God's Word for You (Friday, Jun 26, 2009)
A Daily Devotion by Pastor Tim Smith
Exodus 40:34-38
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out–until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. (NIV)
Exodus ends on a confident and awe-filled note.
First, the cloud, the glory of the Lord, settled on the tabernacle after its completion so that even Moses couldn’t go in. The presence of God was actually there, in the tent. For a long time God had promised to be with his people; now they were experiencing exactly what that meant. God was with his people. And as long as the Glory of the Lord filled the tent or hung over the tabernacle in the cloud, the Israelites stayed right where they were. But when the cloud lifted, they pulled up their stakes and moved wherever he led them.
In addition to this, there is a note of anticipation in Moses’ words. They were traveling again. God had brought them to Sinai, but now they were on the move. God had promised to bring them into the land of Canaan and give the land to them, and now they were putting one foot in front of another. The journey would end one day. How long would it take them? The disaster of the people’s reception of the spies’ report in Numbers hadn’t happened yet. The judgment of the forty years’ wandering hadn’t been proclaimed yet.
But even with that additional time, God kept his promise. Israel could say with the Apostle Paul: “I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:4-6).
God had brought his people out of Egypt just as he promised. And that road out, the exodus, showed how God preserved his people for service to him, and how he gave them his holy will in the Ten Commandments, but more importantly how he prepared them for the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ, as the fulfillment of his law and the Savior of all mankind. Jesus is the true exodus from sin, death and the power of the devil. We look to Jesus for eternal life.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn's father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
