Seder 75: Exodus 39-40---Completing the Work of the Tabernacle

 Exodus 39:32 begins, "Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished...."  

We are reminded of Gen 2:1:  "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished...."  

Building the tabernacle was a kind of creation.  Humans are made in the image of God, and God has given us the ability to do some creating. 

When the work was done, Moses inspected the finished product.  Verse 43 says, "And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it.  As the Lord had commanded, so had they done it."  Moses "saw that it was good" so to speak, reminding us of Gen 1:31.

Chapter 39 concludes by mentioning that "Moses blessed them."  According to the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi, the blessing Moses gave was the one in Ps 90:17:  "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!"

In his Exodus commentary, Dennis Prager cites a saying that "a mitzvah is attributed to the one who completes it."  Lots of people begin projects, but projects are often left unfinished.  This was a project that was completed in fine style and in a timely manner.

Everything was finished, in fact, by the first day of the first month of year 2 of the Exodus (Ex 40:2), so the work of constructing the tabernacle had required about 6 months.  

God put his stamp of approval on the constructed by filling the tabernacle with his glory (v. 34).  Israel had been completely forgiven after the sin of the golden calf.  The Exodus could proceed as planned.

In a sermon on Seder 75 at Church of the Messiah on Oct 16, 2021, Kyle Kettering highlighted a motif that carries forward from Torah to Prophets to Gospels:

• When the work on the tabernacle was finished, the Israelites brought their work to Moses for inspection.  The tabernacle was made of treasures contributed by Egyptians.
• The treasures of the nations are brought to God's sanctuary in the prophecy of Isa 60---see vv 13-14.
• People in need of healing (another kind of treasure) were brought to Jesus during his Galilean ministry--Luke 4:40-41.

These readings from the Torah and prophets are another candidate for the readings on the day that Jesus preached in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4).