Exodus 38-40, & Matthew 24:36-25:13

In Exodus 38 we see the directions God gave being followed exactly in building things. I think we fail to do that today. We want to make exceptions, bend what we’re being told to make it more comfortable for those around us and for ourselves. The bottom line is that God wants us to be in relationship with him closely, to obey him. This doesn’t mean obeying him as far as the world thinks is acceptable but doing it all out. Again in chapter 39 we see that they make a point to follow God’s directions. They keep using the phrase “as the lord had commanded” all through 39 and 40. Not, how they decided that God meant it, but how God commanded.
That is a whole lot of precious metals in that Tabernacle. My Bible lists a talent as 75 pounds. That makes the parable of the talents much more impressive doesn’t it? And a shekel is about the same weight as a half dollar. That means that there were about 2,193 lbs of gold, 7,544 lbs of silver and 5,310 lbs of bronze. They carried it around with them. That is a good workout. It was all completed a year after Israel left Egypt. After they finished following God’s directions and showing their faith, God was able to come down off the mountain and dwell with them. They were now able to take God with them on their trek. We are so lucky that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us that we can always have God’s presence with us. I took a class on a study called “Downpour” and it really spoke to that. One of the things we talked about is that the Holy Spirit is always with us but we can mute it with our behavior. It is not that God is not with us, it is that we are not in a place where we can experience Him the way he intends.
Okay in Matthew we begin with something that I really hold onto. Eschatology is very interesting to me. Studying the end times is fascinating. Yet, even Jesus claims in his human form to not know the timing. We spend so much time trying to figure out what Jesus himself tells us only God needs to know that we forget that he gives us a command to spend our time being ready for when it does happen. The return of Jesus will happen unexpectedly in the middle of our everyday life. In chapter 25: 1-13 is the parable of the ten virgins. The wise ones were the ones who were prepared, the foolish ones were not. They were prepared and ready to go even though they were asleep and therefore not alert. They were able to become alert as soon as the call went out because they had done what they needed to in order to be ready. We are all responsible for our own preparation. I think that many of us as teachers in the Church take more on ourselves than we should. Yes, it is our job to teach and give people the opportunity to be prepared. Yet, it is each of our jobs to make sure that we participate in that preparation for ourselves. If you choose to sit in Sunday School and not use what you’re being given in order to prepare yourself for Christ’s return, that is no one’s fault but your own. Spiritual preparation cannot be shared just as the oil for the lamps could not be shared. When we are young we get through life on the merits and income of our parents most of the time. It is a hard lesson to learn to be responsible for one’s self. I hope that you all will use this time to learn that lesson in a spiritual manner. It will make things that much easier when you become an adult and responsible for yourselves. I think that what we see in verses 11 and 12 are horrible. How awful would it be to hear Jesus say that he does not know you. Please make sure you keep your oil vessels full.
Tomorrow’s Reading is Psalms 19-21.