We have come to the place where all the words of the Covenant between God and the people have been spoken out loud, written down in stone and brought to dwell among the people by Moses.

A LOT has been accomplished in 40 days and nights.

It is time to build a traveling Tabernacle!

Moses has called the people together to discuss the work that needs to be done in order for them to have a place of worship which God would inhabit. The ark holding the commandments will be eventually placed in this tabernacle that can be assembled and disassembled as they move to the places where God leads them to go.

By now; the people have been through many different stages of life with God. The Passover gave them freedom. They have miraculously crossed the sea on dry land. They have been delivered from slavery and Pharaoh’s army has been defeated. They have been fed the Manna from Heaven and The Seventh Day Sabbath has been established. They have even received drinking water from a Rock. A cloud and a pillar of fire have led them night and day.

Now God has brought them to a safe place out in the wilderness where they can pause long enough to build the tent of meeting so that He can dwell among them.

It is an exciting time for Israel!

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our every-Thursday ongoing, chronological bible study called COME AS A CHILD. This week’s lesson may be a bit different from most so far, as it is an all-encompassing summary of what has happened to the people of God in the Exodus up to this point in history. We will condense much of this lesson down to various references which you can use to review what is summarized in today’s scriptures; because much of it is a summary of things we have already discussed and covered in detail during this study.

Review is a good thing!

It is always good to look back and remember before you continue to move forward.

Take your time and let the older lessons sink in, now that we have covered the whole bigger picture.

The scripture references for today are found in Exodus, Chapters 35-40.

If you missed last week’s lesson; you may catch up here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/is-your-face-glowing-being-like-moses/

GOD’S ORDER IS ALWAYS THE PERFECT ORDER

I used to wonder why God didn’t just bring the Israelites to the promised land first; and then have them to build a place for Him to dwell among them in the promised land.

Of course that would have meant 40 years without a place of worship or a way to offer sacrifices and offerings to God! That wasn’t obvious though in the beginning, and it wasn’t a plan they actually knew about. In reality it should not have taken the people so very long to come to the place of promise. They must have wondered the same thing. Some of them must have considered the fact that by the time they could have all the work done in constructing the tabernacle; they might have reached their original destination.

Funny how things never go as we humans plan or think. God had other ideas. Fortunately, for once the people did not grumble and complain. They did not question God at all. They simply obeyed. Now THAT was another major miracle!

Another answer to that question is that God needed to be with them in order for them to be able to make it through to inhabit the promised land. They could not have pulled it off on their own; they needed lots of help and preparation. There were enemies all around; but God had led them to this place in the wilderness where He would fulfill their original request to Pharaoh; that of letting them go to a place in the wilderness to worship God.

The wilderness was their training ground to become God’s Holy Nation. It was a training ground in which they would dwell for a long, long time. God needed a place of honor to dwell among them. The Tabernacle needed to be built. Little did they know or realize that it would become the pattern for so many other things that God had to teach them.

All they needed now was to prepare the place. that God had described to Moses when he received the ten commandments. The instructions were a very specific blueprint that spelled out exactly how God desired for them to worship. Every tiny little detail was provided with carefully thought out instructions to be followed.

THE FIRST SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION

Now Moses had come forward to share some of these details with the people.

Guess what the very first instruction was?

The first instruction reminded them ahead of time that they should not work on the Sabbath; and that they should put their work aside on the seventh day and rest with God.

Even in the very important task of the building of the wilderness tabernacle, this seventh day of rest was specifically required of God. It was a special day to be kept sacred and holy. There was to be no work on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath Day has always been an identifying mark of God’s people keeping His ways of life.

We have previously discussed this fact in several different lessons. Here are some of them: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/sign-of-the-sabbath/ and https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/keeping-sabbath/

A ZEALOUS BUNCH OF WORKERS

Moses found the people to be very zealous in their efforts to cooperate and help build the tabernacle.

The next instruction was for them to bring certain items to God as an offering so that those items could be used in the building of the tabernacle.

Every specific thing they needed for the building had been provided by God. Even though they had been poor slaves and they were wandering through the desert unexpectedly; they had what they needed!

Miracle of all miracles; those poor Egyptian slaves who had made their way to total freedom and joy had every possible thing God required. God had prepared the way and set up the circumstances! They were happy to give it all back to His glory.

They came with their gifts and they gave from the heart.

Moses was instructed by God not to ask anyone to give.

He didn’t have to!

They came on their own accord and they gave exactly what was needed in abundance.

Finally Aaron and his sons came to Moses and said they needed to request that the people stop bringing things!

There was MORE than they needed.

Moses commanded Ithamar (Son of Aaron) and the Levites to record the materials that were used in the building of the tabernacle. The total amount of gold from the waive offering was 29 talents and 730 shekels. The total amount of silver was 100 talents and 1775 shekel.

Moses then told the people to hold their gifts; but to prepare to use their skills and labor to furnish all of the work that was needed to construct the Tabernacle. This too was miraculously provided. God had used the time in slavery to teach each of them the valuable skills that were needed. The skilled craftsmen and weavers and those who knew crafts and trades came forth and offered their services.

It is amazing when you stop to consider how God prepared the people for their tasks; and how the people were totally unaware of their learning experiences and why they were learning. We discussed such things in another lesson. You may review it again here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/god-master-weaver/

TWO MEN WERE PUT IN CHARGE UNDER MOSES

God specifically requested that two men be in charge of all these skilled craftsmen; and Moses duly appointed them. These two were Bezalel (a very skilled silversmith from the tribe of Judah) and Oholiab (a very skilled perfumer from the tribe of Dan.) We have studied the story of these two specially equipped men in the past. To review what we learned you can click here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/god-equips-the-ordinary-for-the-extraordinary-come-as-a-child-lesson-175/

These two men were appointed to oversee and supervise all the work of the skilled craftsmen who would be used to construct the Tabernacle. They in turn hand-picked the best of the best to work as supervisors under them and used the others who came forth for labor. Everything had come together in a wonderful way.

The work of the tabernacle began!

THE BUILDING OF THE TABERNACLE

The construction of the tabernacle was full of amazing details. Everything was built to God’s perfect pattern. Everything had a purpose and a function that helped the whole tabernacle to be fitted together properly and completely. All things depended on all the other things.

Many of the above lessons cover the items discussed in the rest of the chapters of Exodus. There is no need for me to repeat it all in this lesson; just review any lesson that you might have missed or forgotten. It is important to remember all that God was teaching in the building of the wilderness tabernacle. This is a perfect pattern for building up the Spiritual House of God today. Much of the rest of the scripture passages in the bible will reference back to these days of the building and construction of the wilderness tabernacle. It is an ideal study to review the sacred things of the soul in relation to God and fulfilling the requirements of God.

When everything was prepared The Ark(https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/httpwp-mep8woph-ns/),The Table, and The Lampstand ( https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/oil/) were placed inside.

The Altar of Incense (https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/altar-incense/) and The Altar of Burnt Offerings ( https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/i-will-go-up-to-the-lord-perhaps-i-can-make-atonement-for-your-sins-come-as-a-child-lesson-179/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/atonment/ )were prepared and made ready.

The Basin was prepared for washing (https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/bronze-laver-mirrors/ ) and the Courtyard (https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/courtyard/) was made ready.

The sacred and priestly garments were gathered and sewn and prepared for use. ( https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/garments-of-the-priests-of-israel/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/clothes-of-the-ancient-priest/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/understanding-ephod/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/robe-priest/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/turban-crown/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/belt-truth-dress-code-god/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/consecration-priest/)

When all the details were very carefully attended and complete; Moses inspected the Tabernacle. When Moses saw that the work was good and completed; he blessed them.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART

Finally all the work was done. All the furnishings were arranged in their places. Everything was consecrated and blessed. The Tabernacle was ready for God to come inside and inhabit a place where His people would come to worship. The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the Glory of The Lord filled the Tabernacle.

From that day forward whenever the cloud of The Presence lifted from the Tabernacle; the people would leave and follow it. Whenever the Cloud of God’s Presence stayed in the Tabernacle; the people would camp around it and not move until God decided to lead them out again.

Everything that they did evolved around God’s Presence among them in the form of a cloud over and within the Tabernacle. This was a Cloud by day and Fire by night; and all the people placed the doors of their tents toward the Tabernacle so they could see and know the movements of God.