We know that God is all powerful. The Creator of everything has the ability to do anything, any way He wants.
As we begin the study of the tabernacle, I think this point is important to keep in mind. Every thing and every way that goes along with the tabernacle is God’s intentional plan. He did not need the people of Israel to bring gifts. He did not need the gold, precious stones and yarn that they had taken from Egypt. He didn’t need them to build the table or lampstand or even the tabernacle. He does not need a tent or building. He didn’t even need their sacrifices.
God chose to do these things in these ways not for Himself but for the people. He allowed them to be a part of this. He enabled them to have the joy of sharing and giving. He accepted the sacrifices and obedience that they offered.
God did all of this with purpose. The stated purpose of the temple may have been for God. He would dwell among the people. But God was already everywhere and in everything. The physical representation of the temple was for the people, so they could physically experience God with them. It was a touch point, not unlike a favorite chair that you might have sat in and cuddled and read books with your mother.
Today we don’t have a tabernacle or temple. We have something far superior. God chose to fulfill the promises of the temple through Jesus. When Jesus was born, Immanuel, God with us, He take on human flesh and walked and lived and ate and slept among His people. Then, as the ultimate sacrifice, He gave up that human life so that His blood would pay the full price of our sin as a covering, sufficient for everyone for ever.
All of this that we are reading in Exodus was not just a specific design, it was a specific revelation of God’s plan done with purpose.
My Answers:
3.
a.
everyone whose heart prompts them to give – not forced, but a joyful giving
b.
Remember Malachi 3:8-12
c.
A living sacrifice. My heart, my time, my talent, my devotion, my order, my attention.
4.
a.
It is for God. He will dwell among the people
b.
Christ was born “God with us”, He was made flesh, we are adopted as brothers/sisters to Christ, we will dwell with God forever.
c.
God would dwell in their midsts. He would look down from above the mercy seat and see the laws (all that we broke) but in between is a covering of sacrificial blood
The Notes are Good 