You know those moments when you feel like you don't totally understand something to its complete extent, but then you all of a sudden just 'get it?' It would be like in school when you were trying to learn the steps to solve a certain type of math equation- you could follow it when the teacher was going over it, but not on your own, until suddenly, the teacher says something or does something, and it all just clicks. It's an "Aha!" moment- a moment when reason and understanding meet and knowledge lights up the imaginary light bulb above our head that's been flickering on and off.
'Aha!' moments are great. They can do anything from turning a semester's worth of study frustration around to turning around a hard season of faith. Today, I had one of these 'Aha!' moments, and it was easily a day maker. Frankly, it was over a faith topic that I'd never even realized I struggled with understanding, but now that I do understand it a bit more, my imaginary light bulb lit up, and I can't stop thinking about it.
The Old Testament has always had its mysteries to me, as it was a part of the Bible that I've never studied or read much, aside from the classic stories like Creation, Jonah or Daniel and the lions den. One of the biggest mysteries to me was the mystery and the symbolism of the tabernacle and the temple and their role in the Jewish/Christian faith, and it wasn't until today that one of my mentors explained to me over a cup of coffee what their role really symbolized.
The tabernacle and temple of the Old Testament directly symbolize the original Garden of Eden (mind blown).
I still don't know all of the details and all of the correlations, but essentially, I learned that God had the people of Israel construct the Tabernacle as a place for Him to dwell that was Holy and Perfect- a mini Heaven on Earth, if you will, just like the Garden of Eden was. Just like in the Garden, the entrance to the temple was at the East and guarded by a flame. The temple also had a similar layout symbolically to the Garden of Eden, as the inner most part of the temple was the Holy of Holies, and the inner most part of the Garden was the Tree of Life and Tree of Good and Evil. God dwelt in the tabernacle and temple, just as God dwelt and walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve. It was like God's celestial palace was on earth temporarily, and two humans got to dwell there with Him. Pretty sweet.
Again, I don't know all the details or all the theology, and I may have messed up some of what was said above, but still. Think about how cool that is that God modeled His temple after His Heaven on Earth. It blows my mind, and I hope it does yours.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Don't miss the 'Aha!' moments.