The Story and History of Exodus - Part 9: It's Time to Talk About the Tabernacle...Again!

1. PRAYER
God of the covenant, even when we fall into sin,
your Spirit invites us to remember we are loved,
and called to serve as your ambassadors.
Awaken us to the power and gifts
you pour into us for the good of creation,
and grant that we may be trustworthy in all things,
producing good fruit as we walk in love,
for you and for all you have made.
Amen.

3. 1. God SEES/KNOWS/LOVES Ch.1-2
2. God says “I will be WITH you.” Ch.3-4
3. Jesus sets our VISION of God; the TEXT
gets to speak for itself Ch.5-7
4. God works ALL things towards the
RESTORATION of creation Ch.9-11
MAJOR THEMES

4. 5. What GOD did for ISRAEL
at the PASSOVER, God did
for ALL in the death, burial,
and resurrection of JESUS Ch.12
6. God is GRACIOUS and
ACCOMMODATING with EVERYONE as
they read/tell/
hear/write the STORY, and
that INCLUDES you Ch.13-15
MAJOR THEMES

5. 7. The DIVERSITY of perspectives
in scripture should be EMBRACED, not
AVOIDED or EXPLAINED
away out of FEAR Ch.16-19
8. BEING, THEN doing;
GRACE, THEN law;
RESCUE, THEN responsibility;
INVITATION, THEN challenge;
This IS/HAS been, God’s way Ch.20
MAJOR THEMES

7. EXODUS 24:12, 15-18
The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the
mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the
tablets of stone, with the law and commandment,
which I have written for their instruction…Then Moses
went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the
mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount
Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the
seventh day he called to Moses out of the
cloud. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on
the mountain…for forty days and forty nights.

8. EXODUS 25:1-2, 8-9
The Lord said to Moses: Tell the Israelites to take
for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt
them to give you shall receive the offering for
me…And have them make me a sanctuary,
so that I may dwell among them. In accordance
with all that I show you concerning the pattern
of the tabernacle…so you shall make it.

9. …for a population that had lost its own
sacred site (as Israel had in 586 BC, and
would again in 70 AD), the description (of
the tabernacle)
served to remind them that…
God traveled with them in the wilderness
(and is still with them.) What was
important was what
the tabernacle represented – not its
location. Anywhere it stood became
sacred space.

10. What happens here? After a celebratory
meal in God’s presence, Moses ascends
Mount Sinai yet
again to receive detailed instructions
for building the tabernacle.
Building God’s holy abode will fulfill
Israel’s purpose for coming to Sinai.
And yet the Israelites – inconceivably –
almost derail the entire plan;
only Moses’ intervention with
God keeps them on track.

11. Mt. Sinai is divided into three sections:
the base, the ill-defined middle, and the
summit. The tabernacle will also be
divided into three sections: the outer
court
for everyone; the Holy Place,
where only the priests may enter;
and the Most Holy Place…
where the high priest alone
may enter. The tabernacle,
in other words, is a portable Sinai.

12. GENESIS
as EXODUS
anticipated;
EXODUS
as GENESIS
revisited

13. • Initial scene on Sinai takes 6+1 days
• Over 40 days, 6 commands given
for building the tabernacle +
a 7th day to observe the sabbath
• In Ex. 28-29 outlines a process
for ordaining/clothing priests;
the ceremony takes 6 days
CREATION ALL OVER AGAIN

14. • The golden calf rebellion comes right
on the heels of the tabernacle
“creation” story; see: Adam + Eve
CREATION ALL OVER AGAIN

15. In the Bible/ANE the temple is
seen as a microcosm (mini cosmos),
designed with cosmic imagery, with
functions that relate to the cosmos.
The creation of the temple parallels
cosmic creation. The cosmos
itself is viewed as God’s temple.
So: The tabernacle is seen as a callback
to the Garden of Eden
AND a “precursor” to the temple.

18. Creation story: Separation of higher/
lower heavens by the firmament
Tabernacle: the holy of holies
and the sanctuary, separated by
a curtain embroidered with spiritual
“cherubim” (nearest the Most
Holy Place, which held the Ark
of the Covenant) and in colors
of the heavens (red, blue, purple.)

19. Creation story : Seven days
Tabernacle : Ex 25-31, seven speeches:
Day 1 : Light; evening/morning
Speech 1 : Tending the lampstand
from evening to morning
Day 2 : Gathering of the seas
Speech 3 : Bronze wash basin
Day 3 : Lights in night sky; calendar
Speech 4 : More use of the lampstand

20. Day 6: God commissions humanity
to tend to/care for/oversee creation
Speech 6: God commissions Bezalel
and Oholiab to oversee the making
of the tabernacle’s design elements

21. Day 6: God commissions humanity
to tend to/care for/oversee creation
Speech 6: God commissions Bezalel
and Oholiab to oversee the making
of the tabernacle’s design elements
Day 7: God rests, takes up residence
Speech 7: Sabbath instructions
for living in the midst of God’s
presence, as God’s people

22. And God blessed them… God SAW ALL
God had made, and behold, it was very good…
The heaven and earth were COMPLETED …
And God COMPLETED, on the seventh day,
THE WORK God had done.
GENESIS 1:28, 31; 2:1-2
Moses SAW ALL their work, and BEHOLD…
they had done, and he BLESSED THEM…
Moses COMPLETED THE WORK.
EXODUS 39:43; 40:33

23. 9. YHWH is the GOD
of NEW beginnings Ch.24-32
MAJOR THEMES

25. 9. YHWH is the GOD
of NEW beginnings
• Creation
• Adam/Eve (humanity)
• Abraham/Isaac/Jacob;
Sarah/Rebecca/Rachel/Leah
• Moses
• Israel
• Jesus As God/Israel/Humanity
• Humanity/Creation
MAJOR THEMES

26. I’m so tired of comedians burning down
a straw man, making fun of people who
believe in God, being like, “Do you really
think a talking snake gave a lady an apple?!”
mean, come on, it’s a metaphor Ricky!
Always true, sometimes really happened…
If you’re an atheist or a theist, I think we’re
all in the same boat…some people think GOD
created the universe, some people think
NOTHING created the universe, which is the
funniest guess. PETE
HOLMES

27. And the NOTHING people make fun
of the GOD people, they say, “God doesn’t
exist,” and I say, “Ok, maybe.
But you what definitely DOESN’T exist? …
NOTHING! So what are we talking about?
Either its GOD, something you can’t see,
taste, touch, photograph, and science can’t
prove, or you think it’s NOTHING, something
you can’t see, taste, touch, photograph, and
science can’t prove.
But I think we can all agree:

28. If your nothing sometimes spontaneously
erupts into everything…that’s a pretty magical
nothing! And ask the nothing people, “What
happens when you die,” they’ll tell you,
“Nothing. You go into nothing.” And I’m like,
“You mean you merge back into your creator?
That’s heaven!” So none of us should be
afraid
to die, because if one of the things that
nothing does is explode into everything, then
nothing isn’t the end, it’s just a pit stop on the
way to a new beginning!

29. Thank you God for making us
Thank you Jesus for saving us
Thank you Spirit for sustaining us
Thank you God for loving us
Thank you Jesus for leading us
Thank you Spirit for encouraging us
Thank you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
for all the good, truth, and beauty
we encounter in this one life
we are blessed to live. Amen.