God's Work in God's Way

Do you know what phrase occurred most frequently in Exodus 39? It was "as the Lord had commanded Moses". We see it in verses 1,5,7,21,26,29,31,32,42 and 43 (some with minor variations). And what was done "as the Lord had commanded"? Verse 32 explains: "Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did." Again in verse 42-43 it is summarized: "According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so they had done it. Then Moses blessed them." God's work was done in God's way, and when Moses observed that it had been so, his heart was gladdened and was moved to bless the people of Israel. One has to wonder why this phrase is emphasized, that it had been done "just as the Lord commanded". One reason surely is that the things they were making served as copies of heavenly realities. Hebrews 8:5 states, "They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, 'See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.'" Since they were constructing things that serve as shadows or copies of heavenly things, they must not alter the pattern, for to alter the pattern was to alter the truth to which they pointed - ultimately truth about Christ. This gives us an understanding of why it is important to do God's work in God's way. In our passage in the gospels we see someone else doing God's work in God's way - it is Jesus. When confronted in the Garden by those who were ready to take His life Jesus affirmed, "Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?" Peter was taken back by the mob and sought to fight. He actually sliced off the ear of Malchus, but Jesus told him to put his sword away, for He was committed to doing God's work in God's way. Now Peter and the disciples might have thought there was a better way for God's kingdom to come. Maybe recruiting an army and fighting the Roman oppressors was the way. But man's way would have never accomplished the work that needed to be done on the cross and we would have lost the glimpse of heavenly realities we saw as Jesus hung on that cross. We might have never seen the hideous nature of our own sin, coupled with the fullness of God's grace, mercy and love that met it head on. Doing God's work in God's way is the only way! It is the only way to display heavenly realities in this earthly realm; the only way to display to a watching world what a little bit of heaven looks like in a fallen world. May God help us daily to look to God and seek His direction for the work to which He has called us, and may He gives us the will to do things "just as He commanded."