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Exodus
27
December 30, 2004
Reading through
the Bible in one Year: Jude
Weekly Memory
Verse: Hebrews 13:8
Good Evening
Brothers and Sisters,
As the Year
draws to a close, I would encourage all of you to make it a point to put
Christ first in your lives. This year as we consider the holiday parties
that we are attending, it is time to stand up for Christ Jesus. Our
religion is worthless if we cannot put it into practice in our daily lives.
I am going to continue to keep the study lite for two reasons. First, going
into details in this area may bore you to tears, and second, I would like to
allow you as much time as possible to be with your families. I am not sure
if I will be posting a study tomorrow night or not, I will keep that open,
the same goes for New Years Day. I am going to be spending time with my
wife and children.
Exodus 27 (NASB95)
1 “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long
and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be
three cubits. 2 “You shall make its horns on its four corners;
its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with
bronze. 3 “You shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and
its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall make
all its utensils of bronze. 4 “You shall make for it a grating of
network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its
four corners. 5 “You shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the
altar, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar. 6 “You
shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with
bronze. 7 “Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that
the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8
“You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the
mountain, so they shall make it. 9 “You shall make the
court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be hangings
for the court of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for one side;
10 and its pillars shall be twenty, with their twenty
sockets of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be
of silver. 11 “Likewise for the north side in length there
shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars
with their twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their
bands shall be of silver. 12 “For the width of the
court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits with
their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 “The width of the
court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 “The
hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits
with their three pillars and their three sockets. 15 “And
for the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits with
their three pillars and their three sockets. 16 “For the gate of
the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and
purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a
weaver, with their four pillars and their four sockets. 17
“All the pillars around the court shall be furnished with silver bands
with their hooks of silver and their sockets of bronze. 18
“The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width
fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and
their sockets of bronze. 19 “All the utensils of the tabernacle
used in all its service, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the
court, shall be of bronze. 20 “You shall charge the sons
of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to
make a lamp burn continually. 21 “In the tent of meeting, outside
the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in
order from evening to morning before the
Lord; it shall be a
perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.[1]
One thing that
is interesting is that the altar had horns mounted on the four corners of
it. These were designed to hook the sacrifice to the altar, beyond that,
the uses of them is not clear.
Exodus 20:24-26 (NASB95)
24 ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall
sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep
and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will
come to you and bless you. 25 ‘If you make an altar of stone for
Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it,
you will profane it. 26 ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My
altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’[2]
God made an
exception in the case of His instructions to Moses. The altar that He
instructed Moses to build was not of undressed stones, but rather of
specific size, construction, and design. It was designed by God, and built
by man, therefore man did not corrupt the altar with his ideas.
1 Peter 2:5 (NASB95)
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual
house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:17 (NASB95)
17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the
sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you
all.
Philippians 4:18 (NASB95)
18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance;
I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a
fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
Ephesians 5:2 (NASB95)
2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave
Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Romans 12:1 (NASB95)
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual service of worship.
[3]
The horns on
the altar set my mind to thinking. The problem with our lives is that we
are living sacrifices, offered daily up to the Lord in prayer. Unless we
tie ourselves to the horns that are on the altar, we have a tendency to
crawl off the altar and to go our own way. Jesus was also a living
sacrifice for the sin of all of us. He had the option to walk away from
being offered up as a sacrifice for us, yet He chose to continue down the
path that He knew would end up causing Him to be nailed to the cross and
killed by an angry mob. Jesus gave Himself as a living sacrifice for all of
us, determining to bind himself to the horns of the altar until it was
over. Another use of the horns on the altar was for people who were fleeing
for their lives, they would cling to the horns in order to have protection.
Exodus 21:14 (NASB95)
14 “If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor,
so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar,
that he may die.
1 Kings 1:50-53 (NASB95)
50 And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and he arose, went and
took hold of the horns of the altar. 51 Now it was told Solomon,
saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has
taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me
today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ” 52
Solomon said, “If he is a worthy man, not one of his hairs will fall
to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die.” 53
So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he
came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him,
“Go to your house.”
1 Kings 2:28-34 (NASB95)
28 Now the news came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah,
although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the
Lord and took hold of the horns
of the altar. 29 It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to
the tent of the Lord, and
behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall upon him.” 30 So Benaiah came to the
tent of the Lord and said to
him, “Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’ ” But he said, “No, for I will die
here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab,
and thus he answered me.” 31 The king said to him, “Do as he has
spoken and fall upon him and bury him, that you may remove from me and from
my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without cause. 32
“The Lord will return his blood
on his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than
he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it:
Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of
Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 “So shall their blood
return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever; but
to David and his descendants and his house and his throne, may there be
peace from the Lord forever.”
34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and
put him to death, and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness.
Hebrews 4:12 (NASB95)
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any
two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of
both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the
heart.
1 John 1:9-10 (NASB95)
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we
say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.[4]
This protection
worked for Adonijah, but did not work for Joab. The act of clinging to the
horns of the altar brought about justice in their lives though. I wonder,
are we willing to cling to the horns of God's altar? As we cling to God's
word, it is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways. If we are clinging
unrighteously to God's word justifying our evil nature, then God's word will
judge us. If we are clinging righteously to the horns of the altar that
have been covered by the blood of Jesus, then God's word will protect us
from judgment eternally. Our job is to confess out sins as John indicated,
be forgiven, and follow God. We are living sacrifices, not independent
contractors who are bartering for God's time.
The location
and purpose of this altar indicate that no one can come before the Lord
without sacrifice. This altar was a part of the consecration of the priests
as well as the Day of Atonement.
The courtyard
is huge, including over 11,000 square feet. This was the area outside of
the actual tabernacle, but designed so that the common people could come
before the Lord in worship. Only the priests could enter the tabernacle.
I found one
material to be interesting in the construction of the courtyard, Verse 16
speaks of a three part thread that is the basic build for the curtains.
Blue may signify royalty, Purple, may signify healing, and Scarlet, may
symbolize spiritual healing. The body of believers are surrounded by the
work of Christ Jesus, the King of the Jews, the healer and creator of all
mankind, and the one who was responsible for shedding His blood for the
forgiveness of sins. (I was probably reading into this, just an interesting
thought.)
Matthew 5:13-18 (NASB95)
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if
the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is
no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot
by men. 14 “You are the light of
the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15
nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under
a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the
house. 16 “Let your light shine
before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father who is in heaven. 17 “Do
not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to
abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For
truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest
letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 25:1-10 (NASB95)
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be
comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. 2 “Five of them were
foolish, and five were prudent. 3
“For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the prudent took oil in flasks
along with their lamps. 5 “Now
while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to
sleep. 6 “But at midnight there
was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7 “Then all those virgins rose and
trimmed their lamps. 8 “The
foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
going out.’ 9 “But the prudent
answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go
instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10
“And while they were going away to make the
purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to
the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
Luke 12:32 (NASB95)
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for
your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
[5]
The last thing
that stood out to me was the instructions regarding the lamp. Jesus spoke a
lot about being the light of the world. Another interesting thing regarding
this was that the lamp was supposed to be kept burning 24 hours each day.
It kept a constant vigil, as a light shining in the darkness that God is
Lord of all. God expects those who believe in Him to keep the lamp burning
waiting for His return. The constant burning of the lamp is a constant sign
of the awareness and the diligence of God's people to dig in the Word for
quality truth. Olive oil that was obtained out of beaten olives was the
purest kind of oil, it burned the cleanest. The oil that was produced out
of pressed olives was contaminated and did not burn as well.
I am going to
close here, I dabbled in a lot of areas today, all thoughts are welcomed.
Father, as we
continue to study Your word, light each of our lives with Your word. Keep
us in constant readiness as we prepare for Your return and as we abide in
Your word.
In Him,
Joe Turner.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA:
The Lockman Foundation.
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