THE GIVING OF THE LAW
EXODUS 19 - 40
In the third month after the sons
of
Three months after the Exodus
from
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Covenant Laws & Commands (19-24). |
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Tabernacle (25-31). |
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THE
PROMISE OF THE COVENANT
And
Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying,
"Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of
"`You
yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and brought you to Myself.
"`Now
then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be
My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you
shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to
the sons of
There
are three parts to this passage. They
are seen in past, present and future.
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What God has done |
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What |
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What God will do. |
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(Past) |
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(Present) |
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(Future) |
God's
plan for
1. A Possession.
2. A
This is the first time that the Bible uses the word
"kingdom" where the idea is directly associated with the rule of God.
3. A Holy Nation.
It
is toward these three goals that all of the rest of the commands of the Law
will be directed. These three goals are
ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in His church. All of these qualities are ascribed both to
Jesus and to His body, the united assembly of covenant believers.
The
coming of the Lord is pictured in dramatic terms in this chapter.
"I come to you in a thick cloud" (19:9).
"The
people may hear... and believe" (19:9).
"Wash
their garments" (19:10).
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Exodus
19:13 gives the reason that stoning was used as a means of execution. It was so that the hands would not touch
the sinner and become defiled with his sin. |
"Be
ready for the third day" (19:11).
"Do
not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it (19:12).
"Thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud and a very
loud trumpet sound" (19:16).
What
was the purpose for all of this? The
answer is seen in Exodus 20:22. It is so
that the people will have seen for themselves that God spoke from heaven.
THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS
These
Ten Commandments formed the basis for the moral law of God. The rest of the commands given in the law
shall be an explanation of these ten foundational commands. They are all given in the singular in number —
not "you all shall not" but rather "you SINGULAR shall not"
- addressing each individual (THOU versus YE).
1. No Other Gods.
2. No Idols.
The Jews interpreted the language of this passage to
prohibit all paintings and sculptures — anything that depicted the image of a
person. Even in the days of Jesus, the Herodian rulers avoided having their own faces placed upon
coins because of this prohibition.
3. God's Name.
It is declared sinful to use the name of the Lord
irresponsibly or in profane speech. Later
Jews went to the extreme of avoiding any use of the name of the Lord.
4. The Sabbath.
The keeping of the Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic
Covenant (Exodus 31:13-17).
The sign of the Noahic Covenant was the rainbow. The sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was
circumcision. The signs of the New
Covenant are the Lord's Supper and Baptism.
By working six days and resting on the seventh,
The observance of the Sabbath had already begun at the
time of the giving of the manna - a double portion was given on the day prior
to the Sabbath so that the gathering would not take place on the day of rest.
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The
first four commandments are directed toward GOD. The last six are directed toward MAN. |
5. Respect for Parents.
This command contains with it a promise - a prolonged
life as the reward for obedience. That
is not to say that this will always be the result of respect or parents or that
a person who dies in his youth has necessarily been disrespectful toward his
parents. It means that this is a general
rule of life. Respect of parents tends
to help you to live longer.
6. No Murder.
This is a command that is based upon the image of God
in man. Human life is very precious
because each human being is made in the image of God. To take a human life is to take the life of
God’s image.
7. No Adultery.
This is a command which protects the sanctity of the
family. God ordained the family and He
ordained the sexual union to be enjoyed within the bounds of a husband-wife
relationship.
8. No Stealing.
This command protects the individual's personal
property. All things ultimately belong
to God, yet He has seen fit to entrust people with property as a part of their
stewardship. What God has given to one
person is not to be illegitimately stolen by another.
9. No False Witnessing.
This command protects the individual's
reputation. It is a call for TRUTH. God is a God of truth and He calls for His
people to be truth-tellers. That means
we ought to be sure of a message before we pass it on to others.
10. No Coveting.
All of the previous commands deal with outward
actions. This one deals with an inward
attitude. We are to keep all of the
commandments, not merely with our outward actions, but from our hearts.
Even
a cursory look at Exodus 20 will reveal that a greater emphasis is placed upon
the first four commandments.
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The First 4 Commands |
The Last 6 Commands |
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Deals with |
Deals with men's
relationship with one another. |
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Reasons given for each
command. |
No reasons needed. |
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Completely unique to this constitution. No other society in the ancient world had
similar laws. |
These laws are common to
most of the ancient cultures of that day. |
The
giving of these Ten Commandments is punctuated by a repetition of the thunder,
lightning, trumpet, and smoke from the holy mountain (20:18). As a result, the people ask that Moses serve
as a mediator between themselves and God.
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Moses |
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God |
Finally,
this first stage of the covenant is to be ratified by a sacrifice of offerings
during which the Lord will come to the people and bless them.
• It
is to be an altar of earth (20:24).
• If
stones are used, then they must be uncut stones existing in their natural form,
for if the Israelites use tools on these stones, then they will be profaned
(20:25).
The
altar does not reflect the work of men, but the work of God. It points to the need for God to provide the
way and means by which His justice will be satisfied.
THE
ORDINANCES
The
ordinances were an amplification of the Moral Law summed up in the Ten
Commandments.
1. Civil Laws.
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Laws requiring Death
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Laws not requiring death
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Laws of Slavery (21:1-11). |
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Laws of Slavery (21:26-27). |
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Laws of Restitution (21:28
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General Laws (22:18 - 23:9). |
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2. Feast Observances.
In
Exodus 23:14-16 the
Israelites were mandated to observe three feasts each year. These were to be ongoing memorials of how God
had provided in the past. They were also
promissory of how God would provide in the future.
a. The Feast of Unleavened Bread. This Feast began with Passover and lasted a
total of seven days. It was a reminder
that the people of God were to put their sinful ways behind them.
b. The Feast of the Harvest.
This feast took place 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread - for
this reason, it later became known by its Greek name of Pentecost.
c. The Feast of Ingathering.
This Feast was to become known as the Feast of Booths. It was a reminder of how the Israelites had
come out of
3. Angelic Promises.
"Behold,
I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring
you into the place which I have prepared." (Exodus 23:20).
The Lord goes on to tell the Israelites that the
Promised Land would be taken gradually from the Canaanites (23:29-30).
The Israelites, for their part, were to make no
covenants or treaties with the people of the land (23:32-33).
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE TABERNACLE
"And
let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may
dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8).
The
purpose for the Tabernacle was that God might have a dwelling-place among His
people. This was ultimately fulfilled in
the person of Jesus who "tabernacled" among
us (John 1:14).
1. The Internal Furnishings (25:10-40).
a. The
The first thing to be mentioned in the construction of
the Tabernacle is that Ark of the Covenant.
This was a wooden box overlaid with gold. It is referred to as the "ark of
testimony" (Exodus 25:16).
"And
you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one
and a half cubits wide. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold,
make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat." (Exodus
25:17-18).
In 1922, the British archaeologist Howard Carter
discovered the tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamen, a relatively unimportant ruler
who sat upon the throne of
Among the treasures found within the tomb were a
wooden chest carried by two long poles and upon which sat the figure of a
long-eared jackal. The tomb itself was
constructed with both an inner and an outer chamber - a holy place and a holy
of holies.
The Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle in part
seem to be fashioned after the familiar Egyptian designs - yet with some
important exceptions.
Gone are any images of false gods. Instead, there are the images of two angels
which serve as an honor guard over the Ark of the Covenant.
"And
the cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with
their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned
toward the mercy seat. 21 And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark,
and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give to you. 22 And there I will meet with you; and from above the
mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the
testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment
for the sons of Israel." (Exodus 25:20-22).
The
The
b. The Table.
The second article of furniture in the Tabernacle was
to be a wooden table overlaid with gold.
This table held various platters and pans and bowls
which were used in pouring out libations.
It also held "the bread of the Presence"
(Exodus 25:30) - literally, "the Bread of the Face."
What did the bread represent? When we come to Leviticus 24:5-9, we shall
see that there are 12 loaves of bread.
They represent the 12 tribes of
c. The Lampstand.
The third article of furniture mentioned in this
chapter is the Lampstand. The Lampstand
was made into the image of a tree of pure gold.
It had six branches going out from its trunk. The flowers of this tree were fashioned into
cups which held oil.
There were seven such oil lamps upon the tree. In Revelation 1:12-16 the Apostle John sees a
vision of one like the son of man standing in the middle of seven golden
lamps. The man is Jesus. And the passage goes on to tell us that the
seven lamps are seven churches.
2. The Tent (26:1-37).
The tent itself is made of a number of varied colored
curtains hung upon a portable framework which could be disassembled when it
came time to move the camp. Separating
the two sections of the Tent was a great veil of blue and purple and scarlet.
"And
you shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the
testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a
partition between the holy place and the holy of holies." (Exodus 26:33).
Woven into the veil were the images of cherubim which
served to guard the entrance to the Holy of Holies.
3. The Altar & the Outer Court (27:1-21).
a. The Altar.
Outside the Tent stood a hollow wooden altar overlaid
with bronze (it was also portable).
We
have an altar, from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
(Hebrews 13:11).
b. The Outer Court.
The Tabernacle was surrounded by a high cloth fence
made of white linen and hung on 60 pillars.
It served to separate the Tabernacle from the rest of the camp.
Throughout this entire passage, there is a continued
injunction that the Tabernacle is to be constructed in accordance with the
pattern that was shown to Moses upon the holy mountain (Exodus 25:9; 25:40;
26:30; 27:8
4. The Priestly Garments (28:1 - 29:46).
The priest was to wear a special set of clothes which
set him apart for his ministry.
a. Breastpiece.
This was an elaborately decorated square of cloth
woven in gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen. Attached to its front were 12 precious stones,
each one of which was inscribed with the names of one of the 12 tribes of
Within the fold of this breastpiece
were kept the Urim and Thummim. These devices were used in the casting of
lots to determine the will of the Lord.
b. Ephod.
This is a transliteration of the Hebrew word EPHOD. It describes a close-fitting vest which was
worn over the tunic. It was blue - a
color that represented the sky and heaven.
Its hem was lined with bells of gold and images of
pomegranate fruit. When the High Priest
would walk into the Tabernacle, the bells would chime and be heard outside.
c. Tunic.
The tunic was made of checkered work of fine linen
(Exodus 28:39).
d. Turban.
The turban was made of fine linen. Mounted on the turban was a golden plate with
the words engraved on in which read "Holy to the Lord."
e. Sash.
The KJV translates this as "girdle." The sash was of fine twisted linen. Threads of blue, purple and scarlet were
woven into it. It was tied around the
waist to keep the ephod in place.
One article of clothing that is missing from this
description is sandals. The High Priest
wore nothing upon his feet when he served within the Tabernacle. This was because it was holy ground.
5. The Altar of Incense (30:1-10).
Inside the Tabernacle was a second altar. It was smaller than the first, measuring
about 3 feet high and 1.5 feet square.
This altar stood before the veil leading to the Holy of Holies. Each morning and each evening, incense would
be offered upon this altar.
Revelation 8:3-5 pictures an angel coming to a
heavenly altar and adding incense to the prayers of the saints. Among the Jews, the time of the offering of
incense in the morning and in the evening became times of prayer.
6. The Laver (30:17-21).
The Laver was a basin of water used for purifications
rites. It was made of brass. It contained water. Before any priest was permitted to enter the
Tabernacle, he must first wash and purify himself.
Wedged
in between the instructions for the Tabernacle and the actual carrying out of
those instructions is the account of
1. The Golden Calf.
While Moses is up on
Now
when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the
people assembled about Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who
will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land
of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Exodus 32:1).
Aaron bows to the pressure of the people and he
fashions the image of a golden calf which they begin to worship. When Moses comes back down from the mountain,
he finds the pagan party in full swing.
And
it came about, as soon a Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the
dancing; and Moses' anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and
shattered them at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:19).
Moses calls those who wish to repent and to align
themselves with the Lord to separate themselves from the rest of the
people. His own tribe
- the Levites - step forward in response to this invitation. They become the instruments of God's
judgment, attacking their brother Israelites and slaughtering 3000. Moses then goes before the Lord and
intercedes on behalf of the people.
Then
Moses returned to the Lord, and said, "Alas, this people
has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for
themselves. 32 But now, if Thou wilt,
forgive their sin - and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou
hast written." (Exodus 32:31-32).
Apparently, Moses was willing to be eternally
condemned if it meant saving his people.
In this, he is a type of Christ who suffered the wrath of God that He
might save HIS people.
2. Moses and the Glory of God.
Moses asks, not only on behalf of the nation, but also
puts forth a personal request. This
request is that He might SEE the Lord.
Then
Moses said, "I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!"
And
He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will
proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."
But
He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can
see Me and live!"
Then
the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there
on the rock; 22 and it shall come about, while My glory is passing
by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand
until I have passed by.
"Then
I will take My hand away and you shall see My back,
but My face shall not be seen." (Exodus 33:18-23).
When Moses sees the "back" of the Lord in
verse 23, the word used here is not of a person's back, but rather the
after-effects of his passing, like the wake of a ship (the difference is
between the noun and the adverb - "You shall see My
backing" instead of "You shall see My back").
3. New Tablets and a Renewed Covenant.
Moses returns to the mountain and is given a second
set of tablets of the Law to replace those which he threw down and
shattered. There, the Lord renews the
covenant which
When Moses comes back down from the mountain, the
people are astonished to see that the skin of his face shown with the glory of
God so that the people would not easily gaze upon his countenance. Moses took a veil and placed it over his head
and face so that the people would not be frightened. 2 Corinthians 3:12-15 speaks of this veil
being a type of spiritual blindness which is cured through the message of the
Cross.
THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE TABERNACLE
Exodus
35-40 describes the actual work of construction of the Tabernacle and the
articles of worship which it accompanied.
1. The Plea Regarding Giving.
As the materials for the Tabernacle Building Program
came together, Moses issued a call for people to STOP giving because they had
too much (Exodus 36:6).
When was the last time you heard the chairman of the
Finance Committee get up and say, "We're going to ask that people will
LOWER their contributions because we have more than enough money to do the
job"?
2. The Spirit of Wisdom.
The Spirit of God was involved in working through the
people in this construction process.
Exodus 35:30-31 says that the Lord filled Besalel with the Spirit of God in the areas of wisdom,
understanding, and ability in craftsmanship.
Another Israelite was filled with the wisdom of
engraving and embroidering (See also Exodus 28:3; 31:3; 35:21).
We usually think of spiritual gifts as relating only
to certain non-physical areas within the church. But it seems appropriate to speak of men who
God has gifted with the spirit of carpentry and of plumbing - these are gifts
which CAN be used within the church for the glory of God.
3. The Pattern of the Tabernacle.
The pattern of a square holy of holies, an outer holy
place, an outer court, and the doors oriented toward the rising sun are
familiar to the temples of the ancient world.
And yet, the design of the Tabernacle was given to Moses by God on
"According
to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the
pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it." (Exodus
25:9).
"And
see that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on
the mountain." (Exodus 25:40).
The reason that the design of the Tabernacle was so
important was because the earthly pattern reflected a heavenly reality.
a. The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of a "true tabernacle
which the Lord pitched" in contrast to the one erected by the Israelites
in the Wilderness (Hebrews 8:2).
b. The earthly Tabernacle was merely a copy and a shadow of the
heavenly things (Hebrews 8:5).
c. The earthly Tabernacle was a mere temporary symbol (Hebrews
9:8-9).
d. Jesus did not enter into the physical Tabernacle which was a
mere copy of the true one, "but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24).
When we read of John's vision of the New Jerusalem in
Revelation 21, he is told to take a rod and to measure the city. It is in the shape of a cube which measures
1200 stadia on each side (the NAS translates this as
1500 miles — Revelation 21:16).
This is analogous to the dimensions of the Holy of
Holies — a perfect cube. The climax of
this section takes place when the Tabernacle is completed and the presence of
the Lord fills the Tabernacle and abides within it.
Then
the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the
tabernacle.
And
Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled
on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34-35).
The presence of the Lord continued to be with the
people of
For
throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by
day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of
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