Shine On; Ex 33:7-36:7

May the mumbling commence!

The glory of God shone, the project was at hand, and the offerings began to flow in.  When people know there is a project that the Lord is behind, they stream to give and be a part of it.  These things we can see when we read Exodus 33:7-36:7.

Moses and the Lord had a great relationship (oh, and Joshua, too).  Could you imagine what it would be like to talk “face to face” with the Almighty?  It must have been a humbling and frightening thing.  All of Israel came to the entrance to their tents as Moses walked from his tent to the Tent of Meeting, where he met with the Lord.  If it weren’t for the worship that happened when the cloud descended upon the Tent of Meeting, I could almost hear the quiet chants of “dead man walking.”  I wonder if the people of Israel thought they would never see Moses alive again.  Joshua, his assistant, entered the Tent of Meeting and did not come out for a prolonged period of time.  I wonder what Joshua learned at the feet of the Great I Am.

And, what does it mean for the Lord to know Moses by name?  Does it mean that the Lord knew Moses in his entirety and still loved him?  Doesn’t the same ring true for those who choose to follow Jesus?  And how comforting are the words of the Lord to Moses, as the Lord talks about passing by Moses?  “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”  In the same moment, the words seem comforting (mercy and compassion are available) and distressing (but these things seem to be arbitrary).  Even so, the Lord chose to walk with Moses and Israel despite their many shortcomings, and that is encouraging.

When Moses finished speaking to the Lord and came down from the mountain, Moses’ face shone with the glory of the Lord.  In Hebrew, it is called the Shekinah glory of the Lord.  It caused the people who saw him to flee from Moses’ presence.  Moses was carrying a piece if the presence of the Lord.  It had such an effect on people that Moses had to wear a veil when he was not delivering the words of God to the people and when he was not speaking with the Lord.

Part of the message from the Lord was the blueprint for the Tabernacle.  The people were convinced that this project was from the Lord.  Moses called not only for the needed materials, but he also called for the skills it would take for making the plans a reality.  I find it interesting that, in a male dominated culture, that the women are noted as giving of themselves as well – both with materials and with skills.

These skilled men and women were lead by Bezalel and were taught by Oholiab.  Bezalel dealt with the precious metals, the precious stones, and the wood, while Oholiab dealt with the cloth items needed.  But the actual construction of the Tabernacle was a community event.  We would do well in thinking about these methods for construction whenever we look to do work on our church meeting places…

And, I don’t know if you remember or not, I had questioned whether or not freewill offerings would cover the large bill that it would take to construct the Tabernacle and all its accessories.  But, at the beginning of chapter 36, we see that the people kept bringing the items – even when the workers knew that they had more than enough materials to build the Tabernacle.  

Would they keep some material as pay for their work?  No.  They went to Moses and reported the situation, and Moses had to restrain the people from giving to the project!  If only we could find such a project that would inspire the people of God to give with such abandon!  Wouldn’t the Lord be blessed by the story that would reach the greater community at the sacrificial giving done by a Christian community in such trying economic times!

I give thanks for the challenge to follow the Holy Spirit of God to reach such a destination.  May we give of ourselves with the same reckless abandon – not worrying about the sacrifices we would have to make – both with material and with our God-given skills!  Now, this work is a wonderful and godly use of talent!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out