May 31, 2013
Central Truth
The same Spirit of God of the Old Testament wants to fill us today, but we must first trust in Jesus as our Savior. He is our High Priest and perfect atonement for our sins. Once we trust in Jesus, we are filled with His Spirit and maintain fellowship with Him by confessing our sins.
He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. (Exodus 37:7)
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits 1 37:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 2 And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. 3 And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. 4 And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold 5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. 6 And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 7 And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, 8 one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.
10 He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. 12 And he made a rim around it a handbreadth 2 37:12 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. 13 He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14 Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. 16 And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.
17 He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18 And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 21 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. 22 Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23 And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its utensils out of a talent 3 37:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms of pure gold.
25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, 27 and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. 28 And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
29 He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.
First Rumination – submitting to God:
In Exodus 31:3, we read that God "filled [Bezalel] with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship" in order to complete the work God commanded Moses to do. Check out Proverbs 3:19-20 and see how wisdom, knowledge, and understanding were used by God. It appears the characteristics God used to create heaven and earth were the same characteristics He imparted to Bezalel.
For those fully committed to God, He wants to manifest Himself, to support and strengthen, and to equip His saints for every good work (John 14:23, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Hebrews 13:21, 2 Timothy 3:17). The same Spirit of God who created everything wants to dwell with us.
God deserves our all. After all, He gives it to us (1 Chronicles 29:11-12). Will you submit to Him?
Second Rumination – dwelling with God:
Think back to Exodus 25-31 where God is giving Moses instructions regarding the tabernacle and its accompaniments. The meetings between God and Moses were not clandestine, but instead were made known to the people of Israel. One must remember that the ornaments described in this passage were only visible to the priests, thus necessitating the description of them to the Israelites. Without this description for Israel, I believe the claims of Christ (New Testament) would be difficult to understand for the Jews.
The table for the showbread (bread of life -- John 6:35), the altar of incense (prayer/communion with God -- Psalm 141:2, Hebrews 7:25), the Ark of the Covenant and mercy seat (perfect atoning sacrifice -- 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 4:14-15 & 9:11-12), and the lampstand (light of the world -- John 8:12) all point to Jesus. Jesus didn't break the system described, but instead He became the system described. Those who believe in Jesus as their Savior are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) and can approach God because of Christ (Hebrews 4:16).
The Holy Triune God desires to commune with us.
Oh, upon that truth let us ruminate!
1. Who else in Scripture was filled with God's Spirit? List the Scripture references. How did this impact the person(s)? Are you filled with God's Spirit?
2. Compare Exodus 37 with Psalm 99 and Hebrews 9. Who is your high priest and why?
3. We no longer follow the Old Testament way of approaching God, but so often we don't seek God. A.W. Tozer wrote: "How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers." What does this quote mean to you? How does it relate to Exodus 37? Do you agree with Tozer's remarks? Why or why not?