ctrl) and (+) magnifies screen if type too small.              me         quotes             scripture verse             footnotes       Words of Jesus      Links


   2/20/11

 Exodus 25-27

Offerings for the Tabernacle (Ex 35.4—9)

Exodus 25:1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give … whose hearts prompt them … Do you think the desire of God’s heart (metaphorically speaking), desires that our hearts respond to God first and foremost with gratitude? Does gratitude imply acknowledgment? There is much pain and sorrow in this world, and what is the source? There is much beauty, kindness, tenderness in this world. Do you think humanity in and of itself is the source? Do you think God is concerned with the musings of our hearts? you shall receive the offering for me. 3 This is the offering that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen, goats’ hair, 5 tanned rams’ skins, fine leather, acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. … And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them.… Did God need a sanctuary? Was the purpose of the sanctuary to remind the people of God’s presence? If that is true, what are the implications for today’s church? Can a Christian pass through life and live the same life as those who do not respond to God’s goodness? What do you think a response to God’s goodness looks like? Remember what Jesus said in Mat 5:45. “NIV … that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” 9 In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

The Ark of the Covenant  (Ex 37.1—9)

10 They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make a molding of gold upon it all around. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry the ark. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 You shall put into the ark the covenant that I shall give you.

17 Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other; of one piece with the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim at its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings. They shall face one to another; the faces of the cherubim shall be turned toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all my commands for the Israelites.

The Table for the Bread of the Presence  (Ex 37.10—16)

23 You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. 24 You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a molding of gold around it. 25 You shall make around it a rim a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. 26 You shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27 The rings that hold the poles used for carrying the table shall be close to the rim. 28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. 29 You shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. 30 And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me always.

The Lampstand  (Ex 37.17—24)

31 You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its cups, its calyxes, and its petals shall be of one piece with it; 32 and there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33 three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand itself there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyxes and petals.

35 There shall be a calyx of one piece with it under the first pair of branches, a calyx of one piece with it under the next pair of branches, and a calyx of one piece with it under the last pair of branches—so for the six branches that go out of the lampstand. 36 Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it one hammered piece of pure gold. 37 You shall make the seven lamps for it; and the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. 38 Its snuffers and trays shall be of pure gold. 39 It, and all these utensils, shall be made from a talent of pure gold. 40 And see that you make them according to the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.

The Tabernacle  (Ex 36.8—38)

Exodus 26:1 Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and crimson yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be of the same size. 3 Five curtains shall be joined to one another; and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. 4 You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 You shall make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6 You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be one whole.

7 You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains. 8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall be of the same size. 9 You shall join five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent. 10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.

11 You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and join the tent together, so that it may be one whole. 12 The part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13 The cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it. 14 You shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and an outer covering of fine leather.

The Framework

15 You shall make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the width of each frame. 17 There shall be two pegs in each frame to fit the frames together; you shall make these for all the frames of the tabernacle. 18 You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side; 19 and you shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under the first frame for its two pegs, and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs; 20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames, 21 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame; 22 and for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames. 23 You shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear; 24 they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring; it shall be the same with both of them; they shall form the two corners. 25 And so there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.

26 You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 27 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 28 The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall pass through from end to end. 29 You shall overlay the frames with gold, and shall make their rings of gold to hold the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold. 30 Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.

The Curtain

31 You shall make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, which have hooks of gold and rest on four bases of silver. 33 You shall hang the curtain under the clasps, and bring the ark of the covenant in there, within the curtain; and the curtain shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. 35 You shall set the table outside the curtain, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table; and you shall put the table on the north side.

36 You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework. 37 You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

The Altar of Burnt Offering  (Ex 38.1—7)

Exodus 27:1 You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and it shall be three cubits high. 2 You shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 You shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net shall extend halfway down the altar. 6 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze; 7 the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8 You shall make it hollow, with boards. They shall be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

The Court and Its Hangings  (Ex 38.9—20)

9 You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for that side; 10 its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. 11 Likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, their pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. 12 For the width of the court on the west side there shall be fifty cubits of hangings, with ten pillars and ten bases. 13 The width of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. 14 There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on the one side, with three pillars and three bases. 15 There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on the other side, with three pillars and three bases. 16 For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework; it shall have four pillars and with them four bases. 17 All the pillars around the court shall be banded with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twisted linen and bases of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

The Oil for the Lamp  (Lev 24.1—4)

20 You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.


  Devotionals, Videos and more ...

American Minute
     by Bill Federer


A Colonel during the Revolutionary War, he fought in the battles of Long Island and Saratoga, built the fortifications at Breed’s Hill and commanded the Colonial Militia at the Battle of Bunker Hill. His name was William Prescott and he was born this day, February 20, 1726. When the British blockaded the Boston harbor, William Prescott wrote to the city’s inhabitants: “Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock… We… must sink or swim together…. Let us… stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And may He… grant us deliverance.”

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.


Proverbs
     by D.H. Stern

Proverbs 19:1-2

Better to be poor and live one’s life uprightly
than engage in crooked speech,
     for such a one is a fool.

To act without knowing how you function
     is not good;
and if you rush ahead, you will miss your goal.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
My Utmost For The Highest
     by Oswald Chambers

The initiative against drudgery

Arise, shine. --- Isaiah 60:1. .

     We have to take the first step as though there were no God. It is no use to wait for God to help us, He will not; but immediately we arise we find He is there. Whenever God inspires, the initiative is a moral one. We must do the thing and not lie like a log. If we will arise and shine, drudgery becomes divinely transfigured.

     Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Drudgery is work that is very far removed from anything to do with the ideal—the utterly mean, grubby things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real. Read John 13; we see there the Incarnate God doing the most desperate piece of drudgery, washing fishermen’s feet, and He says—“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” It requires the inspiration of God to go through drudgery with the light of God upon it. Some people do a certain thing, and the way in which they do it hallows that thing for ever afterwards. It may be the most commonplace thing, but after we have seen them do it, it becomes different. When the Lord does a thing through us, He always transfigures it. Our Lord took on Him our human flesh and transfigured it, and it has become for every saint the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest


The New Mariner
     the Poetry of R.S. Thomas


     The New Mariner
In the silence
that is his chosen medium
of communication and telling
others about it
in words. Is there no way
not to be the sport
of reason? For me now
there is only the God-space
into which I send out
my probes. I had looked forward
to old age as a time
of quietness, a time to draw
my horizons about me,
to watch memories ripening
in the sunlight of a walled garden.
But there is the void
over my head and the distance
within that the tireless signals
come from. And astronaut
on impossible journeys
to the far side of the self
I return with messages
I cannot decipher, garrulous
about them, worrying the car
of the passer-by, hot on his way
to the marriage of plain fact
     with plain fact.

 R.S. Thomas The Poems of R.S. Thomas , (Fayettesville: University of Arkansas Press), 1985 .

Swimming in the sea of the Talmud:
     Rabbis

     In the text of a play, before the very first scene, a list of players, the dramatis personae, is presented. We are thus introduced to the heroes (and villains) who will populate the drama. By scanning this roster of roles, we learn if we are dealing with kings or clowns, and we get a first impression of the world that we are about to enter. The dramatis personae of the Talmud are almost entirely rabbis. That might lead us—mistakenly—to the conclusion that we are dealing with clergymen (and women) who are spiritual leaders of synagogues and temples and who “run” Sabbath and holiday services. What the Talmud meant by “Rabbi” is quite different from our contemporary meaning of the term.

     The title “Rabbi” (or rah-bee as it is pronounced in Hebrew) comes from a root word meaning “great.” (In Babylonia, a slightly different title with the same meaning evolved; there, the Rabbis were called Rav.) During the period of the Talmud, one did not receive the title Rabbi by enrolling in a rabbinical seminary and completing a fixed course of study. It was conveyed upon a man by his teacher after having studied for a significant period of time. Ordination was often accompanied by semikhah, a ceremonial “laying on of the hands.” A Rabbi could then decide religious questions and, with additional training, could serve as a judge in civil cases.

     In this book, the term “the Rabbis” (capitalized) refers to the sages mentioned in the Talmud.

     There was no such thing as a “professional rabbinate” during talmudic times. Rabbis received no salaries; they were not employed by synagogues. The Rabbis were men of great learning but people who had professions in which they worked and earned their livelihood. We find Rabbis who did everything from being a blacksmith to brewing and selling beer.

     Sometimes, Rabbis gave public sermons or lectures on Shabbat on the most basic issues of Jewish law and ethics. Other times, they debated and argued among themselves, in the study houses, on the most complex and arcane of legal subjects. They were the ones to whom people now turned in trying to understand what God wanted of them.

     Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai is the most significant figure in the generation following the destruction of the Temple. He moved the seat of power from Jerusalem to the town of Yavneh. He attracted other great teachers and together they studied and taught the Torah and then began to build a new religion out of the ashes of the old. The synagogue came to take the place of the Temple; prayer took the place of sacrifice.

     The Rabbis of the next five generations (spanning approximately one hundred fifty years) came to be known as the Tannaim (from the Aramaic word “repeaters,” because they memorized, repeated, and passed on the traditions). It was their work which ultimately culminated in the Mishnah.

     Babylonia was already a major center of Jewish life, rivaling Israel. Beginning in the third century, rabbinic study houses began to flourish there. The Rabbis in Babylonia began to study and expand on the Mishnah in the same way that Rabbis in Israel did. These teachers in the post-Mishnaic period, in both Babylonia and Israel, were known as the Amoraim (Aramaic for “explainers”).

     Some time in the early fifth century in Israel, the record of the teachings and discussions of the Amoraim based on, but not limited to, the Mishnah were gathered and edited and became known as the Gemara. The same process occurred in Babylonia a century or two later. Some time between the sixth and the seventh centuries, a new work appeared: Made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it came to be known as the Talmud.

 Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

Take Heart
     by Diana Wallis

And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. --- Luke 22:32

     Peter has gone astray, and he has been brought back. He must have staggered the faith of the weaker disciples—Peter, who had been such a leader among them, was among the first to deny his Lord. Therefore, Peter, you must build what you have thrown down and bind up what you have torn! Go and tell these people how foolish and weak you were. Warn them not to imitate your example. Be more bold than anybody else, that you may in some measure undo the mischief that you have done.

     Any of you who have been cold toward the Lord, you have wasted months, even years, in backsliding. Try to recover lost ground. If people have been staggered by your backsliding, look after them, try to bring them back and strengthen them. Ask their pardon and beg them to recover the strength of which you helped to rob them. This is the least that you can do. If almighty love has drawn you back, lay yourself out to do good to those who may have been harmed by your turning aside. Am I asking more of you than simple justice demands?

     How can you better express your gratitude to God than by strengthening your weak brothers and sisters when you have been strengthened yourself? If God has restored our souls and made us strong again, then we ought to renew our zeal for the salvation of others. We ought to have a special eye to backsliders like us.

     This becomes our duty because it is a part of the divine design. Let us never imagine that God’s grace is given to us simply with an eye to ourselves. Grace neither begins nor ends with us. When God saved you, he did not save you for your own sake but for his own name’s sake, that he might through you show his mercy to others. We are windows through which the light of heavenly knowledge is to shine on multitudes of eyes. The light is not for the windows themselves but for those to whom it comes through the windows.

     If we have been restored let us look after our weak brothers and sisters, showing zeal for the honor and glory of our Lord. When we went astray we dishonored Christ. If others go astray they will do the same. Let us be watchful that we may prevent their being as foolish as we have been. Let us learn tenderness from our own experience and feel a deep concern for other believers.      --- C. H. Spurgeon

 Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers (27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

Teacher's Commentary by L.O. Richards
     Commentary

     The events reported in Exodus through Deuteronomy tell of Israel’s redemption from Egypt. And they give us a portrait of our own redemption from sin. In the early chapters of the Book of Exodus, we’ve seen several key truths.

     We have a deep need for redemption. As Israel was in slavery, so all men are lost and powerless under the sway of sin.

     Only God’s action can deliver. God had to intervene in acts of power to break the authority of Pharaoh over Israel. God Himself had to intervene, in Jesus Christ, to save us.

     New life emerges from death: the Lamb must die. The Passover lamb’s blood on the door protected Israel from the death angel. It is the blood of Christ, shed for the sins of the world, which provides our salvation.

     Our new life is to be marked by a holiness we do not have. Israel’s response to God after deliverance demonstrated her need for standards and for a clear revelation of God’s expectations. God is concerned about our righteousness as well: we are called to bear the image of His Son. The standard revealed in words in the Law has been unveiled in person by Jesus.

     We fall short of the goal to which God calls us. The Law defined the pathway of love for Israel. At the same time it demonstrated conclusively that Israel fell short. The New Testament also defines, in terms of principles rather than rules, the pathway of love. A look into the New Testament shows that we, like Israel, fall short of being all that God calls us to be.

     These are central messages that God gave Israel in the events we’ve read about. Today the record of those events speaks the same messages to you and to me that were spoken to Israel. The last of these messages—the revelation that even after redemption we stand in need—launches us into an exciting segment of Scripture. God reminds us that we are a needy people. But He also gives us insight into the way He plans to meet that very need!

 Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

Where To Now
     Site Map


Magnify by Radiant First Productions



Video on Worship House Media


Around Here by Radiant First Productions



Video on Worship House Media



Fear by Animate The Word



Video on Worship House Media


Deny Yourself by Freshly Ground Productions



Video on Worship House Media



My Offering by Floodgate Productions



Video on Worship House Media



©Yukon Angel Productions