Exodus 28:2-3
And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.
Exodus 29:35
“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them,”
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Even though God had led his people into the wilderness, into barren desert land, when it came time for Israel to build a center of worship, God instructed them to do so in a specific way. Everything was to be made skillfully and beautifully. When it came to the garments of the priests, God says that they are to be holy garments “for glory and for beauty.”
As Israel travels through the wilderness, at the center of their camp would stand the Tabernacle, essentially - the throne room of God himself. All the beautifully crafted tents and ornaments are meant to display to Israel and all other nations that a King dwells in their midst. This was also common among other nations. Palaces were the most finely decorated buildings in any city, where the king lived. When other nations would travel abroad with their king, they had finely constructed tents and structures for the king to travel in. So Israel wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary in constructing all these things, but what was uncommon was that there was no mortal king sitting on the throne; the king Israel traveled with was the God of all things, personally dwelling with them.
It’s not wonder that God commands them to build fine and beautiful things for him to travel in. And it’s not about ego. He says that all these things are to be built for glory and beauty. Glory, that all people will see how holy he is. Beauty, that all people will see that the God of all things is not a temperamental, destructive god, but that he is full of mercy and lovingkindness.
God is worthy of being displayed as the most glorious and beautiful of all beings. This was part of Israel’s responsibility, to display God properly to all the nations. In the church, there’s no specific command to build ornate buildings or that God’s people should be finely dressed. But this certainly doesn’t imply that we don’t do anything to honor God with beautifully, skillfully made things. God is still just as worthy of his people displaying him as glorious and beautiful.
It’s a tragic thing that many people’s conception of churches is a beautiful chapel-type building, but with 20th century overhead projectors using transparencies and out of tune organs played by an elderly, deaf woman. God’s people should make it a priority to give their best in displaying him as a glorious king in the midst of their community. Now, to be fair, in some churches, all they can afford is an overhead transparency projector and an organ; that’s fine. God is not looking for a specific type of decor, but he certainly deserves the best efforts of those who are calling the community to come and worship the King of all kings. Yes, it is about the hearts with which we worship God, but there should also be a sense that everyone is doing their best to create a beautiful environment for all people to come to.
In Israel’s case, where did all that beautiful material come from to construct the Tabernacle? It all came from Egypt. They used material from another nation, an idolatrous nation, to construct the house of God and the instruments for the priests. There’s a lot of disagreement in the church in how much we allow the outside world to influence our church services. Some people don’t think that loud drums, electric guitars, concert lights, blue jeans, ornate sets, or iPads belong in a church. I understand their opinion (sort of), but from the beginning of Israel as a holy kingdom God has always used things of the world, from other cultures, and adopted and modified them for his people to use.
But one key we find in Exodus is truly important that maybe some modern churches will overlook. In Exodus 29:35 we see that the ordination process of the priests and their work took one whole week. They needed to be made holy and purified before they began ministering before the Lord. So in some regard, all the modern touches of church shouldn’t be implemented (such as lights, electric guitars, etc.) until the people understand that they are taking something from modern culture and devoting it’s use to be holy unto God. But if indeed hearts are pure, and the intention is to display God’s glory and beauty, I say bring on the lights and crank the distortion. It’s not about being modern or letting the culture dictate the church, it’s using the best the culture has to offer, but setting it apart as holy for the beautiful display of a holy God.
For Glory and Beauty
God's Gift and Greatest Tool
Acts 1: 6-8
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Exodus 12: 35-36
The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
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John the Baptizer recognized that Jesus was “the Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world. This was a reference to the Exodus where God’s final plague against the Egyptians was the death of all the firstborn in the land, but for all the people of Israel who sacrificed a male lamb (one year old, without blemish) and smeared it’s blood above their doors, God passed over that household and the Feast of Passover was instituted.
The tenth plague and the Passover was a crucial point in Israel’s history, but it was also an extremely significant moment in world history. God had declared that day to a broken creation, fallen in sin and unable to reconcile itself back to him, that he promise of restoration had just taken a huge leap forward: he was graciously forming a people who would be his royal ambassadors on earth.
When it says that the Israelites plundered the Egyptians, it wasn’t just for plundering’s sake. God later commanded them to use most of these valuables in constructing holy items, such as the Tabernacle, ornaments for priests, lamp stands, etc. After Israel was freed from the bondage of Egypt, they were given tools and authority to carry out their unique role in the earth.
But the Passover also pointed toward the day when God would send his own Son to be the sacrificial lamb for all people on the earth. Just as it was important that God provide Israel with material needs to survive a journey to the promised land, and tools to carry out their responsibility as God’s people, Jesus likewise promised his apostles that they would receive something that would empower them to carry out their roles as his followers. This was the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Once Israel was in the wilderness they weren’t just freed from the empire of Egypt, they were then free to serve God and take up a divine calling, one that was unique to them out of all the people of the world. It would require them to set themselves apart from all other nations, for the sake of displaying God’s glory and goodness to the rest of the world. Likewise, once we come to faith in Jesus, we go on our own process of embracing a new responsibility, a new lifestyle. This is the life of following Christ. It’s being equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the unique people of God.
Today, this is a helpful reminder that each day I live, it’s not just a routine, day-in-day-out, “normal” kind of day. Each day is filled with the question, “How will I represent Jesus Christ today in all I think, say, and do?” I don’t have to worry much about the particulars, for God has given the tools and equipment - the Holy Spirit.
The Prime of Life
Joseph was 30 years old when he entered Pharaoh’s service (Genesis 41:46). In one day, he went from a prison to a palace. In one day, he went from rags to riches. In one day, all of his past and unfavorable circumstances gained a reason, and for the next seven years he would use all the skills and experience gained over his lifetime to begin his greatest work in life. This work would be the saving of many lives, and it would also play a direct part in fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham: that a nation would come from his offspring, and this nation would be a blessing to the world.
From age 30 to 37, Joseph had it made. He had a meaningful job and purpose in life, God blessed him in all he did, he was married and had children, he didn’t have to worry about finances, he was the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. He had it made. That’s the kind of life most men dream about.
To get to that point however, God had to lead Joseph through 30 years of hardship. Because in the hardship Joseph learned integrity and trust in God. Those 30 years prepared him for his great purpose in history. Then, after 7 years of blessing, God had another hardship for Joseph to go through.
With a famine throughout the world, Joseph, although he had made provisions for Egypt to have enough food, was faced with a famine in his own life: the starved relationships with his own family; and this was a famine he hadn’t prepared for.
My guess is that the seven years of abundance and blessings also gave Joseph some pride. When he first sees his brothers, his first reaction is not forgiveness and joy, but bitterness and pride. Genesis 42:7 says that his first reaction was that he “treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them.” Then in verse 9 it says that he “remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.” What ran through his mind at that point, I think, was that he was going to force those dreams on his brothers by his own authority.
This is how I imagine his thoughts: “Now that I’m the main man in Egypt, my older brothers have to bow down to me. Those dreams I had were true after all! Thank you, God, that you have brought sweet justice on their heads and for allowing me to taste this sweet revenge.”
But as the events unfold, it becomes clearer, at least to us, that God didn’t just give Joseph those dreams because he was somehow better than his brothers, and he didn’t just give Joseph those dreams so that he would be avenged from the injustice of his brothers.
Those dreams of his youth pointed to a day when his brothers would come to him out of a life or death need, and the reaction that God wanted from Joseph was not pride or revenge, but mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Joseph eventually gets to this point, but it did take him some time, and a lot of tears and inner battling.
Even though Joseph’s life was blessed vocationally, he had a lot of inner pain to fight through in the area of his family. And God brought this to light in the middle of Joseph’s most blessed years. Even though we may be riding on God’s blessings in life, we have to also accept that during these blessed times, God will probably also address hurt and pain that comes from our past. That’s not necessarily what these chapters of Genesis suggest, but it certainly is wise to assume that God will also deal with us in a similar manner.
This is especially important in our American culture, because we are so driven by our jobs, our occupation, what we do for a living. We wrap our identities around it. We schedule our lives around it. Our relationships, especially with our family, tends to take a back seat; and when we begin to realize that family is important after all, it’s often too late to reconcile or make amends. Through Joseph’s life, it seems pretty clear that God is not only concerned about what we do in life, our occupation and achievements, but he cares about our relationships very much. Even though Joseph had it all, God still wanted to address the gaping hole in his family relationships, and God chose to bring this to light during Joseph’s prime years (and at the same time he was doing this deeply personal work in Joseph’s life, God advanced his plan of salvation for the entire world).
So this New Year, as I look at my resolutions and goals, I see that I need to pay particular attention to my relationships, especially with my family. My prime years of vocation will also be peppered with the screaming need to reconcile old relationships, and to keep current ones well tended.
