“...even as Moses is warned (of God) when he is about to make the tabernacle: for, see, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount.”

(Hebrews 8:5)

 

   God met with Moses on the top of Mt. Sinai and gave him detailed instructions for the tabernacle’s construction. Even a casual reading of the details in those divine directives can leave one’s head spinning. But Moses followed God’s commandments to a “t”. If God does not care about details, why did the Holy Spirit refer to Moses’ compliance with God’s commands in 340 places in various Bible verses from Exodus to Hebrews. God cares about details!

 

   However, men are often inclined to view God’s commandments with much less concern for detail. Nadab and Abihu apparently thought God would be indifferent toward their decision to take liberty with His expressed will. In the instructions God had given Moses about priestly duties and offerings, He had spelled out the authorized fire to be used for igniting incense (Lev. 16:12-13). Instead of heeding God’s specific instructions, they offered strange (literally: unauthorized) fire before the Lord. Consequently, “fire came down from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died…” (Lev. 10:2). God cares about obedience!

 

   The modernist dismisses this truth about God by making a distinction between the God of the O.T. and God of the N.T., claiming that He was a God of wrath but now He is a God of love. Anyone who makes such an assertion is either blind and deaf or reads very selectively because God’s lovingkindness is cited 176 times in the NAS version of the O. T. Other references to God’s love can be found in numerous texts, adding significantly to that number. God is and always has been a God of love!

 

   But God’s love does not, nor has it ever given man license to change or ignore His commandments. Yet, since the beginning, the devil has been doing his best to persuade people that they should not be concerned about careful compliance with or obedience to God’s commands. (Genesis 3:1-5) Adam and Eve listened to Satan and we know how that turned out.     God has not changed!

 

   God still expects people to obey His commandments.  All that God requires of us is spelled out in the Gospel which includes commandments to be obeyed. Anyone who chooses to ignore, alter, or rationalize their disobedience is rebelling against the God of love and God of our salvation. Lest there be any doubt about the consequences of such a foolish decision, take note of Paul’s description of certain actions the Lord will take when He returns to execute judgment upon those who don’t obey Him (His Gospel):

...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Thessalonians 1:7-8)

Yes, God cares!                              

Ken Dart