Today’s Scripture Reading
(September 4, 2018): Exodus 25
I have argued that
Jerusalem just might be a “thin place” on
the earth. I like the idea stolen from my Irish heritage of “thin places;”
places where heaven and earth seem to meet. The
presence of the remains of the Judaism’s Temple and the wailing wall on Temple
Mount, the fixed place of worship for Judaism, and the Islam ‘s Dome of the
Rock, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque where Muslim’s believe that Muhammad was taken
from Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque (English translation “The Farthest Mosque”)
and then taken up into Heaven during his Night Journey, and then the Christian Garden
of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives, as well as the Christian respect that
exists for the Jewish Holy Places remembering them through the eyes of Jesus as
presented in the Gospels, would seem to lead us into this idea that this indeed
is a “thin place.”
It is also a
disputed place. It has been fought over by both Jews and Christians in their “unholy wars.” And it is still a place
that is divided. An uneasy peace exists over her streets as various factions
fight over who controls the city.
Of course, it might
not have always been that way. The significance of Jerusalem was originally a
political one, and not a spiritual one. David made it his city, and then
gradually gathered into the city the religious elements. Eventually, Solomon
built his Temple in Jerusalem, and the spiritual and political center of Israel
was fixed in “The Holy City.”
However, none of it was commanded by God. He did not order the
Temple to be built. It was David’s dream
that was completed by his son, Solomon. He accepted Jerusalem’s Temple but did not command its existence. The
only building God ordered to be built was
the Tabernacle. And it was a tent that was intended to be moved from place to place. While the Tabernacle was a pragmatic
idea for a nomadic nation in exile, the idea of the Tabernacle also reflected a
God who could not be contained in one
place; not even on the Temple Mount.
Currently, the Jews
are waiting, hoping that one day they will be in control of Temple Mount and
will be able to rebuild the Temple there. And in their dreams, it is not the
small Second Temple built by Zerubbabel or the politically compromised Herod’s
Temple that they see. It is the Temple of Solomon that they wish to place back
on Temple Mount with all of its glory.
But until that
time, I am not sure why they don’t take another step back into their history. I am not a Jew, but I am not sure why the Jews refuse
to build the only structure God ever commanded them to have; a tabernacle that
could be placed anywhere in the Holy Land and a symbol of the God who refuses
to be contained in any one location, but who is the Creator and Lord over all
of the earth. And a Tabernacle is what we have a pattern for, as
imperfect a pattern as it may be, because
God made sure that we knew how to build it.
Tomorrow’s Scripture
Reading: Exodus 26
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