Lord’s Day, Vol. 11 No. 32
The Tabernacle Reared Up (1)
It was on the first month of the second year on the first day of the month that the Lord commanded that the Tabernacle be reared up (Exodus 40:1-17). The times of preparation through the imbibing of God’s Word, instruction that Moses received from God at Mount Sinai. It takes time for God to give His Word and for His servant Moses to record His Word and to proceed in obedience to do according to His Word.
The exercise of the building of the Tabernacle provided that initial discipline. There were detailed instructions given for each part of the construction. It was wholly followed by the skilled craftsmen whom God raised, filled with the Spirit, to work the furniture of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the dwelling place of God on earth, a visible presence of God with His people. The encampment of the tribes around the Tabernacle was a part of the detailed instruction so that Israel will be a cohesive nation under God. God’s purpose was to make them a witness to all the nations of the world.
Deuteronomy 4:1-10 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
Two thoughts:
- Precept and Preparation
- Put Together
The Tabernacle was a visible reminder of God’s precept entrusted to them. And they are to put together the entire structure constructed piece by piece into a whole so that the worship of God can begin according to God’s stipulations that men may know the way to approach the living and true God.
- Precept and Preparation
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3 And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4 And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5 And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 6 And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 7 And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. 8 And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate.
The day for the rearing up of the Tabernacle was stipulated. It was to be the first day of the first month of the second year. The materials and furniture of the Tabernacle had been viewed severally and approved, and now they must be put together. [Matthew Henry]
Notice the ark was the first item mentioned. The ark will contain the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded and the pot of manna. God’s provision for His people – His Precepts, His Personnel, His Purveying. The ark is to be covered with a veil separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. This set is for the furniture of the Holy of Holies.
Next, was the table in the Holy Place. On the table will be placed the shewbread on the northern side, twelve loaves to be offered by each tribe to represent each of the twelve tribes of Israel partaking in fellowship with God in grateful thanksgiving. The lampstand was placed in its position on the southern side. The lamps are to be lighted. Next comes the altar of incense that is placed right at the edge of the veil on the western side that separates it from the Holy of Holies. After, the door of the tent was to be reared up. This completes the Holy Place.
The Altar of Burnt Offering is placed at the outer court where the sacrifices are to be made. The laver is placed after the altar of burnt offering and filled with water for the washing of the priests before he enters the Holy Place. The outer court and its surrounding curtains reared up.
- Put Together
9 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. 10 And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy. 11 And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. 12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 13 And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 14 And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: 15 And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. 16 Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.
Then came the process of initiating or inaugurating the vessels for use through the process of anointing with anointing oil. It is to sanctify the furniture and set them apart as vessels of holiness. Not only must the instruments be set apart, the garments of the high priest were to be anointed and made ready for Aaron to minister in the priest’s office. This is an initiation process. The priests, Aaron’s sons, were to be clothed and their garments anointed, for the priest’s office. It was an initiation to an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
Matthew Henry observed well, “It is good to see God going before us in every step”.
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
God guides His children in the way he should go. In this regard, I am reminded of Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 gives us the Lord’s commandment for the parent to train up a child in the way he should go and the Lord’s promise is that when he is old, he will not depart from the godly way. This proverb is an encouragement for the parents and would-be parents to the sacred task and reward of child training.
The Parental Mandate is – Train up a child, the second part, The Parental Mission – Establishing godliness in the child in the way he should go and The Parental Mark of Respect or Honour – Enduring godliness in the child when he reaches adulthood.
This sacred task of grooming the next generation is decidedly important and urgent yet we realize also it is most neglected. It is my prayer that this sermon would encourage you to press on with the good work that the Lord has entrusted to you. This mandate applies to you too though you may not be a parent but are involved and in contact with any young lives whom the Lord has entrusted to your care. Let us see what Scripture says concerning how we should bring up a child.
This word translated as “train up” is used only once in the Old Testament. It is for this usage in the training of a child. The word “train” has the idea of inauguration and initiation.
It means to develop, to form the habits, thoughts or behaviour of a child or person through discipline and instruction.
This word “Train Up” is imperative, it is a sacred commandment from the Lord for a commitment by the present generation of adults in the training of godly men and women in the next generation. Child training is a holy calling.
Who is this child? This is the child born into the family of Adam after the fall, with a natural tendency toward evil, whose will is in total bondage to sin. There are two ways before him – the way he should go and the way he would go according to the arms of flesh.
King Solomon who gives us this verse impresses upon us the urgency and mandate of this sacred task. Be mindful to make the well-being of the child’s soul your priority. Earthly training presupposes the day of judgement when he will have to stand before our Almighty Creator God, whether he stands justified or condemned, parents are given this great privilege to influence before their destinies are eternally fixed. Solomon said this well at the conclusion of his life in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” The training of a child in the fear of God and in obedience to God’s commandments is the sacred duty God has given to parents.
The critical years are the early years. The emphasis or the senses of the word “train up” has the idea of initiation to start early, train him when he is still young. A young oak tree can be bent with very little effort. If you add 50 years to it, it is an entirely different story. The old oak tree in its set form cannot be easily reshaped! The young child is like an arrow in the hand of a mighty man, a powerful instrument of good or evil according to the direction it is given (Ps 127:4).
The Apostle Paul said the same in the New Testament in bringing children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Fathers are to bring up, and nourish up the child to maturity.
Treasuring and giving priority of time and resources to these early years of the child’s life in inculcating godliness in the child is the emphasis of this mandate.
The working mother phenomenon is all too common today where both husbands and wives work and children are left in the care of child-care centres and maids and grandparents. Even sadder in today’s business world is that work often means going on business trips for days on end. The priority for the family is living better, dressing better, driving better, and eating better so the young family, they would have better so for the young family, they would have the commitment of loans for housing, for cars, for renovation that it requires both husband and wife to work to ensure that the family do not default on their loans.
Where do they find time in caring for the soul of their children when parents themselves are lost in making a place for themselves in this world?
The mandate for child training is a wake-up call for parents to take this matter of child training seriously, time is running out. It is going to be too late.
“Initiate the child according to the mouth of his way” or “at the opening of his path” is the literal translation, when he begins life that journey of life he is equipped with a series of instructions on how he should conduct himself in every step he takes. The parent is to show the child his duties, the dangers, and the blessings of the path, giving him directions on how to perform the duties, how to escape dangers, and how to secure blessings, which all lie before him. Fix this on his mind by daily inculcation, the process is slow, steady and sure till it becomes a habit, this is the way, son you should go, this is what you should do.
Sharing with the child the gospel is the most crucial. Without spiritual life, the child is what the Bible calls the natural man. The child from a young can be led to know Christ. His birth, His teachings, His death and resurrection so that the child can in a personal way accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour at the earliest possible age. This process is done with much prayer and supplication for God’s wisdom and blessing to inculcate the truth to the child. The child is taught how man is created for God’s glory.
How men fell into sin and become evil and unprofitable. How all have sinned, none is good and the wages of sin is death and the death sentence is upon all men. How the child needs to be saved, how he cannot save himself, that salvation is s free gift and Christ has purchased salvation for him. The child must personally believe and receive Jesus as Saviour. This is the greatest privilege of parents, to lead their own children to Christ, securing their souls for eternity.
The blueprint for this sacred training is the Holy Scriptures. The presupposition is that parents themselves are godly and are equipped with godly habits to give to their children. This parental mission involves first the training of the parents. Moses gave this instruction to parents before they entered the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 6 to hold fast to God’s commandments themselves and to impart them to their children and even grandchildren.
Deuteronomy 6:1-2 “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightiest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.”
If parents themselves are not keeping the commandments how can they be examples for their children? This is often the sore neglect today. When parents themselves do not spend time in the study of God’s Word, to understand and assimilate the qualities of true godliness in their lives, how can they do this work of training up the child in the way he should go?
Moses gave these instructions to the children of Israel as to the intensity of this training – Deuteronomy 6:6-9 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” Here we are not speaking of quality time but quantity time. There is no substitute for this dedication and devotion given to child training. This process requires much patience and love on the part of parents.
The child experiences the parents’ love. The child experiences the parents’ kindness, gentleness, and sympathy. This training is focused. It is in the knowledge of the Bible, in the habits of prayer – the child is taught at a young age to pray, to develop dependence not on himself but in God, the habits of diligence and obedience, of faith, of truthfulness and redeeming of time. We can hardly be exhaustive by the point that teaching the child godliness.
And fathers and mothers in the home need to be equipped and maturing in the faith to adequately lead their children in the paths of righteousness. How are you doing? For example, Prov. 13:24 teaches “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” The bible advocates the use of the rod to teach our children. By withholding the rod, the Bible says we are really hating our son. If we truly love him we must chastise him early.
The word “chastise” means both instruction and discipline. The rod is God’s prescribed method of discipline to help the child know that there are grave consequences to sin from a young age as it is often said “Every vice commences in the nursery.”
Biblical discipline using the rod instills in the child the fear of God – the rod and reproof impart wisdom to the child – it teaches the child what is right and what is wrong. He knows that there is an Almighty God who judges and presides over mankind when His laws are transgressed.
Truly, a child left to himself brings to his mother shame (Prov. 29:15). Children when young are restricted from going out but when they are older, when the kids in the neighbourhood are all getting grounded, yours should finally be given the freedom to exercise the responsibility that you have instilled in their hearts all these years!
Educational training of godly parents ensures that the child enters the strait gate of eternal life with Christ and walks the narrow way instead of the broad way to destruction.
God was doing this for the nation of Israel, setting up the system of worship so that the generation of God’s people will learn how to approach Him. It points to the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God that will take away the sins of the world.
CONCLUSION
It is indeed pertinent that we take care to train our posterity to walk with God. Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee