Exodus 37:1-29

Exodus: *Israel becomes a nation

God’s instructions to Moses

Exodus Chapter s 19 to 40

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 37

Exodus 25:10 – 31:38 described how God gave his instructions to Moses. But they did the work in a different order. God began with the special box. This box *represented the special promise. God talked about the special box first because it was the most important object.

Exodus 36:8-38 describes the special tent (*Tabernacle) before it describes its contents.

Now Exodus 37:1 – 38:20 describes the contents.

Bezalel makes the equipment for God’s special tent

The special box – verses 1-9 (Compare Exodus 25:17-22)

v1 Bezalel made the special box out of *acacia wood. It was 43 inches (110 centimetres) long, 26 inches (66 centimetres) wide and 26 inches (66 centimetres high). v2 He covered it with pure gold, both inside the box and outside the box. And he put a narrow piece of gold round the top. v3 He made 4 gold rings and he fastened them to its 4 lower corners. So there were 2 gold rings on one side of the box. And there were 2 gold rings on the other side of the box. v4 Then he made 2 poles out of *acacia wood and he covered them with gold. v5 He put a pole into the 2 rings. There was 1 pole on each side of the special box. Then the *Levites could carry it.

v6 He made the box’s cover out of pure gold. It was 43 inches (110 centimetres) long and 26 inches (66 centimetres) wide. This cover was called ‘the place where God forgives us’. v7 Then he hammered the gold to make two *heavenly figures. These were for the ends of the cover. v8 He made one *heavenly figure on one end of the cover. And he made the second *heavenly figure on the other end of the cover. He made the *heavenly figures and the cover out of one lump of gold. v9 The *heavenly figures spread their wings over the top of the box. And they had their faces towards each other. But they looked down at the cover, which was on top of the box.

Verse 1 Deuteronomy 10:3 records that Moses made the special box. So Moses was responsible. He told the skilful workers how to make it (Exodus 36:1). Bezalel was the manager of the work. Another very skilful artist called Oholiab helped him. They had the skill to build it all. And any other skilful workers worked under their direction.

The table – verses 10-16 (Compare Exodus 25:23-30)

v10 Bezalel made the table out of *acacia wood. It was 34 inches (88 centimetres) long and 17 inches (44 centimetres) wide and 26 inches (66 centimetres) high. v11 He covered the table with pure gold. And he made a special narrow piece of gold round it. v12 He also made an edge round the top that was 3 inches (7.5 centimetres) wide. And he put the narrow piece of gold on the edge. v13 He made 4 gold rings for the table and he fastened them to its 4 bases. v14 He put the rings close to the special edge of the table. The rings would hold poles, and the people carried the table with these poles. v15 He made the poles out of *acacia wood and he covered them with gold. v16 He made all the things for the table out of pure gold. It had gold plates, gold dishes and gold bowls. And the priests used gold jugs. From these they would pour out the drink that the people gave to God.

The *lampstand and its equipment – verses 17-24 (Compare Exodus 25:31-40)

v17 Bezalel made the *lampstand out of pure gold. He hammered out its base, its pole and its cups that were like flowers. He made it all out of one lump of pure gold. v18 He made 6 branches to extend from the sides of the *lampstand. 3 branches were on one side and 3 branches were on the other side. v19 He shaped cups like the flowers of the *almond tree, both open flowers and young flowers. He shaped 3 cups on all the 6 branches that extended from the *lampstand. v20 And on the top of the *lampstand he shaped 4 more of these cups. They were like *almond flowers. v21 The first pair of branches extended from the *lampstand. He made a young flower under each pair. And he made other young flowers under each pair of branches. v22 The flowers and the branches were all one piece with the *lampstand. He made it out of pure gold. v23 He also made 7 lamps out of pure gold for the *lampstand. And also he made special scissors and trays for the lamps out of pure gold. v24 He made the *lampstand and all its equipment out of one lump of pure gold. The gold weighed about 77 pounds (35 kilos).

The *altar where the priests burnt powder that has a sweet smell – verses 25-29 (Compare Exodus 30:1-5)

v25 Bezalel made the *altar. The priest burned on the *altar the special powder that has a sweet smell. He made the *altar out of *acacia wood and it was square. It was 18 inches (45 centimetres) long, 18 inches (45 centimetres) wide and 36 inches (90 centimetres) high. He made *horns from the same piece of wood. They stuck out from each corner. v26 Then he covered the top, all the sides and the *horns with pure gold. And he made a narrow piece of gold that he put round it. v27 He made 2 gold rings on opposite sides. They were below the narrow piece of gold. These rings held poles so that the people could carry the *altar. v28 He made the poles out of *acacia wood too, and he covered them with gold.

v29 Bezalel also prepared the special oil for the priests. And he prepared the pure powder that had a sweet smell. This was the skilful work of a specialist.

Verses 25-29 These verses mention the *altar. On that *altar the priests burnt the special powder that has a sweet smell. There is a separate account about that special powder in Exodus 30:34-38. The *LORD told Moses exactly how to make that powder.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.
represent ~ when a person acts on behalf of someone else; or you put something in place of something else.
Tabernacle ~ God’s special tent.
acacia ~ a kind of tree that grows in dry land.
Levite ~ someone who belonged to the family called Levi. Levi was a son of Jacob. Levites had special duties. They helped the Israelites to worship God in the proper way. All Israelite priests were Levites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.

'heavenly figures ~ Heaven is the place where God lives. Artists make figures. They look like people or other things that live with God.
lampstand ~ it held 7 lamps. They contained oil that burned, so the lamp-stand gave a lot of light.
almond ~ a kind of nut tree with beautiful flowers.
altar ~ a table on which people give gifts or *sacrifices to God or to a false god.
horn ~ animals like cows and goats have horns (usually 2) that grow out of their heads. The horns stick out and end in a point. The Israelite priest used male sheep’s horns as musical instruments. They blew into them to make a loud sound. And today people call certain instruments ‘horns’. Also the altar in God’s special tent had pieces that stuck out at the altar’s 4 corners. These pieces are called horns.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

altar ~ a table on which people give gifts or *sacrifices to God or to a false god.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has been here always.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.