Notes on
Exodus 40
Exo 40:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
This is how it was in the Old Testament time period. Israel was chosen of God
for His purposes. Yet only a few were able to communicate directly to God and
intercede on behalf of the congregation. God chose them for that purpose. Moses
was one of these chosen of God to lead the people to the land He promised
Abraham.
Until the coming of the Messiah the only way to know the mind of God was to go
to one of His true prophets. We are privileged in this day and age to have a way
to God for young, old, rich, poor, male, female, Jew or Gentile. This was done
when God sent His only Son into the world to become one of us. Yet He was
different in one way. Except for young children under the age of accountability,
this man was the only man who lived on the earth to the age of adulthood without
sin.
In order for His death on the cross to pay the price for all of our sin, the
person dying had to be spotless and without sin. This man was none other than
Jesus Christ. When we dare to believe this and accept Jesus into our lives, we
can have access to God the Father just like Moses did.
Now instead of going through a prophet or priest, we are all priests and saints
awaiting the second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Yeshua, the Messiah of
Israel.
1Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
Exo 40:2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle
of the tent of the congregation.
Exo 40:3 And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark
with the veil.
Exo 40:4 And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are
to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light
the lamps thereof.
Exo 40:5 And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of
the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.
Exo 40:6 And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of
the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
Exo 40:7 And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and
the altar, and shalt put water therein.
Exo 40:8 And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at
the court gate.
Exo 40:9 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and
all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it
shall be holy.
Exo 40:10 And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his
vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.
Exo 40:11 And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
Exo 40:12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.
Exo 40:13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and
sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
Exo 40:14 And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:
Exo 40:15 And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that
they may minister unto me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall
surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
No person could decide in himself that he wanted to be a priest. He had to be
called and anointed of God. This way of worship and service was good but it was
only until the time when God would send in the one Moses spoke of in
Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from
the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that
I shall command him.
Deu 18:19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my
words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
A lot of men have claimed to be this prophet but only Jesus Christ fulfills all
that was needed to bring salvation and bridge the gap between God and man that
was caused by sin. Sin separates all of us from God and someone had to remove
that sin before we can come to God and be reconciled to our creator. This Jesus
did.
Isaiah 53 describes the suffering of the Messiah.
Exo 40:16 Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so
did he.
Exo 40:17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the
first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
Exo 40:18 And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set
up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
Exo 40:19 And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the
covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 40:20 And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on
the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
Exo 40:21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the
covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 40:22 And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of
the tabernacle northward, without the veil.
Exo 40:23 And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had
commanded Moses.
Exo 40:24 And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over
against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
Exo 40:25 And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 40:26 And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the
veil:
Exo 40:27 And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 40:28 And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.
Exo 40:29 And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle
of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the
meat offering; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 40:30 And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the
altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
Exo 40:31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet
thereat:
Exo 40:32 When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came
near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 40:33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar,
and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
Exo 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of
the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exo 40:35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the
congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled
the tabernacle.
Exo 40:36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children
of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
Exo 40:37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the
day that it was taken up.
Exo 40:38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was
on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their
journeys.
God is wonderful and holy. He prepared a way for Him to dwell with these people
He chose to bring the message of salvation to the world. They probably didn't
realize what they had with them.
God wants to dwell with His creation. It is us that holds back, not God. As we
study the children of Israel we do see that this was only temporary until the
time when the temple was built by Solomon. Yet Solomon himself forsook the Lord
and worshipped other gods and that temple was later destroyed.
God made a better plan in which He provides salvation for all mankind who will
simply believe. To believe in Jesus Christ means to believe in what He came to
do. We must believe that we are sinners in need of a savior. We must believe
Jesus is that savior sent from God to save us from sin. We must believe to the
point of being willing to turn away from sin and turn to God for salvation. We
must believe Jesus is God that came into the flesh of man to save us from sin
and reconcile us back to God. We must believe that Jesus died and was buried and
rose again the third day. To simply believe like a little child will save the
soul from eternal death and grant us eternal life.
Romans 10:9 says that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved.
It doesn't say, if we join the Mormon church, the Catholic church or if we live
a good life doing a few good deeds. It says if we believe in the one God sent to
save us. To be saved we must believe that we need to be saved. To be free from
sin, we must believe that Jesus came to free us from sin. Simple child-like
faith is enough to save. We don't have to be some great person doing some great
thing. We must remember also that God wants to save. God wants us to make
heaven. God loves us and it is never His will that any one of us should
perish.