Stay a While in the Courtyard Before Moving into the King’s Palace

Exodus 38:9-20:

This a description of the court with its pillars and linen fence according to the command and description of the specifications given by God to Moses earlier in Exodus 27:9-19.

Thoughts on the Passage

Robert Jamieson informs us in his commentary that the hooks of the pillars in the court were for hanging up the carcasses of the sacrificial beasts. Those on the pillars at the entry of the Tabernacle were for hanging the priesthood robes and other things used in the services conducted in the Tabernacle.

Matthew Henry says the walls of the court (like rest curtains or hangings) represented the state of the Old-Testament church. He implies given that they were made of curtains, this intimated that “the confinement of the church in one particular nation was not to be perpetual”.

He goes on, “The dispensation itself  [i.e. the priesthood system] was a tabernacle-dispensation, movable and mutable, and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world, as is foretold, [in] Isaiah 54:2,3. The church here on earth is but the court of God's house, and happy they that tread these courts and flourish in them; but through these courts, we are passing to the holy place above. Blessed are those that dwell in that house of God: they will be still praising Him. The enclosing of a court before the tabernacle teaches us a gradual approach to God. The priests that ministered must pass through the holy court, before they entered the holy house. Thus, before solemn ordinances there ought to be the separated and enclosed court of a solemn preparation, in which we must wash our hands, and so draw near with a true heart.”

How big is our vision for the Lord’s Body (the Church)? Does it include others beyond our own race, our nationality, our color?

Have we stopped long enough in the “court-yard” of the Creator’s palace to prepare ourselves properly before we expect to sit down and have communion with Him?

These are the thoughts that come to my mind today as I study this passage with you. Take time to consider what God brings to your mind.

And please feel free to share with us as an encouragement to others.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

A Glimpse As To Why Ministry Is a 24/7 Calling

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Exodus 27: The Tabernacle’s Altar of Burnt Offering, The Court, & The Use of the Lamp

Exodus 27:1-21: In chapter 27 of Exodus, God gives detailed instructions for each of the items listed in our heading. Please read your preferred version of Scripture in parallel. Below we simply highlight some of the key features of the chapter for our study. 

In the first few verses (eight to be exact) of this chapter, God describes how He wants the altar to be constructed. I found verse 3 to be of significant interest. There we read, “And you shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its fire pans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.” Now if we ever needed evidence that God cares for the details in our lives (beside the reminder elsewhere in Scripture and in song that ‘His eye is on the sparrow, how much more does He care for us’), this is it. Here is the Almighty God giving instructions to His people about building an altar and He bothers to mention all the ‘maintenance’ tools required for this altar to operate properly – tools to prepare sacrifices and offerings, as well tools for its cleaning. One would have thought that the children of Israel didn’t need to be told what was required to keep an altar going and clean.  So, yes indeed, I can safely say with a lot of assurance that He cares about all the details of our circumstances and lives.

In the next section of this chapter (verses 9 to 19) God describes the courtyard He would like the tabernacle to be set in and subsequently the “hangings” that are to go around the edge of the courtyard.  You will remember when we were studying the previous chapter (Chapter 26) we indicated there was some confusion as to ‘what was what’ especially with respect to “boards” vs. “curtains”.  Well, the plot thickens in this chapter, as it appears that God has given instructions that involve curtains and boards and ‘hangings’, the latter for the periphery of the courtyard.  If we stick with Him in this regard, we would then have to rethink our position on what the ‘boards’ were, or more precisely where they were used.  We will leave this to others to figure out.

The most important part of the chapter in my thinking is found in the last two verses, 20 and 21, which read:

“And 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.  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.”

These verses carry for us a most symbolic message as I see it. God charges us to offer Him clean lives as a continuous light to the world. It is interesting that NASB uses the term “beaten olives” in verse 20, as does the KJV, the ESV, and the RSV.  We note, however, that the NKJV, as well as the NIV and NLT have utilized the phrase “pressed olives” instead. Commentator David Guzik prefers the latter saying that believers are not beaten but we are – “hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed (2 Corinthias 4:8) - and God uses our times of pressing for His glory.”

Our pastors and priests and ministers are charged with a 24/7 responsibility to keep that light (the congregation or people that God has put in their charge) in good working order before the Lord, so they can be that light to the world. And part of that responsibility is that those who are appointed as official priests and pastors and ministers are to help us keep that command of God’s from generation to generation.

So there you have it. We can well ask ourselves several questions:

1.     Am I doing my part to see that this responsibility is indeed being met as God commanded?

2.     Is my church (and I as part of it) ‘burning continually’ as a light to the world?

3.     Do my spiritual leaders understand that their calling and job is a 24/7 one, not a 40-hour or even 60-hour week, fighting hard for their vacations and times off in lieu?

4.     Will the generation that comes after me keep this statute as God commanded?

If the answer to any of these questions is “No”, then we must ask ourselves “Why not?” and “What can/should we do about it?” Then we must pray for God’s discernment and direction to make things right.

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God's House vs. Place of Meeting: There is a Difference, then and now.

The Tabernacle’s Curtains, Boards, Bars, Veil, and Screen

Picture courtesy of: "Tabernacle-view" by Epictatus at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tabernacle-view.jpg#/media/File:Tabernacle-view.jpg

Exodus 26:1-37: In chapter 26 of Exodus, God gives detailed instructions for each of the items listed in our heading. Rather than repeat the entire chapter here, the reader may want to study the fine detail from the Scriptures itself. We have been using the New American Standard Bible (NASB) as it is excellent study version of the Word of God, but many of the other renditions are also helpful. Below we simply highlight some of the key features of the chapter for our study.

In verse 1 of the chapter we note that Moses was to use skillful workmen in the work that God wanted done to precision.  God wants the best in His service and He will see to it that we have the best because He equips His people to do the job He wants done. However, sometimes we rush things – using the wrong people, just to get the job done and God is not pleased. I am not suggesting that God can’t use untrained people, He can and He does.  But I can confidently say that I believe He does not use un-equipped people. Those of us in charge of ministry need to make sure the people we use are indeed equipped to do the job God wants them to do.  [By the way, God repeats this request in verse 31 when it comes to the making of the “veil” for the tabernacle.]

In verse 30, God again repeats the caution that He already has given Moses with respect to the furniture he was to have built. God says, “. . . erect the tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain.” Follow the instructions.  That’s central. And get the instructions when you go to “the mountain”. We can’t get clear instructions from God when we hang around with the masses.  We have to go alone to the mountain. We have to turn off the din of the world – the television, the radio, the magazines, and yes, even the newspapers that we claim simply keep us abreast of things.

In verses 33 and 34 we are told that the Ark of the testimony (that first piece of furniture God ordered) complete with the “mercy seat” (its lid) was to go behind this veil they were making.  And the veil itself would divide the tabernacle into one section called “the holy place” and another one “the holy of holies”. God visits His people in the “holy of holies”.  He can visit us anywhere, but He prefers to visit us in the “holy of holies”. For the Israelites it was behind the “veil”.  For us today, it is through God’s “holy of holies” – His Son, Jesus Christ. It is there we get the clearest message from God as to how then we should live.

In verse 35 we are told that the table of the showbread and the lampstand go outside the “veil” in the holy place, but not in the holy of holies.  Here’s a picture courtesy of http://www.bibleforums.org. Also, the “boards” were stronger than the curtains that were around and over the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. The “boards” were around the whole structure.

Earlier on we saw that the tabernacle was to have numerous curtains that basically formed its walls making it a distinct structure in the midst of the Israelite camp. And in verse 36 we are told that they were to build a “screen” to serve as the doorway to the tent.  The colors of the screen are very significant (blue, purple and scarlet).

Chuck Smith goes into great details about the construction and relationship of the various curtains of the tabernacle.  The whole idea was that this was a well-constructed and yes, portable, tent. He also reminds us that while we may think our modern-day houses of worship should somehow reflect the tabernacle, we need to be very careful not to think of either as “God’s house”.  God cannot be contained in the heavens, let alone a man-made structure, even if it is made to His specifications. No, both the tabernacle and our own places of worship are “meeting houses” – places where God’s people may come together to meet with God collectively, and individually, if one chooses.

Of course, we can meet God (or more precisely, God can meet with us) anywhere – by the seaside, in our car, at our prayer room in our home, in the hospital, etc. But if we want to meet Him in the fellowship of others who want to meet Him too, we need a “meeting house”.

There was, however, a difference between our “meeting” God and the Israelites “meeting” God. We have Jesus Christ that allows us to meet with God; they didn’t.  So they couldn’t meet with Him directly.  They could only go to the place or tent of meeting in the overall tabernacle structure and had to remain in the courtyard.  There they would offer their sacrifice and ask the priest to approach God on their behalf.  Only the priests could go beyond into the holy place and the holy of holies.  According to Smith, this was the case until the time of King David. After that, Solomon, his son, built the temple and the tabernacle was done away with, although obviously there was still a veil in the temple thereafter as it was that veil that was torn from top to bottom when Christ was crucified.

Of course, God chose all His instructions purposefully. Goats’ skins were used and that signified sacrifice.  Brass was used and that symbolized judgment. Also remember that the tabernacle proper was most critically the holy place and the holy of holies. It is this section that had the curtains referred to in the beginning of the chapter for both walls and roof coverings. The whole tent or place of worship (also referred to as the tabernacle by some) added space around the holy place and the holy of holies, plus a courtyard and a main gate.

In closing let me state that as I studied the commentaries on this chapter, I found that they all had various versions of what was really being constructed and how.  There is confusion on what constitutes the “tabernacle” per se versus the “tent”.  There is some confusion about where exactly the “boards” went versus the “curtains”.  And so on.  What I have referenced above is some of the perspectives that made sense to me.  When we get to heaven you may well want to ask God for a peek at the original blueprints, although I neither believe it will matter at that time, nor do I really think He has a “hard copy”. What really matters is that we will be together in the heavenly and intended tabernacle, worship God rather than in one of its replicas here below. 

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.