Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them (26:1).
This chapter gives detailed instructions on the building of the tabernacle: the materials to be used, the measurements, how and with what it was to be put together. The instructions were given with the assumption that God’s instructions would be followed, and as we will see in a later chapter, they were followed down to each detail.
God had his people construct this tabernacle, this large tent, in a way that would be just right for its purposes and for God’s plans for His people who would be moving and stopping and setting it up, and then taking it down and moving on, and setting it up again at the next stop. It would not have worked if the Israelites would be slack following God’s instructions.
We have a bigger challenge than simply building something material. We have the challenge of obeying God’s instructions every day of our lives. If we don’t pay attention to Him, instead doing things our way, we suffer.
God has many instructions for us in His Word, but if we are slack with them, that is to our own peril. God is not waiting to zap us with a lightening bolt from on high every time we make an error or sin, but God knows how life works and He has let us know how to live, so that we will be blessed.
Here are just a few instructions in God’s Word:
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them (Romans 12:9-14).
I will be honest. Blessing those who persecute me is not my natural response. But I do want to follow God’s instructions and I do believe He absolutely knows best. So, I pray that God’s Holy Spirit will enable me to obey that instruction as well as all the other instructions found in His Word.
Prayer: God, I do believe Your instructions are to be followed. I do believe they are the best way to live. Your way is best. Please empower me by Your Holy Spirit to live according to Your ways, so that I may know abundant life! Amen.
