Exodus Chapter 25 Verses 23 – 30

• Last week we looked at the detailed instructions God gave to Moses for the fashioning of the Ark of the Testimony, also called the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was to be built, completed and placed in the Holy of Hollies and then never touched again.  Now we read a similar set of instructions for the fashioning of the Table of Showbread.  This almost seems   God has not yet given instructions for the Tabernacle itself…why?  I believe there is an important truth to consider in answering that question.
• How can you furnish a home before it is built? But this is precisely what God is doing within the heart of every Christian.  Samuel went looking for a king at the command of God.  He came to the home of Jesse the Bethlehemite and as he surveyed each of Jesse’s sons, each one strong and physically qualified to be king, Samuel did not find God’s chosen king.  So, he said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?”  And Jesse replied, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
• As he approached, the Bible describes him as ruddy, bright eyed and good-looking and yet his family discarded him as the weakest, the one that didn’t even count…but as Samuel met with the family of Jesse that day, God said to him, 1 Samuel 16:7, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature…for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I want you to know, far before God is interested in building your best life now, He is interested in building His testimony within your heart. 
• Religion and our natural bent is to build the house before designing the furnishings, but the work of God is the exact opposite. NOW it rings true what God said in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  And God’s way…is always the right way. 
• Build your life and build your stature in this world, and yet do not mature and grow and brighten within your heart of hearts and at the end of having everything, you will have nothing. And yet, as God does, build in your heart of hearts, begin your maturing and growth in furnishing a place to meet with God within your Holy of Hollies, your heart of hearts…overlay it with gold…place the highest value on it…and then your life, your outward stature in this world…will build itself.  That is what God is doing, that is what He is interested in for you and for me…and my when you align with that…how the building so achieves its schedule!
• And so we move from the Ark in the Holy of Hollies to the Table of Showbread located in the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle which was also called the Holy Place. That table itself wasn’t entirely impressive but upon it would be two stacks of bread.  Six on each side to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. 
• A couple points of importance here, the bread is a continual picture of God’s provision for His people, “Give us today our daily bread,” and also that none are lost, left out, forsaken or forgotten. All of God’s people are represented in the 12 loaves.  The pagan worshippers would offer food to their gods for consumption but this bread was placed before God and yet it was the priests who would ultimately consume it.  A very interesting, important and far-reaching difference between God and all other gods. 

Exodus Chapter 25 Verses 31 – 36

• An interesting piece of information. The Arch of Titus which can be visited in Rome today just south-east of the Roman Forum, was constructed in 81AD by the Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus.  It was created to commemorate (among other things) the victory of Titus together with their father, Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judea.  What’s interesting is that the arch contains panels depicting the triumphal procession celebrated in 71AD after Titus overthrew and destroyed Jerusalem.
• The golden Menorah is the main focus and is carved in deep relief. Other objects being carried in the triumphal procession are the Gold Trumpets, the fire pans for removing the ashes from the altar, and the Table of Showbread.  Interestingly, in 2012 the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project discovered remains of yellow ochre paint on the menorah relief, confirming that it was most likely solid gold…why do I bring all of this up, because this is an extra-biblical proof of scripture and Israel’s rightful claim upon the land.

Exodus Chapter 25 Verses 37 – 40

• There were no windows in the Tabernacle. All of the light within was given by the seven lamps of the menorah.  Exactly as it is in heaven as Revelation 4:5 says, “From the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.  Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”  This is symbolism, representation, soundings of the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit because in Revelation 5:6 we read, “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”  And so how can the seven Spirits of God be both lampstands, horns, and eyes?  Well, this is a sounding…God is all of these things…showing forth in all of these things!  And yet is contained by none of these things!
• What does it mean? The Holy Spirit is the light, the power and the vision, the sight of all heaven and even God Himself…and He has poured out His Spirit, sent His Spirit upon the earth.  Well, what are they?  What is the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit and how are they sent upon the earth.  Isaiah 11, verses 1-3, “The Spirit (singular) of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”  This is the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the menorah both on heaven and on earth…but how are they poured out…?
• Revelation 1:20, “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”  The revelation of the full mystery of God, the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit, keenly focused and centered on the Person of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:12-13) is poured out upon the earth, communicated from heaven to mankind, through the Body of Christ, the church! 
• And so, no light in the Tabernacle…no other source of light, power or vision other than the menorah…why? Because in the Body of Christ, in the church, in the life of a Christian…there is to be no other god before Me, God proclaimed in that first and most important commandment!  There exists all problems today in the church and in our lives due to the single fact that we have allowed other sources of light into the Tabernacle and God says here, DO NOT DO THAT…that will ruin everything…see to it that you make it all according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain…why?  Because if you lose the form of the template then what is created is not what it ought to be…