Exodus was always one of the most fun books of the Bible to read because it has so many good familiar stories. The end of the book, however, seemed to be just a bunch of rules for the ancient Israelites, and completely worthless for today.
Until recently...
I read the One Year Bible everyday, and last month brought me to the book of Exodus again. I started to get bored with the lists of rules and specific guidelines God was giving the priests and almost tuned out. I'm glad God got my attention again.
God tells the line of Aaron(the priests) all of the specifications for how to build the temple. He goes into detail about the tables for incense, the number of eyelets on the wall panels, and the dress code for the temple. The last thing he describes is the Ark of the Covenant. He mentions that the Cherubim on top of the Ark cover are to be hammered from one piece of Gold. I thought that was pretty cool, but then I was overwhelmed with the next part. After all of these rules and guidelines, God says, "And THERE I will meet with you." (Exodus 30:6)
Where is it that God will meet with us? In a bunch of rules? No. In our surrender. In our obedience. God promises that He will inhabit the praise of His people. What is the highest form of worship to God? Obedience. Surrender. Giving up our natural inclinations to the flesh and seeking the Godly. To hear the voice of God and follow. The level of our surrender and alignment with the ways of God will determine the level of the revelation of God to us. Paul said, "He must increase, I must decrease."
God inhabits our emptiness. Once we let go, He fills up.
I know where to find God. It's the corner, where the surrender of my will, and God's promise to inhabit my worship, meet.
2 comments:
Mike,
Great insight. I do tend to go into autopilot on the tabernacle specifications, so thanks for highlighting the importance of obedience, even if we don't quite understand the necessity.
The intracacies of the tabernacle were a beautiful blueprint for how God gave attention to little details. The same was true for Gods instructions of the temple. Everything had a purpose. Every little tiny detail.
Its interesting that now we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, every part of us has a reason, as well. We don't always see why God required a certain number of inches between the altar and the curtain, or why certain items were made of this material or that; likewise, we don't always put a lot of stock into why we were made the way we are.
Nonetheless, God has a purpose, and whether or not we see the direct results, it all glorifies God. And that is my chief goal. The exciting part is that my life is glorifying him whether I'm trying or not; it's my obligation to make it a glaringly obvious act. :)
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