What we do and who we are for God and with God is all wrapped in the story of God. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) God then created man and woman. “Made in the image of God, He created them.” That means His creativity is in us! God gave gifts, talents and abilities to each of His created humans. We are created with certain abilities to fulfill God’s purpose and plan for His created.
“Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that God had commanded Moses. Working with Bezalel was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics and fine linen”.
This magnificent Tent of Meeting was created with purpose. The God appointed priests will not only meet with God but they will be instructed to sacrifice animals “without blemish” as a representative way to take all the sins of the people and place them on these animals. God thought of everything needed to make this happen in the best way possible. God is the creator of the original Grill Master as we look over the specifications of the tools used for these burnt offerings! (I know, but think about it!) A way is made for the act of redemption to happen in the healthiest way possible. Look at the details. God is in the details!
Made to travel! Although the Tent, Altar, and the rest was made of heavy gold, silver and bronze, it was made to travel well in the wilderness! The precious metals kept the wood from warping and rotting. The grate of bronze was kept from rust and decay. (Not like my grill of cheap metal!)
The Tent of Meeting would be the forerunner of redemption until Jesus would come to be the perfect sacrifice and redeem us once and for all. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1
Let us keep Jesus in mind as we read the details from God for His newly rescued People…
Exodus 38, The Message
The Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering
1-7 He made the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering from acacia wood. He made it seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high. He made horns at each of the four corners. The horns were made of one piece with the Altar and covered with a veneer of bronze. He made from bronze all the utensils for the Altar: the buckets for removing the ashes, shovels, basins, forks, and fire pans. He made a grate of bronze mesh under the ledge halfway up the Altar. He cast four rings at each of the four corners of the bronze grating to hold the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and covered them with a veneer of bronze. He inserted the poles through the rings on the two sides of the Altar for carrying it. The Altar was made out of boards; it was hollow.
The Washbasin
8 He made the Bronze Washbasin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women’s work group who were assigned to serve at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
The Courtyard
9-11 And he made the Courtyard. On the south side the hangings for the Courtyard, woven from fine twisted linen, were 150 feet long, with their twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and fastening hooks and bands of silver. The north side was exactly the same.
12-20 The west end of the Courtyard had seventy-five feet of hangings with ten posts and bases, and fastening hooks and bands of silver. Across the seventy-five feet at the front, or east end, were twenty-two and a half feet of hangings, with their three posts and bases on one side and the same for the other side. All the hangings around the Courtyard were of fine twisted linen. The bases for the posts were bronze and the fastening hooks and bands on the posts were of silver. The posts of the Courtyard were both capped and banded with silver. The screen at the door of the Courtyard was embroidered in blue, purple, and scarlet fabric with fine twisted linen. It was thirty feet long and seven and a half feet high, matching the hangings of the Courtyard. There were four posts with bases of bronze and fastening hooks of silver; they were capped and banded in silver. All the pegs for The Dwelling and the Courtyard were made of bronze.
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21-23 This is an inventory of The Dwelling that housed The Testimony drawn up by order of Moses for the work of the Levites under Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that God had commanded Moses. Working with Bezalel was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics and fine linen.
24 Gold. The total amount of gold used in construction of the Sanctuary, all of it contributed freely, weighed out at 1,900 pounds according to the Sanctuary standard.
25-28 Silver. The silver from those in the community who were registered in the census came to 6,437 pounds according to the Sanctuary standard—that amounted to a beka, or half-shekel, for every registered person aged twenty and over, a total of 603,550 men. They used the three and one-quarter tons of silver to cast the bases for the Sanctuary and for the hangings, one hundred bases at sixty-four pounds each. They used the remaining thirty-seven pounds to make the connecting hooks on the posts, and the caps and bands for the posts.
29-31 Bronze. The bronze that was brought in weighed 4,522 pounds. It was used to make the door of the Tent of Meeting, the Bronze Altar with its bronze grating, all the utensils of the Altar, the bases around the Courtyard, the bases for the gate of the Courtyard, and all the pegs for The Dwelling and the Courtyard.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
My favorite commentator, Warren Wierbe, explains the significance of each created tool of redemption made from God’s specifications. He writes,
“Unlike the golden altar of incense in the Holy Place, the bronze altar was a place of bloodshed and death, for “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).
If a sinner could manage to enter the tabernacle courtyard and wash in the laver, that wouldn’t save him, nor would he be forgiven if he entered the Holy Place and ate the bread or burned the incense. The way into the presence of God began at the bronze altar, where innocent animals died for guilty sinners. In short, the bronze altar takes us immediately to Calvary where the Son of God died for the sins of the world (Matt. 26:26–28; John 1:29; 3:14–16; Rom. 5:8; 1 Pet. 2:24).
Each morning, the priests were to offer a burnt offering on the bronze altar, a picture of total dedication to the Lord. As believers in Jesus Paul says we must offer ourselves each day to God in dedication to God as “living sacrifices.” This daily act of obedience leads us to knowing God and His perfect will for our lives.
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 NLT
Yes, God is not only in the details, He “delights in the details” of our committed lives to Him. The Psalmist who knew God writes,
“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24, NLT
Lord,
You are simply amazing! You have already thought it all out! You are in every detail of life because you created life. You are in every detail, smallest to largest, of our lives. That’s why we come to you with all that is concerning us, troubling for us, and confusing to us. You are the Creator of all and in all so you have all the answers!
You love us beyond our thinking so it is hard at times to think that the Lord of all would be interested in our lives in this way—but you are!
Thank you for saving us from sins that break us. Thank you for picking up all the broken pieces and reshaping us into what you intended for us all along as your child of promise. Thank you for being in every detail of my life. I am forever grateful for all you have done, are doing and will do in my life.In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 