Blessed

DEVOTION

EXODUS

BLESSED

Ex 39

39:1 From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses. 2 They made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 3 They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen — the work of a skilled craftsman. 4 They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so it could be fastened. 5 Its skillfully woven waistband was like it — of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the LORD commanded Moses. 6 They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses. 8 They fashioned the breastpiece — the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 9 It was square — a span long and a span wide — and folded double. 10 Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there was a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; 11 in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; 12 in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; 13 in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree settings. 14 There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. 15 For the breastpiece they made braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. 16 They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the rings to two of the corners of the breastpiece. 17 They fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, 18 and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. 19 They made two gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. 20 Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. 21 They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod — as the LORD commanded Moses. 22 They made the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth — the work of a weaver —  23 with an opening in the center of the robe like the opening of a collar, and a band around this opening, so that it would not tear. 24 They made pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen around the hem of the robe. 25 And they made bells of pure gold and attached them around the hem between the pomegranates. 26 The bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of the robe to be worn for ministering, as the LORD commanded Moses. 27 For Aaron and his sons, they made tunics of fine linen — the work of a weaver —  28 and the turban of fine linen, the linen headbands and the undergarments of finely twisted linen. 29 The sash was of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn — the work of an embroiderer — as the LORD commanded Moses. 30 They made the plate, the sacred diadem, out of pure gold and engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. 31 Then they fastened a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban, as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 So all the work on the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD commanded Moses. 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases; 34 the covering of ram skins dyed red, the covering of hides of sea cows and the shielding curtain; 35 the ark of the Testimony with its poles and the atonement cover; 36 the table with all its articles and the bread of the Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand with its row of lamps and all its accessories, and the oil for the light; 38 the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the entrance to the tent; 39 the bronze altar with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; 40 the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; the ropes and tent pegs for the courtyard; all the furnishings for the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; 41 and the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when serving as priests. 42 The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

NIV

We could spend a great deal of words rehashing all the details of the ephod, breastplate and other garments of the priests who were to minister to the LORD in the tabernacle. But that would just be rehashing. What we have arrived at is the last details of the whole command of God regarding how his dwelling place among the people would be and how those who were to minister would be dressed. It is finished, down to the last detail. Now Moses inspected the work and he saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them. All the details we have gone through and it is down to this last few words. We wonder if anyone is there to inspect all the work we do to see if it is exactly as the LORD has commanded. Could it be the Spirit? Surely there is no other person who is a mediator between God and us, as Moses was to the people. There cannot be anyone who God speaks to in order to give us his commands, other than ourselves. We have his word, the Holy Scriptures which speaks volumes of his commands to us. The Bible is in fact God-breathed and thus his words to us as to how we are to live. We have seen the parallel between the tabernacle in the wilderness for the children of Israel and us being the tabernacle today. Both being the place God dwells among his people. We have seen how detailed he was about how that tabernacle should be, and how detailed he is about how we, as his tabernacle, should be. Therefore it has to be the Spirit who inspects to see if all our work has been down just as the LORD commanded. It is true that it is God who began the work in us and it is he who will complete it.

Phil 1:3-6

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

NIV

However, there are also many scriptures which tell us to do something, such as take off the old self and put in the new self, or be holy as I am holy, or make every effort to live in peace with all men. Do not repay evil with evil. Put on the full armor of God. Be filled with the Spirit. On and on the commands for us to do something. Have we done it just as the LORD commanded? If so, we will be blessed. Maybe the reason some believers are not blessed is because they are not doing everything just as the LORD commanded. Maybe none of us are doing everything just as the LORD commanded and thus none of us are being blessed. Is that concept just under the covenant of the Old Testament? Could it be that if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and therefor he having done everything the Lord commanded, is our righteousness, and therefore we too have already accomplished all the LORD commanded and so we have been blessed. Yet there still are all those commands within the New Testament, under the new covenant. How do we deal with them? Do we just say, “We are in Christ, therefore we have done them”? That appears not to be the case. Even though we are in Christ, we have been commanded to do certain things, to give up certain attitudes, to be renewed in our minds. We have been commanded to not do certain things and to do other things instead. Over and over the list of our attitudes and behaviors are before us. Are we doing all exactly as the LORD has commanded us to do? If so, then we will be blessed. Perhaps just accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is all the LORD has truly commanded us to do. But no, that is not a command, but rather an offer to which we must accept or reject. His commands are commands and we should be doing all the Lord commanded exactly as he commands. Then we will be blessed, happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, and complete. All that is wrapped up in being blessed.