November 29, 2010 – Exodus 40

We just finished our renovations of our church here in town.  Several other churches have either had renovations or new buildings entirely.  Sometimes I wonder how much prayer goes into it.  I love our new church, yet, the plan was for something much more elaborate.  Money cut things, but it is still a beautiful church.  Some new churches are big and practical with nice offices, but remind me of big barns or machine sheds.  I am always curious how much prayer goes into the construction.  If you have a chance to go to Europe and Rome you will see churches that were built with prayer.  Churches that have meaning behind everything you see.  Here we see Moses erect the Dwelling exactly as God told Him to and God dwelt there.  God appears pretty picky about where He is going to stay.  I just wondered if those that build the modern church barns asked God if that is what He wanted.

While I was writing I can up with a counter to what I was saying.  The Dwelling is a pretty basic tent with a divide.  It is not elaborate and that is God wants, so maybe the “barn” churches are closer to God’s dwelling than you think.  In response I would tell them to look at the Temple that God is going to tell them to build and how elaborate that will be.  This was a temporary dwelling meant to be taken down and moved all over the desert.  If you are building something you hope will last, the dwelling Moses built in the desert might not be the model to go from.