Exodus - Lesson 29

Dr. Carmen Imes 
Exodus 
OT605-29
Themes in Exodus 
Lesson Transcript

Well, we've just had such an inspiring story of Moses encountering the presence of God and being changed by it. That brings us to the repetition of more regulations and the detailed account of the building of the tabernacle for the first time. So it might feel redundant, why do we need to have this again? I've already touched on this a bit when we talked about the Golden Calf incident, that we need these two blocks of tabernacle instructions and tabernacle building surrounding the Golden Calf so that we can see in a very tangible way this sin or rebellion of the people did not derail God's plan to live among them.

Partly on the basis of Moses' intercession, God agrees to go with them for his presence to join them and so they're able to build the tabernacle. So I'm not going to focus here on the details of the tabernacle because we've already done that in chapters 25 to 31 and here we have a lot of repetition of exactly the same things in order to indicate, look, they're doing it exactly how God asked them to do it. This is what he told them to build and this is what they built.

So the command fulfillment is really important because worshipping God is not a freestyle event. It's not the sort of thing where you can just make it up as you go along or like, I think I'm going to add something over here or move this. I don't like it anymore.

Humans are not the ones calling the shots when it comes to the worship of God. God asks for them to construct it in a very particular way and so compliance is really important and so these chapters are here to show us that there was full compliance and at the end of the book we'll see it worked. The presence of God comes and dwells among them.

I thought it would be worth thinking though about the structure of this section or this half of the book of Exodus beginning in chapter 19 when they arrive at Sinai all the way through to the end. I sat down and tried to wrestle with what are the building blocks of these chapters and is it possible that there's a chiastic arrangement because we have so many similar episodes. What actually clued me into it was what I mentioned in the last session.

The second half of chapter 34 is a reiteration of commands we've already heard and in my experience earlier in the book of Exodus tells me that when you see something repeated you need to slow down and pay attention because it's some kind of framing device and it can help you see what the narrator, how the narrator has designed for you to pay attention to the material. So what I have here is a tentative literary design of Exodus 19 to 40 and it's only tentative because I'm not this far in my commentary and I haven't sat with this long enough but I'm giving it to you here as a hypothesis that you can work through and test yourself. So this is a chiasm of sorts that begins with the presence of God on the mountain in chapter 19 and ends with the presence of God in the tabernacle in chapter 40 and on either side of that, just inside of that on either side, is the covenant commands of chapters 20 to 23 and covenant obedience in 35 through 39, the building of the tabernacle.

So this is the fulfillment and then inside of that we have this repeated section I just mentioned of festivals and sacrifices that the Israelites are supposed to carry out and then we have festivals and sacrifices again in 34. Inside of that we have a description of the conquest and what it's going to involve each time. So that's in the end of 23 and the middle of 34 and then inside of that we have the covenant ritual in chapter 24 and the covenant tablets in chapter 34.

So we have the putting into effect of the covenant then the broken tablets and then restoring the tablets and so right in the center are the tabernacle instructions and the idolatry of the Israelites paired with Moses' intercession to put things back on track. There may be other ways of conceiving of this structure so you can play with it and see what you think is most likely to be what the narrator has in mind. What we don't want to do is impose our own structure from the outside.

We want to be careful readers so that we see the clues that the that the narrator is leaving for us and thinking along with the narrator as we read. The literary function of these chapters 35 to 40 seem pretty clear that it fulfills Yahweh's instructions to Moses in Exodus 25 to 31. So again we had command and fulfillment that it frames the golden calf incident showing us that that incident did not derail God's plan and it leads up to the climax of the book which is God's presence in the community at the end and this is the presence that Moses has fought for in chapters 33 and 34 that he said unless you're going to go with us don't send us up from here.

Moses would rather spend the rest of his life in the middle of the Sinai peninsula in an inhospitable and arid desert. If that's where the presence of God is then go on up to the promised land where it's flowing with milk and honey. You can have your milk and honey I want the presence of God is essentially what Moses is saying.

In the tabernacle instruction section from 25 to 31 we saw that there were seven speeches in which Yahweh spoke to Moses culminating in the in the instructions about the Sabbath. In this section the fulfillment section from 35 to 40 there are just three speeches and Moses is the one making the speeches. So it was Yahweh speaking to Moses seven times now Moses speaking to the community three times.

The first speech that he gives is about the Sabbath so again we have a kind of framing where the first series ended in Sabbath and a second series begins in Sabbath and Moses assembles all of the community and and says these things to them. It's important not just for the specialists or the work crew to know about the tabernacle he wants the entire community to be in on the building of the tabernacle and that's what we'll focus on is watching for the full participation of the Israelite community. So 35-1 he assembled the whole Israelite community and said these are the things Yahweh has commanded you to do.

For six days work is to be done but the seventh day shall be your holy day a day of Sabbath rest to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on it will be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

We mentioned in conjunction with the last set of instructions that it's significant in the context of initiating such a massive work project that the last thing in the instructions and the first thing in the implementation is hey rest. You need to rest one day in seven. You cannot don't think that because this is God's work it needs to be done 24 7. The kind of rhythm that God is inviting them into is one that is sustainable and allows for six days of work and one day of rest and probably there are some pastors and church leaders out there who need to hear this that doing God's work does not cancel the Sabbath.

If you're doing God's work then you need more than anyone to have a day where you're unplugging and recharging. God's work must be done in God's way. The next speech Moses makes that was a really short one.

The next speech is also to the whole Israelite community and it's about the community participation in its construction. I love this because it's the the tabernacle although we have the appointment of two men Oholiab and Bezalel who are really skilled and are able to make a bunch of wonderful things for the tabernacle. It's not just a two-man show.

These two men are not doing it all themselves. Moses says to the people, from what you have take an offering for Yahweh. Everyone who is willing is to bring to Yahweh an offering of gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, and another type of durable leather, acacia wood, olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones, and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and the breastpiece.

Notice that there is not a tax being imposed on everyone to pay for the tabernacle. It's paid for willingly. It's a voluntary offering on the part of the Israelites.

Now where did they get gold, and silver, and bronze, and special linen, and skins? They got these from the Egyptians. Remember as they're leaving Egypt, each one was to ask their neighbor for wealth, and the Egyptians willingly gave to them. So there was a willing plunder of the Egyptians, and now that turns into the materials that they need to build the tabernacle.

They don't go buying things from here, there, and everywhere. They are giving what they already have, and what they have is enough to make something truly glorious in their midst, because God has already provided. Verse 10 tells us, all who are skilled among you are to come and make everything Yahweh has commanded, and then it describes again all the things that need to be made.

And so we have in verse 20 the fulfillment of this invitation. Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses' presence, and everyone who was willing, and whose heart moved them, came and brought an offering to Yahweh for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments. All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds, brooches, earrings, rings, ornaments.

We're told in verse 25, every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, and all the women who were willing and had the skills spun the goat hair. The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod in the breastpiece. It's not specific here, but I think what we have happening is for each tribe, one leader is bringing a gemstone to put on the high priest's breastpiece, so that the stone that represents them is the stone that they brought.

And I love that it's all the Israelite men and women who are involved. It's not just men who build the tabernacle. It's not just men from whom the offerings are taken.

All of the Israelites participate in the offerings. All of them participate in the building, and the leaders give the gems and the ingredients for the oil and incense, because the work that the high priest will do while wearing these garments and offering this incense represents them. It represents their prayers.

The people gave so generously, we're told, that Moses had to tell them to stop bringing stuff, because they had more than what they needed. All the skilled workers, 36 verse 4, who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, the people are bringing more than enough for doing the work Yahweh commanded to be done. Then Moses gave an order, and they sent this word throughout the camp, no man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.

So the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they had all, what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. Can you imagine if your pastor had to stand up on Sunday and say, folks, please stop giving, stop giving in the offering. We have more than what we can, more than what we can use.

We don't need any more of your offerings. This is a remarkable act of generosity. So this second speech is inspiring those men and women among the community to participate.

And then we have the appointment of Bezalel and Aholiab to design and teach, as we saw before. And God brings them with very special skills, inspired by the Spirit of God, we're told, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skills. Some of the precise skills they have are metal work.

They know how to work with metal. They know how to engrave gemstones, which is quite a specialized task. Not every culture could even make their own gemstones.

There's a time in Israel's history where nobody knows how to make gemstones, and they have to go get gemstones for signet rings from the Phoenicians or from the Egyptians, because they're the only places where that that precise skill has been maintained, and people know what they're doing. These men know woodworking. They are good with artistic crafts and with embroidery and with weaving.

And so they teach others, and so that more people are involved, and the entire community is participating in the task of making the tabernacle so that the presence of God can come among them. They're all invested in this. It's so important for us to see that this is a democratic process that involves all 12 tribes and both men and women.

You can well imagine the different dynamic that would result if one benefactor would have swaggered on up to Moses and said, no, no, tell everybody to go home. I'll take care of the bill for this one. You know, one wealthy Israelite bankrolls the tabernacle, and then what? Whoever bankrolls the tabernacle thinks that they can then call the shots for what happens in the tabernacle, and Yahweh says, no, this is my tabernacle.

I call the shots, and I want everyone to participate and everyone to be involved. This is a level playing field here. Chapter 39 gives us some very good news.

Verses 42 and 43 read, the Israelites had done all the work just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as Yahweh had commanded, so Moses blessed them. That is the kind of news that we have been waiting for.

We've had lots of complaining and rebellion and even idolatry from the people, some fickleness in their response, but here they respond wholeheartedly and do things just as God has asked them to. So the building of the tabernacle, according to God's specifications, accomplishes several things. It resolves the alienation from God that we saw in Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve are sent away from the presence of God in the garden, and the cherubim are put there to guard the way to the tree of life.

Finally, humans are being invited back into the presence of God. This tabernacle will mark Israel as the community where Yahweh has chosen to dwell. Thanks to Moses' intercession, his insistence, we don't want to go anywhere unless your presence is with us, now they are marked as a community that belongs to Yahweh.

And this ensures the success of Israel's future. As long as they maintain proper worship of Yahweh and live in obedience to his covenant stipulations, then they have success to look forward to. We don't have a long list of blessings and curses in Exodus in response to the covenant, but these are expressed in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy.

So you can read on ahead to see what is life going to look like if they're faithful, and what is life going to look like if they're unfaithful. And you can well imagine, because of what we saw happen in Egypt, that it doesn't look very pretty when you set yourself against Yahweh. Any questions about the building of the tabernacle? What can we learn from that about how we worship God properly? I'm so glad you asked that question.

I think in our generation, there has been a pendulum swing toward self-expression in worship and towards making people feel really comfortable. So let me first say that our churches and our sanctuaries are not the same thing as the tabernacle, right? We don't have just one place on earth that houses the presence of God in a concentrated way to which all of us come and bring sacrifices. So we don't bring sacrifices.

This is a little bit different, but the sanctuaries of our churches are the places where we corporately honor God and worship him. And so I think there are definitely some lessons that we could draw from the degree of care and reverence that is put into the building of the tabernacle. There's been such a swing towards seeker-friendly and seeker-driven churches where we're going to take out all of the symbols of Christianity, crosses and trinity symbols and doves symbolizing the Holy Spirit.

We're going to get rid of those because we don't want anybody to feel like they don't know what's going on. And we're going to play secular music as they walk in, and we're going to have a coffee cart over here, and we're going to dim the lights so it feels anonymous and like they're at a concert. And we're going to have smoke machines and laser lights and confetti machines even I've seen in churches.

That is a lot of creativity and some of it might be appropriate for some occasions, but I'm concerned that when we make our church services me-centered, it's about my emotional experience and my comfort level, and the seats are comfortable for me to sit in, and I've got a drink holder here. We turn it into a theater or a concert venue that we've actually missed the most important part of worshiping together, which is coming into the presence of God on our knees with a sense of awe and a sense of reverence for his majesty. And I don't know that, I don't think that many churches have retained that sense of the majesty of God and the sense that he's calling the shots, not us.

So there's a fine line to walk here because, again, because our churches are not the same thing as the tabernacle. I don't want to coffee carts are bad, don't have one necessarily, but I am concerned that it becomes its own form of consumerism instead of a place where we are fully focused on honoring God and bringing reverence to him. So it's worth lingering in these chapters and maybe recovering that sense of reverence.

Maybe there's a way to combine some of the modern expressions of corporate gathering and still have it be really reverent and full of awe.