God called Israel to separate herself by worship. Her worship was to distinguish her. She worshiped one God. She worshiped the High King of Heaven. God was revealing Himself to His people in a way He had not done before. God was also showing Pharoah that He was in charge and that His people would be free to worship Him on His holy mountain. We learn from this part of the narrative a fundamental truth. Worship changes us, worship defines us. This is why idolatry is such a problem....you will become what you worship. God wanted Israel to be different the nations around them. He gave them a law. He gave them ordinances. He gave them a calender with holy days to observe. He gave them food laws. All of these He gave as grace. All of these He gave as a means for His people to fellowship with Him. And all of these things when obeyed in faith, changed them for glory.
The tabernacle is a huge part of Exodus. It is easy to skip over it. Easy to think that the measurements, detail of fabric and metals is not significant. Or maybe we know that it is significant but we are not sure what it all means. Lets look at some of the obvious things found out about the tabernacle. The tabernacle is a meeting place. God will meet with His people here. Think back to Genesis. How is this different from the way God treated His people then? We see Noah make an alter. We see Abraham worship God. We see Jacob make alters. But there is no house. There are no regular meeting times. And there was no nation in Genesis, just the beginning and the promise. God wants to be near His people. He will continue to get closer to His people throughout the Old Testament and we find the ultimate closeness with God when He sends the Holy Spirit on Pentacost. So we have a house, a meeting place for God and His people. This tabernacle is broken into three parts. Holy of Holy's, Holy place and courtyard. All three are important. These three parts reflect creation as a whole. God also establishes the Levites to be Priests and to minister in the tabernacle. This is a huge calling. The priestly duties where extensive. The courtyard is where the people come to worship. This is where sacrifices are made. The tabernacle is a huge part of Exodus. It is important to note also that this was a "tent" church. The brought this with them as they wondered in the wilderness. God's cloud came to rest over it and it guided the Israelites in their wanderings. We see in the tabernacle organized worship becoming mandated by God. God's people are drawing nearer to Him.
In Exodus we also have the nation of Israel fighting their first war. This is an amazing battle, we might call it epic. Moses stands on a hill. He has Aaron on one side and Hur on the other. The strategy is simple. God gives victory when Moses hands are raised. The Israelites start loosing when Moses drops his arms. Oh come on. This sounds too easy. But stand up and try to see how long you last. Good thing Moses had some helpers!! What we learn from this little scene, is that the Israel is becoming a might nation, a war winning nation. Do not mess with this group and their God. And the Israelites learn that the battle is the Lord's and that He is their deliverer again and again.
Are you getting the picture that this book is massive! There are so many other stories in here. We have the ridiculous incident with the calf. We have massive internal manslaughter as a punishement for the calf indiscretion. We have a new way to worship. We have holy food falling from the sky. We have water pouring forth from the rock (the rock we later find out is Christ). We have the glorious ten commandments. And there is that whole thing about Egypt and God sending plagues. Passover, new calender, Joshue leading and training an army. So many amazing things and the end scene sums up the book. We have a wonderful scene with Moses in a tent of meeting, sitting and talking to God face to face as friends. Remember the begining of Moses' journey with God. It was one of disobedience and lack of faith. But God.....and here at the end we have God meeting and talking to Moses as a friend. And that is the whole point for us as well. God wants to be friends with us. He wants us to draw in worship. To draw near in a way that changes us.
Exodus is full and it has Jesus on every page. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Because of Him we have fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He busted the Israelites out of Egypt. It was His blood on the doorposts that made the angel of death pass over. He was the rock in the wilderness that gave the water. He is the reason that the sacrifices "worked." He was the fulfillment of the ten commandments. Jesus is in every story in the book of Exodus. If you do not see Him when you are reading this book, then you are missing the point. God wants to draw near to a people that do not want Him. But He sends Jesus anyway. He gives us grace regardless of what we want. And thanks be to God that He did, does and will give us that same grace again and again.
I can always identify with the Moses that we find in the beginning of the book. But it is so hard to be humble enough to say that I am a friend of God. God does call me friend. It is not because I am worthy of such a thing. It is because God is. God is my rock and deliver and yes He is even my friend. This makes me want to be a better a wife, a better mother, a better church member. I am a friend with the God of heaven and I want my face to shine like Moses'. I want the city of Santa Cruz to know that their is something going on with our little church because we reflect our Father's glory in how we love our families. I want my life to be a light to this dark place; this place full of idols and fake peace. I want to be wise and want what is good and right and forsake the ways of this world. I want Exodus in my life again and again. I want to worship God so that this city will know who my God is. And that will know that is God indeed and that there is none like him. There is none like Him and He alone is to be praised. It took Pharaoh a lot to be persuaded that God is God. I want my heart soft to Him and hard to the world, not the other way around. Man pleasers end up dead in the Jordan. But God brought His people through and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. What is the price? Look at this book again and again. Take the road of friendship with God. Take the road that leads to blessings forever more. But remember in this story, in this book the tails of the unfaithful. Exodus teaches us that we are to have one God. We are to keep our hearts on Him and Him only. We are to seek hard after Him and remember His ways. He delivers us so that we can worship Him. When we worship Him we are transformed into the likeness of His Son and when this happens we find that we are friends with the Maker of heaven and earth.
In Exodus we also have the nation of Israel fighting their first war. This is an amazing battle, we might call it epic. Moses stands on a hill. He has Aaron on one side and Hur on the other. The strategy is simple. God gives victory when Moses hands are raised. The Israelites start loosing when Moses drops his arms. Oh come on. This sounds too easy. But stand up and try to see how long you last. Good thing Moses had some helpers!! What we learn from this little scene, is that the Israel is becoming a might nation, a war winning nation. Do not mess with this group and their God. And the Israelites learn that the battle is the Lord's and that He is their deliverer again and again.
Are you getting the picture that this book is massive! There are so many other stories in here. We have the ridiculous incident with the calf. We have massive internal manslaughter as a punishement for the calf indiscretion. We have a new way to worship. We have holy food falling from the sky. We have water pouring forth from the rock (the rock we later find out is Christ). We have the glorious ten commandments. And there is that whole thing about Egypt and God sending plagues. Passover, new calender, Joshue leading and training an army. So many amazing things and the end scene sums up the book. We have a wonderful scene with Moses in a tent of meeting, sitting and talking to God face to face as friends. Remember the begining of Moses' journey with God. It was one of disobedience and lack of faith. But God.....and here at the end we have God meeting and talking to Moses as a friend. And that is the whole point for us as well. God wants to be friends with us. He wants us to draw in worship. To draw near in a way that changes us.
Exodus is full and it has Jesus on every page. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Because of Him we have fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He busted the Israelites out of Egypt. It was His blood on the doorposts that made the angel of death pass over. He was the rock in the wilderness that gave the water. He is the reason that the sacrifices "worked." He was the fulfillment of the ten commandments. Jesus is in every story in the book of Exodus. If you do not see Him when you are reading this book, then you are missing the point. God wants to draw near to a people that do not want Him. But He sends Jesus anyway. He gives us grace regardless of what we want. And thanks be to God that He did, does and will give us that same grace again and again.
I can always identify with the Moses that we find in the beginning of the book. But it is so hard to be humble enough to say that I am a friend of God. God does call me friend. It is not because I am worthy of such a thing. It is because God is. God is my rock and deliver and yes He is even my friend. This makes me want to be a better a wife, a better mother, a better church member. I am a friend with the God of heaven and I want my face to shine like Moses'. I want the city of Santa Cruz to know that their is something going on with our little church because we reflect our Father's glory in how we love our families. I want my life to be a light to this dark place; this place full of idols and fake peace. I want to be wise and want what is good and right and forsake the ways of this world. I want Exodus in my life again and again. I want to worship God so that this city will know who my God is. And that will know that is God indeed and that there is none like him. There is none like Him and He alone is to be praised. It took Pharaoh a lot to be persuaded that God is God. I want my heart soft to Him and hard to the world, not the other way around. Man pleasers end up dead in the Jordan. But God brought His people through and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. What is the price? Look at this book again and again. Take the road of friendship with God. Take the road that leads to blessings forever more. But remember in this story, in this book the tails of the unfaithful. Exodus teaches us that we are to have one God. We are to keep our hearts on Him and Him only. We are to seek hard after Him and remember His ways. He delivers us so that we can worship Him. When we worship Him we are transformed into the likeness of His Son and when this happens we find that we are friends with the Maker of heaven and earth.
Wow!! Great post Erin!!
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