Exodus 33

35:4–29) We can give to God only that which He has first given to us, for all things come from Him. “Everything comes from you,” said David in his prayer, “and we have given you only what comes from your hand” (1 Chron. 29: niv).

Not only did God create the materials that the people brought to Him (Isa. 66:1–2), but He also worked in their hearts so that they were willing to give generously (see 2 Cor. 8:1–5, 12). In fact, the people brought so much that Moses had to tell them to stop (Ex. 36:6–7)!

Several different kinds of materials were needed: precious metals (gold, silver), bronze, fabrics (yarn, fine linen, and goat’s hair), wood, skins, olive oil, spices, and precious stones. It’s been estimated that a ton of gold was used in the tabernacle as well as over three tons of silver. Where did all this wealth come from? For one thing, the Jews had “spoiled” the Egyptians before leaving the land (12:35–36), and no doubt there were also spoils from the victory over Amalek (17:8–16). God saw to it that they had everything they needed to build the tabernacle just as He had designed it.

According to 30:11–16, Moses collected a half a shekel from each man of military age, and according to 38:21–31, all this silver amounted to 100 talents plus 1,775 shekels, a total of 301,775 shekels. (There are 3,000 shekels in a talent.) This came from 603,550 men who were twenty years of age and older. This silver was used to make both the sockets on which the posts stood and the hooks for the curtains.

God equips the workers (31:1–11; 35:30—36:7) Whether it’s for building the tabernacle in the Old Testament, building the church in the New Testament, or building our lives and ministries today, the Holy Spirit of God must equip us and enable us to do the job. God gave Bezalel and Oholiab the skill and wisdom they needed, but He also equipped the craftsmen who worked under them, and led by the Spirit, in obedience to the Word, they constructed the tabernacle and its furniture.

God appointed Bezalel and Oholiab to direct the work, for without leaders there would be chaos, but He called for craftsmen to volunteer to assist them (35:10). We are born with different abilities, and at conversion, we received different gifts from the Holy Spirit, to be used for the good of the church and the glory of God (1 Cor. 12:1–13; Eph. 4:1–16; Rom. 12). “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2: nkjv). The Jews built a tent that long ago turned to dust, but we’re helping to build “a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22) that will glorify God eternally.

God must be put first in everything (25:10–22; 37:1–9) There were six special pieces of furniture associated with the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant is mentioned first. A wooden chest forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high, it stood in the Holy of Holies where God’s “shekinah” presence rested. On it rested the golden mercy seat which was God’s throne (Ps. 80:1; 99:1; 2 Kings 19:15, all niv).

The ark had many names besides “the ark of the covenant” (Num. 10:33). It was called “the ark of God” (1 Sam. 3:3), “the ark of the Lord” (Josh. 3:15), “the ark of the Lord God” (1 Kings 2:26), “the ark of the testimony” (Ex. 25:22), because the tables of the law were in it, “the holy ark” (2 Chron. 35:3), and “the ark of [God’s] strength” (Ps. 132:8). The ark represented the power and authority of God in the camp of Israel, and this is why it’s named first. This is the Old Testament illustration of Matthew 6:33.

The ark also teaches us about Jesus Christ. It was made of wood, which speaks of His humanity, but was completely overlaid with gold, which speaks of His deity. According to Hebrews 9:4, within the ark were the tables of the law (Ex. 25:16), a pot of manna (16:32–34), and Aaron’s rod that budded (Num. 16— 17). These objects tell us that the law of God was in Christ’s heart and He perfectly obeyed and fulfilled it (Ps. 40:6–8; Heb. 10:5–9); He is the Bread of Life who gives eternal life to all who receive Him (John 6:32); and He lives by the power of an endless life so we can be fruitful for God (Heb. 7:16).

The golden mercy seat upon the ark had a cherub at each end and their wings overshadowed the ark. Once a year, on the day of Atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies, where he sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on the mercy seat (Lev. 16). This made atonement for Israel’s sins for another year (vv. 29–34). The fulfillment of this type was when Jesus Christ died once for all for the sins of the world and took away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:11—10:14).

Frequently in Scripture you find the image of finding safety “under His wings.” Sometimes this refers to the mother bird protecting her young (Ps. 57:1; 63:7; Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34), but it can also refer to being under the wings of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies (Ruth 2:12; Ps. 17:8; 36:7–8; 61:4; 91:1, 4).

Moses was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies where God spoke to him from the mercy seat and revealed His will for the people of Israel (Ex. 25:21–22; 29:42; 30:6, 36; Num. 7:89; see Ps. 91:1). God’s people today have access into God’s presence through the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:19–25), for He is our “mercy seat” (propitiation, Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2). Because of His blood shed for us, the throne of God is for us a throne of grace.

The ark of the Lord and the pillar of cloud led the way as the Jews marched from place to place (Num. 10:33–36). In their pilgrim journey, the people of God get their directions from the throne of God and follow the glory of God.

God is present to nourish His people (25:23–29; 37:10–16) As the priest walked into the holy place from the outer court, on the right he would see the table of “presence bread,” on the left the golden lampstand, and ahead of him the golden altar of incense standing before the beautiful veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies.

The table was three feet long, a foot and a half wide and twenty-seven inches high. Like the ark, it was made of acacia wood covered with gold, another reminder of our Savior’s humanity and deity. Jesus is the Bread of Life who took upon Himself a human body that He might come to this earth and die for our sins (John 6:26).

Twelve loaves of bread were baked each week, following the recipe given in Leviticus 24:5–9. The text doesn’t explain how big these loaves were, but from the amount of flour required, they must have been quite large. It’s likely that the flour was provided by the people as a gift to the Lord. Each Sabbath, the old loaves were removed and eaten by the priests in the holy place, and the new loaves were put in their place.

When the bread was placed on the table, it was always accompanied by incense, which was probably burned in one of the special utensils (Ex. 25:29). The use of incense suggests that the bread was actually a “meal offering” to the Lord (Lev. 2:1–11) in thanksgiving to Him for “daily bread.” If the flour was a gift from the people, it was their sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for His provision for their needs.

The loaves are called “showbread” (Ex. 25:30) or “presence bread,” literally “bread of faces.” The presence of twelve loaves of bread in the holy place couldn’t help but remind the priests that they were serving the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people. Through these loaves, the twelve tribes were presented before God and God was present with them in their camp, beholding their worship and their daily walk. The tribes were also represented by the jewels on the breastplate and the shoulders of the high priest (28:6–21). When you combine the images of the jewels and the loaves, you learn that the Lord feeds His people, bears them on His shoulders, and carries them over His heart.

But there’s also a sense in which the loaves remind us that Israel was called to feed a hungry world the spiritual bread the Lord had given them. They gave the world the Word of God, which is bread (Matt. 4:4), and Jesus who is the Bread of Life (John 6). Unfortunately, they turned from the Lord and ate at heathen altars, and God had to discipline them.

Paul compared the church to a loaf of unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:1–8; see 10:16–17), and our task is to preach the Word and tell sinners about Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. Since the twelve loaves were considered a meal offering, there would have been no leaven in the dough (Lev. 2:1–11), and God’s people must keep themselves from all impurity. We aren’t here to feed ourselves; we’re here to feed a hungry world.

The loaves of bread were very special and were not to be eaten carelessly, even by the priests. Any priest who was defiled and ate the bread or any of the sacrificial meat that belonged to the priests, was in danger of death (Lev. 22:3–9).

God enlightens our worship and service (25:31–40; 27:20–21; 37:17–24; Lev. 24:1–3) The candlestick was hammered out of about seventyfive pounds of gold, but we aren’t told its dimensions. It was undoubtedly a beautiful work of art with its six branches decorated with almond flowers, buds, and blossoms. The six branches and the central shaft provided seven lamps which were fed by oil and kept burning constantly (Ex. 27:20–21; Lev. 24:1–4).

Since there was no way to let in natural light from the outside, the golden lampstand was the only source of light available in the holy place. Without it, the priests couldn’t have carried on their various ministries. God wants us to offer Him intelligent worship, not ignorant worship (John 4:19–24; Acts 17:22–31; Rom. 1:18–25), and to do that, we need the light of the Word of God to guide us (Ps. 119:105, 130; Prov. 6:23).

Aaron and his sons were to trim the lamps each time they offered the incense on the golden altar (Ex. 30:7–8). We shall see later that the fragrant burning incense represents prayer ascending to God, and the Word of God and prayer must go together (Acts 6:4): Prayer is enlightened by the Word (John 15:7), and the Word is opened up to us as we pray (Ps. 119:18; Eph. 1:15–23). Both the study of the Word and the exercise of prayer must be energized by the Holy Spirit, who is symbolized by oil (the lampstand, Zech. 4:1–7) and fire (the altar, Acts 2:3–4).

But the candlestick also reminds us of the people of Israel, chosen by God to be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:6; 49:6). However, the lampstand wasn’t in the outer court of the tabernacle where everybody could see it, but in the holy place where only God and the priests could see it. How, then, does it symbolize Israel’s witness to the Gentiles? Israel’s relationship to God in sacrifice and worship determined the strength and extent of their witness. It was when they turned from the worship of the true and living God and began to worship idols that they lost their witness to the Gentile nations.

Jesus Christ also came to be a “light to the Gentiles” (Luke 1:79; John 8:12), and that light is spread through the witness of the church (Acts 13:47–48; Phil. 2:14–16; Matt. 5:14–16). In Revelation 1:9–20, our Lord stands in the midst of seven lampstands which represent the seven churches of Asia Minor in John’s day. In the tabernacle, there was one lampstand, beaten out of one talent of gold, representing the one nation of Israel and its witness. Though the church is one people, it spreads the light through many individual assemblies in many places in the world.

The lights in the seven lamps on the lampstand were fed by oil that was especially prepared for that purpose (Ex. 27:20–21). Just as the people brought the fine flour for the baking of the loaves, so they brought clear oil for the maintaining of the lights on the lampstand (Ex. 25:27–28; 35:10, 14). Zechariah 4:1–4 informs us that this oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit of God, without whose power we can’t glorify Christ (John 16:14) or effectively witness of Him (Acts 1:8). “Without Me,” said Jesus, “you can do nothing” (John 15: nkjv).

What was done by the priests in the sanctuary was done for the Lord (Ex. 28:1, 3–4, 41; 29:1) and before the Lord (27:21; 40:25; Lev. 24:4). It mattered not that the people in the camp were ignorant of what the priests were doing, because God saw it all, and their task was to please Him. The most important part of a Christian’s life is the part that only God sees. If God is pleased by what He sees, and our conscience is clean before Him, then we don’t have to worry about what people think or say about us (1 Cor. 4:1–5). He will accept our ministry and bless it.

At least three times during the months at Sinai, the Jewish people had promised to obey whatever God told them to do (19:8; 24:3, 7; and see 20:19). The Lord knew that it wasn’t in their hearts to keep their promises (Deut. 5:28–29), and the tragedy of the golden calf proved Him right.

The great sin (32:1–6). Moses called what they did “a great sin” (vv. 21, 30–31), and his assessment was accurate. It was a great sin because of who committed it: the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God, His special treasure. It was great because of when and where they committed it: at Mount Sinai after they had heard God’s law declared and seen God’s glory revealed. They had promised to obey God’s law, but in making a golden calf and indulging in a sensual celebration, the nation broke the first, second, and seventh commandments. It was a great sin because of what they had already experienced of the power and mercy of God: the judgments against Egypt, the deliverance at the Red Sea, the provision of food and water, and the gracious leading of God by the pillar of cloud and fire. What they did was rebel against the goodness of the Lord. It’s no wonder their sin provoked God to anger (Deut. 9:7).

Why did Israel commit such an evil act at such a glorious time in their history? To begin with, they were impatient with Moses who had been on the mount with God for forty days and nights (vv. 11–12), and impatience is often the cause of impulsive actions that are sinful. Israel didn’t know how to live by faith and trust God regardless of where their leader was. Whether Moses was with them or away from them, they criticized him and ignored what he had taught them.

But Aaron and the tribal leaders were to blame because they didn’t immediately turn to God for help and warn the people what would happen. Aaron and Hur had authority from Moses to lead in his absence (Ex. 24:14), and though they were men who had seen God’s mighty acts, they failed God and Moses. Instead of restraining the people, Aaron went along with them and gratified the desires of their sinful hearts. Later, he offered a feeble excuse and tried to blame the people (vv. 22–24), but God knew better. God was so angry that He would have killed Aaron had Moses not interceded for him (Deut. 9:20).

Israel’s lust for idols was born in Egypt and still worked in their hearts (Josh. 24:14; Ezek. 20:4–9; 23:3, 8). Aaron fed that appetite by giving the people what they wanted. Much is being said these days about “meeting the felt needs of people,” but here was a nation that didn’t know what its needs really were. They thought they needed an idol, but what they really needed was faith in their great God who had revealed Himself so powerfully to them. Israel exchanged the glory of the true and living God for the image of an animal (Ps. 106:19–23), which means they acted like the heathen nations around them (Rom. 1:22–27). Many people can rise early to sin but not to pray.

The great test (vv. 7–14). In leadership, the difficult experiences with our people either make us or break us, and Moses was about to be tested. God called Israel “your people whom you brought out of Egypt,” as though the Lord were abandoning the nation to Moses, but Moses soon reminded Him that they were His people and that He had delivered them. Furthermore, God had made a covenant with their forefathers to bless them, multiply them, and give them their land (Gen. 12:1–3). Moses intended to hold God to His word, and that’s what God wanted him to do.

The Lord then took a different approach: He offered to wipe out Israel and make a new nation out of Moses’ descendants. A lesser man might have accepted this invitation, but not Moses. He loved his people, sinful as they were, and he wanted more than anything else to glorify the God of Israel and see Him fulfill His promises. Moses wasn’t worried about his own future; he was concerned about God’s reputation. What would the Egyptians say about God if they heard that the whole nation of Israel had been destroyed at Sinai?

God had a right to be angry at Israel’s flagrant sin of idolatry and sensuality (Ex. 32:10–12), but Moses convinced God not to destroy Israel. In writing this account, Moses used human terms to describe divine actions, which is why he wrote in verse 14 that God “repented.” The Hebrew word means “to grieve, to be sorry” (Gen. 6:6; 1 Sam. 15:29) and describes God’s change of approach in dealing with His people (Jer. 18:1–12; 19; 26). God’s character doesn’t change, but God does respond to the prayers and confessions of His people.

The great discipline (32:15—33:11). God in His grace forgives our sins, but God in His government allows sin to work out its terrible consequences in human life. We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7–8). For example, God put away David’s sin, but warned him that the sword wouldn’t depart from his own household, and it didn’t (2 Sam. 12:1–14). What a tragedy it is to reap the consequences of forgiven sin!

Moses disciplined the people (32:15–29). As he came down the mountain, he asked Joshua to join him (24:12–13). One day Joshua would replace Moses, so he needed to learn how to handle these difficult matters. Moses was angry (32:19, 22), but it was anger tempered by love, which is anguish. The breaking of the stone tablets was a symbolic act: Israel had broken the covenant and would have to face discipline. But before he dealt with the people, Moses confronted Aaron, for the privilege of leadership brings with it both responsibility and accountability. Evangelist Billy Sunday said that an excuse was the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie, and Aaron’s feeble excuses didn’t convince Moses.

Then Moses turned to the people and asked, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” (See Josh. 24: and 1 Kings 18:21.) This was an opportunity for all Israel to repent and reaffirm their commitment to the Lord, but only the Levites responded to the call. Ignoring the ties of family and friendship (Matt. 10:34–39; Luke 14:26–27), they courageously killed all who were involved in the orgy, which was about 3,000 men. Centuries later, Paul used this event among others to warn Christian believers about rebelling against God (1 Cor. 10:1–12).

Moses then destroyed the shameful golden calf by burning it (it may have been made of wood overlaid with gold), grinding the gold to powder, throwing the powder in a nearby stream (Ex. 17:10), and making the people drink it (Deut. 9:21). By doing this he totally destroyed the idol and also forced the people to identify with their terrible sins.

Moses returned to God on Mount Sinai where for forty more days and nights he fasted and prayed for his people (Ex. 32:30–34; 34:28; Deut. 9:18–20). He told God he was willing to be killed if it would mean life for the Jews, but God rejected his offer. The Lord assured Moses that His angel would go before them and that Moses was to lead the people just as before. However, God would punish them in His own way and His own time. Had the Jews known all that Moses endured for their sake, they might have appreciated him more, but such is the price of faithful spiritual leadership.

God disciplined the people (32:35—33:11). God’s first discipline was to send a plague among the people, but we aren’t told how many were killed. The Levites had killed 3,000 men who were engaged in idolatrous worship and immoral practices, but God knew who all the guilty people were. Sometimes God passes the sentence of judgment immediately but then delays executing the penalty. However, whether in the Old Testament or the New, “there is a sin leading to death” (1 John 5:16–17 nkjv).

God’s second judgment was to refuse to go before Israel as they marched to the Promised Land (Ex. 33:1–6). God would keep the covenant promises He had made to the patriarchs, but instead of going before Israel in the person of His Son, the Angel of the Lord (23:20–23), He would appoint an angel to accompany the Jews. The reason? “You are a stiff-necked people” (32:9; 33:3, 5). If they had been a people who were suffering and afflicted, the Lord would have come to them in grace and mercy (3:7–10), but a stubborn people can only be disciplined. Better that God depart from them than that He come suddenly upon them and destroy them!

When Moses gave Israel this message, they responded by taking off their ornaments and mourning. Whether this was true repentance or not, only the Lord knew. Previously, they had contributed their gold ornaments to the making of an idol, and this had been their undoing. Perhaps they were starting to learn their lesson—the hard way.

The third judgment was to move Moses’ “tent of meeting” to a site outside the camp, where he would personally meet with God. This isn’t the tabernacle of the Lord, since the tabernacle had not yet been erected and dedicated. This was a special tent that Moses used when he wanted to consult with God. God graciously met with Moses and spoke with him face-to-face, the way friends talk together (Num. 12:1–8; Deut. 34:10). The cloudy pillar that led the nation on their journey would hover at the tent door, and the people would know that Moses and the Lord were in conference.

Sin is always costly, and Israel’s sin had not only led to the death of thousands of people, but it had robbed the nation of the presence of the Lord in the camp and on their pilgrim journey to the Promised Land. As Charles Spurgeon said, “God never permits His people to sin successfully.”

During the second period of forty days and nights with God on Mount Sinai, Moses pled for the people and asked the Lord to restore His promised blessings to them.

God’s presence with the nation (33:12–17). Moses reminded the Lord of His promise to accompany the people on their journey. In fact, when the nation sang God’s praises at the Red Sea, they rejoiced in the promise of God’s victorious presence (15:13–18). Was God now going to go back on His word?

Moses based his appeal on the grace (favor) of God, for he knew that the Lord was merciful and gracious and that the people were guilty. If God gave them what they deserved, they would have been destroyed! The Jews were God’s people and Moses was God’s servant. They didn’t want an angel to accompany them, for there was nothing special about that. The thing that distinguished Israel from the other nations was that their God was present with them, and that’s what Moses requested. His heart must have leaped for joy when he heard God promise to accompany the people and lead them to the place of rest that He had promised.

Do God’s children have the right to “negotiate” with God as Moses did? It all depends on our relationship with God. Moses knew the ways of God (Ps. 103:7) and was the intimate friend of God, and therefore he was able to present his case with faith and skill. The godly Scottish minister Samuel Rutherford, who knew what it was to suffer for Christ, wrote, “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge loving-kindness out of all the roughest strokes of God.” That’s what Moses was doing for the people.

God’s glory revealed (33:18–23). The true servant of God is concerned more about the glory of God than about anything else. Moses and the Jews had seen God’s glory in the pillar of cloud and fire, as well as in the “storm” on Mount Sinai, but Moses wanted to see the intimate glory of God revealed to him personally. God did give Moses a guarded glimpse of His glory and he was satisfied. When God’s servants are discouraged and disappointed because of the sins of their people, the best remedy for a broken heart is a new vision of the glory of God.

God’s forgiveness granted (34:1–28). Moses had won God’s promise to accompany the people in their journey, but would He forgive the people for their sins? Would He accompany them like a policeman watching a criminal or like a Father caring for His beloved children? The answer came when the Lord ordered Moses to prepare two new stone tablets, for this meant He was going to replace the tablets that Moses had broken! God would renew the covenant! Early the next morning, Moses kept the appointment, the tablets in his hands.

But before He did anything with the tablets, God proclaimed the greatness of His attributes (vv. 5–7), a declaration that is basic to all Jewish and Christian theology. Moses repeated these words to God at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 14:17–19), the Jews used them in Nehemiah’s day (Neh. 9:17–18), and Jonah quoted them when he sat pouting outside Nineveh (Jonah 4:1–2). We don’t read that Moses fell on his face when he saw the glimpses of God’s glory, but he did bow to the ground and worship when he heard God speak these magnificent words.

Faith comes by hearing and receiving God’s Word (Rom. 10:17), so Moses by faith asked God to forgive the people. The pronouns in this prayer are significant: “pardon our iniquity and our sin” (Ex. 33:9, italics mine). Though he wasn’t guilty of disobeying God, Moses identified himself with the sins of the people, as did Ezra and Daniel in their prayers of confession (Ezra 9; Dan. 9). The Lord had just declared that He forgave “iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 33:7), and Moses laid hold of that truth.

The fact that God renewed the covenant is evidence that He forgave His people and gave them a new beginning. But God also repeated the essential elements of the covenant, especially the laws about idolatry (vv. 12–17). When Israel moved into their Promised Land, it would be very easy to compromise with the enemy, first by making agreements with them, then by joining in their feasts, and finally by intermarrying with them and adopting their pagan ways. It was important from the very beginning that Israel repudiate and destroy everything associated with idols and to realize that what adultery was to marriage, idolatry was to their covenant with the Lord.

We who live many millennia after these events can’t begin to comprehend how filthy Canaanite idolatry was when Israel conquered the land. It was unspeakably immoral, and like cancerous tumors in human bodies, the pagan temples and altars had to be removed and destroyed before the land could be healthy. God had called Israel to be the channel of blessing to the world, culminating in the birth of the Savior, and idolatry was the enemy that almost destroyed the nation. Humanly speaking, were it not for a faithful remnant after the captivity that struggled to be true to God, the world might not have had the written Scriptures and the birth of the Savior.

By the grace of God, Moses achieved his purposes: God promised to go with the people, God showed Moses a glimpse of His glory, and God forgave the sins of the nation. Moses could return to the camp with the second tables of the law and tell the people God had forgiven their sins.

Glory: God’s presence dwells with the people (34:29–35; 39:32—40:38) The book of Exodus opens with Moses seeing God’s glory in the burning bush (3:1–5), and it closes with the glory of God descending into the camp and filling the tabernacle. The presence of the glory of God in the camp of Israel was not a luxury; it was a necessity. It identified Israel as the people of God and set them apart from the other nations, for the tabernacle was consecrated by the glory of God (29:43–44). Other nations had sacred buildings, but they were empty. The tabernacle of Israel was blessed with the presence of the glory of God.

God’s glory reflected (Ex. 34:29–35; 2 Cor. 3). Moses had been fasting and praying in the presence of God for eighty days, and he had seen a glimpse of God’s glory. Is it any wonder that he had a shining face? He didn’t realize that he had “absorbed” some of the glory and was reflecting it from his countenance. Because of this glory, the people were afraid to come near him, but he summoned them to come and they talked as before. However, after he was finished speaking to the people, Moses put on a veil to cover the glory.

Why did Moses wear a veil? Not because he was frightening the people, but because the glory was fading away (2 Cor. 3:13). The Jews saw this glory as something wonderful and exciting, but what would they say if they knew it was fading away? Who wants to follow a leader who is losing his glory? So Moses would go into the tent of meeting to talk with God, and the glory would return, but then he would wear the veil so the people wouldn’t see the glory disappear.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul made several applications of this remarkable event. First, he pointed out that the glory of the Mosaic legal system was fading away, but that the glory of the gospel of God’s grace was getting more glorious (vv. 7–11). This was his answer to the legalists who taught that obedience to the law plus faith in Christ was God’s way of salvation (Acts 15:1). Why believe in something when its glory is vanishing?

He also applied the event to the lost Jews of his day whose hearts were covered by a veil of unbelief so they couldn’t see the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 3:14–16). The only way to remove that veil was to believe the Word and trust in Jesus Christ.

Finally, he applied Moses’ experience to Christians who by faith see the glory of Jesus Christ in the Word and experience a spiritual transformation (vv. 17–18). This is why Christians read the Bible and meditate on it, because when the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he or she is transformed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God.

God’s glory resident (39:32—40:38). The people of Israel had no idea what Moses had experienced on the mountain and how close they had come to being rejected by God and destroyed. Never underestimate the spiritual power of a dedicated man or woman who knows how to intercede with God. One of our greatest needs today is for intercessors who can lay hold of God’s promises and trust God to work in mighty power (Isa. 59:16; 62:1; 64:1–7).

The work on the tabernacle and its furnishings was now completed, so the workers brought it all to Moses for his inspection. It would have been foolish to erect the tabernacle and put the furnishings and utensils in place only to discover that the workers had made serious mistakes. The word “commanded” is used eighteen times in Exodus 39 and 40 to remind us that the workers did what God had told them to do. Moses was a faithful servant who did all that God told him to do (Heb. 3:1–6).

The work was approved and the building was constructed (Ex. 40:1–8, 17–19, 33). This chapter summarizes the dedication of the priests, which was already described in Exodus 28—29, as well as the dedication of the building and its contents. Moses personally saw to it that every piece of furniture and every utensil was anointed and placed where it ought to be. God could not and would not dwell in the tabernacle unless everything was done according to the pattern He showed Moses on the mount (25:8–9, 40; Heb. 8:5; 9:9).

Too many sincere people have tried to do God’s work their own way and then have asked God to bless it. But ministry doesn’t work that way. First we find out what God wants us to do, and we do it to glorify Him. If we obey His will and seek to honor His name, then He will come and bless the work with His powerful presence.

After everything and everybody associated with the tabernacle was dedicated to the Lord, then the glory of God filled the tabernacle and abode there. The Hebrew word translated “abode” in Exodus 39: (“settled,” niv) is transliterated shekinah in English, “the abiding presence of God.” (See 24: and 25:8.) So powerful was the presence of God’s glory that Moses wasn’t able to enter the tabernacle!

When you read Jewish history, you discover that the glory that once dwelt in the tabernacle departed from it when the priests and the people sinned against the Lord (1 Sam. 4:21–22). Ichabod means “the glory is gone.” When Solomon dedicated the temple, God’s glory once again came to dwell with His people (1 Kings 8:10–11), but once again their sins drove God’s glory away (Ezek. 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:23).

The next time the glory of God came to earth was in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14). In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), the word “abode” in Exodus 39: is the Greek word used in Luke 1: and translated “overshadowed.” Mary’s virgin womb was a Holy of Holies where the glory of God dwelt in the person of God’s Son. What did the world do with this glory? Nailed it to a cross!

Where is God’s glory today? The body of every true believer is the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19–20), but so is the local church (3:10–23) and the church universal (Eph. 2:20–22). When Solomon finished the temple, the glory of God moved in, but when God finishes building His church, He will move the church out! Then we will share God’s glory in heaven for all eternity! “And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light” (Rev. 21: nkjv).

L E V I T I C U SGod today doesn’t live in buildings (Acts 7:48–50; 1 Kings 8:7). Buildings are dedicated to God to be used as tools for His work and His workers. But God does dwell in His people, and it’s our responsibility to glorify God individually (1 Cor. 6:20) and collectively (14:23–25). What a tragedy it would be if the glory departed and we had to write “Ichabod” on our buildings. How much better it would be if, like Moses, we did everything according to the heavenly pattern so that God’s glory would feel at home in our midst.