Daily Lectionary Exodus 26 & Matthew 24:1-28

Exodus 26

Summary

The tabernacle construction reflects the creation and garden in Genesis 1-3. Just like a Cherub was placed to guard the garden with a flaming sword in Genesis 3, so cherubim are woven into the curtains of the tabernacle.

Inside the Tabernacle, there are two spaces: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place separated by a curtain. Inside the Most Holy Place was the ark with the mercy seat. The table and lampstand were opposite of each other in the Holy Place. Another screen was constructed for the entrance of the tent. 

Reflection

The Tabernacle is set up with veils and curtains that created grades of separation. What’s the significance of the veils?

Matthew 24:1-28

Jesus has just wept over Jerusalem’s rejection of him. Leaving the temple, he predicts the temple will be destroyed. The disciples wanted to know when the temple would be destroyed and when his coming again would be. So Jesus gives them signs that must happen first. There will be false messiahs, political turbulence and war, natural disasters. All of this will be like birth pains. The disciples will be persecuted and the gospel of the kingdom will go out to the end of the world. That’s’ when the end will come.

The abomination of desolation will come and bring great tribulation to Jerusalem as the prophet Daniel predicted. Jesus connects with Daniel again when he speaks of the Son of Man coming on clouds.. 

Some have taken this to be a prophecy of the end of the world, but it could also be a continuation of the judgment on Jerusalem. There was great tribulation, like birth pains, in the lead up to AD 70 when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. This really was the end of an age: the end of the Old Covenant era. Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and dead, but we may also see AD 70 a coming of the Son of Man on the clouds to bring a final judgment on Jerusalem, thus bringing to an end the old age and creation and beginning a new age and creation. 

Reflection

Read Daniel 7. How might the destruction of Jerusalem be Jesus’ vindication as the coming of the Son of Man?