(Exodus 24:3) Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”
God is brilliant! (of course, because) God knows how we operate best, and knows that we will find camaraderie with each other while investing and working together towards something amazing...
(Exodus 25:1-2, 8-9) Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution... 8 Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
The Israelites were on board and gave generously, and as led, they helped to build the temple. The plans that God specifically laid out included the arc of the covenant and the mercy seat...
(Exodus 25:22) There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.
The veil was also made, which protected mankind from God's wrath. God is holy and cannot be a part of sin. So even when the high priest would properly prepare himself to enter, they would tie a rope around his waist in case he went in and died and they had to pull him out. Keep this in mind, when we reach the New Testament, and at Jesus' death, this extremely thick veil ripped from top to bottom, allowing us to approach God through Jesus. It's just so important for us to understand - just how holy God is - and how unworthy we are. This is where the need for humility comes in.
God also arranged everything with symbolism. It helps us to understand, and it helped the Israelites prepare to understand. And still, when they thought that Moses was taking too long on the mountain, they decided to make a golden calf - because they needed something to worship. Incredible how short spanned our memories can be. And how apt we are to stray. But - God is gracious! He gave them a chance to choose (to repent)...
(Exodus 32:26-28) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his [q]neighbor.’” 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
(Exodus 32:33) The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book...”
God is not a pushover. And the God of salvation is the same God throughout all the ages. He never forgets His promises, as He reminds the Israelites of His covenant, as well as what is expected of them. God delivers this message to Moses who would pass along these words to the people, because this would be very important information for them moving forward into the promised land - into the land promised to them in the Abrahamic covenant...
(Exodus 34:6-28) Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.”
10 Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
11 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.17 You shall make for yourself no molten gods.
18 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. 20 You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; evenduring plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Today's Takeaway: How easy it is for us to become impatient because God is taking too long to answer a prayer - meanwhile - He's got it all figured out and knows things that we do not. How easy it is to complain about how long a sermon is taking - meanwhile - these words come from God, meant to benefit us! Or we complain that we are expected to serve - meanwhile - when we do, we will find blessings and deeper fellowship one another. Or we complain that God wants us to give Him at least ten percent of everything we earn - meanwhile - God allows us to keep up to 90 percent! God is so caring and generous!...
(Malachi 3:10) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows...”
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