Last time we had a look at how God
wants to say 'I love you' in a very special way. He wants to bless
us with flowers that will never fade away in His Presence in the
Temple. He wants us so close to Him that He can flow through us and
produce even more flowers that can never fade away, flowers that
will have eternal value.
Now today I want us to explore the
entrance and the engravings in the Temple further. As I've
mentioned last time, basically everything was overlaid with
gold.
Gold is a symbol of wealth; it
resembles kings and all their glory. Gold is the underlying wealth
of all monetary value. The amount of gold that one has truly
reflects your wealth. The prosperity of the kings in the Old
Testament was truly measured by the amount of gold that they had.
And the kings were truly overflowing with riches when even their
clothing was woven with it:
"The royal daughter is all
glorious within the palace; her clothing is woven with gold." Psalm
45:13
So when God's wealth and splendor
is depicted and explained to our frail brains, gold is used as a
way for us to understand the infinite riches that He possesses.
When the New Jerusalem is described it is not surprising that an
overwhelming amount of gold is mentioned:
"The construction of its wall
was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass."
Revelation 21:18
A whole city made of gold. Wow! Our
limited minds cannot fathom the expanse of God's overwhelming
richness and glory. I think the golden image was given to us, so
that we can try and comprehend in a small way the wonders of God.
But I think it is so much more, so much deeper and intricately
woven, that we won't understand it now. But it excites me to know
that there is more, it flutters within me knowing that our God
cannot be fathomed by our restricted minds. Gold is just a
miniature piece displaying who our God really is!
Now as wonderful as gold is, it is
amazing to read in 1 Peter 1:7 that God says that the genuineness
of our faith is more important to Him than gold. He wants us to be
genuine when we approach Him. He wants us to be honest, frank and
open. The gold means nothing to Him. It reflects a small part of
His glory, but it doesn't mean anything to Him. Our honest faith is
all that matters now.
I realize now what God wants to
tell us with the gold in the Temple. The gold is there to lure us
in. It is there to bring us closer to Him. Nowhere in the outer
court is gold, only from the entrance onwards. And the reason is,
because God wants to attract us closer to Him. It reveals a part of
His character, and it reveals His authority as King. And once
there, He wants us to be genuine and honest with Him. He wants us
to lay our souls bare and to talk to Him. He wants us to just 'be'
in His presence and to trust Him with everything. He wants our
total surrender.
What attracts you to God? What
about Him blows your mind? Go and think about it this week. Tell
God and talk with Him about how amazing He is. Glorify Him in
everything you do and exalt His Name on high. Then be open and
honest with Him. Tell Him what you are worried about, tell Him what
your concerns are and even tell Him if you are disappointed with
'Christianity'. Open up to Him, it means more to Him than all the
gold in the Universe. His children coming to Him and being close to
Him is all that He wants.
Come and enter into the Temple, all
the answers are there, all the comfort and all the love. You simply
need to enter in.
Father Your Temple is truly
glorious. It is so wonderful! Thank you so much that we are allowed
to enter in. Thank you that Jesus opened the way for us. We praise
Him on high! And we glorify Your Name. Amen