Happy New Year! And what a celebration it must have been. I was noticing God’s timing in this chapter. It opens up with the Lord telling Moses to set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year, and verse 17 tells us that it was the first day of the second new year. Now, we don’t know exactly how long the Israelites had been in the wilderness of Mt. Sinai, but these two verses give us a good hint. Plus, we know that Moses was on the mountain for at least 40 days, plus the time he spent up there before, which must have been a while because lots of bad stuff happened while he was away. We also know that it took time to put the Tabernacle and all its elements together. So, it’s pretty safe to say that the Israelites spent about a year after their escape from Egypt traveling to Mt. Sinai, waiting for Moses to descend from the mountain – twice, and carrying out the plans to build the Tabernacle. And here they are, project completed, just in time to put it together for the second New Year. God’s timing is impeccable. I know it says Moses carried out the tasks in order to get the Tabernacle put together just like God commanded, but you know he had help carrying that Ark inside and setting up those massive curtains and tent poles. This whole chapter has been about team efforts such as these, but like we’ve discussed in the past, someone had to head the project, and that someone was Moses. God rewards him with the recognition he deserves at the end of five of the 12 paragraphs in this chapter: “ … just as the Lord had commanded him.” It’s awesome to have team leaders who know how to run a show humbly and get the job done so that every single member of the team is tickled pink. That’s where we are at the end of Exodus. And just like the song “Closing Time” says, “Every ending is a new beginning.” The Book of Leviticus awaits!
Writing prompt: the end
Endings stink sometimes, but sometimes they are a huge blessing that bring about much-needed evolution. Write about something that ended and brought you great relief and new beginnings.