The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Holy-of-Holies. Exodus 26:33b (TM)

A portable worship center. Those are the instructions in these chapters. A sanctuary-tent for God’s presence that the Hebrews can carry on their sojourn from Egypt to the promised land. Notice, within these instructions, that God commands a clear separation between His presence and the people. He gives a very clear word picture to the Hebrews: "There’s a separation between you and me. I’m in here and you can’t come in." Why?

There’s this problem called sin. The separation began in Genesis 3 when Adam’s and Eve’s willful disobedience banishes them from God’s presence in the Garden. The question then was the same one that faces each of us today. The things I should do I don’t and the things I know I shouldn’t do I do. What do I do about this willful disobedience called sin?

As history proceeds, God sets about to set up a systematic provide a blueprint for worship, and within that blueprint is the Message in metaphor. Sin separates us, but there is a curtain, a Gateway into my presence and through that sacrifice this curtain shall be torn and I will make a way for you to come in and be with me and me with you.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and MidnightComm

Let them construct a Sanctuary for me so that I can live among them. You are to construct it following the plans I’ve given you, the design for The Dwelling and the design for all its furnishings. Exodus 25:8-9 (TM)

When most casual readers get to this part of of Exodus, it’s easy to lose interest. What’s with all this Sanctuary stuff and all the instructions for making furniture? What does that have to do with anything?

A lot.

God is an artist. He expresses Himself in metaphors. For worship, He gives the nation of Israel three word pictures that foreshadow the climactic moment of history (his-story, if you prefer):

• A chest (better known as "the ark of the covenant", ala Indiana Jones!) which contained the Word, just as the world would discover that Jesus is the living Word.
• A table for the bread of Presence (manna), just as Jesus would be the table on which would be set the bread (his body) and the wine (his blood) through which we are allowed to be in God’s presence.
• A lampstand, just as Jesus is the Light of the World and sets us as a lampstand to light the way for others to see Him.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and gnmcauley

Moses took the rest of the blood and threw it out over the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has made with you out of all these words I have spoken." Exodus 24:8 (TM)

Blood is an important theme throughout God’s Message. God is an artist and He expresses Himself in metaphors and word pictures. Blood is a metaphor for life and the shedding of blood is a metaphor for death. All the way back in Genesis 3 God told us that the result of our willing disobedience was death. We are appointed to die and be justly judged.

Unless…

A sacrifice is made, blood is shed, another dies on our behalf. Ultimately, God would send His own Son to be the ultimate sacrifice – his body broken, his blood shed – to pay the price for our disobedience and redeem us from our guilt. Until that day, a system of animal sacrifice, instituted through Moses, was used as a metaphor for the ultimate sacrifice to come.

Down payment was made on the debt of sin. Blood was shed. It covered the people and their sin…and pointed them towards the ultimate sacrifice to come. Jesus would someday pay our debt of sin in full.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Stitch

"Bring the choice first produce of the year to the house of your God." Exodus 22:19a (TM)

One of the themes consistent throughout scripture is that our giving is to be from the best we have, right off the top. The principle serves as a word picture to help us remember several very important truths. First, God is worth the very best that we have. In fact, He’s worth all that we have and more. Second, everything we have belongs to God anyway, so first give Him back what He’s graciously given you. Third, we need to be content with what we have left and to live within our means. Giving of the choice first produce also reminds us that it is not about us.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and RuTemple

"Don’t be stingy as your wine vats fill up."  Exodus 22:29 (TM)

Believe it or not, I had several things upon which I could have commented from this chapter. The principle of restitution, for example, is an important issue in parenting and society. Holiness, purity and the mistreatment of societal outcasts are also worthy of discussion, and I was chewing on them as I read. But then I read verse 29 and thought of Alex.

Alex was my driver last night. I’m speaking at a business conference this morning and Alex was the gentleman sent to pick me up at the airport. Alex was a nice man who immigrated to the United States over twenty years ago. His slavic accent was still so heavy that I had a hard time understanding much of his story about coming to the states and his difficulty finding work.

As we neared the hotel I reached into my pocket and found myself in the classic Dutchman’s dilemma. I had a one dollar bill and a twentiy. My mind debated long and hard in those final few minutes of the ride. As Alex talked about the Indianapolis Colts’ new stadium I was agonizing over what to tip him.

Figuring that the right thing to do is usually the most difficult I chose the most uncomfortable option. I gave him the twenty. If you’re tempted to pat me on the back you need to know that, to my discredit, I was still struggling with my choice this morning when I read the chapter. Perhaps I chose to be giving, but I certainly wasn’t cheerful about it.

"I have blessed your wine vats. They are full," God whispered to my spirit as I read this morning. "Stop being so stingy. Besides, that twenty wasn’t yours to begin with."

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Derusha.

"Don’t be stingy as your wine vats fill up."  Exodus 22:29 (TM)

Believe it or not, I had several things upon which I could have commented from this chapter. The principle of restitution, for example, is an important issue in parenting and society. Holiness, purity and the mistreatment of societal outcasts are also worthy of discussion, and I was chewing on them as I read. But then I read verse 29 and thought of Alex.

Alex was my driver last night. I’m speaking at a business conference this morning and Alex was the gentleman sent to pick me up at the airport. Alex was a nice man who immigrated to the United States over twenty years ago. His slavic accent was still so heavy that I had a hard time understanding much of his story about coming to the states and his difficulty finding work.

As we neared the hotel I reached into my pocket and found myself in the classic Dutchman’s dilemma. I had a one dollar bill and a twentiy. My mind debated long and hard in those final few minutes of the ride. As Alex talked about the Indianapolis Colts’ new stadium I was agonizing over what to tip him.

Figuring that the right thing to do is usually the most difficult I chose the most uncomfortable option. I gave him the twenty. If you’re tempted to pat me on the back you need to know that, to my discredit, I was still struggling with my choice this morning when I read the chapter. Perhaps I chose to be giving, but I certainly wasn’t cheerful about it.

"I have blessed your wine vats. They are full," God whispered to my spirit as I read this morning. "Stop being so stingy. Besides, that twenty wasn’t yours to begin with."

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Derusha.

"These are the laws that you are to place before them:" Exodus 21:17 (TM)

For 400 hundred years, the Hebrews had been slaves in Egypt. They had been ruled over and governed by Pharaoh. Now the entire nation is on a sojourn to the promised land and they have no official system of government or rules by which to govern themselves. Imagine the chaos of millions of people on a 40 year trek.

A few chapters ago, in Exodus 18, we read about Moses spending day and night with people lining up to have him judge matters between them. The first step in organizing the nation was to have a group of leaders organized to help judge disputes between people. But how are you going to make sure all these judges rule consistenty?

God is helping Moses set up a system, a "rule of law," by which this fledgling Hebrew nation can be organized and governed. We have a system of rules, too. The federal government has a set of rules, or laws, called the "U.S. Code" which helps judges rule. Each state has their own set of rules, or laws. Iowa’s is called the "Iowa Code." The cool thing is that God’s "rule of law" organizational structure is still in effect today – even though the rules have changed.

When reading the Old Testament laws, it’s easy to get mired in the minutiae of rules that were made for a different time and culture. The laws are often confusing to us thousands of years later. It’s important to keep sight of the big picture of what God was doing and the principles of law that still govern us today – even if the culture and civilization have changed radically in the thousands of years since.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and liltree

"These are the laws that you are to place before them:" Exodus 21:17 (TM)

For 400 hundred years, the Hebrews had been slaves in Egypt. They had been ruled over and governed by Pharaoh. Now the entire nation is on a sojourn to the promised land and they have no official system of government or rules by which to govern themselves. Imagine the chaos of millions of people on a 40 year trek.

A few chapters ago, in Exodus 18, we read about Moses spending day and night with people lining up to have him judge matters between them. The first step in organizing the nation was to have a group of leaders organized to help judge disputes between people. But how are you going to make sure all these judges rule consistenty?

God is helping Moses set up a system, a "rule of law," by which this fledgling Hebrew nation can be organized and governed. We have a system of rules, too. The federal government has a set of rules, or laws, called the "U.S. Code" which helps judges rule. Each state has their own set of rules, or laws. Iowa’s is called the "Iowa Code." The cool thing is that God’s "rule of law" organizational structure is still in effect today – even though the rules have changed.

When reading the Old Testament laws, it’s easy to get mired in the minutiae of rules that were made for a different time and culture. The laws are often confusing to us thousands of years later. It’s important to keep sight of the big picture of what God was doing and the principles of law that still govern us today – even if the culture and civilization have changed radically in the thousands of years since.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and liltree