I find it fascinating
that so many of the old stories end with the words, “... and they lived happily
ever after.” It seems like a bit of
false advertising to those of us who have lived a little. We know that the rain will come, troubles
will hit, loved ones die, and that is just the way it is in a fallen sinful
world.
The end of Exodus has a
bit of a happily-ever-after moment as it closes out telling us about the
construction of the Tabernacle. It says
that the cloud, which was the presence of God among the Israelites, covered the
tent of meeting and the glory of the LORD filled the
Tabernacle. God was there in the midst
of His people. He led them. “Throughout all their journeys, whenever the
cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set
out.”
All is as it should
be. God and His people were dwelling
together. God led them. They followed. It was beautiful.
This also nicely
concludes the problem presented at the beginning of Exodus. Remember that the Israelites were slaves in
Egypt, and God sent Moses to deliver the message to Pharaoh to let His people
go that they might worship Him. Now they
are gathered around the Tabernacle, their place of worship, and the pillar of
cloud by day and pillar of fire by night declare God’s presence to them and
they are worshipping Him.
However, this is not,
“and they lived happily ever after.”
It’s a good moment, but it’s not, “happily-ever-after.”
As we press on into
the Bible and read the history of Israel and all the things God did for them,
we will find that Israel continued to rebel against God. They worshipped other gods. They did what the LORD commanded them to not do. There was
trouble.
Just like us, even
though the Israelites had been redeemed, they still sinned and needed
forgiveness. God had rescued them from
Egypt. He had not yet sent the one who
would fulfill the promise of Genesis 3, crushing the serpent’s head and
restoring man to a right relationship with God.
Leviticus will give details regarding sacrifices the people needed to
perform to atone for their sins.
Today we live by faith
in Jesus, the one who fulfilled God’s promises.
The final perfect sacrifice has been offered so that we can confidently
live in God’s love and forgiveness.
However, we still struggle with sin in our lives, and still need
forgiveness every day. Why is that?
We still struggle
because we still live in a world that is in conflict with God, and our sinful
natures keep seeking hope and comfort in false gods. Yet, we are ambassadors of peace in this
world, sharing the good news of the hope we have in Jesus’ death and
resurrection. We cling to God’s
promises, one of which is from Jesus saying that He will come again to take us
to be with Him. That is when we will no
longer struggle with sin and its side effects of sorrow, sickness, shame and
death.
Happily-ever-after
will be a reality one day. It will
happen when Jesus returns and every knee bows, and every tongue confesses that
He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Lord, my life is not perfect. Help me to know your love and forgiveness
through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and help me to share the hope I have in
Jesus with others. Amen.
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