Slices
Prepare
Think back over the activities and events of your past few days. Do some aspects of your life seem more important to God than others? Why might that be?
Bible passage
The table
23 ‘Make a table of acacia wood – two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. 24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold moulding around it. 25 Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold moulding on the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. 27 The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 28 Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. 29 And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings. 30 Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.
The lampstand
31 ‘Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand – three on one side and three on the other. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35 One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair – six branches in all. 36 The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
37 ‘Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38 Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. 39 A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. 40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
Explore
As the plans for God’s tent are spelled out, we are overwhelmed with the detail. Exact materials are specified (vs 23,31), precise measurements given (vs 23,39) and design features described minutely (eg vs 31–36). We are not told the particular ‘meanings’ of all of these details, but we clearly see something about the nature of God. He cares about the small stuff!
To this point in the journey God had revealed himself as the God of a dynamic salvation project: now he shows himself to be master of a detailed building project. Israel were to know that there was no part of their life that fell outside of his concern.
Like Israel we stand in awe of God’s grand historical salvation scheme, taking in as it does all of time from creation to new creation. But like Israel we need to remember that God knows and cares about the small – even hidden – things of our lives. The God who knows when every sparrow lands can surely be trusted with even the small things that make up our daily lives (Matthew 10:29–31).
Respond
Reflect on this verse: ‘The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives’ (Psalm 37:23, NLT). Bring the details of your life to God today.
Deeper Bible study
The tabernacle is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the reality itself. That reality was Jesus Christ.1
We’re usually fascinated by the exceptional quality of furniture in royal palaces. It denotes wealth, privilege and majesty. Yet, in reality, it only serves the same purpose as the flat-pack furniture in our own homes. There are tables to eat from, chairs to sit on, lamps to give light and so on. Some of the tabernacle’s furniture seems, from one angle, ordinary, but is made extraordinary by its specifications and the God it serves. The first two items are a dining table, with its dishes (vs 23–30), and a lampstand (vs 31–40). The details are significant. Pure gold points to the luminous purity and brilliant worth of God himself. The six-branched, yet one-piece, lampstand witnesses to the fullness and unity of God enlightening his world. However, don’t let the details distract you from the big picture. The command to set fine, fresh bread before God weekly2 reminded the people of his presence among them, hence its name (v 30). It signalled that the God who fed Israel bread in the wilderness was himself worthy of being served by his people. The lampstand provided light in the darkness for those serving in the tent, since it was unnecessary for God.
Both table and lampstand became symbols frequently replayed throughout Scripture. Ultimately, they point to Jesus ‘the bread of life’3 and ‘the light of the world’.4 He provides daily bread for our physical needs but also much richer food, to be eaten by faith, since ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’.5 Jesus alone satisfies our deepest hunger. Similarly, in a world of great and varied darkness, as Israel knew from the wilderness, how much the light is needed to illuminate the path and dispel the darkness of evil. By embracing the darkness in his own life and, supremely, in his death, Christ alone dispels it.
As Christ’s disciple, how are you practically contributing to overcoming the hunger and darkness of our world, in Christ’s name?
1 This is a variation on Heb 10:1 2 Lev 24:5–9 3 John 6:35 4 John 8:12 5 Matt 4:4, KJV
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 21,22; Psalm 35
Pray for Scripture Union
Easter is a traditional time for churches to run holiday clubs. COVID-19 restrictions are likely to mean that face-to-face holiday clubs will not be possible. Pray that as churches adapt SU programmes and run them online children will hear the good news of Jesus in fresh ways.
