One of the great things about God’s Story is His desire to be with us.  He is not just a distant God, far removed from His creation.  We see that ultimately in Jesus – the Word who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” – Emmanuel, “God with us.”

In the story of God forming a holy nation, God told Moses that he wanted to come to his people and dwell right in the middle of their camp.  Not on the outskirts.  But right in the middle of where they were living.

You might wonder, “What preparations would a people need to make for God to live in their midst?” Would it be like getting ready for weekend guests or someone special coming to dinner? Would you feel compelled to make sure your home looks as good as possible?   Would you want to make a good impression and you want your guest to feel welcome?

God told Moses what needed to be in place for his coming.  First, he wanted to be close to them but there was the problem of sin that created a breach between them.  So God provided Moses with instructions about the practice of sacrificing, offering a covering for the people’s sins before a Holy God.  Sin is serious, not to be taken lightly, and the sacrifice of unblemished animals was necessary to give the people a picture of sin and point them to God’s provision of forgiveness and cleansing.

Second, he wanted to stay close to them.  Moses was given the blueprints for the building of the Tabernacle.  It’s a big word for “tent” – a portable place of worship.  And he wanted to camp out right in the middle of where they were camping.  God wanted to be close to his people.

But he also wanted them to be close to each other.  So he declared a third thing to get ready.  He gave them Ten Commandments concerning relationships.  The first four commandments focus on how we are to demonstrate our love to God.  The second set of six have to do with how to show love to other people.

In seeing these relationships of love it was God’s desire that people would come to know Him too. Jesus said the same in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I ahve loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

God gave the Israelites guidelines so that, when they sought to live by them, other nations would see them as different and know that they were God’s people.  God gave us Jesus so that, when we live like him, others will know that we are his people.

For those who know him, God took care of our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus.   Through the Holy Spirit, He dwells in the hearts of those who have drawn near to him.  Could it be then that the degree to which we are obedient to him in this command to love each other is the degree of his presence we will find among us?

“God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” – 1 John 4:16-17