So they kept a fire burning always on the altar. It shall never go out. So did God ‘assist’ in its preservation or did they have to have an occasional turndown to make repairs? I can’t keep a gas grill going for more than a year and it has a cover. The constant heating and cooling and rain and metal instruments must have worn that altar out, certainly if they used it for ~40 years. So did they have scheduled PMs or did God keep in going?
"...scheduled PMs..." - I love it! 😆...that's something I can relate to. (well, at *work* anyway; my maintenance program - or lack thereof - at the house is something else entirely)
the inferred life cycle of this altar appears to be waaaayyyyy longer than the Exodus journey - there's a reference to Solomon making use of this altar in 2 Chronicles 1, and who knows?... it could've been intact all the way until the destruction of the Temple. That makes the practice of keeping the fire going even more impressive...
...but I would think that both of your options are likely true - some combination of planned PMs and divine assistance. My understanding of the Jewish faith is that their (what we might call) commentary on Scripture was aimed at "how do we work out the details of what we're told to do?" - I would guess that there was a PM program for the tabernacle and all of its components in there somewhere. ...but, just like their clothes that didn't wear out (which we'll get to eventually)...I think that both in the inspired design & build and in the constant involvement in the project that bore his name (so to speak), the LORD was constantly involved in keeping things going, including the fire on the altar...
Our crew had a long conversation related to the guilt offering in this reading. To sum it up, whether we do it intentionally or not… if we mess up our neighbor’s/countryman’s stuff, and then have to replace like-for-like PLUS a 20% surcharge, and THEN give a sheep/goat/dove/pigeon as na offering…and if by the time we make restitution for the stuff we’re replacing we just don’t have enough left for the *animal* offering, then we have to go into the pantry and give some of our food supply as an offering… Obviously, the LORD wants us to take this whole “love your neighbor” concept seriously…and if we don’t, it’s gonna cost us to just to get back to square one. Bit of a deterrent, I’d say...
…and some folks might look at that as overly rigid or punitive or harsh. But I’m gonna guess that, more often than not, if we’re just decent people (not even yet approaching the “God fearing” thing) then we’re gonna live in such a way as to be considerate of our fellow man and to go above an beyond to make things right when we mess up their stuff, their home, their livelihood...
... I think that, while considering the guilt offering, it’s also noteworthy and relatable for anyone who ever had to go home and tell our parents what kind of trouble we got into. Not only did we have to make it right with whomever the conflict happened…we then had to deal with some version of “you knew better than that” and whatever consequences came next. Maybe the whole point of the guilt offering was something along the lines of “you knew better than that - I taught you better than that” 🤔 - jeffrey
So they kept a fire burning always on the altar. It shall never go out. So did God ‘assist’ in its preservation or did they have to have an occasional turndown to make repairs? I can’t keep a gas grill going for more than a year and it has a cover. The constant heating and cooling and rain and metal instruments must have worn that altar out, certainly if they used it for ~40 years. So did they have scheduled PMs or did God keep in going?
ReplyDelete"...scheduled PMs..." - I love it! 😆...that's something I can relate to. (well, at *work* anyway; my maintenance program - or lack thereof - at the house is something else entirely)
Deletethe inferred life cycle of this altar appears to be waaaayyyyy longer than the Exodus journey - there's a reference to Solomon making use of this altar in 2 Chronicles 1, and who knows?... it could've been intact all the way until the destruction of the Temple. That makes the practice of keeping the fire going even more impressive...
Delete...but I would think that both of your options are likely true - some combination of planned PMs and divine assistance. My understanding of the Jewish faith is that their (what we might call) commentary on Scripture was aimed at "how do we work out the details of what we're told to do?" - I would guess that there was a PM program for the tabernacle and all of its components in there somewhere.
Delete...but, just like their clothes that didn't wear out (which we'll get to eventually)...I think that both in the inspired design & build and in the constant involvement in the project that bore his name (so to speak), the LORD was constantly involved in keeping things going, including the fire on the altar...
...maybe they used something like a charcoal chimney? 🤔
Delete- jeffrey
Our crew had a long conversation related to the guilt offering in this reading. To sum it up, whether we do it intentionally or not… if we mess up our neighbor’s/countryman’s stuff, and then have to replace like-for-like PLUS a 20% surcharge, and THEN give a sheep/goat/dove/pigeon as na offering…and if by the time we make restitution for the stuff we’re replacing we just don’t have enough left for the *animal* offering, then we have to go into the pantry and give some of our food supply as an offering…
ReplyDeleteObviously, the LORD wants us to take this whole “love your neighbor” concept seriously…and if we don’t, it’s gonna cost us to just to get back to square one. Bit of a deterrent, I’d say...
…and some folks might look at that as overly rigid or punitive or harsh.
DeleteBut I’m gonna guess that, more often than not, if we’re just decent people (not even yet approaching the “God fearing” thing) then we’re gonna live in such a way as to be considerate of our fellow man and to go above an beyond to make things right when we mess up their stuff, their home, their livelihood...
... I think that, while considering the guilt offering, it’s also noteworthy and relatable for anyone who ever had to go home and tell our parents what kind of trouble we got into.
DeleteNot only did we have to make it right with whomever the conflict happened…we then had to deal with some version of “you knew better than that” and whatever consequences came next.
Maybe the whole point of the guilt offering was something along the lines of “you knew better than that - I taught you better than that” 🤔
- jeffrey