The Law of Sin Offerings for Unintentional Sins of Ignorance

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 4:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a person shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them;'"

The Lord continued talking to Moses telling him what to say to the people with regard to offerings and sacrifices.  In the first three chapters of Leviticus, He had given Moses instructions for voluntary burnt offerings, grain offerings, and peace offerings.  This appears to be a new type of offering for a person who sinned through ignorance.  This appears to refer to an actual deed, something done against the commandments, not just a word or thought, and it appears to be a committed act done against the commandment that stated the act should not be done.  That is to say there may be a distinction being made here between a sin of commission, doing something the Lord commanded not to do, and one of omission, not doing something the Lord said to do.

(3) "'If the priest that is anointed sins, according to the sin of the people, then let him offer to the LORD for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish for a sin offering.'"

Continuing the instructions for a person who sins unintentionally, the Lord started with a case of an anointed priest who sinned through ignorance or unintentionally.  Most all the old commentaries I study on a regular basis believe "the priest that is anointed" meant the high priest.  Although the high priest should have the greatest understanding and knowledge of the Lord and His laws, it would be possible for even him to sin through ignorance, especially since the word of God was still being revealed at the time the Lord was giving these instructions.  To me "according to the sin of the people" sounds as if the priest committed the same such sins as the common people, but most of the old commentaries suggested this phrase meant more along the lines of "making the people to sin".  Indeed, a person in an elevated position could lead masses of people astray by his erred example, even if unintentional.  Perhaps by observing a general sin of the people, it could be pointed back to the unintentional advice or consent of the high priest, and that is what is meant by "according to the sin of the people".  In whatever way it was meant, when the priest sinned in ignorance of the law and unintentionally, he was to offer a young bull without blemish for a sin offering.  Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, wrote that a young bullock (as it was written in the KJV) was considered one to be two years old.  He referenced Maimonides, the Jewish medieval scholar, who wrote that "wherever it is said a calf, that is a young one of the first year, but a bullock it is a young one of the second year", and neither were to be confused with an ox which was three years old.  

(4) "'And he shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD, and shall lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the LORD.'"

The priest was to bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle and was to lay his hand on the bull's head, indicating that this sacrifice was his and his alone, and that he alone deserved to die as that animal he brought was about to do, but with this animal sacrifice, he requested pardon of his sin.  This action of laying his hand on the head of the bull also signified the transferring of his sins from himself to this sacrifice, which was to be offered to make atonement for them.

(5) "'And the priest that is anointed shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation.'"

The high priest offering for himself was he himself to take some of the bull's blood and bring it inside the tabernacle, probably in a basin.

(6) "'And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.'"

The priest offering for himself was to then dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil that covered the mercy seat within the holiest of holies.  The number seven was a number of perfection indicating completion or fullness.  It began with creation when the Lord made everything in six days and rested the seventh.  The sprinkling probably represented the sprinkling of Christ's blood ("So shall He sprinkle many nations..." - Isaiah 52:15), and sprinkling seven times represented the perfect satisfaction Christ made with the complete cleansing of souls by His blood, of which this animal blood sacrifice was a precursor and picture of what was to come. 

(7) "'And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and he shall pour all the blood of the bull at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"

The priest, again offering for himself, was to then put some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar, which was the golden altar inside the tabernacle before the veil within the holy place.  He was then to pour out all the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering which was at the door of the tabernacle.

(8) "'And he shall take from it all the fat of the bull for the sin offering; the fat that covers the inwards and all the fat that is on the inwards, (9) And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove, (10) As it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering.'"

The priest was to take from the bull the fat that covered the inwards (possibly the mid-section), the two kidneys and the fat that was on them, and the caul above the liver, just as it was to be taken from the bull of the peace offering (Lev. 3:3-5, studied here).  These parts were to be burned on the altar of burnt offering.

(11) "'And the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its inwards and its dung, (12) The whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.'"

 The head and body of the animal, including its internal organs and dung, skin and all, were to be carried outside the camp to a certain place appointed for that purpose, "where the ashes are poured out", and there it was to be burnt to ashes.

(13) "'And if the whole congregation of Israel sins through ignorance, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty, (14) When the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the congregation shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of the congregation.'"

Continuing the instructions for sin offerings for people who sinned unintentionally, the Lord turned now to the case of a whole congregation that sinned through ignorance or unintentionally.  This might be the case if they were led astray by a high priest who also sinned unintentionally.  Again this seems to refer to sins of commission against the negative precepts, i.e. "Thou shalt not..."  When the sin was made known to them, then the congregation was to offer a young bull for the sin, the same offering as that of the anointed priest, and they were to bring it before the tabernacle.

(15) "'And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD; and the bull shall be killed before the LORD.'"

It was not possible for all the people to put their hands on the head of the bull, especially when it was possible the whole nation could have sinned unintentionally.  Therefore only the elders, as representatives of the entire people, were to place their hands on the head of the bull.  The elders were agents for the people, and they represented the fact that all the people acknowledged that this offering was theirs and they recognized that they deserved to die for their transgression against the Lord, and that by their agents' hands on the bull's head, they were transferring their sin to the bull and offered it to make atonement for them.   The bull was then to be killed, although the verse does not specify whether this was to be done by the elders, the priest, or some third party butcher.

(16) "'And the priest that is anointed shall bring some of the bull’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation. (17) And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil.'"

It was definitely by this point that the anointed priest took over from the elders, and he was to bring some of the bull's blood to the tabernacle, as he did for himself in verse 5.  As he also did for himself in verse 6, the priest was to dip his finger in the blood of the people's bull sacrifice and was to sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil that covered the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat.

(18) "‘And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"

Some of the blood was then put on the horns of the incense altar, the golden altar inside the tabernacle before the veil within the holy place, and the remaining blood was poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which was at the door of the tabernacle.

(19) "'And he shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. (20) And he shall do with the bull as he did with the bull for a sin offering; thus he shall do with it; and the priest shall make an atonement for them and it shall be forgiven them. (21) And he shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is a sin offering for the congregation.'"

The priest was then to take the fat from the bull and burn it on the altar.  It was to be done in the same way as with the sin offering of the high priest in verses 8 and 9 above--the fat covering the inwards, the kidneys and their fat, and the caul above the liver.  With this sin offering of the congregation, the priest could make atonement for their sin and it would be forgiven them.  The priest was then to carry the bull outside the camp just as was done in verse 12, and burn it to ashes.

(22) "‘When a ruler has sinned, and done something through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty, (23) Or if his sin, wherein he has sinned, comes to his knowledge, he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish.'"

The Lord turned to instructions for the sin offering of a ruler.  First I have to take an aside with the original word translated as "ruler"--"nasi", meaning "exalted one" or "one lifted up", "chief, prince, captain, leader".  I find it so interesting that we called the Nazis this when that name was really only an abbreviation of Nationalsozialistishe, the national socialist German workers party.  I find no evidence that people realized its Hebrew meaning at the time.  Rather it is suggested that it was a derogatory slang word akin to "nutsy", and Hitler and his party did not call themselves Nazis.  There is also this movement that suggests a connection between Nazis and Ashkenazi, but I certainly won't go there.  The word is simply "Nazi", or "nasi" in Hebrew, and means "exalted one" or "one lifted up", and I find it very interesting that name came to be used thousands of years after it was first written in the Bible.  It seems as if people didn't really know why they came to use the term, but there may be a divine reason behind it.  Just food for thought...

Back to the sin offering of a ruler:  This ruler probably referred to anyone who was lifted up above others as with a political leader, prince, or governor of a family or tribe.  Some of the old commentaries I read suggest that it meant "king", but I don't see that the word "nasi" was ever translated as "king" in any other scriptures.  Its most common translation was "prince", followed by "captain", "chief", "ruler", and one instance of "governor".  Once again this sin offering was for a ruler who sinned against the negative precepts, doing something that he was commanded not to do, but he did it in ignorance of the law.  It was not an intentional sin.  Once the sin came to his knowledge, he was to bring his offering, that of a kid of the goats, a male without blemish.  I find it interesting that the sin offering of a ruler seems less than that of a high priest or even one of a whole congregation; a kid seems smaller and less of a burden and sacrifice than a young bull.  This may suggest that a ruler was held to a lesser standard than the high priest, which makes perfect sense.  However, what is most interesting is that the congregation's sin appears to be considered more heinous than that of a ruler. A kid of the goats was sufficient to be offered for a ruler, but it had to be a bull for the congregation.  It is bad when rulers give bad rules and examples, but worse when all men follow them.  I can't help but think of the countless times it was written in scripture that a king "was evil in the sight of the Lord" and "made Israel to sin".  I always considered our current leaders most at fault when they put in ungodly laws and "cause the people to sin".  However, this would suggest that the people are most at fault.  Perhaps it is because a whole people who sin causes more destruction than one ruler.  Let's face it, a handful of judges who declare that it's okay to murder unborn children is very bad, but an entire nation of people who then participate in the murder of millions upon millions of unborn children would definitely be much worse.  It's no wonder that we have begun to see the decline and destruction of our country.

(24) "‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it at the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD; it is a sin offering.'"

The ruler was to place his hand on the head of the goat in the same way as all the previous offerings.  However, I'm not sure it was the ruler himself who killed the animal.  Although it appears to read that way, both Dr. John Gill and the 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes say that it was not the ruler who killed the goat, "but the priest after mentioned, or the butcher" (Gill), "for it was not lawful for any out of that (priest's) office to kill the beast" (Geneva).  The goat was to be killed in the place where they killed the burnt offerings, that is, on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11).  This was to be a "sin offering", an offering for his sin of ignorance.

(25) "'And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.'"

The priest was then to take some of the animal's blood with his finger and was to put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering.  This was different than the offering of the priest himself and of the congregation, where there the blood was to be placed on the horns of the altar of incense.  I'm not sure how this was significant, other than it may again prove the more heinous sin was that of the high priest or of the congregation, and that blood was placed on the horns of the altar inside the tabernacle before the veil within the holy place.  For the sin of the ruler, it was sufficient to place the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering.

(26) "‘And he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.'"

The priest was then to burn the animal's fat on the altar in the manner of the peace offering described in Leviticus 3:3-4, "the fat that covers the inwards and all the fat that is on the inwards, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys".  By these actions, the priest made atonement for the sin of the ruler, and his sin would be forgiven him.  Not that there was any power in the priest or the sacrifice, but that this would be considered an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord and He would forgive the sin.

(27) "'And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and is guilty, (28) Or if his sin, which he has sinned comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned.'"

If one of the common people, that is one who was not a priest or a ruler, but just one of the general public, sinned unintentionally by doing something against one of the commandments that specifically said not to do what he had done, once the sin became known, he was to bring an offering to the Lord.  This offering was to be a female kid goat without blemish, probably considered inferior to the offering of the ruler because the unintentional sin of the commoner was considered not as great or heinous as the sin of the ruler which might affect many.

(29) "‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.'"

The one bringing the goat to be sacrificed was to place his hand on the head of his offering.  Again it reads as if the offerer was to kill the offering at the place of the burnt offerings.  However, this time Dr. John Gill stated that the one offering the sacrifice was the one who killed the animal.  Even though the verses read the same way, Dr. Gill made two different assertions about which person killed the sacrifices.  Perhaps he knew the historical law or tradition, but I have to assume it is not an important issue.  The fact that in all cases the one offering the sacrifice placed his hand on his own sacrifice indicated he acknowledged and confessed his sin, transferring it to the sacrifice.  I'm not sure it was necessary for he himself to kill the animal, or necessary that an anointed priest be the one who killed the animal, at least not when it had not been expressly commanded.

(30) "'And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.'"

At this point, we know that the priest has taken over, and he was to take some of the goat's blood with his finger and was to put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and was then to pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar.

(31) "'And he shall take away all its fat, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the LORD; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.'"

Again the priest was to burn the animal's fat on the altar in the manner of the peace offering described in Leviticus 3:3-4.  It would be a sweet aroma to the Lord, that is, it was acceptable to Him for the forgiveness of the offerer's sin, and in that way, the priest made atonement for the offerer, by doing what was commanded by the Lord for him to do.

(32) "'And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.'"

By this, we learn that a commoner was allowed to bring either a goat or a lamb, whichever was more convenient for him, again indicating that the commoner's unintentional sin perhaps did not require as high a price as that of others who sinned unintentionally.  Whether a lamb or a kid, the animal must be a female without blemish.

(33) "'And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.'"

As always, the one offering the sacrifice must place his hand on the head of his offering, and the animal was to be killed in the place where they killed the burnt offerings, that is, on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11).  In this case, it was John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, who suggested it was the priest who killed the animal, and not the offerer.  I am not going to pretend to know with certainty when the animal was killed by the priest, and when it was killed by the one offering the animal.  If I were to go by scripture alone, I would think it suggests the one offering did the killing, but I don't know the history of the traditions as these Bible scholars probably knew.  I will have to assume it doesn't make much difference who did the killing at this point.

(34) "'And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.'"

As with the kid goat offering, the priest was to take some of the lamb's blood with his finger and was to put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and was then to pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar.

(35) "'And he shall take away all the fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.'"

The priest was to remove and burn the fat of the lamb on the altar.  It was to be in the same manner as the fat of the lamb in peace offerings described in Leviticus 3:9-10.  The parts of the lamb that were to be burned on the altar were much the same as those above described, except that the fat tail of the lamb was also burned.  By following these instructions, the priest would be able to make atonement for the unintentional sin of the common man.

In this chapter, we learn that sin is sin, even if it is unintentional, and must be atoned for, once it is discovered.  Matthew Henry pointed out, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "perhaps there was some allusion to this law concerning sacrifices for sins of ignorance in that prayer of Christ's, just when he was offering up himself a sacrifice, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The Law of the Peace Offering

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 3:1) "'And if his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.'"

In the first couple of chapters of Leviticus, God had been telling Moses to instruct the children of Israel on how they were to offer their sacrifices.  Chapter 3 begins with instructions for a peace offering.  The peace offering was sometimes referred to as a thank offering, according to the old commentaries I read.  The 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes described it as a "sacrifice of thanksgiving offered for peace and prosperity, either generally or particularly".  Strong's defined the original word "shelem" as a "voluntary sacrifice in thanks, a peace offering".  A peace offering "of the herd" meant of cattle, as in the burnt offerings in chapter 1.  This offering could be either male or female, but it had to be without blemish.  Whereas the burnt offering had to be male, I believe because that represented Christ, the peace or thank offering could be either male or female, indicating that there is no distinction of male and female with respect to blessings from the Lord (Galatians 3:28).

(2) "‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.'"

The person offering this peace offering was to lay his hand on the head of the animal he was offering, signifying that this sacrifice was his own, and that he was sort of transferring his own thankfulness and also unworthiness onto the animal.  He was to kill the animal at the door of the tabernacle, and then Aaron's sons, the priests, were to sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.

(3) "'And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD; the fat that covers the inwards and all the fat that is on the inwards, (4) And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove. (5) And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"

"He" seems to refer to the one offering the sacrifice, but it was actually Aaron's sons who did the burning of the sacrifice.  What was to be offered was all the fat on the "inwards", the two kidneys and their fat, and the caul above the liver.  I covered a little more in depth than here what these parts probably were in the study on Exodus, chapter 29, Consecration of the Priests, specifically verse 13.  Basically, I believe these made up the "gut" or middle section of the animal, perhaps representing the center of emotion.  These were to be removed from the animal to be burned in an offering made by fire.  Aaron's sons then burned this offering on the altar "upon the burnt sacrifice", which referred to the ashes of the continual burnt offering referred to in Exodus 29:38, where daily an offering was made, keeping the fire burning continually.  This offering would then be considered a sweet aroma to the Lord, an acceptable sacrifice.

(6) "'And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. (7) If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD.'"

A peace offering could also be a sacrifice "of the flock", which meant of the sheep or goats.  It could be male or female, but must be one without blemish.  If a lamb was offered, as opposed to a goat (verse 12), that lamb would be sacrificed as a peace offering before the Lord.  There may be significance in the word "lamb", but I'm not certain that it was a mandatory condition.  Strong's says the word "keseb" means a "young sheep".  Dr. John Gill wrote that according to Maimonides, a Jewish physician and philosopher, and an important figure in the history of Torah scholarship, "lamb" meant one of the flock in its first year and that "that where ever this word is used in the law, it signifies one of the first year".

(8) "‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.'"

As with the offering of the herd, the person offering the animal was to lay his hand on the head of the animal and then kill it "before the tabernacle", which probably meant somewhere in the court before the door of the tabernacle.  Then Aaron's sons, the priests, were to sprinkle the animal's blood all around on the altar.

(9) "'And he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail which he shall remove by the backbone; and the fat that covers the inwards and all the fat that is on the inwards, (10) And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove. (11) And the priest shall burn it on the altar; it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.'"

The parts of the lamb that were to be burned on the altar were much the same as those of an animal from the herd, except that the fat tail of the lamb was also burned.  The tails of the eastern sheep were said to be very large and fat, alone weighing 15 pounds and more.  These parts were considered the "food" of the offering made by fire to the Lord.  It was the Lord's food or bread burned to and for Him, whereas the rest fell to the priests, as we are told elsewhere.

(12) "'And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.'"

A goat could also be offered as an offering of the flock, and could be male or female, but either must be without blemish, according to verse 6.

(13) "'And he shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.'"

Like the lamb, the person offering the goat, was to place his hand on the goat's head and then kill it in front of the tabernacle, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, were to sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.

(14) "'And he shall offer from it his offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the inwards and all the fat that is on the inwards, (15) And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove.'"

The same parts of the goat as the parts of the animal offered from the herd, were to be offered and burned.  Nothing is said of the tail, which was peculiar to the sheep.

(16) "'And the priest shall burn them on the altar; it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the LORD’s.'"

These parts were to be burned on the altar by the priest, and was considered the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord, or acceptable and pleasing to Him.  All the fat on the animals, especially as described in the parts that were to be burned on the altar, were to be the Lord's.

(17) "'It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that you eat neither fat nor blood.’”

It was to be an everlasting statute throughout their generations, not only of the animals they sacrificed at the tabernacle, but throughout their personal dwellings of the animals they killed for their personal use, that they should eat neither fat nor blood.  It is believed that the fat meant was the fat that had been described in the passages above, that it was not meant to include every bit of fat that is marbled in the meat of an animal.  The blood was considered the life of the flesh (Gen. 9:4, Lev. 17:14, Deu. 12:23), and was forbidden to be eaten.

The peace offering was a voluntary offering made to God that appears to have been either in thanksgiving for peace and prosperity or as a vow to make peace and reconciliation with God (Lev., chap. 7).  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out that the peace offering, the burnt offering from chapter 1, and the grain offering from chapter 2, were all spoken of as "if it was familiarly known before the giving of the Law".  The next chapter will begin to discuss a new kind of offering instituted by the Law. 

The Law of the Grain Offering

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 2:1) "'And when any will offer a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.'"

Chapter 1 of Leviticus began with the Lord talking to Moses and telling him what to tell the people.  The Lord continued speaking to Moses in the second chapter.  The first chapter dealt with burnt animal sacrifices and this one begins with instructions for grain offerings.  It is interesting to note that the KJV translated it as a "meat offering" (rather than "grain offering") and I was rather amused at how one old commentary explained it.  John Wesley, in his  Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, wrote that "meat offering" should have read "meal offering", and was "an ancient false print, which has run thro' many editions of our bible".  The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge by Canne, Browne, Blayney, Scott, and others, stated that it was rendered "meat offering" "because the term meat in their time was the general name for food".  The original word used was "minchah" and its meaning according to Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs, referred to the offering itself (gift, offering, tribute, oblation, sacrifice) rather than what kind of offering it was.  However, it is clear from the verse that since the offering was to be of "fine flour" that some sort of grain was intended.  At least grain was a part of it; it could be read that this "meat offering" was of three things--fine flour, oil, and frankincense.  Some of the old commentators that I read were in agreement that "fine flour" represented wheat flour because of scriptures that spoke of wheat or wheaten flour for a meat offering (Ex. 29:2, 1 Chron. 21:23).  Dr. John Gill wrote in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, that "the Jews say, there is no fine flour but wheat".  Whether "fine flour" meant finely ground or fine in quality, I am still not certain, but maybe they are one and the same.  Oil was to be poured on this fine flour and frankincense was also to be put on it.

(2) "'And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, and one of them shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense; and the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"

The person offering the grain offering to the Lord was to bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, and one of them was to take a handful of the fine flour, oil, and frankincense.  Note that the scripture said that he was to take a handful of flour and oil, and all the frankincense.  As we'll see that the remainder of the grain offering after this ceremony was given to the priests, it makes sense that the priest would have no need for the frankincense other than burning it on the altar.  This handful portion of the offering was to be burned on the altar as a memorial of the entire offering that was given as acknowledgement that all was the Lord's and that the giver was deserving of death by fire were it not for the gracious mercy of the Lord.  This was said to be a sweet aroma to the Lord, accepted by the Lord as a suitable sacrifice for atonement of sins.

(3) "'And the rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; it is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.'"

The rest of the grain offering not burned on the altar was to be given to Aaron and his sons, the priests, demonstrating the care taken by the Lord for the maintenance of the priests.  This was a most holy offering to the Lord to be eaten by the priests only.

(4) "‘And if you bring an oblation of a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.'"

If the grain of the offering was already baked in an oven, it was to be baked into unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers smeared with oil, "unleavened" meaning having no leaven or yeast.

(5) "'And if your oblation is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil. (6) You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.'"

I was not quite sure how the baking of cakes was different in the oven versus the pan until I realized the original words both translated as "baked" were not the same.  In verse 4, referring to "baked in the oven", the word was "maapheh", meaning "baked".  In verse 5, the word "baked" as in "baked in a pan" was actually supplied by the translators and never in the original text.  The translators thought they were making it easier for us to understand, because to them the original text seemed to leave out a word.  The original actually read "if your oblation is a grain offering in a pan", and that would mean it was cooked in a pan rather than baked.  If the grain offering was cooked in a pan, it was also to be of fine flour, unleavened and mixed with oil.  It was to be broken into pieces, not cut, with oil poured on it.  It was considered a grain offering just as the flour and oil and the cakes baked in the oven were grain offerings.

(7) "'And if your offering is a grain offering baked in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.'"

Once again the word "baked" was added by the translators.  Rather than "baked", it would have been better to use "prepared".  Prepared in a frying pan rather than prepared in a pan probably means it was pan-fried.  Again the grain offering was to be of fine flour with oil.

(8) "'And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD; and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.'"

The one offering the prepared cake of grain to the Lord was to bring it to the priest, who would then bring it to the altar.

(9) "'And the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and shall burn it on the altar; it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD. (10) And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; it is a thing most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.'"

Once again, the priest was just to take a small (handful) memorial portion of the offering and burn that on the altar.  It would be an acceptable and pleasing offering to the Lord.  What was left over from what was burned was again to be given to the priests; it was once again called a most holy offering to the Lord to be eaten by the priests only.

(11) "‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.'"

In any of the aforementioned grain offerings, there was to be none made with leaven.  Leaven produced fermentation and swelling as the root of the original word "seor" actually means--"to swell up".  Leaven is referred to in the New Testament as hypocrisy (Luke 12:1) and malice and wickedness (1 Cor. 5:8); Christians are to be unleavened with the old leaven purged out (1 Cor. 5:7) and they are "to keep the feast...with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor.5:8).  There are two schools of thought on why honey was forbidden to be burned.  One is that it could also be used to produce fermentation, and it could have a bitter and purgative effect in the stomach.  Another school of thought really just expands on the bitter effect of honey in the stomach.  Honey was a good thing; Canaan flowed with it.  However, too much honey was not good (Prov. 25:16 & 27).  Perhaps honey represented excessive sensual pleasure, and that, too, must be avoided as an offering to be burned as a grain offering.

(12) "‘As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.'"

An offering of the first fruits was different than a grain offering that was to be burned on the altar.  Verse 12 may actually be a continuation of verse 11 meaning that while leaven and honey were forbidden in the grain offering that was to be burned on the altar, "you shall offer them (leaven and honey) to the Lord" in the offering of the first fruits, but they were not to be burned on the altar and would not be considered a pleasing sacrifice or sweet aroma to the Lord.

(13) "'And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.'"

Salt had the opposite effect from leaven.  Whereas leaven produced fermentation and sourness, salt preserved from putrefaction, and therefore signified purity and perfection.  Every grain offering, as well as "with all your offerings", was to be seasoned with salt, a symbol of every living sacrifice to God that is to be seasoned with salt, as told us several times in the New Testament:

“For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." - Mark 9:49

“Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” - Mark 9:50

"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." - Colossians 4:6

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be salted? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." - Matthew 5:13

(14) "'And if you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain dried by the fire, grain beaten out of full ears.'"

If the first fruits were being offered as this grain offering to be burned on the altar, then green or not fully ripened ears of grain were to be offered.  Perhaps the best were to be offered before they had a chance to be defiled by men, as the first fruits of man are described in Revelation 14:4:  "These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb."  These green ears were to be dried by the fire and the grain beaten out of them.  Note that the grain was to be beaten out of "full ears", so these were not green ears too young and green so as not to have lots of grain.  They were likely the finest and freshest ears just before they were fully ripe and beginning the process of withering.

(15) "‘And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. (16) And the priest shall burn the memorial portion of its beaten grain and of its oil, with all its frankincense; it is an offering made by fire to the LORD.'"

As with the offering of fine flour in verse 1 above, oil and frankincense were to be put on the first fruits grain offering.  The priest would then burn a memorial portion of the offering that included a portion of the grain and a portion of the oil, but with all of the frankincense, as in verse 2 above.

Although this is a relatively short chapter, as it discussed one type of offering and the next chapter begins with another, I will close here for now, with this thought expressed by Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, that we are blessed by God to "have the substance of which all these observances were but shadows, the fruit that was hid under these leaves", that is, Christ Jesus, who was called the first fruits in 1 Corinthians 15:23.

The Law of Burnt Offerings

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 1:1) And the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘If any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the cattle, of the herd, and of the flock.'"

In the last post, the last chapter of Exodus, Moses and the people had set up the tent tabernacle, and God had taken possession of it in a cloud over the tabernacle.  The Lord now spoke to Moses from this cloud, more precisely from the mercy seat between the cherubim over the ark, where the glory of the Lord took up its residence, and from where the Lord had promised to commune with Moses in Exodus 25:22.  He began to give him instructions on how to instruct the people when they brought offerings to the Lord.  He began with what appears to be voluntary or freewill offerings to the Lord.  Although the desire and act of bringing an offering to the Lord was voluntary, there were laws on how it was to be done.  First they were told what the offering should be.  The original word translated as "cattle" was "behemah", which was generally understood to be cattle, but more generally included cattle and sheep and goats, as indicated by the phrases following "cattle".  Perhaps the translation used by some of the newer Bible translations such as NKJV and ESV, that is "livestock", might be more appropriate, but I don't like it, because that could also mean swine and poultry, etc., and this was certainly not the case.  The only animals to be offered were those "of the herd", which referred to cattle or oxen, and "of the flock", which referred to sheep or goats.

(3) "‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.'"

If the offering was to be a burnt sacrifice from the herd or cattle, it was to be a male without blemish, pointing to the sex and perfection of the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice.  This is not to say that only a male is perfect before the Lord, but Jesus Christ was a male, so a male was used in this substitution, and Christ was perfect, and therefore, an animal without blemish must be offered as this substitute sacrifice.  This offering was to be given by free will at the door of the tabernacle or tent of the congregation, whereat stood the brass altar and the laver, where sacrifices were to be offered.

(4) "'And he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.'"

The one offering the animal for sacrifice was to put his hand on the head of the animal, signifying that this sacrifice was his own, in substitution for his own sinful self who was worthy of death because he had sinned against God.  The animal would then be accepted as sacrifice and atonement for the one offering it.

(5) "'And he shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"

The one offering the sacrifice was then to kill the bull, and then the priests, namely Aaron's sons, were to bring the blood that had been collected in basins and were to sprinkle the blood all around and on the altar that was by the door of the tabernacle.  The blood being the life, it was this that made atonement for the soul, being illustrative of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, as found in the following New Testament verses:

"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel." - Hebrews 12:24

"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied." - 1 Peter 1:2

Now back to Leviticus:

(6) "‘And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.'"

The sacrificer was to flay or skin the animal and cut it into pieces.

(7) "'And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire.'"

The sons of Aaron were to "put fire on the altar" and then lay the wood in order on the fire.  It sounds as if they brought fire from another source and put it there for this first burnt offering on the newly-constructed altar.  Perhaps this was to be illustrative of the fact that the fire that would be used there came from heaven as we'll see in Leviticus 9:24 and was to be carefully preserved there and never allowed to go out (Lev. 6:13).  It was not a fire originally started by the sons of Aaron on this altar.

(8) "'And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar; (9) But its inwards and its legs he shall wash in water; and the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"

This begins to get confusing to me, so I will take it slowly.  Aaron's sons, the priests, were to take the parts of the animal, that is, the head and the fat, and lay them in order on the fire on the altar.  Or is it to be interpreted that they were to take the parts and the head and the fat and lay them in order?  Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, pointed to the wisdom of Aben Ezra (Jewish rabbi, scholar, and writer from 1100's), and suggested that the word "fat" here is not the same word translated as "fat" in most of the other scriptures, and more likely means the trunk of the animal's body.  The next verse says that the inwards and the legs were to be washed, which sounds like the parts were divided and separated into head, trunk (which could be interpreted as the fatty middle), and legs, with the middle inwards being removed and washed.  The parts were then to be placed back in order on the fire on the altar, which I believe means they were placed back together as they were as if the entire animal were originally placed on the altar.  Indeed, verse 9 says the priest would burn "all".  The parts being washed may signify purity of heart (the inwards) and ways and actions (the legs) which, along with the unblemished outside of the animal, might represent the perfect Christ offering Himself on the altar.  This offering was a sweet aroma to the Lord.  This doesn't mean the Lord loved the smell of it, but rather it was an acceptable sacrifice for atonement of sin, an acceptable facsimile of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for atonement of sin.  Ephesians 5:2 tells us:  "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." As Christ didn't burn on an altar, it's obvious that sweet-smelling aroma doesn't refer to a smell.

(10) "'And if his offering is of the flocks, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish.'"

God had said this freewill offering could be of cattle or of sheep and goats, and He now told Moses how to instruct the people if they chose to bring an offering of their sheep or goats.  It again should be a male without blemish.

(11) "'And he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.'"

The one bringing the sacrifice was to kill the animal on the north side of the altar before the Lord.  Although it was mentioned only here, probably the bull offering was to be killed on the north side of the altar, as well.  Most of the old commentators agree that there was probably a practical basis for this, for as Albert Barnes pointed out in his Notes on the Bible, on the west side was the laver, on the east side was the place of ashes (Lev. 1:16), and "the south side, where appears to have been the slope by which the priests went up to the altar, must have been left clear for a path."  Additionally, and more importantly, it was probably designed to be this way because Christ was crucified on the north side of Jerusalem, as stated in Psalm 48:2, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."  Once it was killed, Aaron's sons, the priests, were to sprinkle the animal's blood all around on the altar.

(12) "‘And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; (13) But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water; and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"

The male sheep or goat was to be cut up in pieces in the same manner as was the bull, and laid in order on the fire on the altar.  The inwards and legs were to be washed in water, just as they were for the bull.  Likewise, as with the bull, this offering would then be an acceptable offering to the Lord.

(14) "‘And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD is of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or of young pigeons.'"

Although fowls were not listed in verse 2 as an acceptable freewill offering, it is believed that they were allowed for the poor who could not afford to bring a bull or lamb, as in Leviticus 5:7, "And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering."  Note the scripture stated the offering was to be "of turtledoves" (not stating whether young or old) or "of young pigeons".  The old commentaries that I read were just about unanimous that the turtledoves were to be old, or mature, and only the pigeons were to be young.  This was when each was at its best and most acceptable to be served at men's tables, and certainly no less should be brought to the Lord.

(15) "‘The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be wrung out at the side of the altar.'"

The priest was to bring the bird to the altar and he himself was to kill the bird by wringing its neck.  Jewish tradition states that the bird was killed by twisting back its head and piercing its neck with a nail.  Although scripture doesn't state here exactly how it was done, later verses do suggest that the head was not removed from the body, yet blood was to be poured out, so the nail puncture makes sense.  I am struck with the image of the nails piercing Christ's body and His blood pouring out.  Even this little bird could be used as a symbol of the Christ to come.  The bird was to be burned on the altar and its blood poured out at the side of the altar.

(16) "‘And he shall pluck away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east side, by the place of the ashes.'"

The priest was to pluck away the bird's "crop" or craw (the bird's stomach), and probably its intestines, and cast that with the bird's feathers beside the altar on the east side where the ashes of the burnt sacrifices were put.

(17) "'And he shall cleave it with its wings, but shall not divide it completely; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"

The priest was to "cleave" or split the bird probably down the middle with one wing on each side, but was not to divide the bird completely.  He then burned the bird on the altar, and it was considered to be a burnt offering to the Lord, and acceptable to Him.

Leviticus is a book that begins with the laws concerning sacrifices, and this first chapter dealt with burnt offerings.  When these offerings were made according to the instructions given by the Lord to Moses, they were said to be "of a sweet aroma to the LORD".  However, this was only a symbol of the perfect sacrifice to come and illustrative of our giving our whole selves to the Lord, which was better than all burnt offerings and sacrifices:

“And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” - Mark 12:33

The Tabernacle is Set Up and God Takes Possession of It

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Exodus 40:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation."

In the last chapter, Moses had just inspected the newly completed work on the tabernacle, and now the Lord told Moses to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, which was Nisan, and would have been about April.  It is generally supposed that the Israelites began the work of the tabernacle about the sixth month after they had left Egypt, and as the work was finished about the end of the first year of their exodus (it was to be set up the first day of the second year), they had therefore spent about six months making it, meaning the tabernacle had been constructed and (would be) set up one year after they had left Egypt.

(3) "And you shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and cover the ark with the veil."

The first thing to be placed in the tabernacle was the ark of the Testimony which was to be placed in the most holy place of the tabernacle and was to be closed in and covered from view by the veil that divided the holy place from the most holy place.

(4) "And you shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it; and you shall bring in the candlestick and light its lamps."

Next the table that was to be the table of showbread was to be brought in and the dishes and utensils that were to be placed on it were to be arranged in order.  Then they were to bring in the candle stand and light its lamps.

(5) "And you shall set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the Testimony, and put up the hanging of the door to the tabernacle."

Then was to be set up the altar of gold which was the incense altar that was to be placed before the ark of the Testimony, not within the most holy place, but before it within the holy place.  Then they were to put up the door or curtain of entrance into the holy place, separating it from the court of the tabernacle.

(6) "And you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation."

Next they were to set up the altar of the burnt offering where the sacrifices of the people were to be brought, and offered up by the priests.  This was to be set up in the open courtyard, before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

(7) “And you shall set the laver between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and shall put water in it."

Then was to be placed the laver of brass between the tabernacle and the altar, and water was to be put into it for washing.

(8) "And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the hanging at the court gate."

Then was to be set up the curtains of the court all around, and a hanging for a court gate.

(9) “And you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall hallow it and all its vessels, and it shall be holy. (10) And you shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar; and it shall be an altar most holy. (11) And you shall anoint the laver and its base, and sanctify it."

The Lord then told Moses to consecrate the tabernacle and all that was in it, by anointing them with the oil which had been prepared for that purpose (Exodus 30:25).  The tabernacle, all its utensils, the altar of burnt offering and its utensils, and the laver and its base, would all be rendered holy by the anointing.

(12) "And you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and wash them with water."

After anointing the tabernacle, Aaron and his sons were to be brought to the door of the tabernacle to be washed and then anointed as follows:

(13) "And you shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him and sanctify him, that he may minister to Me in the priest's office. (14) And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with coats. (15) And you shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”

First the holy garments were to be put on Aaron, and he was to be anointed and sanctified so that he may minister to the Lord as priest.  Then Aaron's sons were to be clothed in their coats, and also anointed so that they, too, could minister to the Lord as priests.  By this anointing a right was given to Aaron and his family to be high priests among the Jews throughout their generations, until the Messiah, the true priest, would come, and put an end to the Aaronic priesthood, which served as an illustrative type of Christ.

(16) Thus Moses did; according to all that the LORD had commanded him, so he did. (17) And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.

Moses did all that the Lord had commanded he do.  On the first day of the first month, Nisan, the beginning of the second year after they had come out of Egypt, the tabernacle was raised up.

(18) And Moses raised up the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. (19) And he spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

These two verses tell how the tabernacle itself was raised up by Moses, and surely others under his direction.  They set up the boards, bars, and pillars, fastened the sockets, and spread out the tent and the covering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

(20) And he took the Testimony and put it into the ark, set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. (21) And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of the Testimony, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses took the Testimony, the two tables of the Ten Commandments, and placed them inside the ark.  He set the poles in place, with which to carry the ark, and he placed the mercy seat on top of the ark.  He brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung up the "veil of the covering" that divided the holy place from the most holy place, wherein the ark of the Testimony was kept out of view.  All this Moses did according to the instructions given to him by the Lord.

(22) And he put the table in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. (23) And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses set up the showbread table inside the tabernacle on the north side, outside the veil that covered the ark in the most holy place.  He set the bread "in order" upon the table before the Lord, and as the Lord had commanded.  Setting up the showbread has been mentioned previously in Exodus 25:30, Exodus 35:13, and Exodus 39:36, but the exact order of placing twelve loaves in two piles of six, I don't believe has been described yet, but is detailed in Leviticus 24.

(24) And he put the candlestick in the tabernacle of the congregation, across from the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. (25) And he lighted the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses put the candlestand in the tabernacle across from the showbread table, on the south side of the tabernacle.  He lit the seven lights before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him to do.

(26) And he put the golden altar in the tabernacle of the congregation in front of the veil; (27) And he burned sweet incense on it, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses placed the golden incense altar in the tabernacle in front of the veil enclosing the ark.  It appears to have been set in the middle between the table of showbread on the north side and the candlestand on the south side.  Moses then burned sweet incense on the golden incense altar, just as the Lord had instructed him to do.

(28) And he hung up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.

Moses then hung up the curtain at the door of the tabernacle, separating the sanctuary from the courtyard.

(29) And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle and appears to have immediately offered upon the altar a burnt offering and a meat offering, as the Lord had commanded him.

(30) And he set the laver between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and put water there for washing. (31) And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. (32) When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near the altar, they washed, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses set the laver, or wash basin, between the tabernacle and the altar and put water in it.  Moses, Aaron, and his sons all washed their hands and feet from it.  Whenever they went into the tabernacle and whenever they came near the altar, they washed, as the Lord had commanded Moses.  Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, pointed out that the phrase "as the Lord commanded Moses" was "near twenty times expressed in this and the preceding chapter, to show that everything was done by the workmen, and everything put in its proper place by Moses, exactly according to the will of God; no one pursuing his own fancy and private judgment, but all consulting the mind of God, and acting according to that."

(33) And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

Moses raised up the courtyard hangings all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the curtain of the court gate, and that finished the raising of the tabernacle.

(34) Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (35) And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

I assume this cloud was the same pillar of cloud that went before the Israelites as they came out of Egypt, but now expanded to cover the tabernacle.  This showed the people the Lord's approval of their work and was a sign that He was with them.  The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  Scripture doesn't tell exactly how this was manifested, but it may have been some extreme brightness that was unbearable to the eyes because Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle because of the cloud and the glory.

(36) And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. (37) But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. (38) For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

When the Lord in the pillar of cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites moved onward in their travels.  When the cloud rested on the tabernacle, they camped until which time it rose and led them forward again.  Just as the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night led and comforted and protected the people early on in their travels, it again preserved and guided them.  The pillar of cloud continued to guide them, but when it and the people stopped, it came down and expanded to cover the tabernacle.  In this way, the Israelites saw that the Lord was with them constantly.  It must have been a great comfort and source of protection and strength for the people.  Besides being a guide, the cloud may have been a source of shade from the hot sun in the day, and a source of light and heat in the night.  Imagine what an awesome and terrifying sight it would have been to other people and wild beasts to see this cloud of fire in the night!  This constant daily and nightly appearance was a merciful providence and demonstrative proof of the presence of their Lord with His people.

The Work on the Tabernacle is Completed

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Exodus 39:1) And of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made clothes of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The past few chapters described the building of the tabernacle and its furnishings, and now scripture turns to the making of the priestly garments. There is some discrepancy among the old commentators about whether the "clothes of service" (actually translated as "cloths of service in KJV) were the actual priestly clothing or rather cloths used to cover the vessels of the sanctuary.  The original word used was "beged" and it is most often used as "clothing" or "garments", but it also means "covering", not necessarily a covering of clothing.  It does appear that verse 1 was describing two different things that they made.

(2) And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine woven linen.

Regardless of what was meant in verse 1, verse 2 definitely began describing the making of the priestly garments.  "He" made the ephod, which was a sort of vest like apron over the top of the priestly garments, with gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and fine woven linen.  The description of whom is doing the making goes back and forth from "they" to "he".  The "he" last mentioned in the previous chapter was Bezaleel, along with Aholiab, both of whom very talented craftsmen God had called by name to do the work of the tabernacle and to teach other skilled workmen to also do the work.  Exodus 36:1-2 spoke of "Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man" being called and beginning the work.  I believe "he" still referred to Bezaleel, whether he actually did the work himself, or whether he was overseer to other craftsmen doing the work; and "they" referred to the craftsmen.  They all did the work as instructed by Moses from commandment by the Lord.

(3) And they beat the gold into thin plates and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, purple, and scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

They beat the gold into thin sheets and then cut it into thin wires or threads and wove that in with the royal colored threads in the fine woven linen.  They did this with "cunning work", the original word being "chashab", meaning more completely "invent, imagine, devise, fabricate, weave".  They were imaginative and creative skilled artisans.

(4) They made shoulder pieces for it to couple it together; it was coupled together at its two edges.

The ephod was made of two pieces of linen embroidered or woven with gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, on the front and the back, with shoulder straps joining the two pieces.

(5) And the curious girdle of his ephod that was on it, was of the same, according to the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine woven linen, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The girdle or belt of the ephod was most probably a band made one with the ephod, of the same skilled and artistic work as the rest of the ephod.  As discussed in chapter 28, when God told Moses how to make the ephod, the original word translated as "curious girdle" was "chesheb", a form of the word "chashab" above.  This was not just any old belt or girdle, but an ingeniously interwoven belt.

(6) And they made onyx stones enclosed in ouches of gold, engraved, as signets are engraved, with the names of the sons of Israel. (7) And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones to the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

This was described a little more completely in chapter 28, when the Lord first told Moses how to make the ephod.  They took two onyx stones and engraved the names of the sons of Israel on them, six on one stone, and six on the other.  They were to be engraved with the same art and precision as signet rings were engraved.  They were enclosed in "ouches" or settings of gold.  Again, as previously discussed in chapter 28, they were more than plain settings of solid pieces of metal, but the original word "mishbetsah" translated as "ouches" in the KJV meant more of a wrought, plaited, or filigreed setting.  It was said that Shakespeare used the word "ouches" in the general sense of "jewels".  Even the dictionary meaning of ouch is "a brooch or clasp set with gems".  These onyx stones were placed on the shoulder straps of the ephod, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, as a memorial for and to the children of Israel.  Aaron, as high priest, was to represent all the tribes of the children of Israel before the Lord.  The engraved stones were symbolic of that, as well as a memorial to the children of Israel who saw the stones.

(8) And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen. (9) It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double, a span was its length and a span its width being doubled.

The "breastplate of judgment" was made of the same skilled and artistic work as with the ephod, of gold and blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and fine woven linen.  The fabric that made the breastplate was to be doubled, perhaps to give it more stability, but also to form a fold in which to hold something, like the Urim and Thummim perhaps, which could have been used for giving judgment when the priest asked counsel of the Lord.  When doubled, the breastplate was one span on each side.  A span was said to be the span of an outstretched hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, about nine inches.

(10) And they set in it four rows of stones, the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this was the first row. (11) And the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; (12) And the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; (13) And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they were enclosed in ouches of gold in their enclosings. (14) And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with its name, according to the twelve tribes.

The breastplate was set with four rows of stones, twelve stones in all, representing the twelve tribes of Israel.  I am not going to revisit studying the translations of each of the stones mentioned, but will refer to my notes from chapter 28:

There was a different stone representing each of the sons of Israel.  What each of the stones was may not be known exactly.  It was interesting that what the KJV called an emerald in the first row was called a carbuncle or beryl by other translations, and what was called an emerald was translated as turquoise.  There is so much discrepancy among experts and the theologians that I am not even going to try to determine exactly what each stone was.  At this point, I don't think that is what was most important.  I believe the point is that each one of the stones was a distinct separate stone representing each one of the sons of Israel.

(15) And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of braided work of pure gold. (16) And they made two ouches of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate. (17) And they put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. (18) And the two ends of the two braided chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod in the front.

The breastplate was made with two gold rings at the two ends of it.  They made pure gold braided chains and put them in the rings on the ends of the breastplate.  It sounds as if the ouches or gold settings were placed on the shoulder straps of the ephod, and the chains of the breastplate were attached on either side to the shoulder straps in the front.

(19) And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the inward side of the ephod. (20) And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, at the seam above the curious girdle of the ephod. (21) And they bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Two additional rings were made on the bottom border of the breastplate and attached to the ephod underneath with even two more rings by means of a blue cord.  It was secured right above the curious girdle, or intricately woven band, of the ephod.

(22) And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. (23) And there was an hole in the middle of the robe, like the opening in a habergeon, with a band all around the hole so that it would not tear.

The robe of the ephod was a simple loose fitting tunic style of garment with no sleeves and only a head hole (like that of a corslet or sleeveless coat of mail) in the top, worn under the ephod.  It was made of blue cloth and the head hole was to be reinforced with a woven binding so that it would not tear.

(24) And they made upon the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen. (25) And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, all around between the pomegranates; (26) A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe to minister in, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Along the hem of the robe they made blue, purple, and scarlet pom-pom style decorations, or pomegranates.  They also made pure gold bells that alternated with the pomegranates all around the hem of the blue robe.  This was Aaron's robe to wear when he ministered.

(27) And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, (28) And a turban of fine linen, exquisite hats of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine woven linen, (29) And a girdle of fine woven linen with blue, purple, and scarlet needlework, as the LORD commanded Moses.

They made coats of fine linen, distinct garments separate from the ephod and the robe of the ephod, for Aaron and his sons.  Turban is singular, so they may have made just one turban for Aaron of fine linen, and exquisite hats and breeches of fine linen for all of them, Aaron and his sons.  The girdle was called a sash in Exodus 28:39 when God first told Moses how these garments were to be made.  I believe the coat was bound to the body with a needlework sash.

(30) And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it an inscription like the engraving of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. (31) And they tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it above on the turban, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

They made a plate of pure gold on a crown engraved with the words "HOLINESS TO THE LORD", and it was tied with a blue lace or band and fastened on the turban.

(32) Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished; and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they did.

All the work of the tabernacle was now finished, the children of Israel doing all the work as the Lord had commanded Moses they do.

(33) And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; (34) And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the veil of the covering; (35) The ark of the testimony, and its poles, and the mercy seat; (36) The table, all its utensils, and the showbread; (37) The pure gold candlestick with its lamps (the lamps set in order), all its utensils, and the oil for light; (38) And the golden altar, the anointing oil, and the sweet incense; and the hanging for the tabernacle door; (39) The bronze altar, its grate of brass, its poles, and all its utensils; the laver and its base; (40) The hangings of the court, its pillars and its sockets, the hanging for the court gate, its cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation; (41) The cloths of service to do service in the holy place; the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons’ garments, to minister in the priest's office.

They brought their work to Moses for inspection.  I don't believe they brought the entire tabernacle to him, at least not as a whole, but they brought him all the parts they had made before they put it together.  Then began a long list of the items they brought him that continued for nine verses, a repeat of which is unnecessary.

(42) According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. (43) And Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it as the LORD had commanded, just so they had done it; and Moses blessed them.

The children of Israel had done all the work according to the instructions the Lord had given Moses, and when Moses looked over all the work and saw for himself that they had indeed done it just as the Lord had commanded, he blessed them.  The original word for "bless" was "barak" (interesting for other obvious reasons, but I won't digress here), and Strong's defines it more completely as "kneel, by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit)".  As kneeling and God were surely included in this blessing, we can assume Moses commended them for their work and prayed for them, asking for divine blessing on them.

I believe these words from Adam Clarke in his Commentary on the Bible, are a beautiful summary of this and the previous chapters of the work done on the tabernacle:

"The promptitude, cordiality, and dispatch used in this business cannot be too highly commended, and are worthy of the imitation of all who are employed in any way in the service of God. The prospect of having God to dwell among them inflamed every heart, because they well knew that on this depended their prosperity and salvation. They therefore hastened to build him a house, and they spared no expense or skill to make it, as far as a house made with hands could be, worthy of that Divine Majesty who had promised to take up his residence in it. This tabernacle, like the temple, was a type of the human nature of the Lord Jesus; that was a shrine not made with hands, formed by God himself, and worthy of that fullness of the Deity that dwelt in it."

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.