“You shall make it hollow with boards; as it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.”
– Exodus 27:8
This is really interesting. I really love Exodus 27:8 in a way. I’ve not even noticed it before, but as I was reading through Exodus 27, so the first part of this chapter is describing God’s instructions for building the bronze altar. The whole chapter starts with, “You shall make the altar of Acacia wood.” And he begins describing it. Then he gets to the very end of this description of how the bronze altar shall be made in the tabernacle.
And the Bible says, Exodus 27:8, “You shall make it hollow with boards,” God’s speaking to Moses, and he says, “As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.” I love that picture. And God says, “Moses, appear on this mountain. I’ve shown you something. Now, go down this mountain, and do it just like I’ve shown you up here.” Moses meeting with God on this mountain, all the other people are down at the bottom, so Moses is alone with God. God speaks to him. And Moses has the responsibility to take what he has heard in private with God, and put it into action in public. “As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.”
Exodus 27:8 Reminds Us God Speaks to Us
As God speaks to us, speak to others based on what he says in his word, and live out before others what he has said to you in his word.
I just think about, as I read that Exodus 27:8, I think about my time with the Lord this morning. Each morning, when I’m alone with him, communing with him. And as he’s speaking to me through his word, there’s so much that he says to me. We are not intended to keep that in that room alone with him. We should share this with others. It’s intended to encourage others, and it’s intended to be put into practice outside of that room.
My time with the Lord, your time alone with the Lord, which I hope, I pray you have every day, and in Matthew 6 kind of way, go in your room, close the door, pray to your Father’s unseen that you have time just between you and God, praying to him, listening to him through his word, and as he speaks to you, putting that word into practice, sharing that word with others.
In the church that I pastor in, McLean Bible Church, we talk about an acrostic for walking through scripture, meditate, apply, pray, share, maps, just discovery intimacy with God through his word, through meditating on his word, applying his word, praying through his word, and then sharing it with others. As God speaks to us, speak to others based on what he says in his word, and live out before others what he has said to you in his word.
Exodus 27:8 Leads Us to Pray for God to Speak to Us
God, we pray that we hear from you. In times alone with you, as well as when we gather with your church, but particularly on a daily basis, please speak to us. Let that not stop with us. Help it to transform the way we live, act, and obey your word. Help us to act according to your word. And help us to obey your word. Help us to not just hear your word, but we would do what it says. And God help us to speak it to others. This good news of your grace and the gospel that we celebrate every day before you. God, we pray that you would help us to faithfully, boldly, compassionately share with others.
God, we pray today that you would use us to speak the gospel to someone else. And God, that you might draw someone else to relationship with you, to life in you, to eternity with you, today, through us. We pray this for people around us. God, we pray that somebody would take what they’ve heard in secret, and proclaim it to the Thai Tang people in Vietnam. God, we pray that the Thai Tang people in Vietnam would hear what you have said in your word about your love for the Thai Tang people, that somebody would make it known to them.
Exodus 27:8 Leads Us to Thank God
God, we pray. God, we thank you for the privilege we have of time with you. Thank you for the privilege of hearing from you, and communing with you. And we pray that flowing from this time that our lives would look different. Help our words to look different. Help them to overflow of what we have seen with you. And help us to experience you, whether on the mountain, or in the prayer closet. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
