No Improvising

DEVOTION

EXODUS

NO IMPROVISING

Ex 37

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood — two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.   2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 4 Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. 6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold — two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.   7 Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 8 He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. 9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover. 10 They made the table of acacia wood — two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.   11 Then they overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. 12 They also made around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 13 They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs were. 14 The rings were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 15 The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. 16 And they made from pure gold the articles for the table — its plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings. 17 They made the lampstand of pure gold and hammered it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms were of one piece with it. 18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand — three on one side and three on the other. 19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair — six branches in all. 22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. 23 They made its seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent of pure gold. 25 They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high — its horns of one piece with it. 26 They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. 27 They made two gold rings below the molding — two on opposite sides — to hold the poles used to carry it. 28 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 29 They also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense — the work of a perfumer.

NIV

Here are all the fixtures that go inside the tabernacle with just as much detail, if not more, than the tabernacle itself. It certainly appears these men were dedicated to doing everything precisely as the LORD had commanded. What happened to them? It was not that long ago they were dancing around a golden calf. Was it the witness of Moses that brought them to this point? Was it his face that shone so brightly he needed a veil to cove r it? We have dealt with this before, but it has come to us again. These men and woman who were the actual workers on the tabernacle and all the fixtures were there of their own free will, well except a couple of men whom the LORD called by name and filled them with his Spirit. So again, we have several issues that come to mind. First that people come to the LORD of their own free will, but also there are some whom the LORD specifically calls to him. There are some people God simply will not do without. That seems rather bold to say. In all reality God doesn’t need anything or anyone, but he did create all this for himself to enjoy, including all of us. We all exist for his pleasure and purpose. But for the most part he desires that we seek him. He has sent his Holy Spirit to convict all men of their need to repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Yet at the same time he makes sure certain individuals find him. He makes it so they cannot not find him. He sends just the right people into their lives, he makes the situations just so in order for certain people to come face to face with the choice to acknowledge him and accept him. This was the story with Noah, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the same story with Paul as well as all those first disciples he called to follow him. Moses was indeed one of those God was not going to do without. It had to be his incredible faith, his shining face, and his witness that converted these men from worshipping a golden calf to allowing God to inspire them with all the skill and knowledge and willingness to work so diligently on all the things for the tabernacle. But these men were also the ones he filled with his Spirit. Then there were the others who he may not have called by name, but were so impressed, again perhaps because of Moses, they came of their own free will to work diligently in such detail on the tabernacle. There is one more amazing idea in that all these workers did all the work together, working as a team, each doing the part they were skilled in. We are not told anything about how the weavers of fabric were jealous of those who were the workers of gold. In fact there had to be some who simply were the foundry workers, melting all the gold jewelry down into pour 24 carat gold. Hard work. The same with the silver and bronze. Others doing nothing but spinning wool and other animal hair into fine linen. Others were willing to learn whatever trade the leader, teachers taught them. They all worked together for the expressed purpose of God. We should be so like that. For the most part it appears we are all doing our part for the advancement of the kingdom, but it may also be that we, at some time, think others have a more important part then we do. We all have come to the Lord from our own free will, but there are also some among us that God simply would not do without. Now, does that means those he will not do without have no free will? It would not fit with his character. He desires all men come to him and he has given all men the free will to choose to come to him. But there are some among us whom the Lord caused the perfect situation and brought exactly the right people into their paths so that their choice was almost made for them, so to speak. How could these men not come to work on the tabernacle with the combined witness of Moses and the infilling of the Spirit of God? Today we have the same kind of people. We can also learn another lesson here. There are still others the Lord desires to come to him for specific tasks, callings. As we have seen before, are we like Moses, with our shining face, being that exact witness these people need to come to Christ? He has sent his Spirit out to convict them, but at the same time a witness is on call to bring them the right message. With the workers of the tabernacle, combined with all the givers of material goods, they all did their part. This is our story. We are all supposed to be doing our part. God has called us to diligently work on the tabernacle in detail. That could apply to being dedicated on self-improvement, or increasing in our knowledge of him, growing in stature among men and God. This could also apply to our dedication of being the best at the part of the body of Christ we have been called to be. They did everything exactly as the LORD had commanded it to be done. We need to be doing our part exactly as the Lord has commanded us to do. This also means no improvising, no human creativity, no doing it our way, but exactly as the Lord has commanded.