Opening the door for the Glory of God

“…And so Moses finished the Work. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:33-35)

When I read this I get hungry for the manifest presence of the Lord in my life. There is something in me that wants to encounter the Lord in such a tangible way that I have a hard time entering the room.  It’s what I’d like to see in our congregation, too. Though I fully embrace the understanding that we don’t need to ask the Lord “show up” when we gather, because He is already there, I can’t deny my longing for this kind of undeniable powerful encounter that would indelibly mark our community.

But this awesome and transformative event didn’t happen in a vacuum. As I pay attention to the text leading up to this beautiful moment in Exodus 39-40, I see sixteen times that explicitly say Israel did everything exactly “as the Lord had commanded Moses”.

Let’s be honest: Many of the things that God had commanded Moses to do seem a bit overly specific, maybe even, can I say, pedantic? Things like: Fastening a blue cord to a turban; putting bread on a table on the north side of the tabernacle outside of the curtain; ensuring that Aaron and his son’s were dressed just right, with the correct amount of ringing bells and cloth pomegranates alternating around the hem of their robes.

I’ve sat through classes that go on for weeks explaining how each of these details is somehow related to the bigger picture of salvation history. While I have no doubt that God had very specific reasons for this level of precision (many of which DO have to do with prophetic foreshadowing of Salvation issues), I also believe that a lot of the reasons are completely lost on us. We can analyze the actions commanded all day long and never figure out exactly why they were required.

And I think that’s part of the point. Moses and the Israelites didn’t know why they needed to do these things, but they did know that God required them. Because they knew this, a group of refugees stuck in the middle of the desert obediently complied; right down to the last detail. And when the job was completed, as soon as “Moses finished the work”, the palpable glory of God manifested.

Maybe it’s possible that we have issues in our lives that we know are not being handled exactly as the Lord has commanded, or that have been started but not finished. Perhaps we have been given important work to do and we’ve put it aside because it doesn’t make sense to us, or it’s just too difficult to engage. I’m not proposing a works-based theology—God loves us and saves us and is with us regardless of our effort—but there is blessing that springs from radical and exact obedience.

I want to take an opportunity this week to examine my life and discern where I may not be doing things exactly as the Lord has asked me to. As I walk in humble and precise submission to the Word of God, I provide an open door for the Holy Spirit mark me as a person wholly surrendered and submitted to Him; and that kind of life, I believe, is where God’s authentic Glory will manifest !