Focal Passage: Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38
How we use our resources says a lot about our worship. The children of Israel gave their earrings to Aaron to construct a golden calf for idol worship, because God had not met their expectations.
After the wrath of God brought about the death of 3,000 of their kinsmen (Exodus 32:27-28), the Israelites gave a variety of gold jewelry and many other items for the construction of the tabernacle to worship God as He desired. Exodus 36-39 provides a detailed description of the construction of the tabernacle and all its contents.
The manifestation of God’s presence as a cloud by day and fire by night had been with the children of Israel since the beginning of the Exodus (Exodus 13:21), but now God would also manifest His presence by bringing the cloud into an earthly dwelling.
The final chapter of Exodus finds Moses setting every part of the tabernacle in place and beginning its ongoing functions by lighting the lamps, burning incense, and offering the burnt offering and meal offering at the door.
Just as everything was completed according to God’s design, Moses found himself unable to enter the tent “because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:35).
Have you ever noticed the irony in God stopping the very worship He prescribed? A similar event happened when Solomon dedicated the temple. As the Levites sang and played instruments in praise to God during the installation of the Ark of the Covenant, “the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the LORD filled God’s temple” (II Chronicles 5:14).
When Solomon finished praying the prayer of dedication for the temple, fire fell from heaven and consumed the burnt offering, and again, “the priests were not able to enter the LORD’s temple because the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD” (II Chronicles 7:2).
The next verse tells us the Israelites bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground and worshiped God! In each instance God stopped the formal activity of worship to make His presence known. The people needed to be reminded of the One who deserves the glory. They were not gathering to celebrate the work of their own hands, but to praise the God who gave them the hands with which they worked!
When Samuel confronted Saul for not obeying God’s command to utterly destroy the Amalekites, Saul believed that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord. Sadly, he had partially obeyed in going to war against the Amalekites, but he accomplished his agenda, not God’s.
He defended his disobedience by dragging home animals that he thought would enhance the worship of God. Samuel replied, “Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).
Inward worship always precedes outward worship activity. God does not want our formal worship, including the part reserved specifically for Him (the fat), if He does not have our hearts. Anything less is mere religious hypocrisy. Remember, true worship is always rooted in God’s expectations, not ours. B&R


