“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8).
Howdy,
Doing some study today and I’ve come across something interesting to me, thought-provoking.
Studying in the book of Exodus with my Community Bible Study men’s group (the current local CBS section is the “Red Sea to the Jordan River”) this week narrows in on the construction of the tabernacle — God’s early Old Testament home among His people.
The instructions that God gives contain minute detail as well as inspiration, and He equips gifted people as willing craftsmen for the construction. He also stirs the hearts and spirits of His people to generously offer precious goods for material.
With the Israelites wandering the desert between the Red Sea and the Jordan River, the tabernacle was a tent.
Mobile.
God went with them.
That’s truly incredible in itself … But what got me most this time came as the result of a line of three questions doing the unusual in this study: mathematics.
‘Rithmetic inserted itself into the rhythm of the Reading and ‘Riting routine.
From selections of Exodus chapters 27, 30, and 38 came the questions:
1) “Read 27:9-19 and 38:8-20. Write the dimensions for the court of the tent of meeting below.”
I scratched out lines for South, North, West, and East for a rectangle of 100 cubits, 100 cubits, 50 cubits, and 50 cubits.
2) “A cubit was considered to be the measure between a man’s forearm, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. What would you guess that measure to be in inches?”
I penned in “18-19 in.” And Googled to confirm 18 inches, though it’s nagging my brain from my schooling days that there’s flex in the cubit — so my extra inch isn’t way off.
3) “Translate the answer you gave in question 1 into modern measurements (feet or yards). How big was the tabernacle court?”
At 18 inches for a cubit: South side = 150 feet, North side = 150 feet, West side = 75 feet, East side = 75 feet.
Being a nerd with a calculator nearby in the form of my phone I went for the unasked-for extra credit and punched in 150 x 75, curious about the square footage.
It equals 11,250 sq ft.
Or, roughly only 10 times the size of our condominium.
We love our little house. We do. But how big of a house would we think the God of the universe might have …?
Larger than 10 central valley condo units?
However big you believe God’s house should be (besides the fact that He’s outlined it a few different times), He has come to dwell with His people in different forms throughout the ages. Including in a way that brings us Christmas. (For more —a sliver — on “God with us” throughout history, my current study recommends “1 Kings 8:57-58; Matthew 1:23; John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 3:16; and Revelation 21:3.)
I wanted to draft this post (which needs more “fleshing out” since it’s such an ultimately important topic) because of an idea found in one of the Scriptural references in parenthesis in the paragraph one above: 1 Corinthians 3:16.
Here’s a question regarding a potential home of God Himself. Are you ready? Here it is, 1 Corinthians 3:16:
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
P.S. I couldn’t decide whether or not to include the following as the last line or show some restraint. What do you think?
“Now, He isn’t into units. No, not unit. You it.”
Good tie-in, or lame? I tell you, when I can hear it, it’s hard for me to back away from lame …
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