Sunday, May 1, 2011

God: I will Dwell Among My People

I was doing a daily reading and it happened to be from Exodus 29.  In this chapter, God instituted all the ritual sacrifices that Aaron and his sons would perform to consecrate the Tabernacle of Meeting.  It was a very involved process that included animal blood and various burnt offerings and sacrifices.  When all this was complete, God would come and dwell with Israel above the Mercy Seat, which covered the Ark of the Covenant.

Here is the conclusion of the chapter:

Exodus 29:42-46:  This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.  43  And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.  44  So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests.  45  I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.  46  And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

God instituted all these measures to ensure that His people (In this case, Israel) would have a pure place to meet and commune with Him--a place free from any sin or corruption.  When we understand that all this was a type and shadow of things to come in Christ (Hebrews 10:1), what can we learn?

We learn that God also provides a place for people today to meet and commune with Him in purity because of Christ's sacrifice:

Hebrews 9:11-14:  But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  12  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  13  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,  14  how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Jesus went to the cross once to consecrate a supernatural tabernacle, His Church.  Through Him, each Christian is a holy priest who offers prayers before God and can commune with Him in the security of Christ's perfect cleansing.  If you are outside of the safety of Christ's cleansing, you cannot approach God to meet Him.  For more information about how you can become a Christian, please contact me via e-mail by clicking on my profile.

Thanks, and God Bless.

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