In the Wilderness: Exodus 28

The priests' garments detailed by God in Exodus 28.
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And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother,

for glory and for beauty.

Exodus 28:2

Aaron, the first high priest, portrayed Jesus, our ultimate High Priest, by what He wore. 

Aaron was clothed in holy garments for glory and beauty.

Jesus, clothed in holiness, is glorious and beautiful.

Aaron bore the judgment of his brothers and sisters. The names of the tribes of Israel on his shoulders and over his heart.

Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel

on his heart before the Lord regularly.

Exodus 28:30

Jesus bore the judgment of the world on His shoulders stretched out on a cross. His heart filled with love for His people. Becoming not only our High Priest, but also the perfect sacrifice.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed

1Peter 2:24 ESV

Aaron's garments, a picture of who we are as God's chosen priests in Christ.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1Peter 2:4-5 ESV

Aaron dressed in garments representing the One he foreshadowed. Elaborate, beautiful garments, and atop his head a turban with an engraved signet across his forehead reading: Holy to the Lord.

We, in Christ, His holy priesthood, also have a holy garment to wear, which represents the One who came.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:12-14 ESV

Do you see yourself as chosen by God? holy and beloved?

Have you embraced your role as a member of His holy priesthood? a representative of Christ to the world?

Are you prepared to offer spiritual sacrifices in Jesus's name so others might be forgiven? saved?

Today, consider who you are in Christ. Surrender to the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to dress you in holy garb. And write across your forehead: Holy to the Lord.

Lord, what a picture of who You are and who I am in You.

Just as You prepare my heart to draw near You,

prepare me to fully engage in my call as one of Your priests.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 27:9-21

Plans for the tabernacle continue: Exodus 27:9-21
Click the link above to read at BibleGateway.com

"You shall make the court of the tabernacle. ..."

Exodus 27:9

Around the tent of meeting, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was a courtyard. 

The courtyard created a barrier around God's presence. Not just anyone could approach. For many, the closest they could get was inside the courtyard. The curtains of the court of the tabernacle protected unclean people, according to the law, from coming too close. It is deadly business to come before God without the covering of a blood sacrifice.

Many desired to be near God by coming into His court. David put into words his desire to be as close as he could get to God.

My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

...

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psalm 84:2, 10 ESV

For God's people who belonged to the old covenant, His court was something they longed to enter. To be there just one day, was better than anywhere else. And to stand at the doorway of the court was better than a life among the worldly.

The new covenant, brought a new Way. We do not have to settle for just being in God's courtyard. Jesus made a new and living way straight into the throne room. We can be as near to God as we desire.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,

that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Do you long to be near God? Do you take advantage of the full access available to you through Christ's sacrifice?

There is nothing better in this world, nothing more satisfying, than an intimate relationship with your heavenly Father, through Jesus, by way of the Spirit.

God ahead. Test me on this. I guarantee you it's true...

Lord, thank You for making the way to come into Your presence.

Reveal and remove whatever keeps me on the outskirts of a 

relationship with You.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 27:1-8

The altar: Exodus 7:1-8
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As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

Exodus 27:8

God's instruction to Moses continued for the preparation of the tabernacle and its furnishings. God's dwelling place among His people.

Today, the altar. Eight short verses. I wonder what to do with these.

I go to my favorite commentary to see what he says.

As God intended the tabernacle to manifest his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their devotions to him, not in the tabernacle itself (into that only the priests entered as God's domestic servants), but in the court before the tabernacle, where, as common subjects, they attended. There an altar was ordered to be set up, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God: and this altar was to sanctify their gifts.

--Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (emphasis added)

 ...and this altar was to sanctify their gifts.

This altar with fire below. Burning. Purifying. The gifts brought before God.

And I think about all we bring. Our prayers. Our presence. Our gifts. Our service. Our witness. All need be sanctified by His altar of grace.

Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of Himself to make our gifts, our lives, our service, acceptable before the Father. We cannot bring our gifts apart from His grace and expect to be received.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'..."

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

We cannot serve Him our way. We must serve through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. The Fire set upon the church at Pentecost.

We are called to lay our gifts on His altar. Let them be sanctified by His sacrifice and then used at the direction of the Holy Spirit. As God shows us by His Spirit, so shall we serve.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 ESV

In the surrendering our lives. Laying them down on the altar of sacrifice, we begin to see what God's will is. What is good, acceptable, and perfect to Him.

Only by the power of the Holy Spirit are we sanctified to be the servants God intends us to be. Only by following the direction of the Holy Spirit are we able to come to know His purpose for our lives.

Have you laid yourself on His altar of grace? along with all you have to give?

Have you invited the Holy Spirit to sanctify you? through conviction? obedience?

Followers of Jesus lay down their lives on the altar of grace He's prepared and allow His Spirit to sanctify us through and through for His service.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God...

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2Timothy 1:6-7 ESV

Lord, sanctify me by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 26

God continues to show Moses the plans for the tabernacle: Exodus 26
Open up the Word with your Bible or by clicking the link above to go to BibleGateway.com.

And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.

Exodus 26:33

God continued showing Moses the plans for the tabernacle the Israelites were to construct, the place where His presence would dwell among His people. Remember, what God showed Moses are physical representations of the spiritual reality.

Today in our reading, we see three distinct aspects of the tabernacle:

Division. God describes the intricate woven veils and curtains which will divide the tabernacle from the people. They even divide the parts of the tabernacle: the Holy Place from the Most Holy. The dividing curtains were beautiful, but they represented division between God and His people. He was unapproachable apart from sacrifice because of sin.

Covering. Over the division, God showed Moses how to prepare a covering. The beauty would be covered by something very ordinary: goatskins and ram skins. Those who did not know God dwelt in the tabernacle would miss the beautiful glory of His presence by the ordinariness of the protective covering of the skins.

Framework. Holding up the division and the covering was a framework of poles set in bases with crossbars. A framework supporting the entire tabernacle and God's place among the people. The framework of our faith is His Word. It establishes the division between us and Him: Creator to created. It establishes the covering of His protection in our lives as we follow His Word. It is the framework for life, revealing His presence in the ordinary, revealing His beauty through faith.

Connecting this physical representation to the spiritual reality, we see Jesus, the Word made flesh. He came in the ordinariness of a human being, but to those who were blessed with eyes to see, He contained the glory of God's presence on earth. He showed us what it means to live out God's Word as the framework for our lives.

Not only is He the framework, but the covering of protection. He came to cover our sins with His blood making a way for us to be reconciled to God. The tabernacle was the forerunner of the temple. Just as the tabernacle had a veil dividing man from God, so did the temple. And when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). Jesus, through His sacrifice, made a way through the dividing curtain of holiness so we could enter into God's presence by faith rather than personal sacrifice.

New Testament Believers have His Word to support us. His blood as a covering. And eyes of faith to see His beauty, and a Way to enter His presence.

Jesus is the Tabernacle.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith...

Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV

Father God, You are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

You have always wanted to dwell with those You created.

Grow my faith to take full advantage of the access You've

given me to Your presence through Jesus by way of the Spirit.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 25:10-40

God begins giving Moses the plans for the items of the tabernacle in Exodus 25:10-40.
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And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.

Exodus 25:40

God began His list of furnishings for the tabernacle with the ark. He gave instructions on materials, size, design, and use. He did the same for the table and the lampstand. Then He commanded Moses to make them just as He showed him.

There two things that strike me about this passage. First, the list of items needed. God asked these people who were slaves for four hundred years and now wandering in the wilderness to make an offering of precious metals, dyed yarns and linens, leathers, wood, olive oil, spices, and precious gems (Exodus 25:1-7). All to be used in the construction of the tabernacle.

You may be wondering where slaves would get such riches to offer. But remember, the night of the Exodus, the night of the tenth plague? The Lord instructed Moses to tell the people to ask for riches from the Egyptians as they left (Exodus 11:1-2).

The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Exodus 12:35-36 ESV

God does not call us to do anything without equipping us for the call. He already provided the Israelites with offerings from the Egyptians to give to Him what was needed for the building of the tabernacle and its furnishings. They didn't know it at the time, but God knew what He was equipping them for.

What is God calling you to do? How has He equipped you to offer what He's given you back to Him in service?

The second thing of note is the design. God was very specific about the items and adamant about the instructions being followed just as He showed Moses. This was not just any community gathering place the Israelites were constructing. The tabernacle was where God's presence would dwell among the people.

God dwells in highest heaven, but He was making a way to be among His chosen people. The design was based on His eternal home in heaven. The earthly tabernacle a copy of the original.

They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

Hebrews 8:5 NIV

The ark and its mercy seat. The table for bread. The lampstand for light. All these are in heaven. Originals. All used in our approach and worship of God. Jesus ultimately our Ark, fulfilling the law with His life and offering us a place of mercy. Jesus, the Bread of Life, without which we cannot live. Jesus, the Light of the world, our source of truth and the light of life.

The tabernacle was a shadow of the spiritual reality in which we live. And in Christ, we are His tabernacle, His temple, the dwelling of God's Spirit on earth.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1Corinthiasn 6:19-20 NIV

God has a plan for His temples on earth too, for His church. It is found in His Word and understood by the instruction and teaching of the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ Jesus. His instructions are just as adamant, His plans just as clear.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 

for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

1Peter 1:15 NIV

He has a plan for His life in you. Are you following His Way?

You are God's tabernacle on earth through Christ Jesus. Make sure His presence is seen clearly through you. He equips you with what you need to fulfill His call and shows you the way in His Word.

Father God, work in my life to make me a light for You in this dark world.

Work out all the dark in me, so I will live holy like You.