Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 37:1-9

1 And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:

2 And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.

3 And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.

4 And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

5 And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

6 And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;

8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

We continue the record of the tabernacle’s creation, today by hearing the description of Bezaleel crafting the Ark of the Covenant. I would say that this was the single most sacred piece in all of the tabernacle, and an interesting question is at what point did the ark become holy?

Was it holy back when it was a tree in the middle of the desert? Or when it was half-carved on the carpenter’s workbench, with shavings still littering the floor? Or after the main piece was fully formed and overlaid with gold? Or only after the lid, rings and staves were finally attached?

I believe the answer is none of those moments. Those were all stages in the development of a worthy vessel, but I believe that vessel did not become sacred until God’s presence rested within the tabernacle and sanctified everything therein. Before that moment of divine touch, it was just beautiful workmanship. After that moment, it was dedicated to the work of the Lord.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 30:1-6

1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.

4 And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.

5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

6 And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

We begin this chapter by learning of another piece of furniture for the tabernacle services, the incense altar. As the name suggests, this is where incense would be burned to provide a pleasant scent.

It is referred to as an altar, and just like the altar of sacrifice, it would be adorned with horns. Where it differs from the altar of sacrifice, however, is that would be overlaid with gold, instead of brass. Gold overlay, of course, was used for the ark of the covenant, the candlestick, and the table of shewbread. Those were all placed within the tabernacle itself, and as we see in verse 6, that was where the altar of incense was placed as well, so a matching gold overlay makes sense.

To me this suggests that the offerings made upon the altar of incense, though less dramatic, were considered more sacred. They were silent offerings, made within the holy place, out of view of the rest of the world. That sounds just like the sacrifices that are most sacred in the life of a disciple today. That isn’t to say that the public and dramatic turning of one’s life isn’t of value, it absolutely is, but lasting discipleship is defined far more by all the multitude of silent sacrifices that follow thereafter.

The incense altar represents the battles that take place only within our own heart, such as when we renounce temptation, and no one even knows we ever considered otherwise. It represents the quiet good that we do, such as leaving an anonymous gift for the family in need. It represents the giving up of our time to align with God, such as when we spend hours in secret prayer when no one to witness it. These moments define us best because they are the times we choose the right purely for our own conscience. They are moments just between us and God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:2-3

2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

3 And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Aaron and his sons are to be dressed in specific clothes while performing the office of the priest. These clothes, we are told are for the particular purposes of “glory and beauty.”

The Hebrew word that is translated into “glory” is kabowd (כָּבוֹד), which means weighty good. It is used to describe things that have dignity, honor, and yes, glory. Thus, the design of these clothes is to bring a sense of seriousness and importance to Aaron and his sons, they are to feel the weight of their honorable undertaking when they wear its vestiture.

That is something I can immediately understand. Whenever I have worn a full suit, with its extra weight and encumbrance, I have felt a sort of dignity imparted to me just by the wearing of it. I’m not quite sure why but wearing things that are heavy and deliberately fashioned give a greater sense of importance to the things that we do.

Moving on to the second descriptor, the glory of the priest’s clothes would be paired with “beauty.” Beauty, of course, means to delight and please. Where glory may inspire reverence, beauty inspires engagement. Thus, together, these clothes are meant to draw in, but with soberness. They are meant to create a serious connection. If I were to try and describe that notion in one word, I would say “sacred.” Sacred things are beautiful, but they are also heavily weighted.

Given this, is it any wonder that in verse 3 God states that the creation of this clothing is to be done by those he had filled with his spirit of wisdom? Truly sacred things come to us when heaven touches with the earth. Only those touched by God would be able to construct these sacred clothes as intended.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 26:1

1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

God is working from the inside out in His directions for the tabernacle. First He gave the testimony of Hebrew law, written upon the tablets of stone in the mountain. Those, He explained, were to be housed within the Ark of the Covenant, the first religious relic He described the fashion of. He went on to describe the table of shewbred, the menorah, and the lamps, which would be placed just outside the curtain where the ark resided. Now, in today’s verses, he goes further outward to describe the border of the tabernacle, which was to be defined by a series of curtains.

It seems to me that God is describing a body, whether that be the body of a man, or the body of a people. Looking at the design of the tabernacle, the written law reminds me of John’s pronouncement: “in the beginning was the Word,” meaning that first comes the idea, the concept, the Spirit of God, animating from within. Around that spiritual core are the instruments of ritual, the religious practices that keep the body connected to that inner spiritual core, that remind us of our center. Then, the outer layers, the skin that separate the spiritual from the outside world. The outer layer has one face pointed outward, one face pointing inward, a duality that allows one to navigate their surrounding domain while keeping the inner sacred sacred.

Let us keep that representation in mind as we examine the details of these curtains tomorrow.

Posted on by Abe Austin · 2 Comments

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 9:1-4

1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

4 And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.

Moses came to deliver God’s next promised plague to Pharaoh, and more than any of the previous it was going to cause real, irreparable harm. For the first time, God would bring a plague that would directly cause death. The death was not to be upon the people—that was still to come—but upon the Egyptian livestock. The death would come in the form of a “murrain,” which is an infectious disease. Many types of animals would be afflicted, but most notably the cattle and the sheep.

These, as has been previously discussed, were likely sacred animals to the Egyptians. So this plague was not only to destroy their beasts of burden and their meat supply, but also an assault against their very religion! God is a God of truth, and He does not show respect to the falsely “sacred” rituals that man invents. By destroying the cattle and the sheep God was not only emphasizing His superiority over the Egyptian people, but also over their gods. It might have been deeply offensive to the Egyptians, but what were they to do about it? It was up to their gods to defend themselves against other divinities, and apparently they could not!

Also note that God once again established a divide between the land of Egypt and Goshen. God promised that “there shall nothing die” of the Israelites. Thus, His people would be free to continue raising, sacrificing, and consuming the very same animals that the Egyptians held most dear!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 35:2-4

2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

The place that God had called Jacob to was of special significance to him. It was the same location where God had first appeared to Jacob, given him a vision of a ladder ascending to heaven, and had promised to be his companion. All this had occurred as Jacob was fleeing for his life from Esau, out in the middle of nowhere. At the time this location must have seemed like the farthest place from home, but now it literally was his home.

Jacob knew that this place had been sanctified by the personal presence of God, and as he examined his household, he saw that they were not ready to dwell there. Evidently members of his family and/or servants had pagan idols, perhaps a carryover from when they had lived under Laban’s roof.

Now was the time to officially set all of that behind them, though. The camp was purified, their sins were put away, and everyone changed their clothes, symbolic of putting off their old way of life and putting on a new, clean one instead.

This is an example of a very important theme in the Bible: that of purifying, cleansing, and dressing in fresh clothing. Anyone that has tried to live a life of discipleship knows that we have to refresh ourselves many times over. We are called by God, but then we go aside in the rut, and then we clean ourselves up and recommit again.

In fact, this month I am going to attend a spiritual retreat in the mountains that I go to yearly, which is one of the most sacred keystones of my life. Each time I attend I feel the presence of God more vibrantly than at any other, but before each visit I find myself taking inventory of where I’m at, in what ways I have lapsed in my discipleship, and how to clean my heart in preparation for going to meet my God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Solemnity and Joy- Exodus 3:2, 4-5

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

COMMENTARY

Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground
Before Moses could fully approach the Lord he was instructed to remove his footwear. It was as if God was saying “this place is very delicate, so tread lightly!” Moses needed to show his respect by setting aside that which was callous and hard, and approach with caution instead.
This reminds me of times that I have opened up the most inner sections of my heart to God or another person. “This is a very delicate place we’re going to now, so please tread lightly!” In these moments a soft voice and carefully chosen words make all the difference.
Think also of how delicate God’s spirit is when we commune with it. Anything callous or hard will offend it away and we must take care to handle it gently.
Thus one definition for “solemn moments” would be times that call for being “delicate,” “gentle,” or “careful.”

Posted on by Abe Austin

Solemnity and Joy- Doctrine and Covenants 20:75-77

It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus;
And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

COMMENTARY

He shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer
Yesterday I mentioned Yom Kippur, a solemn day in ancient Israel with rituals that symbolized the coming sacrifice of Jesus. Now we are on the other side of that sacrifice, and we still have rituals that point backward to it.
One of those rituals is, of course, the Eucharist or sacrament. And notice in this verse how this practice calls for being “solemn.” Though different denominations may vary in the specific details of how they carry out their sacrament, they generally maintain this same solemn demeanor, due to the respect they wish to show for the sacred event they remind us of.

That they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son
And there is a second reason for solemnity in this moment. In addition to reverently remembering what has happened, we see in the words of this prayer an invitation to make a solemn commitment. All those that partake are able to renew a covenant to God to keep Christ’s sacrifice in their mind and live in a way that follows his example.
And we are best able to make a serious commitment when we are of a calm and quiet mind. Consider how it is the same with weddings. Yes those are known for their gaiety, but then everything becomes very quiet and still when the moment comes for bride and groom to make their sincere pledge to one another. It is still a happy moment, of course, but it is a moment of happy solemnity. So, too, we should be of a sober and steady mind when we make our pledges to God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Nature of Sacrifice- Question

Some things in the gospel are very easy to talk about with others: grace, love, forgiveness, and peace for example. But other things are more difficult to broach, such as the element of sacrifice. Sacrifice, by its nature, means a painful experience. Indeed if there is no pain involved, then it isn’t really a sacrifice.

Yet discussing sacrifice is not only difficult because of the pain associated with it, but also because of the sweetness. Many people testify that their most sacred moments have come directly from their sacrifices. Indeed, both words have at their root the Latin term sacer, which means holy. Sometimes these moments are too private to share, and those that experience them can only encourage others to find their own.

But why is sacrifice such an integral part of the gospel? And why is pain essential to perfection? I would like to explore these questions and others with my new study, taking into consideration the root of all sacrifice: that of the Jesus Christ to redeem mankind.

In the meantime, I would love to hear about your own experiences with sacrifice. How have you known what you should sacrifice and what you should hold to? What were the effects of your surrendering? What did you receive in return for your loss?