24
Education
heathenism. God desired to lift them to a higher moral level, and to
this end He sought to give them a knowledge of Himself.
In His dealings with the wanderers in the desert, in all their march-
ings to and fro, in their exposure to hunger, thirst, and weariness, in
their peril from heathen foes, and in the manifestation of His prov-
idence for their relief, God was seeking to strengthen their faith by
revealing to them the power that was continually working for their
good. And having taught them to trust in His love and power, it was
His purpose to set before them, in the precepts of His law, the standard
of character to which, through His grace, He desired them to attain.
Precious were the lessons taught to Israel during their sojourn at
Sinai. This was a period of special training for the inheritance of
Canaan. And their surroundings here were favorable for the accom-
plishing of God’s purpose. On the summit of Sinai, overshadowing
the plain where the people spread their tents, rested the pillar of cloud
which had been the guide of their journey. A pillar of fire by night, it
[35]
assured them of the divine protection; and while they were locked in
slumber, the bread of heaven fell gently upon the encampment. On
every hand, vast, rugged heights, in their solemn grandeur, spoke of
eternal endurance and majesty. Man was made to feel his ignorance
and weakness in the presence of Him who hath “weighed the moun-
tains in scales, and the hills in a balance.”
Isaiah 40:12
. Here, by
the manifestation of His glory, God sought to impress Israel with the
holiness of His character and requirements, and the exceeding guilt of
transgression.
But the people were slow to learn the lesson. Accustomed as they
had been in Egypt to material representations of the Deity, and these
of the most degrading nature, it was difficult for them to conceive of
the existence or the character of the Unseen One. In pity for their
weakness, God gave them a symbol of His presence. “Let them make
Me a sanctuary,” He said; “that I may dwell among them.”
Exodus
25:8
.
In the building of the sanctuary as a dwelling place for God, Moses
was directed to make all things according to the pattern of things in
the heavens. God called him into the mount, and revealed to him the
heavenly things, and in their similitude the tabernacle, with all that
pertained to it, was fashioned.