Magnificence vs. Maintenence

My scriptural journey with Moses seems quite different than ever before, as the Spirit is clearly contrasting our religious practices with God's actual intent.

God reveals Himself by way of lived human experiences, His sacred symbols often refined ordinary practices.

Revelation is thus made simple, though always progressive, yet by means seldom alien to our life experience.

Example, the priest's anointing: treated like a sheep set apart, the oil poured upon their heads symbolic, a protection not from flies, but from profanation.

Covered not for comfort, but for calling.

This symbolic trajectory ultimately culminating in Messiah (the “Anointed One”), where oil gives way to Spirit.

The means was symbolic, the message, identity and transformation.

Repeated symbolism without transformation is mere religion. 

Pentecost, once a symbolic festival, became the full unveiling of God's true heart, an empowerment for practice, walking us out of symbolism and into His very image.

That's why they were later called Christian by observers in Antioch, the world forever changed.  

The message: Be the change!