Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 25-27.

I have a Youtube video of me reading the Scripture passage and my comments. Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.

I want to start by saying that recording a video of me reading the Bible passage really helps me with reading passages such as today’s.  I got more out of this passage than I have for years, maybe more than ever before.  As I was reading, I understood part of the reason why this passage is here in the Bible.  Now part of that understanding goes to something I heard a month or so back.  This description is, in and of itself, evidence for the Exodus occurring.  Not because the writing claims the Exodus happened.  Instead, this detailed description tells us that the writer(s) of the Book of Exodus were more heavily influenced by Egyptian practices than by practices in the land of Canaan, or elsewhere.  For example, the Ark of the Covenant described here resembles the thrones of gods which the Egyptians placed inside their temples.  The difference being that Egyptian priests “fed” and dressed the idol of the god each day and sat it upon the throne, then undressed it each night and put the idol “to bed”.  The symbolism there was that the priests cared for the needs of their god(s).  The symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant was that, unlike the gods of the Egyptians and other peoples, God did not need people to care for His needs.  He did not need to be fed, or dressed, and He did not sleep.  God is always on His throne.

Further, the Tabernacle itself resembles the tent which was used by Pharaoh Ramses II in the Egyptian army encampment at the battle of Kadesh.  The altar described in this passage also bore a closer resemblance to Egyptian designs than it does to altars used in the land of Canaan.  Overall, this passage, with its detailed descriptions of the Tabernacle and its furnishings, shows us that the writer(s) of the Book of Exodus were influenced more by Egyptian symbolism than by Canaanite symbolism.  Now, some might conclude from this that these designs were of human origin.  After all, why would we expect God to be influenced by the culture of Egypt?  The answer is rather simpler than one might think.  God used symbolism which the Israelites in the wilderness would understand.  The description I gave above about the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant illustrates what I mean.  If the Ark had not resembled the Egyptian thrones of gods, no one would have noticed the symbolism that those gods needed humans to care for their needs, but that the God of Israel does not.  Nor would they have noticed the symbolism that false gods slept, but the God of Israel does not.  Without the resemblance of the Tabernacle to the tent of Ramses II (and probably other pharaohs) we would not see the fact that the Tabernacle symbolized that God is the ruler of Israel, not some human king (not even a human king who is believed to be divine).

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 25-27.

In today’s passage God gives Moses instructions for building the tabernacle.  He told Moses to make it exactly like the pattern which He showed him.  I have mentioned in previous years, and on other passages, that I do not usually get a lot out of passages which describe how things were supposed to look.  I started reading today’s passage thinking I was going to have to struggle to find what I wanted to write about.  Then I noticed something about the description of how they were supposed to put together the Ark of the Covenant.  Twice God instructs Moses to put the tablets of the covenant law into the Ark.  First, He tells him that he is to do so after the poles for carrying the Ark are installed.  Then a second time He tells Moses to put the tablets into the Ark after placing the cover on top of the Ark.  Specifically, God tells Moses to put the tablets of the covenant law, “which I will give you”, into the Ark.  At the central point of the tabernacle, and later at the central point in the temple which was modeled after that tabernacle, was to be the Ark of the Covenant.  And in the Ark was to be the words of the covenant law, etched in stone by God.  This was so important that God mentioned it twice.

Now what makes that important to us?  Well, as I read this I was struck that Paul wrote that we are now God’s temple.  The tabernacle, which was the model for the temple, was built according to plans which God showed to Moses of the heavenly temple. Just as the words of the covenant law were to be in the most central part of the tabernacle, so should God’s Word, and His words, be in the most central part of the temple which we have each become.  We each individually are God’s temple, and we as a group, as the Body of Christ, are God’s temple.  In both cases God’s Word, and God’s words, should be at the center of how we live our lives, and how we relate to each other.  It is so important that we should repeat ourselves in making sure that it is there.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 25-27.

I have said before that I find detailed descriptions of how things were built, such as today’s description of the tabernacle and some of its furnishings, to be tedious.  As I was reading the description of how the tabernacle was to be built it struck me that perhaps the reason, or part of the reason, for this detailed description was to provide instructions for rebuilding the tabernacle.  After all, the tabernacle was primarily made out of cloth, which would eventually wear out.  The same would be true of the altar of burnt offerings, it would eventually wear out.  It is less obvious that the other things mentioned here would wear out, but a little thought reveals that they too would eventually suffer the ravages of time and need to be replaced.  So, that provides us with an explanation as to why these details were needed for the Israelites, but why do we still need them?  I do believe there are reasons we should continue to read these descriptions.  One part of that is something mentioned several times during this description.  At different points during the description, Moses was told to make sure that when these were built they were made according to the pattern or plan which he had been shown.  Which suggests that there existed an eternal version after which these are patterned.  Another reason we should read these descriptions is to learn that we should record how we worship God in our congregations so that those who come after have a model they can look at to do so themselves.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 25-27.

I want to focus on the fact that God told Moses to build the Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according the pattern which God was about to show him.  This supports the idea written about by the writer of Hebrews that the Tabernacle built by the Israelites was modeled on a Tabernacle which exists in heaven.  The materials described here as being used to build the Tabernacle are those available to the Israelites in the Sinai desert which would most closely mimic the heavenly materials used in the heavenly Tabernacle while being practical for human beings who had to be constantly prepared to move.

Every time I read this passage I am struck by the fact that God instructed Moses to only accept the donations from those whose hearts led them to give, and that he was instructed to accept donations from everyone whose heart led them to give.  That instruction gives me thoughts about how we should finance the buildings we use in worshiping and serving God, and their décor.  Such projects should be financed by those whom God gives a desire to donate for them.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 25-27.

So, when God gave Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, the place for the Israelites to worship God, He told Moses to accept offerings from everyone whose heart prompted them to give any of the items needed to build it (which God then listed for Moses).  We learn from this that giving for our place of worship should be both voluntary and according to the way in which God’s Spirit prompts us.   Really, all of our giving to charity should be voluntary and according to the prompt of the Holy Spirit.  We do not satisfy God’s direction to give by paying taxes, not even if those taxes are used to aid the poor.

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

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 25-27.

The detailed description of the Tabernacle and its furnishings contained in today’s passage carries little meaning for me.  However, there are a few things in this passage I want to highlight.  We will see if I get to them all.

First, I want to highlight that the donations for the building of the Tabernacle were purely voluntary.  People donated whatever their heart prompted them to give.  Second, and completely unrelated, Moses was shown a pattern for building the Tabernacle in addition to being given specific instructions.  I have always wondered if that pattern was an image of what the Tabernacle should look like, or something more like a blueprint (or a modern clothing pattern).

The final thing I want to look at is the description of the Tabernacle lamp stand, also known as a menorah.  Now, despite knowing that the description here referred to it as a lamp stand, I have always pictured it as a candelabra.  This is partly because every modern reproduction I have seen is a candelabra and not a lamp stand.  However, realizing that it is a lamp stand lends more significance to the command to set the lamps up to light the area in front of the menorah.  Candles give out light in all directions, but lamps, depending on the design, may give out more light in some directions than another.  I have no idea if there is any significance to this, other than that Moses was instructed to make sure the lamps were placed to light the area in front of the menorah, but it feels like there is.  It feels like the idea that the backside of the menorah was in shadow is significant.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 25-27.

This is one of those passages which I struggle to find something to write about because I just don’t find the detailed description of how something would be built/look like very interesting.  However, it is important that it be here so that we can the significance of symbolism used elsewhere in the Bible.  Without the detailed description of the construction of the Tabernacle here we would not fully comprehend the description of the curtain in the Temple which tore in half when Jesus died.  Which brings me to the thing which I truly noticed for the first time today.  God told Moses, and by implication the high priests, that He would speak to them from between the two cherubim which made up the atonement cover of the Ark.  I had known sort of known that God did this, but never noticed that He explicitly said that He would.