Thoughts on Exodus 31 & Ephesians 3

Today’s reading: Exodus 3; Ephesians 3

My thoughts on these passages are kind of the same thought, but don’t really tie together. What I find most striking in both of these passages is just how simple the start of representing God well is, and yet how difficult that simplicity can be…

Exodus 31

In Exodus 31 the final instruction God gives Moses before giving him the tablets of the testimony is what is most striking to me. He has just instructed Moses on some really important stuff; everything from how to construct the tabernacle where His presence will reside among the people, to how to ordain the priests who will serve as representatives of the people before Him, to some of the incense and offerings they are to keep in service to Him, etc. But despite all that, when God is ready to wrap up and send Moses back down the mountain, His last instruction is, “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths.” And not just that one statement, but an entire paragraph reiterating how important it is to Him that Israel observe this day of rest every week throughout their generations.

This sticks out to me on multiple fronts. On the one hand, it honestly seems too simple to be that important. If I was instructing people how to worship me and be my image bearers, I feel like I would pick something a little more flashy, or a little more “me oriented” to be the one I said, “And above all else…” to, but God picks the Sabbath rest.

Ultimately though, for as “easy” as observing the Sabbath is, this is a high bar for trust. Even for us today, with modern conveniences and a dedicated weekend, having a consistent day of rest in which I do no work is a stretch. Weekends aren’t a couple days to not work, they are a couple days to work harder, just on the house, yard, etc. instead of working for a paycheck. How much more so then for those in a nomadic or agrarian society like Israel during the wilderness wandering and once settled in the land? How much more so when your livelihood and ability to put food on the table consistently are based on planting and harvesting in specific windows of time, and you need to work long hours 7 days a week to finish up in time? It would be an inconvenience for me today, but it would be a huge question of trust to an ancient Israelite. “Is Yahweh going to provide if I’m taking an entire day off from this very necessary work each week?”

I think this is why God highlights this specific instruction though, because it forces each Israelite to deal with the question of whether or not they trust Yahweh.

Yes, the tabernacle, the priesthood, the offerings, etc. are important institutions to facilitate God’s presence among His people, but they are corporate institutions that don’t really touch on an individual’s trust in Yahweh. The priesthood may continue on faithfully while the average Israelite lapses into faithlessness, but the Sabbath is a continual question of trust for every individual member of God’s people, and a constant reminder, as they do keep it and are not left in need, that God is truly trustworthy.

So, as “simple” of a command as it is compared to other things, I think this is the reason God chooses the Sabbath as His “above all else” instruction, because it draws every individual Israelite to a place of deeper faith and trust in Him, and so sets a firm foundation among the people of God for the rest of the instructions for His worship and presence among them. God is more concerned that His people know He is trustworthy and faithful than He is that the right blend of incense is used or the right sacrifice gets made at the right time.

It’s not that everything else is unimportant, but this shows just how highly God values our faith and trust in Him.

Ephesians 3

My thoughts on Ephesians 3 cut along very similar lines to my thoughts on Exodus 31. While it's not what God directly says is important above all else, it is what Paul implies is important above all else by what he prays for the Ephesians.

The first half of Paul's letter to the Ephesians is very theological, focused on what God has done for us and who we are now in Christ, but not calling on the Ephesians to do anything specifically. The second half of Ephesians, having covered the groundwork of theological truths that underpin the practice of our faith, gets intensely practical, giving a lot of instructions for what the faithful Christian life looks like. So as Paul tells them at the end of chapter 3 what he prays for for them, he is bridging from the theological truths of all that Christ has done for us into how we should live in response to the grace that has been given to us. And what is it that Paul prays for them? That they would understand God's love for them more deeply...

That's it? That's the best that Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, the guy who penned half of the New Testament books, could come up with?? He didn't have something more powerful or effective to pray for for them???

But I think that that is really the point. It is truly that simple, but simple doesn't mean easy.

The reason Paul spends half of the letter laying out theology and truth rather than diving straight into how they should practice their faith is really the same reason that the Sabbath was the main thing God wanted them to remember back in Exodus 31; to God, our faith and trust in Him is more important than that we are "doing the right things."

(I know I said at the beginning that my thoughts on the two passages weren't tied together, but I guess they were... Oops...)

But just like in Exodus, where their trust in God was more important, but that doesn't mean the other practical things were not important, so too here in Ephesians.

Paul prays for the Ephesians that they would be rooted and grounded in love and would have strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and then, in the very next breath, urges them to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called, and then spends three chapters laying out what that looks like practically. Clearly he doesn't think that living the Christian life faithfully is unimportant or non-essential, but where that has to start is with a deeper grounding in the love of God for us in Christ. 

Whether in Exodus or in Ephesians, faithful following of God starts with trust in Him and a deeper understanding of His love. If the focus is all on "doing the right things" it does nothing for the hearts of God's followers, and no matter how sincere or devout an effort may be at the outset, it will never be what God desires from us and it will never last. At best, we will be like those who Jesus says he will cast from his presence on the last day because, despite them doing all the right things, He doesn't know them, and that is not a very good "at best" to be shooting for. No, faithfully following God does not start with faithfully doing all the right things. Faithfully following God starts with trusting Him, learning to love Him more deeply, and then living our lives out of trust in and gratitude for His great love and provision.