Week 6: (Days 036-042): God living among His people

Hey Bible readers! Welcome to TBR Deep Dive. I'm Emma Dotter. I'm Kirsten McCloskey. And we are so excited to jump into some great questions today. The first comes from day 38 and a couple chapters, Exodus 25 and 26. And these chapters, we love them. They describe We have a lot of details about building the tabernacle. God tells Moses, have the people bring offerings. And then he gives some architectural instructions, the designs for the Ark of the Covenant, the table, the lampstand, the tabernacle itself, curtains, frames, and everything in between. It's a lot. So the question, was the tabernacle unique to the Israelites or did other nations have places of worship that were similar, places of worship like this? Yeah. Such a cool question. I think one of the amazing things about the tabernacle, as I'm thinking about it, is that it gave the Israelites a specific place to worship Yahweh that he told them to make. He told them the way he wanted it. To build the detail, the tiny details. Yes, exactly. So other cultures certainly had places of worship. I mean, I think we see, you know, earlier in the story, like in Genesis, people are making altars and all of that. So there's clearly places where people are just kind of building altars and worshiping gods. But there would have certainly also been places where people would have come together to worship. I think that that would have been kind of a normal cultural thing. But it wouldn't have been because the one true God, Yahweh, told them to do that. Like that's what we get to see here. It's a good distinction. Yeah, and so they might have thought, you know, there might be legends or things about, oh, our God told us to be here or whatever. But we just see the true God and the way that he wants his people to worship him. Yeah, and it's the details. So archaeologists, they've uncovered Egyptian and Mesopotamian shrines or temples that on the surface look somewhat similar in structure. Okay. Holy spaces, restricted access, and symbols pointing to their God's power. But to your point, the level of specificity of revelation from God to the people as to what they should build is on an entirely different level than what these other religions were doing. Yeah. And I think when we think about other false gods and false religions, that worship is created by humans for humans. Because it's what they want? Yeah. Because they wouldn't say it's for humans. They would say it's for their gods. Right. But in that, it's kind of that reality that we always end up, if we're not looking to the true God, we always end up just making gods in our image. Whatever feels best to us. Yeah, exactly. But this was not the case for the Israelites. They were given these very clear instructions from the one true God for how their worship structure should look and how their worship should go and who should be doing what. And I just think that is so remarkable and unique. Yep. It is certainly unique. Yep. Another unique and incredible distinction is that the tabernacle might have been similar in its basic structure layout, but the God who filled it was a key difference. That's so cool. Israel's neighbors built temples or shrines for gods who couldn't speak or act or save. Yep. But Israel's tabernacle was designed by God himself down to the smallest detail and filled with his very presence. It was a portable dwelling, unlike permanent pagan temples, because the true God wanted to go with his people into the wilderness, through the wilderness, and come out on the other side and continue to dwell with them. Yeah. Which is huge. That is so cool. Yeah, that is so cool. And I think throughout the rest of the Old Testament, we'll also see that when Israel is sinning against God, so again, this is going forward in the story, they actually set up their own places of worship. So they kind of go outside of these boundaries. And that is really a big – I think it helps us see, again, just the importance of like this was the way God was – This design mattered. All these details mattered. This design mattered. Exactly. This was the way that they were to worship. And so when they go outside of those boundaries, which we'll see later on, they're disobeying God. They're rebelling. And that's generally at times where they're struggling with idolatry. Yes. So that's kind of an interesting thing to think about. It's so interesting to think about that the living God chooses to dwell with the very people who do what you just described, who will veer off course, who will go the wrong way, who will start to copy the bad examples. And those other nations that they would maybe copy when they started going crazy with their own shrines and stuff, they would build spaces to reach up to their gods, their little G gods. But the tabernacle was God reaching down to be with Israel. And that's the heart of the gospel, too. God coming near ultimately through Jesus to dwell with us. Yeah. Amen. That is so cool. The tabernacle is cool. You guys, the tabernacle is so cool. I do actually would love to know if some of our Bible readers really love the details of the tabernacle. You know, if there's a certain kind of personality type. That is excited about these passages. I want to know. I want to know. I'm sure you're out there. I'm sure you're out there and I'd love to hear what it is about it that is great for you. For me, it's words on a page and it's very difficult to picture. I like referencing a study Bible where it gives you a rendering of what it probably looked like. And then I can appreciate the details more because I'm not having to imagine it on my own. Me imagining it is just blank in my head. So, yeah, I need the help. All right, let's go on to the next question, which is still from this same section of Exodus. So Exodus 25 to 26. All those details. All the details with the tabernacle. And kind of cool going off of what we were just talking about. So did God need a tabernacle in order to dwell with the people? Or was this just the way that he decided to do it? That's good. So, I mean, you can't deny that in Exodus 25, God's giving detailed instructions so that he could dwell among his people. That's 25.8. But did he need to live with them, quote unquote, in the tabernacle? Like was this the only option? Like it was the only way he could do it. Of course not. No. He's God. I mean, when Solomon's talking about the temple in 1 Kings 8, verse 27, he says, heaven in the highest heaven cannot contain you. Oh, that's so cool. The creator of the universe doesn't need a tent to move in. Right. I mean, he's everywhere. Yeah. Right. So why the tabernacle? That was the way God chose. Yeah. That's what he chose. And if you think about the cultural at the time, as we've already talked about, there were similarities in structure. he chose to dwell with his people in a way they could understand yeah which is a visible reminder of his holiness of his accessibility through sacrifice at the time right yeah or really all the time just sacrifices looked different then and his presence right in the middle of the camp it wasn't about God being limited but God graciously and generously accommodating himself to pursue these people. Yeah, yeah. And I think the, no, God didn't need the tabernacle. But the amazing thing is that he wants to be known by the people that he created. So he chooses different ways kind of throughout the story you know which we already seen some ways he revealed himself This is another way that he revealing himself to his people and which then will be his revelation to the whole world through the nation of Israel So it displayed his presence. And I think it also, like what you were mentioning with the holiness piece, it allowed Israel to worship him in the way that he desired, in the way that recognized that God is holy. The Israelites are not. Yet this is the way that they're going to be able to interact with him. And I think, again, it's like when humans are left to their own devices to figure out worship and just do what they want, it doesn't go well. They turn to things like child sacrifice. You know, like this is what the nations are doing. Child sacrifice, it's basically just like a big sin fest. And so it's the opposite of what God desires in worship. It's the opposite of holiness. And so I think, yeah, our instincts for maybe the way we would worship God or the instincts for how the Israelites would worship God, they're falling short of what the standard is. Because we're broken. Right. And so God had to teach his people this was the proper way to worship. At this time, in this culture, in this setting. Right. And this is where we come to this tent. And I love picturing being an Israelite, living in my tent. and you walk out of your tent in the morning and it's like, there's the tabernacle. There's the Lord. His presence is there. I don't know. I just, I was thinking about that, thinking that would be really cool to just have that. I'm so visual. And so I think having that kind of like visual representation right there. Totally. Well, and that's like, okay, so you take that truth and you think, what's the principle about God's nature that we can be reminded of from these two chapters that are full of a ton of details? Yes, that's so good. Israel is a lot more like us than we often want to admit. And similarly to you and to me, they probably desired or even needed a visible reminder that God was with him and he provided it. He gave them a tangible reminder. Intangible reminders are helpful for us too. So that can be things like scripture in our hands. We have the tangible reminder that they didn't have of a printed Bible in our language in our hands. Communion at the table, the gathered church, gathering together with other believers. None of those things contain God because now his spirit lives in us, but they remind us of his nearness, that he cares enough to preserve his word, that he cares enough to move through the church, that he cares enough, like we remember at communion, to sacrifice his son for us, defeating death, rising from the grave so that we might have life in him. We need to be reminded of those things too. And ultimately, the tabernacle points us forward to Jesus who became flesh and dwelt, literally, tabernacles among us, John 1, 14. We need those reminders. Yep. Yep. And now we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Yes, literally. Yes. So I think, yeah, just the concept of God has always wanted to dwell with his people. And he has done it in these various different ways. Yep. And now he is dwelling with us. And yeah, there's nothing better than that. What a gift. The next question comes from day 40 and the passage or two verses really that it comes from is Exodus 32 verses 10 and 11, which say, now therefore let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation of you. But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand. So the question, very honest one, it scares me to hear how angry God was and that he considered destroying the Israelites. How can I think differently about God's anger so it doesn't make me so uncomfortable? Yeah, I definitely resonate with this question and this struggle. I'd say it's okay to feel uncomfortable because I think part of it is that it's really hard for us to grasp the way that God can be perfectly angry in a holy and unsinful way. And on the flip side of that, I think it can also be really hard to wrestle with the harsh reality of sin, what it's done to the world, the damage it's caused and the truth that this is a big problem, which deserves God's wrath, deserves God's anger, and deserves God's judgment. Yeah. And that's where I'd say props to whoever had the courage to ask this question because it's terrifying. Yeah. How do we reconcile a God of love with this pretty clear picture of very intense anger? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. And I think stories like this maybe can help us consider if we think sin is a big deal. So that can be a piece of it. Like, do we really believe that God is holy and that he has a right to judge these people? And that because he is holy, he is the creator and he is loving. He's all of the things. Yep. But does he get to execute his justice on these people who disobey him? Yeah. Like, is that something that—not even that we're okay with, but, like, I think it gets more to our beliefs and what we really know about God. And I will say that we have to get to this place where we realize that God does get to do whatever he thinks is best. He is the ultimate judge. And we have to keep that in line with his love, his compassion, his patience. Like, I think we—I would say, for me, growing up in the church, I didn't know a lot about God's justice. That wasn't a characteristic that I really learned about a lot. Or celebrated, maybe. Right. Exactly. But the reality is we actually want God to be just. We do. We do. We definitely do. But when we're reading about it, then it sometimes is unsettling. Yeah. So when we read about it, what do we do? Well, we have to remember what provoked his anger. So Israel had just pledged to follow him. And then immediately they break the covenant by worshiping an idol. But the key is that God's anger is not like ours. It is so different. So I think about it when I see a little kid throwing a tantrum. You know, we've all been there where you're going through the grocery store and you see that poor parent with their child, the red face, the flailing arms, the screaming. And a kid who's little, they're maybe not as articulate. But let's say a teenager who's angry and lashing out in their anger in the heat of the moment will say things to mom and dad like, I hate you. Yeah. Or I wish you weren't my parents. And that's human anger. Yeah. It's unpredictable. It is emotional, usually selfish, aimed at hurting the other person. But God's anger isn't like that at all. It is controlled, holy, perfectly measured. Yep. And his anger always has our best interests at heart. Mm-hmm. Right? Yep. God only hates things that oppose what he loves. And he loves his kids. Mm-hmm. He loves them And sin hurts his kids Yes So that one of the primary reasons that he gets angry and that he hates it His anger is actually rooted in his love Yeah. And sometimes we try to think, oh, God is angry, God is just. And then over here on the other side, God is loving and God is kind. And we don't see that those four attributes of God among others all relate to one another. They all work together. Yep. Yep. And I think what's interesting with this story is that we actually see mercy here. So God speaks about kind of the reality that he could bring justice. But what we see is mercy, which is when you don't get what you deserve. So Israel deserved to be punished for their disobedience and rebellion. God had every right to destroy them. He actually did. he's just and that would have been executing his justice but instead he shows them mercy and mercy is god repeatedly working with the israelites all through the rest of the story you know it's their inability to keep the covenant their idolatry and their sin and god just continually is merciful with them slow to anger patient and so it's really an opportunity I think this is an opportunity to wrestle with that struggle. There's nothing wrong with reading a section of scripture and feeling uncomfortable. That's how you feel. But it's good to do this wrestling. Take it to, you know, send in your questions. Join the Recaptains group. Send in your questions. And also take it to your pastor. Take it to your small group leader. Bring it up with somebody that— It's a spiritual leader for you. Yes, exactly. Or, you know, other people, if you're reading the Bible, if you're doing the Bible recap with a group, bring it up in the group. But really, really seek to understand what we're learning about God in the midst of that. And I would say the feeling of being unsettled by God's anger shows that you're taking him seriously. Yeah. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but you don't want to stop there. Because you want to let his anger remind you of how destructive sin really is. And then let his mercy remind you of how deep his love really goes. Because in Christ, we don't have to fear being consumed by his wrath because Jesus already bore it for us. Yeah. Amen. That's so good. All right. Our next question comes from day 41. This is from Exodus 33, 12. So I'll go ahead and read the verse. Exodus 33, 12. So the question is, why did Moses ask God who was going with them into the promised land? Did Moses really not know that God would lead them? So before this, God had told Israel that he would send them to the promised land, but there would be some difficulty because of the golden calf incident. And so that's probably why Moses asked, but who will go with us? Because they just had some low moments. So it's not that Moses forgot that God had previously said, I'm going to be with you. I'm going to lead you. It's that Moses was probably interceding on behalf of the people, pressing in for assurance that God's presence would still be with them because the people had messed up so badly. Yes. And I got more I can say. You want me to keep going? Well, let me. So it's just interesting because one of the things that I was looking at is that actually earlier in 33-2, God had said that he would send an angel before the Israelites to drive out the people of the land. So one thing that I was considering is that it's possible Moses was asking if he could have more information about the angel. I mean, I don't blame him. What's the name? Is this a nice angel? Will the angel be nice to me and the people? So basically it could be Moses being like, okay, an angel, but like which one? And, you know, tell me a little bit more about the angel. So that's one possibility. But your perspective is very interesting as well. Both could work because it's Moses demonstrating what it looks like to wrestle with God's promises and desire reassurance. Yes. So it's not unbelief to say, Lord, I know you've promised to be with me, but I need your presence. I need a greater awareness of your presence. I can't do this alone. That's not wrong. No. Right. To pray. Yeah. So sometimes our prayers reveal when we flesh that out, they reveal that what we really want isn't the blessing to get to the land just to make it there. It's the blesser himself to know that God is with us as we walk in obedience. Yeah. Yeah. And I was seeing it also as kind of just a humble plea from Moses where he's like, hey, I believe in your power. I know what you did in Egypt. You know, Moses is like, I'm with you. Like, I believe this. Moses clearly has faith in Yahweh. And I think it can also just be seen as Moses asking for a little bit more of the plan, a little bit more of maybe just kind of what to expect. He wants to know who's going with him. He wants to know more about even Yahweh in general. Like, OK, so you're going with us. Tell me more about this. What does that mean for God to go with us? Right. Right. Exactly. So I think it's good to not see it as, yeah, Moses showing doubt or anything. But you know what? I don't see the question as a bad thing at all because it's Moses showing – like the objective. What was Moses and the Israelites' objective? They're trying to get somewhere. But Moses is concerned with who's going with us. Yeah. How is this whole journey going to play out? The journey to get to where we want to be. Yep. And he's showing us that it's possible to get what we think we want the most to get to the destination and miss the person we need the most, which is who's going with us on our way to that destination. And so without God's presence, the promised land, or at least the journey to it, would not be marked by any promise at all because they're lacking the very person that they need the most. And if we're honest, that same temptation lives in us because we want God's blessings. We want his provision, his protection to get to the next stage of life. But sometimes our hearts aren't content to settle for life without those things. And we're tempted to settle for life without a pursuit of nearness to him. And Moses wouldn't settle. He pressed in and he said, in effect, God, if you're not with us, then don't send us forward because we're not going without you. And is that the attitude of my heart in big decisions? Is that the attitude of my heart in everyday moments? I wish it was more. Yeah. You know? I, a couple, maybe months ago at church, one of the pastors at my church was giving a sermon and he referenced that in the wilderness, the Israelites followed the cloud. The cloud did not follow the Israelites. And I love that because I feel like that is what we're seeing with Moses here where he's like, no, no, I'm not going anywhere without you. And that really should have been the heart of all of Israel. All the people all along. Yeah. And I think that can be such a – I wrote that down. Like I do not – I follow the cloud. The cloud does not follow me. Because I think it just was a helpful thing for me to think about in my life where it's like, no, God, I want to be where you are, where you're going. I want to be following. And I think just the image of the cloud is helpful Helps me be like okay where the cloud going No totally well and that the thing it one thing to pray for god help in hard times it another thing to want more of god himself regardless of the outcome yes and to be where god is yes yes so the mature christian doesn't just pray lord fix this or lord help me get there which isn't a bad prayer but they also pray lord be with me in it yeah help me to live for you in it help me to see you in it help me to hear you in it because his presence is the gift. His nearness is the gift. The blessings he gives are good, but they're not the goal. He is the goal. Yep. Yep. And Moses learns that, okay, Yahweh is going with us. That's amazing. And God is like, there is no way that I'm leaving you. God didn't bring the people out of Egypt to just abandon them there in the wilderness, even though that is oftentimes the cry of the people. You took us out of Egypt to abandon us, But that's not – no, God is not doing that. God is not forsaking his people. And we have that same assurance. God is not forsaking us. He's never leaving us. And so the way that God kept that promise for Moses, God does that in our lives as well. And I think that is very encouraging. That's right. The next question comes from day 42 in Exodus chapters 37 and 38. So what's going on in those chapters? Those chapters are describing Bezalel, the craftsman. They're building the tabernacles, furnishings exactly as God commands. They're crafting the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altar, and the courtyard. And it's the moment that all of these instructions we've been reading about are starting to become a reality through the obedience of God's people. And the question is actually about the Bible recap episode covering this text. So the question reads, TLC mentioned that there's a connection between the tabernacle furniture and creation. Can you explain more about that, Kirsten? Yes. What's going on here? I would love to. This was really interesting because this was not something that actually I had been familiar with before learning about it through the Bible Recap. It's new for me. Yeah. So it's a fun thing to be able to kind of see these connections. So let's walk through it and we'll talk about how the days of creation, So day one through seven correlate with the tabernacle furniture. And what's cool about this is if you look at a picture of, you know, just like a simple picture of the tabernacle furniture and where it is, we're starting from the outside and we're moving in with the days of creation. So on day one, day one of creation, God created the earth with day and night. So this can parallel the altar, which is the first piece of furniture that's outside the tabernacle. So the altar was to be formed kind of the way that God formed the earth. And this altar represents light overcoming darkness because the altar's fire was to burn continually before the Lord. That's something we'll read about a little bit later in Leviticus. Everyone's favorite book, Leviticus. Yes, exactly. We can't wait. A little bit of a preview of what we learned about the altar in Leviticus. Then on day two, God created the sea. And this could parallel the great basin, which was filled with water, where the Israelites were purifying themselves. Sometimes called the bronze basin or the laver, et cetera. Laver. Laver. Laver, laver. Yeah. Whichever. And so we're moving further into the tabernacle. Now on day three, remember God created the trees and the plants. And so this parallels the table of showbread because the bread was made from the fruit of the earth, basically what comes from the trees and the plants that God created. Like grains, wheat, et cetera. Exactly. Yep. And then day four, we see that God created the lights in the sky, the heavenly lights. And so this could parallel with the seven-lighted lampstand. And so some scholars point out that there are five visible planets in the sky plus the sun and the moon correlating with the seven lights. That's kind of cool. Then day five, we have God created the birds and the fish, so filling the seas and the sky. And this parallels the incense altar because the smoke fills the air in the way that the birds and the fish filled the sea and the sky. and then day six god created man and woman adam and eve and that began the lineage of the people that god was going to make his covenant with and this parallels the ark of the covenant so what was the ark of the covenant the ark of the covenant was a sacred chest that represented god's presence with his people so he had instruct god through moses had instructed it to be built from acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold. And then inside, do you know what the three things were that were inside of it? I don't know if I do at the top of my head. This is like Bible trivia, you know. Oh, that's amazing. Deep dive Bible trivia. Yeah, deep dive Bible trivia. The three things were the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, Aaron's staff that budded, and a jar of manna from the wilderness. So at this point, I'm actually uncertain when that jar was placed in. So it wouldn't be here yet because they're still building it. But all of these things were reminders of God's covenant leadership and provision, which I think is sweet because we're also seeing God's provision for all of the supplies needed to build this whole structure. And then ultimately, the ark slid, which was called the mercy seat, was also made of gold with the two cherubim facing each other. And it was there that God said he would meet with his people. When Israel traveled, the ark went before them, symbolizing God himself was leading the way, Yep. Which is pretty cool. And that's great because that leads us right into the seventh day, which is when God rested. And this parallel can be found with the mercy seat where God came to dwell or God came to rest on top of the Ark of the Covenant and be with his people. So this can be – it's really cool to see those connections. It's not necessarily the most like clean and clear direct connections, although you see like there's a lot of parallels that we can find there. But I think it's just some fun, interesting things to think about. Yeah, it is. I know some scholars note a connection between seven speeches about tabernacle instructions and the seven days of creation. Yep. So that's even a whole other perspective and how you could look at these parallels with creation. But I think at the end of the day, the question is why does it matter? You know, whether you see the parallels clearly or you don't, why do all of these details about the tabernacle matter? Well, the tabernacle reminds us that God's goal has always been consistent. It's always been the same from Eden to the wilderness to the church today. And one day in the new creation, he desires to dwell with his people. When we see the echoes of creation in the tabernacle that call us back to the Garden of Eden, it's God's way of saying, I'm still committed to my plan. I'm not giving up on you. I desire to be with you, to dwell with you, which means practically for us, when life feels messy or the pieces don't seem to fit together, we can remember God is still ordering chaos into beauty, just like he did in Genesis 1. He's still building a place for his presence. That dwelling place is just now in us, and he is slowly conforming us to more closely reflect his image. And the same God who filled the tabernacle with his glory has filled us as believers with his spirit, which is great news. Yeah. Amen. That's so great. All right. Well, thanks for taking a deep dive with us. We'll see you next week as we continue to read, understand, and love the Bible and the God who wrote it. of the Enterprise. We'll come out.