How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84:1-2)
In the Hebrew version of the Bible, the very first letter of the Scripture is the letter ב beit, which is symbolic of a house (the Hebrew word בית bayit means “house”). It is therefore suggested that, in the beginning, the Creator revealed that His purpose for bringing the world into existence was to have a house in which He could commune with His most beloved creation, man. First the garden, then the wilderness Sanctuary and ultimately the Temple — the Beit HaMikdash — were manifestations of His desire to dwell among His people. In turn, His call to Israel to be a set apart people was to create within them a desire to reside in His Presence and thus fulfill the purpose set in motion from the beginning.
In the verses above we see an expression of this aforementioned desire on the part of the sons of Korah — a longing for God’s Presence and to be in His House. From a Jewish perspective, this desire intensified when the people were unable, either by distance or circumstance, to gather at the Sanctuary. Being away from His Presence created within those who genuinely loved Him a yearning to return to His House. Think of it this way: many creatures have a powerful homing instinct that connects them to a specific location. It is that unique place that they long to return to, reproduce and shelter their young. That place, in Jewish thought, is the Sanctuary.
Obviously, this presents a problem today because, for some time, there has been no such Temple. This is why many Jews long for the Temple to be rebuilt and for those still scattered through the nations to return to the land of Israel. And while all of God’s people will one day gather in Jerusalem to worship the King, as followers of Messiah, we have the blessing of knowing that His Presence is with us always, wherever we go. That being said, let’s make sure not to miss the point; the purpose of Creation was that God and man could have fellowship. The Creator of the Universe wishes to have an intimate relationship with us all; the question is, do we have the same desire within us? Do we long to be in His courts? Does our heart cry out for the living God?
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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