Good Morning.
The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. (Exodus 15:2)
There are Aramaic translations of the Scriptures known as Targumim which follow the Hebrew version of Scripture very closely. On occasion, however, these Aramaic versions offer slightly different renderings of verses, this being one of them. Instead of saying, “I will praise Him,” the alternate rendering says, “I will prepare Him a habitation.” This follows the Targum of Onkelos and different rabbis who say this should be translated as, “I will build You a Sanctuary.”
Once again we see that, at the crossing of the sea, the spirit of prophecy came upon Moses and the people who sung of things that were to be. Later in the wilderness, God told Israel to build a sanctuary that He might dwell among them. Some commentators expand upon the sanctuary theme in this verse and render it as, “He is my God, and I will make myself a sanctuary for Him.” This is fascinating because, in reality, that was His intention from the very beginning –- that He would dwell among His people and in His people.
According to Peter, as living stones, we are being built up into a “spiritual house” for His Presence (1 Peter 2:5). According to Paul, each of us is considered as “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). This is the logical conclusion of believing in Messiah whose Hebrew name, Yeshua means “salvation now!” Because He has become my salvation, He is my God and therefore I will make myself a sanctuary for Him. May it be that we all, corporately and individually fulfill that function — to be the proper abode for the Spirit or God to dwell in. So it seems appropriate to conclude with the lyrics from an old song that said:
“LORD prepare me to be a Sanctuary. Pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living Sanctuary for You.” Amen.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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