Exodus Chapter 25

Exodus 25:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

Imagine being able to talk to the Lord that He begins to speak directly to us. Through faith in Jesus Christ it is now possible for any who diligently seek Him. Through the Holy Spirit, we can talk to God and He can speak to us by His spirit.

We need discernment of course, because not all we hear is from God but we can keep seeking Him and studying His word so that we know when He is speaking. We may never hear an audible voice but He will speak if we seek and if we listen. He speaks through His word and through the Holy Spirit.

Exodus 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

God is planning to dwell with them. To prepare for His dwelling, offerings are gathered. Notice that God does not provide the materials from heaven or by some miracle but urges them to bring necessary things to build a tabernacle in the wilderness. This way the people are contributing and not just spectators. Their giving makes them partakers of the work. This is what all giving to God's work should be: Willing, with love, wanting to help, wanting to participate and be part of the worship and work of God.

This is God's desire. He wants to dwell among the human beings He created but He doesn't want robots but willing participants. Since the fall of Adam though, so many prefer to go their own way and do their own things. They do not realize that they are following the enemy of all souls, Satan. He is leading them to destruction and the destruction of their eternal souls.

God wants to dwell among us and do great things for us but it is we that refuse and block the way. He cannot dwell in the same place as sin. He sent Jesus to make the way get rid of sin so that one day in the future, God will dwell with the redeemed. The book of Revelation tells more detail of this great time.

Notice the offerings are to be freewill from their hearts. No high pressure, threats or promises of great riches. This may be why they were to take back from the Egyptians what was earned through years of slavery. God was providing them with materials for the future tabernacle.

Exodus 25:9 According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

The ark symbolized God's presence in every place it went. It was to contain the ten commandment stones. This ark was a reminder of the covenant between Israel and God. God chose Abraham to bring forth a people to dwell among. The ark was a symbol of that covenant. It contained a pot of manna as a reminder of the bread that came from God. Aaron's rod was later placed within it as a witness to Israel of God's choice for the priesthood.

All this was replaced by Jesus Christ who became the bread of life and also the high priest. The ark was a symbol of the covenant before the perfect one was to come. The ark contained the law. This law was sacred and holy. It showed all that God was holy and His laws were holy. There had to be a way for mankind to become holy in order to live with God.

Exodus 25:11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

There had to be a way to move the ark from place to place because man could not touch it.

Exodus 25:13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

These were the only images God ever ordained. We are not to make or worship any images. Idolatry was and still is forbidden showing us that God is the only way and what He ordains and provides is the only way of salvation. All these things are leading up to the perfect way, Jesus Christ.

The mercy seat shows us that God's mercy overshadows the law. The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Both are holy and without fault. We need mercy though to make heaven our home because sooner or later every one of us will break the law in some point unless we die as a baby before we have a chance to break any law of God.

Exodus 25:19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

These were never to be worshipped but symbolized the continual presence of God. This never excuses idolatry or images in our worship today.

Exodus 25:21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

Gold just may represent the word of God. Gold is everlasting. The word never passes away.

Exodus 25:25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of a handbreadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.
28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.
30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me always.
31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.
37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.

The seven lamps lighted and burning represents the spirit of God.

Exodus 25:38 And the tongs thereof, and the censers thereof, shall be of pure gold.
39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.

It had to be according to the pattern God gave Moses and no other way. It could be that this tabernacle was to be a replica of the one in heaven.

There are more details to the study of the tabernacle and vessels. Everything God does has a meaning and it represents something. The ark has disappeared and no one knows where it is. Could it be because Christ fulfilled and replaced the law with grace and mercy? Christ is the new covenant with Israel. Through Christ, faith alone is sufficient to save the soul. Since He became the ultimate sacrifice for sins, animal sacrifices are no longer necessary. All these things in the Old Testament pointed toward the perfect one to come and redeem mankind from the fall.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Here is a further explanation in Hebrews:

Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

We can easily see that God still loves Israel and in Hebrews we see that they will receive Christ and they will have the law written in their hearts, they will know the Lord and their sins will be forgiven.

Those of us that are not of the nation of Israel also can rejoice because when we come to Christ we are grafted into the same vine as Israel. We never replace Israel but are added to them with the same promises. All because of Jesus Christ. We all are reconciled to God through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus when we repent of sin and come to Christ. The Jewish believers and the Gentile believers become one fold and one shepherd. This is something to rejoice over.

We live in the days when we can have grace and mercy instead of judgment. We can have access to God through faith in Jesus Christ. We can be free from sin and enter the kingdom of Heaven. Why do so many ignore this good way?

God does desire to dwell with us and in the end after all things are fulfilled, that is exactly what will happen. The first step to be part of this great kingdom is to come through Jesus Christ. DC

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Exodus 26

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