Monday, July 20, 2020

Exodus 25:1-9 comments: the instructions for the tabernacle


Exodus 25:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3  And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4  And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, 5  And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, 6  Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7  Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8  And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9  According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Here is an important point about an offering. It was to be given willingly. Voluntary giving is the basis for God’s approval of an offering.

2Corinthians 9:7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Giving because you have been guilted into it or because it is your “Christian duty” does not meet with God’s approval although it does satisfy man’s need for a sense of ritual and obligation.

2Corinthians 8:7 ¶  Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 8  I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. 9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 10  And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. 11  Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. 12  For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. 13  For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: 14  But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: 15  As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
Almsgiving, charitable giving, degenerated into a show and a display as it often does today as big companies have pictures taken of their executives giving oversized checks to some charity as an act of “goodwill”. Wealthy individuals do the same.
Matthew 6:1 ¶  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
All giving to the Lord must be of a willing heart and not determined by another person who wants to guilt you into something.
What we are about to witness is remarkable in its detail. As Matthew Henry pointed out we are not given any dimensions for the earth or the universe but this tabernacle is described in much detail using quite a few words and verses. Certainly, this must mean something that we are overlooking.
The context of verse 3 shows we are talking about physical objects. Gold and silver don’t need much explanation as metals of value and they have spiritual significance in their value and in how they are applied to Christ as many sermons reveal. More on that later. But, I would ask you to consider the following and just put it aside in your mind until later. Gold has good conductivity and generally is resistant to oxidation and corrosion so it has a small use in modern electrical components. Silver has the highest thermal and electrical conductivity and reflectivity of any metal. Industrially it is used in electrical contacts and conductors. This will come up again in our discussion of the priests’ ephod in Exodus 28.
Brass was first worked by Tubalcain, before the great Flood of Noah’s time. See Genesis 4:22. Brass is a metallic alloy or mixture of predominantly copper and zinc as bronze is a mixture of copper and tin along with other substances in smaller amounts such as lead or aluminum. It is used for decoration and also has electrical applications in situations where it is important that sparks are not created. It is its low friction properties that make it valuable for locks, ammunition castings, valves, bearings, and zippers. It is durable and lasts a good while.
Blue was a color that was very difficult to make. Blue dyes were made from plants like woad and indigo and the blue pigments were made from minerals like lapis lazuli or azurite. Its difficulty in making made it valuable. Lapis lazuli, a semi-precious blue stone was made into jewelry and vessels.
Purple was also a difficult to make color. Remember Lydia in the New Testament?

Acts 16:14  And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
It was so expensive that it came to signify royalty. The Roman soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus to mock Him as the king of the Jews.
Mark 15:17  And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 18  And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! 19  And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. 20  And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
The wealthy man in the story of Lazarus and the rich man wore purple.

Luke 16:19 ¶  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Purple was worn by Roman magistrates and it became the imperial color worn by the rulers of the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, and later by Roman Catholic bishops. Also, in Japan, the color is traditionally associated with the Emperor and the nobility.
Purple was made from a sea snail, traditionally by the sea-farers of Tyre. It was known as Tyrian Purple in that context. The process of killing thousands of sea snails and making the dye was long and expensive, requiring a great deal of precision to get it right.
Scarlet is significant as it has been a color signifying power and wealth since ancient times, second only to purple. It was made from a small insect for the wealthy or as a vegetable dye if you were not so. Scarlet is a synonym for crimson and red. Our sins are likened to it as the color of blood.

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

The wealthy Hebrew woman in Proverbs 31, a type of the church, clothes her household in scarlet. It is a color of value, which is important to remember.
Fine linen symbolizes righteousness.

Revelation 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

To produce fine linen was a specialty.

1Chronicles 4:21  The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea,
Linen is a textile made from fibers of the flax plant. The earliest linen industry was founded in Egypt. Fine linen from Egypt was known for its quality apparently.

Proverbs 7:16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

 Ezekiel 27:7  Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

Goats’ hair will be used for the curtains for the tent over the tabernacle. Modern-day Bedouins have tents, tent-ropes, and rugs made from spun goats’ hair. It was used for pillows.

1Samuel 19:13  And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goatshair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

Writers talk about the goat hair of Asia being very fine and long and how it feels like silk. It was combed off, they write, rather than sheared. Of course, there was coarser goats’ hair which was used in the clothing of the poor, according to some writers.
Rams’ skins dyed red and badgers’ skins taken together suggest that they were used for their being impervious to the infrequent rain. However, scientists who study ancient climate patterns say that there were periods of wet and dry and we are in a dry period now. There could have been much more frequent rain storms during the time of the Exodus. Their dating methods, often hinged to assumptions and variables that can be questioned and should be, should not be taken as absolute facts. Evidence is evidence, but remember, evidence is useless unless it is interpreted. The interpretation is where the vagaries of human viewpoints, worldviews, and culturally mandated assumptions interfere, not just education.[1] Just remember that the world is drying out after the Flood of Noah’s time in a process that is still going on today.
Shittim wood, according to Strong’s dictionary, would come from the Acacia tree. The Ark of the Covenant will be made of this wood.
Oil, spices, and incense, as with the other material, all have spiritual significance. They can represent things like the Holy Spirit, remind us of the preparation of Christ’s burial, and signify prayer and sacrifice. Each of these items in some way can point us to Christ and are the fitting subject of their own special study. There are many and varied possible ways to draw all of these items and colors into sound preaching.
Stones, as well, provide an important subject for a Bible study. There is a particular importance for these stones regarding the ephod, which will be discussed later.

Exodus 28:4  And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

With verse 8 it is important to understand that God did not have His Spirit dwell in each and every Hebrew as He does in each and every Jew and Gentile who believes on Christ and God can appear and His presence can be anywhere He wants it to be. But, He has commanded a tabernacle or sanctuary to be built so that He can dwell with these Hebrews in a specific way. Later, His glory will fill the temple that Solomon builds. The tabernacle, temporary as it was, represents the body of flesh while the temple represents our resurrection body. We should be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Exodus 40:34 ¶  Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

2Chronicles 5:14  So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

But, there are no sacred spaces in Biblical Christianity outside of the believer’s own heart, which is now God’s temple.
1Corinthians 3:16 ¶  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

And we should seek to be filled with the Spirit of God and there are certain manifestations in our lives if that truly has happened.

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 ¶  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

God is going to give Moses the instructions for how this tabernacle, this sanctuary, is to be built.


[1] Abdou Abouelmagd, Mohamed Sultan, Neil C. Sturchio, Farouk Soliman, Mohamed Rashed, Mohamed Ahmed, Alan E. Kehew, Adam Milewski, & Kyle Chouinard, “Paleoclimate record in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt,” Quaternary Research, 81 (2014) 158–167. http://wrrs.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Abouelmagd-et-al_2014.pdf


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