COME AS A CHILD LESSON 153 – A BLUEPRINT FOR THE TABERNACLE

BUILD ME A SANCTUARY

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

God was still speaking to Moses on the Mountain. 

I can’t type that sentence about God speaking to Moses on the Mountain without remembering some things of my own earthly father.  When I was a young girl he spoke to me of a dream he dreamed where he was driving with my mother up a huge mountain.  When they reached the top there were some gates.  He could look beyond the gates and he saw an amazingly beautiful place; but he was told he could not enter at that time; that he must turn around and drive back home.  At that point in his dream he woke up. 

Years passed and his body became ridden with Parkinson’s disease and he was living out his last days.  He had a near-death experience during a hospital stay; but was revived.  When we first saw him after this hospital experience he was mad at all of us.  He wanted to know why we had not let him go on because he was at the gate to the beautiful Mountain again and he was about to go inside and if we had let him; he would have made it.   

He described the grass as being greener than any place he had ever seen and the water was a very vivid blue.  His eyes sparkled when he spoke.  He said the butterflies were HUGE and the flowers were amazing.  He said he did not have the proper words to describe all that he had seen and heard and felt while he was so near the place.  With all of his heart he had wanted to go inside and he was very, very sad that the doctors had revived him and brought him back down to earth again.  He always called this the trip to THE MOUNTAIN. 

When he died; we all knew; he had finally got his wish to go up on that Mountain. 

I have to wonder if Moses, on that mountain with God within the cloud of glory from Heaven, saw some of the same things that my Dad experienced in his dreams. 

One day I will know for myself.

At any rate; God was still speaking to Moses from the cloud up on the Mountain.  He told Moses to tell the Israelites to bring him an offering.  Moses was to receive the offering for God only from those with a heart that prompted them to give. 

God specifically requested that they bring gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, along with goat hair, ram skins dyed red, some other type of durable leather, acacia wood, olive oil for light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and the breastplate. 

These offerings were the things that would be needed in order to build the wilderness tabernacle.  Everything that God asked for in the offerings was used in the tabernacle later.  We will go into more detail about the significance of these individual items as we discuss the building of the tabernacle in a future lesson. 

Now where would poor ex-slaves wandering in the wilderness have accumulated such things? 

Do you remember how God told them to ask the Egyptians for things as they fled their country in haste?  Remember how the Egyptians were so anxious to see them and their plagues go away that they bribed them by giving them  going away gifts of all the items that God is now requesting? 

They had been wondering through the desert with these things in tow ever since that fateful day.  There isn’t much use for such fancy things in the desert’s daily life; but these were things of great value that the poor Israelites had probably never had the opportunity to own in their past lives as slaves.  It probably just seemed very special for them to own such items. These things might have even made them feel rich, or at least a little bit wealthy.  To have such valuable items in your possession whenever you met up with someone trading in the desert might just come in very handy.  Maybe the items gave them a sense of security.  They might have been able to trade with the merchants for things that would actually make  the rough desert life a little bit more luxurious in some way.  After all; God had given these things to them.  They had been blessed! 

So now God is asking them to bring their cherished treasures back to Him to be used in His new Tabernacle. 

Will they try to hold on to some of it? 

Will they be willing to return the things that God has blessed them with? 

If they do offer up the items; will they begrudge the requirement? 

Will they go about being cheerful givers? 

How will the people react to this strange request of God?  Moses must have pondered the same question.  At least God had instructed him to only take from those who were willing to give cheerfully from their hearts.  That would keep Moses from being the bad guy .  If they didn’t want to give; they didn’t have to.  It wasn’t a requirement.  It was simply a request from the Master of The Universe.  So Moses made himself a note to go about requesting these items as soon as he returned to camp; just as God had instructed.

After asking for these rather valuable offerings; God instructed Moses to have the people of Israel to make Him a sanctuary so that He could dwell among them. 

Wow!  This was finally going to happen!

With all that has come to pass in this story, do you still remember the original request of Moses to Pharaoh? 

It was for him to let the people go so that they could go out to the wilderness and worship their God. They wanted to hold a festival for God.  God had told them to ask for this because all along God had desired to dwell with the people. 

Now God was about to make this special event begin to happen.  He was about to come down and dwell among them and make it possible for them to worship Him right there in the wilderness.  When it comes down to the facts, this was THE WHOLE POINT of the whole experience; that mankind and God might find a way to dwell together!  Yet; that little fact is often overlooked and forgotten because we humans tend to get bogged down in all the many details of the rest of the story. 

God wanted Moses to build a Sanctuary in order to make this very special event happen. God desired to benefit the people with His Holy Presence and the people needed a place to meet with him!  He commanded that a Tabernacle be built so that they would know about and have a place from which to offer their prayers and sacrifices. It was to be that special place where the people could meet with God, and God could be among the people.  

Please understand what is happening here.  God did not need people……God was just acutely aware that people needed Him!  God was making provision for the needs of the people to be met.  In order to be able to train themselves in the ways in which they should live, they needed guidance and direction from a Holy God.  He was coming down from the clouds of heaven in order to greet them IN PERSON. 

This new Tabernacle was to become the symbol of God’s Presence being among them.  It would be a visual reminder to them every day of the bond that was formed between God and the people at Mt. Sinai by the Covenant that was agreed to among both parties. 

Once the wilderness tabernacle was built, the people traveled in formation with the tabernacle always in the very center of that formation.  Each tribe could look out and see the tabernacle from their tent door as they camped.  This helped Israel to recognize the fact that God wasn’t just up there on Mt. Sinai, but He traveled and moved among them as they journeyed through the wilderness.  He would be willing to go anywhere that He was taking them.  They were not alone!  Their God was always right there with them!  They did not have to experience His Presence there on the Mountain then leave it behind.  He dwelled within their camp and by moving the tabernacle they literally took Him with them everywhere that they went. 

Just as God had Moses very busy preparing a Sanctuary back in those days; so it is with us now, even in modern days.  All of those who desire to know God prepare and build a sanctuary within their hearts.  This is a place for God to dwell with us wherever we go and whatever we do.  God is still saying those words to us today:  “Make me a sanctuary.” 

How are we responding? 

Do we long for God’s Presence to be ever with us, or are we doing things and going places we would not want God to know about?      

Do you understand the true definition of the word sanctuary?  In the Old Testament the word used is translated “miqdas.”  This means “tabernacle;” which is defined as “the holy dwelling place of God.”    

Do you get the idea that God was leaving heaven and coming to dwell among men? 

The making of the wilderness tabernacle was the beginning of such an astounding miracle.  It was the first step toward the salvation of mankind.

God kept instructing Moses about the making of this tabernacle.  He gave Moses specific details for all of its furnishings.  God was very detailed in his instructions for everything and God expressed that Moses was to make it all exactly like the patterns that God showed him while he was on the Mountain.  Nothing was to be changed or altered from God’s original design.

So let’s think about what is happening here.  When God asked for the offering from the people it was pretty specific in how it was to be given.  Moses was to ask for specific offerings then receive them from those whose hearts prompted them to give. 

Notice that God didn’t want anything that wasn’t from the heart!  If you were going to give grudgingly and hold back; God wasn’t really interested in your offering.  He only wanted what was given from cheerful givers. 

When you bring an offering to God today; is it with your whole heart? 

Do you give cheerfully or are you just following the rules or going along with the crowd in order not to be embarrassed and appear to be greedy? 

Do you give to be giving back to God, or do you give thinking that God will reward you in some way?  Just what are your intentions and motivations?

Are you GIVING or are you trying to barter?  There is a difference you know.  A giver expects nothing in return.  A giver’s offering is his GIFT.  He isn’t selling or loaning; he is giving away from what possessions he actually owns. 

And what do we really own anyway?  What are the possessions that we to bring to God now that Jesus has saved us and there is no need for an animal sacrifice? 

We can bring money for the operation of God’s work on earth, and sometimes that money actually gets put where it needs to go.  Sometimes, some things are done with monetary offerings that actually are good and they are for things that build and grow the Kingdom of God!  Yet; there is no guarantee that your money will go forth and do what you intend it to do when you offered it up as an offering; still, you can try.  There is nothing wrong with offering money for God’s work to be carried out; after all it is God's money anyway, He has just left it in our care for awhile.  None of it REALLY belongs to us; but God allows us to be blessed.  We can give back a portion for God's work on earth; it is very necessary and needed; but the MAIN thing that you have to offer to God and the one thing that you have more control over than anything else is your own body. 

You have this temporary dwelling (a living, walking, breathing tabernacle) that God can come and lodge within.  You have a place that is temporary that you can offer for God to stay as He  desires to be with and live among His people on this earth. 

Offer God your body first; for that is your sanctuary. 

That is the very thing that God is asking of you; He is saying to you just as He said to Moses; “Make me a Sanctuary!” 

Once your whole body belongs to God as a sanctuary; the other offerings come as natural as He directs from within.  Just do what He is prompting you to do whenever He prompts you to do it. 

Listen to HIM; not mankind. 

Do what HE says; not what your neighbor tells you to do. 

Like the people of Israel followed the Cloud of Glory to the next place, let that voice from within your body speak to you of where God wants you to go and what God wants you to do. 

Moses led Israel to build a literal tabernacle; but now we are led by Jesus Christ to build a spiritual tabernacle; or in other words; a sanctuary that is not made with hands.  It is through the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices that God becomes visible and manifests Himself into the world.  Jesus had the only perfect sacrifice; but it was the offering of his body that made our bodies acceptable as tabernacles; and/or living sacrifices.  It is through what we do with our bodies that others begin to see God living through us. 

The apostle Paul said it well:  “Do you not know that your body is the Temple of God and you have been bought with a price and you are not your own?  (1 Cor. 6:19)  Paul directs us to “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice acceptable unto him which is your spiritual worship.”  (Romans 12:1`).  It is through the bodies of God’s people that He expresses Himself to the world. 

Because God lives and resides within the bodies of His people, they have access to “the secret place.”  “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High God shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.” (Psalm 91)  

God’s tabernacle, His Holy Temple, His Dwelling Place today is within the hearts of His people.  They carry God with them where ever they go, whether it is in congregational worship or out to one of the lost corners of the earth.  God will be there; in His Sanctuary!  We can count on that; just as the Israelites could count on Him leading them from the wilderness tabernacle.