Build

       Last week we looked at the kind of offering that God requires to build His Tabernacle/Temple/Spiritual House.  This week I hope that we will be able to see how that House of God is for the purpose of, and containment of His glory, and how the use or misuse of His vessels of glory can affect the building of God's kingdom.

     In a vision of Isaiah the prophet, he saw and heard angelic creatures in heaven who stood above the throne of the Lord, crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory (kabode - glory, honor, abundance, splendor, dignity, reputation, reverence, weight, copiousness, heaviness, majesty, magnificent, the heart and soul)!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone (dama - to cease, cut off, destroy, perish, to make an end of, to lay waste, to desolate)! Because I am a man of unclean (tame - unclean, impure, defiled, polluted, profane God's name, profane with wickedness) lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega in Greek, as Christ referred to Himself: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13) King, the LORD of hosts." (Isa. 6:3-5). According to Isaiah's vision, the whole earth is full of the glory of the LORD, and the glory of the LORD reflects the magnificent holiness of His heart and soul as we see from the meaning of the Hebrew words. Jesus told His Father in heaven that He had given us the same glory as the Father had given Him (see Jn. 17:22-23)). This is an incredible gift. This week's Sabbath reading portion will teach us about the design and pattern of the glory and our treatment of the glory.

     This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled T'tzavveh, meaning "you shall command", which begins in Exodus Chapter 27 and runs through part of Chapter 30. The title comes from Ex. 27:20, in which the LORD says to Moses: "And you shall command the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) children of Israel that they bring you pure oil (semen/samen - from a primitive root meaning "to shine") of pressed olives (zayit/ziv - as yielding illuminating oil, to adorn, to shine, to be clothed, splendor, brightness, freshness and beaty, clear and brilliant/brightness) for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually." While olive oil is often associated with the Holy Spirit, this Sabbath reading also leads us to connect it to "the glory" by its meaning in Hebrew.

     The next command given to Moses was to take and dress Aaron and his sons in "holy garments" to be made by gifted artisans whom the LORD has filled with the spirit of wisdom (Ex. 28:1, 3). The LORD said: "And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty." (v. 2). As the LORD describes in detail the garments for Aaron the high priest, He also says: "...And you shall make hats (migba'a - turban, headgear, mitre) for them, for glory and beauty.  So you shall put them on (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Aaron your brother and on his sons with him..." (Ex. 28:40-41). Although sacrifices and the anointing of sanctification were also commanded regarding the priests and the tabernacle, the LORD said: "...at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you. And there will I meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory. So I will consecrate the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests. I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God." (Ex. 29:42-45). The glory of the LORD sanctifies His house, and we are the spiritual house of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Not only does the glory sanctify His House, but the garments of the priests, as we are also called to be, were to reflect the glory of the LORD.

     In another reading from this Sabbath, the prophet Ezekiel had a remarkable vision of the building of a Temple of the LORD, which many believe will be the third Temple to be built in Jerusalem, and, as usual, the House of God has a present spiritual application for us as well. After Ezekiel describes the details of this prophetic Temple of God, he also sees the following: "Afterward he (a "man" whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze: see Ezek. 40:3) brought me to the gate that faces towards the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory...and I fell on my face (see also Rev. 1:12-18). And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.  Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. And He said to me, 'Son of man, this is the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name (see Isaiah above - "unclean lips"), they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places."  (Ezek. 43:1-7). The imagery of this glory-filled Temple as Ezekiel would relate it to Israel, would change their profaning ways, just as Isaiah was changed by his vision. In this case, the glory was not confined to the Temple that Ezekiel saw prophetically, but the whole earth shone with that glory, as Isaiah also saw above. We are familiar with the glory as believers in Christ, and as Jesus declared, we are partakers in that same glory. However, this is not to be a point of boasting for us, but a point of change. How can we experience the glory of God and not be changed? The glory that Jesus, the Word, had, was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and was manifested by His being full of grace and truth, not for His own benefit, but for the benefit of others (Jn. 1:14). So we can also see that the Word of God as Jesus, is directly connected to His glory from this verse in the Gospel of John. Jesus also described Himself as a temple, saying, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'...But He was speaking of the temple of His body." (Jn. 2:18-21, also see Rev. 21:22-23).

     We saw above in Exodus, that the priests' garments were designed for glory and beauty. In another reading portion from this Sabbath, we will see that David's prophetically promised kingdom is preserved by a portion of the priest's garment. In 1 Sam. 23, Saul was the king of Israel, but the report of the attack of the Philistines at Keilah, who were robbing the grain from the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) threshing floors, was brought to David's attention. David had already been anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel, but he was not yet king. Saul hated David as a rival and sought his life. Upon hearing of the attack of the Philistines, "...David inquired of the LORD, saying, 'Shall I go and attack these Philistines?' And the LORD said to David, 'Go and attack the Philistines and save (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Keilah.' (1 Sam. 23:1-2). As the king, it would have been Saul's job to inquire of the LORD and go into battle, but he didn't do it. He was busy seeking David to kill him. David's men were reluctant to go on this mission and expose themselves to Saul's discovery. David inquired again of the LORD, and the LORD told him to go and attack the Philistines (v. 3-4).  The attack was successful, and the inhabitants of Keilah were saved (v. 5). Saul indeed heard about David being at Keilah and prepared to go there and kill David. A priest, Abiathar had fled to David at Keilah, and brought the priest's ephod, the breastplate of the priest's garment (see above), in his hand. David inquired of the ephod that if Saul attacked David at Keilah, would Keilah give him over to Saul. The LORD answered that David would be delivered into Saul's hands, so David and his men fled, and their lives were saved (v. 6-13). David sought the grace and truth of the glory that was in the LORD's spoken Word (Jn. 1:14), and he sought the glory and beauty that was in the priestly garments (Ex. 28:2). This saved his life and built his future kingdom.

     While David's kingdom was being built up, in another reading portion from this Sabbath, Saul's kingdom was about to come crashing down, because he would profane the glory of the LORD. The prophet/judge Samuel came to King Saul with a command of the LORD: "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD....Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them."  (1 Sam. 15:1-3). According to Jewish oral tradition, the Amalekites were involved in a form of occultism that included changing shapes, even into animal shapes. They had also mistreated Israel. For these reasons the LORD wanted all destroyed, including the animals. As the LORD pronounced judgment on them, they are written in Hebrew as aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega Amalekites (as written in v. 3). This indicates that they had known the LORD but had chosen instead to profane Him and follow after acts of spiritual darkness. We already know that the Word of the LORD, which came in the flesh as Jesus, is full of glory from Jn. 1:14, but Saul did not obey it. He captured (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Agag (meaning "I will overtop", "I shall increase"; flame), the king of the Amalekites, alive, and saved the best of their animals because it seemed like a good idea to him (v. 7-9). The LORD told Samuel that He greatly regretted setting up (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Saul as king, "for he has turned back from following Me." (v. 10-11). Not only did Saul disobey the voice of the Words of God, but he built a monument to himself at Carmel! (v. 12). Samuel heard the sounds of the animals as he approached Saul's camp. He said to Saul: "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?..." (v. 17). Saul still had the hardness of heart to defend his disobedience to Samuel., saying, "But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD...", and he blamed the people for taking the best of the animals to offer before the LORD (v. 20-21). 

     Samuel announced the fall of Saul's kingdom in this way: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king." (V. 22-23). Saul tried to repent, but it was too late (v. 24-26). Saul even tried to physically seize Samuel's robe as he turned away, but Samuel again said, "The LORD has torn the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you (referring to David). And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent/relent. For He is not a man, that He should repent/relent." (v. 27-29). It had seemed right to Saul to bring the huge offering to the LORD, but in the eyes of the LORD it was a despised offering that reflected Saul's rebellion and disobedience to the voice of the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Word of the LORD. It is this Word that is full of His glory (see Jn. 1:14). Saul also showed where his heart truly was when he built, not the temple of God, not the Kingdom of God, but a monument to himself at Carmel (meaning "garden land", fruitful field, planted field, orchard, vineyard, vines, vintage, full ears of corn).

     We should also know that the Amalekite king, Agag, whom Saul left alive against the Word of the LORD, would have a descendant generations later named Haman, described as an Agagite (Esther 3:1-2), who would plot to have all of the Jews of Persia killed because one man had offended him. The genocide order was in place and, except for a miracle of God, would have been carried out. He was one of the most notorious villains in scripture. His destruction, along with all of his sons, is recorded in the Book of Esther, and celebrated by the festival of Purim, which will occur in March. The LORD's commands, which Saul considered to be unreasonable, were also based upon His omniscient knowledge of the future. 

     There is a connection between "obedience" as the LORD speaks of it to Saul above, and His glory. In Phil. 2:5-11, the humble obedience of Jesus Christ towards His Father, even by His death on the cross, caused God to exalt Him highly and give Him a name that is above all others. By this name, all creation is brought into worship and reverence, confessing that Jesus Christ is LORD, "to the glory of God the Father".

     If you would like to know more about building the place and the kingdom of the glory of God, you can pray with me: "Father of all, You have made all things, including me, for Your glory. I pray, Father, that by Your Word and by Your Spirit, You would teach me to glorify You in all that I think, say, and do. Lead me to walk in obedience and to seek and honor Your Word rather than my own will. Forgive me, Lord, when I have sought my own glory and praises. Help me to remain "small in my own eyes" so that I may be made big in Your eyes. Let me be a spiritual temple that is filled with the glory of Almighty God in Christ. I ask these things in Jesus' name, which is the name above all names! AMEN."