I'm certain that the number one reason people give as an excuse for not reading these books is that they are dreadfully boring. The tedious way in which God spells out even the most insignificant details of how the Israelites were to live and worship makes reading more of a chore than a pleasure. I'll be the first to admit that it ain't easy to get through these books, and I'm not going to be blogging about ways to make the reading less painful. Rather, I want to talk about why it's so painful.
If you think it is difficult to read, think about how hard it was to live out. If you were an ancient Israelite that took worship seriously, you didn't just have to read about taking all these precautions and doing everything just right at the risk of being cut off from the community, you actually had to take the precautions and do everything right if you wanted to stay in good graces with the state and God. Well, we know that it was an impossible task, and that's why Jesus came. We couldn't keep the law, and so we were not in good graces with God. But Jesus died and resurrected, and now the Holy Spirit has given us a new life, and we are now able to live pleasing lives before the Lord.
But look, we didn't, we couldn't have done this ourselves. That's one of the things the Law teaches us. But because of the enabling power of the Spirit, we can now come boldly before the throne of God.
So how does any of this apply to worship?
Well, imagine being Moses on Mt. Sinai while God was revealing what would become Exodus and Leviticus. If I were Moses, and I were getting all of these details, the first thing on my mind would be, "I'm in the middle of the freakin' dessert! Where am I going to get all the materials to make this stuff?!?" Even if I had the materials, I'd be thinking, "Who's going to make all this stuff? It's not like any of it's simple to make. Where am I going to get the kind of craftsmanship I need to get this stuff exactly like God wants it?"
The point is that Moses was being given an impossible task, and God was expecting him to complete it. And just to give you a glimpse of how seriously God took how the Israelites worshiped him, in Exodus 30:34-38, God gave Moses a recipe for the incense that was to be used in worship. God told Moses that if anyone used this recipe for any other reason than for it's specified purpose, that person was to be "cut off from his people." Exile was the punishment for misusing perfume. That's taking things really seriously. Moses had to get it right.
But it was an impossible task! This was a job that Moses could not do, let alone do well. God knew it, and told Moses:
I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, ... and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts--to make artistic designs for the work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach ... to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you[.] (Exodus 31:2-6, NIV)God had to empower people with his Holy Spirit just so they could get the job done and done right. Otherwise, the Israelites would have been up a creek without a paddle. There would have been no worship the divine appointment.
The law is so hard to keep to reveal how dark and fallen we are--how utterly inept we are to save ourselves. We need Jesus. The regulations that govern worship are so hard to keep to reveal how dark and fallen we are--how utterly inept we are to worship God in the right way. The Spirit must enable us.
If we try to save ourselves, if we try to do salvation on our terms instead of God's, we end up with no salvation at all. This is Christianity 101.
What we often miss, I think, is that if we try to worship God on our own, if we try to do worship on our terms instead of Gods, we end up with no worship at all.
There is only one term that God has demanded regarding how his people, the church, worship him: We are to present ourselves as living sacrifices (cf. Romans 12). We are to give ourselves completely to God so he can do with us whatever he wishes. And what it is that he wishes is that we take up our cross and follow Jesus. But we know that following Jesus is impossible without the Spirit. So worshiping on God's terms, being a sacrifice that takes up one's cross to follow Jesus, is impossible without the Spirit.
THEREFORE: God, let us be a people that has been called to you and redeemed from our rebellion by your Holy Spirit. God, empower us in a brand new way so that we can worship you on your terms. Lord, empower us to worship according to your standards
