They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God. Exodus 29:46 (Chapters 25-31)
The Hebrew children had a grand inheritance. They were God’s chosen people, purposed to bless the entirety of mankind! Except, they were a pretty ragtag group that left Egypt in the dark of night. Barely even a culture, God began to form a set apart people that would change the face of the earth.
Immediately following emancipation, God began Israel’s lessons in faith. He protected and provided, teaching them what absolute trust and obedience looked like and the rewards it would precipitate. Soon, God defined His Holy standards and set His covenant people on a course to their new cultural identity. Now, it is time to worship the One True God and seal the hope and promise that is in Him alone.
God gives Moses very specific instructions, the blue print of the Tabernacle that would become the center of Jewish national life and was the foreshadowing of the Christian faith. God is to have a home in the center of our lives. He will never leave or forsake those who trust in Him. The materials for this Tabernacle were those things given to Israel, by the Egyptians, on their flight to freedom. A long labor in slavery reaped a great reward.
The character of God is our standard bearer when faith is shaken and our bodies grow weary. In this establishing of worship patterns and habits, all that is required is already there, God doesn’t take, He gives. It is not a process of man cowering before an Almighty Deity, but an inauguration of our daily relationship with the One from Whom all blessings flow. God want’s intimate connections with those He breathed life into and He does most of the work Himself.
Happy Monday,
Gretchen