THE PROTOCOL OF HOLINESS

Luke 2:49

I must be about my Father's business?

The U.S. has become the icon of Western civilization, and as a teacher in the U.S., I notice that its people have become very casual. I was raised in France, and in my school days, I would have never dreamed of calling my teachers or any other adult around me in any other way than by their title such as Mr. or Mrs. I would have certainly gotten slapped if I'd call my parents or any relative in any other way than ‘Papa’, ‘Maman’, or 'Tonton', 'Tata' (Uncle or auntie).

I am of the belief that our style of rapport in human relationship reveals the way we are with God. We serve God the way we serve humankind made in the image of God. You cannot say that you have a good relationship with God while you have trouble living and working with others, or that your behavior is so obnoxious that others have a hard time getting along with you. You cannot tell me that you hear the Voice of God when you have difficulty hearing those around you whom God has placed to advise you. You cannot tell me that you have respect for God and His will when you are not reverent of His Word and of the people around you whom He has called ‘kedoshim’, or ‘saints’.

Because of a society that has rejected the ideas of protocol and respect of individuals placed in position of authority, it seems we also want to have a very casual and familiar relationship with Hashem, and even with the Master but is that right? During the time of His manifestation on earth (2 Timothy 1:9-10), the Master compared Himself to the Temple. An understanding therefore of Temple and Tabernacle protocol as described in the Book of Exodus helps us understand what kind of relationship we are to have with Him.

God is not content to merely peer down at us from above. He desires to engage in a relationship with us, but because of His status of holiness and ours of non-holiness, there are protocols to be respected and accommodations to be organized for the relationship to work, The Tabernacle/Temple system became this protocol and accommodation, and the Master compared Himself to it (John 2:21). That should tell us that our relationship with the Master is anything but casual. Look at what happened when people of a much greater spiritual caliber than you and I like the prophet Daniel, and John, the disciple, encountered the Master (Daniel 7:13-28; Revelations 1:10-17).

 After Yeshua’s death and resurrection, the disciples basically became a Temple sect, hanging out there all the time (Acts 2:46; 3:1-3; 5:42). They were in what the Master coined as the ‘House of Prayer’ (Matthew 21:13), doing His ‘Father’s business’ (Luke 2:49). Their base of operation was Solomon’s porch (Acts 3:11; 5:12).

While creation is described in one chapter in the Book of Genesis, the description of and measurement of the Tabernacle takes a large chunk of the book of Exodus. May we learn from the study of the Temple; there is a blessing in it (Ezekiel 43:10).