The Frame

The Frame
Words of Faith 2-6-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Exodus 26
[15] "Make upright frames of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. [16]  Each frame is to be ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, [17] with two projections set parallel to each other. Make all the frames of the Tabernacle in this way. [18] Make twenty frames for the south side of the Tabernacle [19]  and make forty silver bases to go under them--two bases for each frame, one under each projection. [20] For the other side, the north side of the Tabernacle, make twenty frames [21]  and forty silver bases--two under each frame. [22] Make six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the Tabernacle, [23]  and make two frames for the corners at the far end. [24]  At these two corners they must be double from the bottom all the way to the top, and fitted into a single ring; both shall be like that. [25]  So there will be eight frames and sixteen silver bases--two under each frame.

We have built a few church and worship buildings over the years. It was always an exciting day when the foundation was poured in the frame began to go up. Our worship center had large steel girders that formed the frame that would hold everything up and tie the structure together.
While the frame of a building is the first thing to go up, it is not the first thing that is designed. The frame serves to enclose and hold the interior structure. It was the same centuries ago when God gave direction for the elaborate curtains, separations, and courtyard of the Tabernacle. But now, how do you hold these things up?
I have to chuckle a little bit when I read the details. There was a time when liberal biblical criticism doubted that the Tabernacle ever existed. But the careful details put into this plan clearly make a different case. Excavations of biblical Shiloh in the early 1980s and again in 2006 revealed proof that this was the location of the Tabernacle as recorded in the Bible for 369 years.
God began by describing the three critical furnishings of the Tabernacle. He then gave instructions regarding the curtain separations and protections. But how would this be held up and tied together? It would require a detailed framework.
We should observe that our personal place of meeting with God also requires framework and structure. We can have the best of good intentions and many lovely accouterments for worship, but it is the framework that ties things together. For us, we need a regular structure of time and separation. This is our primary framework.
Of course, we want to avoid falling into a pattern of religious observance that is empty. Some of the strongest words of Jesus spoke were against this sort of thing. But we do need to set a pattern of Sabbath rest, worship observance, petition, and listening. All the pretty decoration in the world cannot replace these basic patterns and frameworks.
How is your Tabernacle life? Are you developing the structures that will keep out the rain, breathe in the heat, shut out the noise, and allow you to be joined with your heavenly Father?

Heavenly Father, help me to hear You. Reveal the framework of life that will draw me close to You. Keep me from empty and meaningless patterns-- draw me into structures that will honor You. In Jesus' Name.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.