Today's Scripture Reading (October 14, 2021): Exodus 27
At 11:40 p.m. (local time) on April 14, 1912, the RMS
Titanic hit an iceberg and sank. It was a tragedy that no one was expecting.
The Titanic was thought to be "unsinkable" and, therefore, the safest way to make the journey across the
dangerous Atlantic Ocean. But it was that pride that probably cost the lives of
many on the boat. Because it was unsinkable, no one was prepared for the
disaster that awaited the ship on its first crossing of the Atlantic. No one
believed that the unsinkable ship would not even survive its first trip across an ocean. This was not a battered old vessel with many
trips and, possibly, a long list of needed maintenance. It was a
brand-new boat freshly emerging from the dock of the shipbuilder. And the question that the world asked
after April 14, 1912, was, if the Titanic couldn't make it across the Atlantic, was there a safe way to cross any ocean. Or was every ship tempting the Titanic's fate with every crossing.
As a direct result of the sinking of the Titanic, the
International Ice Patrol was formed in 1914. The idea was that the Ice Patrol
would scout out icebergs in the Atlantic and warn ships in the area of their
presence. The International Ice Patrol is operated by the United States Coast
Guard but funded by the thirteen nations that actively travel the Atlantic Ocean. Icebergs are a
serious maritime problem partly because all we see is the "tip." Most of the iceberg lies unseen below the surface of
the waves, and its destructive ice can reach out great distances toward any ships that dare to travel in its vicinity.
God instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle, a place where the
priests would be able to carry out the rituals necessary for the worship of
God, but around the tabernacle
would be a courtyard. The courtyard would be enclosed with curtains of finely
twisted curtains but would be open on the top. As a result, from outside the
courtyard, you would be able to see the tip of the tabernacle, but not all of it. You could be assured of
the presence of the tabernacle
without seeing the entire building. Theologian Walter Kaiser asserts that there were
four reasons that the courtyard was necessary.
(1) it was a
barrier in that it prevented unlawful approach; (2) it was a protection,
keeping out all wild animals; (3) it was a positive line of demarcation between
the world and the holy presence of God; and (4) with its single gate, it was a
way of approach to God."
From the outside, you could see the tabernacle. But to experience all that the tabernacle had to offer, you had to leave the secular world and venture through that single gate and into the courtyard that surrounded the sacred place. The presence of the courtyard reminds us that, while anyone can see the things of God, it is only the "tip of the
iceberg." To
receive
the fullness of all that God has to offer, we have to approach God and enter through the gate. And according to Jesus, that
gate was him. Jesus instructed
his disciples and us that "No one comes to the Father except through me"
(John 14:6b).
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 28
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