The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27)
In one of the psalms ascribed to Moses, the man of God said, “LORD, you have been our dwelling place in all generations” (Psalm 90:1). In the verse above, He reiterates that sentiment to God’s people as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan. Their refuge was not to be found in those things men typically look to for shelter but was provided to them by God’s Presence dwelling among them, in His Sanctuary no less. And so it is that all generations of God’s people are to understand that His Sanctuary — His Dwelling Place — is our Sanctuary.
For us, to take refuge in His Sanctuary transcends the notion of a wilderness tent or a building on Mount Moriah because, obviously, those things don’t currently exist. No doubt that is why Moses said that “the eternal God” is our refuge; the LORD is our “dwelling place in all generations.” Security isn’t to be found in a structure per se, but in the One who inhabited that tent and that building. As Solomon said on the day the Temple was dedicated, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” (2 Chronicles 6:18).
If we are not to look to anything a man can build as a means of refuge, I would suggest that includes the institutions and industries we built through the ages — industries and institutions that we tend to lean on. As God’s people, we should not place our confidence in these things because, in time, they will fail. In that vein of thought, we should view the world’s leaders as insignificant and inept compared with the God of Israel. Even the wisest and mightiest of men are bound to the earth but our God transcends the Universe. Only in God do we find refuge and safety, and so let us not fall into the trap of thinking that what man has built will save us — He alone is our Sanctuary.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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