It is recommended that you listen to this music as you read the following article: “Duvet” By: Niklas Paschburg, Andy Barlow
“I will be to them a little sanctuary…”
Religions of the world, no matter how diverse, all fundamentally agree on this one thing: a sanctuary is vital.
A sanctuary is considered the most holy area within a place of worship. Although typically small in size, the sanctuary promises to offer peace, protection, and guidance.
The hebraic concept of “little sanctuary” is called, Mikdash Me’at. (meek-DASH meh-AHT) It comes directly from Ezekiel 11:16, where God promises His exile-bound people: “Although I have sent them far off among the nations… yet I have been a little sanctuary to them in the countries where they have gone.”
When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the altar with it, the ancient Jewish sages were confronted with this question: Where does the holy presence of God dwell now that the sanctuary is gone?
“As long as the Temple stood, the altar atoned for Israel. Now that it is destroyed, a person’s table atones for them.”
Talmud tractate Berakhot 55a—Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Elazar
Our humble 6 ft dining table has become the altar.
The meal we share has taken the position of the sacrifice.
Lighting candles has became akin to the priest lighting the lampstand in the Holy Place.
Your dinner table is your family’s mini sanctuary.
Where is mine?
The dinner table is the center hub of every home. Where we sit, eat, and repeat this process day in and day out- something much bigger than we understand is happening.
We are sanctifying our home in the spirit realm.
Yes, by breaking bread, sharing a glass of wine, and having conversations centered on the Lord, as Deuteronomy tells us to, we are bringing the temple there. Jesus sat around tables constantly. He did his most efficient work, sharing meals with strangers, family, and his most beloved disciples.
This is a clarion call, to see this mundane and routine place as something much more than that. To creatively and consistently gather your family to this place.
Not to force, but to draw. And to hope that because we are in love with God, conversation about him will flow naturally, instead of mandating that it does. As we set our intention toward sharing one meal a week together, I believe that something will begin to stir in the atmosphere. Each person in your home will desire to sit with the Lord and dine with him at his table more and more.
We are honored with a type of priestly function: to prepare the place for the Lord to come.
Let us receive this calling with joy and gladness. Use these few simple elements mirrored in the temple service- candles, bread, wine, a meal, conversation, and a blessing, and trust that the Lord will do his part and come.
I’ve mentioned before in the, “You are a Fragrance” article that the first spiritual-filled, Christian home I entered was my mother-in-law‘s. Very similarly, their dinner table was the most awesome place I’ve ever sat. I’ve been to many homes and many different kinds of families and enjoyed being with them all. But there was something so different and so set apart about this one specific table. They gathered there with intention. There was a tone and a presence that anyone and everyone could feel at their dinner table.
They broke off a fear that I had towards wine because I had severe imbalances toward alcohol in my life since I was little. They shared their wine with me and taught me how to drink it responsibly and with gratitude and in conjunction with the Holy Spirit. The meal and the bread and the wine wasn’t about indulging our senses in a fleshly way, but rather tasting, and seeing that the Lord was good.
They asked deep and meaningful questions about me and each other. They brought every single topic into a beautiful spirit led conversation. Truly, their dinner table is a little sanctuary. I pray that everyone gets to experience this in someway. And if you haven’t, you have the chance to become this to your family and to strangers looking for exactly that.
Your dining table is your little sanctuary. Let’s cultivate it together.
Lets Create Ours
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
Psalm 38:4
A shared meal seems like a lost art. We see pictures in black and white of a woman hovering over her guests with a grin from ear to ear, as she scoops some form of goodness onto dinner plates. These photos stir nostalgia and desire within me to honor the simple task of gathering my loved ones through the artwork of a shared meal at a common table.
It is food which invites. Jesus even said after his miracle multiplying the fish and bread that, “‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.'” John 6:26.
I suggest to you that your willingness to put effort and intentionality into just one special meal a week, you will draw your family to the table. The food you make will initiate the process of becoming a “little sanctuary.”
Candles
By lighting a few candles you initiate a spiritual shift from “ordinary time” to “sacred time.” In the old sanctuary, there were no windows which let in outside light. The only way to see around was by the menorah. Today, lighting candles around a meal represents our dependance on Gods light to even see rightly.
Harsh, fluorescent lights of this world make us distracted, stressed, and full of striving. Lighting candles for us will represent turning those “lights” off and lighting God lamp instead.
Lighting the candles at your dinner table will not only feel super whimsy and romantic, but the warm glow actually biologically signals to our eyes and brain that we can slow down.
The coziness and comfort your family will feel eating a meal over candlelight will stick with them forever.
Bread
The heart of our “little sanctuary” will be the grounding element of bread on the table.
In Gods sanctuary, fresh bread was set out each week and called, Bread of the Presence. It was God’s way of bringing us to the same room and reminding us, “everything you need is right here. Here you are provided for.“
It is the same proclamation when we put bread on our tables before our families: They are desired, and everything they really need waits for them here.”
Your local bakery would love your business once a week. And how precious is adding “stop at the bakery” to your errands? Of course, you could always try your hand at baking bread (which to everyone seems so daunting but truly doesn’t have to be.) A simple French bread recipe is easy enough for any beginner to try.
I’ll include the one I follow HERE.
Either way, even if it’s a bag of sliced sandwich bread- warm it up, with some butter…it’ll preach.
Wine
Wine sets the meal apart.
Wine says: this meal isn’t just for food, it’s for fellowship. For being together.
There is great spiritual significance to wine at the table, but there are very practical purposes as well. The Mediterranean diet actually recommends a glass of wine a day, shared with family over a meal. Besides being rich in antioxidants, wine gladdens the heart. When enjoyed with family, research shows these combinations cause for a happier and longer life.
In the sanctuary, wine was poured out as an offering, representing surrender, devotion, and the pouring out of one’s life to God.
In our “little sanctuaries”, we don’t pour it out in that way, but instead share it together. When we pop open a bottle to pour into glasses, we are remembering that our life is similarly, “poured out” for one another. Wine takes an ordinary meal and turns it into a moment of celebration. Being able to sit here, be together, and enjoy this moment is surely something to cheers to. L’chiam! (to life)
The meal will feed your body, but the wine will feed your soul. One glass of wine, at one meal a week is my recommendation to you.
Blessing
When the temple fell, parents took the priest’s position and would lay their hands on their children’s heads to speak this blessing over each of them at the shabbat (Friday night) table:
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24–26:
This “ritual” imparts identity which the world will try so hard to offer them. It cleanses them of untrue words and views the world may take up against us. Blessing your children at the table will wash them.
In scripture, Jesus never broke bread without first giving thanks. Eating was a moment to pause and express his gratitude. It also broke that wall that the day seems to slowly and sneakily build between us and the spirit realm.
Before indulging our flesh without a thought, prayer breaks that wall into pieces, and blends our physical food with the spiritual sustenance we need.
It doesn’t need to be long or eloquent. Simple, heartfelt prayers catch the attention of God. Surely he is with us in every moment, let’s turn our attention to him in this way to remember that.
Conversation
If bread feeds the body and wine feeds the soul, rich conversation feeds the heart. The table is such a special place where stories are shared, hearts are lightened, and connection is rebuilt. We can see that even Jesus spent his final moments on earth having conversation around a dinner table with his disciples.
“And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you…”
Luke 22:15
Ask meaningful questions, encourage each other to go “a little deeper” on any given subject that interests them. Conversation creates fellowship, teaching our families that their voices matter. This is your chance to really speak into their lives. Around the table, your kids will know that they are seen, heard, and wanted.
Conversation starters:
- High/ Low (ask everyone to share their high and low from the week
- Gratitude spotlight (ask everyone to share what they are most grateful for)
- Shout out (ask everyone to hilight someone who stood out to them that week in any special way)
- Win/ Work (ask everyone to name one win from their week and one thing they promise to work on)
The Call
Most of these meals will be forgotten over time, but the feelings will last forever, and the effects will never be taken away.
Your dinner table is a mini altar. It will be the anchor for your family throughout your lives, tethering you to God’s goodness and each other.
Jesus spent much of his ministry around dinner tables because of this. Let us model his priorities in this way and gather our families at least once a week.
As always,
Stay Happy.
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