Exodus 25:1–27:19: How thankful are we for our Savior?

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“…God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” (1John 5:11 NASB)

How thankful are we our Savior freed us from our old way of life far off from the Kingdom of Heaven? After generations of bondage in Egypt, ancient Israel was sent into freedom with all kinds of material wealth. In the Torah reading תרומה Terumah (“heave offering,” Exodus 25:1-27:19), the Holy One Who freed the people asks for contributions to build the Tabernacle, a special embassy between Heaven and Earth. Through these lessons of returning some of the blessings we receive, we get clued into the great gift we’ve been given through Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ).

In this reading, we also learn about cherubim, which we also see in Ezekiel and Revelation, and explore whether images of them in the Tabernacle are idolatry.

What are cherubim?

כְּרוּבִים k’roobim (Strong’s lexicon No. H3742): The derivation of this Hebrew word is unknown. Yet in Akkadian, an ancient Semitic language, “karibu/kuribu refers to an intercessor. Examples of winged throne bearers are found throughout the [Ancient Near East].”¹

A cherub is a guard or protector. Some have a lion like face, as recorded in Ezekiel. But others have the face of an eagle, calf or a man. They also have multiple sets of wings. Their job is to guard and protect and they focus their attention on the palm trees, which represent the righteous. The duty of the cherub are to protect the righteous. We don’t know which face the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant possessed.

They also were represented on the curtains around the Holy Place of the Tabernacle.

Where did they get the trees to build the Ark? 

In the days the Scriptures were written, the Middle East was heavily forested. When the Scriptures talk about the “wilderness” that is a Hebrew word for forest. Centuries of habitation and deforestation radically changed the landscape.

What is a contribution? 

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.” (Exodus 25:1–2 NASB)

The Lord honors free will. Psalm 24 tells us that the entire earth belongs to God. There’s nothing tangible in the universe that doesn’t belong to God. God doesn’t care if we give him a piece of gold, a rock or a piece of cloth, or a flower. To God, it’s the heart of the giver that He wants to affirm. It isn’t the object that God is affirming, it’s the heart and their willingness to give that He wants.

When you give something to the poor, you are simply taking something that already belongs to God and passing it along to that person. Even when we give our love and compassion to someone, we are simply passing along something that God already owns to that person.

Moses is the person who is in need when it comes to collecting this offering. He is taking up an offering on God’s behalf for God’s tabernacle.

When the people of Israel left Egypt, they were instructed by God to gather up the wealth of Egypt and took it with them. They didn’t know the purpose for it at the time, but they gathered Egypt’s wealth and took it with them into the wilderness.

When the people of Israel arrived at Sinai, they told God, “Everything You have said, we will do.” Now they had an opportunity to keep that oath.

“And you shall make for me according to all that I show you on the mountain—the pattern of the tent and the pattern of all its furnishings. So you shall make.” (Exodus 25:8 New English Translation of the Septuagint)

There’s a difference between the gift of the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1–3) versus the “gift” of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11). Even though Ananias and Sapphira’s gift was far more valuable, their hearts were not in the gift, their hearts were bound up in the adulation they thought they would receive by the people for it. The widow’s mite had little monetary value but her heart was fully and completely in that gift and God cherished her gift.

We don’t know everything God showed to Moses on Sinai. We do know what Ezekiel and the Apostle John saw, though.

“And I looked, and behold, a rising wind was coming out of the north, and a great cloud was in it, and radiance was all around it and fire flashing forth, and in the middle of it was something like a sight of electrum in the middle of the fire, and radiance was in it. And in the middle was something like a likeness of four living beings, and this was their appearance: a human likeness was upon them, and one had four faces, and one had four wings. And their legs were straight, and their feet were winged, and there were sparks like flashing bronze, and their wings were nimble. And a human hand was underneath their wings on their four parts, and the faces of the four were not veering when they were going. Each was moving opposite their face. And as for the resemblance of their faces: there was a face of a human, and the four had a face of a lion on the right, and the four had a face of a calf on the left, and the four had a face of an eagle. And the four had their wings, stretched out above. Each had two adjoined to each other, and two were covering up over their body. And each was moving according to its face. Wherever was the spirit as it moved, they were moving and were not veering. And in the middle of the living beings was an appearance like burning coals of fire, as the look of torches coming together between the living beings, and a radiance of the fire, and lightning was issuing from the fire.” (Ezekiel 1:4–13 New English Translation of the Septuagint)

Faces of the cherubim

There are differences between the visions of Moses, Ezekiel and the Apostle John, such as the fact that Ezekiel saw four cherubim, not two. We also know that God doesn’t live in a box, even though God gave very detailed instructions on how the ark was to be made, covered, and maintained.

The Ark of the Covenant Moses commissioned is transported by four men who carry it with poles. When you carry something, your legs and feet are moving, your arms are not moving. When carrying a box like this, everyone always faces forward. Any movements to the left or right must be done in unison with careful coordination.

The Ark of the Covenant does not contain God. It contains the 10 Commandments, which are the “headlines” of the entire Torah. The 10 Commandments represents the entire Torah. On top of the ark is the “judgement seat” which represents God sitting on His word. When God judges someone or something, He is judging it based on His own word.

The ark also contained Aaron’s almond wood staff, which had sprouted after a group of insurgents rejected Aaron’s leadership and wanted to usurp it. The almonds represents God’s eyes and that He can see anything and anyone at any time from the very beginning to the very end. There’s nothing that escapes God’s sight. God chose Aaron and He chose Messiah Yeshua.

We do not stand in front of God’s judgement seat alone, because God chose Messiah Yeshua to stand with us. What God gives at His judgement seat is mercy.

What is an idol? 

Anything you put above God, including a person, an inanimate object or even an idea can be an idol. What does it mean to idolize someone? It means that you lift something or someone higher than their station. The Creator is greater than everything. There aren’t multiple gods; there is only one God.

The cherubim on the mercy seat or on the curtains are not idols. God gave them a place in His tabernacle, but they are not above Him.

Lifting something that God has made above its set station or disgracing it and debasing it are both evil in God’s sight. God tells us many times in His word that the creation is never above its Creator.

The 24 elders

Revelation 4:1-1 gives us more information about God’s throne. God’s throne is not by itself. It is surrounded by others, including the 24 elders.

What represents the 24 elders in Moses’ Tabernacle? The 24 elders in Revelation are spirit, not flesh and blood. They did not need salvation.

These elders wield authority because they are wearing crowns. Why do they need the lamb’s blood? These are spirits who are already living at God’s throne.

The 24 elders are connected somehow to the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles. The 12 tribes were camped in four groups around the Tabernacle, and the Tabernacle had a table of in the Holy Place with 12 loaves on it, representing the tribes of Israel. They are the spiritual representatives of these men and wield their authority. Even though some of the patriarchs and apostles screwed up very badly, their spiritual representatives still stand before God on their behalf.

Who they represent are what is redeemed.

Mixing linen and wool

The Torah forbids the common people from wearing any mixture of linen and wool, yet the high priest outfit was made with layers of wool and linen. According to the Torah, only God’s tabernacle and God’s priests can wear a mix of linen and wool. Just as Torah tells us not to use the sacred incense recipe for personal use (Exodus 30:37–38), we are not to use God’s garments for personal use, either.

Just as the cherubim surround and guard God’s heavenly Tabernacle, the Levites and priests surrounded and guarded the physical Tabernacle (Numbers 3).

“Blessed are you, Lord our God, who separates the holy from the common.”

Summary: Tammy

Banner Photo: A cherubim icon painting from a Russian Orthodox icon-painting workshop, photo by Иконописная мастерская Елеон

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