One In Jesus

Astonishingly, near the end of Hebrews, the writer makes a contrast between the obsolete, inferior worship at the Tabernacle and compares this to the worship of God that takes places in heaven itself.

Therefore, he urges us to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Heb 12:28 ESV).

Now, the natural human tendency is to interpret “worship,” “reverence,” and “awe” based on our own culture and experiences. Therefore, where I grew up, this was speaking of being quiet in the church auditorium while awaiting the beginning of the service. And sometimes it referred to teenagers not whispering during church. Continue reading →

Although Tabernacle imagery appears in several places in the New Testament, the most prominent place is the book of Hebrews. We need to start in chapter 8 —

(Heb 8:5 ESV)  ⁵ The [priests who served at the tabernacle] serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

Astonishingly, this verse is often cited as a proof text for the idea that Christians should copy a pattern. After all, it’s argued, Moses was told to copy a pattern.

But this argument ignores the entirety of the book of Hebrews. The whole thing. Because Hebrews is built on a series of arguments that Jesus is superior to the Mosaic system. Hence, the writer is arguing that Moses’ following a pattern is evidence of inferiority and insufficiency. Continue reading →

At Mt. Sinai, God gave Moses very detailed commands on how to build the Tabernacle.

The Tabernacle was a portable temple. It was a tent but a tent where the Israelites worshiped God.

It was the center of Jewish worship for hundreds of years after the exodus. It wasn’t until David moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and Solomon built the Temple that the Jews stopped worshiping at the Tabernacle.

Although the Tabernacle was replaced by Solomon’s Temple, Jewish and early Christian thought was heavily shaped by the Tabernacle. Why? Well, because God dwelled among the Israelites there. Continue reading →

Near the end of Deuteronomy, the book records a song sung by Moses to the Israelites just before they cross the Jordan River.

We never study the Song of Moses, but it’s a fascinating composition.

Moses refers to the Israelite people anthropomorphically, that is, as a single person: Israel (remember: God renamed Jacob as Israel).

(Deu 32:10-12 ESV)  ¹⁰ “[God] found [Israel] in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.  ¹¹ Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,  ¹² the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.”

I just love that image, and I love that Moses, having just delivered chapter after chapter of statutes, returns to the most important thing: God’s love for Israel. Continue reading →