The Coming Savior, Day 30 What do you smell like? Read Exodus chapter 30. God is getting down to the specifics with the people. When it comes to the altar and the sacrifices and the most holy places at the tabernacle, there were some things that were specific to that area alone. One thing, there was a special perfume that was only to be worn by the priests. God gave them instructions how to make it, and anyone else who made or wore that perfume who wasn’t a priest was to be cut off from the rest of Israel. So what do you smell like? The people would have been…

The Coming Savior, Day 29 How do you make things holy? Read Exodus chapter 29. In this chapter, we read all of the different ceremonies and processes that Aaron and his sons went through in order to be considered holy and in order to make the tools and utensils and the altar holy. A lot went into that process! Still, no matter what Aaron did, he could not actually make things holy. Only God could do that. When we look at our lives, we are broken. There is nothing that we can do to make ourselves Holy. God is Holy and only he is able to take the broken pieces…

The Coming Savior, Day 28 The Lord as the decision maker. Read Exodus chapter 28. The instructions continue, but this time they involve Aaron and his son’s. God was giving specific instruction on how the people were to communicate with him. Aaron and his sons were going to be the mediators between the people and God. So, Aaron needed a way to communicate with God. God created Aaron’s wardrobe in order to specifically help Aaron remember his responsibility and keep those decisions and the importance of them at the forefront of his heart and mind. How do we keep our decisions and communication with God at the forefront of our…

The Coming Savior, Day 27 A part for everyone. Read Exodus chapter 27. Reading through chapter 27 of Exodus today, it amazes me the skill of the craftsman who were called upon to work on the tabernacle. Yes, God gives people amazing abilities to do phenomenal work with things like gold and silver. However, I loved this verse because it is such a great reminder that God desires everyone to participate period no matter what your skill level Even if you aren’t the one who makes the oil, you can deliver the oil to the tabernacle. God had a place and a purpose for every single person. There was a…

The Coming Savior, Day 26 Separations. Read Exodus chapter 26. As we move further through the explanation of the building of the tabernacle, we start to see a common theme. God tells the people to create separations between areas. God creates boundaries around areas that he wants to be holy. This is such an interesting practice because it actually speaks to the need for the coming savior. When there are separations created between areas, then they are not unified and whole. God needs the people to understand that their sin and lack of holiness actually is what is creating the division between the areas. God cannot allow their unholiness to…

The Coming Savior, Day 25 Are you prompted? Read Exodus chapter 25. Many times throughout the Old Testament, we see God telling the Israelites a specific offering they should give. Often, He details out amounts and specific criteria. However, in this case, we see God telling the people to give as they are prompted to. Are we listening for the prompting of God? Do we give as God prompts us to give? It’s important to understand that God impresses upon some people to do things and not others. We are to follow God’s leading and give when he tells us to give. We are not to follow the crowd and…

The Coming Savior, Day 23 Time. Read Exodus chapter 23. As God goes through additional details about what he is requiring of the people of Israel, God begins to explain to them what all he’s going to provide for them. God uses this verse as a way to explain that he cannot give them absolute and total success all at once. He must give that to them gradually over time, when they are ready. This verse is always so interesting to me because it’s a reminder that we are not always ready for all of the success that God has promised us. God knows what he wants to provide us…

The Coming Savior, Day 22 Treat people as God would treat them. Read Exodus chapter 22. The chapter provides the basics of a lot of property laws that we still follow to this day. It also is a good reminder that we should treat people like people. We are not to take advantage of others just because their situation may be different from ours. God treats each of us with love and compassion. As a result, we are to treat others with love and compassion as well. This includes people that we would normally be able to take advantage of. The fatherless and the widow were often people that were…

The Coming Savior, Day 21 The day to day. Read Exodus chapter 21. So much of what God told the people of Israel came across as counter intuitive to the way the people were used to living. They had just been in slavery for 400 years. Now they’re being told that if they have a servant, that servant should only be theirs for 6 years. This was very different from what they were used to. Sometimes, God changes things that we see as culturally normal. What we grow up with traditionally may not necessarily match what God’s plan is or how God wants us to live. Are we following God’s…