Aug 2, 2023
(Ex.40:16-21,34-38; Ps.84:2-6,8,11; Mt.13:47-53)
“The cloud covered the meeting tent,
and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.”
The Dwelling is the Tabernacle of God, the place in which the ark of the covenant holding the Ten Commandments was housed; and so it was God’s dwelling-place. And when this cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set forth; and when the cloud stopped, so would they. In this we see clearly that the Israelites were led by God and by His Law. “In the daytime the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all stages of their journey.”
Our psalm extols the glory of God and His place of dwelling. It is for Him and to be in His house we yearn. “Happy they who dwell in your house!” the psalmist exclaims. So far surpassing is the glory of the Lord that “I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” For “even the sparrow finds a home” at the altar of God, and so, how blessed shall we be in His presence.
And in our gospel Jesus completes His parables on “the reign of God,” the kingdom of heaven – the House in which we long to dwell eternally. And, of course, here before us stands the new ark of the covenant in the Person of Jesus. Here the new and fulfilling Law of love is housed, by which we are now led. The Spirit descended upon Him as a dove, thus anointing Him with God’s glory, and it is this “cloud,” this Spirit of Truth, which descends upon us now and by which we walk with God. The Old Covenant and Law are certainly not to be discarded, for “every scribe who is learned in the reign of God is like the head of the household who can bring from his storeroom both the new and the old”; but the Old is indeed subsumed by the New, for the Person of God – Word made flesh, God made man – far exceeds and truly completes the first dwelling, which was but made by human hands. Now the Law has found a new and lasting home.
It is well we understand all that the Lord would teach us. It is necessary that that teaching be complete, or we shall fall short of what our “heart” and “flesh cry out for.” “The living God” awaits us; His glory He would give us. Let us be covered by His cloud and be led forth in His Word of Truth to His eternal reign. From “strength to strength” let us go, until we dwell with Him forever, His Word written on our hearts. Amen.
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O LORD, we pray we shall not be cast out
but be gathered into your dwelling,
and in your presence make our home.
YHWH, in your Dwelling let us make our home, your cloud ever upon us; in the flesh of your Son we must live, led by the Holy Spirit. What is old and what is new help us understand, that we might be good stewards of your love and all souls may enter your kingdom.
At the end of the age your angels shall separate what is good from what is evil, for the evil have no place with the good. Only what is good may come into your House; what is evil will be burned in the furnace. And so our souls cry out for you, dear God, that you might make a place for us in Heaven.
To your threshold let us come, by the teaching of your only Son; His Spirit upon us to lead us to you, let us be obedient to His words. Let us do all you command, O LORD, for only then shall we be blessed. As your servant Moses let us be – in the new Moses let us make our home.