Reverence

Our society in general has lost a sense of reverence towards God, and the things of God. If society reflects a lack of reverence, it is likely, as we will see, that it is the people of God who failed to reverence the Lord first. This week's Sabbath reading brings up this question to us, the believers. The title of this Sabbath's reading is sh'mini, meaning "8th". According to Jewish teaching, the "8th" represents a step above and beyond the perfection of the number "7", which refers to the perfection of the natural creation as written in Genesis. The 8th also symbolizes resurrection and spiritual regeneration and renewal. Eight/eighth is represented by the Hebrew letter cheth which means "inner room or chamber, to separate, to cut off, to protect". So we can say that the term 8th represents God's desire to bring us to the next step in supernatural perfection, deeper and closer to Him. "The 8th day" is mentioned often in scripture. There is also a change involved in the concept of 8th, the same change that is found in resurrection and renewal, as a result of this next step in progressing perfection. The Sabbath reading starts in Leviticus 9, where God is about to bring His people into that next level. God commanded that there be seven days of consecration of the tabernacle and the priests, Aaron and his four sons, "...that you may not die." (Lev. 8:33-35). Moses had just received these commands from God on the mountain. On the 8th day, the priests were commanded by the LORD through Moses to prepare specific sacrifices "for today the LORD will appear to you...and the glory of the LORD will appear to you." (Lev. 9:4-6)). The priests were to make sacrifices of atonement for themselves and the people (v. 7). The presence of the LORD, therefore, was to be ushered in with sacrifice and reverence so that they might live. Moses and Aaron blessed the people: "Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces." (v. 23-24). However, the reverence and awe of the LORD experienced on that day did not last long. Immediately afterward, two of Aaron's sons burned incense in their censers that had been ignited by "profane/strange fire" (zur - strange, of an enemy, a foreigner, of one alienated, turned from the way). The fire that they used was not holy to the LORD. As a result, fire went out from the LORD and killed the two priests (Lev. 10:1-2). This is the explanation that the LORD gave to Moses and Aaron: "By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy. And before all the people, I must be glorified." (v. 3). We must approach the LORD with reverence, and glorify Him before the people, not for His benefit, but for our benefit, and the benefit of the people. He said that His priests must "distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses." (v. 10-11). We cannot expect the people to reverence the LORD, or the things of the LORD, if we do not reverence Him. Those who believe in Christ are also considered priests before Him (1 Peter 2:9-10, Rev. 1:6, 5:10), who offer spiritual sacrifices in His spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). The Apostle Paul also warned us against an attitude of irreverence concerning the things of the Lord. He was correcting the Church at Corinth regarding their irreverent attitude and actions involving The Holy Communion, or Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:17-26). He told them the revelation that He received directly from the Lord regarding this remembrance of the Last Supper, which was a Passover Seder, that Jesus had with His disciples. At that time, Jesus revealed the necessity of His body and His blood, represented by the bread and the wine, as a sacrifice, and as a new covenant for them. The Church at Corinth was treating the Communion as if it were an occasion for food and drink. Then Paul gave us this warning that brings to mind the deaths of the two sons of Aaron, which we read above: "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup in an unworthy manner (anaxios - "irreverently") will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself...For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner (irreverently) eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep (are dead). (v. 27-30). As the LORD told Moses and Aaron, when His priests are not reverent in their ways before Him, they rob the LORD of His glory before the eyes of the people. Paul wrote, "...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31). In another example from this week's Sabbath reading, David and many from Judah, were attempting to bring the ark of the covenant into the City of David, or Jerusalem, in 2 Samuel 6. Although this account does not mention an "8th day", if we look at the Hebrew key words used in verses 1 and 2, there is an underlying meaning of resurrection, and even the Rapture, the catching away of the living believers (see 1 Thess. 5:14-18 for a description). If you wish to see a breakdown of these Hebrew words and their meanings, I will add them to the bottom of this entry*. We find out in this account from 2 Sam. 6, that the ark of the covenant has a name: "...the ark of God whose name is called by the Name, the LORD of hosts, who dwells (between) the cherubim" (v. 2). The ark was moved on a cart, which is against the command of the LORD that it must only be carried on poles. One of the movers, Uzzah (meaning "strength, power, might"), reached out with his hand to steady the ark when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled (v. 6). He died immediately. David became angry, and was afraid (yare - "fear, reverence, honor, respect, awe") of the LORD that day, and then asked, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" (v. 8-9). Now David sought the proper way to handle the holy thing of God that bears His Name. On the second attempt, men, not a cart, bore the ark. Not only did David bring up the ark with joy and praise, as he had done the first time, but David now also wore a linen effod (a change of clothes to white linen, which symbolizes the LORD's righteousness), but also had sacrifices made every six (the Hebrew letter vaw, meaning "nail, nailed to, joined") paces. "So David, and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet." (v. 13-15, see also 1 Thess. 4:16-17). David's wife, who was the previous king's daughter, had contempt for David and the manner by which he brought up the ark, and because of that, she was barren for the rest of her life (v. 16, 20-23). So David, who loved the LORD and was already familiar with the power of praise, learned the power of reverence also, and the danger of neglecting it. He successfully brought the ark into the city of Jerusalem. God's people were brought a step above and beyond in perfection, and it was accomplished through reverence. The author of the Book of Hebrews wrote: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:28-29). We can see that there is a connection to being taken above and beyond the natural perfection into the supernatural perfection of God, and our continued reverence for Him, and the things that are called after His Name. Our reverence also glorifies God before the people. Perhaps there are holy things that we have begun to take for granted in our faith, such as the name of God, the Word of God, Communion, and the resurrection and rapture of the believers. All of these things incorporate the principles of the 8th day, which include change, resurrection, renewal and regeneration. However, there is also the necessary ingredient of reverence that must accompany these things. If you would like to know more about reverence toward the LORD, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You are great, and holy, and worthy of our praise and reverence. You desire to bring us into Your inner chamber, and to a higher level of perfection in You, and into the exact image of Your Son, Jesus. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can walk in reverence before You always, as You change and perfect me. I ask these things in Jesus' Name, AMEN." *An addendum to this entry: First we will read 2 Sam. 6:1-2, and then the meaning from the key Hebrew words: "Again, David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God...". One meaning of these two verses might also be: "Again the Beloved (denotes the Messiah) assembled, collected, took away, harvested, received the company or family which is under a leader, of the taught, yoked, and lifted up, the elect, the selected, the tried, the examined, the proven, that which is the same as, or an exact copy. The Beloved was raised up and caused to come forth, and carried away, led forth, the lords or citizens of praise, the flock, the kindred, the attendants who were with Him, in order to bring up, ascend, take up, carry away and fetch up the chest, especially a coffin, of the Lion, pierced, piercing."