Ashes, Lament & Lent :: The Language of What is Left
Our church is going through the book of Hebrews. On Sunday, we were looking at Hebrews 9:1-14, where the author of this book reminded their audience of how the original Tabernacle in the desert was designed. This first dwelling place of God on earth is ripe with imagery that foretells of Christ, reminding the ancient worshippers and order of priests of God’s provision for the people in emotional, spiritual, and physical ways. The author of Hebrews goes on to point out how all of this only temporarily dealt with sin, and only Jesus’ sacrifice, could truly deal with sin, but also Jesus is now the great High Priest who made a way for worshippers to enter the presence of God and not just approach Him, but develop a relationship with Him.
I love all of it. It’s so powerful and wrenches out gratitude for the gift of Christ in my soul, but I also love the little details that keep speaking to me. Sometimes, when I have studied Old Testament passages in the past, I can get a few things confused. The Tabernacle vs. The Temple (and which Temple, at that), the responsibilities of various priests, which sacrifice was appropriate for which sin, there was so much that God ordained in each season to make a way for us to commune with Him and receive forgiveness of sins. The mercy of that is mind-boggling. The gift of Christ completing it all completely is overwhelming.
Yesterday, however, I noticed a new to me piece. I knew that at some point in all these holy inner workings ashes were involved. In the case of the Tabernacle, the priests would slaughter animals outside the tent, then they would burn these animals as an act of propitiation. Each animal had its own purpose, each offering atoning for a unique need for deliverance or forgiveness. The priests alone could perform this duty, the one in need in full reliance on their commitment to intercede. Here’s the part that created a lump in my throat, guess how those offerings went into the presence of God every day? As ashes. The ashes, or the ash-covered coals from the fire that consumed the offerings, the remnants of the sacrifices made as pleas to God, was taken by a priest inside the Holy Place, or the front part of the Tabernacle, and was placed on a table that skimmed the edges of God’s presence in the Most Holy Place, and kept a constant fire going on the Altar of Incense.
The ashes of the cries of the people burned ever before the Lord interceding and pleading for His intervention in their desperate state. A language of ash rising up to the One who create anything from them.
Fast forward to the people of Pentecost. How did the Holy Spirit come to them? Fire.
Now, because of the once and for all gift of Himself as High Priest and offering in Jesus, we burn with our own constant offering of incense to the Lord because we are filled with His Spirit.
“So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will. ”
The Holy Spirit speaks the language of ashes. We are ever full of what has been burned out of our lives, the Spirit lives in us to intercede for us when we don’t know what to do with them, or even when we do. A constant offering to the Lord seeking His hand, calling on His creative ability to craft people, and beauty and redemption from ashes. There’s just something so beautiful to unearth there. I wonder what it means to you?
*Other Scripture References: Altar of Incense and various pieces in the Tabernacle, Exodus 26-30, Acts 2