Caulfield Evangelical Methodist Church
- Weekly Pastoral Message -

Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Dr. Peter J. Gentry
for Sunday 1st March 1998

From the Pastor: Ethics Determines the Future, Not Magic

"Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you ... just so you shall construct it." Exodus 25:8-9 Were the plans for the Tabernacle or Tent where ancient Israel worshipped their God absolutely unique? It seems according to this verse that no place of worship in the ancient Near East was like it. Yet archaeologists have uncovered many temples built by the nations surrounding Israel and almost all are exactly the same. All have an outer courtyard and a building in the middle. In every one the building is divided into two: a Holy Place and a Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place. So in one way, when the ancient Israelis first saw the Tabernacle, they saw something common and ordinary in all societies of the ancient Near East. Why was God so strict, then, in instructing Moses to build the Tabernacle exactly like the pattern shown him on the mountain? There were differences, ever so slight, but ever so subtle. In all temples in a country such as Canaan, one would go through the courtyard, enter the Temple, and pass into the Most Holy Place. And what would they find there? A statue of the god, representing one of the forces of nature, the power brokers of the good life. By contrast, when one passed through the Courtyard of the Tabernacle in ancient Israel, and entered the inner room of the Tent, what would one find there? Well, first of all, nothing. That's right, nothing! The God of Israel is an invisible spirit and cannot be represented by human plastic arts. He is above the forces of nature as he made them and rules them. Second, one would find there a little box. And what would be in that box? The Ten Words or Commands. Ancient Canaanite worship centred on what we call sympathic magic. Orgiastic rituals were performed to try and manipulate the gods (that is the forces of nature) to guarantee the good life for their worshippers. Not so in Israel. Do you see what is being said by the box with the Ten Commands? God is saying, "If you want the good life, you cannot manipulate me. If you want the good life, you must come my way." So ethics determines the future, not magic. Such differences were tiny, but resulted in a completely different worldview. No wonder Moses was told to follow the plan precisely.