It's All So Strange!

Exodus 38:1-40:38

All of this may seem so strange to us. Among all the many details, there is one thing which we must not miss. They “made everything that the Lord commanded.” They “followed the Lord’s instructions” (Exodus 38:22; Exodus 39:1,5,7,21,26,29,31-32,42-43). God’s people are called to be obedient to Him. We are not to do what we want We are to what He commands. We are to follow His instructions. There can be no “anointing” (Exodus 40:9-15), if there is no obedience. The two go together – obedience and anointing. We are to do everything the Lord commands us. We are to follow His instructions (Exodus 40:16,19). Such obedience to God will involve putting His Word at the centre of our lives. His Word is not so much a Word of demand as a Word of “promise.” It is not so much a Word of law as a Word of “mercy” (Exodus 40:20). Our obedience to God is grounded in our experience of God’s “promise” of “mercy.” Having received this “mercy” of God, promised to us in Jesus Christ, we follow the Lord’s instructions (Exodus 40:21,23,27,29,32). When we have “finished the work” God has given us to do, we must look to Him to send the blessing – “the glory of the Lord filled the tent” (Exodus 40:34-35). In all the strangeness of the world of Old Testament worship, there are deep spiritual lessons for us, lessons which enable us to go on with the Lord – receiving His mercy, obeying His Word, experiencing His glory. God is good to us. He shows His mercy to us. He puts a new Spirit within us – the Spirit of obedience. He sends His glory so that we might rejoice in His presence and be strengthened by His presence.