Love With Everything Within And Without (2)

[Zac Loh]

THE 12 MATERIALS/ITEMS/ASPECTS OF GIVING

Gold: Malleability & Beauty

Silver: Purity & Reflectivity

Bronze: Durability & Ability

Blue, Purple And Scarlet Thread: Availability & Distinctly

Fine Linen: Uprightly & Mentality

Goats’ Hair: Faithfully & Exclusivity

Ram Skins Dyed Red: Sacrificially & Superiority

Badger Skins: Hospitality & Security

Acacia Wood: Sensitivity & Eternity

Oil For The Light: Energy & Visibility

Spices: Ecstasy & Testimony

Stones: Memory & Monumentally

The Tabernacle Was Symbolic

Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. (2 Peter 1:13-15)

The tabernacle, or tent, is a dwelling place. The apostle Peter used it to refer to his body. His body was the outward covering for his soul. And he mentioned that his soul would pass-on when he is physically deceased.

Our body is also the dwelling place of God. It is important to note that God is interested, not just to be with us, but also to be in us fully.

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him: but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:17; underline mine)

Now, we link this verse (John 14:17) to the Book of Genesis where the pillar of God’s presence covered and filled the tabernacle of meeting:

Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. (Exodus 40:34-38)

God revealed that He was looking for a dwelling place among His people. The nation of Israel also speaks to us as an individual. God wants to dwell among each of us, within each of us.

The 12 Materials/Items/Aspects Of Giving

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:1-8; underline mine)

Love is the giving of ourselves to God, so that God can dwell within us. If He can dwell within us, surely He can dwell with us (God being with us wouldn’t be a problem at all).

And this giving was purely on a voluntary basis. It was a freewill offering. And that’s what love is all about. God was looking for those who will give it willingly with the heart. For God to dwell among them, they had to give. And we have to give of ourselves to be God’s sanctuary.

And what did the children of Israel give? There were twelve types of material specified therein. An each item listed represented an aspect of us.

The twelve types of materials for the building of the tabernacle are love offerings. They were voluntary. It was not manipulated nor forced. We have to know what we’re getting into. And freely do it.

Each material has a great significant meaning. It tells us about the condition of our heart for a love relationship with God to work. It also tells us what God requires of us, for the exchange of love: what we need to give Him in order that He can give Himself to us.

All these twelve materials were valuable at that time. The key is to find-out what made each item valuable. God wants us to give Him what we consider valuable to us. What is of no-value to us is of no-value to Him. Remember that what is without (outward) is only relevant to the exchange of love, if it is considered valuable within us. We are to give God from within. What is without will have to correspondent to what is within. We can give God all that we possess. But if it is not from within, it is of no-value to Him.

Gold: Malleability And Beauty

Gold was the most malleable metal found back in those days. It was the softest and easiest to shape. It melted easily with heat, and shaped easily by the tools. That is why it was often used for costume jewelry. And it was used for the intricately designed furniture of the tabernacle.

God wants to shape us. Is our heart soft and tender enough for Him to shape us? Or have we hardened our heart? Let us not become stiff-necked. Let our heart be soft and tender towards God.

Are we being shaped by our career, work, tradition and culture? Are we willing to let God shape our character and personality into Christ-likeness?

It’s a process that we have to go through. The Spirit of God will take His time to shape us. We only can pray, “God, shape me.”

Gold was the most beautiful metal. As you know, it glitters in the light. Whatever is considered beautiful to us, we have to include that in our giving to God. It may be a beautiful past achievement in life. It can be physical things such as a beautiful car, a beautiful painting and etc. For a woman, it can be a beautiful house, a beautiful jewelry, a beautiful face, beautiful children and etc. It can even be our own polished personality, and how we articulate things.

What we consider beautiful within us, we give it to Him. Whether or not we do something physical about these beautiful past memories or present objects, is not as important as giving that part of ourselves to Him. It is a relationship. If God wants you to do something about it outwardly, than obey Him because you love Him.

When we give God what is beautiful to us, we will have the beauty of Christ given in exchange. The beauty of Christ is far superior, exceeding any other beauty that we can ever have.

Silver: Purity And Reflectivity

Silver does not tarnish readily in the air. Air is symbolic of the spiritual atmosphere of this world. Silver speaks of the holiness of God which was reflected by Christ when He was on earth.

How can a person keep himself from being stained and tainted by the allurement and deceptiveness of this world?

Silver needs to be regularly cleaned and polished. We, too, need to be regularly cleansed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. His name is `Holy’ Spirit. Constantly ask the Holy Spirit to check our life and reveal sin. Ask the Holy Spirit to separate and remove the world from within us, to circumcise our heart. Confess every sin, and receive the forgiveness by the promise of the shed blood of Christ!

Silver was used for exterior furniture and ornaments because it reflects a lot in the sunlight. The Rolls Royce limousine uses this feature prominently. In those days of the Bible, silver was sometimes used as a mirror. So, silver applies to our self-image.
We create a certain image for ourselves by the personality we take-on, the way we talk, the style of our clothing, the car we drive, the house we live-in, the restaurants we go to, the cards we carry and etc.

We are conscious of how we reflect ourselves to others. People of this world are very image conscious. Obviously, God wants us to give Him the image that we have created for ourselves for others. And it includes the image we personally, privately and internally have of ourselves …our self-consciousness.

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” (John 14:7)

Instead of our own self-image, God wants us to reflect His image. Jesus reflected God while He was living on earth.

Bronze: Durability And Ability

Bronze was the toughest and most durable metal in those times. In fact, bronze was used mostly for tools and weapons of war during the bronze age. This was before iron and other metals were discovered.

Bronze was mainly used for exterior furniture of the tabernacle. It was hard enough and capable of withstanding adverse conditions: dry desert wind, extremely harsh wind, wet day, sunny day and all sorts.

What does it speak to us about?

We must have a heart attitude that will tenaciously hold-on to God no matter how adverse our circumstance could get. We must love God during the good times and the bad times. We are not supposed to be fair weather man of God. Through tough situations, we must stick-it-out with God.

How can I be tougher and better? How can I train myself to be more durable for the Lord, to me more resistant to temptations and discouragements?

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

Everyday is our training day. Every test is our training. Every trial is our training. And the Bible truth is our training manual.

We take every challenging moment as our training. We take every hard circumstance and difficulty, as our training ground. We get tougher and better - with every test, with every trial.

What makes bronze valuable is simply because it was the most usable metal. There are people who find self-esteem, or take pride, in their usefulness. If they lose their job, they will lose their self-esteem and confidence. They give value to themselves by their ability to make an income, having a successful career or business, or achieve/accomplish something in life. Some find fulfillment by simply being useful to others and society.

And God wants us to give Him all of that. Not that He wants to take these things away from us, but He wants us to give Him our abilities in exchange with His. God wants to give us His esteem in exchange of our self-esteem. So, give Him your capabilities, abilities, talents …all your usefulness!

The Holy Spirit wants to fill us, fellowship within us – constantly - all the way, all the time – through good times, bad times – at special times and ordinary times.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t want to be just around us. He wants to fellowship at within us. He wants to be close to us and intimate with us, from within. He doesn’t want to fellowship with us, just from without.

The Holy Spirit wants to shape us, search us, and sanctify us. He wants to train us to be steadfast and steady, for God and in God.

The Holy Spirit will bring remembrance to us, to remind us of things. The Holy Spirit will make sure that we do the things that we are required to do. The Holy Spirit wants us to trust Him. Take the leap of faith. That’s the only way.

The Holy Spirit wants you to share your life with Him …everything …ups and downs …easy and difficult …joy and pain …happiness and sorrow …family and friends …play and work …casual and serious …leisure and business …urgent and mundane …important and minor …excitement and boredom …relaxation and stress …entertainment and commitment …and everything in-between.

“Come, Holy Spirit.”

PRAYER

Gold: “God, I surrender myself to You, shape me.”

Silver: “God, search me, sanctify me.”

Bronze: “God, let me be steadfast, and steady, for You and in You.”

“In Jesus name. Amen”