Reading through the Old Testament, I am happy to have been born at this time in history. There was so much detail in the Old Testament expression of faith that was complicated, like the exact building details of the Tabernacle. However, in both Testaments, there was a principle that defined a strong faith – complete obedience to God.

I noticed a recurring theme in the last two chapters of Exodus. Fourteen times in those chapters are the words, “as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Those words had to do with the faithful completion of all the Lord had asked of Moses regarding the intricate design and completion of the Tabernacle. Exact measurements, materials, and the kind of person to be chosen by God to build the Tabernacle were laid out in great detail. All that Moses directed the people to do was accomplished by a list of instructions the Lord had given to Moses.

This caused me to think of how important it is for us to live in the same way. We no longer have a Temple or Tabernacle. What we now have is our lives. We are the Temple of God. Everything the Lord asks of us must be carried out with the same kind of detail Moses exhibited. Even the slightest of instructions must be carried out because something of value is attached to those instructions, especially our obedience to the details of a prophetic word. 

If God has spoken to us only by fully obeying all the components of that word can we rest and trust God to do what only He can do. Incomplete obedience will not align us with what the Lord has promised. To leave any detail of the Lord’s instruction undone, we will always look back and wonder what would have happened had we fully obeyed.