Exodus 39:7
Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Sermons
The Garments of the PriestsJ. Orr Exodus 39:1-32
The Clothes of ServiceJ. Urquhart Exodus 39:1-41














See Homily on ch. 28. - J.O.

They brought the Tabernacle unto Moses.
I. THE PRESENTATION OF THE WORK: "They brought the Tabernacle unto Moses." So, whatever work or service is done in connection with the Christian Church should be solemnly presented to Christ, who is the Chief Builder of the Christian Temple.

II. THE INSPECTION OF THE WORK; "Moses did look upon all the work"; and so does Christ inspect every offering that is brought to Him. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:13, that a day is coming in which every man's work will be tried of what sort it is — tried by fire — tried with the most terrible exactness.

III. THE APPROBATION OF THE WORK: "Behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded." So in Christian service nothing can be accepted that is not minutely in accordance with the Divine specification.

IV. THE REMUNERATION OF THE WORK: "And Moses blessed them." So is all faithful service done to Christ rewarded even here with spiritual blessing. So will it be in the end (1 Corinthians 3:14). Lessons:

1. The dignity of Christian work as presented to Christ.

2. The duty of fidelity in Christian work, considering it must be inspected by Christ.

3. The grand aim in Christian work, to be accepted by Christ. Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:9.

4. The high stimulus in Christian work, the certainty of being rewarded by Christ.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The Tabernacle held an important position in the divinely-appointed worship of the Jewish Church. No less than thirteen chapters in the Book of Exodus (25-31; 35-40) are devoted to the account of it; an account twice repeated, extending to the minutest details of shape, size, material, colour, and workmanship. Special stress is laid upon the fact that it was made after a heavenly design exhibited to Moses during the forty days of his mysterious communing with Jehovah on Mount Sinai (Exodus 29:9, 40; Exodus 26:30). The smallest details are included in this heavenly pattern (Exodus 27:8; Numbers 8:4). This heavenly pattern of the Tabernacle is twice referred to in the New Testament (Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5). Not only was the Tabernacle made after a heavenly pattern, but divinely-inspired artificers carried the design into execution (Exodus 31:1-6; Exodus 35:30-35; Exodus 36:1). We see from these passages that, in matters which concern the worship of God, the minutest details as to the colour, shape, material, and make of the ornaments of Divine service, and of the ministers of it, are not thought unworthy of a special Divine revelation as to their design, and of a special Divine inspiration for the carrying of that design into effect. At the close of the work we are told, in words that carry our thoughts back to the blessing bestowed upon the first creation (Genesis 1:30), that Moses recognized its exact accordance with the heavenly pattern which he had seen (Exodus 39:43).

(E. F. Willis, M. A.)

It is called the House of Jehovah (Exodus 23:19; Joshua 6:24; 1 Samuel 3:15); The Temple of Jehovah (1 Samuel 3:3), the Sanctuary (Exodus 25:8; Leviticus 12:4; Leviticus 16:33; Leviticus 19:30; Leviticus 20:3; Leviticus 21:12; Numbers 3:38, etc.); or simply, the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:9; Exodus 26:16; Exodus 27:9, 19, etc.); or Dwelling, i.e., of God. The two most characteristic names, however, are, the Tent or Tabernacle of the Testimony (Numbers 9:15; 17:22, etc.), and the Tent or Tabernacle of Meeting (Exodus 27:21; Exodus 39:32, 40; Exodus 40:7, 34, 35, etc.). The name Tent or Tabernacle of the Testimony had reference to that which was one of the two chief objects of the Tabernacle, viz., to serve as a shrine for "the Testimony" — the two tables of stone on which were engraved the ten words of the Divine Law. The other characteristic name, that of Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting, speaks of the other chief end for which the Tabernacle existed, viz., to be a place of meeting between God and His people (Exodus 25:8, 22; Exodus 29:42-45; Exodus 30:6, 36).

(E. F. Willis, M. A.)

I. THE WORK WAS COMPLETED ACCORDING TO PLAN.

II. It was completed IN A SHORT TIME.

III. It was completed WITH GREAT JOY. The joy of —

1. Knowing that each had done something, and that something his best.

2. Anticipation.

IV. The completed work may remind us of the WORDS OF HIM WHO SAID, "I have finished the work Thou gavest Me to do."

V. As the house in the wilderness was finished down to the last pin, so THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD, of which it was a type, shall be perfected down to the last and meanest member. The Jewish Tabernacle: —

1. It was a school of object-lessons, designed to teach the ignorant and sensual Israelites the truths of the invisible and eternal kingdom of God. It was a small model of heavenly realities — a pattern of sight in the heavens (Hebrews 9:23). It was, in the realm of religious truth, something like the planetarium used in a recitation room in teaching astronomy.

2. The principal lessons it taught were —

(1)The holiness of God.

(2)The sinfulness of man.

(3)The distance between God and man.

(4)The fact that God will abide with man.

(5)The Divine plan for bringing God and man into union..

Set up the Tabernacle.
I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE INJUNCTION IN THE TEXT?

1. The worship of Jehovah, at whose command the Tabernacle was erected.

2. The setting up of the Tabernacle, at God's command, implied that He required a specific worship; and the doing this at the seasons expressed in the text, that He called for especial homage at particular times, and in an express manner; and a compliance with the direction was an evidence of obedience to the will of Jehovah.

3. But further, this setting up of the Tabernacle at God's command implied His sovereign rule and authority among the Jews.

4. Again, as the setting up of the Tabernacle at God's command implied His sovereignty, so a compliance with the injunction or direction implied a disposition to serve Him.

II. HOW IT MAY BE CARRIED INTO EFFECT BY US.

1. It may be done by our punctual and devout attendance on Divine worship.

2. If we would carry the injunction in the text into effect suitably, we must duly observe and keep all the ordinances of God's house.

3. I observe that the spirit of the commandment before us will be carried into effect in a more especial manner by us if we make Christ the Alpha and Omega — the beginning and the ending of all our religious worship — the great object of faith and adoration in all our ceremonial observances.

4. Lastly, that your services may be suitable, acceptable, and efficient, seek the teaching and direction of the Holy Spirit.

III. THE EVIDENCES WHICH WILL PROVE THAT IT HAS BEEN DONE.

1. In the first place, if you have set up your Tabernacle; if you are resolved that, whatever others do, as for you and your household ye will serve the Lord; and if you are enabled to approach Him in a suitable disposition, and by a right faith; then you will enjoy in your own souls all the blessings of His house, and the blessedness of those whom He causes to come near unto Him.

2. If you have set up your Tabernacle, and are led by the Spirit to serve God with your spirit, then you will bring forth the fruits of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:9; Galatians 5:22, 23; 1 Peter 4:11).

3. If we have set up our Tabernacle, and serve God in His Son, are led by His Spirit, and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, then we shall be prepared for the rewards of the righteous, and to stand before the Son of man "at His appearing and His kingdom."Lessons:

1. As the command for the erection of the Tabernacle is given us by God, and every direction respecting it comes from Him, what presumption is it in any man to go about the formation of a different Tabernacle after his own fancy!

2. As the setting up of the Tabernacle was to be done forthwith at God's commandment, and for the whole congregation, what madness for any to think of postponing the duty to a more convenient season!

3. As the Tabernacle is erected for God's service, was to be resorted to at stated times, and attendance upon it is designed for our greatest good — as a Bethel, a house of mercy, a Bethesda, from which we may derive healing, how should we prize seasons, and means, and opportunities, of attending it!

(J. Allport.)

Out of materials specially provided by Him who holds in His hands the springs of action in men, and by artizans inspired by an extraordinary skill, and according to the pattern given to Moses, the Tabernacle was prepared, every part made ready and stored up for the day of erection. But God named that day Himself, and Moses waited for it.

I. And now I would have you notice THE SPECIAL DAY WHICH GOD SELECTED. It was the first day of the first month — that is, New Year's Day; and the reason of this choice is of course to be looked for in a benevolent regard to the religious good of the Jewish people. It would fix a suitable season for a commemorative festival of the great blessing vouchsafed to Israel by a Tabernacle for the Divine presence among them — a festival, be it remarked, that was not forgotten by them in after times, for we read that, in the revival of religion under Hezekiah, it was on the first day of the first month that the House of God was sanctified for the pious and pure worship of the Lord. Moreover, this selection would, I suppose, make New Year's Day, in the Jewish calendar, a day of religious observance. Consider, first, that the Christian's body and the Christian's spirit are together the Tabernacle of God. He is "an habitation of God through the Spirit." "Know ye not," saith the apostle to the Corinthian Christians, "that ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost?" "He that dwelleth in love," writes John, "dwelleth in God, and God in him." And wherever this indwelling of God is, there and there only is there a Christian man or a Christian woman; wherever there is this indwelling of God, there and there only is the true antitype of the beautiful Tabernacle which was set up on the first day of the first month in the Jewish calendar. This is the true Tabernacle, too, in which God rests for ever, because He delights therein. Now mark: such a wonderful Tabernacle like that which was put up by Moses on the first day of the first month can only be made of materials which God has selected, and which God has gathered together for that work; for the light and the elements and the features and graces of the Christian character are His gift, such as holy trust, humble desire, love, meekness, gratefulness, praise, prayer, and joy in Christ. And again, those materials must be wrought up and combined according to the pattern which has been shown to us in the mount. Marvellous pattern! the living model of the character of Jesus, the true Tabernacle of the Father.

II. ISRAEL'S OBEDIENCE IS EXEMPLARY TO THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY CHRISTIAN MEN. There is some new work now for God to be done, or some old work for God to be done in a new spirit. For instance, responsibility of time to be more felt, and its management and use arranged with an increased Christian conscientiousness. The dedication of self to the Saviour has to be renewed, and everywhere and always remembered. Does not our work for Him who died for us want to be done secretly in the heart, openly in the family, and in the church, and in the world, with a new love, a new spirit, a new resoluteness, and a new will? Ah! a new year summons a Christian in a new manner of spirit unto obedience to his Divine Master. Let us, on such an occasion, listen to our Father's voice, and on the first day of the first month set up our Tabernacle; and then be assured that through all the journeyings of the year, as upon the Tabernacle of Israel, shall the tokens of the Divine presence rest upon us.

III. For notice, in the next place, THAT ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, IMMEDIATELY THE TABERNACLE WAS SET, THE CLOUD OF THE LORD WAS UPON IT BY DAY, AND THE FIRE OF THE LORD WAS UPON IT BY NIGHT, AND BOTH CONTINUED TO REST THERE THROUGH THE JOURNEYINGS OF THE PEOPLE. Oh! it must have been a marvellous phenomenon, that under which the Almighty God thus certified His protection and guidance to the people. And it was a necessary phenomenon, too, under their novel circumstances. The desert was pathless, and they had no guide, and so by this they were conducted in their journeyings. It was adapted, too, to meet their wants: it was "the pillar of cloud by day" to screen them from the fierce sun, and it was "the pillar of fire by night" to light up the encampment and warm the chill air. And is not Christian life a pilgrimage? Are we not strangers upon earth, seeking a better, a heavenly Temple? Could we reach it without a Divine Guide? And though we have not the same sensible proofs of God's presence which were granted to Israel, is it not most assuredly with us just as it was with them?

(C. P. Eyre, M. A.)

The Tabernacle, as a whole, is a finger-post directing me to that mystic Person in whom "God in very deed dwelt with man upon the earth." Its white-robed priest is the shadow of Him who was "holy, harmless, undefiled," and whom I recognize as my true High Priest. Its bleeding lamb laid upon the altar is the likeness of that Lamb of God by whose precious blood I have been redeemed from all iniquity; its innermost sanctuary is the type of that heaven into which He has entered to make atonement for my sin; and its outer apartment is the analogue of the present world, in which we are to serve Him with the incense of our devotions, the light of our characters, and the fruit of our lives. The incarnation in the person of Christ, the mediation and expiation of His priestly work, and the consequent obligation under which His redeemed people lie to honour Him with unceasing service and shining holiness — or, putting it all into four words, incarnation, mediation, expiation, consecration — these are the things of which the Tabernacle, with its furniture, services, and attendants, were the special types; and as thus we condense its teachings into their essence, we come to a larger and more comprehensive view of the doctrines of the gospel itself, and discover that we have been studying the same truths, only under a different form.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.).

People
Aaron, Israelites, Moses, Shoham
Places
Sinai
Topics
Arm-holes, Artificers, Commanded, Consecrate, Ephod, Hands, Memorial, Memory, Offers, Pieces, Placed, Remembrance, Setteth, Shoulder, Shoulder-pieces, Shoulders, Sons, Stones, Straps, Willingly
Outline
1. The cloths of service and holy garments.
2. The ephod
8. The breast-plate
22. The robe of the ephod
27. The coats, mitre, and girdle of fine linen
30. The plate of the holy crown
32. All is finished, reviewed, and approved by Moses

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 39:2-7

     7352   ephod

Exodus 39:6-7

     5212   arts and crafts
     7394   memorial

Exodus 39:6-14

     4342   jewels

Library
Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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