Exodus 40

⁵⁶ Recall that Jacob received a second name, Israel (Genesis 32:28). Therefore the expressions house of Jacob and people of Israel are really one and the same.

⁵⁷ To be “consecrated” means to be made holy, to be set apart for service; consecration includes both outward or ceremonial cleansing (see verse 10) and also inner cleansing of the heart (see Exodus 29:1–9 and comment). Indeed, the cleansing of the heart is far more important to God (Matthew 23:25–28; Mark 7:20–23).

⁵⁸ To be a priest is a high calling, but that is the calling of every Christian—not necessarily in a vocational sense but rather in a spiritual sense. As priests, we are called to be consecrated, to be set apart for service. Our lives are to be lived for others. Our churches also are to exist primarily for others—for those outside the church who are lost, who need a Savior.

⁵⁹ For further discussion of consecration and outward and inward cleansing, see comment on Exodus 29:1–9; Word List: Consecration.

⁶⁰ Up until this point, the attribute of God that has been highlighted in Scripture has been His power—His power in creation, in the Flood, in the destruction of the Egyptians, and even in making Mount Sinai tremble. However, from now on and through most of the Old Testament, the attribute of God that will be highlighted is His holiness. Then in the New Testament, God’s greatest attribute of all will be highlighted—His love. And yet the Bible reveals one unchanging God; He has always had all of these attributes, and many more besides (see Exodus 15:3–5 and comment). It was a good thing for humans that God’s love was fully revealed only after His power and holiness had become fully known; otherwise, we might never have understood the true and awesome nature of our powerful and holy God.

⁶¹ Although we Christians are not “under” the law in the sense that the Israelites were, we are not free to do as we please. Christians are expected to obey much of the Old Testament law, especially those laws related to our moral conduct. The only parts of the law that we don’t follow today are those parts that have been permanently fulfilled on our behalf through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17–20).

The main difference between the Israelites and Christians in relation to obeying the law is in their motivation. The Israelites tried to obey the law in their own strength in order to earn their salvation, their acceptance with God. We Christians, on the other hand, obey the law not in order to be saved but because we have been saved—through faith. We obey to show our gratitude to God for what He has done for us. And we obey not on our own strength (which is futile) but through the enabling of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. The Israelites obeyed outwardly, according to the “letter” of the law; we Christians obey inwardly, according to the “spirit” of the law (2 Corinthians 3:6). The Israelites received the law on tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18); we have received the law on the “tablets” of our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 8:10).

⁶² Jesus said that there were two laws greater than any other: to love God and to love one’s neighbor (Mark 12:30–31). But these two “greatest” laws are actually a summary of the Ten Commandments: if we obey the first four commandments, we will be loving God; if we obey the last six commandments, we will be loving our neighbor.

⁶³ All of the Ten Commandments are mentioned in the New Testament, as well as many other Old Testament moral laws that Christians are expected to obey today. The moral laws are “binding” on Christians in the sense that they define behavior that is acceptable to God. They are God’s laws, after all; He commands us to obey them, and there will be consequences if we don’t. But our reason for obeying them is not simply to avoid punishment, and it is certainly not to try and “earn” salvation; rather, we obey in order to show God that we love Him and are grateful to Him for what He has done for us.

It should be noted that one of the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath law, has a ceremonial component which is not binding on Christians today. For further discussion, see comment on verses 8–11.

⁶⁴ Some Christians continue to observe the Lord’s Day on Saturday; this is perfectly all right as long as they don’t criticize those who observe it on Sunday (Colossians 2:16–17). Which day is chosen for the Sabbath should not be important to Christians (Romans 14:5–6).

⁶⁵ Nowhere does Scripture require adult children to obey their parents. (The age of adulthood varies according to culture and circumstances.) However, if the parents are godly and their instructions do not oppose God’s will, it is better to obey; in the Old Testament, the punishment for persistently rebelling against one’s parents was very severe (Deuteronomy 21:18–21).

⁶⁶ In the Old Testament, the term “murder” did not apply to killing during military conflict. Today, many Christians believe that, according to the New Testament, war is wrong, and that killing during wartime is the equivalent of murder. The subject is too complex to deal with here; devout Christians stand on both sides of the issue. For further discussion, see General Article: Resisting Evil—How Much Should We Do? in The Applied New Testament Commentary.

⁶⁷ Suicide caused by mental illness is an exception; such people cannot tell right from wrong.

⁶⁸ The modern definition of “adultery” is the same for both husband and wife. God’s ideal is for one woman to be married to one man, both remaining faithful to each other for life. It should be emphasized that the Old Testament does not encourage polygamy in any way, nor does it encourage divorce. Faithful monogamy is God’s standard for all time (Genesis 2:24).

⁶⁹ For further discussion on the subject of marriage, see General Article: Christian Marriage, in The Applied New Testament Commentary.

⁷⁰ Many people believe it’s all right to verbally hurt one’s neighbor as long as one speaks the truth. But if this is done behind the neighbor’s back, it is nothing but slander. If we need to speak against our neighbor we first need to do it to his face; Jesus has laid out very clear guidelines regarding this matter (see Matthew 18:15–17).

⁷¹ Occasionally in life we encounter true moral dilemmas, in which to obey one command seems to require the breaking of another. For example, it may be justified to lie in order to save the life of an innocent person being hunted by wicked people—as the Jews were hunted by the Nazis during World War II. In circumstances such as these, we must cast ourselves on God and seek His leading. These commandments are not rigid, lifeless rules; they are principles of life given to us by our loving heavenly Father. When a true dilemma confronts us, let us remember that God’s highest law is the law of love; if we put love first, we will not go far wrong.

For further discussion of moral dilemmas, see footnotes to comments on Joshua 2:22–24; 2 Kings 6:18–20.

⁷² See footnote to comment on Genesis 20:8–13.

⁷³ Other Old Testament laws expressly forbid taking revenge (see Leviticus 19:18).

⁷⁴ Only in cases of intentional killing or kidnapping did one have to pay with his life (Exodus 21:12; Numbers 35:31; Deuteronomy 24:7).

⁷⁵ Thirty shekels was about 0.3 kilogram. Thirty shekels of silver was the standard price of a slave in Old Testament times. It was the price Judas was paid to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14–15).

⁷⁶ Some people commit crimes out of malice. Others commit crimes accidentally. Still a third group commits crimes through negligence. Often, in any given case, there is a mixture of these three factors. Human judges have great difficulty in determining the heart motivation for any crime; only God knows the heart. But God has given all these laws to help judges render the highest possible level of justice in the specific cases they encounter.

⁷⁷ For modern readers, some laws are hard to understand and require additional explanation. For example, in verse 10 a neighbor is given the animal of another man for safekeeping. If the animal is out in the field and harm comes to it, the neighbor is not liable. But if the animal is stolen from the neighbor (verse 12) the neighbor is liable, because presumably the animal was in a pen that was not sufficiently guarded; thus the neighbor was negligent.

⁷⁸ The custom of paying a bride-price is still common in the Middle East.

⁷⁹ A similar law is recorded in Deuteronomy 22:28–29, where the word “rape” is used instead of “seduce.” If a man raped a virgin, he was required to marry her for life.

Obviously, if a pregnancy resulted from either the rape or the seduction, marriage would be all the more required. Indeed, this was so obvious that Moses didn’t even mention it.

⁸⁰ The person who offered sacrifices to false gods was to be destroyed (verse 20). This is a specific term that means giving something over to the Lord irrevocably, usually by destroying it. The term occurs frequently throughout the Old Testament.

⁸¹ Jesus carried the teaching on lending much further; He taught that we should be willing to lend even to our enemies, and furthermore, that we should lend without expecting to be repaid at all! (see Matthew 5:42; Luke 6:35).

⁸² The law given in Leviticus 22:8 is included among the rules for priests. But since all of Israel was considered by God to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6), this law applied to the people as well.

⁸³ Spreading hurtful reports implies that we are speaking against our neighbor behind his back; this is always wrong, whether the report is true or false. Yes, there are times when we must speak out against someone’s ungodly behavior, but only after confronting that person privately (see Matthew 18:15–17).

⁸⁴ In Matthew 5:43, Jesus quotes a traditional saying: “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But this was only a saying among the Jews; nowhere in the Old Testament does it actually tell us to hate our enemy.

⁸⁵ In the New Testament this feast was called Pentecost, which means “fifty,” or the “fiftieth day” after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Acts 2:1).

⁸⁶ Here the Name of God signifies God’s very presence. We must conclude that this angel was more than a messenger; He was Christ Himself.

Throughout the Bible, the “name” of God and of Christ means much more than just a title. God’s “name” stands for His very self; it represents His person, His character, His glory. When we honor God’s name, we honor Him; when we dishonor His name (Exodus 20:7), we dishonor Him. When we pray in God’s name and in Jesus’ name, we are praying in their power, in their will, and with their authority. For further discussion on the subject of God’s name, see Exodus 3:13–15 and comment.

⁸⁷ God has special purposes and plans for each one of us. Sometimes God takes us through trials and difficulties in order to accomplish His purposes (James 1:2–4). We may be called to suffer for His sake, to be imprisoned, even to die. But aside from these special circumstances, most Christians—if they remain faithful to God—will enjoy the ordinary blessings that God promised the Israelites here in verses 25–26. For further discussion on the subject of trials and testing, see Exodus 15:25–27 and comment.

⁸⁸ The Book of the Covenant begins at Exodus 20:22 and continues through Exodus 23:33.

⁸⁹ Nadab and Abihu would later die after making an unauthorized offering to the Lord (Leviticus 10:1–2).

⁹⁰ See comment on Genesis 15:9–10.

⁹¹ After the new covenant had been established through Jesus’ death, there was no longer any need for the old covenant established at Mount Sinai; it became obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Today our fellowship with God is based not on our obedience to the Old Testament law but on our faith in Jesus Christ, who did for us what the law could not do: cleanse our hearts from sin once for all (Romans 8:1–4; Hebrews 9:11–28; 10:1–18).

⁹² No one has actually “seen” God Himself in His full glory (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16). What Moses and those with him saw was a form or likeness of God; perhaps it was a kind of light or radiance that they saw. Whatever they “saw,” it made them realize they were in the very presence of God.

⁹³ The ark was shaped like a chest, a little over a meter long and 0.7 meter high and wide. The commonest biblical measure of length was the cubit (verse 10), which was approximately 0.5 meter, or 18 inches. The Hebrew word for “ark” used here is different from the word used for Noah’s “ark.”

⁹⁴ Measured in cubits, the tabernacle was thirty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high. A cubit was about 0.5 meter.

⁹⁵ In the Bible, the horn is a symbol of power and strength.

⁹⁶ The Most Holy Place could be entered only by the high priest (once a year); the Holy Place could be entered only by priests; the courtyard could be entered only by Israelites and those non-Israelites who had been circumcised. Thus all Israelites could be forgiven their sins and be reconciled to God by a sacrifice of atonement, but (other than the high priest) they could not come into God’s presence. However, when Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice of atonement, He opened the way for all believers to come into the actual presence of God.

For further discussion of atonement, see Exodus 25:17–22; Leviticus 1:1–4; 16:1–34 and comments; Word List: Atonement.

⁹⁷ In this commentary, most measurements are “rounded off” in the interest of simplicity. The exact length of the “cubit,” the most common biblical measure of length, is uncertain; this is true for other biblical weights and measures as well. All such measurements are approximations based on the best available evidence.

⁹⁸ In Leviticus 24:1–4, we are told that the lamps were to burn continually. The word “continually” can mean “intermittently”; it doesn’t mean that the lamps had to burn constantly without going out.

⁹⁹ The Testimony mentioned in verse 21 is the ark of the Testimony (Exodus 26:33).

¹⁰⁰ Aaron’s two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, later died because they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1–2); that left only Eleazar and Ithamar to succeed Aaron.

¹⁰¹ Jesus was descended from Judah, not from Aaron; and thus His priesthood is different from the Aaronic (or Levitical) priesthood of Israel. Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18–20; Hebrews 7:1–3,11–17). Jesus’ priesthood was announced in Psalm 110:4; the psalmist indicates that the Aaronic priesthood would one day be replaced by a greater priesthood, the priesthood of Jesus and His followers.

¹⁰² During the Old Testament period, the Holy Spirit did not dwell permanently within people; He was present with people only at certain times and for particular purposes (see Exodus 31:2–5). Thus the leaders of Israel frequently needed divine guidance, and so God provided the Urim and Thummim for that purpose. But after Jesus’ death, the Holy Spirit came to dwell permanently within believers; now there is no need for other means of guidance, such as the Urim and Thummim or the casting of lots: we have the Holy Spirit as our chief Guide and Counselor (John 14:16–17,26). We also have the Bible; ultimately, the Bible and the Holy Spirit give us all the guidance we need. It should be added, however, that to interpret that guidance we need the wisdom and confirmation of other mature Christians. For further discussion of divine guidance, see comment on Numbers 9:17–23 and footnote to comment; Psalm 32:8–10 and comment.

¹⁰³ Holiness has two meanings: first, when applied to persons, it means inner purity of character; second, when applied to objects, it means outer purity—that is, the purity associated with an object because of its use in God’s service.

¹⁰⁴ The composition of this anointing oil and rules for its use are described in Exodus 30:22–33.

¹⁰⁵ An ordination is a ceremony in which a person is “ordained” or invested with special authority to carry out the functions of a priest or pastor. It is one aspect of being consecrated.

¹⁰⁶ The wave offering was a special offering mentioned many times in the book of Leviticus in which the priest “waved” the offered portion before the Lord. Usually the wave offering was associated with a fellowship offering in which part of what was offered could be eaten by the priest (or the Israelite) making the offering. The portion was waved toward the altar and back, which symbolized the giving of the portion to the Lord and the receiving of it back again with thanksgiving.

¹⁰⁷ In Hebrews 9:4, it is implied that the altar of incense was within the Most Holy Place; this may have been because the smoke of the burning incense was always directed toward God’s presence above the ark, and thus the writer of Hebrews naturally associated the altar of incense with the Most Holy Place (verse 6).

¹⁰⁸ The composition of this incense and rules for its use are described in Exodus 30:34–38.

¹⁰⁹ God doesn’t “smell” in the way humans do, and He doesn’t need incense to make Him aware of His people’s prayers; He knows our every thought and desire before we even express it. For further discussion of anthropomorphism, see footnotes to comments on Genesis 8:21–22; Exodus 3:7–9.

¹¹⁰ The sanctuary shekel was twelve grams (0.4 ounce) of silver; this was the standard weight used in the services of the sanctuary (tabernacle).

¹¹¹ For further discussion of atonement and redemption, see Word List: Atonement, Redemption.

¹¹² All people have equal inherent worth in God’s sight; He does not value people according to their wealth, race, or ability. However, He does value people according to the moral choices they make in life.

¹¹³ God not only equipped Bezalel and Oholiab to do the work themselves, but He also gave them the ability to teach others to do the work (Exodus 35:34). It is not enough for us simply to be able to do something; we must seek to pass our abilities on to others. All Christians, in a basic sense, are called to be teachers, disciple makers (Matthew 28:19–20; 2 Timothy 2:2,24; Titus 2:1–10).

¹¹⁴ The subject of “gifts” is discussed in several New Testament passages (Romans 12:4–8; 1 Corinthians 12:1–31; Ephesians 4:7–13). It must be emphasized that all gifts—whether “natural” or “spiritual”—are equally gifts of God. Some gifts are mainly “natural”; others are mainly “spiritual.” But it is impossible to precisely separate the natural and the spiritual; we are whole persons with both natural and spiritual elements merged and intertwined. Even the “purely” spiritual gifts have to be exercised by physical(natural) bodies.

¹¹⁵ The only possible exception to this pattern in the Old Testament is King David. In 1 Samuel 16:13, we read that after Samuel anointed him, from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

¹¹⁶ For further discussion on the subject of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, see footnotes to comments on Exodus 28:15–30; Numbers 9:17–23.

¹¹⁷ The Hebrew word for god (“Elohim”) can be singular or plural according to the verb; in these verses the verb is plural. But according to the context, the meaning is singular, since only “one god” was made.

¹¹⁸ God doesn’t “relent” or “repent” as we humans do. Instead, God plans His actions according to people’s responses. He has given us a free will, and He is always ready to modify His plan one way or another depending on our behavior. For further discussion concerning the relationship between God’s will and our prayers, see 2 Kings 20:1–6 and comment.

¹¹⁹ God not only sees what humans do—such as making a golden calf; He also knows the reason they do it—they are stiff-necked. God is not only concerned with our actions; He is even more concerned with our heart, our motives, our inner desires. He knows what is inside us (Hebrews 4:12–13). Nothing displeases Him more than an attitude of rebellion, of “stiff-neckedness.” A person with such an attitude will not experience the presence of God.

¹²⁰ For a discussion of the Lord’s name, see footnote to comment on Exodus 23:20–22.

¹²¹ God’s most prominent attributes are mercy and compassion. God is love (1 John 4:8,16). Thus God’s primary impulse is to show love; He shows mercy and compassion to whomever He pleases and whenever He pleases. But He does not show anger in this way; He shows anger only when His holiness and justice demand it.

The Apostle Paul quotes verse 19 in Romans 9:15. Paul adds that God also hardens whom he wants to harden (Romans 9:18). But God doesn’t harden people because He takes pleasure in it; He only hardens those who have first hardened themselves (see Exodus 4:21 and comment).

¹²² For a discussion of anthropomorphism, see footnotes to comments on Genesis 8:21–22; Exodus 3:7–9.

¹²³ For a discussion of the Lord’s name, see footnote to comment on Exodus 23:20–22.

¹²⁴ For further discussion of the different sides of God’s nature, see Numbers 4:17–20 and comment.

¹²⁵ The Asherah poles were wooden posts set up in honor of Asherah, one of the main Canaanite goddesses.

¹²⁶ The Hebrew word for jealous in verse 14 is used only in relation to God (see Exodus 20:5). To say that God is “jealous” simply means that He will not tolerate the unfaithfulness of human beings, who have been created in His image.

¹²⁷ In verse 28 it says: And he (God) wrote on the tablets. . . (see Deuteronomy 10:3–4).