Day 45

V From the Exodus to the Crossing into Canaan - 1462-1422 B.C. ~ cont.

(1462 - 982 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1)

B. Time spent at Sinai (sometimes called Horeb) ~ cont.

16. Moses enters Tabernacle and hears God's voice - Numbers 7:89
17. Ministry of the sons of Aaron described - Numbers 3:1-3; Leviticus 7:35-36
18. Consecration of Aaron - Leviticus 8:1-36
19. Ministry of priests begin - Leviticus 9:1-24
20. Strange fire of Nadab and Abihu causes death - Leviticus 10:1-7; Numbers 3:4

And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the ark of testimony from between the two cheubims: and he spake unto him. (Numbers 7:89)

How well do I hear the voice of the Lord?

Hear - H8085 - A primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively to tell, etc.).

Wow...H8085 used 1158 times in 1072 verses.  That is a whole lot of hearing.  First used in Genesis 3:8:

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Last usage, Malachi 3:16:

Then they that feared the LORD spake often to one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

I was searching for a verse that I had vaguely in my mind...and thought it interesting that 3 verses in Hebrews all mention hearing, with the admonition to NOT harden the heart.

Heb 3:7  Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

Heb 3:8  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Heb 3:15  While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 

JFB on Numbers 7:89:

And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him — As a king gives private audience to his minister, so special license was granted to Moses, who, though not a priest, was admitted into the sanctuary to receive instructions from his heavenly King as occasion demanded.

then he heard the voice of one speaking to him — Though standing on the outer side of the veil, he could distinctly hear it, and the mention of this circumstance is important as the fulfilment, at the dedication of the tabernacle, of a special promise made by the Lord Christ Himself, the Angel of the Covenant, commanding its erection (Exo_25:22). It was the reward of Moses’ zeal and obedience; and, in like manner, to all who love Him and keep His commandments He will manifest Himself (Joh_14:21).

Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Day 42

V From the Exodus to the Crossing into Canaan - 1462-1422 B.C. ~ cont.

(1462 - 982 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1)

B. Time spent at Sinai (sometimes called Horeb) ~ cont.

8. Tabernacle built ~ cont.

b. Tabernacle items ~ cont.

Court - Exodus 38:9-17

Hangings for Gate of Court - Exodus 38:18-20

Altar of Incense Made of Shittim Wood and Gold - Exodus 37:25-28

Laver of Brass - Exodus 38:8

Incense and Spices - Exodus 37:29

Workmen - Exodus 35:30-35

c. Priesthood items

Garments of the Priests - Exodus 39:1-31

Sabbath Rest - Exodus 35:1-3

d. Summary of the building of the Tabernacle - Exodus 38:21-43

9. Trumpets used to alert congregation - Numbers 10:1-10

10. Tabernacle readied for service - Exodus 40:1-15

{page 183-188}

And he made the lave of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  (Exodus 38:8)

My first thought in reading this verse, was the women and their looking glasses.  Vanity and the desire to look at ourselves is not an invention of our current culture.

Is my assessment correct, regarding what the lookingglasses are?  E-sword perusal.

lookingglasses - H4759 - Feminine of H4758; a vision; also (causatively) a mirror.

• H4758 - From H7200; a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision.

Wow...I read Gill's commentary, then checked K&D (nothing, how odd), Wesley's seemed to echo Matthew Henry, which I have included next, then JFB's commentary, which I also found encouraging.

Henry:

II. A laver, to hold water for the priests to wash in when they went in to minister, Exo_38:8. This signified the provision that is made in the gospel of Christ for the cleansing of our souls from the moral pollution of sin by the merit and grace of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. This is here said to be made of the looking-glasses (or mirrors) of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle.

1. It should seem these women were eminent and exemplary for devotion, attending more frequently and seriously at the place of public worship than others did; and notice is here taken of it to their honour. Anna was such a one long afterwards, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day, Luk_2:37. It seems in every age of the church there have been some who have thus distinguished themselves by their serious zealous piety, and they have thereby distinguished themselves; for devout women are really honourable women (Act_13:50), and not the less so for their being called, by the scoffers of the latter days, silly women. Probably these women were such as showed their zeal upon this occasion, by assisting in the work that was now going on for the service of the tabernacle. They assembled by troops, so the word is; a blessed sight, to see so many, and those so zealous and so unanimous, in this good work.

2. These women parted with their mirrors (which were of the finest brass, burnished for that purpose) for the use of the tabernacle. Those women that admire their own beauty, are in love with their own shadow, and make the putting on of apparel their chief adorning by which they value and recommend themselves, can but ill spare their looking-glasses; yet these women offered them to God, either, (1.) In token of their repentance for the former abuse of them, to the support of their pride and vanity; now that they were convinced of their folly, and had devoted themselves to the service of God at the door of the tabernacle, they thus threw away that which, though lawful and useful in itself, yet had been an occasion of sin to them. Thus Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner, when she became a penitent wiped Christ's feet with her hair. Or, (2.) In token of their great zeal for the work of the tabernacle; rather than the workmen should want brass, or not have of the best, they would part with their mirrors, though they could not do well without them. God's service and glory must always be preferred by us before any satisfactions or accommodations of our own. Let us never complain of the want of that which we may honour God by parting with.

3. These mirrors were used for the making of the laver. Either they were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew; but it is probable that the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots, to wash them clean. Note, In the washing of repentance, there is need of the looking-glass of self-examination. The word of God is a glass, in which we may see our own faces (see Jam_1:23); and with it we must compare our own hearts and lives, that, finding out our blemishes, we may wash with particular sorrow, and application of the blood of Christ to our souls. Usually the more particular we are in the confession of sin the more comfort we have in the sense of the pardon.

JFB:

laver of brass ... of the looking glasses of the women — The word mirrors should have been used, as those implements, usually round, inserted into a handle of wood, stone, or metal, were made of brass, silver, or bronze, highly polished [Wilkinson]. It was customary for the Egyptian women to carry mirrors with them to the temples; and whether by taking the looking glasses of the Hebrew women Moses designed to put it out of their power to follow a similar practice at the tabernacle, or whether the supply of brass from other sources in the camp was exhausted, it is interesting to learn how zealously and to a vast extent they surrendered those valued accompaniments of the female toilet.

of the women assembling ... at the door — not priestesses but women of pious character and influence, who frequented the courts of the sacred building (Luk_2:37), and whose parting with their mirrors, like the cutting the hair of the Nazarites, was their renouncing the world for a season [Hengstenberg].

I liked the reference to Anna:

Luk 2:36  And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

Luk 2:37  And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Day 38

V From the Exodus to the Crossing into Canaan - 1462-1422 B.C. ~ cont.

(1462 - 982 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1)

B. Time spent at Sinai (sometimes called Horeb) ~ cont.

2. Moses goes to mount (Trip 5) ~ cont.

c. Priesthood items - Exodus 28:1 ~ cont.
Food for the priests - Exodus 29:26-37
Continual burnt offering - Exodus 29:38-46
Sabbath rest - Exodus 3:12-18
4. Returning to a sinning people
a. Golden calf - Exodus 32:1-6
b. Moses' anger, tablets broken - Exodus 32:7-29
c. Moses' plea and God's answer (trip 6) - Exodus 32:30-35
d. Temporary Tabernacle erected - Exodus 33:7-11
e. Moses communes with God - Exodus 33:12-23

{page 165-170}

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:  (Exodus 22:7)

Moses brought them out?  His response:

And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand.  (Exodus 32:11)

God did not just bring them out...He also did it with great power and a mighty hand.  Moses continues:

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?  Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.  (Exodus 32:12)

Blaspheme God's name...David was rebuked for causing God's name to be blasphemed:

2Sa 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

God's character, who HE is, on the line. I liked Gill's commentary on the entire verse:

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say,.... Those that remained, as the Targum of Jonathan, who were not drowned in the Red sea: a good man will be concerned for the honour and glory of God among the enemies of his people, that their mouths may not be opened to blaspheme the Lord and speak ill of his ways, see Jos_7:9 and this is sometimes an argument with God himself, not to do that to his people they deserve, lest it should give occasion to the enemy to speak reproachfully, insult, and triumph, Deu_32:26.

for mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth; that he brought them out of Egypt, not with a good but ill design; not to bring them into the land of Canaan, as they promised themselves, but to destroy them in the mountains; not to erect them into a great kingdom and nation, which should make a considerable figure in the world, but to cut them off from being a people at all: the mountains where they now were, were Sinai and Horeb, and there might be others thereabout, among which they were encamped: the Targum of Jonathan is,"among the mountains of Tabor, and Hermon, and Sirion, and Sinai:"

turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people; not that there is any turning or shadow of turning with God, or any change of his mind, or any such passions and affections in him as here expressed; but this is said after the manner of men concerning him, when he alters the course of his dealings with men according to his unalterable will, and does not do the evil threatened by him, and which the sins of men deserve.

"A good man will be concerned about the honor and glory of God."

That is a convicting and encouraging thought.  Do I give a proper estimate of God?  Am I more concerned about His honor and glory over my wants, needs, desires, goals?  Is HIS objective mine?  When people look and/or hear me, do they see and hear a reflection of Him?