OCTOBER 20, 2021 Exodus 25:18-19 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the […]
The fiery serpents were poisonous vipers that lived in the deserts and wilderness. Some read this and are puzzled as to why God instructed Moses to put a serpent on the pole. After all, the serpent is a universal symbol for evil and Satan (see Gen. 3:1; Isa. 27:1; Rev. 20:2); serpents had also brought death to many people they had bitten. It is important to note that Christ used this story of the brass serpent to reveal His own suffering on the cross (see John 3:14-15). Christ was perfect and sinless in His birth, life, and ministry. However, just as the scapegoat had to bear the sins of Israel on the Day of Atonement, the sins of all humanity were placed upon Christ; thus, the image of the serpent represents the ultimate sin offering being raised up. The fiery serpents brought death, just as unrepentant sin in the human soul brings death. Only the cross can reverse the bite of the serpent and restore life to all who look to the Christ of the cross. (For more about the connection between the cross and the pole, turn to the article “The Brass Serpent on the Pole” in Numbers in Depth.)
From Page 302 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
Four types of trumpets have emerged in Israel’s history. The common word for trumpets in the Old Testament is shophar, which was normally a ram’s horn, as indicated in Joshua 6. At times a larger horn from an antelope was used, but the horns had to be from a kosher animal.
In these verses, Moses crafted two silver trumpets for calling the congregation and directing the movement of the camp. Silver trumpets were later used during the “divine service,” including the Sabbaths, new moon, jubilee cycles, and certain main festivals—Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
At the tabernacle, if one trumpet was blown, only the heads of the tribes were to gather at the door of the Tabernacle of Meeting. If both trumpets were blown, the entire congregation was to gather. Distinct trumpet sounds indicated whether the congregation should assemble, march out of the camp, or head to war. According to Jewish tradition, a long blast indicated the people were to assemble; short staccato blasts were used in battle and sounded an order to begin movement.
Silver is a metal that represents redemption. Two trumpets are significant when we consider that as the future “ingathering of the saints” occurs, there will be both “the voice of the archangel” and the “trump of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). When the dead in Christ are raised and the living saints are changed from mortality to immortality, we will be changed at the sound of the “last trump” (see 1 Cor. 15:52). Various opinions exist about the meaning of the phrase last trump. However, if there is a last trump, there must be the sounding of a first trumpet. Some suggest the first trump sound will raise the dead in Christ and the second sound will impact the living, initiating the changes predicted by the apostle Paul.
The two silver trumpets are a perfect image of the gathering together of the dead in Christ and the living at the return of Christ. The two silver trumpets were for the “calling of the assembly” and the “journeying of the camps.” The first blast called the people to gather together, and the second blast indicated movement as a group to their new destination. Could this imagery be compared to the sounding of the trumpet of God? The first raises the dead, and with the second blast we meet with them in the air.
These silver trumpets helped to bring the people together, just as the coming of Christ is called the “gathering together” (see 2 Thess. 2:1; Eph. 1:10).
From Page 284 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (v. 17). A census was conducted of all males one month old and upward. The sons of Gershon totaled 7,500 males (v. 22). Kohath’s male family members totaled 8,600 (v. 28), and the sons of Merari totaled 6,200 (v. 34). God gave each of these descendants’ families a specific charge or duty in the care of the tabernacle, His dwelling.
• The Gershonites cared for the tent, the curtains, door hangings, and all the cords (vv. 25-26).
• The Kohathites were responsible for all the sacred furniture, and the internal hangings (v. 31).
• The Merarites cared for the boards, pillars, sockets, pins, and cords (v. 36-37).
From Page 272 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
The story of the prophet Balaam teaches an important spiritual lesson that applies to believers today. God gives Balaam a unique gift of being able to initiate a blessing or a curse by speaking it into existence. The King of Moab, Balak, attempts to hire Balaam to curse the children of Israel (see Num. 22:5-7). However, each time Balaam opens his mouth to speak cursing, only blessing comes forth. Balak continues to pressure Balaam to curse Israel by offering a reward. Balaam informed the evil king, “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?” (Num. 23:8).
After several attempts, Balaam is unable to curse the Hebrew nation or speak evil against it. If this is so, then why is the name Balaam so negative in the Scriptures? The New Testament mentions Balaam in three places. If we combine all three passages, we can see another side of the story:
“Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet. 2:15) . . . Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core (Jude 11) . . . But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication” (Rev. 2:14).
Balaam’s sin is the sin of compromise, receiving wages from Balak for a plot to curse God’s people. However, when the curse fails and he is only permitted to speak what God places in his mouth, Balaam forms a strategy that will make his name despised forever among the Hebrew people. Balaam knows he is unable to curse Israel, but if Israel sins against God, then God will be required to curse them Himself. This new strategy could somehow get the Hebrew people to sin against God’s commandments, thus bringing judgment and disfavor upon Israel.
Part of the strategy is to introduce some of the women of Moab to the young Hebrew men in the Israelite camp. These women could seduce these Hebrew men into committing sexual immorality (fornication) and thus bring a plague on the nation. Chapter 25:1-3 tells us what happens:
“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.”
The strategy is effective. The women of Moab intermingle with the sons of the Hebrews and a plague strikes the camp, killing twenty-four thousand (see Num. 25:9). Moses demands a severe punishment for those who have disobeyed. With the large numbers of people, sin and rebellion could easily spread and cost the people God’s favor. As believers, if we walk in love and follow the New Covenant, we experience the blessing of God in soul, mind, spirit, family, finances, and health (see 3 John 2). When we turn from the truth and sin, it not only opens a door for the adversary, it also hinders the flow of our spiritual blessings. The adversary, knowing he cannot place a curse upon believers because we have been “redeemed from the curse” (Gal. 3:13), tempts us to sin against God and His Word.
If we don’t repent, we will be chastised and judged for our sins (see Heb. 12:5-8).
From Page 305 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
OCTOBER 18, 2021 Exodus 25:10-11 “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it.” That the Ark was overlaid […]
Abraham is now old and desires to see Isaac married, knowing Isaac must have children to produce the nation God has promised. Abraham sends his personal servant to find a bride for Isaac. This is beautiful imag- ery of how the heavenly Father found a bride for His Son, Christ.
Sarah has died, and Abraham sends his servant, Eliezer (whose name means “God is my helper”) to find a bride for Isaac among the Gentiles in Syria. He takes ten camels loaded with gifts, Eliezer riding one of the ten, leaving the remaining nine carrying gifts. Eliezer finds Rebekah at a well and she cares for the camels. Eliezer presents her with earrings and a gold bracelet. As he speaks to her and her father about Abraham and his son Isaac, Rebekah is willing to leave her family to marry a man she has not yet seen. Isaac is in the harvest field working and is at the well, Lahai- roi, meaning the “living water.” Isaac meets her, takes her into his mother’s tent, and is comforted in his grief over his mother’s death.
God the Father sent His helper, the Holy Spirit, to find a Gentile bride for His son, Jesus. The Holy Spirit has nine gifts and fruits to present as gifts to the bride (see 1 Cor. 12:7-10; Gal. 5:22-23). After Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-4), the Gentiles were grafted into the cove- nant (see Acts 10:1-45). We have “earrings,” or ears to hear from the Spirit, and “bracelets,” a symbol of doing the works of God with our hands. Christ has promised us the Spirit’s refreshing through the “well of living water” (see John 7:37-39). According to Paul, natural Israel was temporarily blinded and the Gentiles were grafted into the New Covenant (see Rom. 11).
From Page 42 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
Ten plagues occur in Egypt, and the eleventh judgment transpires at the Red Sea. Exodus begins with Pharaoh’s desire to cast the male, Hebrew infants into the water, and at the end, Pharaoh meets his death in water. There were six hundred thousand men of war departing Egypt, not counting the women and children, which some rabbis estimate may have been up to three million individuals. The sea opens and all of Israel crosses the sea during the night (v. 21).
According to Dr. E. L. Terry, for all of Israel to cross the sea in a night, the opening in the sea would have to have been wide enough for five thousand people to cross side-by-side, nonstop! God calls this a “path” in the sea (see Ps. 77:19), which is a word for a passageway.
From Page 148 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark and the table of bread listed in this passage (25:10-40) were constructed with shittim wood (from the Hebrew, shittah), which is the wood of acacia tree that grows in desert regions. The Egyptians referred to this tree as the “tree of life.” The Septuagint calls it “incorruptible wood,” as the wood can strengthen with age. Once constructed, the furniture was covered with pure gold. The Ark of the Covenant, called in Hebrew Aron Habrit, was a box that held a gold pot containing some manna, the rod of Aaron, and the tablets of the Law written on stone (see Heb. 9:4). The lid on the Ark was called the mercy seat, or kapporeth in Hebrew, and was a thick plate of gold with two cherubim, constructed of one sheet of gold, sitting on top of this lid (see v. 17-22). The Ark was the lone piece of sacred furniture in the Holy of Holies in both the tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. Once a year, the high priest sprinkled blood on the east end of the mercy seat and God communicated with the high priest from between the wings of the cherubim (see v. 22).
The Jewish commentator Rashi explains that the Ark consisted of three boxes. The primary box was made of acacia wood. The second box was larger than the first and made of gold; the primary box was placed inside it. The third box was also gold, but smaller than the other two, and it was placed inside the wooden box. Thus, the main box was covered with gold from the inside out (Source: The Chumash, Stone Edition, Shemos/Exodus, page 477). A gold rim encircled the top of the Ark. The Ark was carried by four priests who placed its wooden staves on their shoulders. The four priests carrying the Ark may be an earthly picture of a heavenly reality, as Ezekiel saw four cherubim bearing the throne of God upon their shoulders (see Ezek. 1).
The Table of Showbread
The English word showbread in Hebrew is lechem (bread) and panim (face), called the “Bread of Face” or “Bread of Presence.” This table held two columns, stacked with six loaves of bread on each column. The bread contained two omers of flour and was mixed with frankincense (see Lev. 24:5-7). The bread, baked each Friday, remained on the table for one week and was replaced on the Sabbath. The priests were permitted to eat the replaced bread, but only in the holy place. The table of showbread was positioned at the northern wall of the temple, inside the holy place, directly across from the golden menorah. The twelve loaves are representative of the Word of God, as the Word is compared to bread (see Matt. 4:4; 6:11; 7:9; John 6:31-51). The New Testament contains twelve major doctrines that are parallel with the twelve loaves:
Salvation (Acts 4:12)
Justification (Rom. 5:1)
Water baptism (Matt. 28:19)
Sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3)
Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11)
Laying on of hands (Heb. 6:2)
Second Coming of Christ (Acts 1:11)
The resurrection of the dead (Heb. 6:2)
Judgment of the righteous at the Bema (Rom. 14:10)
Judgment of the unrighteous at the white throne (Rev. 20:11-15)
Eternal life for the righteous (John 3:15)
Eternal punishment for the unrighteous (Rev. 20:14)
The Golden Lampstand (Candlestick)
The seven-branched golden menorah provided light for the holy place at the tabernacle and the temple. According to Jewish history, it weighed about a hundred pounds. The temple menorah had seven branches that stayed lit by a supply of olive oil. The base was a three-legged tripod and the top contained cups, knops, lilies, and flowers, totaling sixty-six ornaments. Each lamp held about “six eggs” of measured oil, enough for one day. It was believed to hold a log (approximately half a pint) of oil. According to the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, the menorah was roughly six feet tall. The greatest controversy surrounding the menorah exists over the basic structure, shape, and direction of the branches. Some suggest they were curved or rounded at the bottom, and others believe they rose diagonally out of the middle of the main shaft.
Each day the menorah had to be cleaned. Each cup was refilled with oil, and gold tweezers were used to remove the old wicks and relight the new wicks for the light. According to Josephus, the seven branches represented the seven original planets.
The mystical Jewish interpretations for the menorah are endless. The lamp served as the light for the holy place but symbolized the divine illumination of the human intellect. The golden seven-branched light was made from one talent of gold (see Exod. 25: 39), which was 3,000 shekels or approximately 2,400 ounces. If the price of gold were to be $1000 per ounce, this menorah would be valued at $2.4 million.
To read about the significance of tabernacle furniture, see the articles “The Sacred Furniture Is a Picture of the Messiah” and “Cross Imagery Hidden in the Old Testament” in Exodus in Depth.
From Page 162 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
Where sacrifices and offerings were concerned, there was a difference between sins against God and sins against other human beings. When an Israelite sinned against God, he presented a sin offering. If he sinned against a fellow man, he presented a guilt offering called the asham, an offering of compensation or restitution. This offering forgave theft, false oaths, extortion, or lying. The asham was presented to God, but its purpose was to remove guilt associated with the mistreatment or sin against another person. God required restitution for a sin or trespass against a fellow human (see Exod. 22:3, 5-6).
The Old Testament word restitution (see Exod. 22:3) is shalam (not shalom) and means to “make amends, to finish, or to make good again.” Making restitution involves making wrongs right in relationships with others. Other offerings, such as the fellowship or peace offerings, were voluntary offerings presented to God in appreciation for His goodness.
Under the New Covenant, our spiritual blessings can be placed on “hold” if we walk in disobedience to God’s Word by holding grudges and harboring unforgiveness in our hearts toward our fellow man. When believers walk contrary to the truth, God can and will restrain the fullness of His blessings from their lives until they repent and turn from their disobedience. Jesus said it this way:
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matt. 5:23-24)
In western culture, we think of an altar as a wooden structure at the front of a church and the word gift as a monetary offering. In Christ’s day, the altar was the brass altar at the temple, and the gift comes from a Greek word used for sacrifice. In the Matthew 5 reference above, Christ was referring to the guilt offering when a person has wronged another; the Savior revealed that God would not accept this offering at the altar unless the offender made amends with his offended brother. To Christ, the spiritual attitude of the heart was more important than the public presentation of the sacrifice. James also indicated that believers should “confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:16).
From Page 209 of the Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Old Testament Study Bible
