What a Job! “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” John 4:23 -- How would you like to move your church every few months? That’s what the Israelites had to do. After Moses led them out of Egypt, God knew they needed a special place in which to worship Him. The ex-slaves well recalled the magnificent temples of the Egyptian gods. There would be no temples in the wilderness before they reached Canaan. God gave Moses detailed instructions about constructing an elaborate tabernacle tent that would contain luxurious furnishings, some covered with gold (courtesy of plague-weary Egyptians who were anxious to get rid of the slaves and their angry God). Imagine taking everything down, moving, and then setting it all up again in a new place. Add to this the rituals of worship and sacrifice, and we get a powerful picture of the elaborate worship that anticipated the coming of Christ. God took on human flesh in the person of Jesus, who is the new temple. On the cross, He offered the one and only sacrifice that suffices to forgive our sins and bring us into communion with the Father. Rather than requiring us to travel, God comes to us, wherever we are, in gracious love through His Word and Sacraments. (Father God, help us worship in a way most pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.) -- Exodus 35:20-29 English Standard Version (ESV) 20 Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lords contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats hair or tanned rams skins or goatskins brought them. 24 Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lords contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25 And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 26 All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord. .. Psalm 84 English Standard Version (ESV) My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[a] A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 84 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[b] 6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. 8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! 10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! Footnotes: Psalm 84:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term Psalm 84:5 Hebrew lacks to Zion
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 13:13:04 +0000
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