“For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5,6).
These verses speak of priests who were serving the copy and shadows of the heavenly things. The statement infers a duality: On one side we have the copy and shadows, and on the other side the real things, i.e., the substance.
The shadow
All of us understand the difference between a mere shadow and the object casting it. If the object is a person, the shadow will follow faithfully the motions of that individual and this, in such a way, that the shadow would appear to have life in itself. Yet nobody can take hold of it for there is no substance in it. Likewise, we can drive our car into the shadow of a tree at fast speed with no risk involved, because shadows can have no impact on us.
The description
Another good example imaging the point I want to make is a “description”. Imagine a talented writer illustrating with words what he observes while traveling in Canada. On the ninety-fifth page of his narrative he describes a beautiful sunset taking place in the month of October on a very windy day. He paints with words colorful leaves crossing the sky and thrushes flying as to challenge the tempest. His description is so well written that the reader is nailed to his seat for hours and hours. Yet, as we all understand, the description has no real impact on the reader. He might read about a storm taking place in the plains of Alberta, but the hair on his head doesn’t move. Likewise he might enjoy the depiction of the arctic while sitting in a park in Madrid with a temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, but the description will not cool him down, he will still be sweating while drinking his fifth bottle of water.
The reflection
The example of a reflection leads us to the same conclusion. Imagine a lake without ripples on a breezeless day, and behind the lake beautiful trees and white clouds decorating the blue sky. Under the best circumstances the reflection of the scenery would look as real as the scenery itself. If a person would take a picture of it and hand it to you upside down you might be misled to think that the reflection is the real scenery. But here again the reflection, as beautiful as it may appear, can have no impact on your daily life. You cannot cut down the trees reflected on the lake to warm-up your house during the winter, for there is no substance in them.
The effectlessness of the unsubstantial
Shadows, descriptions and reflections can have no significant impact on our life. We need the substance. Of course the problem resides in the fact that the substance can be very costly, and we, evangelicals, are at times unwilling to pay the price. So we are left with amazing shadows and interesting descriptions. In that setup the tendency is to entertain ourselves—and at times a large sector of our congregations—with the enthralling depictions of spiritual realities. We thus find ourselves studying the Bible, yet without breaking beyond the theoretical veil of the unsubstantial. The long-term result of such a practice is dead religion, and believe me, dead religion can be as euphoric as the worship of Baal was.
The Jews in Jesus’ days
Long ago Jesus had to address the issue. Speaking to the Jews he said: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39,40).
Most of these Jews loved the Scriptures. They read and studied them meticulously; taught them and had long discussions about them. Yet their unwillingness impeded them to reach the substance. Jesus could not have put it any clearer when He told them: “You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form” (John 5:37). These people were left empty-handed because they were amusing themselves with empty shadows and mere descriptions.
Brethren! This sort of unwillingness can creep into our lives too. It can be triggered by numerous factors, such as our unwillingness to come to terms with Jesus in a specific area of life, or our disinclination to stand for what He stands for by fear of public opinion; without mentioning the sin which so easily ensnares us. One thing is certain, the side effects of an unsubstantial religion are prowling on many and we would do well to react quickly, reaching beyond the shroud of dead entertainments.
We have Abraham as our father
To think we are out of reach, as the religious leaders did in Jesus’ days, would not only be unwise but also perilous. The temptation to rest on the name we wear or on the place we meet has been succumbed to often enough. Let us remind ourselves that the Colossians had experienced Pentecost and yet Paul had to exhort them to forsake the futilities of shadows and focus on the substance:
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:16,17).
These Christians were distracted and caught-up in the web of the unsubstantial. Some were accusing others—thinking to be more spiritual than them—unaware of the hollowness of their accusations. Others were being accused and unsettled, and all that behind the spectral façade of religiosity. Unfortunately what has happened continues to happen and the devil smirks at us with a joy of his own.
The Levitical priesthood
While it could be argued that the priests we have read about in Hebrews 8:5,6 could not get any further since the way to the heavenly had not been opened yet, no one can deny that many people in the Old Testament have gone beyond the shadows and descriptions and touched the life-changing substance of the heavenly. On my next post we will look to some of these people and let them challenge us while it is day, for the night is coming and the time to bestir ourselves is closing down.
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