God Calls Us to Build So He May Dwell

Exodus has carried Israel out of Egypt, out of bondage, through the Red Sea, into the wilderness, and up to the close of that Mount Sinai experience. God has delivered them, provided for them, spoken to them, and confirmed his covenant with them. Exodus 25 changes the atmosphere because God begins talking about what comes next.

The question, “God, what is it next?” becomes the right question for God’s people to ask from time to time. The comfort of old shoes, mowing shoes, fishing shoes, and mud shoes pictures the way a season can become stagnant when God is calling for movement. God calls his people to remember in some seasons, to wait in other seasons, and sometimes to build, move forward, grow, and expand.

Exodus 25:1-9 gives Israel a holy assignment. The offering is not forced, because God says it comes from “every man whose heart maketh him willing.” God asks for gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goat’s hair, ram skins, seal skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, onyx stones, and stones for the ephod and breastplate. The key word in the passage is “dwell.” Dwell means to settle, reside, remain. God is not asking Israel to build a monument to remember where he had been. God intends to be among them.

Israel stands in the wilderness as former slaves with no city, no permanent homes, and no history of doing anything like this. God hands them plans filled with precious materials, skilled craftsmanship, and holy purpose. The wilderness makes the assignment look too big, and somebody could easily say, “Moses, have you noticed where we’re at? If you want sand, we’ve got it.” God’s vision often sits bigger than what can presently be seen.

Excuses can come easy when what God places in front of his people is larger than what is around them. Big dreamers are needed, people who can look around at what is and still see what could be. Faith eventually has to move. Dreamers eventually need to become steppers, because somebody has to put a foot in the water.

God may say wait, and then waiting is obedience. God may say move, and then movement is obedience. God may say step, and then faith gets its feet wet. The church is his, the mission is his, the future is his, and the reason for it all is still the same reason God gave Moses: “that I may dwell among them.”

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God is not finished yet God’s past faithfulness is not a signal that everything should settle down and stay the same. The God who brought Israel out of Egypt was still speaking, still leading, and still giving next steps. Gratitude for yesterday does not cancel obedience for tomorrow. [39:19]
• 2. Dwell is the heart of it God did not ask for a sanctuary as a monument to where he had been. The word “dwell” carries the weight of God settling, remaining, and being present among his people. The holy work matters because the holy God wants to be near. [41:41]
• 3. Wilderness does not cancel calling Israel had sand, tents, and no permanent city, yet God handed them plans full of gold, beauty, skill, and worship. The lack around them did not limit the purpose God placed before them. A hard setting can become the exact place where God proves the assignment was his all along. [43:25]
• 4. Dreamers must become steppers Seeing what could be is not the same as stepping toward it. Faith eventually has to move from imagination into obedience, even when the full plan is not visible. The foot goes into the water because God has already said, “I’m already here.” [73:14]
• 5. Obedience follows God’s timing Waiting is not fear when God says wait, and moving is not presumption when God says move. The issue is not control, speed, or personal preference, but listening for his voice. When God says step, faith gets wet feet.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [35:35] - Corporate Worship and Family Gathering
• [36:08] - Exodus Recap: Out of Egypt
• [37:35] - Asking God What Comes Next
• [39:40] - Seasons to Remember, Wait, and Build
• [40:20] - Exodus 25 and the Willing Offering
• [41:41] - The Word “Dwell”
• [43:25] - Wilderness People Given Holy Plans
• [44:57] - When God’s Vision Looks Too Big
• [73:14] - Dreamers Become Steppers
• [74:28] - Wait, Move, or Step
• [75:23] - To God Be the Glory
• [76:08] - Get Feet Wet in Faith
• [77:38] - Future Outreach and Expansion
• [78:36] - Prayer and Altar Response

Bible Reading

Exodus 25:1-9
“The LORD said to Moses, 'Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair, tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.'” [00:40:31]

Exodus 24:1-18
“Then he said to Moses, 'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.' Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.' And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.' And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.' Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. The LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.' So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, 'Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.' Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” [00:37:21]

Joshua 3:14-17
“So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” [01:13:48]

Observation questions

1. In Exodus 25:1-9, what kinds of materials were the people asked to bring, and what does the passage say about the kind of heart that should bring the offering? [00:40:31]
2. In Exodus 25:8, what reason does God give for the sanctuary being built, and what word stands at the center of that reason? [00:41:41]
3. Looking at Exodus 24 and Exodus 25 together, what had God already done for Israel before he gave them this new assignment? [00:37:21]
4. What details help show how unlikely this assignment would have seemed in the wilderness—both from the passage and from the picture of Israel’s situation? [00:43:25]

Interpretation questions

1. If God asked for an offering from “every man whose heart moves him,” what does that suggest about the kind of obedience God desires from his people? [00:40:31]
2. God did not ask Israel to build a monument to the past, but a sanctuary so that he might dwell among them. How does that shape the way a church or a believer should think about building, serving, and planning for the future? [00:42:39]
3. Israel had no city, no permanent homes, and no history of doing anything like this, yet God still gave them a holy assignment. What does that say about how God’s calling relates to present weakness, limitation, or lack? [00:44:57]
4. Joshua 3 shows that the water did not part until the priests stepped in. How does that help explain the difference between simply admiring God’s promises and actually obeying them in faith? [01:14:28]

Application questions

1. What season feels most true right now: remembering, waiting, building, moving, or stepping? What signs in daily life make that clear to you? [00:39:40]
2. Old shoes can be hard to throw out because they feel familiar. Where has comfort become a way of staying spiritually stagnant rather than moving where God is leading? [00:38:07]
3. God’s past faithfulness is not a reason to settle. Where might there be a temptation to say, “This is enough; this is where everything just stays,” when God may actually be opening a next step? [00:39:19]
4. The wilderness did not cancel Israel’s calling. What part of life right now feels too dry, too limited, or too unfinished for something meaningful to happen there? How might God be asking for trust in that very place? [00:45:00]
5. Dreamers eventually need to become steppers. What is one specific area where faith needs to move from good intention into action? What would “putting a foot in the water” look like this week? [01:13:42]
6. If God says wait, then waiting is obedience; if God says move, then movement is obedience. Is there any area where it has been easier to rush ahead or hold back instead of listening closely? What would it look like to respond to God’s timing rather than personal preference? [01:14:31]
7. The reason for the work is that God may dwell among his people. How would priorities change this week if the goal was not just getting things done, but making room for the presence of God at home, at church, and in everyday life? [01:15:56]