This week we continue considering Moses and the story of Exodus. Much of these chapters deal with the plans for the tabernacle and the priests. And yet within this, there also seems to be a strong sense of a desire for God's presence.
Moses asked for God to be present with them. He did not want to lead these people unless the LORD was with them. How else would they be distinguished from the rest of the world?
And then the people spent a lot of time preparing for God to be present with them. They built the Ark of the Covenant. They built the tabernacle. They prepared garments for the priests and ordained them. They prepared for God to be present.
And their preparation included giving of themselves. This happened in the offerings that they brought. It also happened in the craftsmanship of the building of the ark and the tabernacle. The people were preparing themselves to receive God's presence.
Don't we like Moses and the people of Israel desire for God to be present with us? Certainly God's presence is not something that we control. The spirit moves as it will. And yet I wonder if we too might do well to ask for God's presence with us, to prepare ourselves to receive God's presence and to give of ourselves in preparing to receive God.
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