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Discussions Torah

Exodus: From dwelling in bondage to dwelling with God

If we can choose just one word to summarize the book of Exodus, it’s reconciliation. God used Moshe (Moses) to bring the descendants of Israel out of Egypt to be His people. Even after the golden calf was made, God still wanted to reconcile to His people Israel, and Israel wanted to reconcile to Him. The people of Israel were willing to give much to be reconciled to Him to the point that Moshe had to tell the children of Israel to stop giving because the coffers were overflowing with gifts. They wanted Him to dwell with them.

God said through Paul that He began a good work in us. God will complete the good work. We are to be living stones. We will surround the Creator of Heaven and Earth and His Son, Yeshua (Jesus) the Mashiakh (Messiah). There will be no temple there, because the temple will be there all the time. The only temple will be the people He saved.

God ultimately used the Messiah to reconcile the world to Himself, no longer recognizing their transgressions. A clean slate, it’s all new. He doesn’t pay attention to our sins, transgressions and iniquities. We are to be ambassadors to reconcile people to God.

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Discussions Torah

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

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.

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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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Discussions Torah

Exodus 35-36: A rested development of God’s House

Exodus 35-36 is a repetition of the previous chapter about the design of the Tabernacle. It doesn’t emphasize the size or measurements of the Tabernacle, but the finer details. These chapters are all about the work or nonwork in the context of building God’s Tabernacle.

When the people of Israel passed the second test, by being patient while Moses was on the mountain for the second 40 day period, they were ready to start building the Tabernacle. Do we wait for God to work on our hearts before the rest of God’s work for us to be “built” as God’s temples?

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 34: Moshe gets to know God personally while getting the replacement tablets of the commandments

Some commentators believe God was angry at Moses for breaking those tablets with the 10 Commandments, but I don’t believe so. When Moses broke the tablets, Moses was simply acknowledging the fact that the people had already broken the covenant that just 40 days earlier they had promised to uphold when they said, “What you say, we will do.” So it was appropriate for Moses to break those tablets. But it was also appropriate that the tablets had to be remade.

Moses had a friendship with God that His contemporaries did not have. Paul says that thanks to Yeshua, we can approach God without a veil.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 33: How do we find favor in God’s sight?

The events in Exodus 33 were a direct consequence of the golden calf in Exodus 32. After that incident, God commanded Moshe (Moses) to move his personal tent outside the camp where the people of Israel were camping. God is a gentleman. When He is not wanted, he leaves.

Moshe was a “shadow,” a teaching representation, of God; and Aharon (Aaron), of God’s Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus).

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 31-32: Golden calf and its aftermath

The golden calf is synonymous with syncretism and rebellion against God. This incident profoundly shaped how Israel developed as a nation and how it devolved into two nations later. It also shows us how a small, powerful minority can change the character of a nation and indelibly mark it for good or bad.