FRIDAY 26 November 2021 “Priorities” Exodus 25:23-40

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

In many parts of the world today is a very big financial day. Some people call today “Black Friday” because so much purchasing is done, world wide, both in person and via the internet, that some businesses actually move into profitability for the whole year, by the end of this weekend! For many people this long weekend is about rethinking priorities. Yesterday was for many people a day of gathering with friends and family for “Giving Thanks”. Today is a day of purchasing for many people. Then comes the weekend and the question many will face… where does God fit in all this busy activity?

We’re spending several days with Moses up Mount Sinai in Exodus 25 for the very same reason: Priorities realignment.

God was describing to Moses a ‘worship culture’ unlike anything mankind had ever known before. Unlike the Egyptian type of worship with manmade idols, Almighty God was defining a ‘worship centered relationship’ that He wanted with His people, whom He had rescued from generations of slavery in Egypt.

God had spoken the “10 Commandments” as fundamental principles intended to guide God honoring living for His people. Then God had given Moses 3 chapters of guidelines for living in peaceful and mutually respectful community together. And now, in Exodus 25, God was describing to Moses a building for worship encounters with God which God called a “Tabernacle“. Yesterday we looked closely at the most important item inside that Tabernacle which God called the “Ark of the Covenant“. It was a carefully designed and crafted gold-covered wooden chest with an ornate lid called the ‘atonement cover‘. This would be a place of encounter between Almighty, Holy God and the representatives of God’s people. God had instructed Moses that inside this Ark was to be placed the stone tablets on which God Himself would inscribe the 10 Commandments. These 10 very clear statements from God formed the foundation of the ‘worship centered relationship’ God wanted to have with His people.

Next, God described to Moses a special table which was to be fabricated and placed inside the “Tabernacle“. Similarly to the Ark, this table was to be made of acacia wood and covered in gold. By the way, this ‘acacia wood’ is native to barren, desert type climates. Its brownish-orange color makes it very attractive and it is one of the few types of wood found in this Sinai desert region. This gold covered table was also to have gold rings at the four corners so long poles could be put through the rings so men could carry this table on their shoulders, just like the ‘Ark of the Covenant’.

Perhaps you’re wondering why God would want a gold covered table inside the Tabernacle? I’m sure Moses was wondering the same thing and then God answered him: “Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before ME at all times.” (Ex. 25:30) Can you imagine Moses scratching his head? Bread? What is “bread of the Presence“? What kind of bread is it, who will make it, how much of it, when, and what does ‘the Presence‘ mean? So many questions, but I see no evidence that Moses asked any of them. He was learning to just listen and ponder, God will explain it all in due time! Have you and I learned that yet my friends?

One of the advantages we have which Moses did NOT have at that moment, is that we have all five books of the Bible which Moses wrote during those years, which are called the ‘Pentateuch’. We don’t know exactly WHEN God spoke each of these various chapters of truth to Moses, but in Leviticus 24 we find more insight into this special ‘Bread of the Presence’. God instructed Moses with these words: “Take fine flour and bake 12 loaves of bread… Set them in two rows, six loaves in each row, on the table of pure gold before the LORD… This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites as a lasting covenant.” (Lev. 24:5-8) Now, what do you suppose that means?

We know there were 12 tribes of the Israelites, each tribe the descendants of one of Jacob’s sons. Bread represents the fundamental food of life for survival. Our survival requires fresh food everyday and God had been teaching the people that HE was their provider with the daily Manna delivery. So these 12 loaves, baked fresh each week and placed on the golden table inside the Tabernacle, on the Sabbath, the day God instituted for rest, refreshment and spiritual re-alignment with God, were all symbolic of the living, vibrant, sacred relationship God desired with these Israelites, His chosen people. In the desert these 1 million people were totally dependent upon God for food and water EVERYDAY! But God wanted them to understand they were entirely reliant upon God for EVERYTHING. He was their Creator, the author of life and He sustained their every breath, every day.

But there’s more. In Deuteronomy 8:3 Moses said to the people that God provided the manna each day also to “…teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” These 12 loaves of fresh bread were a symbol of the total dependence of these people upon God for everything, including God’s TRUTH which would enable them to live God honoring lives. But the loaves also represented God’s desire to be PRESENT with His people in authentic relationship, not simply a ‘necessity supplying God’, thus God called it ‘the Bread of His Presence”.

Moses sat for a while and pondered. A golden Ark to house the Covenant Commandments inscribed by the finger of God on stone tablets. And now a golden table on which ‘The Bread of the Presence” would be placed fresh and hot from the oven every Sabbath symbolizing God’s Presence with His people and their total dependence upon God for all things. Then God spoke again, and Moses listened carefully: “Make a lampstand of pure gold… with flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand, three on one side and three on the other. Three cups, shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand… The buds and branches shall be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. (Exodus 25:31-40)

You’ve likely seen a Menorah, the seven branched candlestick? Here, in this mountain top conversation with God and Moses, is where it originated! This golden lampstand was designed by God to provide LIGHT in the Tabernacle especially at night. Just like the pillar of fire in the sky at night, provided light for all the people. The flicker of the candlelight in the Tabernacle represented the very Presence of God guiding His people everyday and every night through the journey of their lives.

Again Moses’ writings in Leviticus gives us more insight into this golden lampstand. “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Command the people to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so the lampstand may be kept burning continually… Aaron is to tend the lampstand before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.” (Lev. 24:1-4) As the light from the lampstand would be seen emanating from inside the Tabernacle, the people would be reminded God was Present with them and they need not fear the dark of night. Do you remember Jesus said “I am the light of the world, whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Jesus was speaking about Himself as God’s living Presence and TRUTH. Remember in the upper room, the night before Jesus went to the cross, He said to His disciples “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) The golden lampstand light in the night represented God’s Presence, but also God’s invitation to His people to come close to Him anytime for He loved them and wanted them to live continually in a TRUTH based, ‘worship centered’, relationship with Him.

So let’s pause here and ponder these three remarkable ‘furnishings’ God designed and described for Moses to be fabricated and placed inside the Tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant with those 10 Commandments represented God’s foundational TRUTH upon which a God honoring life is built. The ‘atonement cover‘ with the angelic figures represented God’s holiness and yet His loving mercy extended to His repentant people. The Table and the “Bread of the Presence” represented God’s readiness to meet the practical needs of His people daily, and urged them to realize their total dependence upon God for sustaining their lives. And the lampstand providing light at night represented God’s Presence, God’s love and His invitation to live in a ‘worship centered’ relationship of truth with God.

Could I invite us right now to ponder… do we understand how this is all a wonderful reflection of the relationship God invites you and me to live with Him through Jesus Christ? Here’s a song to help you worship and reflect…

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 25:23-40.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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