May 9, 2018: Day 25 – Exodus 25

What you have before you is the pre-temple place of worship.  The detail that went into describing what had to be done to prepare this place is amazing.  Most of what you have before you is made out of gold, and silver, and bronze.  The chapter begins innocently enough as we see that Moses is asking the people to contribute and give gifts.  The assumption is that most of what they have is a result of their plunder of Egypt on their way out.  Remember that part in chapter 12:35 that they took from the Egyptians on their way out silver and gold.

What you see described above had to be moved every time the people of Israel moved.  That was not an easy feat.  The enormous decadence of what is being built never ceases to amaze me.  Remember, it wasn’t a problem.  The Israelites were living together and had all things in common.  There was no upper and lower and middle class.  They had all things in common and lived in common.  Not so for today.  So when we see a structure like the one below, or the other one below, we have to ask, what would it look like if we worshiped in places that did not require extravagant cost and that these funds could be used for the poor.  I think the words of Jesus in Matthew 26:9 give us pause in addressing this question too glibly.