Beauty in a wilderness

Today's reading is so full of detail...
the beauty of God's attention to it and how He provides
is truly amazing.

For He requests an offering of His people,
the children of Israel, new to the wilderness.
From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
And in such God asks for a specific lists of luxuries...
such things these former slaves would not usually have.
Unless they had asked their neighbors on their way out of town.
Perhaps they would give them something... maybe gold, silver, bronze.
Remember how the Egyptians gave them treasures as they left?

This was the time for which God had planned those things.
For He knew in the wilderness He would ask them to build something with them.
And amazingly, the Egyptians gave them just what they would need to give.
And God gave them detailed plans and patterns to build...
the Ark of the Covenant.
Which was used hold the Testimony... the laws of Moses
and the Ten Commandments to be written on tablets.

The Ark is a most holy treasure of God.
On the top of it sits the mercy seat of pure gold, covered by the wings of two gold cherubim which face each other. This is the place where God will meet with Moses. And this Ark will be placed in the Most Holy place of the Tabernacle... where only the high priest may enter.

Today, we simply cannot fathom, nor understand these sort of sacred things.
The closest we get, sadly, is watching an Indiana Jones movie... where someone touches the ark and dies. For the Ark was truly holy... it was carried on poles and only by the Levite priests who had to be be born into a certain family line.

And God required everything to be build just so.
Detail, by specific detail.
And I know that some of this reading gets long...
but don't lose the love of God's Word in the details.
Because sometimes you find something quite beautiful in it.

Like this...
And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother,
for glory and for beauty. 
So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans,
whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,
that they may make Aaron’s garments,
to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest.
Exodus 28:2-3

God wants the priestly garments to be for glory and for beauty.
I mean, they are in the wilderness... who is going to see?
These garments don't really have to be beautiful, but they are serving the Lord...
so why not be the best.

And Moses was to speak to all who are gifted artisans...
whom God filled with the spirit of wisdom.
How awesome is that!
God made sure there were people among those led from Egypt,
those in the multitude of children of Israel...
that were gifted with just the skill needed
to weave, to build, to carve, to fashion gold and metals...
and He gave them a spirit of wisdom for just these tasks.

All for the glory of God,
so the priest could minister to Him.
Did you catch that?
So the priest could minister to God... not to minister to man.
How beautiful is that!

Word of God... train me, today...
to never get lost in the details,
to always look for skillful beauty and seek a spirit of wisdom.

Lord, I thank You for such excellent examples of holiness
as You delivered Your people into a wilderness.
You never miss a thing...
not one detail.
Even in the wilderness You provided for them riches
so that they could glorify and minister to You all the more.

I trust that in every moment of my life,
in plenty or in want,
You will provide what I need
to minister and bring glory to You.
Let me bring my best
​and fill me with skillful wisdom.