"The Beautifully Stitched garments for the priests to wear while ministering in the Holy Place" Exodus 39:41 (NLT)*Beautifully Stitched is replaced by finely worked, tightly twisted, finely woven depending on the translation.
[Scene]: This is post-ten commandment era, Moses went back up on Mt. Sinai to create a renewed covenant with the Lord. He spend 40 days and night on the mountain without eating or drinking and came back literally glowing from the presence of God upon him. He returns he speaks to the people (Exodus 38:26 tells us there were 603,550 men over the age of 20).
36:2 says that when Moses spoke to the people their "hearts were stirred to do the work."
We know how it is to have our hearts stirred for the work of the Lord, that's why so many churches and organizations exist in this city, because our hearts are stirred to do His work here.
Through the Lords guidance through Moses the people were guided to make a temps for the Lord, using their talents to create.
Those with the talents to weave - created fabric
to build - built
With each talent (goldsmithing, framing) there was work to be done for the Lord and everyone gave.
Over 25 times in this passage words are used to describe the way this work was done: beautiful, skillfully, finely, tightly - but why?
I think it is because creating - we can do on our own, serving - we can do on our own.
But in order to create things beautiful, I believe we need the Holy Spirit's involvement.
The Lord was inspiring them (and is inspiring us) to go further than just task, go beyond service and create beauty and tightly woven bonds in all we do.
Note: Maybe you don't weave, or build, or goldsmith, but Romans 12 talks about everyone using their gifts for the Glory of God. If your gift is Prophesying they should prophesies. If it is service, they should serve; if giving, contribute generously; if it is mercy, do so cheerfully.The people in this passage had their hearts so stirred by the Lord to give that it (36:6-7) says that they had to be restrained from giving because what they had given was sufficient for the work they were to do and more.
What if we as a city, looked like that? What if we had to be restrained from giving because the resources we were given outweighed our ability to deploy them?
The parallels between us and this church are strong. Our hearts have been stirred, we have much to give and much to offer. Moses did not go to his top 10 head men and create this temple alone. As I said earlier, there were 600,000 other people that he involved to deploy their talents and gifts to the work of the Lord.
We are the ringleaders, the weavers, which God is using to create a beautifully stitched fabric in this city.
Note: Exodus 39:1 talks about the fabrics being created from three strands (flax, goat hair, and thread). Egyptian fabric was found from this time period that was as soft and beautiful as silk, those who found it actually thought it was silk initially. It was put under a microscope for further investigation it was found that the fabric was not silk, it was woven of three strands.Besides the biblical implications of three strands, I feel like I have been given the divine thought of the three strands being this city. The churches, non-profits, and communities coming together and being so beautifully woven together that we are like silk coming together and creating an environment that is a temple for the Lord to reside in. We are coming together with His holy prompting and plans and creating something beautifully stitched.
I say all that to just encourage and inspire you to coming to let the Holy Spirit to work in you and stir up you hearts. Create a new covenant with the Lord and create something beyond what we could do on our own. With Him we can create something lovely and beautifully stitched, like the garments worn in the presence of the Lord. Tightly woven in all we do.
