Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.” Moses did so. As Yahweh commanded him, so he did. The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone! Everyone who keeps approaching Yahweh’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?””
(Numbers 17:10-13)

“The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.“
(John 1:14)

The tabernacle was a very important part of the life of the Israelites, especially when they were wandering around the edges of the Arabian Desert. It was their contact point with the God who lived among them. The cloud (symbolizing His presence) was constantly hovering over the tabernacle OR leading them where they needed to go. But there were pockets of people who several times rose up to despise the system God had put into place. Whether they were challenging the system itself, the role of Aaron’s family, or the office of the high priest, they were rejecting God’s way of doing things and demanding that they be allowed to do things their own way. It didn’t go well with them.

Jesus, the Word, came to live among humanity as a member of humanity. He tabernacled with us. He came to dwell with us, occupy a space with us, to encamp among us. He did it so that we could not fail to see the Way that He was making, pointing us to, and guiding us toward. He shone like a light to point to that Way. He provided the food and water we would need to stay alive while walking the Way. He did everything for us, providing us with our Source of salvation: Himself.

Summary

Everything about our relationship with God and God’s relationship with humanity – as a whole and individually – is about COVENANT. This covenant is symbolized in the tabernacle. First in a physical object, and then in Jesus, the Son. We need to remember that there is a right way to approach God (humbly submitted in obedience – Romans 12:1). It isn’t always easy. We like to do things our own way. But OUR way always leads to SOME kind of problem. God’s Way ALWAYS leads to life, blessing, and abundant living from the inside out.