THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY has the roots of its places of meeting firmly embedded in the history of all the great efforts of mankind to build a temple suitable to enthrone their god. But for Christians, that history is narrowed down to the pattern of the Jewish Temple, preceded by the wilderness tabernacle, which was designed by Yahweh. “So the tabernacle was set up. Moses brought the ark into the tabernacle, placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, and set the altar of burnt offerings near the entrance. And so, Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Ex. 40:17-34) YHWH, the God of the Jews, is the living God, the “I Am Who I Am” of Moses. (Ex. 3:14) He is also the God of Christians. But for Christians, God is seen in Jesus Christ. (cf. Col. 1:15-20)
From the tabernacle forward to the temple built by Solomon to the literally millions of churches that encompass the globe today, in every place where people congregate in worship, facilities are erected for meeting places. Some small churches go up in a single day, highly planned and built by teams of trained crews. They are limited in sign and design, of course, but able to be put up in a 15-hour period and then used for worship the next day. Some take considerably longer. During the Medieval period, some of the great Gothic cathedrals took as many as four centuries to complete, and yet still stand today, their spires reaching to the heavens as an expression of the longing to worship.
Solomon, builder of the first temple in Jerusalem, said “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?” (2 Chron. 2:5-6) Paul adds: “And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:25)
So why all the building effort? We don’t decry the need—certainly we need facilities for every sort of purpose, and that includes churches, with the capability to facilitate the myriad activities that churches become involved in. And oh, the activities we involve ourselves in to show ourselves worthy of worshiping. The totality of the cost of building campaigns in terms of money and resources and human effort is staggering, and the buildings must be put to good use to justify all this.
The Tent of Meeting served for the primary purpose of worshiping Yahweh. In the midst of the wilderness and danger, and in the stark setting of desert, it was Sanctuary. It was a physical space of beauty that ushered the worshipers out of the harsh physical realm of deprivation, and up to the edge of a portal into another realm. Each step further in gave a sense of leaving an unpleasant reality and approaching a source of inspiration and wonder. It had no offering bowls, but it did have an Altar of Burnt Offering. It had no baptistry, but it did have a Laver for purification. This space could be entered by all in good standing in the faith community. It next had a Holy Place, where only the priests could go; in that place, they tended the Shewbread Table, The Lampstand, and the Incense Altar; this left the majority of the people as on-lookers, only vicariously experiencing the activities of the priests.
Then, kept separated by a curtain from the two other areas, was the Holy of Holies; and only the High Priest could enter in to confer with Yahweh. And in that most holy of places was the Ark of the Covenant, inside of which were Aaron’s budded staff, a jar of manna, and the stone tablets of The Law—each a sign of Yahweh’s miraculous powers. The lid over these had two angels facing each other, their hands clasped in individual prayer and their wings extended as a cover, but not touching. And in the space between their hands and wings was the place that the Spirit of Yahweh would occupy when he was present. By the time the traditions were firmly established, the High Priest would confer with Yahweh in the Holy of Holies once a year as he atoned for the sins of the people.
The primary activity held in the Tabernacle was to gather the people to worship their God. The design was calculated to overawe the ones who gathered there with a sense of the presence of the One they worshiped. After the times of meeting they would leave with that need only partially fulfilled; they left hungering for more, and returned again to satisfy that hunger. And the glory of the LORD filled that tabernacle.
Whatever our necessary flurry of activities in our churches—and, yes, many are necessary—we must not, cannot, turn away from this: we come to worship the spiritually-visible representation of the living Three-in-One. Even in the smallest of churches becomes Cathedral and Sanctuary when the high priest greater than Aaron is present, for his glory fills not (just) the church, but the heart of the worshipper. “Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He sacrificed for our sins once for all when he offered himself.” (Heb. 7:1-27)
The places of worship have changed, from tabernacle to temple, from cathedral to church. The promise has been bettered, but the purpose remains the same. “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:8)
Q. Am I capable of full worship, not just with my mind, but in soul and in Spirit?
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