LOVED BY GOD

He who descended

Condescended to view

Beggar, leper or taxman

With lowly eyes.

The world lying

In the wicked one, the holy One

Raised, through His tongue,

The truth.

Making ointment, blessing children,

Touching the blind and dumb,

And the leper:

What perfect hands.

Every feature flowed,

Grace and compassion to me,

Praise and dependence to God,

From a pure heart.

What of His feet?

They bore Him

To desert, mountain, plain,

Gennesaret, Gethsemane, Golgotha.

So men heard God's word,

Noble, just, pure and amiable,

Virtue and praise,

From the Faithful and True Witness.

By His cross and blood

He breached the wall

And made the disparate

One.

We learn by contrasts: this is a response to Proverbs 6: 16:

16 These six things doth Jehovah hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;

18 a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations; feet that are swift in running to mischief;

19 a false witness that uttereth lies, and he that soweth discords among brethren.

High Pond

MYRRH

 

Mary would ponder
The magi’s strange gifts
For a child: gold, frankincense,
Myrrh.

He made His way through
Israel’s dust; refreshed
By the penitent’s tears, and anointing
Myrrh.

If on the cross
He was offered wine to drink
First they medicated it
With myrrh.

Honoured in the grave
His body was bound
With aloes
And myrrh.

During my review of the tabernacle I noticed that myrrh is mentioned, but mentioned once only and in diffrent circumstances, in every gospel.  Matthew 2:11; Luke 7: 37 onwards; Mark 15: 23; John 19: 39.

22/02/2023

Can you see the ducklings?

Look closer!

THE TABERNACLE

This picture of the Tabernacle hung in my grandfather's house, and is now in mine; I'm afraid the photo doesn't do it justice.  I've been having a few looks at it while writing.

 Here's an earlier piece of verse reposted:

He has brought us to
What He Himself pitched -
The true tabernacle.

Within it the ark, structured
By such nobles,
Bezaleel and Aholiab.

The mercy-seat,
Blood on the pure gold,
Is the place of justification.

All lit by
The lamps of the pure lampstand
Of pure gold, laced
With pure beaten olive oil.

     But purity demands
     That our approach is by
     The copper altar and the blood,
     The laver and its water.

For the heart of God
The golden altar pours up
Fragrance of His Beloved.

Blow the silver trumpet!
Let the good report
Sound and resound.

Note that this includes reference to Philippians 4: 8, another theme I like to go over.

APPROACH TO THE TABERNACLE (XXVI)

 

All centres in the ark; all takes its measure
From it; all ends in it; and all begins
In it that will be for Jehovah’s pleasure.

All centres in the Son; He underpins,
And crowns, and permeates, and guides, and lights
Everything in the space His glory wins.

And everything within the space delights
His Father, and the sons whom He invites.

This concludes my series, Approach to the Tabernacle. This was written between in the period 10/12/2022 – 11/05/2023.  Every subject drawn from the Scriptures is infinitely expandable, but I though I would leave this here, 26 sections, relabelled as A-Z.

As for the photos we are fortunate to have the Pentland Hill in easy reach with a choice of very easy to moderately difficult routes.

APPROACH TO THE TABERNACLE (XXV)

Another Pentland Hills walk

Upon the ark there was the mercy-seat,
Where blood was gazed on by the cherubim,
The work to meet God’s rights being complete.

Nothing is by man’s counsel or his whim
But all in answer to God’s holy rights,
Christ central there, and all complete in Him.

And all is settled for those God invites
To share with Him the place of His delights.

APPROACH TO THE TABERNACLE (XXIV)

Only one man could go within the veil

With the twelve varied jewels upon his breast,
Upon the breastplate, as God’s thoughts entail.

We go within “in Christ” having been blessed
With every blessing suited to that sphere,
As His good Spirit glories to attest.

The Son of God rejoices to appear
With sons the Father wills He should bring near.

APPROACH TO THE TABERNACLE (XXIII)

Only one man could go within the veil
But since his shoulders bore the onyx stones
With Israel’s names they knew all would not fail.

Thus every one whom Christ, our Great Priest, owns
As His is borne upon His shoulder’s power,
Not only as the Offering which atones.

He is our Help, our Refuge, and our Tower
Who succours in our worst and finest hour.

APPROACH TO THE TABERNACLE (XXII)

 Only one man could go within the veil

Carrying a censer that was full of coals

To fill the holiest with its incense trail.

One Man in moral excellence extols

God’s moral excellence in everything,

And His own excellence enthrals our souls.

While moral excellences Christ may bring

To God are fragrant through His suffering.