February 14
Exodus 39:32-40:38; Numbers 9:15-23
B.I.B.L.E.: Basic instructions before leaving earth. We have been given God’s perfect instructions for every facet of our lives. We have been shown what it means to serve God, how to treat our spouse, how to parent our children at all ages, how to treat our parents, how to be an employee and an employer. Not only has God instructed us what to do, He has promised to come alongside us to help us to do what He desires. These instructions don’t change or waver over time. Whether you’re married 50 days or 50 years, the same truths from Scripture hold true. Whether you are a child of 5 or 50 the respect shown to your parents doesn’t change. Only by surrounding yourself with God can we understand and move forward in life as He desires for us.
We read in Exodus 39:32, “And so at last the Tabernacle was finished. The Israelites had done everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” We read further in Exodus 40, as the tabernacle is being set up a phrase that is continually repeated, “just as the Lord had commanded him”. God had instructed Moses who in turn instructed the people. We read God’s response to the faithful completion of the work in 40:34, “Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.” To “tabernacle” means to dwell among. So once the actual tabernacle was constructed, God dwelt among the people. We read of this in 40:36-38, “ Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.”
We, for the most part are not Israelites. We are also not wandering around a desert. We read in John 1:14, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to leave His heavenly domain and “tabernacle” among us humans. We also read in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,”. Jesus when He left, did not leave us orphans, but sent His Spirit to “tabernacle” within us. So, as we read these “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth” and think these are impossible to follow, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “ Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” We can fulfill what it is that God desires from us and for us, because He not only left us His instruction manual, but He is ever present around and within us, as He “tabernacles” among us.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: