Exodus
38
THE FURTHER PROGRESS OF THE WORK –
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FURNITURE FOR THE
COURT (vs. 1-8)
On the
completion of the tabernacle, Bezaleel and his
assistants turned their attention to the
court and its furniture; and constructed, first,
the altar of burnt offering (vs. 1-7); secondly,
the bronze laver (v. 8) Vs. 1-7 correspond to vs. 1-8 of ch. 27; ver. 8 corresponds to
ver. 18 of ch. 30. (The former chapters give the directions,
this chapter along with others
are the carrying out of
the directions as God directed! – CY – 2010)
vs. 1-8 – “And he made the altar of burnt
offering of shittim wood: five cubits
was the length thereof, and five cubits the
breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and
three cubits the height thereof. And he made the horns thereof on the four
corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same:
and he overlaid it with brass.
And he made all the vessels of the altar,
the pots, and the shovels, and the basins,
and the fleshhooks,
and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of
brass.
And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof
beneath unto the midst of it. And he cast four rings for the four ends of
the grate
of brass, to be places for the staves. And he made the staves of shittim
wood,
and overlaid them with brass. And he put the staves into the rings on the
sides
of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the
altar hollow with boards. And he made
the laver of brass, and the foot of it of
brass, of the looking-glasses
of the women” –
This
interesting fact has not been previously mentioned. Bronze plates, circular or
oval,
admitting of a high polish, were used by the Egyptian
women as mirrors from a very
early date, and may be seen in the Egyptian
collection of the
have handles like those of our fire-screens,
generally also of bronze. It was natural
that the Hebrew women should possess similar
articles, and should have taken care to
bring them with them out of
rather to be ascribed to their own self-denying piety
than to any command issued by Moses
– “assembling,
which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”
Literally, “who came by troops.” Women assembled themselves by troops at the entrance
of the “tent of meeting” set up by Moses (ch. 33:7), as at a later
date we find Hannah
(I Samuel 1:9-12) and other women who were less worthy (I Samuel
2:22) doing.
The women
who showed this zeal were those that made the sacrifice of
their mirrors for
God’s service.
The
Triumph of Female Piety over Female Vanity
Hebrew
women were, it must be presumed, much like other women in their natural
dispositions, and therefore not without their share of
personal vanity. The fact, that in
all the haste of their sudden departure from
them their metal mirrors, is indicative of this. The
mirror was the most valued of toilet
articles, and the most indispensable for effecting that
end, at which almost all women
aim — the making the best of those advantages of personal
appearance which nature
has vouchsafed to them. It is difficult to imagine any material
sacrifice to which a
woman would not more readily have consented than the
loss of her mirror. Yet we
know that the sacrifice was made by large numbers; for the laver
was a vessel of
considerable size. Let us consider then:
than true piety. Piety loves to make offerings to God. Piety does
not count
the cost.
Piety, the gift of grace, can triumph over nature; transform a poor
vain worldling into a saint; make no sacrifice seem a hard one.
It must have
been piety
which made these women give their mirrors, either:
ü In
addition to their personal ornaments (ch. 35:22), or
ü In default
of them.
ü
Some after offering their ear-rings,
rings, necklaces, bracelets, and the like,
may have
desired, from pure love of God, to give more, and casting about
to consider
what more they could give, may have bethought them of their
mirrors.
Others may have had no personal ornaments to give; and if unable
to spin,
may have had nothing else but their mirrors which they could
contribute.
In either case, piety was at the root of their giving.
who
contributed their mirrors were women wont to “assemble at the door
of the tabernacle of the
congregation.” In other words, they were such as
had
previously made all the use they could of their religious opportunities.
We see that God does not shower down
His precious gifts of grace at
random —
but “helps such as help themselves.” (a non-Biblical
phrase –
CY – 2010) He granted the priceless grace of
self-denying love to those who
were
constant in serving Him at the place where He had “set his name,” and
was to be
found of them that sought Him. Much prayer, much waiting upon
God, had gone to form the character
of those who now found themselves able
to make a
willing sacrifice of their vanity.
It
obtained for them the high reward of special mention in God’s holy word — a
place
in His “
know not, for the most part, whether they were
made by men or women — much
less by what class of men, or what class
of women. Only here, and in ch. 35:25-26,
is the sex specified, and only here the class. Let women
take this to heart. Let them
be ready to sacrifice to Him all their adornments — “braided hair and gold an
pearls,
and costly array” - (I Timothy
2:9) — {“Whose adorning let it
not be
that outward
adorning of plaiting
of the hair, and of wearing of gold, or
of
putting on of
apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that
which is not
corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the
sight of God of great price” – [I Peter
3:3-4] – Contrast this
with Isaiah
3:16-24 - CY – 2010} - let them
be ready to sacrifice even, if need
be, their personal charms (as many do in fever or small-pox
hospitals), and they
will not be forgotten by Him — they will not go without
a recompense. If their
act be not
recorded in any other book it will be
written in that heavenly
record, out of
which all will be judged at the last day
(Revelation 20:12
THE FURTHER PROGRESS OF THE WORK – THE COURT ITSELF
(vs. 9-20)
Thirdly,
the hangings, pillars, connecting-rods, hooks and pins for the circuit of the
court (vs. 9-20) and correspond to ch. 27:9-19.
vs. 9-20 - “And he made the court: on the
south side southward the hangings of the
court were of fine twined linen, an hundred
cubits: Their pillars were twenty, and
their brasen sockets
twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
And
for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were
twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the
hooks of the pillars and their fillets
of silver. And for the west side were hangings of fifty
cubits, their pillars ten, and
their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and
their fillets of silver. And for the
east side eastward fifty cubits. The hangings of the one side of the gate were
fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their
sockets three. And for the other side
of the court gate, on this hand and that
hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits;
their pillars three, and their sockets three. All the hangings of the court round
about were of fine twined linen. And the sockets for the pillars were of brass;
the
hooks of the pillars and their fillets of
silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters
of silver; and all the pillars of the court
were filleted with silver. And the
hanging
for the gate of the court was needlework, of
blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length,
and the height in the breadth was
five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the
court. And their pillars were four,
and their sockets of brass four; their hooks
of silver, and the overlaying of their
chapiters and their fillets of silver. And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the
court round about, were of brass.” ). For
other Homiletics on the subjects of this
chapter, see those on ch. 27
– this web site.
THE
SUM OF THE TABERNACLE,
OR
WEIGHT OF THE METALS EMPLOYED IN IT (vs. 21-31)
Before
dismissing the subject of the construction of the tabernacle, Moses places on
record the sum of the gold, silver and bronze
contributed and consumed in the work.
At the
same time he informs us who was the accountant by whom the
sum was made
up (v. 21), and what were the portions of the
work formed of each metal (vs. 24, 27-28,
30-31). Incidentally he
mentions the number of the congregation at this period,
603,550
souls over twenty years of age - (v. 26), and the weight of the “sockets” or
“bases”
(v. 27).
vs. 21-31 – “This is the sum (or “numbering” as in
Numbers 26:63) of the
tabernacle, The tabernacle, i.e., of which
the great glory was that it contained “the
testimony” or “Two
Tables.” ch. 25:16 – “even of the tabernacle of testimony, as
it was counted, according to the commandment
of Moses, for the service of the
Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest. And Bezaleel the son
Uri,
the son of Hur, of the
tribe of
And with him was Aholiab,
son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and
a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in
blue, and in
purple, and in scarlet, and
fine linen. All the gold that was occupied for the work in
all the work of the holy
place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty
and nine talents, and seven hundred
and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary. And the silver of them that
were numbered of the congregation was an
hundred talents, and a thousand seven
hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after
the shekel of the sanctuary:
A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the
shekel of the sanctuary,
for every one that went to be numbered, from
twenty years old and upward, for
six hundred thousand and three thousand and
five hundred and fifty men.
And
of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and
the sockets of the vail;
an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a
socket. And
of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made
hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them. And the
brass of the offering was seventy talents, and
two thousand and four hundred
shekels. And therewith he made the sockets to the door
of the tabernacle of
the congregation, and the brasen
altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the
vessels of the altar, And the sockets of the court round about, and
the sockets of
the court gate, and all the pins of the
tabernacle, and all the pins of the court
round about.”
Great
Wealth Worthily Employed
What was required was a structure
sixty feet long by thirty, with a skirting for
a court or
precinct 150 feet long by seventy-five. The main structure, or
tabernacle,
would be about the size of a small college chapel. The precinct
would be
smaller than most churchyards. Yet upon these two objects, without
making any
estimate for labor, a lot of money was spent. There was lavish use
of the
precious metals, especially gold. That the structure might be rich,
splendid,
magnificent, gold and silver were lavished upon it, both externally
and
internally — scarcely any wood was seen — nothing caught the eye but
costly
fabrics of rich color, and masses of silver or gold. A warm, harmonious,
rich result
was no doubt produced; and nomadic
the settled
nations in the size and grandeur of its “holy place,” erected for itself
a
sanctuary, which in its own way was unequalled and unique.
If a people have temples at all, men
will always judge their religious views,
more or
less, by them. If
may be
doubted whether any race of men will ever be able to do without
one — it
would certainly be subjected to rough criticism and comparison.
The Egyptian temples were
magnificent — of vast size, of the most solid
construction,
of handsome material, elaborately painted and adorned; they
delighted
those who worshipped in them, and challenged the admiration of
extraneous
beholders.
these. But it might
construct a work perfect in its kind, of a different class,
which would
compensate for smallness of size by richness of material and
artistic
elaboration. It could show in this way its
sense that men should give
to
God of their best. It could
secure an extraordinary degree of beauty,
finish, and
elegance. The nations among which the tabernacle passed —
even those
who heard an account of it — must have been impressed with
the feeling that here was a
people which thoroughly believed in its God;
which
thought nothing too good for Him; which was ready for His sake to
submit to much
self-sacrifice. And the people itself must also have been
impressed
by its own work. No such apostasy as the worship of the calf
ever took
place after the tabernacle had been constructed. It was no longer
faith, but
sight, which told them, that “God was in the midst of them.” The
sense of
this begat a courage and a confidence, which supported the nation
under many
trials, and many temptations. They had never to regret the
outlay
which they had made upon their “tent-temple.”
The
Enumeration of the Metals Used
This served
a useful purpose:
much the
sum-total of their contributions amounted to.
of all
classes in the congregation.
making of
the “sockets” on which
the tabernacle was reared (v. 27).
deal in a
slovenly manner with its receipts and disbursements. Careful
accounts
should be kept and published. This:
ü Gives
confidence in the management;
ü Is an
encouragement to giving;
ü Prevents
charges of maladministration;
ü
Is a prevention against
waste.
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