Thoughts on Exodus 25
“Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them”. Exodus 25:8 NLT
In the beginning, before the fall of man, it was usual for God to come to Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening and have fellowship with them. For Israel as a special treasure of God, God wanted to live among them. By this, they would not just be privileged to know His acts, but He will show them His ways. This was revealed as God commanded the children of Israel to consecrate themselves and on the third day, He will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people(Exo 19:10-12).
Unfortunately, they missed the opportunity when they became afraid as they saw the thunderings, the lightnings and the mountain smoking.
Instead of drawing near to God, they chose to stand afar off, preferring that Moses should speak to them and not God.(Exo 20:18-19).
As a believer under the new covenant, you and I have access not only to know the acts of God, but as we cultivate His presence, to also know His ways as we are taught of Him.
The only requirement God is demanding from us, is to build Him a holy sanctuary. What is this sanctuary today? It is our bodies.
God is omnipresent, but His manifest presence is not in just any place. He will only manifest as much as we are careful to observe and fulfil this pre-requisite of Holiness.
Sadly a great number of us have misapplied the liberty we have in Christ as a license to live our lives anyhow, while still expecting God to manifest as soon as we call upon Him.
We have jettisoned holiness for the fleeting glory of this world. The truth remains that God is Holy according to Hebrews 12:14, and without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
Verse 9 of today’s chapter is therefore a call to action for everyone that values His presence.
There is a pattern to which our sanctuaries must be built. (You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you. NLT).
Our lives must be patterned after Christ’s once we are born again.
This is Paul’s warning to new testament believers like you and I in 1 Corinth 3:10-11 to take heed how we build. For there is no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
He caps this further with verses 16- 17 :
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
May the Lord strengthen us to walk in holiness always and make our lives a living sanctuary for Him.
