James Nisbet Commentary - Exodus 40:35 - 40:35

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James Nisbet Commentary - Exodus 40:35 - 40:35


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

WHEN THE GLORY CAME

‘Then … the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.’

Exo_40:35

I. When the Tabernacle was finished, God took visible possession of it.—‘The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.’ God still makes the place of His feet glorious in the sanctuary, and again and again the place of prayer has been made beautiful with His Presence. But let us never forget that God dwelleth not in temples made with hands, except as men bring Him there. The heart is God’s true home. The true Shekinah, as Novalis said, is man. ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?’ Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.’ Does God dwell in us? Has He taken up His abode in our hearts? All He waits for is to have the heart’s door flung open to Him.

II. The cloud, which was the visible token of God’s presence, decided all the movements of the Israelites.—When it rested, they rested; when it moved, they moved. Their journeys were all undertaken under the conscious guidance of God. And that remains the only safe method of travel. It is safe to go wherever God leads, but we rush on ruin if we venture on any path without His sanction and blessing. We are sometimes in difficulty as to what course we ought to take. How shall we decide matters? By seeing if God goes before us. The signs of His leading are never hard to discern. If He does not go before us, we had better stay where we are. ‘If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.’ But if we are conscious that we are following the leading of God, we may venture forward without fear.

Illustration

(1) ‘The highest that thought can compass, or words express—God with us. This is the one all-pervading idea. Thus through all their wanderings these people literally dwelt “under the shadow of the Almighty.” Emphasise the condescension of Him who fills heaven and earth, thus to locate Himself day and night with His redeemed people, and by the constant sign of His presence in the cloud strengthening their faith in the unseen though ever-present Jehovah. The constant sense of God’s presence is our great need. It ennobles and transfigures life, which without it is a failure. The Saviour has anticipated this necessity, and provided for it (Mat_28:20).’

(2) ‘It is not survival from an effete and rude ritual which proclaims that “without shedding of blood is no remission.” The heart of the gospel is that Christ’s death makes access to the Holiest of all possible, and nothing else makes it possible. We must first betake ourselves to the altar of sacrifice, and then be cleansed in “the laver of regeneration,” before we can lift the heavy curtain shutting us out from the place where a priestly people kindles its incense of praise, trims its lamp of holy living, and offers all its works to God. The removal of the guilt that puts a gulf between God and us, which none but He can bridge, and which can be removed only by the death that takes away the sin of the world, must be followed by the baptism in the Holy Ghost which cleanses from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Then the way into the holy place is open for us here and now, and in due time the worshippers there will pass into the holiest of all, and dwell forever in the light of the glory between the cherubim. The steps as from within outwards are three,—the ark of the testimony, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt-offering. God comes out and down to us by these. By the same must we go up and go in to Him.’