May 9, 2024, Day 5 of Week 6 Daily Dose of Hope

Daily Dose of Hope
May 9, 2024
Day 5 of Week 6
 
Scripture – Exodus 28-30; Philippians 2
 
Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope.  Can you believe we have already made it to the end of the sixth week of our reading plan?  I do hope this has been as much as a learning experience for you as it has been for me!  Keep me posted on your big takeaways.
 
Let’s dig in to our Exodus passage for today.  Chapter 28 details the garments for the priests.  A quick word on the priesthood: it was an inherited trade, passed down from generation to generation, in one particular tribe of Israel.  The idea was that the priesthood could not be bought, earned, or won in an election.  Those who became priests were priests because God made them so.  The garments or vestments worn by these men would have made them easily identifiable.  In the nation of Israel (at this point), there were no kings so the beautiful attire worn by kings in other cultures were worn by priests in this one. This identified them as representatives of the one true God, Yahweh. 
 
While chapter 28 details the clothing of the priests, chapter 29 then discusses their ordination ceremony.  The priests at the time were Aaron (Moses' brother) and his sons, but would eventually include their sons and their sons and their sons.  You get the idea.  The ceremony is very specific and detailed.  There were essentially six steps in the ceremony: washing, clothing, and anointing the priests and then preparing and carrying out the sacrifices.  There is order and precision in every single step in the process.  Nothing is taken lightly and every element of the ceremony has meaning and significance.  The whole process took a week.
 
As I read this, I can't help thinking about how we serve a God of order.  Just as the building of the tabernacle was highly ordered, so are the priestly garments and the process for ordination.  There is nothing left for happenstance; everything has a place and a purpose.  While things in this world may sometimes seem random and chaotic, the reality is that most of our world is highly ordered.  God created it that way.  Furthermore, our lives are not random exercises in confusion and haphazardness.  God knew us before we were born; God knew us as we were being knitted together in our mother's womb.  The human body is precise and complicated, designed to work in very specific, very ordered ways.  From the earth's tides to the systems of the human body to the specific guidelines for how the Israelites were to ordain their priests, our God is a God of order.
 
There is so much substance in Philippians 2. We could spend a week on this one chapter alone.  If you didn't get the opportunity to read through the whole text, please do so!  Paul begins the chapter with this amazing narrative about the attitudes that should characterize Christians.  To whom should we compare ourselves?  To Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate example of humility, sacrifice, and love.  This is some of my favorite Scripture and I can read it over and over again.  If you get a chance today, simply take some time to meditate on verses 1-11.
 
The rest of the chapter is really interesting though.  Paul is speaking to the Philippians about working out their salvation with fear and trembling.  First, obedience to God was a central concept for Paul.  Whether he was present with them or not, the expectation is that they should stay obedient to the faith.  With salvation comes an expectation of obedience. What does that mean? 
 
We know, and Paul has certainly established this in other writings, that salvation is a free gift.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  If we have said yes to Jesus, then we receive salvation.  However, once saved, we don't simply go on living exactly the same way (if we do, then maybe there was no real heart change to begin with).  Thus, our attitudes, behavior, and speech should demo