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Light
from the Sidra |
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God
actually wants to dwell among men! If he hadn’t said so himself, we
might find it difficult to believe; but he did say it, “Make me a
sanctuary [mikdash] that I may
dwell among them”. That sanctuary reveals to us more about God and what
he requires in order for him to be able to dwell among us. What
is God like? He is like gold. Looking at the sanctuary, as we move from
the outside to the most inner part, we see that the metals to be used
in its construction become more and more precious until, within the
tabernacle itself, all is gold. The walls, the table, the menorah, the
ark and the cherubim were all made of gold. How beautiful it must have
looked as the light of the menorah gleamed upon it all. To have seen it
must have been to feel something of the purity of God. Gold
does not rust or tarnish; that is one of the reasons we value it so
highly. God, too, is incorruptible, pure in all His ways, as the
prophet Habakkuk wrote, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and
cannot look on iniquity.” Also,
gold is beautiful;
to look upon it satisfies our aesthetic senses. When David erected a
tent and placed the ark of God in it he wrote these words in a Psalm of
praise, “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness”. The character of God is
beautiful; He is the sum of all loveliness. How
then can God dwell with us? We are not pure and we have no spiritual
beauty. This problem is made very apparent by the separateness of God’s
dwelling place in the Tabernacle. It was not open and visible to all
Israel, nor to the priests. Not even the High Priest was allowed to
view the inner sanctuary except for once a year, on Yom Kippur. God remained hidden
from the sight of Israel within the Holy of Holies. What
is the solution to this great problem? The Ark in the Holy of Holies
presents both the problem and its solution to us. It was from above the
Ark that God spoke; it was there that he made his presence known. Under
him was the Law written on two stone tablets, as if to remind us of
what is required of any man who would approach God: no idolatry, no
disrespect for parents, no lying, no coveting. Who then can approach
him? No one, it would seem, for we have “all sinned and come short of
the glory of God”. But,
thank God, there is a solution to the problem. The cover of the Ark was
called the mercy seat (haKapporeth)
the place of atonement. This mercy seat proclaims the solution to the
problem: the holy God is willing to be merciful to impure sinners such
as you and me. There is hope! We
learn from this Sidra that we are utterly dependent on God’s mercy if
we are to enter his presence. Think
of this another way. Did God ask Israel, or even Moses, for suggestions
about the design and construction of the Tabernacle? After all, they
were the people who would use it; did they have nothing of value to
say? Obviously not. In fact, in this Sidra the LORD
reminds Moses in four places that he must make the entire tabernacle
“according to the pattern” shown to him by God on Mount Sinai. God
requires no bright ideas from us about how he is to be approached and
served. His mercy is given in his way and his alone. How
do you react to that? Do you feel, “Well, yes, but surely I have
something to contribute?” When we looked at the last Sidra (Mishpatim)
we saw that to enjoy fellowship with the LORD we
must obey him and walk in his ways. But we have also to remember that
such things are not the basis of our acceptance by God; they are simply
the fruit of it. God accepts us on the basis of his own willingness to
be merciful and on what took place at the mercy seat. It was there that
the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled. All
the details of the Mishkan in
this Sidra teach us very clearly that if we are to receive God’s mercy
and know him dwelling with us, we are totally dependent on him. We are
asked to contribute nothing. All we have is our sin, and that is what
has created the problem. We are in no position to resolve the dilemma.
God alone can do it. |
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