Tag: Exodus 38

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 38:21–40:38: Abomination of desolation vs. glory of habitation

"The Tabernacle in the Wilderness," Holman Bible, 1890
"The Tabernacle in the Wilderness," The Holy Bible. Illustration. Public domain (U.S.). Philadelphia, Penn.: A.J. Holman & Company, 1890. Via BreadSite.org.

During the course of Israel’s settlements in the wilderness and later in the Promised Land, God’s name rested on several places, including Shiloh and later Jerusalem. The Tabernacle was never desecrated by outside forces but it’s worship was compromised from the outside in.

The Temple, in Jerusalem, on the other hand, was sacked several times by corrupt kings as well as foreign invaders. Sometimes, God blessed the dedications of His temples with a visible sign of His Divine Presence, sometimes he did not. In the Torah reading פקודי Pekudei (“countings,” Exodus 38:21–40:38), we will look at how and why God did or did not visibly show His presence when the various Tabernacles and Temples were dedicated or rededicated through Israel’s history.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 35:1–38:20: A weekly reminder from Messiah Yeshua to ‘enter His rest’

"We would not buy it of them on the sabbath." (Nehemiah 10:31)
Public domain drawing posted on TheBibleRevival.com: "We would not buy it of them on the sabbath." (Nehemiah 10:31)

We don’t want to get into the trap of making God’s rules rote and mechanical, rather than considering His counsel something that is deep in the heart and coming out in our actions. That’s what’s behind the Torah reading Vayak’hel (“and he assembled,” Exodus 35:1–38:20). The focus on the seventh-day Sabbath and construction of the Tabernacle are closely connected to Messiah Yeshua and the Spirit of God.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 37-38: Design of the Ark of the Testimony and furniture of Tabernacle holy places

What does all this architectural and interior design detail of the Tabernacle and its furniture mean? What is God showing us? How does this involve us personally? There is a physical building and objects, but every detail is a picture of spiritual reality and the transformation God wants to do in each of us. and it holds lots of meaning. Each item had a function, as does each person in God’s dwelling place — His people.

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Torah

Does ‏אלף ’elef mean ‘thousand’ or ‘clan’ in Exodus and Numbers?

Some have asserted that the huge numbers of people listed in various places in Exodus and Numbers are impossible or unlikely for a number of real-world reasons. Those include lack of mention of such big numbers in Egyptian and other secular accounts, archaeological estimates of populations at the time, food supply and other logistics for such huge numbers during the Exodus, number of years Israel was in Egypt, smaller numbers mentioned in the Bible hundreds of years later, trepidation of Israel to invade the Land despite having huge army, etc.

Rather than exegesis — a critical examination of a text from the text — this is eisegesis — a critical examination of a text from considerations outside the text.

What follows is a close study of the numbers listed in Numbers 1 (cf. Ex. 12:37 and 38:26), the pattern for which is used in following chapters and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. The plain reading of the text is that the Hebrew word אלף ’elef (Strong’s lexicon No. 505) means “thousand,” rather than “clan,” “chief,” or “group.”

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Discussions Torah

Second witness of instructions for building the Tabernacle (Exodus 38-40)

The people of Israel being making the different parts of the Tabernacle in Exodus 38-39. In Exodus 40, the people assemble the Tabernacle with Moses handling the final touches. The book of Exodus ends with God’s signaling His approval of the work of the people’s hands by visibly dwelling within the Tabernacle.