Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Exodus-Chapter 40

Exo 40.1-38 tells us the order of how the Mishkan was finally set up after all the items had been manufactured.We have a picture in this. Chaaaaaapter 40 alludes to how we come to the Lord and how he assembles the Mishkan, in the Peshat, in the Drash level how God assembles a congregation, and in the Sowd level how he builds us as a person. We must notice the attention to detail in all of this, involving care, quality and skill. Many of the commandments in the Torah are not as detailed as the construction of the Mishkan. WHy? Because God can only dwell in a life when attention is paid to spiritual details. There is something we must know of we are to build a life (our MIshkan) where God can dwell.

The question is, are we following the pattern appointed by God to approach him? How does a believer today react when he encounters these symbols found in the Mishkan or the Temple? There is a pattern for us in the kahal, but the pattern is useless without the substance (Torah/Yeshua). This chapter repeats now because the ark (the pattern) now has the commandments in it (substance), the table (pattern) has the bread (substance), the Menorah (pattern) has been lit (substance), altar of incense (pattern) has the incense (substance), the altar (pattern) has the sacrifices and fire (substance), the laver (pattern) has the water (substance). It is functioning now. Then God’s Shekinah and Kivod come into it

Maybe that’s why things don’t go quite right with us sometimes. We need to set things in order in our “dwelling.” Have we got prayer on our altar, have we got water in our laver, have I got the commandments in my ark/heart? There are different patterns out there found in Christianity, Buddhism, New Age, other religions, etc, that are substituted for this pattern, and they will not have the same result. David had God’s own heart because he wanted to build a Temple for him so he could dwell among his people, and that is how God felt.

God never told Moses what city to put the Mishkan in permanently, so the Miskan was set up in different cities from time to time by the Lord’s leading. Jerusalem wasn’t that important till the altar was set up there, and God said if you want to do business with me, come there. And that is the real issue between Israel and God’s enemies, they do not like the altar and speak with contempt towards it. They don’t like the Torah or what it teaches, and they have made God into their own image and ways.

Following the pattern on how the Mishkan was set up is called “legalism” by many today, but God calls it obedience. Actually, legalism is following man’s commandments. When we follow the pattern like we have in this chapter, everything “comes together.” We come into the Holy of Holies and find the commandments.

v 1…Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

v 2…On the first day of the first month (the new moon of Nisan, in the second year after the Exodus; nine months have gone by since the people arrived at Sinai, and the actual work of constructing the Mishkan lasted four months; spiritually, the new moon is a picture of the believer who reflects the light from the sun; this day is called the “festival of the born-again moon” so this alludes to being born from above or “born again”) you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting (when we are born from above the Mishkan is set up in us also; but coming into his presence it will be different and this will be explained in v 33).

v 3…And you shall place the ark of testimony (alludes to our hearts that will have the Torah written on it when we believe-Jer 31.31-34′; 1 John 2.3-4), and you shall screen the ark with a veil (so we see the Mishkan being assembled from the inside out, like us).

v 4…And you shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it , and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount (light) its lamps.

v 5…Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the veil for the doorway of the tabernacle (to the holy place).

v 6…And you shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting (to the holy place).

v 7…And you shall set the laver (kior) between the the tent of meeting and the altar (on the south side, in a tent adjacent to the curtains outside; it had to be there because the priests could not enter the courts until they washed), and put water in it.

v 8…And you shall set up the court all around and hang up the veil for the gateway to the court.

v 9…Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall consecrate it (give it a kedusha) and all its furnishings and it shall be holy (be set apart to God with certain limitations and restrictions; have a kedusha).

v 10…And you shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar; and the altar shall be most holy (“kodesh ha kodeshim” meaning it will have the same kedusha as the holy of holies).

v 11…And you shall anoint the laver (kior) and its stand, and consecrate it.

v 12…Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water (this had to be done before they could enter the courts).

v 13…And you shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint thim and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to me.

v 14…And you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them;

v 15…and you shall anoint them even as you anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to me; and their anointing shall qualify them for a perpetual prietshood throughout their generations.”

v 16…Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did (he obeyed).

v 17…Now it came about in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month (Nisan 1; a new moon), that the tabernacle was erected.

v 18…And Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars and erected its pillars.

v 19…And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

v 20…Then he took the testimony (the tablets) and put it into the ark, and attached the poles to the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.

v 21…And he brought he ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil for the screen, and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

v 22…And he put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil (to the holy of holies).

v 23…And he set the arrangement of bread in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

v 24…Then he paced the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.

v 25…And he lighted the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

v 26…Then he placed the the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the veil;

v 27…and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses (Moses performed all the priestly duties until Aaron and his sons were consecrated).

v 28…Then he set up the veil for the doorway of the tabernacle.

v 29…And he set the altar of burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering (either the daily Tamid or the burnt offering and meal offering of consecration of the priests).

v 30…And he placed the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar (to the south, outside the court in a tent attached to the curtains), and put water in it for washing (daily from contact with the world-Eph 5.26).

v 31…And from it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.

v 32…When they entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed (they had to wash previously before coming near), just as the Lord had commanded Moses (Exo 30.20-21).

v 33…And he erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work (we see in these passages how the Mishkan was set up from the inside out; but when we approach God and come into his presence, it is the opposite; the first thing we encounter at the door is the anointed priest (Yeshua), then we have the altar (cross), then the bread of the word of God on the table, then the Menorah which is the light of the word in understanding, then we have the altar of incense/prayer, then the veil and behind the veil we have the ark which is the throne of grace and mercy where God’s commands await us. This is how we come to God, but many stop at the altar of incense because they have a problem with this “servant” business, or they say, “All I need is Jesus the priest, and all I need is out there on the altar!” Or they say, “I want the mercy seat but I don’t want what is down there in that box, the commandments!” But in the Renewed, or New, Covenant the Torah will be written on our hearts, desires, thoughts and intentions, symbolized by the ark-Jer 31.31-34; 1 John 2.3-4. Are we following the pattern given to Moses when all this was set up when we approach God? Or how does a so-called believer react when he encounters these symbols? Will they follow God’s pattern given to Moses? Many people say following the pattern here is “legalism” but God calls it obedience. We need to check the following things when we don’t have answered prayer or we don’t know if we are saved. First we should ask, “How is my tabernacle set up?” Is it according to this pattern? We should ask, “Have I encountered the anointed priest?” “Is there a fire on my altar?” “Is there water in my laver?” “Is there the word of God on my table of bread?” “Am I being illuminated by the that word of God daily?” “Is there the incense of prayer on my altar?” “Are the commandments of God in my ark/heart)?”).

v 34…Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting (just like on Sinai), and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Yehovah’s seal of approval).

v 35…And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud and settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (so he waited until he was called into the tabernacle, just like he did on Sinai).

v 36…And throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;

v 37…but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.

v 38…For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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