Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 39:32 - 40:11
Humans are emotional creatures. Our behavior is often dictated by the emotion of the moment. Furthermore, we often resort to emotion to try to enact change, particularly the change necessary to transform people into better Christians who are fully devoted to obeying God.
The reality is emotion is not a good change agent. It is easy to obey God for a short time while we are on an emotional high; however, being God’s servant is hard, and emotional highs do not last. When the emotion wears off, we often return to ungodly behavior.
Humanity has always been this way. There is an example of this in the book of Exodus. Today’s passage recounts a time when Israel fully obeyed Yahweh and did exactly as He commanded them. However, the rest of the Old Testament proves that Israel’s obedience was inconsistent. They disobeyed more often than they obeyed. This warns us that we should avoid that pattern.
Multiple chapters in Exodus describe the requirements for building the tabernacle and the collection of the necessary materials. After they built all the components, it was time to present them to Moses.
Ex. 39:32 ¶ Thus all the service of constructing the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of Israel did according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses; so they did.
Look at the phrase “according to all that Yahweh had commanded”. The book of Exodus records long instructions Yahweh gave regarding how to build the tabernacle, including dimensions, materials to be used, and the people who were to lead the work. When building the tabernacle, the Israelites obeyed and did exactly what God told them to do.
Ex. 39:33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars and its bases;
Ex. 39:34 and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the screening veil;
Ex. 39:35 the ark of the testimony and its poles and the mercy seat;
Ex. 39:36 the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence;
Ex. 39:37 the pure gold lampstand, with its arrangement of lamps and all its utensils, and the oil for the light;
Ex. 39:38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the veil for the doorway of the tent;
Ex. 39:39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the laver and its stand;
Ex. 39:40 the hangings for the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords and its pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting;
Ex. 39:41 the woven garments for ministering in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.
Ex. 39:42 Thus, according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did in all their service.
Pay attention to the message of this verse. The sons of Israel did exactly what Yahweh commanded them to do.
Ex. 39:43 And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as Yahweh had commanded, so they had done. Then Moses blessed them.
Once again, notice the phrase “just as Yahweh had commanded”.
When they built the tabernacle, the Israelites obeyed Yahweh and followed His instructions very faithfully. They probably did that because they were at Mount Sinai and they were seeing God display His glory on the mountain. They were on an emotional high.
Unfortunately, the Israelites’ obedience was inconsistent. They had started worshipping a golden calf before they built the tabernacle. Later, after they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites repeatedly disobeyed God’s law that had been given to them at Mount Sinai.
Their inconsistency mirrors our inconsistency. It is easy to completely obey Yahweh for a short time. Being obedient over the long haul is a different matter.
Shortly after a person becomes a believer, he is on an emotional high and finds it easy to obey all of God’s commands and live a very different life from the life he lived before he was a Christian. However, over time, the initial enthusiasm wears off, and it is easy to fall back into bad behavior.
When people go on spiritual retreats or mission trips, they often come back highly enthusiastic about serving God. For a short time, it is easy to be fully committed to serving God completely. However, over time the exuberance wears off, and eventually, it becomes hard to make the sacrifice required to obey all of God’s commands.
When I was growing up, our church had annual revival events where we brought in a guest speaker who encouraged us to repent and raise the standards by which we live our lives. During the revival, the congregation was on an emotional high and vowed to change their lives. However, one week after the revival was over, the emotion wore off, and everyone resumed living just as they had before the week-long revival.
Ex. 40:1 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Ex. 40:2 “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
Ex. 40:3 You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
Ex. 40:4 You shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps.
Ex. 40:5 Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle.
Ex. 40:6 You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
Ex. 40:7 You shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it.
Ex. 40:8 You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen for the gateway of the court.
Ex. 40:9 Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and set it apart as holy and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy.
Ex. 40:10 You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and set the altar apart as holy, and the altar shall be most holy.
Ex. 40:11 You shall anoint the laver and its stand, and set it apart as holy.
There were times in Israel’s history when they fully and completely obeyed Yahweh. Unfortunately, they were not able to obey consistently over the long term.
Likewise, it is easy for us to be fully devoted to God for a short period of time. However, God wants us to obey every day for years. Instead of relying on emotion for short-term enthusiasm, we should focus on developing the self-discipline necessary to obey God every day for the rest of our lives.
To what extent do you rely on emotional highs to try and grow spiritually?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”