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Matthew Henry |
E X O D U S
CHAP. XXXIX.
This chapter gives us an account of the finishing of the work of the
tabernacle.
I. The last things prepared were the holy garments. The ephod and its
curious girdle,
The onyx-stones for the shoulders,
The breastplate with the precious stones in it,
The robe of the ephod,
The coats, bonnets, and breeches, for the inferior priests,
And the plate of the holy crown,
II. A summary account of the whole work, as it was presented to Moses
when it was all finished,
&c.
| The Tabernacle and Its Furniture. | B. C. 1491. |
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1 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of
service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy
garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.
2 And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and fine twined linen.
3 And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it
into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in
the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.
4 They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together: by
the two edges was it coupled together.
5 And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it,
was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold,
blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD
commanded Moses.
6 And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold,
graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of
Israel.
7 And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they
should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as
the LORD commanded Moses.
8 And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work
of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
twined linen.
9 It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span
was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being
doubled.
10 And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row
was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first
row.
11 And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
12 And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
13 And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they
were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.
14 And the stones were according to the names of the children
of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the
engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the
twelve tribes.
15 And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of
wreathen work of pure gold.
16 And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings; and
put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.
17 And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two
rings on the ends of the breastplate.
18 And the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened in
the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod,
before it.
19 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two
ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on
the side of the ephod inward.
20 And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the
two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it,
over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious
girdle of the ephod.
21 And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the
rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above
the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might
not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses.
22 And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of
blue.
23 And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the
hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it
should not rend.
24 And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of
blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells
between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about
between the pomegranates;
26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round
about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded
Moses.
27 And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for
Aaron, and for his sons,
28 And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine
linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,
29 And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple,
and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold,
and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a
signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
31 And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high
upon the mitre; as the LORD commanded Moses.
In this account of the making of the priests’ garments, according to
the instructions given (ch. 28), we may observe,
1. That the priests’ garments are called here clothes of
service,
v. 1.
Note, Those that wear robes of honour must look upon them as clothes of
service; for from those upon whom honour is put service is expected. It
is said of those that are arrayed in white robes that they are
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his
temple,
Rev. vii. 13, 15.
Holy garments were not made for men to sleep in, or to strut in, but to
do service in; and then they are indeed for glory and beauty. The Son
of man himself came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.
2. That all the six paragraphs here, which give a distinct account of
the making of these holy garments, conclude with those words, as the
Lord commanded Moses,
v. 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 31.
The like is not in any of the foregoing accounts, as if in these, more
than any other of the appurtenances of the tabernacle, they had a
particular regard to the divine appointment, both for warrant and for
direction. It is an intimation to all the Lord’s ministers to make the
word of God their rule in all their ministrations, and to act in
observance of and obedience to the command of God.
3. That these garments, in conformity to the rest of the furniture of
the tabernacle, were very rich and splendid; the church in its infancy
was thus taught, thus pleased, with the rudiments of this world; but
now under the gospel, which is the ministration of the Spirit, to
affect and impose such pompous habits as the church of Rome does, under
pretence of decency and instruction, is to betray the liberty
wherewith Christ has made us free, and to entangle the church again
in the bondage of those carnal ordinances which were imposed only till
the time of reformation.
4. That they were all shadows of good things to come, but the substance
is Christ, and the grace of the gospel; when therefore the substance
has come, it is a jest to be fond of the shadow.
(1.) Christ is our great high-priest; when he undertook the work of our
redemption, he put on the clothes of service–he arrayed himself with
the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which he received not by
measure–girded himself with the curious girdle of resolution, to go
through with his undertaking–charged himself with the curious girdle of
resolution, to go through with his undertaking–charged himself with all
God’s spiritual Israel, bore them on his shoulders, carried them in his
bosom, laid them near his heart, engraved them on the palms of his
hands, and presented them in the breast-plate of judgment unto his
Father. And (lastly) he crowned himself with holiness to the
Lord, consecrating his whole undertaking to the honour of his
Father’s holiness: now consider how great this man is.
(2.) True believers are spiritual priests. The clean linen with which
all their clothes of service must be made is the righteousness of
saints
(Rev. xix. 8),
and Holiness to the Lord must be so written upon their foreheads
that all who converse with them may see, and say, that they bear the
image of God’s holiness, and are devoted to the praise of it.
| The Tabernacle Completed. | B. C. 1491. |
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32 Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the
congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according
to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.
33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and
all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his
pillars, and his sockets,
34 And the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering
of badgers’ skins, and the vail of the covering,
35 The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the
mercy seat,
36 The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread,
37 The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with
the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and
the oil for light,
38 And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet
incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door,
39 The brazen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and
all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
40 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and
the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all
the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the
congregation,
41 The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and
the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons’ garments,
to minister in the priest’s office.
42 According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the
children of Israel made all the work.
43 And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had
done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and
Moses blessed them.
Observe here,
I. The builders of the tabernacle made very good despatch. It was not
much more than five months from the beginning to the finishing of it.
Though there was a great deal of fine work about it, such as is usually
the work of time, embroidering and engraving, not only in gold, but in
precious stones, yet they went through with it in a little time.
Church-work is usually slow work, but they made quick work of this, and
yet did it with the greatest exactness imaginable. For,
1. Many hands were employed, all unanimous, and not striving with each
other. This expedited the business, and made it easy.
2. The workmen were taught of God, and so were kept from making
blunders, which would have retarded them.
3. The people were hearty and zealous in the work, and impatient till
it was finished. God had prepared their hearts, and then the thing
was done suddenly,
2 Chron. xxix. 36.
Resolution and industry, and a cheerful application of mind, will, by
the grace of God, bring a great deal of good work to pass in a little
time, in less than one would expect.
II. They punctually observed their orders, and did not in the least
vary from them. They did it according to all that the Lord commanded
Moses,
v. 32, 42.
Note, God’s work must be done, in every thing, according to his own
will. His institutions neither need nor admit men’s inventions to make
them either more beautiful or more likely to answer the intention of
them. Add thou not unto his words. God is pleased with willing
worship, but not with will-worship.
III. They brought all their work to Moses, and submitted it to his
inspection and censure,
He knew what he had ordered them to make; and now the particulars were
called over, and all produced, that Moses might see both that they had
made all, omitting nothing, and that they had made all according to the
instructions given them, and that, if they had made a mistake in any
thing, it might be forthwith rectified. Thus they showed respect to
Moses, who was set over them in the Lord; not objecting that Moses did
not understand such work, and therefore that there was no reason for
submitting it to his judgment. No, that God who gave them so much
knowledge as to do the work gave them also so much humility as to be
willing to have it examined and compared with the model. Moses was in
authority, and they would pay a deference to his place. The spirit
of the prophets is subject to the prophets. And besides, though
they knew how to do the work better than Moses, Moses had a better and
more exact idea of the model than they had, and therefore they could
not be well pleased with their own work, unless they had his
approbation. Thus in all the services of religion we should labour
to be accepted of the Lord.
IV. Moses, upon search, found all done according to the rule,
Moses, both for their satisfaction and for his own, did look upon all
the work, piece by piece, and behold they had done it according to the
pattern shown him, for the same Being that showed him the pattern
guided their hand in the work. All the copies of God’s grace exactly
agree with the original of his counsels: what God works in us, and by
us, is the fulfilling of the good pleasure of his own goodness; and
when the mystery of God shall be finished, and all his performances
come to be compared with his purposes, it will appear that behold all
is done according to the counsel of his own will, not one iota or
tittle of which shall fall to the ground, or be varied from.
V. Moses blessed them.
1. He commended them, and signified his approbation of all they had
done. He did not find fault where there was none, as some do, who think
they disparage their own judgment if they do not find something amiss
in the best and most accomplished performance. In all this work it is
probable there might have been found here and there a stitch amiss, and
a stroke awry, which would have served for an over-curious and
censorious critic to animadvert upon; but Moses was too candid to
notice small faults where there were no great ones. Note, All governors
must be a praise to those that do well, as well as a terror to
evil-doers. Why should any take a pride in being hard to be pleased?
2. He not only praised them, but prayed for them. He blessed them as
one having authority, for the less is blessed of the better. We read
not of any wages that Moses paid them for their work, but this blessing
he gave them. For, though ordinarily the labourer be worthy of his
hire, yet in this case,
1. They wrought for themselves. The honour and comfort of God’s
tabernacle among them would be recompence enough. If thou be wise,
thou shalt be wise for thyself.
2. They had their meat from heaven on free-cost, for themselves and
their families, and their raiment waxed not old upon them; so that they
neither needed wages nor had reason to expect any. Freely you have
received, freely give. The obligations we lie under, both in duty
and interest, to serve God, should be sufficient to quicken us to our
work, though we had not a reward in prospect. But,
3. This blessing, in the name of the Lord, was wages enough for all
their work. Those whom God employs he will bless, and those whom he
blesses are blessed indeed. The blessing he commands is life for
evermore.
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