Building the Temple
Captain's Log: Table Time ~ The Lord's Day, September 7th, 2025 ~ Vespers
Tonight was a good example of a “bad” table time. I was tired and underprepared, the passage was a little hard, the children were distracted, and… we didn’t really rise above! But we also didn’t abandon ship. Because a "bad" table time is better than no table time. We read the Bible, I asked a bunch of questions, we discussed some things back and forth, I gave some exhortations, and prayed. It wasn’t breathtaking, but, by faith, it was life-giving. Just like the meal on the plates in front of us.
The building of the temple is mostly details. I seized on the cherubim and asked a series of questions, nudging us in the direction of being unable to enjoy fully the presence of God outside the garden, even with Solomon’s glorious temple. God promises to dwell with Israel, but still the cherubim must be present to remind us that something remains between us and the Lord. The children did find some connections between the two settings.
When we came to the new temple, I wasn’t sure which way we should go, the church or Christ Himself, His body. We lingered on how nothing now hinders us from entering the most holy place. What a thought. I read Hebrews 10:19-22. The children know the curtain symbol well from time spent in story Bibles.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
I mentioned that we have unprecedented access to God. We enter, by virtue of Christ's own body, into the most holy place… to God our Father. I exhorted us to come, as Paul does in Hebrews. (I gave up saying “the author of Hebrews” tonight. I was simply too tired. And if Paul is plausible enough for Chrysostom, Augustine, and… most of the early church? He’s plausible enough for me.) I exhorted us to pray. ‘Come in God’s presence and pray. We’re so near.’ I told Lewis that if he prays tonight in his bed, his prayers will be heard at the very throne of God the Father, because we can enter in through the new and living way.
It was a good reminder that Christian parenting is a duty. That doesn’t mean it is merely a duty, but it is a duty. On the days when it isn’t delightful, it must still remain a duty. And perhaps faith is operative in a very important way when we grimly do our duty, without any dopamine whatsoever. The obedience of faith.