Because God Said So
Yael Eckstein | June 8, 2023
From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses. — Exodus 39:1
As we celebrate the men in our lives this month, enjoy these devotions looking at the defining characteristics of godliness that we can glean from the biblical men of faith — and how we can pass on those values to our children.
As a mother, I can’t help but laugh at myself when I hear my own parents’ words coming out of my mouth. So often, I find myself using expressions my parents used in their own parenting, even expressions that I didn’t like to hear when I was young. One of those expressions is the all-time favorite of parents everywhere, “Because I said so.”
Let’s face it, “Because I said so,” is what we parents say when we don’t want to get into a debate over whatever it is we want our children to do. Or, as is more often the case, what we want them to not do. The message of “Because I said so” is pretty simple. I am the parent. I make the rules. You are the child. You follow them.
As dictatorial as it sounds, there actually is an important spiritual lesson in “Because I said so.” Trust and respect for parents is critical to a healthy family. Putting some instructions in the category of “Because I said so,” allows us to teach our children this valuable lesson. More importantly, learning to follow “Because I said so” instructions from our parents also teaches us to follow instructions from God as well.
Because God Said So
In Exodus 39, we read about the construction of the Tabernacle. Scripture repeatedly mentions that everything was done precisely “as the LORD commanded Moses.”
The message is critical to our understanding of the proper way to approach God. Even as we love God and want to worship Him in our own way, God gave specific instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle and the sacrificial worship to be conducted there.
There was no room for improvisation. Especially in the aftermath of the sin of the Golden Calf, where the children of Israel thought they could make up their own way to worship, in constructing the Tabernacle, they were careful to obey God’s directions exactly. The Bible stresses this by repeatedly telling us that they did everything “as the LORD commanded Moses.”
A life of faith is primarily a life of obedience to God. As we try our best to understand Him and why He commanded us exactly as He did, we must also humbly accept that we must do His will, “because God said so.”
Your Turn:
As we go through our lives, let’s remember that God knows best. Even though we are tempted to think that we know better from our limited perspective, let’s remember that God has an infinitely greater perspective.