2.17.26 – Dwell Within

 There is a lot of hype these days about the condition of our natural world. Do we have enough resources? Are we killing the environment? Do we have a population control issue? Are we going to be destroyed by a giant meteorite? Are we imploding from a racist mindset if we do not teach the leftist amoral woke ideologies? The list goes on and on, and the media is never short on its fear-mongering techniques.

The world that we live in is a place over which we have been given 100% stewardship from the Creator Himself. When we read through the Scriptures, we find that God is less concerned with the creation of our home—planet Earth—than He is about making a dwelling place for Him to dwell with us (Ex. 25:8–9):

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell within (tavek) them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."
(Ex. 25:8–9)

In this week's Torah portion, Terumah, the entirety of the blueprint-monologue from God to Moses is centered on duplicating the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary here on earth. Yeshua/Jesus emphasizes this to us also in the way that we pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). What God gave to Moses is true for us today: we are to duplicate heaven here on earth. The question that inquiring minds ask is, "HOW?"

From Exodus 25 through Leviticus 40, there is only one theme the Torah gives to focus on: the Tabernacle and how to relate to the One True God who desires to dwell within (tavek) us. God's dwelling with us has been the sole focus from the opening chapters of Genesis to the deliverance from Egypt, to the prophecy in the Song of Moses at the splitting of the sea, to the reason why God brought us to Himself at Mount Sinai: "I want to dwell with you!"

The people were invited voluntarily to participate in this project (Ex. 25:2). They were invited to give from their heart and not through coercion. It is the opportunity for—and the beginning of—a new world where God chooses to rest in the midst of His people. You can sense the excitement that God displays to Moses through the intricate details given to him in a private forty-day encounter. God does not want a house to look at; He wants a home to dwell in—a structure with seven vessels and all the accessories "according to what I show you on the mountain" (Ex. 25:40; 27:8).

This morning I want to put a focus on the Menorah (Ex. 25:40) and the bronze altar (Ex. 27:8). We already know Moses is on the mountain. Why is it reemphasized to build according to what he was shown on the mountain, when everything He was shown was patterned after the heavenly tabernacle (Ex. 25:8–9; Heb. 8:5)?

From the overall general plan of the Tabernacle (mikdash) to the Menorah to the bronze altar, there is a message that the encounter at Mount Sinai will be remembered forever—the closeness and the love affair (Deut. 4:35; Jer. 2:2).

Simply put, to retain and act upon this knowledge is the goal of every part of our lives. Its purpose is to keep us focused on that goal and working toward it. These things shown to Moses on the mount are to give us a new perception that leads to a new reality for our 21st-century living.

Everything that occurs within our lives, as His Tabernacle (dwelling place) (2 Cor. 5:1–5; 1 Cor. 6:9; 2 Cor. 3:16–17), is to perpetuate this state of specific knowledge that is the reality of Mount Sinai, which is the tool kit for life in all of our relationships—horizontally and vertically.

These instructions clearly inform us that it is possible for man to enter into God's presence and have an intimate relationship with Him when the structures of our lives are built for Him.

The Menorah and its nuances remind us that we are to be lights to the world, constantly refilling the oil from the Olive Tree—the source of our covenant relationship—morning and evening (Rom. 11). We are not to sit idly by as the world grows incessantly darker; we are to renew our light daily with a fresh supply of crushed olives (Lev. 24:1–4). When darkness and light are the same to God (Ps. 139:12), God is giving us the specific responsibility to shine in a dark world (Matt. 5:13–16).

The altar gives us specific instructions on how to voluntarily approach God (Lev. 1–5) in order to experience His presence (Lev. 1–9). This deals with the lowest strata of our existence—our beastly tendencies. Every moment at the altar creates a state of constant renewal as our old man is yielded to the flames and our new man is renewed to shine in a world that desperately needs light to expose evil deeds (Eph. 5:1–14).

Shalom,
Alan

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