Exodus 25:40 Kommentar

At this chapter begins an account of the orders and instructions God gave to Moses upon the mount for the erecting and furnishing of a tabernacle to the honour of God. We have here. I. Orders given for a collection to be made among the people for this purpose (Exo 25:1-9). II. Particular instructions, 1. Concerning the ark of the covenant (Exo 25:10-22). 2. The table of showbread (Exo 25:23-30). 3. The golden candlestick (Exo 25:31, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 25 In this chapter an order is given for a freewill offering towards various things for the worship and service of God, and the materials to be offered, which would be useful and acceptable, are mentioned particularly, Exo 25:1, as also another order to build a sanctuary for God, after a model that he would give, Exo 25:8, and, an ark to put in the law on tables of stone, the fashion of which, and the various things belonging to it, are described, Exo 25:10, and a mercy seat with cherubim on it to be set over the ark, where the Lord promises to meet Moses and commune with him, Exo 25:17 and a table with various appurtenances to it to place the shewbread on, Exo 25:23 and a candlestick of gold, whose parts are described, and all the instruments relative to it, Exo 25:31.

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. [Exodus 25:40] But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

Moreover it was said to Moses himself, “See that you make all things according to the form and likeness which was shown to you in the mount.” It seems to me, therefore, that … in this earth the law was a kind of schoolmaster to those who by it were appointed to be led to Christ and to be instructed and trained in order that after their training in the law they might be able with greater facility to receive the more perfect precepts of Christ. So also that other earth, when it receives all the saints, first imbues and educates them in the precepts of the true and eternal law in order that they may with greater facility accept the precepts of heaven which are perfect and to which nothing can ever be added. And in heaven will truly exist what is called the “eternal gospel” and the Testament that is always new, which can never grow old.

If, according to the apostle, “the law is spiritual” and contains within itself the images “of the good things to come,” then let us remove “the veil” of the letter which is spread over it and contemplate its true meaning stripped bare. The Jews were commanded to adorn their tabernacle as a proleptic imitation of the church, that through the things of sense they might be able to prefigure the image of things divine. For the exemplar which was shown forth on the mountain and on which Moses gazed when he constructed the tabernacle was in a way an accurate picture of the dwelling in heaven, to which indeed we pay homage insofar as it far surpasses the types in clarity and yet is far fainter than the reality. The fact is that the unmingled truth has not yet come to humanity as it is in itself, for here we would be unable to contemplate its pure incorruptibility, just as we cannot endure the rays of the sun with unshielded eyes. The Jews announced what was a shadow of an image, at a third remove from reality, whereas we ourselves clearly behold the image of the heavenly dispensation. But the reality itself will be accurately revealed after the resurrection when we shall see the holy tabernacle, the heavenly city, “whose builder and maker is God,” face to face, and not “in a dark manner” and only “in part.”

Behold, the glorification of matter, which you despise! What is more insignificant than colored goatskins? Are not blue and purple and scarlet merely colors? Behold the handiwork of men becoming the likeness of the cherubim! Was not the meeting tent an image in every way? “And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.” Yet all the people stood around it and worshiped! Were not the cherubim kept where all the people could see them? Did not the people gaze upon the ark, and the lampstand, and the table, the golden urn and Aaron’s rod, and fall down in worship? I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter, who became matter for me, taking up his abode in matter and accomplishing my salvation through matter.

The Lord addresses Moses out of the Divine glory, and commands him to speak unto the Israelites, that they may give him free-will offerings, Exo 25:1, Exo 25:2. The different kinds of offerings, gold, silver, and brass, Exo 25:3. Purple, scarlet, fine linen, and goats' hair, Exo 25:4. Rams' skins, badgers' skins, (rather violet-coloured skins), and shittim wood, Exo 25:5. Oil and spices, Exo 25:6. Onyx stones, and stones for the ephod and breastplate, Exo 25:7. A sanctuary is to be made after the pattern of the tabernacle, Exo 25:8, Exo 25:9. The ark and its dimensions, Exo 25:10. Its crown of gold, Exo 25:11. Its rings, Exo 25:12. Its staves, and their use, Exo 25:13-15. The testimony to be laid up in the ark, Exo 25:16. The mercy-seat and its dimensions, Exo 25:17. The cherubim, how made and placed, Exo 25:18-20. The mercy-seat to be placed on the ark, and the testimony to be put within it, Exo 25:21. The Lord promises to commune with the people from the mercy-seat, Exo 25:22. The table of shew-bread, and its dimensions, Exo 25:23. Its crown and border of gold, Exo 25:24, Exo 25:25. Its rings, Exo 25:26, Exo 25:27. Staves, Exo 25:28. Dishes, spoons, and bowls, Exo 25:29. Its use, Exo 25:30. The golden candlestick; its branches, bowls, knops, and flowers, Exo 25:31-36. Its seven lamps, Exo 25:37. Tongs and snuffers, Exo 25:38. The weight of the candlestick and its utensils, one talent of gold, Exo 25:39. All to be made according to the pattern showed to Moses on the mount, Exo 25:40.

And look that thou make, etc. - This verse should be understood as an order to Moses after the tabernacle, etc., had been described to him; as if he had said: "When thou comest to make all the things that I have already described to thee, with the other matters of which I shall afterwards treat, see that thou make every thing according to the pattern which thou didst see in the mount." The Septuagint have it, κατα τον τυτον τον δεδειγμενον σοι· according to the Type-form or fashion, which was shown thee. It appears to me that St. Paul had this command particularly in view when he gave that to his son Timothy which we find in the second epistle, Ti2 1:13 : Ὑποτυπωσιν εχε ὑγιαινοντων λογων, ὡν παρ' εμου ηκουσας. "Hold fast the Form of sound words which thou hast heard of me." The tabernacle was a type of the Church of God; that Church is built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone, Eph 2:20-22 : the doctrines, therefore, delivered by the prophets, Jesus Christ, and his apostles, are essential to the constitution of this church. As God, therefore, gave the plan or form according to which the tabernacle must be constructed, so he gives the doctrines according to which the Christian Church is to be modeled; and apostles, and subordinate builders, are to have and hold fast that Form of sound words, and construct this heavenly building according to that form or pattern which has come through the express revelation of God. In different parts of this work we have had occasion to remark that the heathens borrowed their best things from Divine revelation, both as it refers to what was pure in their doctrines, and significant in their religious rites. Indeed, they seem in many cases to have studied the closest imitation possible, consistent with the adaptation of all to their preposterous and idolatrous worship. They had their Iao or Jove, in imitation of the true Jehovah; and from different attributes of the Divine Nature they formed an innumerable group of gods and goddesses. They had also their temples in imitation of the temple of God; and in these they had their holy and more holy places, in imitation of the courts of the Lord's house. The heathen temples consisted of several parts or divisions: 1. The area or porch; 2. The ναος or temple, similar to the nave of our churches; 3. The adytum or holy place, called also penetrale and sacrarium; and, 4. The οπισθοδομος or the inner temple, the most secret recess, where they had their mysteria, and which answered to the holy of holies in the tabernacle. And as there is no evidence whatever that there was any temple among the heathens prior to the tabernacle, it is reasonable to conclude that it served as a model for all that they afterwards built. They had even their portable temples, to imitate the tabernacle; and the shrines for Diana, mentioned Act 19:24, were of this kind. They had even their arks or sacred coffers, where they kept their most holy things, and the mysterious emblems of their religion; together with candlesticks or lamps, to illuminate their temples, which had few windows, to imitate the golden candlestick in the Mosaic tabernacle. They had even their processions, in imitation of the carrying about of the ark in the wilderness, accompanied by such ceremonies as sufficiently show, to an unprejudiced mind, that they borrowed them from this sacred original. Dr. Dodd has a good note on this subject, which I shall take the liberty to extract. Speaking of the ark, he says, "We meet with imitations of this Divinely instituted emblem among several heathen nations. Thus Tacitus, De Moribus Germanorum, cap. 40, informs us that the inhabitants of the north of Germany, our Saxon ancestors, in general worshipped Herthum or Hertham, i.e., the mother earth: Hertham being plainly derived from ארץ arets, earth, and אם am, mother: and they believed her to interpose in the affairs of men, and to visit nations: that to her, in a sacred grove in a certain island of the ocean, a vehicle covered with a vestment was consecrated, and allowed to be touched by the priests only, (compare Sa2 6:6, Sa2 6:7; Ch1 13:9, Ch1 13:10), who perceived when the goddess entered into her secret place, penetrale, and with profound veneration attended her vehicle, which was drawn by cows; see Sa1 6:7-10. While the goddess was on her progress, days of rejoicing were kept in every place which she vouchsafed to visit; they engaged in no war, they handled no weapons; peace and quietness were then only known, only relished, till the same priest reconducted the goddess to her temple. Then the vehicle and vestment, and, if you can believe it, the goddess herself, were washed in a sacred lake." Apuleius, De Aur. Asin., lib. ii., describing a solemn idolatrous procession, after the Egyptian mode, says, "A chest, or ark, was carried by another, containing their secret things, entirely concealing the mysteries of religion." And Plutarch, in his treatise De Iside, etc., describing the rites of Osiris, says, "On the tenth day of the month, at night, they go down to the sea; and the stolists, together with the priest, carry forth the sacred chest, in which is a small boat or vessel of gold." Pausanius likewise testifies, lib. vii., c. 19, that the ancient Trojans had a sacred ark, wherein was the image of Bacchus, made by Vulcan, which had been given to Dardanus by Jupiter. As the ark was deposited in the holy of holies, so the heathens had in the inmost part of their temples an adytum or penetrale, to which none had access but the priests. And it is remarkable that, among the Mexicans, Vitzliputzli, their supreme god, was represented under a human shape, sitting on a throne, supported by an azure globe which they called heaven; four poles or sticks came out from two sides of this globe, at the end of which serpents' heads were carved, the whole making a litter which the priests carried on their shoulders whenever the idol was shown in public - Religious Ceremonies, vol. iii., p. 146. Calmet remarks that the ancients used to dedicate candlesticks in the temples of their gods, bearing a great number of lamps. Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. xxxiv., c. 3, mentions one made in the form of a tree, with lamps in the likeness of apples, which Alexander the Great consecrated in the temple of Apollo. And Athenaeus, lib. xv., c. 19, 20, mentions one that supported three hundred and sixty-five lamps, which Dionysius the younger, king of Syracuse, dedicated in the Prytaneum at Athens. As the Egyptians, according to the testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus, Strom., lib. i., were the first who used lamps in their temples, they probably borrowed the use from the golden candlestick in the tabernacle and temple. From the solemn and very particular charge, Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount, it appears plainly that God showed Moses a model of the tabernacle and all its furniture; and to receive instructions relative to this was one part of his employment while on the mount forty days with God. As God designed that this building, and all that belonged to it, should be patterns or representations of good things to come, it was indispensably necessary that Moses should receive a model and specification of the whole, according to which he might direct the different artificers in their constructing the work. 1. We may observe that the whole tabernacle and its furniture resembled a dwelling-house and its furniture. 2. That this tabernacle was the house of God, not merely for the performance of his worship, but for his residence. 3. That God had promised to dwell among this people, and this was the habitation which he appointed for his glory. 4. That the tabernacle, as well as the temple, was a type of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. See Joh 1:14, and Joh 2:19, Joh 2:21. 5. That as the glory of God was manifested between the cherubim, above the mercy-seat, in this tabernacle, so God was in Christ, and in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 6. As in the tabernacle were found bread, light, etc., probably all these were emblematical of the ample provision made in Christ for the direction, support, and salvation of the soul of man. Of these, and many other things in the law and the prophets, we shall know more when mortality is swallowed up of life.

CONCERNING AN OFFERING. (Exo. 25:1-40) the Lord spake unto Moses, &c.--The business that chiefly occupied Moses on the mount, whatever other disclosures were made to him there, was in receiving directions about the tabernacle, and they are here recorded as given to him.

look that thou make them after their pattern--This caution, which is repeated with no small frequency in other parts of the narrative, is an evidence of the deep interest taken by the Divine King in the erection of His palace or sanctuary; and it is impossible to account for the circumstance of God's condescending to such minute details, except on the assumption that this tabernacle was to be of a typical character, and eminently subservient to the religious instruction and benefit of mankind, by shadowing forth in its leading features the grand truths of the Christian Church. Next: Exodus Chapter 26