The Inheritance East of the Jordan River

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Joshua 13:1) Now Joshua was old, stricken in years, and the Lord said to him, "You are old, stricken in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed."

Joshua and the Israelite army had conquered thirty-one kings and territories in the past seven years.  But Joshua was getting old, commentators think about a hundred years old.  It's amazing to think that a man in his nineties could have done what he had done in the past seven years!  But there was still much land to be conquered all around on the outskirts of the conquered area.  This map I found on Pinterest said to have come from jesuswalk.com clearly shows the conquered lands in relation to the whole:

I find it interesting to note that although Joshua had defeated their kings as noted in the last chapter, some of their territories remained outside of Israelite occupation (Gezer, Aphek, Dor, Megiddo, etc.).  It seems reasonable to assume that Joshua may have continued to try to conquer the rest of the lands, but God stopped him because of his advanced age.  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, had an interesting perspective.  As nothing God does is by accident, he suggested that God may have wanted some of the original inhabitants to remain in order to keep the oftentimes unfaithful Israel in check.  

(2) "This is the land that yet remains, all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,"

The Lord then detailed the lands that were still unconquered, undoubtedly so that Joshua and the Israelites would know what they had a right to claim.  There was the territory of the Philistines in the southwest of Canaan along the Mediterranean Sea, to Geshuri, which appears to be Geshur in the north.  This map borrowed from Big Springs Community Church shows the unconquered lands more clearly than the one above:

(3) "From Sihor before Egypt to the borders of Ekron northward, counted to the Canaanite, five lords of the Philistines, the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, also the Avites;"

God described in more detail the as of yet unconquered territories of the promised land.  Describing the land of the Philistines, He said it ranged from Sihor before Egypt in the south to Ekron in the north which can be seen in the first map, across from Jerusalem.  The land of Philistia was counted as belonging to the posterity of Canaan, but the Philistines had gotten possession of it.  Because it was counted as Canaanite land, it was part of the promised land.  There were five lords in Philistia rather than kings, and it contained the cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and their inhabitants, and to whatever cities the Gittites and Avites belonged.

(4) "From the south, all the land of the Canaanites and Mearah beside the Sidonians, to Aphek to the borders of the Amorites;"

As near as I can tell by these maps, God is describing all the land of the Canaanites that was not part of the Philistines, from the south upward to Aphek (note there are two Apheks, one in Upper Galilee) to Sidon.

(5) "And the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entering into Hamath;"

Gebal was north of Sidon on the Mediterranean coast.  The land of the Gebalites was said to be that east of Tyre, Sidon, and Gebal, the land east of the Lebanon mountains in the north, from Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath, seen clearly in this map borrowed from The Biblical Zionist:

(6) "All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, all the Sidonians, them I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide it by lot to the Israelites for an inheritance as I have commanded you."

The Lord continued to describe the land that was yet unconquered that also included all the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim which was south of Tyre, all the land of the Sidonians.  All that very much land yet to be possessed (v. 1) included all the lands described from verse 2 to the Sidonians in verse 6.  All those the Lord would drive out from before the children of Israel.  Even though they were not yet driven out, the Lord wanted Joshua to divide all the promised land by lot to the Israelites for their inheritance.  Most of the early commentators I study suggest that these people were not ever entirely driven out or their land completely possessed by the Israelites, that the promise was always part of a covenant that must be upheld by the Israelites, and they did not do their part.  However, I refer back to Exodus 23:30-31, when the Lord said:

"Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you."

God specifically said that it would be little by little, and indeed all the land was subdued under the reign of David.  Some say that still the people were not specifically driven out, only subdued.  However, throughout ancient and modern history, Israel's borders have changed, and indeed the future Millennial Israel will include all of the promised land.

(7) "Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh," (8) With whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance which Moses gave them beyond Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them,

The Lord told Joshua to divide the land on their present side of the Jordan River for an inheritance to the nine and a half tribes that had not yet received their inheritance.  Reuben, Gad, and the other half tribe of Manasseh had already received their lots on the east side of the Jordan River, given them by Moses.

(9) From Aroer which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon, (10) And all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon;

Further describing the lands given to Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, it was from Aroer in the middle of the Arnon River that separated the land of the Amorites from Moab, and all the plain and cities of Sihon king of the Amorites to the Jabbok River which was the border of the Ammonites.

(11) And Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salcah, (12) All the kingdom of Og in Bashan who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants; for these did Moses smite and cast them out.

They had also received all the kingdom of Og, which included Gilead, the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salcah.  All that land of Og that had been taken by Moses had been given to Israel, but they had not taken possession of much of it.

(13) Nevertheless, the children of Israel did not expel the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

Indeed, Joshua went on to write that the Israelites had not driven out the Geshurites and Maachathites, and they still dwelt with them at the time of his writing.

(14) Only to the tribe of Levi He gave no inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as He said to them.

The tribe of Levi received no land inheritance on either side of the Jordan River.  As they were God's priests, He was to be their inheritance; they were to live off the sacrifices to their Lord God (Deuteronomy 18:1).

(15) And Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families. (16) And their coast was from Aroer which is on the bank of the river Arnon, the city in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;

Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben the land from Aroer in the southeast and all the plain of Medeba.

(17) Heshbon, and all her cities in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, (18) And Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, (19) And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley, (20) And Beth Peor, and Ashdoth Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth, (21) And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, dukes of Sihon dwelling in the country.

Reuben's inheritance included all these cities in the former kingdom of Sihon.  It had been taken by Moses when he defeated the king of Sihon and all his princes.  I can't begin to try to locate all these cities, but I found this map at Psalms to God Podcast that shows a general view of all the tribes and their allotments:

(22) Balaam also, the son of Beor, the soothsayer, the children of Israel killed with the sword, among those who were killed by them. 

The Israelites had also killed Balaam, the soothsayer, at the same time as the princes (Numbers 31:8).

(23) And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan and its border. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages.

The northwestern border of the land possessed by the descendants of Reuben was the Jordan River.  All the land, cities, and villages between the Jordan and Aroer in the southeast made up the inheritance of the children of Reuben.

(24) And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad according to their families. (25) And their coast was Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer before Rabbah; (26) And from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; (27) And in the valley Beth Haram, and Beth Nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as border to the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth on the other side of the Jordan eastward. (28) This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities and their villages.

Moses gave as an inheritance to the children of Gad the land from Jazer in the south to Rabbah in the west, with the Jordan River as the western border.  The northern border was quite unique, and I will let the map show the general area that was allotted to Gad.  Once again trying to locate all those cities is quite a dizzying task.  The Aroer before Rabbah would have to be a different Aroer from the one at the middle of the Arnon River.  Also Debir would have to be a different Debir.  All the cities of Gilead would only pertain to those cities within the area of Gad, as half of Gilead was given to the half tribe of Manasseh.  The same would have to be said for all the kingdom of Sihon that was given to Reuben (v. 21), as it states here that there was the rest of the kingdom of Sihon that was given to Gad.  Half the land of the children of Ammon refers to that part that Sihon king of the Amorites took from the Ammonites.

(29) And Moses gave to the half tribe of Manasseh, and this was of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families. (30) And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities; (31) And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, to the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, to the one half of the children of Machir by their families.

To the half tribe of Manasseh, the land from Mahanaim, which must have been the southern border as Gad also had that border (v. 26), including all the land of Bashan that included sixty cities, half of Gilead, and the royal cities of Og, Ashtaroth and Edrei.  The land is said to have been given to half the children of Machir, who was Manasseh's son.

(32) These are what Moses had distributed for inheritance in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan by Jericho eastward.

The lands described above from verse 9 to this verse were all the lands that had been distributed by Moses to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, east of Jericho.

(33) But to the tribe of Levi Moses did not give inheritance; the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as He said to them.

Once again, Joshua points out that the tribe of Levi did not receive any land as their inheritance, because as priests, the Lord God was their inheritance.

As Joshua was now old, God had him rest from his battles, even though there was still much land to be conquered.  However, for now, He wanted Joshua to portion out the lots of inheritance, and it was to include all the land that had been promised, even those not yet conquered.  This chapter began with the allotments that had already been given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. 

The Israelites' Holy War With Midian

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Numbers 31:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) "Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”

The events of chapter 31 follow those of chapter 27, after an interruption where the Lord reviewed the law of sacrifices and the law of vows in the previous three chapters.  In Numbers 27:13 the Lord had told Moses that once he had been permitted to see the promised land, he would die, and would not be allowed to enter the land of Canaan because he had rebelled against the commandment of the Lord (Numbers 20:12).

Now the Lord told Moses that he was first to make war upon the Midianites to avenge the children of Israel for the injury they had done to them by sending their daughters among them to entice them to adultery and idolatry.  After that, he would be gathered to his people, meaning he would die as all his people before him.

(3) And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD on Midian."

Moses then told the people to arm some of their able-bodied men of war and let them go against the Midianites to avenge the LORD.  Note the Lord had said in verse 2 to avenge the children of Israel, but Moses now called it vengeance for the Lord.  The Israelites had indeed suffered and lost 24,000 people due to the iniquity they were drawn into by the Midianites, but Moses recognized this had been an affront to their Lord and called the people to avenge His name and honor which had been dishonored by their sins of lewdness and idolatry.

(4) "Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall you send to the war."

Each tribe was to send 1000 men to war.

(5) So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

The people did as Moses had instructed, and delivered out of each tribe 1000 men armed for war, for a total of 12,000 men from the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.  The tribe of Levi, as priests and caretakers of the tabernacle, would not have sent men to war.

(6) And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

Moses sent the thousand men from each tribe to war.  We see that the tribe of Levi did participate; Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, went to war with holy articles from the sanctuary and trumpets to blow, signifying this was the Lord's battle.

(7) And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they killed all the males.

The 12,000 Israelite soldiers warred against the Midianites as the Lord had commanded Moses they do, and they killed all the males.  This means all the males who warred against them, or the ones who did not escape; it cannot mean every last Midianite male, as the Midianites would later raise their war heads again.

(8) And they killed the kings of Midian, besides the rest of them who were slain, namely, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword.

They also killed the kings of Midian, in addition to every other male who was killed.  The five kings of Midian who were killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba.  They also killed Balaam, who was either still in Midian on his way back to his home, or had returned to Midian, as we were told in Numbers 24:25 he "returned to his place" after his meeting with Balak that had been intended, but failed, to curse Israel.

(9) And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, and their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods.

The Israelites took the women and their children captive, and took as spoil all their cattle, flocks, and goods.  Once again it must be understood that not all the women were taken captive, just as not all the men were killed, because the Midianites would come against Israel again; but all who came against them and did not escape were killed and their women and children taken captive.

(10) And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.

The Israelites burned all the cities where the people mentioned in the above verses dwelt.  They also burned the castles which probably belonged to the kings they had killed.

(11) And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, of men and of beasts.

The Israelites took all the spoil of the goods, and all the prey of men and livestock.

(12) And they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

The Israelite soldiers brought the captives and their large booty to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation at their camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

(13) And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp.

Moses, Eleazar, and all the leaders of the congregation, actually went out of the camp to meet the returning Israelites outside the camp.

(14) And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.

Moses turned out to be very angry with the officers of the Israelite army, those captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come back from the battle with their captives and their rich booty.

(15) And Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive? (16) Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD."

Moses was angry they had kept all the women alive.  After all, they were the main ones who first caused the Israelites to sin against their Lord, when they, apparently at the counsel of Balaam, went among the Israelites and enticed them into lewdness and eventually idolatry; and because of that, there had been a plague among the congregation of Israel.

(17) “Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately."

Moses instructed the Israelite army to kill every male child and every woman who had known a man intimately.  Only the female children were spared.  Usually women and children were spared in these situations, as they were usually unable to resist.  However in this case, the women were the most guilty of wrongdoing against the Israelites, and the male children would later have become men and warriors against them.  Besides, the Lord God, the author, creator, and supporter of life, has every right to dispose of it when He sees proper; and as righteous and just, He cannot do anything but what is right and just.  Knowing all that is and what will be, He knows what each life would have done.  Also just because someone is taken away from this physical life doesn't always mean the end; God also takes people to save them from the evil to come (Isaiah 57:1), which could very well describe the future existence of these particular children.  Taking the children away to be with Him would be a most loving and merciful act.

(18) "But all the women children, who have not known a man intimately, keep alive for yourselves."

The female children were spared and could be taken by the Israelites.  They could be maidservants, or they could even become wives of Israelite men if they embraced the Israelite religion.

(19) "And you do abide outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

Even though the Israelite soldiers had acted as the Lord had commanded them, they had become unclean and defiled by touching the dead, and had to go through the prescribed purification process.  Anyone who had killed or had come in contact with any slain, were to purify themselves and their captives (the female children) on the third and on the seventh day of the seven days they remained outside the camp.

(20) "And purify all clothing, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood."

They were to purify all their spoils.  All clothing, skins, works of goats' hair, such as coverings of tents were made from, and all things made of wood, were to be purified by washing them.

(21) And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses: (22) Only the gold, the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, (23) Everything that may abide the fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of purification; all that cannot endure fire you shall put through the water."

Eleazar the priest told the men who had gone to battle about the law of purification of unclean people and things, according to what Moses had said as received from the Lord.  Items made of gold, silver, brass, and the like, that could withstand fire, were to be put through the fire and would be cleaned that way.  However, they were also to be purified with the water of purification, water mixed with the ashes of the burnt red heifer (Numbers 19:17).  All items that could not endure fire were to be washed with water.

(24) “And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”

After cleansing and purifying everything else, on the seventh day they were to wash their own clothes, and then they were allowed to come into the camp.

(25) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (26) "Take the sum of the prey that was taken, of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation."

The Lord then told Moses to make a count of all the plunder that was taken, both of man and beast.  Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs of the congregation were to do this.

(27) "And divide the prey into two parts, between them who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation."

The plunder was to be divided into two equal parts between those who had gone into battle and all those others of the congregation.  Because all the Israelites were harmed by the Midianites, they all were to share in the plunder.  However, since there were just 12,000 men of war who had gone to battle, they had a far greater share of the plunder, as well they should, since they had been the ones who faced the dangers of war.

(28) "And levy a tribute for the LORD on the men of war who went out to battle, one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; (29) Take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for a heave offering to the LORD."

There was to be a tribute or tax on the men who had gone to battle to be given to their Lord.  One out of every 500 of the people (the female children), and one of every 500 of the cattle, and likewise of the donkeys and the sheep, was to be taken from the soldiers' half of the plunder, and was to be given to Eleazar for a heave offering to the Lord, as a way to thank or give a tithe of sorts to the Lord for their success and victory and for all the plunder they had taken.

(30) “And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, the donkeys, and the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

From the congregation's half of the plunder, they were to take one of every fifty of the people, of the cattle, and of every kind of livestock or animals taken, and those were to be given to the Levites who were employed in the service of the tabernacle.

(31) And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had commanded to Moses they do.

(32) And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, (33) And seventy-two thousand cattle, (34) And sixty-one thousand donkeys, (35) And thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately.

These verses seem to reference the total booty, or the live prey of the booty.  I'm not sure what is meant by the "rest of the prey", unless perhaps it was what remained after the soldiers' seven days outside the camp, before it was counted.  The original word translated as "rest" was "yether" and it means "overhanging (by implication) an excess, remainder".  However, it can also mean "abundance, affluence, superiority, excellency", so perhaps the meaning was that the abundance of the total prey numbered 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 young woman or girls who had never known a man intimately.

(36) And the half, the portion of them who went out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, (37) And the LORD'S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. (38) And the cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two. (39) And the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one. (40) And the persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons.

The half portion of that total prey that went to the men who went out to war numbered 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins.  The Lord's tribute of these numbered 675 sheep, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys, and 32 virgins.

(41) And Moses gave the tribute, the LORD'S heave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Moses gave the tribute of 675 sheep, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys, and 32 virgins, to Eleazar the priest, for a heave offering, as the Lord had commanded to Moses.  People given as an offering to the Lord cannot be understood as being sacrificed, but with this heave offering they were presented, or perhaps even ceremonially raised and lowered, in dedication to God and afterward would have been reserved for the priests' use.

(42) And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided from the men that warred, (43) Now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, (44) And thirty-six thousand cattle, (45) And thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, (46) And sixteen thousand persons.

The children of Israel's half of the prey which Moses had divided out of the total prey, totaled 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins.

(47) Of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, of man and of beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one of each fifty, of the virgins, and of each species of animal, and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle, just as the Lord had commanded he do.  Although the numbers given to the Levites was not recorded here, it can be easily calculated.  The children of Israel, being required to give one in fifty, gave ten times more than the soldiers who gave one in 500; therefore their numbers were 6750 sheep, 720 cattle, 610 donkeys, and 320 virgins.

(48) And the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; (49) And they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing."

The officers of the army of Israelites came to Moses and reported to him that after waging war with a whole nation, killing all the males and the kings, burning their cities, taking so many captives and such a large booty, miraculously not a single one of the 12,000 soldiers was killed or missing.

(50) "We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD."

In thanksgiving for success and sparing all their lives, the officers brought a freewill offering over and above the tribute that was levied upon them.  It seems to read that they brought to the Lord all the gold jewels and jewelry that the soldiers had taken as plunder.  They said it was to make atonement for their souls before the Lord, perhaps for their error in judgment in sparing all the women.

(51) And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, even all the crafted jewels.

Moses and Eleazar received all the gold and fashioned jewelry from them.

(52) And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, from the captains of thousands, and from the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. (53) (The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)

The value of all the gold the officers had offered to the Lord was 16,750 shekels.  The opinion on what a shekel of gold was worth in those times varies, but with one conversion chart I used at Convert-me.com it calculated it was equal to 0.4 ounce.  16,750 shekels would equal 6700 ounces of gold.  At the current US value of over $1500 an ounce, that would make it worth well over $10,000,000.  With this large amount, I have to believe the meaning of the parenthetical 53rd verse was that the amount was so large because every man of war had taken some gold for himself which he now offered to the Lord.  However, there are some who believe that the meaning was that some men held back the gold they took for themselves and it was not part of the offering.  That would seem to imply the meaning of the parenthetical remark was that the amount was so small because the men held back, and that just doesn't seem to be the logical meaning to me.  Whether they gave all their gold or they gave of their gold, it was still quite a large freewill offering they gave to their Lord over and above the tribute they were required to give Him.

(54) And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.

Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the officers and brought it into the tabernacle, probably laying it up in some chamber there, in remembrance of the victory the Israelites had obtained because of their Lord's goodness and protection, that they would remember this victory and trust Him in all future endeavors.  That's the way I took the meaning to be, but some Biblical scholars suggest it was laid up in the tabernacle to remind the Lord that they had given it to Him.  I really don't like that suggestion and wouldn't think it would be acceptable to the Lord if it was a bribe for purely selfish reasons.  However, Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, put it a little more softly:  "...that he (God), being well pleased with this thankful acknowledgment of favours bestowed, might continue and repeat his mercies to them."

I rather think the moral of this story, or rather historical incident, is that the people obeyed the Lord in avenging the children of Israel, thus avenging the Lord because their lewdness and idolatry had greatly dishonored Him.  Being imperfect as all men are, they erred in their judgment in keeping all the women alive, but did as Moses instructed they do when this was brought to their attention.  Their success in war was remarkable that so small an army could overcome such multitudes, and still more miraculous that not one soldier was killed or missing.  Again quoting Matthew Henry, this time in his Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, the army then "...presented the gold they found among the spoils, as an offering to the Lord. Thus they confessed, that instead of claiming a reward for their service, they needed forgiveness of much that had been amiss, and desired to be thankful for the preservation of their lives, which might justly have been taken away." 

The Building of the Ark of the Covenant and Furnishings and Courtyard of the Tabernacle

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Exodus 37:1) And Bezaleel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

Chapter 36 told of how Bezaleel, Aholiab, and the other skilled workers began working on the tabernacle according to the specifications the Lord had given Moses on the mount.  The work continued in chapter 37 with Bezaleel making the ark of acacia wood.  It measured 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

(2) And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold all around it.

Bezaleel overlaid the wooden ark with pure gold inside and out, and made a crown molding of gold all around the top of the chest.

(3) And he cast for it four rings of gold to be set in its four corners, two rings on one side, and two rings on the other side of it.

He made a gold ring on each corner which made for two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.

(4) And he made staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. (5) And he put the staves into the rings at the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

He made poles or rods of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.  He put the staves into the rings on each side of the ark so that the ark might be carried by them.  All this work on the ark was being done just as instructed by God in Exodus chapter 25.

(6) And he made the mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits was its length and a cubit and a half its width.

Bezaleel made the mercy seat that was both a lid for the ark and a seat on top of it.  He made it of pure gold and it was 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.

(7) And he made two cherubim of gold, beaten out of one piece on the two ends of the mercy seat; (8) One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side; out of the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. (9) And the cherubim spread out their wings above, and covered the mercy seat with their wings; with their faces one to the other, the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.

He made the mercy seat with two cherubim, hammered and formed one with the seat, on each side of it.  The cherubim were made on each end facing each other with their wings spread above and covering the mercy seat.

(10) And he made the table of acacia wood; two cubits was its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height. (11) And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a crown of gold all around it.

Bezaleel then made a table of acacia wood, 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. He overlaid it with pure gold with a crown molding of gold all around it.

(12) Also he made a border of a handbreadth all around it, and made a crown of gold for the border all around it.

He made another border or frame about the width of a hand to go all around the table, and it, too, had a crown molding of gold all around it.  As first discussed when God gave Moses these instructions in chapter 25, most theologians figured this was a separate border from the one on top that may have gone from table leg to table leg all around, and acted as a brace around the middle or bottom of the table legs.

(13) And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings on the four corners that were in its four feet. (14) The rings were over against the border as places for the staves to bear the table. (15) And he made the staves of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.

He made four rings of gold placed on the four corners of the table at the table legs at the border that was to be made all around from leg to leg.  The rings were to be where poles were inserted with which to lift and carry the table.  He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

(16) And he made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its covers of pure gold.

Bezaleel made all the dishes and utensils that would be used on the table out of pure gold.

(17) And he made the candlestick of pure gold; of hammered work he made the candlestick; its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its knobs, and its flowers were of the same piece.

He made a candlestand of pure gold, and rather than poured into a mold, it was hammered and worked from one piece with branches, bowls, knobs, and flowers.

(18) And six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the candlestick out of one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side.

The original word for candlestick in the scripture above is "menorah" and the seven-branched candelabrum that word brings to mind is more likely what is meant in this scripture rather than a single candlestick.  Bezaleel made it with three branches on one side of the main stick or shaft and three branches on the other side, making seven places for oil lamps, including the shaft in the middle. 

(19) There were three bowls made like almond blossoms on one branch, with a knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, with a knob and a flower, and so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick. (20) And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, each with its knobs and its flowers.

The bowls for the oil lamps on each of the branches that extended from each side of the main candlestick were made as almond blossoms, each with an ornamental knob and flower.  The main shaft of the candlestick was made with four bowls made like almond blossoms, each with an ornamental knob and flower.

(21) And a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it. (22) Their knobs and their branches were of one piece; all of it was one hammered piece of pure gold.

The making of this part is no clearer to me than the description of how it should be made in chapter 25.  It sounds as if there was to be another knob made underneath connecting two branches, and connecting another two and the other two, making six branches with three knobs underneath, but since I thought the branches were to be arranged three on one side and three on the other, it does not make sense to me.  I had to refer back to my notes on the initial instructions for this in verse 25 to get any help in explaining it.  Even back there none of the old commentaries I read bothered to explain this, but Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, did mention an interpretation of Jarchi, who was a medieval French rabbi and Torah commentator.  The previous scripture had just spoken of the bowls that were each to have a knob and a flower, and then the next verse speaks of "a knob under two branches of the same".  If "the same" is still referencing each bowl with its knob and flower, then verse 21's "knob" is speaking of the same knob, and what Dr. Gill said Jarchi wrote about it makes sense.  According to him, the knob was like a pomegranate (or an apple), and "two branches were drawn from the two sides of it...this clause is repeated twice in this verse, signifying there should be a knop under each of the three branches on one side, and three on the other side."  Once again these knobs and branches were to be hammered from one mass of gold, and not poured into molds and soldered together.

(23) And he made its seven lamps, its snuffers, and its snuff dishes of pure gold. (24) Of a talent of pure gold he made it, and all its vessels.

He made seven lamps, snuffers, and snuff dishes for each of the bowls at the end of each of the branches (three on each side) and one for the middle shaft.  He made the candlestick and all its utensils from a full talent of gold.  The old theologians and commentators that I read varied greatly in their opinions about exactly how much gold this was, but as discussed in chapter 25, I gathered that generally a talent was understood to be about the weight of a person, and was considered to be roughly 120 pounds.

(25) And he made the incense altar of acacia wood; the length of it was a cubit and the width of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; its horns were of the same.

"He", I assume Bezaleel is the one still making these items, made an incense altar of acacia wood.  It was square, 18 inches on each side, and 36 inches high.  It was made with horns, or some similar projections pointing upward that resembled horns, from the same acacia wood as the altar, probably carved from the same piece of wood.

(26) And he overlaid it with pure gold, the top of it and its sides all around, and its horns; he also made for it a crown of gold all around it.

He overlaid the incense altar with pure gold on its top and sides and on the horns of it.  He also made for it a crown molding of gold.

(27) And he made two rings of gold for it under its crown, by its two corners on both sides, to be places for the staves with which to bear it. (28) And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.

Two golden rings were made for the altar under the crown molding on each side, into which poles or bars would be placed in order to carry the altar.  The poles were also made of acacia wood like the altar itself, and overlaid with gold.

(29) And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.

It was said that he made the holy anointing oil and the incense of sweet spices, "according to the work of the apothecary".  An apothecary was one who pounded and mixed drugs and perfumes.  There was an art to making the perfect anointing oil and pure incenses, and he had the talent for it.

(Exodus 38:1) And he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood; five cubits was its length and five cubits its width, it was square, and its height was three cubits.

"He" still refers to Bezaleel from chapter 37.  Either he personally made the altar of burnt offering, or it was made under his direction.  He made it of acacia wood, square, 7 1/2 feet on each side, and 4 1/2 feet high.

(2) And he made its horns on its four corners; the horns were of the same piece; and he overlaid it with brass.

He made horns or some similar projections on the four corners of the altar, of the same piece of wood as the altar, not made separately and applied to the altar.  The altar was then overlaid with brass.

(3) And he made all the vessels for the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the firepans; all its vessels he made of brass.

He made all the vessels and utensils for the altar from brass.  As discussed when God first gave Moses the instructions for these in chapter 27, there were pans for receiving the ashes of the burnt sacrifices, basins for the blood, shovels and forks for handling the pieces of flesh and animal parts, and fire pans for the burning embers or coals of fire.

(4) And he made a grate of brass network for the altar, under its rim, in the midst of it. (5) And he cast four rings for the four corners of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.

He made a brass grate for the altar probably over a hollowed area in the middle of the altar, where the fire would burn. As discussed in chapter 27, in the "midst" meant the "middle".  Exodus 27:5 expressed it with a little more detail:  "And you shall put it under the rim of the altar beneath, that the network may be even to the midst of the altar."  He made four rings in the four corners of the grate in which to put poles or bars to move it.

(6) And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with brass. (7) And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to bear it; he made the altar hollow with boards.

He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with brass.  He put the poles into the rings on the side of the altar with which to carry it.  As I had confusion when I first read the description of this altar's poles in chapter 27, I still have it.  I originally thought the rings were on the brass grate and that poles would remove the grate, not carry the entire altar.  Perhaps the brass grate was one piece with the entire overlay of brass and therefore poles through those rings would carry the entire altar.  For the first time I am picturing this altar a little differently; maybe instead of the brass being on top and going down to the middle of the sides, perhaps it was on the bottom going halfway up to the middle.  It does say the altar was hollow.  Perhaps it was open at the top and the ashes would fall through the sides.  If the brass grate was on the sides and under the top, it could be carried by rings on the corners of the brass.  I got no help from the old commentaries that I read, so I was on my own to try to imagine this!  :-)

(8) And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, from the mirrors of the women assembling, who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

He made a brass basin with a brass foot or stand.  He made them from the mirrors of the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle.  We can assume these were devoted women, attending more consistently at the place of public worship than others.  Their mirrors were likely highly reflective brass rather than glass with brass handles as we might picture today.

(9) And he made the court; on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits long. (10) There were twenty pillars for them, with twenty brass sockets; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

"He" would still seem to be Bezaleel, but I am beginning to believe more certainly that he alone didn't personally do all this work, but that it was done under his direction.  As I assumed that the "he" in chapter 36 referred back to "every wise hearted man among them who worked on the tabernacle" (Exodus 36:8), I believe all this work being discussed now must be done by other talented and skilled workers than just Bezaleel.  After all, we did read that he was more than a talented craftsman; he had the ability to teach others (Exodus 35:4).

They now made the courtyard for the tabernacle, enclosed on the south side with hangings of fine woven linen, fifty yards long.  The hangings hung on twenty pillars set in brass sockets.  As discussed in chapter 27 when God first gave Moses these instructions, the silver fillets were probably some sort of connecting rods between the pillars.  The rods probably went across the top of the pillars as a sort of curtain rod upon which the hooks holding the hangings were attached.  Since there were only twenty pillars in a length of fifty yards, the hangings couldn't have hung on the pillars alone, so surely hung on hooks on the fillets or rods.

(11) And for the north side the hangings were one hundred cubits long, with twenty pillars and their twenty brass sockets; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. (12) And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, with ten pillars and their ten sockets; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were silver. (13) And for the east side fifty cubits.

The north side was made identical to the south side, with hangings fifty yards long on twenty pillars set in sockets of brass, with silver rods and hooks.  On the east and west sides the hangings were made 25 yards long set on ten pillars set in ten sockets, with silver rods and hooks.

(14) The hangings of one side of the gate were fifteen cubits long, with their three pillars and their three sockets, (15) And for the other side of the court gate, on this side and that were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets.

At the gate or entrance to the court they made hangings 7 1/2 yards long hanging on three pillars in three sockets on both sides of the entrance.

(16) All the hangings of the court all around were of fine woven linen.  (17) And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were silver; and the overlaying of their capitals were silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

All the hangings of the courtyard were made from fine woven linen.  All the sockets for the pillars were made of brass, the hooks and rods were made of silver, and the capitals or tops of the pillars were overlaid with silver.  All the pillars were banded with silver, or perhaps this referred to the rods upon which hung the silver hooks.  

(18) And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen; twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the width was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court.

Hangings or curtains were made for the gate itself of the courtyard of fine woven linen embroidered in blue, purple, and scarlet.  They were ten yards long and 7 1/2 feet high like the hangings of the courtyard walls.

(19) And there were four pillars with their four sockets of brass; their hooks were silver, and the overlay of their capitals and their fillets was silver. (20) And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court all around, were of brass.

There were four pillars on which the hangings of the gate itself hung.  They stood in brass sockets, their capitals were overlaid with silver, and they had bands or rods of silver and silver hooks.  All the tent pins or pegs were made of brass.

(21) This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, which was counted according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

The preceding account contained a detail of all the articles which had been commanded by Moses (from commandment of the Lord)  for the tabernacle for the service of the Levites, over whom Ithamar, the son of Aaron, apparently presided.

(22) And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. (23) And with him was Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

Bezaleel and Aholiab, men gifted and chosen by God (Exodus 35), had done and overseen the work.

(24) All the gold that was used in all the work of the holy place, that is, the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

The gold that was used in the work of the tabernacle, the gold that had been offered freely by the people, amounted to 29 talents and 730 shekels.  A talent was 3000 shekels.  What the exact weight of a talent of gold was varies from "expert" to "expert", some saying 60 pounds and some saying as much as 120 pounds; regardless, we are talking about hundreds, even thousands, of pounds of gold!

(25) And the silver from those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary: (26) A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone included in the numbering from twenty years old and above, for six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men.

The silver that was counted here appears to be the silver that was collected in numbering the people, where everyone of twenty years old and upwards (603,550 men) paid half a shekel (Exodus 30:12-14).  The silver amounted to 100 talents and 1775 shekels.  The measuring of weight of silver may have varied a little from the weight of gold (again I get conflicting reports), but again, we are talking about hundreds, actually thousands, of pounds of silver!

(27) And from the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil; one hundred sockets from the hundred talents, one talent for each socket.

The hundred talents of silver were used for the sockets of the sanctuary and for the veil, one talent of silver for each socket.  I didn't personally count each of the sockets, but according to this scripture there were a hundred, and Dr. John Gill wrote, "there were ninety six sockets for the sanctuary or tabernacle, and four for the vail".  A talent being from 50 to 100 pounds of silver, there was a lot of value in the bases of the pillars!

(28) And of the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and filleted them.

From the remaining 1775 shekels of silver, the hooks, fillets, and overlaying of the capitals for the pillars of the court were made.

(29) And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels. (30) And with it he made the sockets for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, the brazen altar, the brazen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, (31) And the sockets of the court all around, the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins for the tabernacle, and all the pins for the court all around.

The brass from the freewill offerings totaled 70 talents and 2400 shekels.  Once again, I didn't find a definitive answer as to exactly how much brass this was, but it would be in the thousands of pounds.  With this brass were made the brass altar and grate, the vessels and utensils for the altar, the sockets for the courtyard and its gate, and the tent pegs.

In these two chapters, we see how generous the people were in giving for the building of the tabernacle, and how faithful the workmen were in following the instructions of God given to them by Moses.

The People's Freewill Offerings and Work Started on the Tabernacle

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Exodus 35:1) And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: (2) Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD; whoever does work on it shall be put to death."

In the last chapter, Moses had just come back down the mount a second time from receiving a second set of stone tablets with the Ten Commandments from the Lord, and he now addressed the congregation. He picked up with what the Lord had last told him to tell the children of Israel before the interruption of the golden calf (Exodus 31:12-18), that they were to keep the Sabbath.  This was a repeat of one of the Ten Commandments that the people had heard from the Lord Himself, but as the Lord had re-emphasized it after giving instructions on how to build the tabernacle, Moses now began with this law of the Sabbath before continuing with instructions on construction.  The people had six days in which to do their work, but there was to be strict observance of the Sabbath day.  The seventh day was to be a holy day set aside for rest in the Lord and any violators would be put to death.

(3) “You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.”

There was a particular prohibition against kindling fires in their personal dwellings on the Sabbath day.  Most all the old commentaries spoke of this being a temporary prohibition that was not long continued.  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out that this law had been implied as far back as Exodus 16:23 when the people were told they were to bake and boil their manna the day before the Sabbath.  It was suggested that maybe this was a prohibition against doing work at home as might be done by smiths or plumbers.  It may have been intended to stress to the people that no work at all was to be done, occupational or personal.  However, it was said that the Jews understood this to be only a prohibition against kindling fire for the purpose of doing work and cooking, but not for light and warmth for rest.

(4) And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, (5) Take from among you an offering to the LORD; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and brass, (6) And blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, (7) And rams' skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood, (8) And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil and for the sweet incense, (9) And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate."

Moses continued telling all the people what the Lord had commanded.  Whoever was willing was to bring to Moses a voluntary offering to the Lord.  Because the items were needed for the building of a tabernacle dedicated to God, there were specific items that were needed, and the people who willingly gave them were said to be offering them to the Lord.  Then began and continued in the next few verses a long list of the items needed as the Lord had first told Moses in chapter 25:  gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, and scarlet threads, fine linen, goats' hair, rams' and badger skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, onyx, and other precious stones.

(10) "And every wise hearted among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded:"

The original word for "wise" was "chakam" and it also meant "skilled or artful"; and "hearted" was "leb" referring more completely to the inner part of a man, his intelligence, wisdom, or talents.  The rich who were able and willing were to supply the materials, and those skilled artisans with the talent for working with the particular materials were asked to do the work.

(11) "The tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, (12) The ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering, (13) The table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread, (14) The candlestick also for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light, (15) And the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle, (16) The altar of burnt offering with its brass grating, its poles, all its utensils, the laver and its base, (17) The hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court, (18) The pins of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords, (19) The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office."

The next several verses were a list of all the items to be made for the tabernacle.  All were discussed in more detail when the Lord first told them to Moses (Exodus chapters 25-28).  Moses probably didn't give the details at this time, but rather wanted to impress upon them just how much work was to be done and give them an idea of how much material and what skills were needed.

(20) And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. (21) And they came, every one whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.

After Moses had told the people what the Lord had told him to tell them, they left from his presence.  It appears that they quickly returned, those whose hearts were stirred by what Moses had told them, and they brought the items they had been told were needed for the work on the tabernacle and its furnishings and garments.

(22) And they came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and ornaments, all jewels of gold, and every man who made an offering offered an offering of gold to the LORD.

Both men and women came, those with willing hearts, none forced to give, and brought all kinds of gold jewelry.  All who brought these items of gold jewelry were said to have made an offering of gold to the Lord.

(23) And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. (24) Everyone who offered an offering of silver or brass brought the LORD’s offering; and every man, with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.

It is stated that every man who possessed the desired royal colored threads, fine linen, goats' hair, and ram and badger skins, brought those things as an offering.  Likewise, every man, with whom was found acacia wood, brought the wood as an offering.  I'm not sure if it was a deliberate distinction, but of the silver and brass offerings, it says that those who did offer silver or brass did bring the Lord's offering; it didn't say every man with whom silver and brass was found.  It was the same way with the gold offered; everyone who did offer it, offered an offering to the Lord, but it didn't say that every man, with whom gold, silver, or brass was found, brought it to the Lord.  These were all definitely freewill offerings brought by people whose hearts were inclined to offer them.

(25) And all the women who were wise hearted spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine linen. (26) And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun goats’ hair.

All the women who were skilled in spinning brought what they had spun of blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and fine linen.  All the women who were skilled in spinning goats' hair, likewise spun, and we can assume brought their wares.

(27) And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate; (28) And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

The rulers were said to have brought the precious stones, spices, and oils, they being the ones who could afford to possess and offer them.

(29)  The children of Israel brought a willing offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts made them willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.

The children of Israel brought freewill offerings to the Lord, those whose hearts were willing.  All walks of the people offered; those who owned possessions needed, offered them, and those who had skills needed, offered those services for the work to be done for the Lord.

(30) And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; (31) And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; (32) And to devise plans to work in gold and silver and brass, (33) And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work."

Moses told the children of Israel that God had called a specific craftsman by the name of Bezaleel, grandson of Hur, who may have been the same Hur that was sometimes third in charge after Moses and Aaron.  God had filled Bezaleel with special knowledge and talents in all kinds of workmanship.  He was able to come up with the design plans and was able also to perform the work of cutting and setting stones and carving wood to make any manner of work imaginable.  It is interesting to note that the original word I translated as "plans" in verse 32 is the same word translated as "cunning work" in verse 33.  The word was "machashebeth", and it meant and was most often used as "contrivance, invention, plan, imagination, thought, purpose".  The KJV used "curious works" and "cunning work".  The other translations used a multitude of other words like "skilled, artistic, craftsman, workmanship, inventive".  I believe the idea is that he had the God-given gift to imagine and design all kinds of beautiful work and he had the skills to make what he imagined.

(34) “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, both him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. (35) He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all manner of work, of the engraver, of the designer, of the embroiderer, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver, those who do any work, and those who design artistic works."

Not only could Bezaleel design and do the work, but he also had the ability to teach others, as did Aholiab.  God had filled both men with the wisdom, knowledge, and talents to do all kinds of craftsmanship from designing, to engraving, embroidering, weaving, or any artistic works that surely included precious metals, wood, and stone.  They were able to both design and carry out their designs with their hands.

(Exodus 36:1) Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.

By this verse, it appears Bezaleel, Aholiab, and all skilled men, in whom God had put the wisdom and gifts to do the work for the sanctuary, began working and doing just as the Lord had commanded them to do.  However, because the verses following speak of Moses calling the men to him and giving them the people's gifts with which they would be working, some commentators believed that verse 1 should have actually been the last verse in chapter 35, and should read in the future tense, rather than the past.  Perhaps Moses was concluding his speech to the people that Bezaleel, Aholiab, and every gifted and talented man, in whom God had given the wisdom and understanding to carry out His plans for the sanctuary, would do the work according to all that He had commanded.  Then again, maybe the men, answering their call by God, began their planning immediately.

(2) And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work.

Here the second verse said that Moses called the men, every skilled man blessed by talents from the Lord whose heart was stirred to help, to come and do the work.  It's either as speculated after the first verse, that this is the proper first verse of the next chapter and Moses now called the men after saying they would do the work.  However, it's just as plausible that verses 1 and 2 were to be read together, stating that the men started right away after Moses's call.  It doesn't make much difference, as the main point stays the same--the workmen started without delay.

(3) And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. And they brought to him freewill offerings every morning.

Moses gave the workers the offerings of the people for the work on the sanctuary, the gold, silver, brass, wood, threads, linen, skins, precious stones, spices, and oil (Exodus 35:22-27).  The people continued to bring freewill offerings every morning.

(4) And all the wise men who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, (5) And they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do.”

All the different skilled workers came together from the work each was doing to tell Moses that the people were bringing more materials than they needed to do the work the Lord had commanded them to do.  Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, pointed out that this proved what men of integrity they were.  It would have been a perfect opportunity for them to enrich themselves with the surplus of offerings, but these honest men did not consider that.

(6) And Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing. (7) For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to be done, and too much.

Moses then gave the commandment and had it proclaimed throughout the camp that the people were to stop doing any more work or bringing any other offerings for the sanctuary, for there was more than enough for all the work that needed to be done.  It was said that the people were restrained from bringing.  So strong was their desire to offer to the Lord's sanctuary that they looked at it as a restraint upon them not to be allowed to do more for it.

(8) And every wise hearted man among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with cherubim of cunning work he made them.

I would assume that not every single one of the skilled workers made curtains, but that those among them most skilled in this type of work made ten curtains.  They made them with fine linen, and either embroidered cherubim with blue, purple, and scarlet threads, or perhaps wove the threads into a tapestry depicting cherubim.

(9) The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size.

The curtains were all made to be 42 feet long and six feet wide.

(10) And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. (11) And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain on the selvedge of one set of curtains; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. (12) Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. (13) And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, so it became one tabernacle.

Five curtains were attached one to the other, and the other five were attached together, making two long curtains.  Fifty loops of blue were made on the edge of each set of curtains, and with fifty gold clasps, the two large curtains were fastened together to make one large tabernacle.

(14) And he made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. (15) The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the width of each curtain; the eleven curtains were the same size.

Each of the skilled workers working on the curtains then made eleven curtains of goats' hair, each measuring 45 feet long and six feet wide.

(16) And he coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. (17) And he made fifty loops on the outermost edge of the curtain in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. (18) And he made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

With these curtains, meant to cover and protect the inner fine linen curtain, there were two sets of curtains attached together, one having five curtains, and the other having six.  The workers made fifty loops on the edge of each of the larger curtains they had sewn together, and they made fifty brass clasps to couple the two curtains together to make it one.  The inner fine linen curtain had gold clasps, but this outer curtain had brass clasps.

(19) And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins above that.

Then a covering of rams' skins dyed red were made for the tent, and another covering of badgers' skins was made to go over that.

(20) And he made boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. (21) The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half.

I noticed some speculation in the old commentaries about who "he" was who made each of these items.  Moses or Bezaleel were suggested, but I believe "he" refers back to verse 8 with "every wise hearted man among them who worked on the tabernacle", where "he" began being referred to in that very verse.  After the curtains, or perhaps simultaneously, by a different set of workers, boards of acacia wood were made for the tabernacle.  Each board was fifteen feet high and 27 inches wide, standing upright.

(22) Each board had two tenons, equally distant one from another; thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle.

The original word translated as "tenons" was "yad", and that word was most often translated as "hands" in all kinds of figurative ways.  Each board was made with two tenons, equidistant from one another, so cut and shaped as if hands to fit into and fasten to each other.

(23) And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. (24) And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards, two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons.

The workers made twenty boards for the south side of the tabernacle.  They made forty silver sockets, so that each board had a socket for each of its two tenons.  As discussed in Exodus 26:19, where we first read of God's description of how the tabernacle should be built, these were to be mortises for the two tenons of each board to be placed in, and would act as the base or foundation of the entire structure.

(25) And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards, (26) And their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under each board.

They also made twenty boards for the north side with forty silver sockets, each board having two sockets for its two tenons.

(27) And for the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. (28) And two boards he made for the two back corners of the tabernacle.

For the west side they made six boards with two additional boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle.

(29) And they were coupled beneath and coupled together at the top by one ring; thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

As first discussed in Exodus 26, I believe the meaning is that the corner boards were coupled or doubled with twin boards coupled together with a ring at the top for extra strength at the corners.

(30) And there were eight boards and their sockets, sixteen sockets of silver, two sockets under every board.

The six boards made for the west side plus the two corner boards made eight boards across the back west side.  Each board had two silver sockets, totaling sixteen sockets for the eight boards.

(31) And he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, (32) And five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.

Five bars of acacia wood were to be made to go across the boards on each side, probably two at the top, two at the bottom, and one across the middle of the boards to act as stabilizers.

(33)  And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from one end to the other.

As I didn't totally understand when God first gave Moses these directions in chapter 26, I still don't understand how the middle board was any different than the other four boards.  Dr. John Gill gave a plausible explanation in his notes from chapter 26.  Exodus 26:28 spoke of "the middle bar in the midst of the boards" reaching from end to end.  Here it speaks of the middle bar shooting through the boards from one end to the other.  Perhaps the other boards were placed across or on top of the vertical boards, whereas the middle board was made to go through the vertical boards, literally bored through inside the vertical boards.

(34) And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

"He", the skilled worker, overlaid each of the boards with gold.  He made rings of gold to hold the bars in place, with the exception of the middle bar which may have been bored through the vertical boards rather than hung in rings over them.  He also overlaid the bars with gold.

(35) And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine woven linen; with cherubim he made it of cunning work.

He made a veil in the same fashion as the ten curtains in verse 8 above, of fine woven linen, with blue, purple, and scarlet threads, used either to embroider cherubim on the curtains or woven as a tapestry with cherubim.

(36) And he made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.

The worker or workers made four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold upon which to hang the veil.  They made golden hooks to hang the veil and silver sockets which may have acted as feet for the pillars.

(37) And he made a hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine woven linen, of needlework; (38) And the five pillars of it with their hooks; and he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were of brass.

They made a curtain to hang as a door for the tabernacle, of the same blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and fine woven linen, as the other curtains and the veil.  "Of needlework", or "wrought with needlework"as it was described in Exodus 26:36, probably meant embroidered by hand, rather than woven in a loom.  This "door" had five pillars of acacia wood probably in a pentagon shape that acted as a covered entrance to the tabernacle.  They also made hooks and overlaid capitals and rings with gold, but for the sockets, they used brass instead of silver as with the indoor pillars.

Most everything recorded in chapter 36 was touched upon in chapter 26 when God first gave Moses explicit instructions on how to build the tabernacle.  In those initial instructions God told Moses repeatedly to make sure they built the tabernacle "according to the pattern which you were shown on the mountain" (Exodus 26:30).  Moses recorded the execution of the plans to show that the work was indeed done according to the directions given and the pattern shown to Moses.

God Gives Moses the Tablets of Stone

Continuing a Bible study in a chronological order set forth by Skip Andrews here:

(Exodus 31:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah."

In the previous chapters, God had been telling Moses how to build a tabernacle, how to make the various altars and utensils that would be used in the tabernacle, and how to clothe and anoint the priests.  He now told him that he had called a specific craftsman by the name of Bezaleel to do some of the work.  Bezaleel was from the tribe of Judah, the grandson of Hur, who was probably the same Hur that was with Moses and Aaron and helped support Moses's hands during the battle with Amalek (Exodus 17:10-12), and who was left in charge with Aaron while Moses was on the mountain (Exodus 24:14).

(3) "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, (4) To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, (5) And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship."

God said He had filled Bezaleel with His own Spirit in wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in all sorts of workmanship, to be able to create and construct designs in gold, silver, brass, as well as the cutting and setting of jewels, and wood carving.  This shows how the "natural talents" of a person are gifts from God.  We all have seen the difference between someone who reads and studies to do something, and one who seems to have been born with a natural talent to do the same thing.  That "natural" talent is God-given and God-inspired by His own spirit, and we should be ever thankful to Him for the talents we possess.

(6) “And I, behold I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all who are wise hearted, that they may make all that I have commanded you:"

God also called Aholiab, who was from a different tribe, to work with Bezaleel.  The commentaries that I study suggest in so many words that this was to keep one tribe from getting too prideful.  All parts of the body of Christ are needed and have honor (1 Corinthians, chapter 12).  God once again said that He was the One who put wisdom in all who are wise, and He had put the talents in these two men to carry out all He had commanded Moses to make.

(7) "The tabernacle of the congregation, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, (8) And the table and its utensils, the pure gold candlestick with all its utensils, the altar of incense, (9) And the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base, (10) And the cloths of service, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office, (11) And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place; according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

God then gave Moses a recap of all that He had commanded him that these two men should make--the tabernacle itself, the ark with its mercy seat, all the furnishings and utensils of the tabernacle, the candlestick, the altars, the wash basin, the holy garments to be worn by the priests, the incense, and the anointing oil.  All the instructions that God had given Moses in the previous several chapters, He now instructed to be carried out by Bezaleel and Aholiab.

(12) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (13) “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. (14) You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you; everyone who defiles it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. (15) Six days may work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.'"

In their work on the tabernacle and its furnishings, God told Moses to warn the people that they were to observe the Sabbaths of the Lord.  That was a sign between God and His people that He had given them as one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, that was to be observed throughout their generations, and was not to be skipped even in their zeal to do God's work on the tabernacle.  It was Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, who pointed out in the last chapter that here was where there was a distinction between being put to death and being cut off from his people.  If you read verse 14 alone, you might assume there was a difference between defiling the Sabbath and working on the Sabbath.  Perhaps defiling it was to do evil on the day or to worship idols on the day set aside for God.  It was Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, who referred to Isaiah 56:2, where God said that the man was blessed who kept his hand from doing any evil on the Sabbath.  Defiling, doing evil, on the Sabbath was punishable by death, but perhaps disobeying in one's zeal for God and neglecting the Sabbath, was still disobedience and punishable by excommunication, but perhaps was distinguished from the evil act deserving of death.  However, when you read the verse in context along with verse 15, scripture clearly states that doing work on the Sabbath does defile it, and that act alone was punishable by death.  The Sabbath was a holy day set aside for rest and devoted entirely to God.  Ignoring it was defiling that holy day and was punishable by death.

(16) "‘Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. (17) It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

The children of Israel were admonished to always observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant between them and God, at least as long as the Mosaic law continued until the coming of the Messiah.  It was a sign between God and His children, patterned after His creation week when the Lord made heaven and earth in six days, and then rested on the seventh.  Not only did He rest, but He was refreshed.  That is a remarkable statement regarding the God of the universe!  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out that this word "refreshed" was not applied to God anywhere else in the Bible.  Indeed, I found it in only two other verses, one in Exodus 23:12 where it referred to the people being refreshed on the Sabbath day, and one in 2nd Samuel 16:14, where the king and the people refreshed themselves.  Obviously, God did not have need of a rest to be refreshed, but wanted His people to imitate His example because mere humans indeed did need rest.  Jesus Himself said in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man made for the Sabbath.  God made the Sabbath to be a rest and refreshment for man, and He patterned it after His creation week.  In observing the Sabbath, the children of Israel declared to the world that they worshiped the one true God who created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  It was a sign that they were His people, and He was their Lord. 

(18) And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

At the end of God's conversation with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two stone tablets, incredibly written with His own finger, a lasting record of testimony that represented the covenant between God and His people.  Some theologians have suggested that God didn't actually write the tablets Himself; "with the finger of God" meant it was done instantaneously, by His will and power immediately, without the use of any instrument.  Others, like Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, citing Dr. Henry Winder in his History of Knowledge, believed that not only did God write the tablets Himself, but that until He did, there had been no writing in alphabetical characters, but only marks or symbols or hieroglyphics.  I don't see that that is confirmed by scripture.  Back in Exodus 17:14, God told Moses to write a memorial in a book.  True, it could have been written with symbols, but I see no need to prove that God invented the alphabet.  I do believe it is confirmed in scripture that God Himself wrote the tablets.  In Exodus 24:12, God told Moses to come up to Him on the mountain where He would give him tablets of stone which He had written.  A little later in Exodus 32:16, it will refer to the writing on the tablets being the writing of God.  As He always does to surely establish a fact (Deu. 19:15, Matt 18:16, 2 Cor 13:1), this was confirmed at least three times in scripture, so I believe that God did indeed write the tablets.  Whether He took the time to painstakingly chisel them into stone, or spoke them and they were instantly written, I don't see that it makes a difference.  God wrote the tablets so that His people would have a permanent record of His Testimony, that is, the written laws of His will concerning His people.  This permanent record written by their Lord Himself emphasized the supreme importance His law was to play in their lives.  I believe the stone tablets "written with the finger of God" is illustrative and representative of the fact that these laws were to be ultimately and even more permanently written on our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). 

The Lord is My Banner

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Exodus 17:1) And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink.

In their wilderness trek, the children of Israel now journeyed from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Rephidim.  It was by instruction from God that the people were led to camp there, and yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink.  The chronological study I am doing is one ordered by Skip Andrews, and it now takes me to Numbers 33, which gave a little more detail:

(Numbers 33:12) And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. (13) And they departed from Dophkah and camped at Alush. (14) And they moved from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

We see from this passage that actually the Lord led the people through two other stations (Dophkah and Alush), before bringing them to Rephidim.  Moses, in his Exodus account, apparently didn't record every camp probably because nothing eventful took place there; now the people were brought to a place where they were again wanting water and not finding it.  Now back to Exodus:

(Exodus 17:2) Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?”

The people, unbelievably, quarrel with Moses and demand water from him.  Had they not learned anything from their last need of water (and their subsequent need of food) that was ultimately provided by their Lord?  Moses again directed them away from him and to their actual supplier, the Lord.  He accused them of tempting the Lord because they obviously did not have faith in Him to provide them with water, even though He had shown Himself to be faithful in providing all their needs up to this point.

(3) And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”

Moses had already addressed the people and reminded them it was not him to whom they should complain.  Then it said "they thirsted...and the people murmured", so I would assume because they didn't immediately get water after contending with Moses the first time, they really started murmuring and complaining, once again using the old complaint that he brought them out of Egypt just to kill them in the wilderness.  Being without water would have been especially hard on children and cattle, so perhaps the meaning is not that they truly thought that Moses brought them out to kill them, but that they sincerely believed that would certainly be the result if they didn't get water soon.

(4) And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

Moses cried out to the Lord because it seems the anger of the people toward Moses was so great that he believed they were ready to stone him.  He didn't necessarily pray that God do something for the people, as I believe he had shown in what he said just before, that He knew the Lord would provide for the people, but he honestly did not know what to do with this people whose fevered pitch was so high that he feared they were about to stone him. 

(5) And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. (6) Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

The Lord told Moses to go out before the people, taking with him some of the elders, and it seems direct them nearer to a particular rock at Mount Horeb.  I have read the rock remains to this day, and is red granite, 15 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 12 feet high, and lies in the wilderness of Rephidim, to the west of Mount Horeb.  The Lord told Moses to take his rod with him, specifically his rod with which he had struck the river.  The Lord would stand upon that rock; probably that pillar of cloud that led them through the wilderness would then stand on that particular rock.  Moses was to take his rod and strike the rock and water would come out of it for the people to drink.  Moses did as the Lord instructed, and he did it in the sight of the elders.

(7) And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

"Massah" meant "temptation", and "Meribah" meant "strife" or "contention".  It is unclear to me if there were two different places, or if Moses called the place two different names in remembrance of the people's murmuring against the Lord.  It doesn't appear that the scholars of old had a consensus either.  Since they were at one rock, and the scripture said, "he called the name of the place...", I choose to believe Moses called the place by both names.  He was memorializing not the miracle of the provision of water by the Lord, but the people's tempting of the Lord and their contention with him.  It seems the people actually questioned whether or not the Lord was among them or not.  That makes the fact that the Lord presented Himself on that rock at Horeb seem a direct answer to the people's question.  Yes, indeed, He was with them, and He alone provided them with water.

(8) Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Amalek was the son of Eliphaz, who was the son of Esau (Gen. 36:12), and the Amalekites may have held some hatred for the people of Israel because of Jacob's birthright and blessing, as has been suggested.  However, this may have been a random attack for the purpose of plunder.  According to another passage in Deuteronomy (Deut. 25:17-18), the Amalekites did not boldly confront the Israelites as a nation invading their land, but rather came up from behind and attacked their feeble, faint, and weary ones who lagged behind.  It may be that both facts were true.  The Amalekites thought of the Israelites as enemies, and they sneakily attacked them from behind so as to plunder them more easily.  The timing of this attack is interesting, too.  Did God send the Amalekites because the people had tested Him?  I'm not suggesting it was a punishment, but it certainly became a teaching moment.  God certainly allowed the attack, just as He allowed all the struggles for food and water.  His people easily could have been constantly provided with a steady stream of food and water and easy sailing, but facing these daily difficulties and having them daily remedied by their Lord, kept them in constant remembrance and dependence on God.  How quickly we forget the blessings of the Lord when we have hardship!  Sadly, it seems we must be reminded daily, and in His mercy, our sweet Lord patiently gives us what we need.

(9) And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” (10) So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Moses called on Joshua to choose and organize men to go out and fight the Amalekites.  Meanwhile, he said he himself would stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in his hand.  Moses had called on Joshua to lead the men into battle, but he himself had a most important job, as well.  On top of the hill, in view of the Israelite army, with that rod of God lifted up as encouragement and a reminder of God's promise and provision, Moses surely prayed to God and spiritually ministered to the children of Israel. Joshua did as Moses has directed him, and likewise, Moses, with Aaron and Hur, went to the top of the hill.  We will find that they were needed to assist Moses.  Aaron is, of course, Moses's brother, and it has been written by the historian Josephus that Hur was Miriam's (the sister of Moses and Aaron) husband.  That part is not clear in scripture, but he was obviously someone in whom Moses had much confidence, as he was paired with Aaron by Moses another time, as well (Exo. 24:14).

(11) And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

There are a couple of different ways to look at this verse.  From verse 9, we learned that Moses planned to stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in his hand.  When the rod was up, it may have inspired the Israelites to fight on, and when they could not see it, their hearts failed them and the Amalekites prevailed.  The verse could refer to Moses raising his hands toward heaven in prayer.  The ancient targums interpreted it that way.  Dr. John Gill wrote that even among the "heathens", Moses "was famous for the efficacy of his prayers".  Perhaps when Moses was the most stretched out and upward in prayer, he was the most fervent in prayer, and Israel prevailed; and when he faltered in prayer, Amalek prevailed.  Probably both ways of looking at this verse are correct.  When Moses was stretched upward to heaven, he was the most fervent in prayer, AND the Israelites saw the rod which inspired them to go onward.  When Moses faltered in prayer, likewise did the people when they couldn't see the rod of God.  Either way, or both ways, it's a perfect illustration of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged daily.  When God is lifted up, we are victorious over our spiritual enemies, and when we falter in our faith and in our walk with God, the enemy can prevail.  The daily battles move back and forth from victory to defeat, and it is a reminder that we should be in constant prayer with our Lord, the One from whom all victories come.

(12) But Moses's hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Moses became tired and weary and he couldn't keep his hands held upward, so they brought him a stone so that he could sit down, and Aaron and Hur, on either side of him, held his hands upward, and in this way, he was able to keep them up until the sun went down.  And when his hand was up, we know that Israel prevailed.

(13) And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

In fact, we do read that Joshua and his army defeated the Amalekites in this, the first war of the Israelites.

(14) And the LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”

God told Moses to specifically and literally write about this war in a book to be a lasting memorial.  It was to be recounted especially in Joshua's hearing because God would eventually completely blot out the memory of the Amalekites.  The Israelites had not yet completely annihilated the Amalekites, but Joshua was chief in this first war against them.  God knew His plans for Joshua, and I believe He wanted Joshua especially to remember what Amalek had done to Israel and especially how God had saved them from Amalek.  He wanted him to know, as well as all posterity by the written account, that in the process of time Amalek would be totally destroyed and not even remembered (except, in history, I suppose).

(15) And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovahnissi; (16) For he said, “Because the LORD has sworn the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Moses built an altar and called it Jehovahnissi, which literally meant, "Jehovah is my banner".  The Israelites fought under the banner, and therefore under the direction of their Lord, in His name, and in defense of His truth.  Much has been written about how this is the incorrect translation of verse 16.  It is supposed what was meant, and what was scrambled by unfortunate translations of contractions and hyphens, was that because the hand of Amalek was upon the throne of God, therefore the Lord would have war with Amalek from generation to generation.  I don't really have a problem with the KJV translation as it stands.  The Lord indeed had already said that He would ultimately completely put out the remembrance of Amalek, which does insinuate there would be a continued struggle with Amalek until that obliteration was achieved.  I believe making the altar to the Lord that was looked upon as their banner of their Lord, would serve as a reminder to the people that they were never to form any union with the Amalekites because they were sworn enemies of the Israelites, doomed to ruin.  Dr. John Gill wrote this about Amalek:  "Amalek may be considered as a type of antichrist, whose hand is against the throne of God, his tabernacle, and his saints; who, with all the antichristian states which make war with the Lamb, will be overcome and destroyed by him."