God tells Moses to leave Sinai with the people he brought out of the land of Egypt. He instructed Moses to lead them to the land He swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by saying “To your descendants I will give it.” God said that He would send His Angel before him and drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. He told Moses to go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. God said that He would not go up in their midst, lest He consumed them on the way because they are a stiff-necked people. When the people heard the bad news, they mourned and no one put on his ornaments, because God told Moses to tell the Israelites, “You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now, therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.” So the Israelites were obedient and stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. (Some Google sources indicate that Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb are names for the same mountain. However, they also say that some scholars disagree with this.)

Moses took his tent and pitched it far outside of the camp and called it the tabernacle of meeting. It just so happened that everyone who sought the Lord went to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. Where do you go to seek the Lord? When Moses went out to the tabernacle, all the people rose and each man stood at his tent door and watched him until he went into the tabernacle. When Moses entered the tabernacle, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud at the tabernacle door and they rose and worshiped in their own tent doors.

The Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Moses would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, stayed at the tabernacle. Moses said to the Lord that He told him to “bring up this people”, but He hasn’t told him who He will send with him. Yet, God has said that He knows Moses by name and that Moses has also found grace in His sight. Does God know you by name? Do you think that you have found grace in God’s sight? Moses told God that if he has found grace in His sight, for God to show him His way that he may know Him and find grace in His sight. Now, God just told Moses that he found grace in His sight. Looks like Moses is seeking some reassurance. Has God ever told you something and you turn around and ask Him about what He said? Moses also told God to “consider that this nation is Your people.” Could this be Moses trying to get God to acknowledge that they are His people since He seemed to “disown” them in Chapter 32?

God said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses responded, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” Moses asked, “For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? Moses said that they would be separated from all the people upon the face of the earth. The Lord told Moses that He would do what he had spoken because he has found grace in His sight and He knows him by name. Moses told God to show him His glory. Then God said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Then He told Moses that he could not see His face; for no man could see Him and live. God pointed out a place by Him to Moses and told him to stand on the rock. When the glory of the Lord passed by, He would put Moses in cleft of the rock and cover him with His hand while He passed by him. The Lord would take away His hand and Moses would see His back, but His face would not be seen. Experiencing the Presence of the Lord is Awesome!

Our next stop is Exodus 34.

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Exodus 32 – Let’s Get This Party Started!

When the people saw that Moses was gone for a long time up the mountain, they gathered together and said to Aaron, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us, for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Moses was up on the mountain from Exodus 24:15 getting all of God’s instructions through Exodus 31, so far. The people were getting antsy. The way they referred to Moses as “this Moses” seems to reflect a negative connotation. Aaron told the people to break off the golden earrings in the ears of their wives, sons, and daughters and bring them to him. So, the people did as Aaron said and he fashioned the gold with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. They said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” These people attributed all that the One True God did to bring them out of Egypt to a god Aaron just made by hand from their golden earrings. Have you ever given credit for something God has done to someone or something else? Have you ever taken the credit yourself rather than giving God the glory? When Aaron saw what he had made, he built an altar before it. Then Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” Keep in mind, God has instructed Moses to consecrate Aaron as priest. God, being the sovereign Lord that He is, already knew that Aaron would do this and yet, He didn’t change His plans to make Aaron the chief priest. Thank God for His mercy and His willingness to still use us for His service even after we mess up. With Aaron’s proclamation, it looks like he was the one who said, “Let’s get this party started!” The next day, the people rose early and offered burnt offerings, and peace offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. I notice that they didn’t offer any sin offerings.

The Lord told Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.” Notice how God called the people Moses’ people that he brought out of Egypt. Looks like God is “disowning” them. We should be careful that sin doesn’t cause God to “disown” us. He told Moses that the people have turned aside quickly out of the way He commanded them and made themselves a molded calf to which they worshiped and made sacrifices. God even told Moses what they said about the calf being the god that brought them out of Egypt. God called the people stiff-necked (haughty and stubborn). God told Moses to leave Him alone so that His wrath could burn hot against the people so that He may consume them. He then offered to make Moses a great nation. Then Moses pleaded with God saying, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?” I notice that Moses disowned the people as well telling God they are His people that He brought out of Egypt. Moses asked God why should the Egyptians be able to say that God brought them out to harm and kill them in the mountains; to consume them from the face of the earth. Sounds like Moses is asking God, “Why give the Egyptians a reason to gloat?” Then Moses told God to turn from His fierce wrath and relent from the harm He was planning to do to them. Moses told God to remember His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob) to whom He swore by His own self (because there is no one greater by whom God can swear – Hebrews 6:13). The promise was that He would multiply their descendants as the stars of heaven and He would give them all the land He promised so that their descendants would inherit it forever. Moses put God in remembrance of His word (Isaiah 43:26). God relented from the harm that He said He was going to do to people because of Moses’ plea.

Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. The writing of God was engraved on both sides of the tablets. The tablets were truly the work of God.

Joshua was at a lower part of the mountain while Moses was getting all of the instructions God gave him. So as Moses and Joshua continued down the mountain, Joshua told Moses that he was hearing a noise of war in the camp. Moses said it wasn’t the shout of victory or the cry of defeat, but he was hearing singing. As Moses got near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing and he became very angry. He was so angry that he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. That party was on and poppin! Moses took the calf they made and burned it in the fire and ground it to powder. He scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. Moses asked Aaron what did the people do to him that he brought such a great sin upon them. So Aaron tells Moses not to let his anger be so hot. He knows that the people are set on evil. He said that the people told him to make them gods to go before them, because they didn’t know what had become of Moses. Now Aaron tries to down play his role in the matter by saying that he told the people that whoever had any gold for them to break it off and when they gave it to him, he cast it into the fire and the calf came out of it. Well, earlier in the chapter, we are told that he fashioned it himself with an engraving tool. Now magically, the calf came out of the fire all by itself. When Moses saw that the people were unrestrained, because Aaron did not restrain them, he stood in the entrance of the camp and said whoever is on the Lord’s side to come to him. The Bible also says Aaron’s inability to restrain the people was to their shame among their enemies. This goes to show that others are always watching God’s people. All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to Moses. Moses instructed the Levites that the Lord said for them to put their swords on their sides and go from entrance to entrance throughout the camp and every man should kill his brother, his companion, and his neighbor. So the Levites did as they were told and about three thousand men among the people were killed that day. Moses told the Levites to consecrate themselves to the Lord that day, so that the Lord could bestow blessings on them because every man opposed his son and his brother. The next day, Moses told the people that they had committed a great sin. He was going up to the Lord and see if he can make atonement for their sin. So Moses returned to the Lord and said that the people had committed a great sin and made for themselves a god of gold. He asked God to forgive their sin, but if He didn’t, Moses told God to blot him out of His book which He had written. The Lord told Moses that whoever had sinned against Him, He would blot out of His book. According to faithalone.org, this book is not the book of life referred to in Revelation, but this is the book of living (physical death, not eternal condemnation). How many of us would be willing to face physical death due to someone else’s sins? God told Moses to go and lead the people to the place where He told him. God said that His Angel would go before them. God said that in the day when He would visit for punishment, He would punish them for their sin. The Lord plagued the people because of their sin with the calf made by Aaron. Thank God that He relented from doing the harm to the people that He had originally planned.

Next week, it’s Exodus 33.

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The Lord told Moses that He called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. The Lord said that He filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship to design artistic works, to work in gold, silver and bronze. He also skilled him in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood and to work in all manner of workmanship. Along with Bezalel, God appointed Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. God also put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans so that they could make all that He commanded Moses. When God calls you to an assignment He equips you and those He has destined to help you. What has God called you by name to do?

Bezalel, Aholiab and all the gifted artisans would make the following items according to all that the Lord commanded Moses:

The tabernacle of meeting

The ark of the Testimony

The mercy seat

All the furniture of the tabernacle – the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the laver and its base

The garments of ministry – the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests

The anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place

The Sabbath Law

The Lord told Moses to tell the children of Israel that they should surely keep His Sabbaths because it is a sign between Him and them throughout their generations, so that they would know that He is the Lord who sanctified (set apart as or declare holy) them. They should keep the Sabbath because it is holy to them. Everyone who profaned the Sabbath should surely be put to death. Whoever worked on the Sabbath, that person would be cut off from his people. Work was only to be done for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. God reiterated that whoever did any work on the Sabbath day, should surely be put to death. Therefore, the Israelites were to keep/observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. The observance of the Sabbath would be a sign between God and Israel forever. In six days God made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. We know that God ordained marriage, well, He also ordained rest. God rested and He has equipped us with a rest day as well. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty when you take some “me” time to rest. However, make sure that “me” time also includes time with God.

When God had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him two tablets of the Testimony, made of stone and written with the finger of God.

We’re off to Exodus 32 next week.

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Image is courtesy of www.scripture-images .com

Altar of Incense Description

Made of acacia wood

A cubit in length and width (square shaped)

Two cubits in height

Four horns all made of one piece

The top, all sides and horns overlaid with pure gold

Gold molding all around

Two gold rings under the molding on two sides to be holders for the poles that would bear it

The poles were to be made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold

God told Moses to put the altar of incense before the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat. He told Moses that He would meet with him there. Aaron was to burn sweet incense every morning when tending the lamps. When Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he was to burn incense on it. This was to be a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout the generations. No strange incense was to be burned on it. Nor should a burnt offering, a grain offering be burned on it and a drink offering should not be poured on it. Once a year, upon the horns, Aaron was to make atonement with the blood of the sin offering of atonement throughout the generations. It is most holy to the Lord.

When taking the census of the Israelites, Moses was instructed that every man was to give a ransom for himself to the Lord, that there may be no plague among them when they are numbered. The ransom that should be given was half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). According to Wikipedia, a shekel was originally a unit of weight (11 grams) and then became currency in ancient Israel. According to Dictionary.com, a gerah is an ancient Hebrew coin that is one twentieth of a shekel. It was also an ancient Hebrew unit of weight. The half-shekel was to be an offering to the Lord. Everyone included among those numbered, twenty years old and older, was to give an offering to the Lord. The rich didn’t have to give more and the poor weren’t allowed to give less. They all were to give half a shekel to make atonement for themselves. Moses was to take the atonement money of the Israelites and use it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for them before the Lord.

God told Moses to make a bronze laver with a bronze base for washing. He was to put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and water should be put in it. This is where Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet. When they went into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they came near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they were to wash with water, lest they die. The washing of their hands and feet shall be a statute forever to them, Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations. God instructed Moses to take for himself quality spices. He was to get five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, two hundred fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cinnamon and two hundred fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. He was to make a holy anointing oil from these. The anointing oil was to be an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. He was to anoint the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and the laver and its base. He was to consecrate them so that they would be most holy. Whatever touched them must be holy also. He was to anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so that they could minister to God as priests. Moses was to tell the Israelites that this should be a holy anointing oil to God throughout their generations. The oil was not to be poured on man’s flesh, nor should any other oil be made like it, according to its composition. It is holy and shall be holy to them. If anyone compounded any like it, or put any of it on an outsider, he should be cut off from his people. In other words, no “knock offs” or imitations of this oil was to be made. For the incense, Moses was to take sweet spices, stacte, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense with these spices in equal amounts of each. The incense should be compounded according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure and holy. Some of it was to be beaten very fine and some of it put before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting, where God was going to meet with Moses. It was to be most holy to him. None of the incense was to be made for themselves, according to its composition. To them, it was to be holy to the Lord. If anyone made any like it, to smell it, he would be cut off from his people. Do you have anything that you use that is only dedicated for your worship of the Lord? Next week, we journey to Exodus 31. To God Be The Glory! Click “Be Encouraged” for Spiritual, Encouraging and Inspirational Uplifting Be Encouraged

God told Moses to take his brother, Aaron and Aaron’s sons (Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar) from among the children of Israel so that they can minister to Him as priests. Moses was instructed to have holy garments made for Aaron for glory and for beauty. Moses was to speak to all of the gifted artisans whom God had filled with wisdom to make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him so that he could minister to God as priest. Are you wisely using your gifts for God?

The garments to be made were a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turbin and a sash. God repeats that these holy garments were for Aaron and his sons so that they could minister to Him as priests.

God instructed Moses to put all of the garments on Aaron and his sons. Moses was to anoint, consecrate and sanctify them so that they could minister to God as priests.

Also, linen trousers that reached from the waist to the thighs were to be made to cover their nakedness. Aaron and his sons should wear them when they went into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they went near the altar to minister in the holy place so that they wouldn’t incur iniquity and die. This was to be a statute forever for him and his descendants.

Our next stop is Exodus 29.

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To care for the lampstand, Moses was to command the Israelites to bring pure oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamp would burn continually.

In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil that is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons were to tend it from evening to morning before God. This was to be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the Israelites.

We’re off to Exodus 28 next week.

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Images are courtesy of Rev. Yves Langevin/FreeBibleimages.org

Description – Tabernacle Curtains

Ten curtains made of fine woven linen and blue, purple and scarlet thread with artistic designs of cherubim woven in them. (Pictured below)

All the curtains were to be of the same length (twenty-eight cubits) and the same width (four cubits).

The curtains were to be coupled to one another in two groups of five.

Loops of blue yarn were to be made on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge (an edge made of woven fabric to prevent unraveling) of one set and likewise on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set.

Fifty loops were to be made on the edge of the curtain of each set so that the loops clasped to one another. The fifty clasps were to be made of gold and coupled the curtains together to make one tabernacle.

Eleven curtains made of goats’ hair were to be made to be a tent over the tabernacle. The eleven curtains were to be of the same measurements – length (thirty cubits) and the width (four cubits). Five curtains were to be coupled together and the other six coupled together with the sixth curtain being doubled over at the forefront of the tent. Fifty loops were to be on the edge of the outermost curtain in one set and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. The fifty clasps for the loops of these curtains were to be made of bronze and coupled the tent together to make one. (Pictured below)

The remaining remnant of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain, was to hang over the back of the tabernacle. A cubit on each side of what remained of the length of the curtains of the tent were to hang over the sides of the tabernacle to cover it.

There was to be a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent and a covering of badger skins above that.

(Pictured below)

The tabernacle was to be made of acacia wood standing upright. The board was to be ten cubits in length and a cubit and a half in width. Two tenons were to be in each board to connect them. (Pictured below) There were to be twenty boards on the south side and twenty on the north side of the tabernacle. For both, the south side and the north side, there were to be forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards with two sockets under each board for the tenons. (Pictured below)

The far side of the tabernacle, westward, was to have six boards and there should be two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. At each corner, the boards were to be coupled together at the bottom and coupled together at the top by one ring. The eight boards were to have sixteen sockets made of silver with two sockets under each one. (Pictured below)

There were to be five bars of acacia wood for each side of the tabernacle. The middle bar was to extend from one end to the other end. (Pictured below)

God told Moses to overlay the boards and the bars with gold. There should also be rings of gold as holders for the bars. (Pictured below) Moses was also told that he should raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern that he was shown on the mountain.

The Veil – Should be woven of blue, purple and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. It should have the artistic design of cherubim. It should be hung upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The hooks should be gold, upon four sockets of silver. The veil should be hung with clasps. Then the ark of the Testimony should be brought into the tabernacle and placed behind the veil. The veil was to be the divider between the holy place and the Most Holy. The mercy seat was to be placed on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy. The table should be set outside the veil and the lampstand placed across from the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south. The table should be on the north side. The Screen for the Door of the Tabernacle – Should be woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and of fine woven linen made by a weaver. There was to be five pillars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, for the screen. The hooks should be gold and cast in five sockets of bronze. The next stop is Exodus 27. To God Be The Glory! Click “Be Encouraged” for Spiritual, Encouraging and Inspirational Uplifting Be Encouraged Images are courtesy of Rev. Yves Langevin/FreeBibleimages.org and Jeremy Park of Bible-Scenes.com.