Proper Preparation
OPENING PRAYER:
Lord, my desire is to expect your gracious hand working in all things. Replace my pictures of peril with protections of your grace.
Setting Up the Tabernacle
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.
6 “Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; 7 place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.
9 “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.
12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” 16 Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.
Exodus 40:1-16
REFLECT:
‘Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning’ (Luke 12:35). Ask God how you should prepare yourself to serve him today.
The wedding planner’s work is not over until the ceremony is concluded and the happy couple pronounced husband and wife and packed off on their honeymoon! By the morning of the wedding, the grunt work is probably done; but the wedding coordinator must work tirelessly to set things up, ensuring everything is in its place and everyone enters on cue to play their part.
As the first day of the first month – Israel’s ‘independence anniversary’ – approaches, Moses is given a final checklist for preparing the tabernacle (vs 1,2). The words ‘set up’, ‘set out’, ‘bring’, ‘place’ and ‘put’ are used repeatedly (vs 2–8). Every item has a prescribed place and must be placed just right. The holiness of the occasion demands that Moses ‘anoint’ and ‘consecrate’ every part of the tabernacle (vs 9–11). The people involved in this momentous event must also be properly prepared: ‘Bring Aaron and his sons … wash them with water … dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him…’ (v 12,13). Like a good wedding coordinator, Moses diligently attends to these preparations ‘just as the Lord commanded him’ (v 16; see also 40:18–33).
APPLY:
‘… the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted … Apollos watered … but God has been making it grow’ (1 Corinthians 3:5-6). What ‘seeds’ is God encouraging you to plant? Whose life does he want you to ‘water’?
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, here I think of the words of the old gospel song, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey”. I trust you, my heavenly father, and seek daily obedience to you.
WORSHIP:
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