God Knows and Lives

Fulfilled prophesies provide strong evidence for the veracity of the Bible and demonstrate God's power to know and do all He has promised.  It is one thing to accurately predict the outcome of a game, whether a medical treatment will be effective, or how tall someone will grow to be, but it is entirely another thing to predict something that is obviously impossible.  Speaking of His physical body, Jesus said to those who questioned His authority:  "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  The apostle remarked in John 2:22, "Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said."  We observe Jesus and the Scripture foretold His death and resurrection, and the knowledge, promises and power Jesus displayed to do what is impossible moved people to believe in Him.

This morning I read Ezekiel 37 when God used an illustration with a valley filled with dry bones.  God asked the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  If I was Ezekiel, I would have quickly answered "No."  The bones were dry and turning to dust; how could they support a physical body or the marrow produce red blood cells?  If Ezekiel focused on what we he knew from observation, experience and human anatomy, impossibilities would abound.  Yet he fixed his attention upon God and said, "O Lord God, you know." (Ezekiel 37:3)  God said the dry bones would know He was the LORD when He brought life into them again.  God commanded Ezekiel to prophecy to the bones and by the power of God they were covered with muscles, sinews, skin and God breathed life into the great army that stood on their feet before Him.

God explained the significance of the vision to the prophet in Ezekiel 37:11-14:  "Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. ¹⁴ I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'"  God spoke of the Jewish nation as feeling dry, having lost hope and cut off.  Yet God would do for them as those dry bones, for He would revive them and bring them into their land again.  This came to pass after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, and it came to pass in 1947 when Israel regained their land and became a sovereign nation again.  This also will have a future fulfilment, for at the end of the Great Tribulation Jesus will return to judge the nations and establish His throne in Jerusalem.  He will gather His people to Himself from wherever they had been scattered.

I find it intriguing some dead believers literally rose from the dead when Jesus died on the cross as it is written in Matthew 27:51-53:  "Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many."  Like the centurion who witnessed the death of Jesus on the cross, Ezekiel said people would know He was the LORD when God opened their graves and brought them out alive.  Ezekiel 37:24-26 goes on to say, "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. ²⁵ Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore."

Jesus is revealed to be the Son of David, God's Servant spoken of by Isaiah and the prophets, the KING OF KINGS who will rule over the nations, the Good Shepherd who lay down His life for the sheep.  It was humanly impossible for dry bones to live, but with God all things are possible.  It was not believed possible God could take human form, die on the cross and rise from the dead, but Jesus Christ has done all this and more!  As those dead believers were raised to life, so the Jews would inhabit Jerusalem again, and one day Jesus will return and rule the nations.  Jesus has made a new covenant in His own blood that Jew and Gentile can have peace with God by receiving Jesus by grace through faith.  How awesome is our God who does the impossible, who speaks of what will be when it never could be.  It is encouraging to know even if we feel dry, without hope or cut off, in God there is assurance of new, abundant life by faith in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns forever. 

Bread of the Presence

My Bible reading in the evenings these days has been in the Legacy Standard Bible, a relatively new translation that seeks to "preserve the American Standard Version while incorporating recent discoveries of Hebrew and Greek textual sources and rendering it into more current English."  The biggest difference from other versions I am familiar with is the heavy use of "Yahweh" in translating the Tetragrammaton rather than "LORD God."  Yesterday I came across another distinction, as the showbread in Exodus 39:36 was called, "the bread of the Presence."  This refers to the 12 large loaves of holy and consecrated bread that were placed on the table of showbread on every Sabbath and were to be eaten by the priests in the holy place.

The table of showbread was one of three articles in the holy place in the tabernacle along with the altar of incense and the lampstand (Menorah).  As I thought about all these articles, each one required maintenance:  the lamps were filled with oil, the wicks trimmed and lit to provide light continually.  Exodus 30:7-8 says of the altar of incense, "Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. ⁸ And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations."  Concerning the showbread baked with fine flour we read in Leviticus 24:6-8:  "You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the LORD. ⁸ Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant."  Incense was burned when the lamps were tended and the bread was eaten by the priests--light to see, incense to smell and bread to eat--an interactive feast of the senses physically and spiritually.

It was forbidden for the children of Israel to copy the formula of the anointing oil or the incense used in the worship of God in the tabernacle.  From what I have read, I do not see a similar prohibition for the "bread of the Presence" which was displayed on the table for a memorial.  Bread was a staple food for the Hebrews, and bread was likely part of every meal.  Unlike everything else in the holy place, the bread of the presence was meant for eating by priests while oil and incense was consumed by fire.  While the bread people baked was not anointed or placed on the table of showbread, the bread people made in their houses and ate was special because of the significance in the tabernacle and the bread's connection to the presence of God.  It is fitting Jesus did not remain in the heavens or abide only in the temple, but He came to common people and revealed Himself as the Bread of Life.  It was amazing God dwelt in the midst of His people, and then to present Himself as Jesus Christ went even further, for He promised whoever believed in Him would receive eternal life enjoyed in His presence.

During the Passover feast, Jesus instituted Communion with His disciples by eating bread that symbolised His body broken for them and drank wine that represented His blood shed for them.  Christians in the church today proclaim our LORD's death until He comes by eating the bread and drinking of the cup together, and this physical act of obedience is a declaration of God's presence within us by the Holy Spirit--having received Jesus by faith and been born again.  Eating the broken bread is a reminder of the price Jesus paid to atone for our sins through His death and shows we have spiritually received Him.  Calling the showbread the "bread of the Presence" is a worthy title as it alludes to the presence of God who was with His people in the tabernacle and temple, and it also foreshadows the Bread of Life Jesus whose presence indwells us as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  How close we can be to God because His presence has drawn near to us!

Convinced by the Lord Jesus

"I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."

Romans 14:14

This revelation God gave Paul cut deep against the grain of his upbringing, traditions and perspective.  As a man raised in Judaism who was devout, student of Gamaliel who became a Pharisee, there were many things deemed unclean in the law of Moses.  Paul could prove what was clean and unclean in black and white.  Yet after being born again by faith in Jesus, over many years Paul knew and was convinced by the Lord Jesus there is nothing unclean of itself.  I imagine this teaching directly confronted Paul's long held beliefs, judgments and outlook--and perhaps ours as well.

I have observed in myself and in others a tendency to assume many things are unclean in itself.  For instance, I have spoken to people who rail against materialism as a great evil to the point they feel guilty for having things.  They view having to pay a mortgage for their house or attending a purpose-built church as an indictment against their own good character.  This reminds me of the Gnostics who believed the material world was inherently evil while all that is spiritual is good and divine.  This is contrary to the revelation of Scripture, for God is the source of all goodness; only He is righteous, holy and eternally so.

In the forgoing passage in Romans 14, Paul wrote of people who only ate vegetables and others who ate anything.  He spoke of those who observed a holy day whilst to others it was just another day.  Paul explained to believers they could follow their own convictions with thanksgiving to God on what foods to eat or holy days to observe without condemning those who did otherwise--as if it was evil in itself to eat meat or to celebrate the New Year.  One can enjoy food without gluttony and can drink without becoming intoxicated.  Celebrations and gatherings need not be marked with hedonistic pursuits, sexual promiscuity or violence.  I grew up in an era where people frowned upon "playing cards," dancing and drinking alcohol as activities that were likely sinful in themselves or toed the line of sin--perhaps because of their history with those activities and desire not to embolden others to be drawn into what they were convinced was sin for them.

Paul knew and was convinced by Jesus nothing is unclean of itself, but he also was convinced that if someone views anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.  This is also something believers ought to take to heart, especially when we have been given to legalism.  We assume a legalistic posture when we force or compel other to adopt our personal convictions under the guise of spiritual maturity and to truly please God.  As followers of Christ, our choices are to be governed by the love of God and love for one another.  Rather than judging and condemning others over their exercise of liberty that differs from ours, we are to be united in Christ's kingdom that is marked by righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Romans 14:19 is not a description of a Christian walking on eggshells but one who lives by faith and obedience to Jesus:  "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another."

Members of One Another

"And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle."

Exodus 36:13

The Bible contains many lists of people in genealogies, offerings brought by leaders of tribes, and items made for the service of the LORD in the tabernacle.  It may be tempting to skip or gloss over such passages, but God can still speak volumes by verses that seem obscure or mundane.

When I read about the offerings people brought daily for the tabernacle, it struck me how God employed a combination of materials He created that were freely offered by His people to build it.  God created gold, silver, trees, every variety of precious stones, olive oil, goats with hair and rams with wool, as well as naturally occurring dyes.  God's people brought these articles which were skillfully weaved, cut, carved, beaten and shaped into the desired size and shape to fit together.  Fibres of wool were twisted into yarn, and the yarn was dyed and weaved into curtains.  Golden clasps were tied to the curtains to connect them all together and make one single unit--massive curtains all connected by gold clasps to be one tabernacle where the presence of God dwelt.

It was important when making the curtains that each of the 50 loops of blue on one curtain lined up with the 50 loops on the next curtain so 50 clasps of gold could join them together as one.  If one loop of blue or golden clasp was missing, it was not a complete tabernacle; it was unfit for service because it did not meet God's standard in His Law.  Think of all the goat hair, wool of rams and trees were needed to make the curtains and to provide a structure to support them!  Consider all the people who worked together to join yarn, threads and boards together to make a massive tent in the wilderness that could endure windy days, hot sun and flash floods.  At God's direction it was all disassembled, carried where God led them, and reassembled again.  The earth is God's footstool made for mankind to dwell in, and God allowed mankind to construct a place where He would dwell among them.

In thinking of the elaborate structure of the tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem, I was reminded that Christians are now the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.  We are all members of the Body of Christ (the Church) and Jesus is our Head.  As the tabernacle was comprised of many threads, boards, loops, clasps and sockets, so the church is made of many members who are part of one body.  The New Testament teaches us Christians are members with one another, having the same Spirit and mind of Jesus.  Ephesians 4:25 & 32 explains our identity ought to lead to living in unity:  "Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another...³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."  If a loop was torn or a golden clasp missing, the right thing to do was to set about repairing it.  Should there be a schism in the church among brethren due to lying or lack of love, we ought to do our part to work toward restoration.  In Christ we are members of one another, after all.