Exodus 25:23-40 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Exodus 25:23-40. Let’s go!
Exodus 25:23-30 (NIV)
23 “Make a table of acacia wood–two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.
24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it.
25 Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.
26 Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are.
27 The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table.
28 Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them.
29 And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings.
30 Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.
In Exodus 25:23-40 God continues to instruct Moses on how to furnish the tabernacle. After describing the most important piece of “furniture”, which is the ark of the covenant (v10-22), the LORD describes the table on which the priests are to place the “bread of the Presence” (v30). What is the bread of the Presence?
The bread of the Presence, also known as the ceremonial bread or the “show bread”, was 12 loaves of fresh bread that were placed in the tabernacle as an offering to God. Why 12 loaves? It’s because the 12 loaves represented the 12 tribes of Israel. Also, 12 is often the number used in the Bible to symbolize wholeness and completeness.
Whenever the bread of the Presence started to get old, the priests would replace the old bread with fresh bread. They never let the bread go stale. The bread of the Presence was about bringing a constant and fresh offering to God all the time.
What can we learn from all this?
1. Keep your worship fresh. Personal trainers in the gym talk about muscle fatigue, how the body gets used to doing the same routine exercises and would benefit from doing something different and fresh. Similarly, don’t let your worship of God go stale. Keep it fresh by adding new ways to worship God. There’s a reason the Psalms talk repeatedly about singing to God a new song. It’s to keep our worship fresh. (For other tips on how to keep your worship fresh, check out our Thrive Discipleship School class on How to Have a Daily Time with God, available at www.mythrive.info)
2. Keep your worship constant. Just as the bread of the Presence was to be set before the LORD at all times, worshiping God is not a “one day a week” event. It’s an all-day, every day, year round activity (1 Thessalonians 5:18; 1 Corinthians 10:31). So make it your aim to worship God in everything you do, say and think. And when you fail, thank God for His Son Jesus, who just like the bread of the Presence is our constant offering before God, standing before God at all times on our behalf. It’s no wonder Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life! (John 6:35)
For as long as we are alive, God deserves a fresh and continual offering from us – not just worship on Sundays, but every day and every moment.
Exodus 25:31-40 (NIV)
31 “Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be of one piece with it.
32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand–three on one side and three on the other.
33 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.
34 And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms.
35 One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair–six branches in all.
36 The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
37 “Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.
38 Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold.
39 A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories.
40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
On verses 31-40: The lampstand, also called a menorah, would hold seven oil lamps. Made of about 75 pounds of pure gold, the lampstand would be the only source of light inside the tabernacle tent. It is made to resemble a tree with 6 branches stemming out of the main shaft. The fact that the lampstand was portable and that the Israelites were to take the same lampstand wherever they go reminds us that we are to let our same light shine for Jesus wherever we go.
Heavenly Father, like the bread of the Presence I pray that I would set my praise before You all the time and keep it fresh. Like the lampstand, I pray I would let my light shine for You wherever I go. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
