How to Be Blessed Every Day (Exodus 39: 1-43)
Do people ever say to you "Have a blessed day." I've heard that a lot. I understand what they're trying to get at, and I appreciate that. But does that mean I'm going to have one? Do you have that kind of power, to create and make sure you have a blessed day? And if that is so, just what do I have to do to get a blessed day. I know what a bad day looks like, but what is a blessed day and how do you get one?
There is a passage in the book of Exodus when it is talking about the building of the tabernacle believe it or not I think we could gain some insight into what it means to be blessed and what we should do in order to get blessed. The interesting thing about this chapter is that virtually everything that's here has been given to us before. Back in Chapter 25, the Lord gave Moses a blueprint for the Tabernacle. Then later in the book, they built it. And if you compare the two passages, there's a lot of repetition. So, in the first part, He's just giving the blueprint, and in the second part, We see the actual construction of the Tabernacle itself.
Well, the same thing happens with these priestly garments, back in Chapter 28 we were given the instruction how to make them, and what's given here in Chapter 39 is a repetition. Only now, the difference is they're actually making the garments that were described back in Chapter 28. There is a lot of repetition again in this passage, so rather than go through this meticulously, I have today put the entire text in the episode notes, and I just plan to do a sort of survey overview of it first. What we are going to see in the first part of this passage is a description of the garments of the priest. Now, we've seen all this before, so I'm going to hit the high spots.
The passage starts by telling us.
"Of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, they made garments of ministry for ministering in the holy place, and to make the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses."
Now, the first thing you want to notice in that verse is it says "they," but it does not tell us who "they" is. Obviously, that's talking about the craftsmen that were mentioned in the previous chapter, Bezalel and Aholiab. And it's simply telling us that they are the ones who make the garments of the ministry. It goes on to tell us how these artisans, make an “ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen.'" That aphod was actually an apron-like piece of cloth that fit over the robe of the priest. Now, he's going to get to the robe later in the passage. Right now, he's going to describe this apron that fit over the robe. So, there was a robe, and then over the robe was this apron that came all the way up to his neck. It also says there were gold threads that were woven into the linen cloth, along with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. So, I guess that would make this thing expensive.
.On top of the ephod, was a breastplate. Then beginning in Verse 8 and going all the way down through Verse 21, is describes the construction and making of this breastplate. First, dimensions are given, then verses 10 through 13 tell us there were four rows of stones. So there's a 9-inch square breastplate described that is placed in the middle of the apron, was this has four rows of stones on it. We saw all that before.
Verse 14, tells us "There were twelve stones according to the names of the sons of Israel: according to their names, engraved like a signet, each one with its own name according to the twelve tribes." So, the twelve stones represented the twelve tribes. Verse 15, "And they made chains for the breastplate at the ends, like braided cords of pure gold." So, they made two braided chains of gold, which they fastened to the two ends of the breastplate. Verse 16, "And they made two settings of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate." In Verse 17, "And they put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate." Alright, I think we're down to Verse 18. "And the two ends of the two braided chains, they fastened in the two. Verse 21 says, "They bound the breastplate by means of the rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it would be above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and the breastplate would not come loose from the ephod as the Lord had commanded Moses." So this is just connecting the ephod and the breastplate with rings and a gold chain. Now, that basically is what's going on here. That brings us to verse 22, and it says, "He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue."
So far, we've looked at three pieces of clothing. First, we looked at the ephod, which was an apron. Then we looked at the breastplate, which was a 9-inch square in the middle of the ephod. And then we come to the robe. So this whole outfit allows the priest visually to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. So, the priest bore four rows of jewelled stones that represented the nation and engraving on the shoulders were the names of the 12 tribes. So, they represented the children of Israel before the Lord. That's basically what you can get out of this.
Let me ask a question at this point. Do you think if they walked around like this, they could be picked out of the crowd? It seems to me all of this set them apart. But how does that affect us today, what do you do with this? The Bible tells us we are now all priests. So, should we wear some kind of special clothing to stick out? There is a whole segment of Christianity where the priests literally do this. They wear a special collar, so the minute you see that you think, there is a minister or a priest! They often wear all black, except for that white collar, or different brighter colour if they get promoted. But what does that have to do with us? If we believe we’re all priests, should we all wear black. Let me make a suggestion. I do think we should be clothed I a way that makes us stick out, but maybe not in the way you think I mean that, and not in the way described. Let’s get some help from Colossians chapter 3, and I'm going to tell you what you should wear. You ready for this? Here's your outfit. Colossians chapter 3, verse 8.
"But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised."
Continuing in verse 12.
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put-on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."
You should go home tonight, look at the spiritual presentation you make to the world and you should throw out everything listed in verses 8 and 9. Get rid of the old of anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lying. Got it? That would be a start. Then you should, get dressed, put on, tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. And above everything, the one thing you need to do is go love one another.
Now, let me make two observations. Number one, this is a pattern of thought that is consistently seen across the New Testament. James chapter 1 talks about, "Putting off all wickedness." The word "put off," and it was just exactly what it sounds like. It's like taking off a garment, like taking off your coat, putting off.
Paul also uses that specific idea also, several times. I was years into studying the bible before I fully grasped just how widespread and penetrating that illustration is. But over the years, I just kept bumping into it the concept of taking off and putting on. It is in just about every book of the New Testament. Put on and "put off," and it does by repeatedly saying things like , "stoping this and starting that instead. "Deny yourself and take up your cross." That is the same idea.
I don’t have time to quote them all but this passage in Colossians is a good example but to summarize what that means, that specific detail.
Ephesians chapter 4 is a s good an example as any.
."Let him who stole steal no more, rather let him work so that he has money to give. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another."
(Ephesians 4: 31-32)
Same pattern, and it's in almost every New Testament book. I think that is a very, very important concept of the spiritual life. The concept is replacement. You're going to replace the vices with virtues. It's not that you're just going to stop stealing. "We not just called to stop sinning, that is just 50%, of the overall scheme of things, and on its own it stopping doing some stuff won’t amount to much in terms of the lived experience. Because we should not only stop doing some stuff, we are meant to learn to apply this principle of replacement. This is one of the key concepts of spiritual growth in all of the New Testament. Now, that's one observation. The Old Testament law deals with the stopping of some things, but it is the New Testament that tells us how to start the process of replacement. You see if you dressed by putting on the new cloths then you are really going to stick out? And by the way, the worse society gets, the greater you're sticking will become, and that , by the way, is a good thing.
We are meant to stick out, in fact we are meant to shine as a light in darkness. And so if you want to be different in the world. Then, here it is, take off and put on. Now, let me look at one more aspect of this.
Philippians chapter 2. Let me show you what Paul says about another way of sticking out.
Phil 2:14, "Do all things without complaining and disputing”.
If you did that, do you think you would stick out, be different
Look at the next verse:
"That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
(Phil 2: 15)
The priests wore garments that had some spiritual significance in terms of their representing Israel and being holy before the Lord and these garments made them stick out. And we too today need to appear before the world in a way so as to shine out, and the way we do that is our attitude and actions, not in the way we dress. And one way we are told we can be different is by stopping complaining and murmuring, because then we will automatically be different than this crooked and perverse generation. Alright, let's go back to Exodus chapter 39. The first part of the chapter simply tells us that they made garments for the priest. Let’s see what happens in the last part of the chapter. Verse 32.
“Thus, all the work of the Tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished.”
So it says, "All the work of the whole Tabernacle was finished." So, this is a significant statement. They have done with the whole thing. They have built the Tabernacle, and we've clothed the priests.
The children of Israel have done all that the Lord had commanded Moses. So, they finished the Tabernacle.
Verse 33:
"And they brought the Tabernacle to Moses and the tent and all its furnishings."
Now, from that point to the end of verse 41, it just lists parts of the Tabernacle. The point is, they finished, and they presented it to Moses.
"According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work."
(Exodus 39: 42)
That statement is made seven times in this chapter. It is stated in verse 5, in verse 7, in verse 21, and verse 26, verse 29, verse 32, and now in verse 42. The statement that they did their work just as God had commanded them actually brackets this section.
Verse 43:
"Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it as the Lord had commanded, just so they had done. And Moses blessed them."
So, here is the point. It's very, very simple. They did exactly what the Lord told them to do, and Moses blessed them. That's what you have to do to have a blessed day. Just go do what the Lord told you to do.
So, the final question now becomes, what is the blessing?
What is going on here is Moses is praising them for doing exactly what the Lord told them to do. That's the blessing. That they did what God told them to do and got praised for it, they received God's praise. We get to be blessed by standing before the Lord and having Him say, "Well done, that good and faithful servant." So, very simply, we need to learn to follow directions. And in our case, we need to follow directions in building our lives to be a fitting place for God to dwell in us. And the result will be we will hear him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Today, we're not building something external. We're building something internal. We're not building something material. We're building something spiritual. So, if you really want to have a blessed day from a New Testament point of view, you need to be building those inner qualities like I mentioned in Colossians and Ephesians and Philippians. But I want to take a final minute and suggest that it not just an eternal blessing in heaven we will receive but there are other way we will be blessed in the every day.
Listen to Matthew chapter 5. Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and He gave 8 Beatitudes: blessed, blessed, blessed. Now, obviously, I could spend two weeks on these blessing, in fact I did when we worked through them together last season but one. I'm not going to do that. But I do want to close by summarising them to make the point that what we're building is an internal, spiritual life. And it is for that that we get blessed, everyday. So, here is a list of eight things you need to be adding to your life.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." Poor in spirit, not poor in purse, poor in spirit. In other words, you recognise you can’t do it in your strength. You are not self-sufficient, to say it very simply, you are dependent on the Lord. That's the quality of being poor in spirit. I recognize I'm bankrupt and I don't have the strength. I have to depend on the Lord. And if you do that, God will bless those who are dependent on Him
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."So, a mourner is grieving, perhaps for their sin, or their shortcomings. They have learned to weep with those who weep, has a tender heart.
"If you're a Christian, you have to have a tough skin and a soft heart." You can't let the criticism get to you, and you've got to keep a tender heart at the same time. If you have that kind of tender heart to the point that you're mourning, you will be comforted. Not in the future, when you inherit the Kingdom, but now in the everyday.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." We think the mighty inherit the earth, but Jesus said, "The meek inherit the earth." And meek means to be gentle, humble, considerate. No one English word really does this Hebrew word justice. It doesn't capture all the shades of meaning of this word. It's basically describing a submissive gentle spirit but strength willing help under control, and if you do that, then you will have reward in the Kingdom, you will have praise from the Lord. So, God blesses the meek by giving them the inheritance of the earth when Christ comes through for them. Now, the next two Beatitudes are really important:
'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.'. So, this passage is saying that God blesses those who have a continual, intense desire to seek inner righteousness. And those who do will be blessed. Now, I said the next two were critical. Look at the next on.
'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' We need to make the connection between these two. This concept of being merciful at least implies that you have received mercy. Now, what strikes me is this: these two, at the heart of the Beatitudes, talk about righteousness and mercy.
Here are the two centrepieces of the Beatitudes, righteousness and mercy. So, there it is again. That is what God is like, who God is, and that is also the two kinds of things God wants us to build into our lives.
Alright, a couple more final blessings.
'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' Pure in heart is simple enough. It's freedom from such things as idolatry, immorality, lying, deceit, hypocrisy. If you're living in those ways you're not going to see the Lord, you also not going to experience the blessing of seeing God at work in your life.
Penultimately
'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.' Again, if you're a peacemaker, it means you've experienced peace, and you practice peace, and you proclaim peace to other. And you make peace wherever you can with other people,and that is a blessing in itself.
Then finally it even he goes on to say:
'Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'
This differs a little from the others, but it's the eighth Beatitude. God blesses those who are persecuted for living a good life by giving them the Kingdom of heaven. Now, the reason I wanted to end with this passage is it highlights the kinds of things God wants us to do.
Back in Exodus 39, I said if you do exactly what God told you to do, then you will be blessed. I think what really needs to be put into focus for us today is what is it God wants us to do? Well, He wants us to do a lot of things, but first and foremost, the emphasis of the Scripture and certainly the stress of the New Testament is on inner character qualities. This is the kind of person He wants us to be.
So, one more time, God blesses those who are dependent on Him, those who spiritually mourn, the meek, those who have a continual, intense desire for righteousness, those who show mercy, those who have internal purity, that pure of heart, the peacemakers. And you do all of that, and God will guarantee you two things:
You'll be persecuted and you will be blessed. That's what Jesus is teaching, so that's what we need to do. And I think unfortunately, too many ‘so called’ religious people put the emphasis on the externals, on doing activities. That has its place, but I think the priority of the Scripture is on the internal righteousness. And that is what we're going to get the praise and the blessing when we stand before the Lord and He says, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.'
So, in the morning when you get up and get dressed, this is the wardrobe you should put on. Begins by developing internal character." That is what you should wear today if you want to experience God’s blessing today and you also want to hear him one day say, 'Well done,' good and faithful servant.