Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Dwelling among them...and us
In Exodus 10:2, the Lord explained to Moses that the purpose of the plagues was so that His people would understand how God works and would know that the Lord is God. God later more completely revealed His purpose for bringing His people out of Egypt when He gave instructions for the Tent of Meeting and the attendant details. "Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God." Exodus 29:45-46. The Tabernacle was for God to actually dwell in. God still wants us to know how He works and wants to actually dwell in us. 1 Corinthians 3:16.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This is one of the great promises that is also echoed in John 1:14. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." The Greek word that we translate as "dwelling" can literally mean "set up his tent" among us. This concept of God coming and living with His people is one of the most commonly repeated promises in the Bible.
So, I am skipping ahead to 30 for this comment. And though you two are going deep, I am staying shallow. I have always thought about the stench in the Tabernacle because of all the blood and dead animals. But, after reading Ex. 30 about the massive amount of anointed oils and incense, I think it wouldn't be half bad in there.
I thought it was a bit confusing that there was the "tent of meeting", which Moses set up, and then later the "Tent of Meeting", which was another name for the Tabernacle. I wonder if this was maybe an intended metaphor of God's apparent transition from meeting with Moses in his tent of meeting to communing with the Israelites as a whole in the new Tent of Meeting.
Post a Comment