How to Build a Tabernacle: Part 13

Today's Reading: Exodus 35

Comments:

Today I have posted the final question and wrap-up of the Exodus 35 chapter study.  Please see Part 1 for explanation of this study.  Tomorrow I will be back into daily devotional study!  The first part of this posting is duplicate of Part 2 but new information begins at the "prayer in wrap-up" section below...

12. What is the significance of the sabbath command at the beginning as it relates to the construction of this tabernacle (or my body under the new covenant)?

Exodus 35:2 (ESV)2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

This command was not new to them but He chose to remind them at the outset of this command to begin construction of the tabernacle. He first required them to honor the Sabbath in the wilderness when He delivered manna from heaven and commanded them not to gather bread on the sabbath but He told them they would find enough the day before for two days.  Most days any leftovers would spoil by morning but the sabbath was different.

Exodus 16:23–26 (ESV)23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

It seems that one element of the sabbath was to remind them that it is He who provides and that their gathering of the bread was not the provision. He shows that He can sustain them according to His choosing and reinforces that they need to rest in His provision and not on their own efforts…or die!

From the ESV Study Bible-

Israel is to embody faithfulness to the Lord by keeping the Sabbath holy while they are building his sanctuary.
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (201). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

From the Bible Knowledge Commentary-

Since the Sabbath was the sign of the covenant God made with Israel (31:16-17), its observance was crucial. Moses’ words to the people about the Sabbath occur here at the beginning of chapters 35-40, not at the end as in God’s instructions in chapters 25-31. This is because Israel had demonstrated a tendency to disobey. If the covenant were to be maintained, instructions about the sign of the covenant had to be obeyed. Also because of the people’s excitement in constructing the tabernacle, it was important that worship not be neglected even in doing worshipful work.
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Ex 35:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Exodus 31:12–14 (ESV)12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

So in the passage above God explains that the sabbath is a sign that God sanctifies us. If we are faithful to this commandment as a reminder of His covenant to us it evidences how He sanctifies us and makes us more like His Son.

Prayer in wrap-up of sabbath question:

Thank you Lord that your sabbath is given to us as a reminder of the covenant and as a reminder that we are to be set apart, living holy live worthy of our calling.  Thank you that the sabbath is a reminder to honor you and obey even in our excitement regarding ministry Lord.  I even now need to do this.  I cant spend 24 hours a day building the tabernacle when you give me other commandments to obey that also require my time and effort.  Thank you Lord that the sabbath serves to remind me that blessing and fruitfulness do not come from my efforts but from your gracious provision.

Exodus Chapter 35 Conclusions:

Thank you Lord for this amazing picture of your act of redemption that we have in the tabernacle.  Thank you Lord that you give us this example of what you have done over the course of history and what you do in our hearts and what you do every day at the throne in heaven.  Thank you Lord that we can draw near to you and we have you as our high priest.  Thank you that we do not have an earthly high priest that might fail and die.  Rather, we have a high priest who conquered sin and death.  Jesus, you became the sacrifice and the high priest and the tabernacle itself.  You even fulfilled the law that was contained in the arc of the covenant and you accomplished through your life, ministry, and death everything that was needed in your plan of atonement described by the tabernacle process.  Thank you that your tabernacle was given as a sign post to point to your Son.  Thank you that your tabernacle and the atonement process you described demonstrates the marriage of your sovereignty with your design of our free will.  Thank you that you maintain our will so that we can have a love relationship with you Lord and you value that relationship highly enough to kill your own Son on the cross to reconcile with us after we chose ourselves over you.

Brief listing of the tabernacle lessons:

• It is a place where you reside…where your glory rests (We are your tabernacle)
• It is a place where atonement for our sins occurs by intercession of the high priest (you are our high priest at the right hand of the Father)
• It is a sign post indicating our need for a true tabernacle in you Lord
• It is the place where you communicate with your people (your Spirit illuminates your Word and directly bears witness to our spirit in our inner man)
• It is the place where you put your law (you write your law on our hearts and you reveal yourself in our lives as we obey you in love. cf John 14:21)
• It illustrates the fact that the entire bible (OT and NT) is about your Son and your love for Him
• It represents hope in the shadow of your perfect law, which serves only to condemn, or rather to warn of condemnation
• It illustrates that there is only but one name under heaven by which we must be saved…only one plan of redemption
• It demonstrates our willing cooperation being needed as somehow part of your sovereign plan for us
• It is a picture of your Son- His birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, His place at the throne, and even his second coming as the King of Kings
• It explains your new covenant in how you fulfilled the entirety of the law and the given process of atonement
• It gives insight to the marriage of your sovereignty and our free will
• It expresses how you reveal yourself just enough to draw us but we need to determine to act in obedience from our inner man in order to receive your promised redemption
• It teaches us to listen for your voice in our inner man as your Spirit communes with ours
• It teaches us of our inadequacy to be justified by our obedience
• It teaches us of the body of Christ and our participation within this body
• It teaches us of our need to fulfill our calling and have a Jesus focused life
• It teaches us of humility and that salvation is your doing, not ours
• It teaches us regarding evangelism and revelation of truth by your Spirit
• It teaches us of the process by which we are changed into the image of your Son

Application and Prayer:

Lord- thank you for the lessons in the tabernacle that I can lean on to refine my understanding of you and of your redemptive plan.  Teach me Lord to use this understanding to glorify your name.  Teach me to use the lessons of the tabernacle to share my faith.  Let me lean on this understanding and how it explains your reconciliation with us and how you demonstrate the love relationship and the courtship of your bride.  Let me use this to evangelize Lord. I pray that you would bring scripture to my mind that you would have me refer to in any time that I am sharing with an unbeliever or encouraging a fellow christian. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

View blog from a computer or iPad for more content.
Follow @dailysurrender