Make Me a Servant

In my weekly bible study we are studying the tabernacle with Beth Moore in A Woman's Heart. We are looking at what led up to the reason for needing the tabernacle and of course sin in the Garden of Eden is where our break in communion with God began. As we studied the Garden of Eden this week, then there were things the Lord spoke to me.  I shared them with my sweet sisters and now I want to share them with you!

Genesis 2:15 says the Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work and take care of it. The word “take care” here in verse 15 also means to guard the garden.  However, Adam didn’t do that, did he? He allowed the serpent to come in. The serpent shouldn’t have even made it to his wife, Eve, but he did. Adam wasn’t doing what God had commissioned him to do.

courtesy of pearls of promise ministries

Genesis 3:24 says that God drove out man and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.  The word guard here is the same word used when Adam was instructed to take care of the garden. Now that Adam wasn’t there to guard it, then the Lord instructed the cherubim to do it.

Interestingly, the garden was Adam’s tabernacle. Adam was like the priest and the garden was the sanctuary. The garden was their place of worship. The place of worship for the Israelites was the Tent of Meeting. It was instructed to the Levites, the anointed priests, in Numbers 3:7-8 says “They are to perform duties for him (talking about Aaron here) and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and perform duties for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle.” The commission given to priests regarding the tabernacle was the same commission given to Adam in the garden. Work it. Take care of it. Guard it.

So I share this with you.  The same way Adam was called to serve God by guarding & caring for the garden, the priests were called to guard & care for the tent of meeting because it was their sanctuary. We too are called to guard and take care of our sanctuary. Our church. We are called to serve our church. Adam didn’t guard his church nor did he guard his heart. Adam didn’t obey God’s commission and now that he wasn’t there to serve the Garden, then God had to use someone else. He used the cherubim.

God is going to do what God is going to do. We can do it with him or we can do it without him. Doing it with him, obeying him, and serving him allows us to receive His blessings. Or we can choose to ignore His commission & not guard against those who will seduce us into sin. Like Adam, we will miss blessings and all that the Lord has planned for us.

So we must guard our church and guard our hearts. Because of Jesus, our bodies are our temple now. The Holy Spirit no longer resides in the garden or a tabernacle. He resides in us! Let’s do as He has commissioned us. Like Adam and the Levites, we must work & take care of our church. We must care for & guard our souls. If we don’t allow the Lord to use us, then He will surely use someone else.