{"id":20439,"date":"2022-02-27T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-37_1-29-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-02-23T14:34:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T21:34:54","slug":"exodus-38_1-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-38_1-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Lay Down Your Mirror"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exodus 38:1-31 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Exodus 38:1-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Exodus 38:1-7 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They made all its utensils of bronze–its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 The altar of burnt offering, which was used to sacrifice animals, was made of bronze, as were the utensils (v3), the grating (v4), the poles for carrying the altar (v6) as well as the rings that the poles went through (v5).\u00a0 Why bronze?\u00a0 A pretty good argument can be made that in the Law of Moses (contained the first five books of the Bible) bronze symbolizes God\u2019s judgment.\u00a0 See for example Deuteronomy 28:23 where God says that if the Israelites do not obey the LORD, the Israelites will be under God\u2019s curse and as part of that \u201cThe sky over your head will be\u00a0bronze<\/em>, the ground beneath you iron.\u201d\u00a0 Similarly, in Leviticus 26:18-19, the LORD\u2019s message to the Israelites is that if they do not listen to Him, He will punish them and, as part of this, the LORD says,\u00a0\u201cIf after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.\u00a0 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like\u00a0bronze<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If bronze in the Law of Moses symbolizes God\u2019s judgment, then it is no wonder that the altar of burnt offering and all the accessories associated with it were all bronze, for they were all used in connection with judging the people\u2019s sins.\u00a0 Yet when you enter the tent of meeting where the Holy Place and Most Holy Place are, you find no more bronze; rather the altar of incense, the lampstand, the table and even the ark itself are all gold, signifying God\u2019s presence and heaven.<\/p>\n

Praise God!\u00a0\u00a0Just as the Israelites went from bronze at the altar of burnt offering to gold in the Most Holy Place, so our sins were judged at the cross where Jesus died and in the end we come forth as gold, pure and acceptable in God\u2019s sight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exodus 38:8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verse 8:\u00a0 In\u00a0Exodus\u00a038:8 the women who served at the entrance to God’s house (the tent of meeting) took their mirrors, which were cast in bronze, and donated them so that the bronze could be turned into instruments of worship.\u00a0 Imagine that.\u00a0 To show their love for God and God’s house, these women sacrificed something that they used every day to make themselves look beautiful: their mirrors.<\/p>\n

In sacrificing their mirrors, these women were saying “how God and His house look are more important than how I look”.\u00a0 What a beautiful, selfless offering!<\/p>\n

It reminds me of how David danced with all his might before God, not caring about how he looked (2 Samuel 6:14).<\/p>\n

How about you?\u00a0 When you come to worship God, how self-conscious are you?\u00a0 Are you hesitant to lift your hands or to sing too loudly?\u00a0 How much do you care about how you look in front of others as you worship God?<\/p>\n

Sometimes the greatest enemy to us truly worshiping God is that we’re focused way too much on ourselves and how we look.\u00a0 That’s when our worship becomes stiff, cold, distracted and half-hearted.\u00a0 Instead, let’s lay down our mirrors and worship God with abandon, passion and without thinking so much about ourselves. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

So sing to God with all your heart.\u00a0 Lift your hands with abandon.\u00a0 Lay down your mirror and turn your eyes upon Jesus.\u00a0 When you do, you’ll see His unmatched beauty, and you in turn will be changed and made even more beautiful because you’ve been with Jesus.<\/p>\n

What specifically did the craftsmen do with the bronze that the women donated?\u00a0 They used it to make the bronze basin, which Aaron and his sons would use to wash their hands and feet, as commanded by the LORD.<\/p>\n

Exodus 38:9-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely twisted linen,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The west end was fifty cubits wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Curtains fifteen cubits long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases,
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen–the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high,
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 9-20:\u00a0 These verses describe the construction of the outer courtyard.\u00a0 The fact that Exodus 38 first describes the bronze altar (v1-7), then the bronze basin (v8), and then the outer courtyard suggests a progression, which is this:\u00a0\u00a0after our sins have been paid for (represented by the bronze altar), and after we have been washed in baptism (represented by the bronze basin), we can then stand in the courts of the LORD (represented by the outer courts) and give God acceptable and pleasing worship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exodus 38:21-31 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0(Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded Moses;
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan–a craftsman and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.)
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel–
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0one beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more, a total of 603,550 men.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and for the curtain–100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils,
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 21-31:\u00a0 Moses commanded the Levites to keep records of how much material was used for the building of the tabernacle.\u00a0 Moses put Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest, in charge to oversee the record-keeping.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Part of being a faithful steward is to keep good records and to carefully track progress.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Just as a shepherd counts sheep and an accountant counts money, it\u2019s hard to give an account of what we have done when we don\u2019t keep track of it.\u00a0\u00a0What are some important numbers that you need to keep track of as part of being a faithful steward of what God has given to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus, thank You that my sins were paid for at the cross and that by Your blood I am now clean and can live in the courts of the LORD.\u00a0 I pray I would be a good and faithful steward of what You have given to me, including keeping good and accurate records of the people and things I\u2019m in charge of.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Exodus 38:1-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Exodus 38:1-7 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0They built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0They made all its utensils of bronze–its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating.
\n6\u00a0\u00a0They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
\n7\u00a0\u00a0They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-7:\u00a0 The altar of burnt offering, which was used to sacrifice animals, was made of bronze, as were the utensils (v3), the grating (v4), the poles for carrying the altar (v6) as well as the rings that the poles went through (v5).\u00a0 Why bronze?\u00a0 A pretty good argument can be made that in the Law of Moses (contained the first five books of the Bible) bronze symbolizes God\u2019s judgment.\u00a0 See for example Deuteronomy 28:23 where God says that if the Israelites do not obey the LORD, the Israelites will be under God\u2019s curse and as part of that \u201cThe sky over your head will be\u00a0bronze, the ground beneath you iron.\u201d\u00a0 Similarly, in Leviticus 26:18-19, the LORD\u2019s message to the Israelites is that if they do not listen to Him, He will punish them and, as part of this, the LORD says,\u00a0\u201cIf after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.\u00a0 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like\u00a0bronze.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20439"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20442,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439\/revisions\/20442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}