The certificate of occupancy of a home, the assurance that the structure has been built to specifications. We, in faith, have an even greater assurance of our acceptance: the Holy Spirit. As the Book of Exodus concludes, Moses assembles and disassembles the Tabernacle during the time of sanctification of the priesthood. The Lord showed His approval of the project by filling the Tabernacle. What can we learn from this? Is there a way for us to understand the construction of the tabernacle in faith today? Give a listen.
Exodus opens beneath a banner of despair. A pharaoh comes to power who has no memory of Joseph. He enslaves the sons of Jacob. He issues a decree of death for the sons of the Hebrews. The children of Israel, at home in a strange land, became enslaved strangers in a strange land, exiles in the only home they knew.
The power of the exodus narrative is its relatability. While often not an exact parallel experiences to the exodus generation, the feeling of being a stranger, even a sense of homelessness, is certainly relatable.
I need not recount all of the details of the journey from the beginning of the book of Exodus to this, the final, portion called פְקוּדֵי/Pekudei, meaning to attend to, to care for, even to look after. The portion opens: אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן, “These are the accounts of the tabernacle” (Ex. 38:21). It seems a rather bland end of this magnificent book, and an even more miraculous project. Yet, in the details we find the beauty.
In Genesis 50:25, Joseph says to his family, וַיַּשְׁבַּע יוֹסֵף אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד, “God will certainly, פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד, attend to you …” Joseph is saying, “When God surely attends to you, you will not forget me and leave me here.” “Just as the Lord will attend to, care for, and look after you,” Joseph is saying, “you look after me.” In this opening to a dry accounting, we find the same word used by Joseph about the care of the Lord, as both פְקוּדֵי/Pekudei and פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד, share the same root. Joseph wanted to go home, and he knew that the covenant Lord would bring them home.
As we know the bones of Joseph were carried out by Moses (Ex. 13:19), and probably remained in his care during the wilderness years. Even in death, Joseph would experience home, the longing of his heart. But how?
As the Book of Exodus concludes in chapter 40, the children of Israel had been invited to take part in the building of a home, an earthly מִשְׁכָּן/mishkan/tabernacle for the Lord “to dwell in their midst” (Ex. 25:8). The “accounting” that opens this portion speaks to the completion of home. The Lord attended to, cared for, and looked after each detail of the pattern (Ex. 25:9), and then, once Moses and the artisans complete their work, “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:35).
His approval and seal on this communal project was His indwelling presence: the Lord filled the house, and it becomes a home.
Dear reader, in faith, do you know that the Lord has attended to, cared for, and looked after every detail of your life (Ro. 8:28); and having accounted for it all, He has knit you together (Col. 2:2) into a home for the Holy Spirit with the Body of Messiah (1 Cor. 3:16)? He has done so according to express image of Messiah (Eph. 4:13). The seal of His approval again follows His pattern in Scripture, as the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and as Paul writes, you “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13, cf. 14).
Here, among and with the disciples of Messiah, just as the Lord made a home for Himself and Israel in the midst of the wilderness camp, those who were “far off” and those who “were near” (Eph. 2:17) have now found home away from their heavenly home. Yes, we have not yet reached the place prepared for us; however, we are not strangers in a strange land, as we are home among “the out called of God.” I counsel so many people who have a sense of drift, not experiencing home for one reason or another, but the message of Pekukei is that He has called you to help make a home for the countless others who feel homeless, lost, set-adrift in life. Perhaps you feel that I am exaggerating? Consider the words of the apostle Paul in closing:
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22).
He is attending to, caring for, and looking after you in every way, and He is doing so in concert with the Body of Messiah all around you.
Elijah hid, fearful and distraught, in a cave. The battle of Ba’al was behind him, as was a vengeful queen. As Elijah hid, the Lord produced loud, awesome, cataclysmic displays, but He was not in them (1 Kgs. 19:9-12).
The “god” Ba’al was associated with thunders, lightenings, earthquakes: natural phenomena. This was the silence that stumped the priests of Ba’al. They cried out, but there was silence. In the silence they found only despair. They cried more, they cut deeper, but still nothingness stood in contrast to their noise.
The Lord purposely displayed His power in nature, but then He showed His power in presence. As He said to Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kgs. 19:13). The Lord asked this question before the thunders, lightenings and earthquakes, and after, but in the קוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה, the “voice/sound of sheer silence” He spoke to Elijah’s heart.
The same sheer silence that stood in contrast to the loud voicings of the priests of Ba’al, now speaks to His prophet Elijah. In hearing His voice, the voice of comfort and presence, Elijah returns to the mission.
Noise. We live in a noisy generation. From the noise of civilization, to the noise in our pocket. We believed that technological advancement would provide the opportunity for a quality of life unknown to previous generations, and in a way yes, but who has time for quality of life when the noise of ba’al reigns supreme?
Who can hear a whisper anymore?
It always amazes me when the sound of “worship” music stops, and the silence takes over. There, like Elijah, we find ourselves hearing the voice of sheer silence. The holy hush as it is called. Without fail you will hear people catch their breath in that moment, when the noise gives way to silence, and the presence of the Living God is palpable.
Now, Scripture does say to make a joyful noise – a sound breaking the silence- unto the Lord (Ps. 98:4; 100:1), but we mustn’t forget the power of silence in an age saturated with noise.
Who can hear a whisper anymore?
What are the ba’alim (gods) ever present in your life that invades the quiet where the Lord will meet with you? Notifications, beep and boops, rings and tweets, all remind us of something out there, somewhere that is desperate for our attention. But, how often is the Lord in those notifications, or the deeps, boops and tweets? Can we still hear the sacred in the midst of the profanity?
Who can hear a whisper anymore?
Those who dare to let the gods of this age take a backseat to the presence of the Living God. Friends, this is not a rebuke of our technically enabled lives, but a reminder that when the noise stops, the Lord will be there to speak into the silence, and redirect your life from the cave of fear, to a life of victorious meaning in Him.
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus taught us, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
the mountain mensch 