And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will be their God.
Exodus 29 is full of offerings, blood and anointing oil for the priests. The last lines give God's reason for it all, and raise two questions: how can a holy God live among sinful people, and what does that ask of them?
Why had God never said this before? One writer answers with redemption, not with anything in Israel.
Not until redemption is accomplished does God speak of dwelling among the children of Israel. Neither with Adam the innocent nor with Abraham the faithful could God dwell. He may walk in the garden. He may pay Abraham a passing visit. But neither innocence nor faithfulness secured a place for God to live. God's dwelling among men is the fruit of redemption. There the believer becomes fit for God, and there a holy God becomes known to man.
So what let a holy God stay? One writer finds the answer in the offering that never stopped.
The Lord could dwell with His people on one ground: the fragrance of Christ as the burnt offering, always rising. In type God had redeemed the children of Israel. Now, through the continual burnt offering, they stood before God in all the acceptance of Christ. So the Lord could dwell in their midst. Second, as a further result, His glory sanctified the tabernacle. The same sacrifice claimed the tabernacle, the altar and the priests alike, and set them apart to God according to all that He is as revealed. The claims of His glory had now been met. From that moment His glory became the standard for everything given to His service.
The second half of the verse promises a relationship: He will be their God. One writer shows how Israel would know it, and what it means for anyone God saves today.
They would have the clearest evidence to persuade them that the Lord was indeed their God. He had brought them out of Egypt, not simply to set them free, but so that He might dwell among them. Today too, God saves sinners from the bondage of sin. He does not do it only to relieve them from a condition so miserable. He does it for a purpose of far greater blessing for them, and of far greater glory to Him, than any of us at first sight imagines.
Did that dwelling last? Kelly weighs what kind of redemption it rested on.
The temple was the same thing in substance. It simply fitted Israel's settled state in the land, and was not the tabernacle that travelled with the Israelites up and down the wilderness. But in either case this was only an external redemption. So His dwelling was of an outward sort. It depended on their faithfulness to Him as witnesses of the one true God, placed under the responsibility of the law. The result was ruin, as it must always be for the first man.
Living beside God was a privilege. It also set the rule for daily life in the camp.
If it was a place of blessing, it was just as surely a place of responsibility. "Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. You shall put out both male and female […] that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell." (Num. 5:1-3.) Again, "For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy." (Lev. 11:44.) In one word, as these Scriptures show, God required holiness of every Israelite who camped around the tabernacle — holiness according to the nature of the One who dwelt among them.
The tabernacle was not the end of this promise. Darby follows the same intention forward through the church to the new creation.
God would have a house, a place to live. Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him, yet He would dwell with men. […] Then the Lord formed the assembly as a dwelling-place. This blessed truth has not ceased even now, any more than the other fruits of redemption have. In the new heavens and the new earth, the tabernacle of God will be with men. Meanwhile it was formed on earth, a habitation of God through the Spirit.
- Redemption opens the door. God walked with Adam and visited Abraham, but only a redeemed people became a place He would live in.
- Sacrifice holds the door open. The daily burnt offering let Israel stand accepted, so the dwelling rested on the offering, not on the people.
- Dwelling is the point. Israel was not brought out of Egypt merely to be free of Egypt, but so that God could live among them.
- His presence sets the standard. Because the Holy One lived in the camp, everyone around Him had to be holy as He is holy.
- The desire runs to the end. Israel's outward dwelling failed under law. The same purpose runs on into the church, and rests at last when God's tabernacle is with men.
And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who have brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, to dwell in their midst I am Jehovah their God.
The long chapter about priests, sacrifices and the altar ends with a reason. God brought Israel out of Egypt so that He could live among them. They would learn who He is by having Him there.
Commentators note that God had never settled down to live among people before this. The timing is not accidental.
He had brought them out of Egypt for this purpose (v. 46). It is a wonderful picture of how God dwells among us in a far higher and better way. We may also note that He never lived with man until redemption was accomplished. He did not live with Adam while innocent, nor with Abraham, nor with others. But once redemption is accomplished, He speaks of dwelling among them.
Another writer gives the principle behind it. For a redeemed people, God coming near is not danger but their highest honour.
Without redemption, God's presence could only mean the destruction of men. But once redemption is known, that presence secures man's highest privilege and brightest glory.
Freedom from slavery was real. But the verse gives a reason beyond it, and one writer applies that to everyone God saves today.
They would have the clearest evidence to persuade them that the LORD was indeed their God. He had brought them out of Egypt, not simply to set them free, but so that He might dwell among them. Today too, God saves sinners from the bondage of sin. He does this not only to relieve them from a condition so miserable, but for a purpose of far greater blessing to them and far greater glory to Him than any of us imagines at first.
The verse ties God's dwelling to Israel's knowledge of Him. He lived with them so that they would know Him. The promise "I will be their God" puts the weight on His side, not theirs.
He dwelt with them for a purpose. It was that they might come into relationship with Him, and know Him as the God of redemption, the One who had brought them out of the land of Egypt… But there is more than even dwelling with them: there is also relationship. "I will be their God." Notice that this is not what they shall be to Him, though they were His people by His grace. It is what He will be to them.
Just before this promise comes a command: one lamb offered each morning, one each evening. That daily rhythm made the dwelling possible.
So priests and people were to begin their day and end it with a reminder. They stood accepted before God only on the ground of sacrifice. Only in this way could God dwell among them, sanctify the tabernacle with His glory, and make His mind known to His people through Moses.
One writer marks the limits of what happened here. The deliverance from Egypt was outward, and the dwelling matched it.
But in either case this was only an outward redemption. So His dwelling was outward too. It depended on their faithfulness to Him as witnesses of the one true God, placed under the responsibility of His law. The result was, as it must always be for the first man, ruin.
But God did not give up living among His people. He took it up again on better ground.
Now there is a true eternal redemption, and Christ as Man is at the right hand of God. So the Holy Spirit comes down and makes the assembly His dwelling-place.
- Redemption opens the door. God did not live with Adam or with Abraham. Only a redeemed people could have Him living among them, and the exodus is where it starts.
- Dwelling is the goal. God did not free Israel just to end their slavery. He freed them so He could live among them, and He saves sinners today with the same larger purpose.
- Relationship is the gift. "I will be their God" says what He will be to them, not what they must be to Him. Living among them is how they come to know Him as the God of redemption.
- Sacrifice is the ground. Offerings morning and evening framed each day. Priests and people never forgot that both their acceptance and God's presence rested on sacrifice alone.
- The result reaches us. Israel's outward redemption gave an outward dwelling, and it ended in ruin. Eternal redemption is better: the Holy Spirit now makes God's people His dwelling-place.