Several years ago, my family had the opportunity to meet and have lunch with one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play at the University of Kentucky and who went on to play with the St. Louis Rams. We had a great time that day and he remains a good friend of our family and I am eternally grateful to him for his incredible Godly influence on my kids!
I tell you that because I can’t imagine what Moses must have been feeling when God came to him and tells him that He wants to come to his people and to dwell with them!! I mean, my family was just going to meet a man who was really good at football and in the days leading up to that meeting our anticipation grew and grew and we were so excited!
Moses had the greatest opportunity ever! He had the opportunity for God to come hang out right in the middle of their camp! Not on the outskirts. Not near the camp, but right in the middle of where they were living! AMAZING!!!
With that being said, some things had to be in place for that to happen. God told Moses what needed to be in place for his coming. First, He wanted to be close to them but there was the problem of sin that created a void between them. So,God provided Moses with instructions about the practice of sacrificing, offering a covering for the people’s indiscretions before a Holy God. Sin is serious stuff, not to be taken lightly, and the sacrifice of unblemished animals was necessary to give the people a picture of sin.
Second, He wanted to stay close to them. Moses was given the blueprints for the building of the Tabernacle which is a big word for tent. It was a portable place of worship and He wanted to camp out right in the middle of where they were camping. God wanted to be close to His people.
But He also wanted them to be close to each other. So He declared a third thing to get ready. He gave them 10Commandments concerning relationships. The first 4commandments focus on how we are to demonstrate our love to God. The 2nd set of 6 have to do with how to show love to other people.
Jesus said the same in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. . . By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
God gave the Israelites guidelines so that, when they sought to live by them, other nations would see them as different and know that they were God’s people. God gave us Jesus so that, when we live like Him, others will know that we are his people.
For those who know him, God took care of our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus. He dwells in the hearts of those who have drawn near to him. Could it be then that the degree to which we are obedient to Him in this command to love each other is the degree of His presence we will find among us? It could be our greatest opportunity ever.
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