Punishment Turned into Praise


I have a confession. I really find it hard reading Exodus 36-39. It has always been such drudgery to me. In Exodus 35 Moses tells Israel what God commanded concerning the construction of the Tabernacle. He goes into great detail. Almost as bad as an L.M. Montgomery book. Then for the next 4 chapters they repeat these details ad nauseam.

So I wondered about the redundancy of this section. Why would God want it recorded? I believe that the phrase used at the end of each task gives us a clue: they did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. This continuing theme seems to show that God wanted a record of their obedience, especially following their failure to obey in chapter 32.

God's anger had not completely subsided with Israel when Moses received his instructions. This detailed statement of the work that Israel did in preparing the Tabernacle of God was important for future generations to see. Following one of their greatest failures, they did everything the Lord had commanded Moses. And in chapter 39 Moses inspects all the work and then blesses them.

Moses did not trust Israel any more than a father would trust his teen caught drinking and driving. Moses wanted to be certain that God's instructions were carried out to the letter. He checked every dot and tittle. And once he saw that they followed the instructions exactly as commanded, the coldness in the relationship between him and his people was restored again.

I don't think God really needed a tent in which to dwell. I don't think He needed a place to meet Moses or Aaron. I think that God was doing the same thing my dad did when I was being punished: making up work to keep them busy. Idle hands are the devil's workshop (Proverbs 16:27).

God took their failures and gave them a path to redemption. God took their selfishness and gave them a means to be selfless. God took their stubbornness and gave them detailed instructions. God gave them a punishment that created a place of praise.

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