Introduction and Prayer

• Are you someone who uses the instructions or ignores the instructions whenever you get a new items (electronics, furniture, tool, etc.)?

• Describe an example of when you ignored instructions.

Read Exodus 39:1

The craftsmen made beautiful sacred garments of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth—clothing for Aaron to wear while ministering in the Holy Place, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

• What do the colored garments signify? [Blue - represented the heavens, eternal; purple represented royalty; and the scarlet is symbolic of our redemption]

• Why did God require Aaron and the future priests to wear these sacred garments?

• Craftsmen spent time, significant resources and care to creating sacred clothing for the tabernacle. What care can we take for God’s House?

• How do you prepare to serve?

• How can you prepare your heart for the Sunday gathering? How could you prepare yourself for Sunday morning time of worship and hearing the Word?

• Recognizing that your body is also the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, how you do you prepare yourself daily to house the Presence of God?
  

So Bezalel and the craftsman continue to make the clothing and the priestly garments.

Read Exodus 39:30-31

Finally, they made the sacred medallion—the badge of holiness—of pure gold. They engraved it like a seal with these words: Holy to the lord.They attached the medallion with a blue cord to Aaron’s turban, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

• What is the importance of the words, Holy to the Lord?

• Imaging having a tattoo on your forehead with the inscription: Holy to the Lord. How would that impact your living? What would you do different?

Read Exodus 39:32-33a

And so at last the Tabernacle was finished. The Israelites had done everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And they brought the entire Tabernacle to Moses the sacred tent with all its furnishings, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases….

• The people had to give the supplies and then they had to follow the construction plans. Which would be considered more important—the giving of their gifts, in other words, the sacrifice or following the plan?

Read 1 Samuel 15:22

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,

and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

• Why can obedience be more difficult than giving a sacrifice?

• Obedience and sacrifice are part of following God.

• God, the Father, sent His son Jesus to die for you out of love. [John 3:16]

Read Philippians 2:6-8

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

• So if the Father sent His son out of love for us, what does Philippians tell us why Jesus gave up His life for us?

• Describe a moment in your life when you were faced with the difficulty of obedience and/or sacrifice.

• Why are the details of obedience important?

• What happened physically in the temple when Christ was crucified that changed the process for the people of Israel?

• What would have likely been the response of the priests and pharisees regarding the torn veil at the time of Christ’s death?

• How might their response be a similar response for people today as today also they are confronted with Christ’s sacrifice but prefer their own method?

• What are some of the methods people employ to try to replace a relationship with God through Christ with human attempts?

Read Exodus 39:42

So the people of Israel followed all of the Lord’s instructions to Moses. Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the Lord had commanded him, he blessed them.

• What happens on the backside of obedience?

• Why is it so difficult to be obedient at times?

• In a puzzle when pieces are missing, the image is not complete. Since we are called to be image bearers of God, how does disobedience impact our reflection of God?

Think on this… In the old testament strict rules had to followed or the people were punished.

• How does having Christ as our advocate make our relationship with God different from the children of Israel’s relationship with God?

• How does this grace impact our obedience?