Dave Smith
The Hebrew mind thinks differently than the Western mind. We think in chronological order; the Hebrew mind puts what he believes is most important first, then what he believes is next important. It seems out of place to our way of thinking; it leaves us confused. For instance, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”—that is Moses’ beginning of the Bible. Yet God existed long before that (eternally) and He had experiences in creating long before the one in Genesis chapter one.
My understanding and mindset puts what happened in heaven, recorded in Revelation 12:7–12, as a most important “revelation”! In these few verses, we see a beginning and an end of sin! Sin began with Lucifer—selfishness. When we choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior, can we love God with all our heart, mind and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves? The answer is emphatically, YES! I can’t, but He can in me! There are many church-going Christians who just don’t get it, but this passage of Scripture says yes, have faith brother and sister, you can overcome by an all-merciful and gracious God.
The journey has a beginning and an end, and Jesus is the Author and Finisher. The sanctuary message is the way to deal with the sin. The more we understand it, the better we can build a temple pleasing Him, not ourselves or others. Again, talking about the way the Hebrew mind works versus the Western mindset: in Exodus 25:8 we read, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Here we see an definite charge that they are to build a sanctuary. Yet the order given begins with the end in mind, because in verses 10–22 Moses talks about building the ark of the covenant first. In my mind, the logical order would be the gate, or entrance, first. Then following the sequence of furniture to its conclusions, and not missing what each article of furniture represents to the Hebrew experience and what it means to my experience. Either way, don’t miss out on verses 21 and 22 of Exodus 25. You see, our soul longs to hear, “You built well—you followed the pattern; enter into the joy of your Lord.”
It begins today.