Last week, in Wilderness instructions, Part 2, we learned that in order for God to take up dwelling in each of our hearts, we must be willing to give Him the things that are precious to us, the things we hide behind, the things that “spice up” our lives, etc. He must be our number one priority!
Our text today takes us just one verse farther: “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Exodus 25:8-9 NIV).
And that’s it! Our entire lesson for today is summed up in these brief, power-punched words!
Let’s remember that God wants to dwell with us, in our hearts as part of our lives: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.“ (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV).
But the “temple” He will live in can’t be just any structure. It must be modeled after the pattern that He has shown us!
Okay, I don’t know about you, but I see a couple of red flags here.
First of all, the pattern given to Israel was for a physical temple. The one that God wishes to build in our hearts is a spiritual one. The specific instructions given in the wilderness just don’t work here, do they? So just where are we supposed to get the instructions for building this temple in our hearts that is modeled after the pattern that He has shown us?
Jesus Himself gives us the answer: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:15 NIV).
This is later confirmed by Peter: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21 NIV)
The “pattern” that God wishes our spiritual heart-temples to be patterned after is simple this: Jesus Christ!
Jesus’ example while on this earth leaves us no question about how to deal with each and every situation: We are to show love, just as Jesus did! And that loving heart, modeled after our Lord and Savior, creates the perfect heart-temple for God’s Spirit to reside.
But this seems so idealistic. After all, Jesus’ challenges looked a bit different than ours. How were we supposed to follow His example?
Once again, God does not leave us in the dark: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV).
The answer is this: It is by beholding that we are changed!
But what does it mean to “behold”? I mean, that’s not a word often heard in 21st century English!
The thesaurus gives us some ideas: “Observe, watch, see, take a look at, view, consider, regard…” To name a few. Basically what this is telling us is that the secret to knowing how to do what Jesus would do is to study Him! To consider His actions, to meditate on His life, to know His heart!
It all boils down to relationship again, doesn’t it? When we spend time with Jesus Christ, when we study His life, when we pray and listen to His voice, when we become sensitive to the leadings of His Spirit, we learn how to be like Him. Our lives begin to resemble His, we are changed into His image, and our heart-temples become an exact copy of the pattern God has given us in His Son, Jesus Christ!
But there is just one more red flag that waves as I make this rather unorthodox comparison between the temple in the wilderness and God’s heart-temples: Why would God care if our hearts are fashioned in the way He says? Shouldn’t He just be happy that we want to have Him residing in our lives? Is God so vane?
Let’s remember that without Jesus Christ, our hearts are filled with sin, sin which is so putrid that it separates us from God: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.” (Isaiah 59:2-3 NKJV)
Therefore, the reason God needs us to fashion our heart-temples in the way He describes is so that we are not separated from Him, so that He can hear our voice, so that His face is visible to us! God prescribes a certain pattern, because He knows that this is the pattern we need in order to have Him reside in our hearts!
I challenge you today to think about this text this week. Is your heart fashioned after the heart of Jesus Christ? If it isn’t, then you cannot fully experience the presence of God in your life. The good news, however, is that by beholding Jesus, our hearts are changed into the image of the heart-temple that God prescribes.
Why not spend time contemplating Jesus today?
But if all we need to do is contemplate Jesus, then why do we need to study ancient instructions for a tabernacle that no longer exists?
Over the course of the next few studies, we will see that each part of the wilderness tabernacle represents a specific aspect or attribute of Jesus. Thus, by studying the tabernacle, we can come to know Jesus and His work much more profoundly and thoroughly, and thus, we can gain invaluable instruction on how to construct our heart-temples. Please join us next week for Wilderness Instructions, Part 4: They Shall Make an Ark…
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries.
(To access the entire “Wilderness Instructions” mini-series, please click here.)