https://esv.literalword.com/?q=exodus+38
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 10 February 2025:
Exodus 38:8 — He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.
It was customary in those days for women to carry mirrors made of highly polished brass. These women who had dedicated themselves to worshiping the Lord and ministering to others were no longer focused on themselves, so they contributed their mirrors to the making of the basin. We all invest our resources, time, attention, and talents in what matters most to us. In what do you invest in most?
When the priests would wash on approaching the altar or entering the Tabernacle, they would likely see their reflection through the water as an opportunity to reflect upon the cleansing of the Holy Spirit and the word required to draw near to the LORD.
- Ephesians 5:26 – …having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word….
- James 1:22-25 — But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
- 1 Peter 3:3-4 — Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
- Luke 2:37 — …and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
- 1 John 1:7 — …and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Exodus 38:24-29 – All the gold that was used for the work… was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels…. The silver… was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels…. everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men…. The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels.”
God’s ways are to account for every resource and every person. Does your church account for every person and every dollar? Accountability is a godly attribute which communicates gratitude, concern, and love.
According to estimates based on the amount of gold used in the Tabernacle (over 29 talents), the materials used to build it would be worth tens of millions of dollars today, with some calculations placing the value at around $43 million due to the current price of gold alone. The total weight of materials has been estimated to be around 19,000 pounds (more than 9 tons or 8,500 kilograms). This was a significant project to manage.. Review Exodus 12:36 as a reminder of how God had miraculously provided these resources to the Israelites so they had anything to give at all. You can’t out give God.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 10 February 2025: Today, and from now on, whenever you see your reflection, recite to yourself from memory James 1:22-25
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 