Exodus 39 may seem at first glance to be one of those “boring” chapters which give a lot of seemingly insignificant information. Earlier in the book, God had commanded Moses and the children of Israel to make garments for the priests, and Chapter 39 goes into great detail describing how they actually did that. But there is a phrase which is repeated in this chapter which gives us a key to its importance. The theme of the chapter might be summed up in this one repeated phrase: “Just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

This phrase, “just as the Lord had commanded Moses”, is repeated word for word seven times in the chapter, in :1, :5, :7, :21, :26, :29, and :31. And the chapter concludes with :42, “So the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses” and :43, “And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done.”

Instead of being merely pedantic, this chapter is actually a tribute to obedience. Moses and the children of Israel did everything God commanded, in just the way He commanded them. Surely they are an example to us. Christians know that we are not under obligation to attempt to keep the Old Testament Law, and that our salvation does not depend upon our obedience, which will always be less than perfect, but upon God’s grace to us through Christ. Yet sadly, many as a result take God’s grace as an excuse to be less than serious about obeying His commands. It ought not to be this way! Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) John wrote: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (I John 2:3)

Let us imitate the example that Moses and the people of Israel gave us, of taking God’s commandments seriously. May our lives be summarized by this theme of Exodus 39, that we did “just as the Lord commanded”!