Of curtains, altars, rods and lamps... a study in Exodus 26-27

Introduction

 I’m not very handy. Compared to the members of Patty’s family, men and women alike, I’m just not in their league. I remember when we both graduated from university and one of our presents was a substantial gift of money to help us renovate our kitchen. We had longed for a serious upgrade to the cabinetry, to the wiring, to the whole flooring, well, the entire kitchen needed a makeover. And this was in the days before Renovation television shows, so we had to do it ourselves. Only my expertise is not in such renovations. So my wife’s uncle and father traveled each day for about an hour to our home to help me build and rebuild the kitchen.  This lasted over a week, and we got it done. It was a wonder that I didn’t die, doing rewiring and plugging things into the junction boxes and switching the lines a bit early. I got quite a jolt a time or two, but the men kept their patience and kept our lives. And our kitchen was finally redone.  All that to say-- unless a master carpenter or electrician is in the house, unless a craftsman is nearby-- a dream house begins to look like a sukkah, always leaning, always needing repair.

Bezalel and Oholiab were the two masters of the Tabernacle of Moses. They had the gift like my uncle and father-in-law. They were appointed to build the tent to the specifications God gave Moses on Mt Sinai. And today’s text gives us many more of those details. It is a bit cumbersome, that is, the details, so let us back out our lens a bit, and see the bigger picture of this structure and what God is saying to the Jewish people, and maybe to us in the 21^st Century as well.

God wanted Moses to build a worship center. This building was to be mobile, and it was to be precise. Each ring and pole had to be made just so. Each curtain had to be of certain colors and length. Even the width of the boxes of furniture had to measure exactly. This is not a job for an unhandy guy. I’m so glad God didn’t choose my ancestor to do the work. 

This worship center was a mirror of another, however. Remember in chapter 25 we read, ““And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.” (.40) In other words, the one blueprint that Moses received a couple chapters ago was really like another which is elsewhere. This heavenly tabernacle is not revealed to humanity until much later, in fact, not until the consummation of everything in the book of the Revelation, chapter 21. 

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the East of the US, there is a place where a Christian community has built the Tabernacle to the specs. They can do this because of the meticulous detail that God gives in this 15-chapter section of the book of Exodus.

Now today we see several major details of the overall worship center. We see the curtains, the altar where sacrifices would be offered, and the ner tamid, about which I want to speak later.

The curtains and the altar

Today we read of the 10 curtains to surround the place, including the veil to separate the Holy Place (sanctuary) from the Holy of Holies. Curtains of both fine linen and also curtains of goats’ hair. Fifty loops, fifty rings, the whole thing might appear to us as a giant shower curtain on the poles that are also described. The curtains (11 of them) for the roof were to be made of goats’ hair.

Then sockets, bars and boards to make the whole place manageable as the priests would have been working daily. The veil that would separate the holy ark and Holy of Holies was to be made of 

^“blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skilful workman.”

The plans called for a box to be built. This box is to be covered with bronze and netting. It was made of acacia wood, very common in the Sinai Peninsula and a hard wood, harder than oak. It also resisted insects quite well.  The box is called an altar and as such then would be useful in the sacrificial system, which had been prototyped, or hinted at, but had not yet been as developed as it would in the continuing chapters especially of Leviticus.

Sacrifice is a major part of the story of this worship center. Perhaps in modern days we think of stages and lights at a worship center. We think of offices and telephone lines. But in the old days, when God thought of worship, he thought of elaborate furniture, which was designed to teach the people about Him and about our relationship to Him.

The first piece of furniture to put into the tented and curtained structure was the altar. An altar is a place of sacrifice. It’s a place for blood. It’s not a sanitary place, it’s non-hygienic. It’s messy. It’s unnecessary for the modern worship center. How many of you have seen altars in synagogues or churches these days? No? Why not? It’s probably a matter of law, that you cannot butcher or slaughter an animal without a license or without a location of sanitation. But the Jewish people are given instructions primarily to make an altar to remind us of something.

That something is sin. 

We don’t like to talk about it in modern days. Karl Meninger, the great American psychiatrist, and founder of the Meninger Clinic, wrote a very unpopular book in the 70s titled, “Whatever became of sin?” His thesis was that all the psychobabble that was popular then, and has only increased to this day, dismissed a very real problem in clinical psychiatry. That problem was wrong-doing. In other words, what the Bible called ‘sin.’  People are responsible, Meninger argued, for their wrong-doing, and thus for the associated problems they experienced. He said when people look to the root of their problem and find their own errors, it would behoove them to acknowledge that and fix what they could. I say this theory was not popular among his peers. Evidence today is mounting in his favor, but too little too late for many.

Sin is still a major problem whether the medical community agrees or not. It was God’s idea from the beginning as He initiated a fix-it solution to the problem of disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve failed God and did their own thing.  God wanted them to admit their sin and to return to Him. He made an item of clothing for the first couple. Remember what it was? That’s right, a garment of skins. Animal skins that portended the sacrificial system which would come later. Sin is dealt with in sacrificing an animal. And blood is required. And blood is smelly and blood is messy. 

Animal rights people may not like this message. But I can live with folks not liking my message. I cannot live with God not liking my message. He wants us to know of our sin and the first piece of furniture in God’s building was to reflect this. It will cost Israel much to repair our relationship with God. We must admit our sin, we must acknowledge it and we have to see to it by killing animals and performing God’s commands. 

The courtyard and the one way in

Concerning the courtyard, we read the rectangular space design and think it seems reasonable. And it is. But one thing struck me in this reading. Verse 13 says,”Kaidma mizraha”

This expression, “to the east, to the sunrise,” seems redundant. The NASB translators don’t even put in the 2^nd thought. But as the day begins in the morning with the sun, so the Tabernacle is to ‘face’ to the east, with the entrance placed there. No other openings are allowed. This seems very surprising. If it’s for all Israel, if it’s to be a witness in the way of the presence of God, why are there not 2 or 5 or 10 doors? I believe this teaching of the ‘one way’ is to help us understand God’s plans for coming to Him. There are many peoples gathered outside the Tabernacle. There are 12 nations in one nation, but there is only one way to approach God. Each of us can have our own relationship with God, but each of us must come to God in the God-way, in the one way He declares. This doesn’t sound fair in this multicultural world of the 21^st Century, but it is what works in God’s economy. Fight it if you want, but you will lose.

The eternal lamp

Verses 20 and 21 teach us about the ner tamid This eternal light is the second most recognizable item in the Jewish religion after the menorah. Both are light bringers.

Where does the light come from? The Bible uses the phrase, “clear oil of beaten olives”…describe the process of beating. It is in the beaten olives that light emerges. Squeezed. Oppressed. Pounding. Imagine being an olive. Not that olives have emotions, but project with me, ok? You are growing on a tree, and you are happy. Your life seems full and then all of a sudden some madman, with a clippers takes you on. He collects you and then starts beating you in a vat. Along with other formerly happy olives. And in this squeezing and beating comes out some oil. In fact, much oil. 

In fact, the only way that oil comes out is for the olives to be damaged. It’s really their purpose to be damaged/beaten, and then to produce the precious oil. Their purpose is not to be growing, although without their growth they don’t achieve their full purpose. 

In fact, Yeshua had a purpose to come and to live and to die for us. He grew as a tender olive shoot (Isaiah 53), and yet his growth was not the purpose of his coming. He came to die.

Listen, when you have problems in your life, maybe your first thought ought to be ‘what is God doing in making oil to come out of me?” Squeeze me, Lord. Make something good come out of my life, in all my pain and in all my dilemmas. 

The oil was used to be a memory eternally. That is, every day, the priests would attend to the altar and to the lamp stand, trimming the wicks. The Bible will make this role clear in a few chapters, but for now, the oil is more significant.

Lessons learned

I believe we should see applications from our chapter today. 

1)    God’s way to Himself if opened for us in the cross of Yeshua and there is no other way to Him

2)    God will use troubles, real tsuris in our lives, to make oil by which others will see more clearly.

3)      God’s design needs to be followed in our building and in our living 

God is looking for a home... a study in Exodus 25

Introduction

House hunting is a lonely, cruel, disappointing enterprise. Oh, if you are wealthy and have no time limit as well as no funding limitations, then buying a place or renting a stable for your horses is as easy as telling Jeevz to go and fetch something. But if you are like the rest of us, hunting an apartment or a house for you, for your relatives, for your business… it’s a tough go out there. 

 

Contribution

We’ll get back to consider housing in a moment, but let’s look at the beginning of this 25^th chapter and recall a word from previous lessons. The Hebrew word is “lee” and means ‘to me’ or “for me”. It’s found again here twice, once as is, and once in construct form in verses 1 and 2, where we read, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.” The phrase “my contribution” stands out, doesn’t it? 

 

The contribution is for God, and then the contribution is his! Things done for God are significant; things that belong to God are even more significant, aren’t they?

 

What is included in the donation box? Gold and silver, of course. Remember, the children of Israel secured much of that from the Egyptian women (Ex. 3.22) as well as articles of clothing and fabric. All will be useful in the Tabernacle yet to be built. People brought everything to the elders, with gladness. The text says, “every man whose heart moves him.” That’s a powerful statement of willingness. The Jewish people had spoiled the Egyptians and any one of them could have kept all those goods for himself, but in gladness, the people knew that all they had belonged to God, and they willingly donated. That’s what donations and offerings should say of the donors.

 

Housing (part 2)

Verse eight tells us that God wanted a house, and he told the people that they should build a ‘mishkan’ (translate Tabernacle) where he could dwell (shochan).

The Mishkan is the place of dwelling. It’s not simply a religious centre or a shrine. It’s not a museum of historic significance. It’s not designed as a gallery of creative expression. It’s God’s house, and he wants it decorated according to a specific pattern. (.9, .40)

 

Furniture

The mishkan contained an ark (a box) with specifications for its length and width, some rings and poles by which it is to be carried. On the ark some artistic renderings of angels and even details about their wings. Of note is the phrase in verse 22, “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.”

 

Here we read that God wants three things: 1) to meet with the people, 2) to speak with the people, and 3) to give the people instructions. All at his house, and above the item rendered in many Bible translations as “the mercy seat.”

 

Compare your home

What happens at your home? You eat and sleep and visit others via zoom meetings. You decorate it with your own furniture and put down roots in veggie and flower gardens. You make it home. And there you meet with those closest to you. That’s what God wants with us, his people. 

 

In our days, we don’t have a single physical space where God wants to meet with us. Yeshua told us “when you pray, ^ago into your inner room or closet, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

 

Fantastic, isn’t it? We don’t need a singular tabernacle thousands of kilometres away where only the elect officers and priests can be with the Almighty. And where only Jewish people could surround. Here in Australia, and now our own room, our beach, our garden, our church can be a place where God ‘shochans’ with us. Where he dwells with us. The point of the story is not the where, but the who… It’s a place for him and a place for us. It’s about a relationship. 

 

God’s final house hunting

God is still looking for a home, since if I read the first Christian martyr Stephen’s testimony correctly, “The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says: ‘HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?’ says the Lord,” (Acts 7.48-49). 

 

Where is God’s house hunting leading him today? Through our missionaries and our entire staff, God is using our workers to find open hearts where Yeshua will live. He told his disciples on that Passover evening, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14.23) You will be his mishkan!

 

Please pray for us to find those open hearts and willing students who are going to be God’s house, who will in turn make disciples themselves as we preach the love of God in Yeshua. Thank you and Shalom!

 

 

Life changes and photography

I was tagging some photos from the past on my Flickr page and saw this shot I took of my neighbors as they celebrated their success in the chamber of commerce voting in Bondi Junction. It was only two years ago when the voting took place and they were elected a very successful operation in the area. The ladies gathered in front of the sign, like a red carpet gala, and I shot the picture. All good.

The hair salon continues now in a new location about 100 metres from the old one, and is even bigger and has continual clientele. Only what struck me was the staff is-- with one exception-- completely new. Only the owner/ operator continues (she's in the middle) and the others have moved on. Now I understand that society is more mobile than when I was a child, but 80% turnover in 24 months?  Is that normal and if so, what are the implications?

The Murray (River) Pioneer in March this year published a fairly dull editorial which however included this sentiment, "Take Zombie movies, for example (because we’re going to need all the training we can get when the apocalypse rocks up). They show – the writers’ interpretation of – how people put in such an extreme situation would change. They’d change the way they think, the way they act, the way they react and what they believe in. They’d find a way to carry on.
If we each looked back a year, we could see that there were people in our lives who have since moved away, or become less prominent in our day-to-day activities.
That’s not a reflection on you or them, it’s just life.

In high school there’s a certain stability, an expectation that you will see the same people every day, for years. And when it came to the final few days of school we all made promises that we would always keep in touch – promises we eventually broke, at least with some of our classmates." (Murray Pioneer, "When people move out of our lives", March 26, 2014)

Sorry for the length of that quote; I felt it needed context. The issue of the in/out nature of people and our lives is complexifying, not simplifying life for us all. 

My friend Mark McCrindle lives and works in Sydney. Mark's website . He is the senior researcher and guide on so many trends and perspectives in the social world that he's the go-to guy for most Australian television networks and radio outlets. He is constantly demonstrating statistics of the mobility of society and thus the need for people to adjust from 'we all know this' kind of conversation to a more initiating and welcoming concern. 

I like Mark and appreciate all his hard work and the reality of life changes continues to strike me. People change; situations change; interactions continue to change. Life is only static for a person when he is buried. On the golf course some of the men with whom I play have this saying when asked about their life. "At least I'm walking on top of the ground, and not parked underneath it." Makes sense that if we are on top, that things will ever evolve and amend and grow and change. "That's life!"

That said, why do we hold on so dearly to things as if they do not change or do not have to change? Why are we surprised when people tell us their child is 15 years old now? Our surprise is usually based on our own thinking that we have not aged, why would anything else age? We are surprised when we see a new photo of a former dashing young Hollywood celebrity who hasn't aged very well at all. Because we see the images of that person on film or television when they were 25 and now they are near 45, and the film didn't age, we think the person shouldn't have either. 

When the Amish or ultra-Orthodox Jewish person turns away from a photographer, it's because of a desire to keep (and help you keep) the 3rd commandment (out of 10). That's this one:  "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20.4) The locations of the photo shoots are limited to nowhere, neither in heaven above or on earth or under the earth. Fairly comprehensive. Of course, the God who told us that, also told us to "let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you," and included in that building (Mishkan) were angels (Exodus 25), almond blossoms and branches (Ex. 25). Later on in the Temple of Solomon God wanted a building which included images of Cherubim and twelve bulls outwardly displayed(1 Kings 6:24–29; 2 Chronicles 4:15). 

Obviously as Francis Schaeffer rightly commented in "Art and the Bible", the use of images did not necessarily mean the Israelites were worshiping them. Having an image is not idolatry. But bowing and worshiping it; that's idolatry. So I continue to photograph the ladies at Headoffice Hair Salon over the years Hair salon photos and each time I see a new crew I'm reminded...make the most of today. Help people in my life today. They may not be there tomorrow. Or I may not be. Life changes. Make the best of it.