Trust and Don't Verify

“But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.” (Nu 4:20 AV)

A thought occurred to me this morning.  There were elements of the tabernacle that no one but a certain number of priests ever saw.  Only the high priest saw the uncovered ark of the covenant. He, and the family that was tasked to cover it and transport it.  No one but the ministering priests saw the table of shewbread and the candlestick.  The laver and altar were in public view.  But these three pieces were not.  Only the ministering priests saw them.  Once they were covered and carried from the holy of holies,  no one saw exactly what they looked like.  No one but the ministering priests could see what they actually looked like.  Those watching the transportation of them saw an outline, but not the actual bare piece.  Further, if anyone snuck a peak, they were killed by the hand of God.  God’s holy things were not objects of curiosity.  They were to be treated with the utmost respect.  Their significance lay in their function and not their appearance.  What struck me is the faith required for those seeking intercession that the ministry of the priest would be accurate and sufficient.  They had no idea if the furniture was actually in the holy of holies or if whatever was in there were the right pieces.  They had to accept by faith the tabernacle was set up correctly and that ministry was efficacious.  The only evidence they had was the pillar of smoke and fire that rested upon the tabernacle.  In short, their faith resided in the presence of God’s glory and was sufficient to prove the tabernacle was as it should be.

There are things we must take by simple faith without further explanation.  In fact, most of those things we are to accept by faith lack some information that would then eliminate faith to accept.  Certain recipes require the chef to leave his concoction alone, or it will completely fail.  Many cakes can fail if the chef opens the door to the oven too soon.  One particular finicky cake is the famed soufflé.  The soufflé has a very specific temperature and time for baking.  I remember the time.  It is fourteen minutes.  When watching cooking competitions, eventually the chefs will have to bake a soufflé.  When they are in the oven, the camera tends to pan to the chefs staring at the oven, watching their soufflé.  If they open the oven before they are done, the sudden temperature change will cause the cake to fall.  When it is in the oven, leave it alone.  Trust the process.  The recipe, the temperature, and the time will produce perfection.  One must trust it.

We cannot know everything.  Otherwise, faith would not be faith.  The secret things belong to God.  And that is a good thing.  There are things we could know, but the LORD doesn’t think it is important enough to know.  Where Christ spent three days and nights while his body lie dead in the grave is an example.  If it was important enough to know for a certainty, then He would have told us.  The thing is, when we try to go beyond faith and trust reason or observation, we devalue the supernatural character of divine truth.  If the Jewish worshipper could watch every step the Levites took to pack up and transport the tabernacle with its furniture, the sacredness of it would have been lost.  Simply put, there are things we must take by faith that we could know without faith.  We are required to do this so that God remains God and us, His lowly creation.  Treating the things of God as a common thing would cause God to lose what He is.  He is not common.  He is Holy.  And to that end, the things of God should be treated the same way.