Sabbath Reflection V — Place

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 344 — Session 7, Reflection Five: Approaches to Sin, Dwelling, and Place
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings
Focus: Genesis 1:20–23 (the fifth day of creation); Exodus 29 (the ordination of Aaron and his sons, the sacrifices, the tamid offering, and God’s promise to dwell among Israel)

This is the fifth of seven guided reflections that open Session 7 of the BEMA Discipleship Podcast. It builds on Episode 329, the last of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) series, in which Josh Bosse linked the fifth day of creation to the themes of dwelling and place. He tied those themes to the next items of the Tabernacle: the sacrifices, where the blood was placed, and the tamid (the continual, rhythmic offering). The episode is built as a meditation. Brent reads Genesis 1:20–23 again and again, each time followed by a section of Exodus 29. After each reading, Marty asks a question for reflection, and the questions are followed by long stretches of silence. The reflection asks listeners to look at how they approach sin, whether they aim for condemnation or for holy presence, and how to build regular rhythms of repentance into daily life.

Key Takeaways

• Deal with sin in order to make a place holy, not in order to condemn. Exodus 29 deals with sin so that a table, a priesthood, and a community can become a holy place for God to live in.
• Ear, thumb, and toe stand for the whole person. Putting blood on Aaron’s right ear, right thumb, and right big toe raises three questions: who we listen to, what we hold on to, and where we go.
• Holiness needs rhythm. The seven days of ordination and the daily morning and evening lambs (the tamid) show that repentance and consecration are practiced again and again, not finished once.
• The goal is God’s dwelling. Exodus 29:42–46 ends with God saying, “I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.” The whole sacrificial system serves presence.
• The gospel should end in presence. Marty asks whether the gospel we share ends with God dwelling among us (Sabbath, shalom, shared life) or stops short at forgiveness or escape.
• Practical challenge for the week: take an inventory of idolatry in your life and set up regular rhythms of reflection, spiritual inventory, and repentance.

Main Concepts & Theories

1. The Fifth Day of Creation: Filling the Places

• In Genesis 1:20–23 God fills the waters with sea creatures and the sky with birds.
• Days one to three of creation form the realms (light and dark, sea and sky, land). Days four to six fill those realms with inhabitants.
• The fifth day is about dwelling: every creature receives its place and is blessed to “be fruitful and increase” there.
• Josh Bosse’s point in Episode 329: creation is a story of God preparing places for life to live, and the Tabernacle repeats that pattern on a small scale.

2. The Mishkan as a Picture of Creation

• Mishkan (Hebrew for “dwelling place”) is the Tabernacle, God’s portable home among Israel.
• The Tabernacle’s instructions follow the order of creation. At the “fifth day” stage they move from objects (furniture, garments) to sacrifices, the placement of blood, and the tamid.
• Just as the waters and skies were filled with life, the Tabernacle is prepared so that God’s presence can fill it.

3. The Ordination of the Priests (Exodus 29:1–9)

• Aaron and his sons are washed, dressed in sacred garments (tunic, robe, ephod, breastpiece, turban, sacred emblem), and anointed with oil.
• Unleavened bread, a bull, and two rams are brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
• The priesthood is given “by lasting ordinance.”
• Reflection question: How would you approach sin, yours or others’, if the purpose is to make your table or your community holy?

4. The Three Offerings and the Blood (Exodus 29:10–21)

• Ear = what we hear and obey (in Hebrew, shema means both “hear” and “obey”).
• Thumb (hand) = what we grasp, do, and hold on to.
• Big toe (foot) = where we walk, our direction and path in life.
• Reflection question: Who do you listen to? What do you hold on to? Where do you go?

5. Shared Meals, Seven Days, and the Tamid (Exodus 29:22–41)

• Wave offering: parts of the ram and bread are waved before the Lord. Some are burned and some become the priests’ share.
• A shared meal: Aaron and his sons eat the ordination meat and bread at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Atonement ends at a table.
• Seven days: ordination takes seven days, with a bull offered every day to make atonement for the altar, until “the altar will be most holy and whatever touches it will be holy.”
• The tamid (continual offering): two year-old lambs every day, one in the morning and one at twilight, with grain, oil, and wine.
• Tamid is Hebrew for “continually” or “regularly.” It marks holiness as a steady rhythm, not a single event.
• Reflection question: Where would you, where could you, where should you place a rhythm of repentance and change in your daily life?

6. The Purpose: God Dwelling Among Us (Exodus 29:42–46)

• “There I will meet you and speak to you… Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.”
• God brought Israel out of Egypt “so that I might dwell among them.” The Exodus itself served presence.
• All of the ordination, sacrifice, and rhythm points to one goal: a place where God and people live together.
• Reflection question: Does the gospel you communicate end with simple presence: God dwelling among us, Sabbath, or the like?

7. Condemnation vs. Presence

• The theme running through the episode is two postures toward sin:
  • Condemnation focuses on guilt, exclusion, and punishment.
  • Presence deals with sin seriously, but so that people and places can be made holy and God can dwell there.
• Exodus 29 treats sin seriously (blood, fire, burning outside the camp), yet every step points toward meeting, eating together, and God’s dwelling.

Examples & Applications

• Family dinner table: A parent who sees the table as a holy place deals with a child’s misbehavior by restoring relationship and shared presence, not by shaming them.
• Church discipline: A community can handle wrongdoing so that the person is restored and the community stays holy, rather than simply removing or punishing the offender.
• An ear, thumb, and toe inventory:
  • Ear: Which podcasts, news sources, voices, or social media accounts shape your thinking most?
  • Thumb: What possessions, grudges, habits, or securities do you hold on to tightly?
  • Toe: Where does your free time actually go? Which places, people, and activities?
• A modern tamid: A short morning prayer and an evening examen (a review of the day like the one Ignatius of Loyola taught) recreate the twice-daily offering as a rhythm of reflection and repentance.
• Seven-day consecration: Spend one week on a single area of life (for example, how you speak), reviewing it every day like the seven days of ordination.
• Sharing the gospel: If you explain faith to someone and end with “your sins are forgiven so you can go to heaven,” consider going further: “God wants to live with you, here and now.”
• An idolatry inventory: Write down what you turn to for comfort, security, or identity before you turn to God, such as work, approval, money, or entertainment.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

1. The structure of Genesis 1: how days one to three (forming) match days four to six (filling), and how this frames creation as building a temple.
2. Tabernacle and creation parallels: scholarship on the Mishkan as a micro-cosmos (for example, the work of John Walton and Gregory Beale on creation as temple).
3. The tamid in Jewish practice: how the twice-daily offering developed into the morning (Shacharit) and afternoon (Mincha) prayer services after the Temple was destroyed.
4. Blood on ear, thumb, and toe elsewhere in Scripture: compare the cleansing of a person with a skin disease in Leviticus 14:14–17.
5. The chatat as “purification offering”: Jacob Milgrom’s argument that the sin offering purifies sacred space rather than only removing personal guilt.
6. Presence in the New Testament: John 1:14 (“the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us”) and Revelation 21:3 (“God’s dwelling place is now among the people”).
7. The priesthood of all believers: how 1 Peter 2:5–9 applies priestly ordination language to the whole community.
8. Return to the source: listen again to Episode 329 (Josh Bosse, Mishkan series) and the introduction to Session 7.

Comprehension Questions

1. How does the fifth day of creation (Genesis 1:20–23) relate to the themes of dwelling and place that Josh Bosse developed in Episode 329?
2. What three body parts received blood during Aaron’s ordination, and which reflection question goes with each one?
3. What does the Hebrew word tamid mean, and what does the daily morning and twilight offering teach about holiness and repentance?
4. According to Exodus 29:46, why did God bring Israel out of Egypt, and how does that purpose change the way we understand the sacrificial system?
5. What is the difference between approaching sin from a posture of condemnation and approaching it from a posture of presence? Give an example of each.

Summary

This reflection takes a passage that is easy to skip, the detailed ritual of Exodus 29, and shows that it is about presence. Each reading returns to the fifth day of creation, when God filled the seas and skies with creatures that had a place to live. In the same way, the blood, bread, garments, and daily lambs of the Tabernacle prepare a place where God can live among people. Sin is dealt with seriously, but always so that the community becomes holy and God can dwell there, not simply to condemn. The ear, thumb, and toe ask us to look honestly at who we listen to, what we hold on to, and where we go. The tamid reminds us that repentance is a daily practice, morning and evening, not a one-time event. Marty’s closing challenge is simple: be honest about where we lean toward condemnation, take an inventory of idolatry this week, and build steady rhythms of reflection and repentance. As he puts it, if we accomplish that, “it would be enough and it would be significant.”