​Prayer is powerful.  Prayer moves the heart of God.  And prayer is often overlooked and rushed through in our modern, crazy life.  However, as we find ourselves in a season of slowness due to COVID-19, we have the opportunity to grow our prayer life and learn from one of the greatest intercessors in biblical history, a man who not only prayed big prayers but moved God’s heart and saved an entire people from destruction.

The intent of this study through Exodus was to observe and learn about leadership and how God shapes His leaders.  There have been many side trails and other topics we’ve explored as we’ve gone through the Scriptures; however, the goal has remained the same.  And today, we’re going to see what godly leadership does not look like.  We’re going to examine a leader who had no fear of God and who used his power to lead the people to death.  That leader was Aaron.

​Moses was with God on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights.  During that time, he received from God all the laws and commands the new nation of Israel was to follow, and instructions on how to build a physical dwelling for the LORD their God.  God also told Moses the men He had chosen to build the house and where to find them.  Now, as we near the end of Exodus 31, the LORD gives Moses one final command for the Israelites.   

​Last week, we learned that God gives us the materials we need for the work He sets before us, and that we are called to build with what we’ve been given.  Now, as we move forward in Exodus, we will see that God not only provides the resources to accomplish His plan but also partners and helps to get the job done.  So let’s dive into Exodus 31.

​Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai with God.  For the Israelites, it felt like a silent period, but God was speaking volumes to Moses.  The next six chapters of Scripture cover all that God spoke to Moses.  Instructions about building the sanctuary, alter, Ark of the Covenant, and more were given.  We are not going to dive in depth into all the details God gave Moses, but there is one thing that stands out to me in this portion of Scripture:  how often gold is mentioned in the building of God’s holy abode.

​Moses was called into the darkness.  He waited for six days.  Six days of nothing but darkness, nothing but waiting for God to show up.  But oh, how the wait was worth it! 

​There’s a common saying out there “seeing is believing.”  But there are a few characters in Exodus that defy this catchy idiom.  Remember the story of the Golden Calf from your Sunday school days?  While we’re not at that point in our study of Exodus yet, there is a very interesting little passage here in Exodus 24 that directly connects with that well known story of Israel’s quick abandonment of God.  Do you remember who the key players of the Golden Calf incident were?  Aaron and the elders of Israel.  Well, those same key players were part of an amazing experience a month before the Golden Calf drama.

​Do you feel like you’re in uncharted territory?  Does the future seem uncertain and hazy?  While this is a somewhat new era for our country and our world, it’s not new to the history of the world.  Many nations faced turmoil and uncertainty.  In fact, in our study of Exodus, the Israelites are at the beginning of an unknown future.  They had left behind all that they had previously known and were walking forward into uncharted territory.  But God gave them a promise.  And as we look back through the lens of history, we know that God kept His promise.  Therefore, we can walk forward into an unknown future because we have a known God.  And we can have confidence because the same God who went before the Israelites goes before us. 
 
But what was God’s promise to the Israelites?

​Rules can have a negative connotation, especially in our post-modern, post-truth culture.  However, if we didn’t have rules, lawlessness would abound and life would be miserable.  When the Israelites left Egypt, they left the laws of the Egyptians and rules of Pharaoh and placed themselves under God’s authority and under Moses.  They were becoming a new nation, and every nation needs a set of rules to govern the people and dictate justice.  

​We’ve just reached one of the pinnacle moments in Exodus, when God reveals Himself to His people and speaks directly to them.  However, the Israelites didn’t like hearing from God.  They wanted to keep Him at arm’s length.  So Moses went up to the mountain to meet with God and receive from Him the rest of the commands and rules God set for His newly freed people.  Unlike the monarchy the Israelites came from, this nation would be formed and led by God.