget that the God who incinerated Aaron’s boys is the same God that we worship today. He has not become less holy or more tolerant of sin and disobedience. Fortunately, as Paul says in Romans 5:9, "God has poured out this all-consuming wrath onto His son Jesus in our place." Never lose sight of the enormity of God’s Grace and the severity of God’s holiness.
2. It’s God’s way or the Highway. What did the boys do wrong anyway? So they used the wrong fire, what’s the big deal? The New Bible Commentary has a good slant on this issue.
Unauthorised fire (1) is unexplained. The Hebrew (zara) means ‘strange’, ‘from outside’. Perhaps they took fire from outside the sanctuary instead of from the altar (cf. 16:12), as if to say, ‘Any fire will do’. Such fire would be unholy, unclean, ‘illicit’ (neb), and therefore, in the context of all that had gone on so meticulously up to this point, wantonly offensive. Their action with it was also usurping the role of the high priest, and therefore included presumption, or perhaps jealous impatience. Their behaviour was not just an accidental slip in a minor detail of ritual, but a cavalier disregard for the most serious meaning of the events they were part of. It is as if a Christian minister in the middle of celebrating the Holy Communion were to inject rites or objects associated with the occult.1
We must remember that we don’t get to make up the rules. In our culture we have a sort of "Spirituality Smorgasbord" idea about approaching God. We walk up to the kaleidoscope of religions that sprinkle our cultural scene and choose a little of this and a little of that. "Oh, I really like the loving and kind God, I’ll take two of those. Ooh, I need to stay away from the wrath bar, I’m allergic. Ah, over here is tolerance, I’ll take three, please." Zap! Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. We don’t get to make God up, rather, our job is to figure out what God has revealed to us through scripture, what He expects from us, and then line up our lives with that. It’s HIS highway, not ours.
3. The leader’s job is to honor God. There is a profound and startling leadership lesson in this story. The priest’s job was to represent God to the people. He was the go-between. Notice what God’s indictment against the boys was all about. They did not honor God. The word translated "honor" is a rich Hebrew word, kabod, which means "to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured."2 When you are the representative of someone you carry an important responsibility to present an accurate picture of that person to others. When you represent the heavy weight of the glory of the Almighty God, you had better have your ducks in a row. God will not be mocked by flippancy or sloppy work on the part of the leaders of His church who feel that it is "no big deal" and want to just "let it slide". Being a minister of the gospel is a job that requires a sober mind. This doesn’t mean it has to be boring and like a funeral dirge. It does mean that the minister should think seriously before teaching people about God before he has done his homework. The minister needs to be sure that his cup is being filled with the authentic flame of God’s Spirit before he tries to light fires in other’s hearts.
Therein lays the real sin. The boys brought another fire. The original fire on the altar was started by God Himself, not by some guy in the back of the tabernacle with a bic lighter. Aaron’s boys thought they could fake it, and it would be OK. Not so. We, as ministers of the good news (all of us are ministers at some level, so you’re not off the hook) need to make sure that we are lighting our fires from the true flame of God’s Spirit, not from some humanly constructed spirituality that looks good, but has a faulty foundation.
Week 5 Day 3 – The Eternal Flame
Leviticus 6:8-13
In the introduction to the devotional this week we discussed the 5 different types of sacrifices that were to be brought to the tabernacle. We highlighted the fact that the burnt offering was a special offering, different than the other four, in that it was a blood offering designed to atone for the sins of the person. We discovered that Jesus is the burnt offering. Yesterday we also discussed the reason behind a burnt offering; God desires us to torch our physical desires and fixations and trust in His eternal Kingdom plan.
Today there is one more aspect of the burnt offering that will be helpful for us. God told the priests to make sure that the fire never went out on the altar. When the pillar of cloud moved and it was time to tear down the Tabernacle and migrate across the desert, the priests would take the embers of the fire and keep it burning until the new location could be established and the offerings resumed.
There is a deep truth in the fact that God required an eternal flame to burn at the door of His entrance.
- Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins is eternal. We do not have to sacrifice Jesus over and over again in order to receive redemption from sin. The sacrifice has been made and we are reconciled to God...eternally.
- The flame is a representation of the Spirit of God. The physical flames of the altar in the Tabernacle during the Old Testament have been exchanged for the spiritual flame of the Spirit of God in our hearts. Our bodies are the Tabernacle of God and His Spirit burning within us is the altar of sacrifice. The only way that we can worship God authentically and offer up our "stuff" to him as a burnt offering is if the Spirit of God is burning brightly within us.
This is the task of spiritual formation and the role of the Spiritual Disciplines in our lives. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:8
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
If we want to grow spiritually and be able to pass through the Tabernacle into the Holy of Holies, then it is vital that we focus on keeping the fire of the Spirit burning in our souls. I realize that it is a stretch to draw the analogy this far, but it may serve as a nice visual for us. Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as the process of keeping the fire burning. The priests had to remove the ashes from the fire, walk them out to the edge of the camp, come back and add logs to the fire, and then change into clean clothes. This ritual, tedious as it was, was an important part of the sacrificial system. In our lives the Spiritual Disciplines can seem to be tedious. That’s because sometimes they are. Yet, without the discipline of Bible Study, Prayer, Silence, Simplicity, Fasting, Worship, and Service, the fires of the altar would get choked out by the ashes of laziness and neglect.
The priests didn’t live to take out the ashes. They lived to keep the fire burning. Yet, without the ash removal there would be no flame. We do not live to be good spiritual-discipline-doers, we live to worship in the flame of the Spirit. Yet, without the disciplines in place to keep the ashes out, we will slowly kill the flame and the altar will become dull.
Let’s remember to ask God to light the fire in our hearts today and do our part to keep the flame of the Spirit burning brightly in our lives today.
Week 5 Day 2 – Sfumato!
We are starting a new book today. You may want to read the introduction to Leviticus
Leviticus 1:1-17
It is a very rare and wonderful occasion when my wife and I are able to take an actual overnight get away alone, without the kids. On one such occasion we were slowly browsing through the quaint shops of a little lakeside village in Minnesota and we happened into a little book store. As soon as I entered the shop the book began to call my name. It sounds strange, I know, but it was as if I was drawn directly to this book from across the shop. I followed this urge and walked right to the lonely white book on the bottom shelf, picked it up, and read the title, How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci. Without hesitation I knew I had to have this book, so I purchased it and began reading.
Being an artist and a lover of learning, Leonardo has always been one of my heroes. This book was marvelous. The author was also a Leonardo fan and had spent much of his life in the study of this great Renaissance thinker. Through the study of Leonardo’s life and writings, the author observed seven principles by which Leonardo lived, and through which he was able to unlock his creative genius.
So, what does that have to do with Leviticus 1? One of the principles that Leonardo lived by was what he called Sfumato! This is an Italian word that means "up in smoke." Say the word out loud in the best, expressive Italian accent you can muster...it’s just fun to say...Sfumato! The principle is based upon the realization that nothing in life is permanent. Things constantly change. Even the best and most wonderful things will eventually come to an end. You could be in the most wonderful, mutually edifying marriage relationship. You could even be married for 75 years. Yet, even that, as truly good as it was, will eventually end when one partner dies. Leonardo observed that most people spend their lives clinging on to things that won’t last. They believe that things like money, power, position, and pleasure will bring them great happiness. This observation makes great sense when we realize that Leonardo was living in Northern Italy during the time when the Medici family was ruling the financial and political climate. Even then, in the late 15th century people were chasing after and holding onto temporary things in an attempt to fill an eternal hole.
In light of this observation, Leonardo said that the only way to experience true freedom, peace, and creativity is to realize that everything in life is Sfumato! it will go "up in smoke." You think you have a sure thing and then, poof! it’s gone. Most people experience depression and despair because they have placed their assurances on these smoky shadows and have watched everything disappear in the puff.
So, if everything will go up in smoke, then where is the hope? Why should we put any effort into living at all? The answer to this is found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. If we cling to the eternal Kingdom of God, and build our lives on the things that will not pass away, then we will know true peace. Leonardo’s practical principle was that we should do everything we do in life with the intensity of believing it is the most important thing in the world, but then step back and say, Sfumato! it doesn’t really matter. What was important about the project was the creative process of working on it, not the product itself. It was in the creative process itself that the image of God was being realized and the intersection between God and Man could take place.
So, the question still remains. What does this have to do with Leviticus chapter 1? The first half of Leviticus is all about burnt offerings. Why did God require burnt offerings from His people? Why did He ask each family to take their most prized bull, a real cash cow (literally), bring it to the altar, and then watch the entire thing be burned into a puff of smoke and ashes? I believe God was trying to connect His people, and us, to the principle of Sfumato! That bull, that thing that you think is so important, that thing that you think will provide for your family and bring security to your life, that thing is nothing more than a puff of smoke in light of eternity. As Christians we need to be willing to take all the things that we hold on to in this life -- our financial, relational, and emotional security -- and light them on fire. Yes, those things are necessary for living in the physical world. Yes, we need to be good stewards of them and work hard at them. But we also need to be able to authentically step back and say "Sfumato! God, I lay all these things on the altar. They came from you and they are for you. Take my stuff and burn it up if you want to. All I want to do is be obedient to you."
What are your "sacred cows" that you cling to; those things that you are just not willing to give up out of fear of being without them? God looks at you and says, "Do you trust me enough to lay that thing on the altar and strike the match?" Poof...Sfumato!
Week 5 Day 1 – The Art of Worship
Exodus 35:30-36:1
There are some observations that can be made from this passage.
1. An artistic expression was considered a gift of God’s Spirit. (At this point all the Christian artists of the world stand and rejoice!) Isn’t it interesting that in the heart of God’s process of developing a tangible vehicle through which He can communicate His nature to His people, God called upon artists to get the job done. That is, in my opinion, speaking as an artist who is a Christian, the chief purpose of art. Art exists to provide a window for mortal man to be transported beyond the calculations of raw numbers and the rationality of words, into a supra-rational place where concepts like beauty and truth can be explored in a tactile, experiential way. In the process of meditating on these ideals we can connect with God, the author and sustainer of beauty and truth itself.
That was a pretty esoteric paragraph, sorry. Here’s another way to look at it. When you see a great piece of art it causes you to think about the majesty of God, the ultimate creator of all things. Art is a vital part of the worship experience and should be readily utilized in both the individual and the group worship experience.
2. The skill was a divinely given gift. Many times the purpose and practice of art can be distorted. As with most other professions and vocations, when the motive of the task becomes self-serving the spark of the eternal is snuffed out and the work becomes profane. Art for art’s sake is profane. Business for money’s sake is profane. Sex for pleasure’s sake is profane. Yet, art for God’s sake, removing the ego of the artist, is divine. God gives gifts to His people. We all have them. They are gifts. We did not earn them, nor do we deserve them. God gave them to us to use for His glory. Art is no different. When an artist realizes that her gift is from God and she decides to dedicate the artistic process to the glory of God, great and beautiful things can happen.
If you are an artist, be encouraged. Many times art can get shoved aside in the church as a superfluous endeavor. This is not the truth. God wants you to use your gifts for Him to communicate deep truths about simple beauty. Art is the language that communicates beyond cultural boundaries. The next time you pick up your brush or pencil, remember that you are an artistic ambassador for the Kingdom of God!
If you are not an artist, remember two things. First remember that God has given you an equally wonderful gift to be used to edify His body. Second, remember to encourage the artists in your community to use their gifts to bring glory to God and to help others connect with God’s presence.
Week 4 Day 5 – The Power of Presence
Exodus 33:1-34:35
There are two observations from today’s reading:
1. It was possible for the people to have gone on with God’s plan without God present. In the beginning of chapter 33 God was so displeased with the people’s unfaithfulness to Him that He threatened to withdraw His presence. Yet, He told Moses to take the people into the Promised Land.
Think about the implications of this for our lives. How many times have we forged ahead with plans that seemed to be from God, yet did it in a way that was empowered by our own flesh and desire? This is an easy trap to fall into, especially for churches and Christian organizations. We are so comfortable worshipping at the golden calf of human ingenuity and corporate success strategies that we forget that the only thing that truly matters is whether or not we are standing in the Presence of God. It would do us good to stop and make sure that we have soaked in God’s presence, asked for HIS guidance, and patiently waited for HIM to move the cloud before we move out and do something for His Kingdom.
2. The true presence of God affects radical change in the person beholding it. When Moses came down from the presence of God, his face was shining. He had been altered by the Glory of God in a way that was noticeable to everyone around him. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians,
“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And If we want to be changed, it does not happen by trying harder to bwe, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:16-18) e a better person. We do not conform our external behavior to be more like Jesus. No, these things cannot work because they are externally focused and based on human will power. It would be like trying to clean out a dirty milk jug by scrubbing the outside of it only. The only power for transformation is the Presence of God.
We need to create space in our lives each day to humbly come before God and, through prayer, Bible study, and meditation, open ourselves to His presence and ask Him to fill us and clean us from the inside out. When we leave that “tent of meeting” our faces will shine with the joy and the hope of the Lord and will be a beacon of hope to the world around us.
Tap into the power of God’s transforming presence today.
Week 4 Day 4 – Broad Shoulders Required
Exodus 28: 36-43
The role of the priest was intense. These men were chosen by God to represent the people of Israel. They were God’s go-betweens to the people because the people were not holy enough to approach the holiness of God. The priests spent their entire life making sure that they were clean enough to go into the Holy Place. If they were not clean, they would taint the whole place, disrupting the worship of God, and possibly even getting themselves struck dead by God’s wrath. The run-of -the-mill priest had to stay squeaky clean just so he could keep the lamp burning and refresh the show bread. Even with that level of holiness, they were still not clean enough to enter the Most Holy Place. As we learned yesterday, only the High Priest could go into that awesome chamber, and then only once a year.
Why did God make it so difficult to enter His presence? Why did He demand so much from His people? For crying out loud, the people weren’t even allowed to come to God; they had to go through a priest. Why is that? There are a couple of reasons: 1) the people had rejected God’s presence on the mountain and were so spiritually immature that they needed this physical system to be able to conceive of God, 2) God was demonstrating to the people (and to us) how seriously He takes holiness.
God is a holy God. He is absolute perfection and cannot tolerate anything less than perfection. It’s not that He doesn’t want it around, its that imperfection can’t withstand the presence of the absolute; it gets blown away! In a sense, God was, out of compassion, protecting His people because He knew they weren’t ready to handle absolute truth.
So what does this have to do with us? There are two important points for Christians to understand when it comes to the role of the priest.
- We have a perfect High Priest. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the perfect High Priest who entered into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled His own blood in that awesome chamber. Since he is the Son of God, the perfect Lamb, and the perfect priest, His sacrifice was a once for all sacrifice that atoned for the sins of the world, once and for all. He tore down the curtain of separation between God and man, and being the bread of Presence and the giver of the Spirit, He is our mediator between man and God.
- We are all priests. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” No longer are we the common man standing outside in the courtyard, hoping that the priest is clean enough to get our sins forgiven. We are the priests. We can enter into the Holy Place and interact with the Spirit and the Word, and, in the ultimate act of grace, the High Priest throws back the curtain for us, revealing the Presence of the Almighty.
Now that you know that you are a priest, what does that mean? Does that mean that God no longer cares about holiness, or has somehow become sin-tolerant? Not at all. God still expects absolute holiness from His priests (from you).
There are two kinds of holiness at work here:
Positional Holiness: Because of the blood of Jesus, your sins are paid for and you are considered clean and worthy to stand in the presence of God. That is grace, it was a gift, you didn’t do anything to get to that place, nor could you have had you tried.
Relational Holiness: For you to be able to stand in the presence of God and look Him in the face and receive His full glory, you need to be clean on the inside. Imperfection still cannot withstand absolute perfection. It is like a small child who has just lied to his parents or secretly disobeyed. That child cannot look her parent in the eye. Why? Because she knows she has violated the relationship. Not until the sin is confessed and the relationship restored can there be real communication between parent and child. The same is true with our relationship with God. If we are cherishing sin in our heart, we will not be able to stand before our Holy God. Not because He is pointing the finger and condemning, but because we want to hide our sin from His holiness.
What is keeping you from standing fully in the presence of God, naked and unashamed? Remember that God invites you to come to Him. The blood of Jesus is eternally sprinkled all over the Most Holy Place while the Spirit and the Son stand, holding open the curtain inviting you to come. Dump the sin and the shame that is holding you back and come bask in the presence of holiness.
Week 4 Day 3 – The Architecture of Glory
Exodus 25:1-27:19
You may be thinking, "why in the world did we devote an entire day to studying some verbal blueprints for a tent that was used to worship God in an outdated, Old Testament system? Aren’t we Christians who are free from the Law and free to worship God in Spirit and Truth, no longer bound by the physical space of a place?" True, we are. Jesus said so in John 4. However, as we will see throughout the study of Exodus and Leviticus, if we will pay attention to the tabernacle we can learn some important lessons that may have direct impact on our experience of God today.
First, we need to understand that God has given the Christian reader of the Old Testament a "decoder ring" to help us make sense out of the intricate details of the tabernacle. This decoder ring is the letter to the Hebrews. Hebrews 9-10 especially explain that God intentionally had Moses construct this physical space called the Tabernacle in order to give a concrete analogy to the cosmic work that Jesus would ultimately do for us in the Spiritual realm. The writer of Hebrews says,
"When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence." (Hebrews 9:11, 24)
For our purposes today, we need to focus in on the fact that, in some way, the tabernacle represented a certain reality about 1) the presence of God, and 2) how a human being could come into the presence of God.
There were three basic sections to the temple: the outer court where the altar of burnt sacrifice and the basin of washing was placed, the Holy Place where the lampstand and the table were placed, and the Most Holy Place (aka Holy of Holies) where the ark of the covenant was placed behind the thick curtain.
The outer court. The people were allowed into this area. Here they brought their sacrifices to be slaughtered and burnt on the altar to pay for their sins. (We’ll talk more about that bloodbath in Leviticus).
The Holy Place. Only the priests were allowed into this rectangular room. After having cleansed themselves in the basin of water just outside the door, the priests were allowed in the Holy Place where they could keep the flames of the lampstand burning and make sure the Bread of Presence was nice and fresh.
The Most Holy Place. Behind a very thick embroidered curtain was the ark of the covenant -- the place that represented the very presence of God Himself. No one was allowed in this room except one man, the High Priest. He was only allowed in this room one day a year, on the Day of Atonement. On that fearsome day, the High Priest would stick his arm in behind the curtain, wave a censor of incense around until the chamber was filled with a thick smoke so that he wouldn’t be able to really see the place of God, then he would step in and sprinkle the room with the blood of a perfect lamb to pay for the sins of the entire nation that year. If he touched the ark, he would die.
As New Testament Christians we know that Jesus is our High Priest and that when He died the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn in two, allowing all people access into the presence of God. And yet, I think we need to be aware that coming into the presence of God is not as flippant or as easy as we sometimes make it out to be. Perhaps if we look at the three sections of the tabernacle as three phases that we need to go through in order to fully come into God’s presence it would enhance our experience of worship. These three phases can be applied both to your personal Quiet Worship of God and to a worship gathering.
Phase One: Care and Share OR A Messy Mash of Blood and Guts
When we begin to come into God’s presence we need to be aware of the fact that we are carrying tons of baggage with us that we have acquired during the battle of living in this dark world. We have sins that we have committed that are weighing down our conscience and causing interference in our relationship with God and with others. We have wounds that have been inflicted on us and wounds we have inflicted on others. We have fears, and worries, and pride, envy, arrogance, etc, etc. When we gather together we need to dump all the baggage. In this phase of a worship gathering it is good to spend time talking to one another and sharing prayer requests, confessing sins, and repairing damaged relationships. We need to take our baggage and our own human pride and slit its throat, strike a match of surrender, and watch it all get consumed in the fires of selfless sacrifice. Then we can be cleansed in the basin of God’s grace and forgiveness and walk into the next room.
Phase Two: Prayer and Prepare OR The Spirit and the Word
In the Holy Place there were two things: the lampstand with seven lamps and the table on which was set the bread of Presence. In our worship experience these two things must be present before the full presence of God can be entered and experienced. On the one hand we have the 7-flamed lampstand. Throughout scripture (especially in Revelation) the Holy Spirit is described as a fire and as the sevenfold Spirit. In our worship we must be open and aware of the fact that it is only in the supra-rational power of the Holy Spirit that we can even be standing in God’s Presence. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that allows us to love each other, to understand God’s Word, and to love God. The Spirit is like a flame. He flickers and dances and gives off energy, but He can’t be touched. He is Spirit. He is the power, the energy, and the breath of God for our lives.
The second thing in the room is the Bread of Presence. Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus also said that He was the bread of life. John said that Jesus was the Word that became flesh. So, this Bread of Presence in our worship experience is the concrete, objective Word of God that was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. We have access to this objective revelation of God’s Word through the study of the Bible. More simply put, the study of the Bible is a vital part of the worship experience.
There is a wonderful balancing act going on in this room. On the one hand you have the pure energy of the free flowing Spirit. On the other hand you have the objective revelation of the physical Word of God. To truly experience God’s presence in Worship we need to keep these two elements in balance. We are energized by the Spirit and we are instructed by the Word. We can’t have one without the other. In our worship gatherings we need to study the Bible intensely and let the Spirit do with that in us what He will.
Phase Three: Stare OR Stand In Awe and Focus completely on God
Now that we have dumped our baggage so that we aren’t focused on ourselves, and have been further focused by the objective Word and the illuminating Spirit, we can humbly, selflessly, come into the presence of God. In this place it is all about Him. Here is where we give praise and adoration as we sing out, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." In this third phase of worship we give to God and tell Him how much we love Him. It’s all about Him; the focus should never be on us. And then, just like Moses, when he would meet with God on the mountain or in the Tent, the radiance of God will ignite our radiance and we will shine before men.
A Worship Challenge. Many times we distort the worship experience and get stuck in either phase one or phase two. Some of us come to worship and make it all about us. "This is my pain today, pray for me." That’s great in phase one. Bring your pain; share your burdens with your brothers and sisters in the church, prayer for one another. But then, dump it! Yet we often carry this self-focus into the next two phases and continue to have a spirit that says, "This is what I think the Bible means. This is what MY experience of God is. This is how I have given my life to God and how God has worked in MY life." While it is God talk, it is not God focused. It still brings all eyes in the room back to the person. In phase three our language and our behavior should be God focused. We are talking to Him about Him. We are offering up praise and glory to Him and Him alone. This is a supra-rational, experiential place where all eyes are focused on the glory and majesty of God and God alone. So, the next time you enter into a worship circle, see if following this progression enhances your true experience of the presence of God.
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