Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 8-10.

I never thought about it before, but today I was struck by the mention that the gold lampstand in the Tabernacle was made of hammered gold.  Why say “hammered gold” and not just “gold”?  Later in today’s passage it describes the trumpets as being made out of hammered silver.   The writer clearly thinks it was important that his audience know that not only were these things made out of gold and silver, but that they were hammered into shape, not cast.  When I started writing this, I was not planning on saying any more about it than that.  However, as I wrote the above I started trying to determine what the significance could possibly be.  So, I did a little Internet research and discovered that hammered precious metals  are generally stronger and more durable (I am oversimplifying a little bit by phrasing it that way) than when the same metals are cast into shape.  So, the writer was telling his readers that these items were made as durable as possible for the tasks for which they were created.  So, what does that mean for us?  So, just as the lampstand and the trumpets were hammered to make them stronger in their service to God, we too will be hammered from time to time to make us stronger in our service to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.