“The Lord spoke to Moses: ‘You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month’. . . .Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. The tabernacle was set up in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month. . . .Next Moses set up the surrounding courtyard for the tabernacle and the altar and hung a screen for the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
What does God want from us? More than anything else, He wants a relationship with us. He wants us to be in a right and proper relationship with Him. How do we know when we have that? Because we do what He says. Our faithful, willing obedience is the first and best sign that we understand who He is, who we are, and are willing to accept those two truths wholly. Our obedience is the best proof that we are right with Him. In this final description of Moses’ work with the tabernacle, this is where the emphasis lies: that Moses did what God said. Let’s talk through what we see here and about why this is a good pointer to something that is still true for us today.
This chapter breaks down into two parts that are a reflection of the last fifteen or so chapters of the Exodus narrative. In the first part, God tells Moses what He wants him to do. In the second part, Moses does that. The only difference between this summary and full version we’ve spent the last six months examining together is that there’s no punctuation of unfaithfulness in the middle.
In the first part of the passage here, now that everything has been built and smithed and designed and sewn and crafted and otherwise prepared for assembly, and now that all of it has been inspected by Moses and pronounced good and in accordance with God’s plans, God finally gives them leave to put the whole tabernacle together for the first time. Of course, it wouldn’t stay together very long. It was, after all, intended to be a mobile worship unit. But there had to be a first time of putting it together in which it was all officially consecrated for the purpose for which it was created, and that time was now.
God tells Moses to put it together starting with the inner sanctuary, and moving outward from there. He is to get the physical structure built and ready to go, and then he is to get the priests dressed and officially ordained for the ministry they will do. That last part doesn’t actually happen right here. It gets recorded for us in Leviticus, and is a story both of triumph and also tragedy (check out Leviticus 10 for that one, and then read the sermon I preached on the passage a few years ago).
That actually raises what is a fairly important point when reading historical passages like this in the Old Testament. Sometimes what is described for us is presented in summary fashion to make a bigger point and not for precise chronological accuracy. That’s a hard idea for us to get our minds around because we think about history and storytelling very linearly. In the Scriptures, though, both Old and New Testament, we often find stories and sequences of events that are presented thematically, not chronologically. This means that the actual, literal historical sequence of events may not have been like the text presents them. If we expect it to, we’ll be confused or disappointed or otherwise have our faith needlessly shaken when we discover the difference between presentation and reality.
In this case, Moses was almost certainly not the one to do all of the actual work here, especially by himself as the text seems to indicate. Rather, he was the one directing the process as it unfolded. No ancient person reading this would have seriously imagined that Moses did all the work either. And that the ordination of the priests happened chronologically after all of the tabernacle was assembled and consecrated wouldn’t have bothered them either. Therefore, we shouldn’t let something like that bother us.
In the second half of the passage, then, Moses does what God tells him. Verse 16 is an important theme for this part. “Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him.” The end of v. 33 adds the equally important note that “Moses finished the work.” Moses took what God told him to do, did it faithfully and well, and did it to completion. When we do the same, we will always be on the right track in our lives. Our instructions are probably going to vary rather greatly from Moses’ instructions here (that is, I doubt very seriously any of us are ever going to be commanded by God to assemble a giant tent for worship…although there was a revival in my town that was in a giant tent for the month of September…perhaps God commanded that one), but the nature of the instructions isn’t nearly as important as our obedience of them.
Of course, nothing we are commanded will ever deviate from the commands God gives in the Scriptures. More specifically, they won’t ever deviate from the commands of Christ and the teachings of the apostles in the New Testament. If you feel like He’s telling you to do something, and that thing isn’t consistent with the teachings and example of Jesus, then I’m going to go out on a limb and assure you that He isn’t actually telling you to do it. That’s your own voice substituting itself for God’s. It is an unfortunately easy mistake to make.
When the command you have received is consistent with the teachings and example of Jesus, though, you need to go ahead and do it. That doesn’t mean it won’t be hard or even a little (or a lot) scary. But it will be good. That kind of obedience is a sign that you really are following Jesus. After all, Jesus said we are His friends if we do what He commanded. This is not because He’s some kind of an egotistical jerk who has a pathological need for the people around Him to genuflect properly. It’s because He’s God and we’re not. He predicted and pulled off His own death and resurrection. Going with whatever He says is always going to be the best idea.
If we are going to be a friend of Jesus, we have to be willing to take Him as He is, not merely as we might want Him to be. And taking Him as He is means accepting Him as Lord. As the apostle Paul declared, His is the name at which “every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That’s who Jesus is. If we are going to be His friend, that’s the kind of relationship it is going to be. Of course, there are worse things in the world than being a friend of the incarnated God of the universe.
Of course, we can’t do what God says on our own. That’s the first part of the Gospel. Sin gets in the way. Constantly. We need help. We won’t accept that help until we come to a place of acknowledging our need for it which is part of why God allows us to experience some of the hard things that we do. People who don’t have any problems, don’t ever think they need help. When we encounter the devastating and debilitating effects of sin in the world – both the sin we commit ourselves and the sin other people commit and for which our misfortune is collateral damage – we have an easier time making the acknowledgment that we aren’t enough on our own.
Whether it takes that moment or not, though, when we put our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and commit to doing life His way (which means living out a commitment to love one another after the pattern and example of His own sacrificial love for us), God credits Jesus’ perfectly keeping His commands to us, and then by His Spirit in us, He gradually helps us come both to want and to be able to do what He says of our own volition. He makes over our wills in the image of His own. And, as Paul wrote earlier in that same letter, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” That is, once He’s started this effort to bring our thinking and doing in line with the image of Christ, He won’t quit on it until we are totally complete. Just like Moses finished the work, so will our heavenly Father in us. Let’s join Him in the effort, and enjoy the sweet fruits that come by no other means.
The Nexus 
Aside from the wholly ( pun intended) fictional nature of the Exodus narrative how do you square away the heinous nature/ behaviour of your god, Yahweh in such passages as the one in Leviticus?
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Did you read the sermon I linked?
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No, sorry. Was called away. Client.
So, how do you square away Yahweh’s vile nature?
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Once you accept that He exists, that He really is sovereign, and that sin really is a problem, much of it becomes much easier. You also have to get beyond the limitations of the English text and an ignorance of the culture in which the text was originally written. Then it becomes clear that the “vile nature” you see everywhere isn’t actually a thing at all. God’s self-description in Exodus 32 is accurate and true. When Paul says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, that really does mean Jesus lets us see what God is really like.
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Well, for ordinary people, accepting the existence of your god, Yahweh, means a suspension of critical thought and basic common sense, especially if you wish to claim he is just and all loving etc etc and even more so when you consider he murdered Moses’ kids in the Leviticus episode.
So, how do you square away such actions?
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To your last question, once again, have you read the sermon I linked? Once you’ve done that, you can come back with more questions and challenges as I’m sure you’ll have them.
On the rest, no, it doesn’t. And your insistence on that straw man view of Christianity is a big part of why our conversations won’t ever go anywhere. It’s why I told you the other day that you’re just not very good at this.
On that note, after that particular interchange, I listened to a podcast from the Discovery Institute. It’s a short one from several years ago, but it ran on the very same thing. Good timing. The host (who passed away recently which is why they chose to rerun this podcast from their archives) is offering advice to Darwinists on how to be more effective in their efforts to convince ID proponents to change their mind. Take the basic thrust of his ideas and apply them to the kinds of conversations we have more generally, and there’s some pretty good advice for you there. It’s only 11 minutes long (5.5 if you listen to it at double speed like I do). Enjoy.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/intelligent-design-the-future/id132125271?i=1000677126553
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There are always questions and sometimes too much apologetics simply bogs things down. So, Sermon or not, the question I asked can be regarded and addressed in isolation.
Aah, Gilson! Had a bit of a run in with him a few years ago over an article he wrote where he expressed some rather idiotic things about Democrats and Christianity and accused me of being a leftist! I’m not even American! I did laugh though.
I disregard everything from the Discovery Institute.
Although it cannot be confirmed this quote is attributed to Einstein:“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
So, go ahead and explain:
Why did your god, Yahweh kill/murder Moses’ kids?
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What do being a leftist and an American have to do with one another?
I’ll take it you didn’t bother to listen to the blog. Once again, your acknowledged biases prevent you from meaningful conversations with believers. And, if you’re not really interested in meaningful conversations, why bother?
I assume you mean Aaron, not Moses there at the end. Once you’ve read (or listened to) the sermon I linked, we can talk about that more.
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I have no idea but he went off like a bottle of soda. Odd Chap.
I wrote a blog piece about it. I must look it up.
Yes, sorry. I did mean Aaron’s kids.
Of course I have a bias against murder and any unnecessary killing.
Do you seriously consider there is context for murder, especially in this case of silly offerings?
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Have you read the sermon? When you have, then we can talk about it more. You won’t agree with my take, but at least you will have encountered my thinking on the matter.
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Sermons are subjective. I would simply like you to explain how, supposed sin or not Yahweh murdering two of Aaron’s kids is justified.
How hard can that be for you?
Reread Einstein’s quote.
Consider me a six year old.
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You’re asking a big question and expecting a simple answer. That’s not how big questions work. Read the sermon, and then you can ask more questions. As much time as you give to the manifold of online interactions you have, I know it’s not a time issue on your end. How you have so much time to spend engaging with various blogs and comment threads online and still have time to give to your family what you should is beyond me. Count me impressed with how you manage it. In any event, until you’ve read the sermon, this isn’t going any further. Now, like a good six-year-old, follow instructions, and we can keep going.
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Goodness me, Jonathan, are you seriously casting aspersions and judging me over your perceptions, about how I treat my family? “… what I should.”
Oh, really?
My, my, now, there’s a right to do.
I read the sermon. Yes, I am a fast reader. You can quizz me if you like.
As I said previously too much apologetics bogs things down.
And your Lincoln reference is irrelevant.
So, why did your god Yahweh simply to make a point about sin over some stupid blood incense feel the need to murder two of Aaron’s sons?
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Not murder. Judgment. Two different things.
Like I said when you started this whole conversation, and like I’ve said many times before, if you don’t get the starting point right, none of the things that come after it are going to be right either. And you don’t get the starting point right.
If you did, you would fairly easily be able to distinguish between the two.
And I answered your question in the sermon. If you didn’t like it, I can’t do anything about that. If you didn’t understand it, read it again.
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Acceptance of this “starting point” requires a normal ethical individual to suspend critical thinking and common sense orvsuspend ethics and basic morality.
You consider it judgment, in any other setting, normal people would regard it as murder.
Yes you made AN answer. And as I noted, too much apologetics just bogs things down. No wonder you kept btlringibg up how difficult this sermon was. Gag awful in fact.
Now I would like you to explain, and justify it as Einstein suggested.
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No, it doesn’t. That’s your worldview bias talking again. It’s why we can’t have nice conversations. It also is a gleaming signal that trying to explain what’s going on here isn’t worth my time. Alas
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My worldview rejects unnessesary killing and murder.
You allow for it because of your belief in your god, Yahweh.
In effect, he gets a pass. The giver of life has the right to take it. No questions asked. Right?
All this notwithstanding, put on your normal hat for a moment and explain and justify the taking of the lives of those two young men.
I also replied to your comment on the short Hitchen’s video clip.
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