Walking with God has always been a frightening proposition. God is the Creator of all that is seen and unseen. No one and nothing is as powerful as God. When we do things in rebellion against God, we don't exactly want Him around. We're afraid He will strike us down.
You're not alone in this. Adam and Eve covered themselves in The Garden. Jonah ran away. The Israelites told Moses to go talk with Him and bring the message back. They didn't want to face God themselves. That's why God was "confined" to a pillar of fire/smoke, a special tent called a tabernacle, and eventually the special building called the temple.
When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. (1 Kings 8:3-11 NIV)
The Most Holy Place was a room within the temple where the LORD would dwell. The ark of the covenant contained a reminder of their encounters with God - the ten commandments given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. This would be the place to encounter God. When construction was complete and the Ark was in place, God's glory filled the entire temple to show His approval. Soon, though, He would be "confined" to only one room of the temple - the Holy of Holies. A curtain would protect sinful people from encountering the Glory of God.
Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever." While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. Then he said: "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, 'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.' "My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David, 'You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood--he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.' "The LORD has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt." (1 Kings 8:12-21 NIV)
When Jesus died on the cross, the temple curtain was torn from the top down - "releasing" God to fill the temple, and the world, once again. The ark reminded us of the covenant God made with Moses and the Israelites. Jesus' death reminds us of God's new covenant with all of us. He promises to forgive if we will simply return. Not only that, He promises to sent His Spirit to take up residence in His new temple: our bodies. We will never again be separated from God.
How about you? Do you want to be in the presence of God? Have you returned to Him so you will be saved? Is your body a temple for His Spirit?
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