“Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.””
Matthew 19:26 NLT
with God all things are possible!
the instructions for the tabernacle were very detailed and we see the Lord repeating Himself with each instruction because that’s how important it was for the people to make this tabernacle right. it was going to be a Holy Place. Moses did all that the Lord commanded Him to and I think that’s powerful! It was also cool to look up what the ephod looked like that Aaron was going to wear. It helped me to understand what the Lord was asking the skilled craftsmen to make. The word Holy is just wow! I see why the Lord wanted to make sure His instructions were heard.
I want to remind myself everyday, that I need to take up my cross, with Gods mighty help. Go where He takes me. Leaving all my Earthly treasures behind.
Forgive me Lord, for I am no where near perfect. But I want to follow YOU!
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
Many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first. What a comforting reminder that what we do on Earth by following Jesus may not gain us worldly treasures or popularity but it gains us an eternity in heaven!
I find it so lovely that Jesus says there will be twelve thrones for the apostles. Twelve. That includes one for the apostle who betrayed him and killed himself. We serve a merciful, loving God.
Most scholars believe that Judas was never saved. He was sorry he betrayed Jesus, but there’s no evidence in scripture that he repented. I’d encourage people toesearch this on their own.
I love that Jesus knows that alone we cannot be saved. We are incapable to be without sin.
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
I believe Jesus is our only way. God gives us His Son to make it possible.
I find it hard as we get older and go through difficult things in life, sometimes traumatic and deeply painful things, to have the childlike faith without doubt, fret, or worry. I like being reminded that no matter what happens we should have faith like a child, because God is with us no matter what happens.
I feel like they talk about the details of the tabernacle more than once, and God is not one to waste His breath, so it must be very significant. Is there a deeper meaning we are to infer from the details of each piece of the tabernacle?
If you are looking for deeper insights on the tabernacle, Jen Wilkin has a free podcast online. Just google Jen Wilkin exodus podcast. It’s definitely helped me understand the deeper symbolism and meaning behind the various things used in the tabernacle.
This is so true! I’ve seen it in my own life. People who have everything, money to be specific, have such a hard time giving to others where people with little will give it all away.
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
God calls us to be radical for him. Even to the point of leaving family to help for his sake?
God wants us to stand strong in our faith, even if you were born into a non Christian family. If your family is against your faith, and you stand firm, God will be proud of you. Sometimes it means turning from your family, in some severe cases, but our relationship with God is more important. I think that’s what Jesus meant – because it shows where we place Him in our priorities.
Yes, I think that is exactly what he is saying. That’s the cost of missions. If we really took the Gospel to the unreached places in the world, we would be able to finally complete the great commission, and Jesus would return. He said, “Go into all the world.” We all have a role to play into that. Some of us will go to other countries and some of us will radically give financially so that others may go. But we all must participate with our whole selves!
30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
This verse gives me such hope. Not for myself really but for others who have remained steadfast & unwavering in their faith despite many hardships. The real reward is coming!
Being a teen, it’s hard to just leave the materialistic things behind sometimes. But other times, I realize that I don’t need those things to make me happy and when I come across moments like this, I’m happy and filled with joy! I may not get what I “want” now, but God will bless me with something even better later on.
What blows my mind is that we are not even half way through the books of the law and young Jewish men had to memorize every word of all 5 books! I read through some parts of exodus and get overwhelmed by all the information and precision. But it was completely normal for men to know every word of all 5 of these books. Blows my mind.
Not only did they have to know all that, but Jewish boys in Jesus’ time (and in ours) had to know all the Old Testament, all 39 books. That’s incredible. Makes me realize how important the Scriptures are.
38 “So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.” Does this mean the Tabernacle “Tent of Meeting” was put up and down as a tent and moved with them in their travels? I could use some insight too. I look forward to all the insightfulness, y’all are amazing.
Yes, Mary, the people moved when God moved. Everything was mobile, hence all the rods to carry the Ark and the tent of the Tabernacle. God was slowly but surely leading them into the promised land :)
I feel like I’ve learned and gleaned a lot from reading about the tabernacle and especially everyone’s comments during this time in Exodus. But if I’m honest, being so entrenched in a NT paradigm, it is HARD for me to actually understand this in a deep wat. Why this tabernacle? Was it because the Israelites were essentially traveling always and needed a place to worship and see God’s direction? Seeing as how our last home church met in a junior high school it is just so hard for me to imagine. I can appreciate the splendor. I am just realizing through reading this that I have absolutely zero frame of reference of what the tabernacle was really like and the depth of its representation to the Israelites. I’m sure some of you ladies have some more wise insights for me!
I don’t have some deep theological answer. But….
I do know that the Old has gone and the New has come. What a picture that has painted before us of coming into His presence. We can now come freely! We don’t have to go through all the heavy rituals. But I really do love the picture of the 12 and the outfits on the priests.
Gives me a visual of the garment that is on us as we approach the Father. Worshiping him 24×7 and knowing that cloud is also before us! Yahoo!
Jesus is to be celebrated! He is in these passages too
I feel like I’ve gleaned so much from rereading the beautiful descriptions of the tabernacle and all God had them build for Him. To answer your question “Why this tabernacle? Was it because the Israelites were essentially traveling always and needed a place to worship and see God’s direction? ”
I think God gave these specifics b/c he had provided them great wealth for them as they left Egypt, so he was seeing/testing the people’s hearts to see if they would give in abundance that which had been given to them. I think God gave them those specifics and in such grandgeour because He is God and must have a holy and sacred place in which to dwell. This is quite different from our NT minds in which we worship God is spirit with the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us, we can communicate to God individually. In the Old Testament, there had to be sacrificed to cover the sins of the people and a place where God physically came to dwell. But again, since he is so holy and people so sinful, he needed a place where offerings of food and sacrifices of blood would cover those sins so Aaron and his sons could praise/serve God on the people’s behalf
For the young man looking to obtain eternal life, it seems to follow the logic at first – he was looking to “do” good things, follow the commandments. But Jesus, in the New Testament age, has a higher calling for us — our hearts (which has been mentioned in previous chapters). It hit me that He simply wants us to love Him, and when we do, we will naturally follow Him regardless of what we have in the world. Like when He called the disciples, and said “Come, follow Me” – there was something about God that was so beautiful and enabled them to drop their work, their lives, all they had known, to go follow this Jesus. Praying that all our hearts would be like this.
Ahhh yes! I know this in my mind (most of us do) that God wants our hearts and the actions will follow – I so want to see the beauty of Jesus that I can’t help but love him! Thanks for sharing, Jennifer.
Matthew 19:22 “But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property”. His crime was not in being rich. Nor would giving away his wealth justify him before God. His problem was that he loved things more than God.
It’s just so beautiful to see the majesty of our God, and the simplicity of Jesus’ words to follow Him. I often struggle with grasping that even though my family and I are considered “below” the poverty line here where I live, we are rich compared to the rest of the world. I look at what I have and think “I have a closet full of clothes, a iphone, food in my pantry. And I am rich by numeric means. Am I rich, though, with Christ?”
My point is that is my heart desiring to give more, love more, serve more, and obey more even if I don’t understand?
After reading all of the details of building the tabernacle etc, it was rewarding to read about Moses going through the final steps to put it all in place..and then the beauty of God placing himself there in the cloud. Clearly, their work and focus pleased the Lord..that’s beautiful!
When I read all that entails the tabernacle, the articles, the priestly garments, there is such a weightiness of the Glory of God, such a heavy thing to holiness. Even the garments must have been extremely heavy when you look at all the materials that went into them. It was a heavy responsibility to serve the Lord at that time.
Yes!, great point, I even felt heavy and a bit laden down reading about it all. I notice how it feels releasing to then come to the New Testament section. Highlights how released we are from intricate ritual and burnt offerings by the radical simplicity of Jesus and the way he replaces it all by offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice. ps: am intrigued by all the refs to lampshades in Exodus. Love that God cares about everything even ambient lighting! :)
Many days I believe that having riches would make my life so much easier and a lot less stressful, but God has shown me that that is not true. Today he reminds me that I am rich, not by the possessions I own, but by the never failing love he has for me.
38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. They were so fortunate to have the presence of God to guide them visibly
I used to think the same way, until I realized that we are so much better off! We don’t have to go to a special place to meet God, he’s right here. We don’t need a special person to talk to God, he listens always.
I used to think, that in heaven I’ll ask all the OT heroes how it was to hear the audible voice of God, but they probably come to ME, asking how it was to have God living inside of me!
Don’t think that they had it better, actually we’re the lucky ones.
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
With the coming of Christ, we are held to a different standard than the Old Testament — we are held by one that is no longer marred by sin, but instead has been perfected through the cross. We are held to the purest standard of both the beginning & the end. This is the standard of the heart.
20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Yes, we are called to follow the commands, but far beyond that, we are called to lay down our lives and follow the One who is Life.
Jesus’ answer to the divorce question is what stood out for me today. God is so gracious for making allowances for us because our hearts are hard. I think of slavery even – a way if life that is not God’s original intent, but was an acceptable institution in scripture. So many things that are so painful in this life are not what God wants for us. But we are to do the work of reconciliation here in earth, here and now, to show others the foretaste of the feast to come. God’s kingdom come.
I find it so amazing to read about the outfits worn by the family of Aaron for the priesthood. I would love to study up more on the significance of it all, because WE are the now-priesthood!
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
I find this one difficult. Not because I don’t understand it, but when it comes down to it I’m always wanting more. Or I find some things sentimental and harder to let go. Praying for a more willing and giving spirit, for the joy set before me.
Leaving everything to gain everything. That makes the pain of letting it go much less when we have an eternal perspective! Jesus is really coming back and will really reward those who picked up their cross, left everything behind, and followed Him. My mind can’t even grasp it but faith is hope in what we don’t see. Woohoo! He’s so good.
❤️
“Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.””
Matthew 19:26 NLT
with God all things are possible!
the instructions for the tabernacle were very detailed and we see the Lord repeating Himself with each instruction because that’s how important it was for the people to make this tabernacle right. it was going to be a Holy Place. Moses did all that the Lord commanded Him to and I think that’s powerful! It was also cool to look up what the ephod looked like that Aaron was going to wear. It helped me to understand what the Lord was asking the skilled craftsmen to make. The word Holy is just wow! I see why the Lord wanted to make sure His instructions were heard.
With God all things are possible!
❤️
Jesus welcomes the children
❤️
All things are possible with God! I lean into this all the time.
Many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first. That really puts everything into perspective.
26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
❤️
26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
❤️
✔️
✅
✅
I want to remind myself everyday, that I need to take up my cross, with Gods mighty help. Go where He takes me. Leaving all my Earthly treasures behind.
Forgive me Lord, for I am no where near perfect. But I want to follow YOU!
Amen!
❤️
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
Rewards in heaven for missionaries ❤️
26 But with God all things are possible ❤️
Many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first. What a comforting reminder that what we do on Earth by following Jesus may not gain us worldly treasures or popularity but it gains us an eternity in heaven!
I find it so lovely that Jesus says there will be twelve thrones for the apostles. Twelve. That includes one for the apostle who betrayed him and killed himself. We serve a merciful, loving God.
❤️
Most scholars believe that Judas was never saved. He was sorry he betrayed Jesus, but there’s no evidence in scripture that he repented. I’d encourage people toesearch this on their own.
I love that Jesus knows that alone we cannot be saved. We are incapable to be without sin.
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
I believe Jesus is our only way. God gives us His Son to make it possible.
God cares about all of the details of our life and all people.
keep the commandments ! -ellie
May the Spirit give us understanding to obey the Lord in all thingd
Done!
I find it hard as we get older and go through difficult things in life, sometimes traumatic and deeply painful things, to have the childlike faith without doubt, fret, or worry. I like being reminded that no matter what happens we should have faith like a child, because God is with us no matter what happens.
2/365
I feel like they talk about the details of the tabernacle more than once, and God is not one to waste His breath, so it must be very significant. Is there a deeper meaning we are to infer from the details of each piece of the tabernacle?
If you are looking for deeper insights on the tabernacle, Jen Wilkin has a free podcast online. Just google Jen Wilkin exodus podcast. It’s definitely helped me understand the deeper symbolism and meaning behind the various things used in the tabernacle.
Thank you
*Adultery
Lord please continue to mend my marriage. Adulterous is a real thing and though I forgive my husband, there is a ways to go in relationship health.
Praying for you and your marriage right now Sarah!
Praying for you, Sarah.
This is so true! I’ve seen it in my own life. People who have everything, money to be specific, have such a hard time giving to others where people with little will give it all away.
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
God calls us to be radical for him. Even to the point of leaving family to help for his sake?
God wants us to stand strong in our faith, even if you were born into a non Christian family. If your family is against your faith, and you stand firm, God will be proud of you. Sometimes it means turning from your family, in some severe cases, but our relationship with God is more important. I think that’s what Jesus meant – because it shows where we place Him in our priorities.
Yes, I think that is exactly what he is saying. That’s the cost of missions. If we really took the Gospel to the unreached places in the world, we would be able to finally complete the great commission, and Jesus would return. He said, “Go into all the world.” We all have a role to play into that. Some of us will go to other countries and some of us will radically give financially so that others may go. But we all must participate with our whole selves!
30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
This verse gives me such hope. Not for myself really but for others who have remained steadfast & unwavering in their faith despite many hardships. The real reward is coming!
Being a teen, it’s hard to just leave the materialistic things behind sometimes. But other times, I realize that I don’t need those things to make me happy and when I come across moments like this, I’m happy and filled with joy! I may not get what I “want” now, but God will bless me with something even better later on.
Good for you, Avion! Still trying to learn this lesson but it’s a good one
What blows my mind is that we are not even half way through the books of the law and young Jewish men had to memorize every word of all 5 books! I read through some parts of exodus and get overwhelmed by all the information and precision. But it was completely normal for men to know every word of all 5 of these books. Blows my mind.
Not only did they have to know all that, but Jewish boys in Jesus’ time (and in ours) had to know all the Old Testament, all 39 books. That’s incredible. Makes me realize how important the Scriptures are.
Yes, the tabernacle was a tent that they carried from place to place during their travels in the wilderness.
38 “So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.” Does this mean the Tabernacle “Tent of Meeting” was put up and down as a tent and moved with them in their travels? I could use some insight too. I look forward to all the insightfulness, y’all are amazing.
Yes, Mary, the people moved when God moved. Everything was mobile, hence all the rods to carry the Ark and the tent of the Tabernacle. God was slowly but surely leading them into the promised land :)
I feel like I’ve learned and gleaned a lot from reading about the tabernacle and especially everyone’s comments during this time in Exodus. But if I’m honest, being so entrenched in a NT paradigm, it is HARD for me to actually understand this in a deep wat. Why this tabernacle? Was it because the Israelites were essentially traveling always and needed a place to worship and see God’s direction? Seeing as how our last home church met in a junior high school it is just so hard for me to imagine. I can appreciate the splendor. I am just realizing through reading this that I have absolutely zero frame of reference of what the tabernacle was really like and the depth of its representation to the Israelites. I’m sure some of you ladies have some more wise insights for me!
Hi Christina,
I don’t have some deep theological answer. But….
I do know that the Old has gone and the New has come. What a picture that has painted before us of coming into His presence. We can now come freely! We don’t have to go through all the heavy rituals. But I really do love the picture of the 12 and the outfits on the priests.
Gives me a visual of the garment that is on us as we approach the Father. Worshiping him 24×7 and knowing that cloud is also before us! Yahoo!
Jesus is to be celebrated! He is in these passages too
I feel like I’ve gleaned so much from rereading the beautiful descriptions of the tabernacle and all God had them build for Him. To answer your question “Why this tabernacle? Was it because the Israelites were essentially traveling always and needed a place to worship and see God’s direction? ”
I think God gave these specifics b/c he had provided them great wealth for them as they left Egypt, so he was seeing/testing the people’s hearts to see if they would give in abundance that which had been given to them. I think God gave them those specifics and in such grandgeour because He is God and must have a holy and sacred place in which to dwell. This is quite different from our NT minds in which we worship God is spirit with the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us, we can communicate to God individually. In the Old Testament, there had to be sacrificed to cover the sins of the people and a place where God physically came to dwell. But again, since he is so holy and people so sinful, he needed a place where offerings of food and sacrifices of blood would cover those sins so Aaron and his sons could praise/serve God on the people’s behalf
Is this Mrs . Tulip?
For the young man looking to obtain eternal life, it seems to follow the logic at first – he was looking to “do” good things, follow the commandments. But Jesus, in the New Testament age, has a higher calling for us — our hearts (which has been mentioned in previous chapters). It hit me that He simply wants us to love Him, and when we do, we will naturally follow Him regardless of what we have in the world. Like when He called the disciples, and said “Come, follow Me” – there was something about God that was so beautiful and enabled them to drop their work, their lives, all they had known, to go follow this Jesus. Praying that all our hearts would be like this.
Ahhh yes! I know this in my mind (most of us do) that God wants our hearts and the actions will follow – I so want to see the beauty of Jesus that I can’t help but love him! Thanks for sharing, Jennifer.
Yes! This keeps it simple!
Matthew 19:22 “But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property”. His crime was not in being rich. Nor would giving away his wealth justify him before God. His problem was that he loved things more than God.
great summary, thanks!
What a cool response to that- pretty much sums up sin and what it looks like when you put anything before God. Thanks for that
It’s just so beautiful to see the majesty of our God, and the simplicity of Jesus’ words to follow Him. I often struggle with grasping that even though my family and I are considered “below” the poverty line here where I live, we are rich compared to the rest of the world. I look at what I have and think “I have a closet full of clothes, a iphone, food in my pantry. And I am rich by numeric means. Am I rich, though, with Christ?”
My point is that is my heart desiring to give more, love more, serve more, and obey more even if I don’t understand?
After reading all of the details of building the tabernacle etc, it was rewarding to read about Moses going through the final steps to put it all in place..and then the beauty of God placing himself there in the cloud. Clearly, their work and focus pleased the Lord..that’s beautiful!
When I read all that entails the tabernacle, the articles, the priestly garments, there is such a weightiness of the Glory of God, such a heavy thing to holiness. Even the garments must have been extremely heavy when you look at all the materials that went into them. It was a heavy responsibility to serve the Lord at that time.
Amen! Praise Jesus for carrying the burden!
Yes!, great point, I even felt heavy and a bit laden down reading about it all. I notice how it feels releasing to then come to the New Testament section. Highlights how released we are from intricate ritual and burnt offerings by the radical simplicity of Jesus and the way he replaces it all by offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice. ps: am intrigued by all the refs to lampshades in Exodus. Love that God cares about everything even ambient lighting! :)
Many days I believe that having riches would make my life so much easier and a lot less stressful, but God has shown me that that is not true. Today he reminds me that I am rich, not by the possessions I own, but by the never failing love he has for me.
Amen!
38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. They were so fortunate to have the presence of God to guide them visibly
That was my thought exactly. I know He is present and we can see Him working in ways that are tangible, but oh to be there during that time!!
I used to think the same way, until I realized that we are so much better off! We don’t have to go to a special place to meet God, he’s right here. We don’t need a special person to talk to God, he listens always.
I used to think, that in heaven I’ll ask all the OT heroes how it was to hear the audible voice of God, but they probably come to ME, asking how it was to have God living inside of me!
Don’t think that they had it better, actually we’re the lucky ones.
I like this very much Christine, thanks for your insight!
New Testament chat:
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
With the coming of Christ, we are held to a different standard than the Old Testament — we are held by one that is no longer marred by sin, but instead has been perfected through the cross. We are held to the purest standard of both the beginning & the end. This is the standard of the heart.
20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Yes, we are called to follow the commands, but far beyond that, we are called to lay down our lives and follow the One who is Life.
Jesus’ answer to the divorce question is what stood out for me today. God is so gracious for making allowances for us because our hearts are hard. I think of slavery even – a way if life that is not God’s original intent, but was an acceptable institution in scripture. So many things that are so painful in this life are not what God wants for us. But we are to do the work of reconciliation here in earth, here and now, to show others the foretaste of the feast to come. God’s kingdom come.
I find it so amazing to read about the outfits worn by the family of Aaron for the priesthood. I would love to study up more on the significance of it all, because WE are the now-priesthood!
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
I find this one difficult. Not because I don’t understand it, but when it comes down to it I’m always wanting more. Or I find some things sentimental and harder to let go. Praying for a more willing and giving spirit, for the joy set before me.
Hi Jennifer, me too. If I’m going to be honest, this is a struggle! I’m praying for my heart to be focused on simplicity.
Leaving everything to gain everything. That makes the pain of letting it go much less when we have an eternal perspective! Jesus is really coming back and will really reward those who picked up their cross, left everything behind, and followed Him. My mind can’t even grasp it but faith is hope in what we don’t see. Woohoo! He’s so good.
With God, all things are possible! Amen!