Immanuel

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Two instructions were given…

What two things did Moses receive from God while on the mountain?

The book of Exodus is hard to put down as it tells of the life of Moses and the role he played in leading the Hebrews out of Egypt.  As the Hebrews were beginning their journey, God called Moses up into the mountain and gave to him instructions for the Hebrews.  This article will ask you to think about the two things Moses received from God while up on the mountain.

The first instructions...

Could you answer that question?  Most of us would readily say, ‘the tables of stone with the Ten Commandments.’  If this is your answer, you are fifty percent correct.  But, there is more.

God is a loving father who knows the human condition.   The Ten Commandments reveal to us - not to God - our inability to keep these laws from time to time.  God knew that we would break the Ten Commandments, or He would not have given Moses additional instructions. 

But, what were those additional instructions?  It may not be in the forefront of our thoughts today because we have not had to use them for over 2000 years.

Here is a clue to this additional instruction which would be necessary for a loving God to provide for the children that He loves: to provide for the children that He loves:  It took many skilled workers to carry out the instructions that Moses received. 

You may have identified these additional instructions.  But just in case there might be someone who has not, here is another clue:  The skilled workers were:  goldsmiths, needle workers, silversmiths, brass smiths.  Also those who could make linen and wool fabric and those who could dye these fabrics into specific colors as Moses instructed.

The second instructions...

So, this is the second part of the two things that God gave to Moses on the mountain. There would be no Yom Kippur without the second part of God’s instruction to build the Tabernacle.

What was the purpose of the Tabernacle?  The purpose of the Tabernacle is to provide a way for us to be restored to fellowship with God after we fail to keep His perfect laws.  This is so comforting.  I may fail to keep one of the Ten Commandments by saying something that is not the whole truth … or use God’s name in vain.  I get ashamed of myself because I know God loves me and I want to please Him.

Knowing that God is concerned about having us cleansed and restored so that our guilt can be removed and the “family feeling” can be restored, makes me love God over and over every day.

This raises more questions:

Why don’t we still sacrifice bulls and goats? 

Why don’t we bring our lambs? 

How can we know that we will be forgiven and know that God loves us? 

If we don’t have a blood sacrifice, required by the instructions Moses received on the mountain, what can we do today? 

Has God decided that our sins cannot be forgiven and we are just to live with our guilt? 

That would not be the expression of the love of God.  He desires that we can feel a full membership in His family.

God knew that bulls and goats would have to be sacrificed every year in the Tabernacle, yet they could not take sins away.  He provided a better way for us to have a daily walk with Him.  A conscience free of guilt and a family relationship of acceptance could be ours because God provided a perfect, once-for-all sacrifice that would appease His wrath once and for all.  He gave His Son to be the atonement!

When Abraham placed Isaac on the altar of sacrifice, did that make you question what God was thinking?  Would we ask this of our children?  What kind of trouble have our sins gotten us into, that this kind of sacrifice would be required in order to restore us to God?  We have heard of tough love, but this?  The days of awe should grip us that God loved us so!

Would God ask Abraham to do something that God Himself would not do?  No! 

God allowed Isaac to be spared, and a ram took his place.  God spared all of us through bulls, goats, rams, lambs, turtle doves, and pigeons until one day His own Son became the final sacrifice - an everlasting sacrifice!  An atonement for sin.  That is why for over 2000 years there have been no sacrifices made at the brazen altar.

So, what happened to God’s Son?  Did God love Him?  There are those today that say that God has forsaken Israel.  They say that Israel should not exist.  There are even Jews who feel like God has forsaken them.  They ask, “why would God allow the holocaust if He loved us?”

The answer is clear.  God has resurrected Israel and He also raised His son from the dead!  Israel still has enemies, and so does God’s Son.  Enemies or not, the truth remains: 

Israel is not going away, and neither is God’s Son.

Why?  Because God’s love for His family is stronger than the hate of the world!  Love provides mercy.  Love provides joy.  Love produces happy children - redeemed, restored, and resurrected.

Has God forgotten Moses?  Will he ever enter the Promised Land?  The answer is, no, He has not forgotten Moses; and, yes, He will enter the Promised Land.  Moses appears with Elijah in Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation, chapter eleven.

If Moses would have spoken to the rock instead of striking the rock, he would have entered the Promised Land much earlier.  If we would speak to God’s Son instead of striking Him, we would know His peace much earlier, and enjoy a relationship with Him and the Father.  It is a family affair.

God instructed Moses to smite the rock the first time, not the second time.  God’s Son was smitten of God the first time, but never again.  He arose from the dead and is alive forevermore.  The atonement is complete.  Believing this truth makes sure that we have access into God’s family.

Scripture References:

 Genesis 22:7-13

Exodus 17:16

Psalm 16:10

Isaiah 53:10

Matthew 17:1-3

Numbers 20:8

I Corinthians 10:4