Beloved, Faithful Trust
- Father Photios
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
The following is from "The Sunflower; Conforming the WIll of Man to the Will of God" by St. John Maximovitch of Tobolsk
"In the Old Testament church, before its transformation through the God-Man Jesus Christ into the Church of the New Testament, it was pleasing to God to order Moses and Aaron to cover all the sacred objects and vessels of the altar with red covers whenever the Ark would be moved during the wanderings of the Jews across the desert of Sinai. The Levites were assigned to carry these vessels. This commandment is given in detail in the fourth chapter of Numbers: "Aaron and his sons shall enter [the tabernacle] and take down the overshadowing veil and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a blue leather covering; and on top of this they shall spread an entirely blue cloth, and then insert the carrying-poles" (Numbers 4:5-6). After this, there are instructions concerning the packing of the table of presentation and the golden altar with its vessels. All of these commandments were necessary to prevent the rest of the people from seeking to see the holy objects merely out of idle curiosity. For the penalty for anyone who would see, much less touch, a sacred vessel was death.
"Thus, those who carried the sacred vessels never saw a single one of them, but only felt their weight upon their shoulders. In a similar way, everyone who completely submits to the will of God avoids searching into the inscrutable reasons for God's providence and wisdom. He will not ask why God allowed one thing, commanded another, yet forbade a third, and so on. Every one of us must bear this limitation on our curiosity with eager-ness. It is enough for us to be sure that the burden we bear, wrapped in blue or scarlet covering—that is, hidden in the unseen depths of God's will—is for our salvation."
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