Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we read more about Israel's obedience in following God's commands for the tabernacle, specifically as it pertains to the priestly garments. As we've talked about before, these aren't just fancy clothes. They serve a function in the service of the tabernacle. The priest is acting as a mediator between God and man, bringing the names of the tribes into the holy place and making sacrifices for the people unto God.
After everything has been created according to God's plan, they bring all the stuff to Moses. And then we see another parallel of creation, just like we did yesterday. After God finished his work at creation, he saw all that he had made and that it was good and he blessed it. Today, when Moses saw that all the work of making the tabernacle pieces was finished, it says he saw that all the work was done as the Lord had commanded and he blessed them.
These parallels are intentional. Remember, the tabernacle is a step in the direction of God restoring what was broken by sin in the Garden of Eden, where he dwelled with Adam and Eve in peace. Then everything fell apart. Now here he is approximately 2,700 years later, setting up camp, literally, with a bunch of sinners. God just can't stay away from his people. So now Moses has all these tabernacle parts and it's his job to assemble it all.
I don't know how he pulls it off without those helpful IKEA cartoon instructions, but he does. Fortunately, God gave him detailed instructions on Mount Sinai. Then God tells him to anoint all the furniture with oil and consecrate it to make it holy. Remember, all this stuff is just wood and metal. It's stuff God created that had been owned by the wicked Egyptians, plundered by the Israelites, had a near miss with being part of the golden calf, and then it's now in this holy place.
There's nothing special about these things, but they're in God's sanctuary. And he said to make them holy, to set them apart for sacred use. So how is Moses supposed to do that? By putting oil on them. It sounds weird, right? How does putting oil on something make it holy? Is your car engine holy? Is your cast iron skillet holy?
The point of the oil is not the oil itself, even though this was a special oil defined by God. The purpose of the oil is in establishing that this thing it's being put on is set apart for sacred use to establish its purpose in this ceremony. When I joined my church, the pastor brought out a little bottle of oil and put a drop on my forehead as he prayed for me. Is the oil special?
Probably not. It's probably not even non-comedogenic. But that moment served as a reminder to me and to everyone in the room that day that my life is to be set apart for use by God. Yours too, by the way, so go grab the canola if you want. Although, to be fair, this particular oil was unique because remember, this oil is the blend that could only be used in service of the tabernacle and nowhere else, just like the incense. So definitely not canola. But I hope you understand the point of what I'm saying regardless.
So after Moses consecrates the furniture, he brings in Aaron and his sons, washes them, puts the priestly garments on them, and anoints them. Then something important happens. God establishes the line of Aaron as the family of priests to serve before him throughout their generations. If you're only familiar with Catholic priests, for instance, you may think, well, that's a nice promise from God, Terrilee, but doesn't that mean this family line of priests will only last two generations since Aaron and his sons obviously can't marry?
But that's not what we see in the priesthood here. This line will continue on. Aaron and Moses are from the tribe of Levi, so they're called Levites, and we'll continue to see that the Levites are priests unto the Lord. There's no requirement of celibacy or singleness here. In fact, Abraham and his descendants, including the Levites and the other tribes of Israel, have been encouraged to multiply. That's how we eventually get to the birth of Jesus.
By the way, all this happens year one after they've left Egypt. They're a little more than a week away from celebrating their first Passover in the wilderness, which is actually the second Passover since the first one was in Egypt. This tabernacle is a great anniversary present, and it'll be a great reminder when they celebrate Passover for the first time as free people. We'll get to that celebration in Numbers 9, but we've got a lot to talk about between now and then.
And before we talk about our God shots for today, I want to point out that we've just finished our third book of the Bible together. That's incredible. Think back to what you've learned in this book and to what you've learned since we started. How would you summarize it all? I also want to give you a heads up in case you don't know that the next couple of books aren't going to be as story driven as the first three have been. We do continue in the same storyline with the same family, so that's still happening, but it's less of a narrative for a bit.
Don't give up. There's good stuff for us in the days ahead. I promise. Ask God for wisdom. Ask him to open your eyes and you'll get something out of it you've never seen before. And hopefully you've grown close enough to some of these characters to care about what their lives are like in the next few books, even in the dry spots. When we started this book two weeks ago, they were slaves in Egypt.
Put yourself in their shoes. You're a freed slave living in the wilderness with 3 million other freed slaves. An old guy with a shiny face who wears a veil is in charge of everything. And you're being led by a God who lives in a cloud. Wherever the cloud goes, you pack up your tent and your family and you follow the cloud. Because you've come to realize it contains the presence and glory of the God who loves you. You complain about his plan, but he drowns an army to save you. You doubt him, but he's still giving you manna six days a week.
You've sinned against him, but he didn't kill you. And still he's there in your midst. What's this going to be like? When is God going to lead you to the land he promised to give you? He seems to be good, but how do you draw near to his goodness? Can you? We're going to look into that in the days ahead. But what was your God shot today?
My curiosity about God was piqued when we hit 4035. It says, What? I don't know about you, but I've never encountered fog I couldn't walk through. I've never been in a plane that had to route around a cloud because it couldn't get through.
There is a density to the presence of God here. This cloud fills the tabernacle. Every square inch, it seems. His glory is dense. His presence is undeniable. And He's where the joy is. ♪
Stay tuned as we dive into Leviticus tomorrow. And if you want to do a little advanced prep, we put a short Leviticus overview video in the show notes. I know some of you don't want to get ahead because you want to discover it as we go, and that's fine too. But if you think this video might help you make sense of it all, check it out. It's just eight minutes long. I'll see you back here tomorrow for the start of Leviticus.
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