ApprehendingGrace.com

                                               By guest blogger, Phil Hovatter

If you’ve been reading through the Bible with us this year (a.k.a. “Resting at the River’s Edge”) you might be thinking of the last part of Exodus as “fly-over country.” Can we be honest with each other for a moment? I have lots of favorite portions of Scripture. By extension that means that there are some portions that are – shall we say – not so favorite. I bet you have a bunch of these as well: lengthy, dreary prophecies against Moab or Edom; all those bits in Leviticus about mold and pus and hairs; and of course the dreaded genealogies. (I actually like the genealogies, but that’s a topic for a future blog.) I think it’s a safe bet to lump in the specifications for the building of the Tabernacle found in Exodus 25 through 40.

Consider this for a moment: the record of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth gets boiled down to one verse in Genesis 1:1. The details of that creative effort consume the remainder of that one chapter. In contrast, God spends sixteen chapters in Exodus specifying the plans and execution of the construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishing, then goes on for all 27 chapters of Leviticus giving instructions for how it is to be used. Call me crazy, but I think there might be more here than meets our 21^st century eyes.

I didn’t want to just gut it out and grind my way through this lengthy passage of Scripture. Not when God has gone to such pains to preserve these details in His eternal Word. So I determined that I would make a little effort to scratch beneath the surface and see what I could learn. And I knew just where to start.

In my personal library I have a little volume about the Tabernacle that was written years ago by one of my favorite Bible teachers, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard any of his radio broadcasts of Thru the Bible, but in them he goes through the entire Old and New Testaments in five years. Dr. McGee has been dead for over 20 years, but these broadcasts are replayed on Christian radio around the world and are available online. But I digress. I own an old copy of a booklet he wrote entitled The Tabernacle: God’s Portrait of Christ. This excellent publication is now available for free as a PDF download from Thru the Bible’s website. 

I was arrested by the very first sentences of the book:

“The problem of establishing a dwelling place with man is of supreme importance with God. In the pages of Scripture it is of chief concern to Him.”

There it is in a nutshell. God created us for fellowship with Him, but through Adam’s sin all of mankind has been separated from Him. Sinful man is totally incapable of restoring that fellowship. If it is to be done at all, it has to be entirely God’s doing to bring restoration.

The whole story of the Bible is the account of how God is progressively bringing mankind back to Him, with the culmination found at the end of the book in Revelation.

Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
                                              Revelation 21:3 (NIV)

But this process is progressive and stretches throughout all of human history. It started in Genesis with God walking and talking with men such as Adam and Enoch. It continues with God revealing Himself to Moses and giving him detailed instructions for how a sinful nation can live with and approach a holy God without being incinerated along the way. It gets fleshed out (literally!) by the coming of the Son of God to pay the total penalty for the sins of all mankind. And it comes to fulfillment at a wedding feast in the New Jerusalem.

The Tabernacle is a critical waypoint along that historic journey.
It speaks of the holiness of God who yearns to be among His people, but who has to keep them safe in His presence. In the details for the construction of the Tabernacle there is no room for human creativity and imagination. Every detail is specified by God. Nowhere will you find the word “or.” God gives no place for human input or suggestion. He has provided a way – one way – for His people to approach Him for worship and fellowship.

In the Old Testament, it was through the offerings and sacrifices at the altar. In the New Testament era, it is through the forgiveness and Lordship freely offered by Jesus Christ. If our creativity or ingenuity or initiative rebels against God’s prescribed procedures and seeks a way to Him of our own devices, that is sin.

There is significance in every detail in the blueprint for the Tabernacle. Every tent peg, every curtain clasp, every seacow hide is part of the portrait of Christ. Here are just some tidbits that rock my world:

• Notice how in the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, everything is covered in precious gold. The Holy of Holies is where the presence of God would dwell. As you get further from the presence of God, metal items go to silver, and finally to bronze.
• The altar of burnt offerings is the starting place for the sinner in his approach to God. A sacrifice is made to satisfy God’s holiness.
• Then one proceeds to the brass laver to wash himself, a picture of the sanctification that follows forgiveness of sins.
• From there, only the priests could enter into the Holy Place where they would find the table of bread. The bread got changed every week, with the old bread being eaten by the priests, with wine. (Did I hear you say “communion”?)
• There was the altar of incense, which is an image of prayer, and the golden lampstand that illustrates the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• And finally the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest could enter and only once a year, where the presence of God rested on the Ark of the Covenant.

When we finish Exodus at the end of February, we’ll move on to Leviticus, where we’ll learn the roll of offerings, festivals and laws about how to live together as a people of God. Let me encourage you not to fly over this precious territory.

Psalm 21 (NIV)
          For the director of music. A psalm of David. 

¹    O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength.
    How great is his joy in the victories you give!

²    You have granted him the desire of his heart
    and have not withheld the request of his lips.

This morning as I began to read Psalm 21, I realized that David, the writer of the psalm, is the King. So I went back to the beginning of the psalm and read it through speaking in first person instead of third person. In other words, where it says “the king” I read “I,” and where it says “his” or “him” referring to King David, I substituted “my” or “me.” So the first two verses read like this: 

¹    O LORD, I rejoice in your strength.
    How great is my joy in the victories you give!

²    You have granted me the desire of my heart
    and have not withheld the request of my lips.

 What a blessing! Try it! It (1) caused me to read the Psalm more slowly and (2) gave it tremendously more personal impact. Sure, there were some verses that couldn’t be taken literally (“you placed a crown of pure gold on my head” v. 3b), but when they were not true in the literal sense, they were surely true in the spiritual sense (our “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8), “crown of life” (James 1:12), and “crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4) – crowns which we shall lay at the feet of Jesus (Revelation 4:9)). As I read Psalm 21, I briefly thought of these crowns, and reflected on the crown of gold that rests on the head of Jesus (Revelation 14:14). As you personalize Psalm 21, God may bring other things to your mind. That’s the wonderful personalization work of the Holy Spirit.

So personalize it! You’ll be glad you did!

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” Exodus 19:10-11 (NIV)

Imagine if you knew the Lord was coming to visit you the day after tomorrow. How would you prepare? What would you do for the rest of the day today and all day tomorrow? When I read this passage, I was caught up in such excitement that God was going to come down from heaven to visit with the people of Israel.

Moments later I was a bit convicted. God wants to come down and visit with me regularly, but I don’t always spend the time and effort necessary to prepare myself to receive Him. Perhaps even worse than that, I don’t anticipate God’s visit. I want to always be excited that TODAY is the day I will meet with God and He with me. What a way to live! In anticipation of hearing from the Creator of the universe.

God told the Israelites to “consecrate” themselves, to wash their clothes and to “be ready.” The word translated “consecrate” (or “sanctify” in the King James Version) is qadash and means “to make clean” or “keep holy” or “purify.” Before the Israelites were to meet with God, they were to clean themselves up and remain holy or set apart for Him. If I want to meet with God, I need to do all I can to make myself clean and keep myself holy. That means avoiding those conscious sins and asking God to reveal things in my life that are impure. It means going to God regularly and asking for His forgiveness and sanctification.

God also told the Israelites to “be ready.” As I read the passage, I was reminded of the night before a family vacation – we were to “be ready” to leave when we woke up (which was always at 4am because my dad was a truck drive and he wanted to do as much driving in the dark before the rest of the world woke up). That means we had our bags packed and our clothes laid out, but more than that, it meant that we were emotionally ready to jump out of bed and hit the road. And we were excited about it.

Being ready to meet with God is very similar – it means that we have an anticipation, a physical and emotional willingness to “move” when God says to move, and a spiritual openness to hear what He says. Perhaps most of all, it means that we are excited to hear from Him. God wants us to want Him. He responds to our openness to Him. The oft-quoted verse from Revelations is “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20) Jesus is speaking to believers. He is saying that He won’t knock the door down, but he will knock. If we open the door, He comes in. He waits to be invited.

I want to live my life in the mode of making myself ready and anticipating God’s visit. Then when He knocks, I want to be there to say “Lord, I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome. Let’s share the day together. Make my heart your home today, Lord.”

      For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
    And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
                        Isaiah 9:6  (NIV)

I’ve been meditating on the titles given to Jesus in the above passage for the last few days: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We are so blessed to serve a God worthy of these paradoxical titles. I say paradoxical, because I wouldn’t expect the “Mighty God” to also be a “Wonderful Counselor.” The Mighty God upholds me with his strength and power. The Mighty God goes to battle on my behalf. The Mighty God rides in on a white horse as a “conqueror bent on conquest” (Rev 6:2). Read what Revelation 19:11-16 says about my Mighty God, Jesus:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Are you pumped? I am! Not because I desire war and bloodshed, but because my God is MIGHTY – He is POWERFUL – and He will some day bring justice to this world. Praise God that He has made a way for me to escape His wrath. It’s what Christmas is all about.

Here’s the paradox – that the mighty God described in Revelation is also a Wonderful Counselor! It boggles my mind a bit to think that someone with the mighty power of God is also compassionate enough to be the Prince of Peace. Yet Jesus gave us the following invitation and description of himself in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Now that’s the Prince of Peace – One who lifts my burdens, who enables me to rest when I am weary, and One who gives not just physical rest, but rest for my soul. He takes the bits and pieces that are at war within me and brings peace to them. I am so grateful.

The Mighty God is also gentle and humble in heart. He was born to humble beginnings – wrapped in clothes and placed in a manger, visited by shepherds. Of course He was also born to fanfare fitting for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – An angel announced His birth to the shepherds and then “a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel” to sing praises to God (Luke 2:12).

Isaiah 9 also calls Him Wonderful Counselor and Everlasting Father. The word used for counselor means to advise well or reflexively deliberate or resolve – more like a legal counselor than a psychological counselor. Jesus is our true advocate and gives wisdom that is beyond what we can know from this world. And He is our forever God, not our “here today, gone tomorrow” God. Not only is the wisdom He gives appropriate for us today, but is wisdom for all time. It is the wisdom of a father who sees, understands and knows all things. Our earthly fathers may have tried to impart wisdom in us, but it was wisdom that came from their limited life and understanding of life. That didn’t make it bad. It just didn’t make it infallible – without error. God’s advice has no errors and He will never die. He is our everlasting father.

As I contemplated these many aspects of Jesus, the question that formed in my mind was this: Do I allow God to be these things for me? He is these things, but do I let Him be those things for me?

Do I allow Jesus to be my Mighty God when I need a defender of justice, or do I push for my own justice?

Do I seek Jesus’ face when my burden is heavy and my soul needs rest or do I push on to other things or escape into television or computer games?

Do I seek and follow God’s counsel or do I rely on my own wisdom or the opinions of others?

When I need a father – whether for protection, provision, advice, relationship or comfort – do I turn to my heavenly Father or do I try to find a substitute here on earth?

Ultimately the question that God asked me was this: Am I sufficient? Do you allow Me to meet all your needs?

May I encourage you to be challenged by the same questions? Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is he that in your life? Are you allowing Jesus to meet all your needs? He has the power, the time, the ability, and the desire. Let Him in today.