There are some events in the Bible that if I had a spiritual bucket list these events would be on it. One of them would be the parting of a body of water so I could walk through it on dry ground. It would not have to be the Reed Sea or the Jordan. I would be happy for it to be a river near my home in Florida. Another would be for food to miraculously appear where I am. It would not have to be manna or quail, I would be happy for something like a bagel and lox to just appear from nowhere. I would also love to go fishing and find my tax bill to be in the mouth of the fish so I could say “I caught a tax check…this big…” But the event that I would put highest on my spiritual bucket list is the event that takes place in Exodus 40:
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of ADONAI filled the Tabernacle. 35 Moses was unable to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud resided there and the glory of ADONAI filled the Tabernacle. 40:34-35 TLV
I can just imagine how one would feel seeing the cloud descend upon the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in such a powerful way. Not only seeing the presence, but feeling it so powerfully that you could not physically enter the tent because His Glory had filled it. Over my years as a believer, I have felt G-D’s presence in powerful ways in different places around the world. But never to the extent that we read about in these verses.
Because this experience is on the top of my spiritual bucket list, I have taken some time to prayerfully study the event and here are my thoughts. First, everyone that was at or around the Mishkan was already saved from Egypt, and they had already entered the covenant at Mount Sinai. So they were already in relationship with the G-D of Israel. This powerful experience wasn’t a result of them coming to faith or being redeemed.
This awesome outpouring of G-D’s Ruach (Spirit) was a result of those who were already “The People of G-D” collectively doing two things. The first was GIVING. As a matter of fact they gave so much so freely that Moses had to ask them to stop giving.
5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the work of this construction that ADONAI has commanded to be done.” 6So Moses gave an order, and they proclaimed it throughout the camp saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else as an offering for the Sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing more. Exodus 36:5-6 TLV
The second thing was OBEYING. As we read through the chapters leading up to the cloud falling and filling the Mishkan, we see the phrase “just as ADONAI had commanded” over and over. So I concluded that this awesome, tangible, and visible appearance of G-D’s Ruach is available even today to those who are in covenant relationship with G-D and who are willing givers and who are willing to do just as AD-NAI had commanded. If we as the Body of Messiah want to experience this kind of outpouring, we have been provided with a pattern to follow.
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