Exodus 37:1-9, “Bezalel made the ark of
acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its
breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.
(2) And he overlaid it with pure
gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. (3)
And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on
its one side and two rings on its other side.
(4) And he made poles of acacia
wood and overlaid them with gold (5) and put the poles into the rings on the sides
of the ark to carry the ark. (6) And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two
cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. (7)
And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the
two ends of the mercy seat, (8) one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on
the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two
ends. (9) The cherubim spread out their wings above,
overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another;
toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.”
After the giving of many instructions the work of constructing the
tabernacle commences. Exodus 37 and 38 record the whole construction process
for us. If when reading these two chapters you find yourself wondering, “Have I
not read this all before?” you would be right. This is almost a carbon-copy of
Exodus 25, where God gives the instructions to Moses on how the tabernacle is
to be built. Therefore we ask, why is there this repetition, is it truly
necessary?
The repetition of all this information is not needless, nor is it just
relating general information to us. It is telling us two important truths.
Firstly, God did all that which He said He would do to help construct the
tabernacle. It is not as though Moses came down from the mountain with a clear
and detailed blueprint of each and every article. Moses had to relate it all orally,
trusting that he would be understood. God worked specifically in the lives of Bezalel
and Oholiab, gifting, equipping and guiding them to undertake this work exactly
as God desired it to be done. What God revealed to Moses, is what God led these
men to build in perfection.
Secondly, in Exodus 25 Moses is given the very clear command to obey
what God has told him, to follow the plan perfectly, without any deviation
whatsoever. Had it not been for these two chapters, Exodus 37 and 38, we would
have no way of knowing that God’s instructions and designs were precisely followed
and obeyed. Because of these two chapters we are able to read of the obedience
of Moses and the craftsmen.
As believers in Jesus Christ, these two truths are of encouragement to
us. As we read God’s Word, we come to see and learn of the manner in which it
calls us to obedience. Many times these calls to obedience, to live in a godly
manner, are difficult. We fear that we lack the wisdom and ability, the
strength and willpower to do that which God is calling upon us to do. This
chapter teaches us that obedience is important, though we may see it as vastly
intimidating, or beyond our abilities, we need to strive after obedience. As we
do this we can draw confidence and comfort from the fact that God will equip,
strengthen and enable us to do that which He asks us to do. He demands complete
obedience, but He helps us greatly by means of His Holy Spirit to strive
increasingly after this obedience. God challenges us through His Word to grow,
and He supplies us with everything that we need in order to grow. God calls us
to obedience, to walk in holiness and to honour Him in all things. God also
supplies us with His Spirit, grace and strength, He enables us, gives us wisdom
and discernment, He helps us to persevere and protects us. All this God gives
to us so that we might be able to walk in greater obedience. God is good and
gracious towards us, even to the point that He helps us to obey Him!
Our good and gracious God, thank You that
You are a God who is holy and perfect, a God who requires complete obedience.
We thank You that though we are constantly disobedient, we have been covered
and saved through the obedience of Christ. We thank You for Your Spirit, Your
Word, the gift of prayer and the Church, all these means that You have given to
us, so that we might honour You through our obedience. Thank You that You help
us to obey Your Word. We pray that we may show ourselves to be willingly
obedient, may we find it a joy and delight to do Your will and walk according
to Your Word. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment