Sorry for the long delay but this last week has been hectic. But I'm back and hopefully will be back to at least two updates a week. No promises as I have a very busy schedule but that's my goal.
Anyway, where we last left off, Israel had confirmed the covenant and eaten in the presence of Yahveh to seal the deal. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud on the mountain with Yahveh. Now we go into what happened on the mountain.
A lot happens on the mountain, much of it we won't go into because that, like the 10 Commandments, is a topic in and of themselves. So instead we are going to discuss the epicness of the first 9 verses of chapter 25.
Moses gets to the top of Mount Sinai and immediately Yahveh tells him to take up a collection of valuable items from the Israelites. Why this sudden tax? So that they can use those items to build Yahveh a tabernacle.
This raises all sorts of questions, chiefly, what is a tabernacle? The word tabernacle, or sanctuary in some cases, comes from the word mishkan, which literally means "dwelling place." The word mishkan itself is a participle of the verb shakan, which means "to dwell or reside." Yahveh is asking the Israelites to provide him a dwelling place so that he may dwell among them.
Just stop and think about that for a moment: Yahveh, the almighty creator and sustainer of the universe, wants to live with the people of Israel. He wants them to make him a tent so that he can be close to them without obliterating them. That is huge.
But it also begs the question why? Why would the lord of the universe want to connect with pitiful, rebellious mortals like us? Wouldn't he want to keep his distance? Apparently not, but why?
The answer is in the title of this blog: God likes us, meaning he actually enjoys our company. We know that Yahveh loves us; the Bible says so often enough, but we often don't realize that Yahveh actually likes us.
Now you may be wondering what the difference between love and like is and let me assure you, there is a difference. That difference is outlined in another blog post titled "Love versus Like" and we don't really have the space or time to go into that here. To put it simply, love and like are two separate things: love is a relationship we have with another person, one that goes one way where we would do anything to secure another's well-being. Like is an attitude we have towards something: things we like bring us pleasure and joy, things we don't do not.
With that in mind, there is apparently something about our company and presence that brings Yahveh joy and pleasure. He wants something from us that makes him happy. That something is our friendship.
This is a theme that is repeated again and again throughout the Bible, from Adam and Eve to Abraham to the Israelites to the Disciples to the end of time. I could go on and on about this, but that too has been covered in another post. The point is that Yahveh wants our friendship. He wants to be with us.
Many of our discussions through this Moses study have hit on the awesomeness, power, and sovereignty of Yahveh. Of course there is a lot of truth to that: Yahveh is awesome and powerful and sovereign. But that is not all he is and it is important for us to keep the whole picture in mind when it comes to Yahveh.
There is a side to Yahveh that longs for friendship and communion with his creations. That is why he wanted them to build him a dwelling place, so that he could be with his people. The same phrase is used in John to describe the Incarnation: the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Again in Revelation, at the end of this age and beginning of the next, the Bible says that "now the dwelling of God is with men."
We are Yahveh's servants, his subordinates, no doubt. There is a difference between us and him. Yet with all of that, we are still to be more than just his servants: we are to be his friends too. This is not an either/or but a both/and. We are his servants and his friends.
Will you be more than just a servant of Yahveh? Will you take the time and effort to let him dwell with you? Will you accept his offered hand of friendship? Will you like him back?
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