Not long after Adam and Eve had sinned God came looking for them in the Garden of Eden. When they heard the voice of God they ran and hid themselves. Sin had created an immediate fear of God so Adam said "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Gen. 3:10)
About 2000 years later when God met Moses at the burning bush and asked him to go and liberate Israel from Egyptian captivity, Moses said, "when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?" (Ex. 3:13) Moses realized that these people had no proper concept of God as they were accustomed to the many gods of Egypt. This fact was borne out soon afterwards when God spoke the ten commandments to them from Mount Sinai and the people, hearing the voice of God speaking to them, ran away and said to Moses "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." (Ex. 20:19) Again this showed a fear of God by the people He loved.
Realizing that He now had a problem of communicating with the people whom He was trying to reach and to save, God devised the only possible way of getting close enough to them so that He could teach them about Himself. In Exodus 25:8 He said, "...let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them"
This sanctuary was supposed to teach Israel the ways of God and let them learn about His great love and the plan He had devised for their salvation. At the same time, He would make His presence known in their midst by the holiness of the sanctuary and its services.
Today, a study of the services of the Jewish sanctuary with a proper understanding of their special significances will again help to refocus our minds on the love of God and draw us into a closer relationship with Him |
