Dear Disciple,
“So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am YHWH their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am YHWH their God.” Exodus 29:44-46
Why did God bring Israel out of Egypt? No doubt, He wanted to end their suffering and accomplish justice for them. He told Moses that He had see His people’s misery and heard them crying out because of their slave drivers (Exodus 3:7). Out of His great love, He did indeed want to address their suffering. Yet, there was a greater purpose to it that explains so much more of the story beyond the escape from slavery and Egypt. The passage quoted above gives us the answer to the “Why?”
The reason that God Himself gave for the rescue was that He might dwell among His people and be their God. This is why He went into such detail about how to build a tent of dwelling for Himself and how to fashion items of worship and prepare priests to use them. It was all for living together with His people. This may not strike us as readily as it would have struck ancient peoples. For us, this has always been the way God is, but this idea was quite unheard of for the ancients and would be considered so for people of many faiths in the modern world. The gods just don’t do that! They might come and make an appearance or have a fling with a pretty girl, but the gods don’t come and live with their people on earth. Especially not in a tent in the wilderness!
What a privileged people Israel was! Yet, we can’t leave it there with them. We who belong to the New Covenant because of Jesus our Master can go even further and celebrate an even greater privilege. We now understand that God is not just a God willing to dwell in a tent with His people; He is willing to dwell in a human body with His people. He is willing to have all His fullness dwell in His Son, a humble human servant. Why? For the same reason already given: so He can dwell with us and free us to dwell with Him.
Now may I invite you to consider the next step in God’s remarkable movement toward us, Disciple. After our Master left this earth physically, He poured out what the Father promised: the Holy Spirit. Now our God doesn’t just dwell with us, He dwells in us. We are the living tabernacles of God! Let this powerful truth wash over you all over again today. God so desires to dwell with His people that He is choosing again and again and again to take up residence within them. What a privileged people we are.
Enjoy the company of the living God today, Disciple. May it move you to joyful worship, confident obedience, and humble gratitude. May we live as fit vessels for His holy presence and honor Him in what we think, say, and do. And may we do so in the very real hope that He will soon do what He promised in His revelation to us through our brother John: He will bring His heavenly city down to a new earth so that He might dwell with us forever there (see Revelation 21:1-3)!
Grateful to live with God here and now with you,
Ryan
