The Table for Bread

Story:  The Table for Bread

Passage: Exodus 25:23-30

Characters:  God, Moses

Summary:    God gives Moses instructions for the Table for Bread. 

  

Notes:  Moses was to build a table.  Like the ark, the table was to be made from acacia wood.  It was to be overlaid with pure gold and have a gold molding around it.  It would have legs but it would also be carried with poles.  It seems that like the ark, the table was not to be touched.  Everything would be overlaid with gold.  The plates and dishes and bowls for the table were also to be made of gold.  At the end of the passage we see what the table is actually for.  The bread of the Presence is to be on the table regularly.  God was now symbolizing His presence through bread.  This obviously is paralleled when Christ calls Himself the Bread of Life. 

Questions:  Why acacia wood?

Lessons:  The table was to be used to hold the bread of the Presence.  Once again, it is to be overlaid in gold.  Once again, God’s priority for the items of the tabernacle is the items which symbolize His presence.  Today, the Bread of Life lives in us.  God’s is always present.  We may not have a golden table to show it, but we have the Holy Spirit.

The Ark of the Covenant

Story:  The Ark of the Covenant

Passage: Exodus 25:10-22

Characters:  God, Moses

Summary:    God gives Moses instructions for the Ark of the Covenant. 

  

Notes:  The Ark of the Covenant is an interesting article.  It is the first item which God gives directions to build.  The purpose of the Ark is found in verse 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 testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”  This was to be where God presided.  The Ark was to be a physical object designed to show God’s presence and His holiness.  The ark was to be made from acacia wood, but overlaid in gold.  The entire thing would be covered in gold.  This would be an incredibly beautiful and precious item!  It appears that God saw gold as the metal which best captures His holiness.  Even though the ark would be made of wood, it would be covered with gold.  It was to be fairly simple.  It was a golden box with a golden lid.  The mercy seat is where we started seeing some intricacy.  There were to be two golden cherubim made of a single piece of gold as the lid of the Ark.  Their wings were to overshadow the Ark and their faces were to face the center.  God said He would meet them from the middle of the mercy seat.  These heavenly worshippers were facing the center and worshipping.  The lid is called the mercy seat.  I don’t know exactly why it is called that, but I suspect it is because mercy has to be involved whenever God directly interacts with humanity.  This was the seat where He would show mercy to Israel.  This is the first indication of how much mercy is an aspect of God’s character!  The first item He wants built for the tabernacle is one which directly represents His presence.  There are three main concepts which He wants portrayed with this Ark: holiness, worship, and mercy.  I find that incredible!  God was going to make Himself present to imperfect Israel and the attributes He wanted portrayed in His presence were holiness, worship, and mercy.  One other aspect of the ark is that Israel was instructed to place their testimony in the Ark.  God wanted this item for His presence to contain proof of His presence.  He would provide testimony of His presence and this belonged in the Ark.  The Ark is referred to as both the Ark of the Covenant, and the Ark of the Testimony.

Questions:  Why was everything overlaid in gold?  Why was the Ark to be carried with poles?

Lessons:  Holiness, worship, and mercy are the focus of the Ark of the Covenant.  Take some time to just think about why God would choose these things to communicate through the Ark of the Testimony.

Contributions for the Sanctuary

Story:  Contributions for the Sanctuary

Passage: Exodus 25:1-9

Characters:  God, Moses

Summary:    God tells Moses to take a collection of materials for the Tabernacle.

  

Notes:  At first glance, we are entering a boring part of the Bible.  Who really cares about all the dimensions and materials of a temple or tabernacle?  In reality, this is a really powerful section of the Bible.  The God of the universe has decided to dwell among humanity.  He can represent this any way He wants and He chose to symbolize His presence with a tabernacle.  Every detail of this tabernacle was laid out by God Himself.  Thus, the design shows us what was important enough to the God of the Universe to include in the symbol of His dwelling among Israel.  I am going to try to dig deep and try to learn about God’s character and plans for humanity based on what He specifically wanted in this sanctuary.  This passage just sets up the design by giving us a list of materials that would be needed for the tabernacle.  This is not a random material list; God has chosen specific colors and materials for His sanctuary.  God warns Moses to make the tabernacle and its furniture exactly like God says.  This is an important deal to God, so it should be to us as well. 

Questions:  The ESV calls for goatskins.  This possibly means dolphin skin or dugong skins.  What type of skin is this?  Why did God want Israel to build a tabernacle?  Why did God choose the materials He asked for?  Why did God choose blue, scarlet, and purple threads?

Lessons:   This is a big deal! Israel just made a covenant with God and God is going to dwell among them in a way that they can physically sense.  He has chosen to show His glory through a tabernacle.  When you think about it for a little bit, you can see how informative and important His description of the tabernacle will be! We need to be careful not to just discount parts of the Bible that don’t appear to pertain to us.  The entire Bible can teach us about the character of God.  

The Covenant Confirmed

Story:  The Covenant Confirmed

Passage: Exodus 24

Characters:  God, Israel, Israel’s leaders

Summary:    God has Moses and Israel’s leaders come close to the mountain and He shows Himself to them.  Moses reads the law to the nation and they commit to follow it.  Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God. 

  

Notes:  God requested that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu along with seventy elders come up to the Lord to worship Him.  This is a pivotal moment in Israel’s history and God wanted to make His covenant with all the leadership of Israel.  These were to be the leaders of Israel over the coming years.  Before they approached the mountain, Moses read the law to the people of Israel.  The people answered in unity that they would do everything the Lord told them to do.  Moses wrote down the law and then set up an altar and twelve pillars.  This represented the twelve tribes of Israel under the leadership of God.  Moses had young men sacrifice oxen to the Lord and half of the blood was poured on the altar.  Blood is hugely significant in the covenant we make with God.  This is because blood represents life.  Our covenant with God is one of sacrificing our life and accepting His life.  Moses once again read the words of the law to the people of Israel and once again they promised to obey.  Moses threw the other half of the blood on the people and declared it the blood of the covenant the Lord made with Israel.  Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went up and saw God standing on a clear sapphire floor.  God spared them and let them see this vision of Him.  The passage says they beheld God, and ate and drank.  This was not a purely spiritual experience; there was a physical aspect to it as well.  Moses was summoned up the mountain by God to receive the stone tablets with the law.  Moses and Joshua approached the mountain.  Apparently, Joshua was allowed to accompany Moses.  This is rthe first we hear of Joshua in the Bible.  Joshua was not one of Israel’s leaders at this point, he was Moses’ assistant.  When Moses left, he put Aaron and Hur in charge.  I don’t know who Hur was, but obviously Moses respected his wisdom and leadership.  Moses entered the mountain and waited.  He waited six days and on the seventh day, God called Him into the cloud.  The glory of the Lord is described as a devouring fire on top of the mountain.  Moses was in the presence of God for forty days and nights. 

Questions:  What did Moses eat for forty days?  Did the people think he had died?  Why was Joshua allowed to accompany Moses?  Why did God require blood for the covenant?

Lessons:   This is a huge moment.  This is possibly Israel’s highest point.  They are given the law and they respond positively.  They make a covenant with God and their leaders see God.  This is a moment where God comes down to Earth and meets His bride, Israel.  His holiness and glory required that His primary interaction with Israel was through a priest.  Today, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and sometimes this very personal connection to the God of the universe makes us forget that holiness and power and we take our relationship with God for granted.  We need to remember that God is holy and powerful and we are only able to connect with Him through the blood of the new covenant shed by the perfect Lamb of God.