Tag: Exodus 40

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 35–40: Enter God’s rest before building His home

Everything in the Tabernacle is both functional and beautiful, just as the LORD made mankind at the beginning. God made humanity to appreciate beauty, because He appreciates beauty. But He doesn’t want us to worship beauty. Worship belongs to Him alone.

None of the components of the Tabernacle are identified by their looks but by their works — what they do. Humans also are primarily defined by their works, not their looks. We know who Yeshua is the Messiah, not by His looks but by His actions and how they align with the pattern shown Moshe on Mt. Sinai.

In the Torah reading ויקהל Vayakhel (“assembly,” Exodus 35:1–38:20), the people were united in their desire to build the Tabernacle for the LORD, assembling so many donations for it that Moses had to turn donations away. In the Torah reading פקודי Pekudei (“account,” Exodus 38:21–40:38), these donations are accounted for and used to create the Tabernacle. The section culminates in God entering His new home.

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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 39-40: Designs for the Tabernacle implements shows God has a place for each of us

Drawing from the book The Bible and Its Story (1908) written by Charles F. Horne & Julius August Brewer.

There is a lot of exactness described in Exodus 39-40 for the design of the furniture and implements of the Tabernacle of Israel. One lesson we can draw from this is every piece of furniture had its own exclusive place. Every item had its irreplaceable function in God’s house. We were all brought to God’s High Priest first. Yeshua the High Priest presented us to the Father. When God calls us to Himself, He calls us to our irreplaceable task too.

Another lesson from the directed precision is God trained the people to stay where He stayed and move when He moved.

Categories
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.