Prepare
Opening Prayer
Praise the magnificent and wonderful God for the day and opportunity to worship, and ask for help to walk in his ways, trust him, and hold to his promises.
Read
Scripture Passage
Exodus 39:1
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Having completed the tabernacle furnishings, Bezalel and Aholiab began making Aaron's holy garments in the prescribed colors and pattern. Their work showed that those serving another do not choose their own uniform; they follow the sovereign Lord's command.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Exodus 39:1
Because the devotion covers one verse, Bryan explicitly underlines its concluding declaration that the garments were made according to the Lord's command to Moses.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Obey God from love under the Holy Spirit's work, not from self-righteousness or slavish fear. Put God in his rightful place as Lord, sacrifice selfish independence, and seek his glory by walking in his commands.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Hey, hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions This is where every day you and I we get together We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year 2023 Lord willing Make it from Genesis through Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you this morning. I don't know who prayed I Found my spectacles. So but we only have one verse to read this morning. So let's go ahead and have some coffee We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word Let's pray. Lord, you are magnificent and you are wonderful. And we thank you for giving us this day, for giving us an opportunity to worship you. Father, please help us to walk in your ways, to trust you, to hold to your promises in Jesus's name. Amen.
Alright, just one verse. Exodus chapter 39, beginning at verse 1. Well, just one verse. That's it. I don't know why. The computer puts together the reading program, that's what we got. So, Exodus chapter 39 verse 1, what's this about? Well, there's really two things.
Bezalel and Aholiub, they're making the stuff. And now we are entering into a new section of the making of the stuff. They made all the furnishings, all the things, all the tables, the lampstand, the altar incense, the burnt offering altar, the basin. They made the Ark of the Covenant. They made the tabernacle coverings. They made the curtains around the walls. They did all this stuff, but there's something that's still left.
The garments. For the priests. And so, they get moving on their work to clothe the priests. And they can't do it however they want to do it. Now, there's a certain amount of artistic freedom, but there's a pattern that they must follow. The pattern was given by the Lord. That's what this is getting at, right? So, woven garments, blue, purple, and scarlet red, for ministering in the holy place. And they made the holy garments for Aaron as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
When I was in the Navy many moons ago, I keep thinking that was like yesterday. It's not like yesterday. It was over a decade ago. Anyways, a long time ago when I was in the Navy, we couldn't wear whatever we wanted. with a uniform prescribed. There is a uniform of the day. We are allowed to wear what the captain said we were allowed to wear, why he was in charge. Us Americans, we love our freedom. We love doing whatever we want. But the reality is when you're in a service to someone else, you wear the uniform.
And this is what Aaron's having made for him as the Lord had commanded Moses. It's the Lord who's sovereign, not Moses. It's Jehovah who's going to have Aaron arrayed with this really decorative and kind of, well, it is symbolic, right? There's all sorts of symbolism in what he's going to be wearing.
But the importance here in verse one is it's made as God commanded Moses. Now again, we've said this over and over and over again. Just because God commands something doesn't mean people actually do it. Right? The Lord could have commanded this and a holy man said, you know what? Yeah, but I really want to make it this way. For some reason he decides to do it as the Lord commanded.
Because that's the work of the Holy Spirit. When he convicts us that it's the Lord who is sovereign, And that if He is our Lord, then we do as He commands. We do as He has said, because we love Him. Because we wanna glorify Him, because we have Him in His place and us in our place. And I'm gonna say, in my Bible best verse, I have in the verse one underlined, made it as the Lord had commanded Moses. But that's gotta be the same for us. What is your heart motivation? Do you do whatever you want to do? Or is the Holy Spirit working in such a way that you desire, Lord, I want to do what you want me to do. One is living for ourself. The other is living for God's glory. The other is a sacrifice of ourselves for him and for his kingdom and for loving others. The other is a self selfishness that leads to hurt and violates the covenant.
So it's not a slavish obedience, it's a Holy Spirit obedience. And that's what we see in Bezalel and in Aholia as they make these garments as the Lord had commanded. Let's pray. Father, we pray that we would be those who out of a heart of love moved by your Holy Spirit, that we would walk in your ways, that we would keep your promises. You are good. Lord, teach us to walk in your commandments, not for our own self-righteousness, but for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may the Holy Spirit shepherd your soul. May He complete the good work He has begun in you. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.