Introduction: Read Exodus25

Some Christians, like the writer to the Hebrews, revel in the symbolism of the Old Testament and see its fulfilment in the New. I much prefer, indeed rejoice in, the fresh teaching of Jesus that draws lessons from simple things like the poppy, the sparrow, the sower, the little child and so on. However, sometimes it is salutary to move out of your comfort zone and deal with parts of the Bible you have neglected for years. So, in this and several succeeding expositions, I will be venturing into unfamiliar territory.

LET'S LOOK AT:

(1) God's invitation. The LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give." 25v1and2.

There are four things to say about the giving God desires. We should give:

(a) Willingly. The Israelites did not need to be pressured into giving. Moses did not launch an emotional appeal promising rewards in this life and treasure in heaven. The Israelites gave liberally - the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. Ex36v3. Indeed they gave so generously that in the end Moses had to restrain the people from bringing more.

I have to say that people are more inclined to give to a building project than any other sort of work. The Israelites joined King David in donating vast quantities of gold, silver, bronze, wood and precious stones for building the first temple. See 1Chron29. The same thing happened again when the temple was rebuilt in the time of Ezra. See Ez2v68and69. The innumerable places of worship the world over stand testimony to continued lavish giving of this sort.

On the whole Christians are not so willing to give to relieve suffering. The apostle Paul had to gee up the Corinthian church members to give in support of the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Yet it is this sort of giving that Jesus encourages with his Parable of the Good Samaritan.

(b) Our best. The materials that God demanded were of fine quality and costly: gold, silver, bronze, purple yarn, fine linen and gems.

We should never give God second best or what costs us nothing. Malachi accused the Israelites in his day of defiling the altar. He said: When you bring blind animals for sacrifice is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you?" Mal1v8.

I can remember once having a form for three years. When the time came for them to leave I overhead a group of girls discussing getting me a leaving present. One of them said, "Well we shall have to give him something. Leave it with me." The girl presented me with a plastic bag containing half a dozen of her father's cast off ties. I have had some nasty surprises during my long teaching career but that ranks among the worst.

We must be careful not to insult God. He should have the fair promise of youth, the strength of manhood and not just the weakness of decrepitude. God should have the best of our conversation when we pray; the best of our attention when we worship and the best of our devotion when we serve him.

(c) What we can. None of the Israelites were able to give cedar, olive or sandalwood because these trees didn't grow in the desert. They had to give what was available: acacia. They had no silk or velvet and so provided linen and woollen fabric. Some had no gold and so gave silver. Others had neither gold nor silver so donated a jar of olive oil.

Mary gave Jesus a very expensive present. She anointed him with a pint of fragrant oil. It was worth a year's wages - £20, 000. But another woman, a certain poor widow, pleased him just as much with her gift of 2 lepton. (This is said to be worth 12 minutes of a labouring man's daily wage. So in today's terms it would be one fifth of the minimum hourly rate - a fifth of £6 which amounts to £1.20.)

(d) What he requires. Today, I don't really require any object for Christmas or my birthday. I get given port, sherry, wine, pullovers, gloves, book tokens - but I am well able to buy all these things myself. I suppose the nicest present I had last Christmas was to be treated to a pub meal by a friend. I could have paid for the meal but it was the company, conversation, fellowship and goodwill I appreciated. As I get older what matters is affection, appreciation and friendship.

There are some things God does not require in Christian churches - vestments, statues and choirs being three. What he longs for is sincere thanks, loving hearts and joyful praise.

(2) God's dwelling. "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." v8and9.

There are three things to note about God's dwelling place among his people:

(a) It was a tent. We have to be very careful when referring to 'God's dwelling'. God the creator of the universe is not confined to anywhere. He is not a being of time and space. However, God can make his presence felt anywhere whether that be at the burning bush, in the smoke and flames of Mt Sinai, in the still small voice that spoke to Elijah or in the tabernacle.

The tent was not constructed because God had any real need of it. God enjoys the company of angels in a domain quite unlike our earth. Rather, God chose to designate a tent as his dwelling so that his tent among the people's tents signified his presence with them. God among them shared their journey and their deprivations. He would never abandon his people while his tent was in the camp.

The apostle John looked back to this time when he wrote in his gospel: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us Jn1v14. A more literal translation of the second half of the statement would read: pitched tent amongst us. There is no way God could have identified more closely with us than by becoming one of us.

In the wonderful words of Charles Wesley:

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity:
Pleased as Man with men to appear
Jesus our Immanuel, here.

In many respects Jesus kept things simple for his future followers. We do well to stick to his pattern for his church. The Great Commission is very straightforward. Jesus told his followers to make disciples, to baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to teach them to obey him. Jesus designed a simple service of remembrance. Christians were to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of his body and the blood he shed. That is all! There is no need to elaborate upon what Jesus said.

I am afraid there are Christian denominations that have added the trappings of the world to the simple pattern Jesus left. The hierarchical set up of Roman Catholicism, the gorgeous vestments and its images of the saints owes little to the simplicity and humility of Christ.

(c) It was holy. God who was holy and to be feared in the fire and cloud over Sinai was no less awesome in the confines of a humble tent. God was present in a special way in the tabernacle and this exalted it and sanctified it. It was only a tent but it was God's tent. A very ordinary tent that generally would excite little attention would be most carefully guarded if it was the abode for the night of the President of the United States of America.

Paul writes about the body of the Christian being the temple of the Holy Spirit. He concludes from that: Therefore honour God with your body 1Ch6v20. It also true that if God's is present in the Christian he or she should be treated as holy just as the tabernacle was holy. Christians should at the very least treat each other with respect. It does not matter how unimportant, inadequate or unimpressive a Christian is, the fact they are in dwelt by the Holy Spirit makes them special.

(3) God's furnishings.

Three of the four items located in the tabernacle are dealt with here: the Ark, the Table and the Lampstand. The great problem of ascertaining the significance of these items is that they are not explained in the Old Testament. To a certain extent one is left to make of them what one will. This has given rise to an enormous amount of conjecture - some of it fanciful in the extreme. I will keep my treatment as simple as possible.

(a) The ark.

This was a wooden box 1.1 metres long, 0.7 metres wide and high. It was made of wood overlaid with gold, stood on four legs and was carried by two poles that could be slipped into rings on the sides of the box. A copy of the Law was kept in the box.

The ark was covered by a golden lid known as the mercy seat or atonement cover. At the ends of the cover stood two golden angelic figures facing each other, looking down and with wings outstretched.

It seems to me that the ark is a kind of visual statement of the covenant. The ark was precious and represented God's people. Just as a copy of the Law was kept in the golden box so it should reside in the people's hearts.

The mercy seat represented God's provision for those occasions through weakness or disobedience that the people broke God's commandments. Each year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the veiled off compartment at the back of the tabernacle and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. This was a token payment to atone for the people's sins.

Standing above the mercy seat with downcast eyes and outstretched wings the two angelic figures were, perhaps, a picture of the avenging angels ready to condemn God's people for their numerous failings.

However, the mercy seat and the shed blood of the sacrificial animal, kept them from exercising judgment. The blessed mercy seat stood between God's judgment and his people.

There is no doubt that this is a wonderful, vivid portrayal of God's grace. See Heb 9 and 10. All the angels of heaven know that the best of men transgress God's law and fall short of his expectations. I think the angels, jealous of God's honour, demand that his fallen creatures pay for their sins. But we can shelter beneath the blood shed by Jesus - the blood he shed on the cross to atone for our sins. God has accepted the payment Jesus offers. The mercy seat protects us from judgment and condemnation. When I was a boy we sang this chorus:

All your anxiety, all your care,
Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there,
Never a burden He cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus!

The table, along with the lampstand and altar of incense, was placed in the larger front section of the tabernacle

The table was quite small: 0.9 metre long, 0.5 metre wide and 0.7 metre high. It was made of wood covered in gold. It, like the ark, was portable. 12 loaves of unleaven bread were placed in golden dishes on the table. It also carried cups of incense and flagons of wine.

It seems likely that the shewbread which was changed each week and permanently on display was a thank offering - an expression of gratitude to God for all his benefits.

Our church still has a Harvest Thanksgiving Service. A great variety of produce is on display. People bring fruit, vegetables, flowers, cereals and processed foods as a way of thanking God for his goodness through another year.

There are three things to notice about the Israelites gratitude:

• It was perpetual. Twelve loaves of bread were permanently on display. Their provision in the tabernacle was an unending duty. Each week the old bread was eaten by the priests.

  Today Christians participate in a simple meal of bread and wine in gratitude for what Jesus has done for them and will continue to do so until he comes again.

• It was hearty. Bread is the staff of life, wine makes glad the heart of man aand frankincense is the most precious of spices. The offering of bread expresses the devotion of our strength, the offering of wine the devotion of our emotions and the offering of frankincense the devotion of our prayers.

• It was dedicated. The table, and the vessels on it, showed attention to detail. The table was overlaid with pure gold, the loaves made of the finest flour and the frankincense was of top quality. See Lev24v5and6.

  This is a reminder that we should not give to God second best - only our finest efforts will do.

(c) The Lampstand.

The six branched lampstand was made of solid gold and was beautifully decorated with almond blossoms. However, its main purpose was to give light. There could be no light unless the lamps fitted to the stand were filled with oil and the wicks kept trimmed.

God expected the Israelites to be a people of the light - by the truths they held and the way they lived.

Jesus said of his disciples: "You are the light of the world. .... Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven." Mt5v14to16. See also Phil2v15.

There are three things to note about the light in the tabernacle:

• It illuminated the lampstand. The church is worthless unless it is illuminated by God's Spirit and God's truth. In many churches the light has gone out!

• The lamps required many fillings if the light was never to go out. Christians need to be replenished with God's truth over and over again if they are to shine steadily and constantly.

• The lamps required frequent maintenance to shine brightly. Their wicks needed to be trimmed. Lamps with untrimmed wicks produce more smoke than light. It is foolish to think that Christians don't need correcting and disciplining.