Exodus 25:31-40
October 1, 2024
The Golden Lampstand
“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. And on the lampstand itself, there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent of pure gold. And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.
You do recall that Moses took Joshua up the mountain with him, for God was going to not only give Moses the Ten Commandments, but the details on all that was to go into the Tabernacle. We also must remember that God was moving them around in the wilderness for 40 years because of their lack of trust in God. The tabernacle in the wilderness was a portable place of worship that God commanded the Israelites to build after he rescued them from slavery in Egypt. It was used from a year after they crossed the Red Sea until King Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, a period of 400 years.
And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. What was in God's place of worship was made by man; the architect was God, and the project manager was Moses and Joshua. I can only imagine the details as they were given to the craftsmen.
So, I ask how one can get an application from these verses. I have been up a few mountains, but it was not to get a set of rules to live by; could mine and your lampstands be our studying of the Scriptures? Has God not called us to that task in 2 Timothy 2:15? “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
The Scriptures have all one needs to live a righteous life, but as a pastor who taught Jan and me and a bunch of teenagers in our home said often, “You would be better off not picking up this book if you are not going to obey its teaching.”
I wish I had taken that to heart. I have many regrets for not doing so in my thirties. You may be wondering, does Bob not understand that if He confessed his sins with a broken and contrite heart, God will forgive him and remember them no more? Yes, 1 John 1-9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Also in Isaiah 43:25, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Now let me tell you who does not forget the one Jesus called the thief, the one who came to kill, steal, and destroy. So act on the Scriptures and tell him to pound sand, better yet, run to Jesus.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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