Wednesday, May 3, 2023

 

Wednesday, May 3, 2023


Psalm 78:16-38

Exodus 25:31-40; 27:20-21

John 11:38-44


[Philip and James may be observed today]


So that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly.


The word “god” just on its own is such a frightfully abstract concept. Ancient pagans defined “god” as beings like us humans, just with a little bit more magical power. Some modern types have tried to define a “god” as a generic desire of the flesh, like career, or relationships. There are also biblical scholars who have observed that in the Old Testament we find one word for “god” that seems to define a category, or type of being: elohim; and that the God who is above all those other gods has a name: YHWH.


What is so important however is that God is revealed in the specifics. There is only one God above all other gods, and that God is Triune. The second Person condescended to veil His glory as that ultimate God in human form, behaved in a way consistent with the ultimate God above all gods, and then suffered, died, and rose again, so that we mere humans may be brought from death into life.


While it was all well and good for Moses to build this beautiful tabernacle for God, it was equally important that everyone could see God’s beauty. Can you imagine stepping out of the dust and noise and smell of the Israelite camp into the tabernacle, filled with pure gold flashing the candlelight everywhere?


Jesus has taught us enough about how we are His light in this world that we can all see there is something important going on here spiritually. The candle in the tabernacle was a sketch, or shadow of what was to come. What has come into being in Jesus is life, and His life is the light of all people. Jesus’ light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will never overcome it. We are all Aaron’s sons, tending to the light of Christ from evening to morning before the Lord; a perpetual ordinance, to be observed throughout the generations.





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