Exodus 25

Exodus 25

The next section of the book of Exodus has been a section that I commonly skim over, and many times do not really pay much attention to. These next several chapters describe the plans for God’s tabernacle. One reason that I have skimmed them in the past is probably because all of the specifics can appear dull and boring, and what do these details mean for us today? However, in just reading the first few verses of Exodus 25, I am already seeing something new. Maybe the details themselves do not have much application for our lives today, but they do illustrate an important aspect of our relationship with the Lord, obedience.

God was going to dwell in the midst of the people of Israel, a new kind of relationship with His children. He had just revealed His glory on the mountain, and they had all stood on the base of the mountain to see it. Now He wanted Moses to explain to them that He was going to dwell within their camp. So He needed all of them to pitch in with certain materials in order to prepare for Him a tabernacle in which He would dwell. This demanded sacrifice on the Israelites part, and they had to be willing to give up their best for God. Likewise, God dwells within us as Christians, and we are to sacrifice the best in our lives for Him. He demands obedience, and we are supposed to keep our lives clean, for our bodies are the temple of God.

God begins by describing how the Ark of the Covenant shall be made. It is on the ark that God will speak with Moses in the future. That is where His presence will be. Therefore, He gave them specific instructions on how each piece of the ark is to be made, even down to which position the cherubim should be facing on top. God gives us clear instructions in life as well, but many times we are too busy to stop and listen to what He has to say. Moses was completely in tune with the Lord at this point, and He listened carefully to all of God’s instructions. When are obedient to God, and when we take time to sit still and listen for His voice, we too will be able to discern what His will is for our life. But again, it takes commitment, obedience.

Next, God explains how to make the table for bread and the golden lampstand. Like the Ark of the Covenant, these pieces of the tabernacle are to be made exactly as God commanded. This part of the story is so important that God even stresses it once more at the end of Exodus 25, telling Moses to make sure that they follow the instructions he is being given on the mountain. God does not want him to forget the exact details when he gets off the mountain and gets to work. Once more, I think this applies to our lives as well. There are those times in our lives when we feel as if we are on a “spiritual high” or “up on a mountain with God.” We are living in obedience to God’s commands and we are sensing God’s presence in our lives daily. At those times, it is hard to imagine that we would ever stumble again and turn from away from God’s commands. But those spiritual highs never last forever. Something usually comes up in life and we find that remaining committed to God is not as easy. A perfect example is the difference in living for God at church camp or on a mission trip and then trying to put that into practice when we return home. It is never as easy as we thought it would be. Just as God told Moses on the mountain, we must remember the instructions God gives us in those spiritual high moments so that we will be sure to live them out when life gets tough again. The Christian life is not easy, but just as we can feel God’s presence in those spiritual high moments, we can still feel God’s presence when life gets hard.

Matt