Tag: Tabernacle

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Exodus 36 – 40

Did you notice the key phrase, “as the Lord had commanded Moses”? That gives us an indication why we are regaled with a second account of the Tabernacle. The record preserved for us could have saved us a few chapters of dull reading by simply stating that they did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. That it didn’t abbreviate the account tells me two things:

  • He wanted to show us as well as tell us that they got it perfectly right. Where God specified details for their worship they accomplished every detail, and His pleasure with the result was pleasure with nothing less than their very best and perfect obedience to His revealed will. When God reveals His desire for our work, He expects us to get it done in perfect obedience. He didn’t cheapen words by simply telling us that they got everything right. When the details were important, He specified the details.
  • Worship is important enough to pay attention to every detail. It is not something we offer on our own terms, but on God’s.

This leaves me wondering if my worship practices are too casual or too me-centered. If I insist on satisfying my own self-preference for the songs we sing in our worship service or for traditional practices or lack thereof, or if I decide I’m unable to accept God’s message because I don’t like the messenger, is that worship worthy of God? Is it worship of God at all, or worship of self?

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Exodus 25 – 31

Don’t skip over these passages, tempting as it may be! We may have to work harder to figure out a point of application in this for us, but I believe it’s there. If we skip over this part of God’s word we will be tempted to skip others; then where do we draw the line? I don’t skip over any of God’s word, but rather I trust Him to give me revelation each time I read it. The more we search for meaning for us, the richer the reward.

This is actually an important passage to help us understand God’s desire for our worship. God lays out few rules for our worship of Him as New Testament believers. He tells us that “God is spirit and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), but we don’t get much guidance beyond that. Lack of mention shouldn’t fool us into thinking our worship isn’t important to God, for it obviously is, indicated by the priority and detail He gives here for the building of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. God wants our worship of Him to be better than Old Testament worship, because He wants it to spring out of our genuine love for Him rather than out of motions we go through in obedience to rules. However, if we are going to honor Him our worship should be informed by the practices He laid out for His Old Testament people.

Their worship was to center around the Tent of Meeting, or Tabernacle. God’s presence would be there, in their midst, on the mercy seat, which was another name for the covering of the Ark of the Covenant. We New Testament folk enjoy the luxury of taking God’s presence for granted, but consider what a privilege it was for them to be able to point to the place where God’s presence abided in their midst. When in history had that happened? This reminder of what a privilege it is to have God’s presence in us should prompt thanksgiving.

Each of the articles in the Tent of Meeting had significance for their worship: the light that was supposed to burn nightly, the incense that was supposed to burn perpetually, the bread on the table, the altar of burnt offering, and the wash basin. Consider why each one was important to Old Testament worship, and then apply that to our New Testament worship of God. If you need some help go to last year’s posts on these chapters, where I describe the significance of each item and apply it to New Testament worship. I’ll make it easy for you: click on each day’s scheduled reading here, and it will take you to those posts: Exodus 25 – 27, Exodus 28 – 29, Exodus 30 – 32.

I am combining three days of reading in this single post. Rather than give you my thoughts, I encourage you to talk to God about your worship of Him based on what these chapters reveal about His desire for man’s worship – for your worship.