Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 25:23 - 26:6
A common mindset in modern Christianity about church buildings is to spend as little money as possible on places to gather. Some church buildings are spartan, designed to be merely functional and not at all artistic. There is no attempt to incorporate art in the design of it. The outside is often indistinguishable from a factory or retail store.
Some churches do not even desire to own a building. They simply rent space, the cheaper the better. They are content to meet in a movie theater or strip mall.
The New Testament does not specify how much money we should spend on church buildings-or even if we should have church buildings. Therefore, it is not a sin to meet in cheap, unremarkable physical spaces. However, architecture is a way to make a statement. Being content with a cheap space passes up an opportunity to make a statement about our God, the Creator of the universe.
The following verses are part of the description of the tabernacle that Yahweh instructed Israel to build in the wilderness. Notice how many times the word gold appears. Think about the time, effort, and resources it took to build the tabernacle. Ponder the statement the tabernacle made about Yahweh. Ask yourself if Christians should be willing to put this much time, skill, and money into our places of worship.
Ex. 25:23 ¶ “You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high.
Ex. 25:24 You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it.
Notice the word “pure”. Gold is a soft metal, so modern gold jewelry is rarely made of pure (24-karat) gold—it would deform, scratch, or wear too easily in daily use. Jewelers alloy it by mixing in other metals (such as copper, silver, or nickel) to increase strength and durability while also reducing cost.
When Israel overlaid the table, they used pure gold. The table was built of wood, so that gave it strength, but using pure gold overlay was far more expensive and luxurious than any alloy would have been.
Ex. 25:25 You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it.
Ex. 25:26 You shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet.
Ex. 25:27 The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table.
Ex. 25:28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that with them the table may be carried.
Ex. 25:29 You shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its offering bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold.
Once again we see they used pure gold for the dishes, pans, jars, and bowls. They did not lower the cost by using gold alloys. Furthermore, since they were of pure gold, they would have been somewhat fragile, requiring the priests to treat them gently and with utmost care.
Ex. 25:30 You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.
Ex. 25:31 ¶ “Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand, its base, and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs, and its flowers shall be of the same piece.
Notice the words “hammered” and “flowers”.
The word “hammered” indicates the manufacturing process. They did not pour molten gold into a mold which would have been easier. Instead, they took solid gold and hammered it into the shape they wanted. Hammering would have made the gold more dense, which helped give it strength.
The word “flowers” tells us the lampstand had some artistic design. It was not merely functional. It would have taken more time and skill to create the flowers than to simply create something that merely held a flame.
Ex. 25:32 Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side.
Ex. 25:33 Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower—so for the six branches going out from the lampstand;
Look at the words “almond blossoms”. The cups that held the flame were not mere smooth cups. The Israelites were to use time and skill to mold the cups into something that looked like almond blossoms.
Ex. 25:34 and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers.
Ex. 25:35 And a bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand.
Ex. 25:36 Their bulbs and their branches shall be of the same piece; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold.
Ex. 25:37 Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it.
Ex. 25:38 And its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold.
The tongs and trays were also of pure gold.
Ex. 25:39 It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils.
Ex. 25:40 And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.
Ex. 26:1 ¶ “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer.
Take note of the words “skillful designer”. The curtains were not mere solid colors, which would have been easier and quicker to make. Instead, they were to put forth the time and effort to create designs in the curtains.
Ex. 26:2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same measurements.
Ex. 26:3 Five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another.
Ex. 26:4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the one set, and likewise you shall make them on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.
Ex. 26:5 You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite each other.
Ex. 26:6 You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and you shall join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.
Even the clasps which held the curtains together were made of gold, but note the text does not specify that they used pure gold.
The New Testament does not specify how much money we should spend on church buildings—or even if we should have dedicated buildings at all. Therefore, it is not a sin to meet in inexpensive, unremarkable spaces. However, architecture makes a statement. Settling for the cheapest option misses an opportunity to declare the greatness of our God, the Creator of the universe.
If God is as great as we claim - and He is - then should we not desire to declare His greatness in the building in which we meet?
At what point does a desire to meet in cheap buildings show a lack of respect for God, the Creator of the universe?
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”