The God Who Dwells with Us

I'll be honest, if it were up to me to pick which text I was to teach on in Sunday School last weekend, it probably would not have been Exodus 25-30.

Maybe it's owing to my church's paltry flannelgraph supply or my woefully inadequate knowledge of the cubits-to-feet conversion table--or maybe it's a combination of the two--but, somehow, teaching a handful of 3-to-11 year-olds about the wonders and glories (and precise dimensions) of the wilderness tabernacle isn't quite at the top of my must-preach list.

I mean, think about how many flans would have to be butchered to come up with enough flannel to depict six chapters of the sometimes-excruciating detail that Moses is given in order to construct Israel's mobile worship center.

That's a lot of flans, and certainly a good measure of droopy eye-lids to go along with 'em.

So imagine my relief and blossoming excitement when I ran across only the fourth sentence of chapter 25, a sentence that serves as a heading and purpose statement for everything that follows: "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst."

This may not be new news to you, but it's the best news you and I could ever hear. God desires to dwell with His people. 

That's the plot line of the entirety of the Bible, starting with our great grandpappy Adam and running all the way through the end of Revelation, where the joyful conclusion of history is pronounced: "Behold, the dwelling place (literally "Tabernacle) of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God."

And the plot line runs right through Exodus 25-30, where God is telling Moses and Israel--in no uncertain terms--how He will go about dwelling with them in the desert.

As the details flow throughout these six chapters, prescribing everything from yarn colors to priestly boxer-briefs, it becomes inescapably clear that God is very particular about the way He desires to be met and worshiped.

In fact, the follow-up to God's stated purpose (...that I may dwell with them) is, "Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it."

And that's the rub. God desires to again dwell with His people. Fantastic, wouldn't we all like to dwell with our Maker? But, God will only dwell with His people if He gets to call the shots--in other words, He'll only be our God if He is God, King, Authority, Boss.

Maybe you chafe against this concept, of God calling all the shots even as He reconciles us to Himself and accomplishes His grand purpose of redemption. Maybe you feel like God is playing the much-maligned "One Percent," throwing His weight around while we hapless "Ninety-Nine Percent" are left to only cower in His shadow.

If that's where you're at, lend me your ear over the next few days and let's talk about the God who dwells with His people.

And I promise to keep the flannelgraph use at a minimum.