Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Tabernacle of the Godhead




O worship Yahweh in the beauty of holiness: tremble before him, all the earth.

- Psalms 96:9


Incense lies heavy in the atmosphere. It swirls through your senses, tickling the nose, tasting the mouth, touching the eyes. It smells sweet, dark, rich.


You open your eyes. The gold glints in the shadows, making your irises sparkle with the glory of its wealth. The mercy seat stands in the womb of the temple, before your eyes, borne by majestic creatures whose colossal wings span out and above in dazzling grandeur, arching over the throne of God. The faces of the creatures are turned to one another. Fire burns in their eyes. They perch upon the Ark. Majesty reigns. Intense spiritual presence wrestles around the gleaming gold overlay. The sweet smell of acacia wood hangs faintly in the atmosphere. To touch is death, for the Cloud Fire prevails sovereign on the throne, above the stone tablets of His Law, the Law that brings life and light. The Law that frees.


You tear yourself away from the throne where visits the God who is Love. You fold back the thick curtain of finely woven linen, richly colored violet-purple, red-purple, embroidered with the great winged creatures who guard the Ark of the Testimony. You leave the Holy of Holies, the Qodesh-Qodesh, and enter the Holy Place.


A gleam in the dusk catches your eye. The glimmer of gold, the scent of acacia wood. You come round the curtain and see, sparkling against the rich tone of the maroon drapery, the table of offering. Beautifully moulded, crowned with bowls and goblets and jars and platters of pure, fair ore. The loaves, baked of fine wheaten flour, crushed-olive oil, and ground incense grace the gold plate.


Opposite the table a shimmering lamp-stand sheds forth light upon the magical surroundings. You marvel in the beauty of the golden form, beaten forth in the loveliness of calyxes and petals, branches crowned in almond blossoms, red-flamed lamps standing in the cups. Light shining in the Temple of the Light of the world.


You become aware of the sun filtering through the opening of the Holy Place, filtering through the screen of fine, twisted linen, tinted blue and purple and scarlet, wrought with skilled needlework. The heavy, soft cloth hangs upon five strong pillars of acacia wood, overlain with gold, socketed with brass. You walk through the doorway, and out into the court.


Splendid color surrounds you. Violet, crimson, and azure draping create the boundaries of the court. The finely twined linen garlands columns of gold, poles of silver, hooks of bronze. A golden lamp, burning continually with pure pounded olive oil, flickers purple shadows on the richly stained curtains. The red light is attended from dusk to dawn by the sons of Abarone, before Yahweh, as an endless edict for all ages of Israel.


Your attention is brought to the middle of the court where stands the altar, by the bleat of animals being lead toward the mizbeach. Built of hollow acacia wood, crowned with four bronze horns at each corner, complemented by bronze pans for carrying away the fatty ashes, bronze shovels, bronze sprinkling basins, bronze hooks, bronze fire pans. The flame from the lamp mirrors in the metal.


You see Abarone and his four sons surrounding the altar. Awe strikes you at the splendor of their raiment in the light of the sun, the fire of the lamp. Robes and embroidered tunics adorn them, giving dignity and magnificence to their strong, tall frames, the color glistening in their brown eyes. A turban crowns each regal head, covering their brown locks. A flower of pure gold, engraved with the words Qodesh Yahweh is attached to a violet-purple cord, which hangs from the winding cloths of the turban. The clothes are made of dyed linen to match the curtains surrounding them, hemmed with pomegranates and golden bells which tinkle at all times, so the sweet sound foreruns their entrance into the Holy of Holies. Below their thick, long beards rest the ephod and the breastplate, spun of violet linen, swung with gold chains of rosettes and purple cords. Two cornelians, engraved with the twelve names of the Princes of Israel, hang in gold settings upon the straps of the ephod. The crimson-violet linen is set with twelve rare stones to represent the names of the Tribes, glinting with all the colors of the rainbow that surrounds the heavenly throne of God.


The Urim and the Thummim adorn the breastplate over his heart, thus giving Abarone the judgment of Israel to bear, in the presence of Yahweh, forever. In the holy flower upon his brow he carries the shortcomings of the things consecrated by the people of Israel, to make them satisfactory to Elohim. Avarone bears the remembrance of the names of Israel's sons upon his shoulders before Adonai. Avarone supports the chosen people of El Shaddai upon his heart, always. Avarone is the Priest of Jehovah.


You hear the bleats of lambs and goats, the coo of doves and pigeons, echo through the court. You see the white wool and grey skin, the white feathers and the grey, burn upon the altar, sending up a pleasing aroma to the Godhead. Their blood is poured around the altar, their life spilled out for the souls of humanity, so that they might possess Life Eternal. The garments of Abarone and his sons are sprinkled with the blood, anointing oil, incense. They are purified. Israel is purified.


You step outside the court, through the lovely linen drapery, and see God's creation all around you. Green grass. Blue sky. Golden sun. A sweet wind blowing through the trees. You worship Elohim, the God Who Is.


Thine, O Adonai, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine, thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as King above all.

- 1 Chronicles 29:11

14 comments:

Gretchen Emily Wolaver said...

That was very good, Camille. You have a wonderful aura to your writing. It brought the Temple to life. You inspire me!

David "The Great" said...
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Camille Rose Wolaver said...
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Rusty said...
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David "The Wise" said...
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Camille Rose Wolaver said...
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Camille Rose Wolaver said...

I do welcome comments upon the actual article, however! :)

Rusty said...

Really? I never would have guessed. :-P

I like the imagery and importantly the accurateness. I also just noticed the Playlist down at the bottom, too. It's important to read all of Scripture, from cover to cover. Everything is in there for a reason, the symbolism, types, everything. I wish more Christians would read Scripture for themselves. It would expose much of the nonsense out there. Sorry. I'm prone to digress. :-P

Camille Rose Wolaver said...

Camille,

Very plush writing, a great description that helped me "see" and set my mind to contemplating the reality of the great "I AM!" Since our body is is Temple now, I believe we better take good care of ourselves. Who can live up to this opulence? David "The Great" loves you, and enjoyed your blog, I know.

Camille Rose Wolaver said...

Mama: Thank you! I love you! Yes, I know, David loves to tease :) What are cousins for? :)

Wesley: Yes, I do agree with you. Christianity in this day and age has gotten distressingly far away from the Word of God, and even people who will profess to reading the New Testament will disregard the profound foundation which the Old Testament lends to the New. Thanks for your comment.

Rusty said...

Oh. I didn't know that was a cousin hassling you.

At any rate, good point. The New Testament reveals much of the foundation for what happened in the Old Testament and is of course the higher covenant. Still, a lot of people out there like to misuse the Old Testament in order garner monetary funds and so forth without realizing the entire point of the Law and such.

Camille Rose Wolaver said...

Yes, that's my cousin David. He's a big teaser. :)

I completely agree with your comment on the Old Testament. So much of the time people pick and choose what they like and don't like about the Bible, what they choose to be true and untrue, without realizing that, in order for any of it to be true, the whole text must be true. If you take any other view of it, then you are making yourself god and not honoring Yahweh, the Creator of the worlds in both the Old and New Testaments. Thanks for your comment!

Rusty said...

Thanks for your comment on my comment that was a comment to your comment on my first comment. Ha!

I could comment ad infinitum but probably ad nauseam first for everyone else.

It's either all or nothing with Scripture!

Amybeth said...

Camille, that was very good. :) Your descriptions really appeal to the senses. Good job! <3