Through the Bible: Day 77, Exodus

It is vital that we spend time in God’s Word.

But it’s not always easy.

We read a chapter and we don’t know what to get out of it or even how to start to understand it.

I thought I could try to help you get a little something out of what you are reading by providing you with some questions to ask as you look at the text.  Good questions are a good start to understanding. Sometimes there will be more questions, sometimes less.

You can do this!

So, get a notebook, a pen, your Bible, and if you would like some help, take some time to answer the questions, and you may be surprised by all God teaches you.

Exodus 27

1. God's entered into a special relationship with Israel. He's going to live with them. And He's going to fellowship with them. It's going to be a little glimpse of life in the Garden of Eden actually. Therefore, Israel needs to make God a "home." After describing how to make the tabernacle in chapter 26, what does God want Moses to make in verses 1-7 of chapter 27?
2. What is an altar for?
3. What does that tell you about living with God after the Garden of Eden? What is required?
4. After explaining how to make the altar, he moves on to talk about what in verse 9? Can you picture the tabernacle a little now? It had three areas, the holy of holies, the holy place and then the courtyard. There's a very specific order and design to the tabernacle. What do you think might be the significance of this? Some think that it reflects the "cosmos." In the outer courtyard, we find the world that we live where humans dwell. The holy place represents the heavens we see, and the holy of holies the invisible heavens where God dwells.
5. From there he talks about oil for the lamp. What lamp is he talking about? We might have expected talk about the oil for the lamp to be back where he talks about the lamp in chapter 25. But in verse 21 here he is talking about whose responsibility with the lamp? And we'll see in 28 he goes to talk about them more specifically. So, that's why he brings this up here. What do you think the fire of the lamp represented and why did it have to be burning continually?
6. How does he describe the place where this lamp is supposed to be put? What does that tell you about the tabernacle? When he talks about the veil, what does he say the veil is before? What does that tell you is at the heart of Israel's relationship with God?