God Has A Color Scheme

 

I decided about a month ago that I needed to read the bible from cover to cover.  This was not a New Years resolution.  It was definitely a conviction.  I had a couple of conversations and then I heard a man talking on the radio about how he had no “system” for reading the bible, but simply opened the front cover and read it through to the end and then when he had finished, he did it again.  I have chosen books at random or done specific bible studies.  But I have yet to read from cover to cover this book I am building my life on.  That’s kind of nutty.  I can’t say exactly where I picked up this lax attitude toward bible reading, but I decided that it was a really hard book to read and that I shouldn’t overwhelm myself by trying to read it all at once.  What?  I read War and Peace when I was like, ten years old.  I like hard books.  I like big books.  I like books you read over and over and they just get better and better.  That is the bible.  Duh.  

So, I’m in Exodus and I’m getting into God giving His specs to Moses regarding the tabernacle.  I’m starting to get that whiny voice in my head complaining about how boring this all is and how I could maybe skip this part.  Then I remembered that guy on the radio and he said that he even was blessed by the genealogies.  So, I asked the Lord to meet me where I was at and we kept at it. 

Well, He turned the whole thing around for me.  Before I knew it, I was totally into it.  Now, give me a little grace here…I told you He met me where I was at.  I know there is deep and meaningful symbolism in every aspect of the tabernacle.  I know the floor plan is the gospel message and I love that my God is so amazingly consistent, even as an architect.  That to one side, I started to see Him as the designer, talking with Moses (face to face, as a man talks with his friend) and explaining His vision for His dwelling place on earth.  He picked out all the materials specifically.  He dictated proportion and scale.  He had a color scheme!  God chose gold, blue, purple, and scarlet as His color scheme.  I can’t explain exactly how this has brought us closer, but it has.   There are moments when the walls of religiosity crumble just a little bit more.  This was one of those moments.  My God has an amazing personality and He has favorite colors.

There were a few other things that stood out to me.  I loved that there were aspects of the design that had to be just a certain way (for His good reasons), but there were parts that He delegated to skilled artisans.  Specific designs He left up to the discretion of people skilled in making beautiful things.  The other thing that I loved was that He didn’t spell out His purpose.  He didn’t spill the beans on what exactly His glorious plan was, even as it was hidden in the very design of the tabernacle. 

He is the master of mystery.

So that is how I’m going to do it…all the way through Leviticus to the very end! 

Exodus 25

 ¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. ³ These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ⁵ ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather^[a]; acacia wood; ⁶ olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; ⁷ and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

 ⁸ “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. ⁹ Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.