Apartness

DEVOTION

EXODUS

APARTNESS

Ex 40:1-16

40:1 Then the LORD said to Moses: 2 "Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the Testimony in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 6 "Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; 7 place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. 9 "Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them. 12 "Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue for all generations to come." 16 Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him.

NIV

All the work now completed by all the craftsmen the LORD inspired and gave them their skills and crafts, Moses is instructed to set it up. We can assume he did not do that all by himself, but many of the craftsmen were also involved in setting up all the heavy wood boards overlaid with gold on the silver and bronze plates. Again, we are not sure what kind of tools they had or if they had a large hammer to pound the bronze stakes into the ground for the tent of meeting. What we do know is that all the materials overlaid with gold would be heavy and thus require more than one person to do the job. Yet with all the assembling of the Tabernacle and the outer court with all the fixtures inside and out, the last portion of this narrative is what we should consider for our life lesson. Aaron was then dressed in the sacred garments, anointed and consecrated so he may serve the LORD as priest. His sons were likewise done the same to. It is interesting the original language for sacred means apartness as much does the original word for consecrated. The difference is sacred is apartness and consecrated is the act of being set apart. They were to be dressed in holy garments and made holy so they could serve the LORD as priests for generations to come.

1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation , a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

NIV

Here we are, once not a people, but now we are the chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. The reason is so we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. We have been dressed in a sacred garment, Christ. We have been set apart to serve as priests to the LORD. He has consecrated us for this purpose. Aaron and his sons, and his sons, sons and their sons served the LORD in the tabernacle or later in the temple. They served to offer the sacrifices of the people for sin. They keep the lamp burning at night, they replaced the show bread when needed. Once a year one, the high priest would enter the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement. But we do not serve in that temporary tabernacle or the temple that was destroyed. We serve the LORD in the tabernacle of his making, our bodies, where the Spirit of God has taken up residence. Instead of the people bringing the sacrifices for their sins to Aaron, we bring the ultimate sacrifice for their sins to them. We bring them Jesus. We serve the LORD both by our way of life, by the renewing of our minds, the way we think, our attitudes, as well as our behavior.  But we also serve him by offering the sacrifice Jesus made for the sins of all people to them. We need to bring the message of salvation, of the grace and mercy of God to the people. They are living in the city of sin and darkness and Jesus is the bridge across that great chasm into the city of love and light. The Spirit goes before us to convict people of their sin and need to repent, but we serve to bring them the message of the sacrifice God made so they can enjoy his peace. Let us first be dressed in our sacred garments, our self in Christ, that both is set apart and being set apart for service to the LORD. Then let us be that royal priesthood to the people, declaring the praises of God.