CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 25:2. An offering.] Trumah, from the root rom, “that which is taken off,” from what has been put by as private property reserved for special enjoyment. Hence the injunction, “of every man whose heart impelleth him,” as there might be some who would not willingly part with what they associated in their hearts as pleasurable enjoyments, for the offering was to consist of choice things. Trumah = offering, also admits of the meaning raised, i.e., to higher purpose, from the very things set apart for earthly pleasures offering should be made for the building of the sanctuary. Gifts coming only from persons whose heart impelleth them had to be the material of which the sanctuary was to be constructed, and in such love-built sanctuary, Jehovah was willing to dwell.
Exodus 25:9. Pattern] = tabnith, model or prototype, conveys the idea that a higher purport than the construction of a temporary tabernacle was the design of that pattern, evidently foreshadowing Him who came and tabernacled among us, and in the tabernacle of our flesh lovingly offered by the blessed Virgin. “Be it unto me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 25:1-10
THE LAWS OF SACRIFICE AND SERVICE[1]
[1] Most of the sketches on Chapter s 25–33 are specially contributed to this Commentary by Rev. W. L. Walkinson.
We are taught here—
I. That whatsoever is done for God must be done willingly. “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering,” Exodus 25:2. The sanctuary was to be built through offerings, not by a tax. “Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart,” Exodus 25:2. There was to be no constraint or coercion. The Hebrew is literally rendered: “On the part of every one whom his heart drove.”—Keil. How noble is service and sacrifice when it is the spontaneous fruit of the spirit! How joyful is such giving and work! The man has not to spur himself, to argue with himself, to just move himself to action and charity by constraint, but his heart drives him, and his work and giving are full of joyfulness. How efficacious such service! A piece of brass touched by a loving soul has more power in it than shekels of gold given by cold hearts and cold hands.
II. That whatsoever is done for God must be our best, Exodus 25:3-7. All things of beauty, preciousness, sweetness, and brightness. We must ever give God our best. Let us be sure that we give Him the best of ourselves—our life in the beauty, sweetness, and preciousness of youth, and not the scraps of a wasted life; let us give Him the best of our powers in seeking to understand His word and worship at His feet; let us not always give Him the smallest coin in our purse; let us not give Him the worthless scraps of our time, or wealth, or ability, or influence; but consecrate to Him the rarest, fairest, brightest gifts of life and fortune.
III. That whatsoever is done for God must be done according to Divine method, Exodus 25:9. And this command is constantly repeated. Let us beware of “will-worship.” God has great reasons for all His commandments, and we must not lightly depart from them. We must carry out God’s work on the lines laid down in God’s Word.
IV. That whatsoever is thus done for God secures a great reward. “And let them make Me a sanctuary: that I may dwell among them,” Exodus 25:8. The people gave of their treasures to erect the tabernacle, and then a Glory shone there full of truth and grace. Whatsoever is done simply and spiritually for God, brings us nearer to God, brings God nearer to us. Let all bring their services and sacrifices to God. The princes gave the jewels (Exodus 35:27), but the poor could give the brass; the rich gave the gold and scarlet, but the common people could give a ram’s or badger’s skin. And if all give their best, God shall bless all alike (2 Corinthians 8:11-12).
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 25:1-10. How befitting the wealthy members of Christ’s Church among us is disinterested liberality; The tabernacle was mainly formed of the spoils of Egypt: should not our worldly gains be hallowed, in greater or less proportion, to the glory and honour of God? The people of Israel brought much more than enough for the service of the works which the Lord commanded to be made. Indeed, Moses gave commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing (Exodus 36:5-6). Only think of a proclamation in Christian England to restrain the liberality of British Churches in the cause and service of their Lord and Saviour! What a rebuke to our too general parsimony is here!
—W. Mudge.
Surely, divine philanthropy needs not the excitement and the gaze of notoriety to give it impulse. When the stony rock of the human heart is smitten, and a fountain of living water therein opened, its overflowings will be felt, and the Christian, like Abraham, will become a blessing in the place of his sojourn. Israel’s offering to the tabernacle was a willing offering: and it is the will spiritualised, subdued, and sweetly captivated to the yoke of Christ, that constitutes the seat and source of all true charity. The walls of Jerusalem rose rapidly under Nehemiah and his faithful coadjutors, for the defence and security of the holy city against Sanballat and his arrogant compeers; and the reason assigned for the successful prosecution of their labour is, The people had a mind to the work (Exodus 4:6). With like-mindedness, like results would follow: whereas, without a primary consecration of ourselves to God, our most laborious efforts may prove abortive. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity: for the Lord loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). It is principle which the great Father and Giver of all Good chiefly regards in the conduct of His creatures (1 Samuel 16:7). Hence it is, that mites may be inestimable and millions may be contemptible. Look well, then, unto the state of your hearts before God, and let no attention, however sedulous and constant, to the outward custom and duties of religion, make you forgetful of your inward frame. And at the same time, remember, the higher your station in society, the more commanding your influence and wealth may be, still greater responsibilities rest upon you—Ibid.
(1.) The tabernacle then was a type or emblem of Jesus Christ. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt,—or as the original expresses it, tabernacled—among us.” Such a manner of representing the sojourn of the spirit within its tenement of clay, is frequent among the sacred writers. St. Paul calls the body “our earthly house of this tabernacle.” St. Peter declares “that he must soon put it off,” or exchange mortality for life. Even thus, the Saviour spake of His own flesh, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” His body was the vail; and in His incarnation, when He descended from heaven, and became “Emmanuel, God with us,” He shrouded essential Deity in the likeness of our flesh. And as the Most High dwelt visibly within the sanctuary, even on the ark, so did He reside in the human nature and tabernacle of His dear Son: for “in Christ dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” “We beheld His glory, the glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Dark, indeed, had been the tabernacle in the wilderness, unless the Shekinah had shed its radiance through it, and the glory of the Lord had filled it. Dark and dreary had been the humanity of Christ, to the eye of those who looked for salvation through Him, unless, in the humiliation of that external character which exhibited “no beauty that we should desire Him,” they could also behold the ineffable splendour shed forth by the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. God was in “Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.”
(2.) This consideration leads me to add, that the tabernacle was a symbol of every real Christian. God dwelt within the sanctuary in the wilderness. He dwells within every renewed and believing heart. I will set My sanctuary among them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them. Ye are the temples of the living God. In Christ Jesus ye also are builded together for an habitation of God, through the Spirit. In the soul of every true follower of the Saviour does the Father dwell, the object of his worship, the author of his blessings, the principles of his spiritual and everlasting life. And, as the ark held the commandments and kept them from pollution, so must he in whom the Father dwells, and in whom Christ is formed the hope of glory, lay up the law in his heart, and preserve it from pollution.
The tabernacle also typified the Church. It was an emblem of the heavenly temple. “I heard,” said the beloved John, when the consummated felicities of the Redeemer’s Church burst upon him in the visions of Patmos—“I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Did He take up His dwelling in their hearts, as over the ark, in the ancient sanctuary? Did His love, His presence, and His Spirit fill their minds, as the Shekinah filled the holy of holies? Oh, then, what will be the splendour of His appearance, when the cloud shall be withdrawn, and His faithful worshippers shall see Him as He is? Glorious things are related of the tabernacle, and glorious things are spoken of thee, O thou temple of the everlasting hills.—Buddicom.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Typology! Exodus 25:1-40. If you hold up your hand between the candle and the wall, what do you see? That shadow of your hand is not, however, of the same size and colour. It is only an outline. Holding up some beautiful object which we have never seen before, its shadow would give but a feeble impression of itself. So Hebrews 10:1 says, that the Law had a shadow of good things to come. Those good things have come; and
“Man has gazed on heavenly secrets,
Sunned himself in heavenly glow;
Seen the glory, heard the music,—
We are wiser than we know.”
—Mackay.
Cheerful-Giving! Exodus 25:1.
1. A missionary association having been formed at Huahine, in the South Seas, the native Christians were reminded that they must give “willingly with their hearts” One, however, brought a pig to the treasurer, Huatia, and throwing the animal down at his feet, said in angry tone, “Here is an offering for your society.” Huatia calmly explained to the giver that such offerings were for GOD, not for any Society, and that “GOD loveth a cheerful giver.” He then, to the chagrin of the native, added, “Take it back again, for God does not accept angry gifts.”
2. In Tahiti, on a similar occasion, a person brought a quantity of cocoanut oil to King Pomare, exclaiming in a very bad spirit, “Here are five bamboos of oil; take them for your Missionary Society.” The churlish giver was greatly surprised when Pomare pushed aside his offering with the rebuke, “I cannot mix your angry bamboos with GOD’S oil, so take them away.” As Beecher says, There are some who give as a perennial fountain does, freely and without force, while there are others who resemble a well which requires much pumping.
“See the rivers flowing
Downward to the sea,
Pouring all their treasures
Bountiful and free.”
—Procter.
Church-Contributions! Exodus 25:2-8. A missionary rode one day into a ruined village seeking subscriptions to build a church in the neighbourhood. He called upon a Negro Christian, whom he found living with his wife and family and beneath the fallen roof of his hut, which the earthquake had recently shaken and shattered. On ascertaining the missionary’s object the negro went back to the hut, and from amongst the confusion of overturned furniture brought ten dollars. Struck by this liberal gift, the servant of God remonstrated with the donor, but he promptly replied, “Sir, we must build up God’s house before our own, and get into it, and then our prayers will bring down such a blessing as will soon set all right again.”
“Give, give, be always giving!
Who gives not is not living.
The more you give,
The more you live.”
—Anon.
Free-Will Offerings! Exodus 25:3.
1. An Alpine missionary relates an interesting circumstance of the Christians at Vanvert, in regard to the scheme for erecting a sanctuary there, “Some,” he says, “gave money in francs, some devoted portions of their wearing apparel, some, and these not a few, sacrificed their earrings and necklaces, some could give nothing but a cheese, or a sheep, they were so poor.”
2. This has its parallel in Southern Africa, where, on one occasion, to build a church, the natives contributed oxen, cows, sheep, goats; also horns, skins, ostrich feathers, eggs, &c. Of them, St. Paul might say, “Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality; for to their power, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive their gift” (1 Corinthians 8:3). Then
“Give! as the morning that flows out of heaven;
Give! as the waves when their channel is riven;
Give! as the free air and sunshine are given;
Lavishly, utterly, joyfully give.”
Israels’-Gifts! Exodus 25:4-7.
1. Bush remarks that the hair of the Eastern goats, particularly that of the Angola species, is of the most delicate and silky softness, and wrought into the kind of cloth known by the name of camlets.
2. Thomson relates that the vast flocks which annually come from Armenia and Northern Syria are nearly all males, and that the leather, therefore, is literally rams’ skins dyed red.
3. Macmillan says that the spices here were to perfume the oil. It was composed of two paris of myrrh, two parts of cassia, one part cinnamon, and one part sweet calamus, with a sufficient quantity of the purest olive oil to give it the proper consistency.
4. Spices were also used in making the incense; and, according to rabbinical tradition, a priest or Levite, one of the fifteen prefects of the temple, was retained, whose special duty it was to prepare this precious compound. So precious and holy was this “sweet incense” considered, that it was forbidden to make a similar perfume for private use on pain of death.
“Man is the world’s high priest; he doth present
The sacrifice for all; while they below
Unto the service mutter an assent,
Such as springs use at fall, and winds that blow.”
—Herbert.
Ark-Speech! Exodus 25:10-17. God gives preeminence to the ark; as the heart and core of all religion.
1. It tells us in language clear and emphatic that Christ should fill up the foreground of each thought and word of ours, that no reserve, no unworthy veil should obscure the brightness of His smile, and that no man should hide Him in the rear.
2. It also tells us that underneath the seeming barrenness of the Mosaic tabernacle details lie hidden many precious truths—hidden for man to search for—hidden, that when sought and found, man may taste the sweetness of discovery and possession. We, therefore, should not forget that
“The roots of fairest bloom lie sometime hidden
The deepest underneath the soil; that stones
Of purest crystal are from gloomiest mines.”
—Bickersteth.
Shittim-Wood! Exodus 25:10. Dr. Shaw says that the acacia, being by far the largest and most common tree of these deserts, there is good reason to conjecture that the shittim-wood, of which the several utensils of the tabernacle were made, was that of the acacia. The tree abounds with flowers of a globular shape, and of an excellent smell; which is another proof of its being the Scripture shitta tree. The name is derived from the Hebrew verb shata, because the sharpness of its spines made animals decline or turn aside. This plant is so hard and solid as to become almost incorruptible. In the prophecies of Isaiah, it is joined with the myrtle and other sweet smelling plants.
“The cedar waved its arms of peaceful shade,
The vine embraced the elm, and myrtles flower’d
Among the fragrant orange groves.”
Ark-Symbolism! Exodus 25:10. St. John tells us that with enraptured eye, he beheld the Temple of God opened in heaven, and saw therein the ark of God’s testament (John 11:19). The veil had been rent at Christ’s death; therefore its snowy surface, with richly inwrought cherubic figures of scarlet and gold, no longer concealed the holiest of all from view. The covenant-ark is visible. John gazes on this familiar symbol so often and so long associated with the fortunes and the history of the Hebrew people, the palladium of their liberties, the rallying-point in every hour of disaster. It had now, however, a deeper significance as the type of the great Propitiatory—the true ark of testimony. In the glories of His Divine Person, says Macduff, and in the fulness of His mediatorial work, Jesus is set in the heavenly temple, the pledge and guarantee of eternal safety and peace to the Church purchased with His blood. I thank thee
“For countless mercies from Thy hand, my God,
Which never cease;
For each sprinkling of that cleansing blood
Which speaketh peace.”
—E. C. C. B.