I am the LORD their God – Day 7

The Tabernacle

Overview:

God is preparing the Isrealites to learn that they are separated from God because of their sin and he will institute specific requirements for them to follow so that they can have fellowship with God.  He establishes the basic laws (10 commandments) and a Holy place to worship the Lord God and to bring sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Now,  God will set apart special people as priests devoted to carry out the practices of sacrifice and temple rituals of purification.  God has selected the tribe of Levi to serve as priests and Aaron and his sons will be the first priests.  God details the adornment that is to be worn by the priests (the ephod, breast-piece, tunic, caps, sashes and linen undergarments).  Moses performs an ordination of Aaron and his sons involving washing, sacrifice and sets them apart for service.   When all of this was established, the glory of the Lord filled the tent of meeting.

Scripture – Exodus 29:44-46

⁴⁴ “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵ Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. ⁴⁶ 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.

Observation

God wanted to make clear to the Isrealites that only He was to be worshiped.  There were to be no other Gods in their lives.  He provided specific instructions that addressed sin and how God wanted them to deal with it.  The purpose of this was to allow the Israelites to have fellowship with God.  He wanted to dwell among them.  Once the law was given, the tabernacle was built and the people and priests were prepared to start worshiping God, He came down and his Glory filled the tent and he would dwell among them.

Application
We were created by God so it makes sense that he wants a relationship with us.  Because he is Holy and we are not, we have a barrier between us and God.  In the old testament (the old deal), God created a system that would cause the Israelites to realize their sin and then follow specific instructions written by God to have their sins forgiven.  The new Testament (new deal) does away with all of the old requirements for the forgiveness of sin.  Because Jesus Christ acted as the final sacrifice for our sins, there is no more need to practice temple sacrifice.  We can have fellowship with our creator simply by acknowledging God’s new plan through His son Jesus Christ.  God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, so whoever believes in Him, will never die, but have everlasting life.  So, just like Moses would go into the Tent of Meeting and meet God and speak face to face, we to can talk with our heavenly father.  He knows our hearts.  He just wants us to share our heart with Him.

Prayer
Father thank you that you love us so much that you gave your son Jesus to serve as the final sacrifice for our sins and that we can have fellowship with you.