Read Exodus 35:1-40:38 at Bible Gateway.
exo 35:1-38:20, vayakhel “and he assembled” index of studies
exo 38:21-40:38, pekudei “countings” index of studies
the teaching tools of scripture
The paragraph divisions for vayakhel and pekudei are here. This year the chiastic structure for vayakhel and pekudei became clear:
Exo 34:27-40:38 vayakhel + pekudei (with a loose end from ki tisa)
1a) Exo 34:27-35:1-3 {s+p} Moses reflected God’s glory + His directions (commandments):
1a) Exo 34:27-29a, Moses brought down the second set of tablets with the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments;
central axis) Exo 34:29b-35 {s} Moses’ face shown with the glory of the Lord he had seen;
2a) Exo 35:1-3 {p} Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest;
1b) Exo 35:4-36:7 {p+s} The work of the tabernacle commanded + provided for;
1c) Exo 36:8-38:20 {p+s+px4+sx4} He made the coverings + frame + furnishings of the tabernacle;
1d) Exo 38:21, This is the inventory of the tabernacle which was counted;
central axis) Exo 38:22-23 {s} Bezalel made all that the Lord commanded Moses;
2d) Exo 38:24-39:1 {p} The gold, silver, bronze for the tabernacle + blue, purple, scarlet thread for garments of ministry;
2c) Exo 39:2-31 {s+p+p+sx3} He made the furnishings + frame + coverings of the priests;
2b) Exo 39:32-40:33 {p+p+sx8+p} The work of the tabernacle finished;
1a) Exo 39:32 {p} All the work of the tabernacle was finished;
1b) Exo 39:33-42, They brought the tabernacle to Moses;
central axis) Exo 39:43 {p} Moses found it done according to the commandment;
2b) Exo 40:1-33a {sx8} Moses erected the tabernacle;
1a) Exo 40:33b {p} So Moses finished the work;
2a) Exo 40:34-38 {p} The cloud, glory covered, filled the Tabernacle + directed their journey.
So we see that the glory of the LORD, His precious shekinah presence, is intrinsically tied to doing all as He had commanded them, a recurring phrase and theme throughout this section.
I need your help, since you have studied the chaism in these verses. Your help, or your husbands, whoever is comfortable delivering the message.
I am specifically looking at the part that says not to “ba’ar an aysh” Beit, Ayin, Reish. When those three letters are put together their meaning can mean a lot of different things, and Aysh can be spiritualized and in some cases is neccesary to spiritualize. Will you show me the verse that references “not to kindle a fire” and its partner in the chaism, please? Thanks so much from Gleaning The Scriptures. My email is surfmission3@gmail.com and my personal email address is tom.jeff.griffin@gmail.com
Hi Tom, the passage with not kindling a fire is from Exo 35:1-13 {p}:
35:1 Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” {p}
This is the 1A pair of the Vayakhel chiasm. The 2A pair is from Exo 36:8-38:20, ten paragraphs explaining that Bezalel made the works of the Tabernacle. The matching element between these two pairs is WORK SHALL BE DONE for six days; the Sabbath being a day of rest, (1A), and Bezalel MADE THE WORKS of the Tabernacle (2A); i.e. even on such an important work of ministry as building the Tabernacle, do not neglect Sabbath rest. I could not find a direct counterpart to the kindling fire admonition, but I do not have the smaller chiasm from Exo 36:8-38:20 worked out in my notes yet, so it could possibly be there. I will try to upload the Vayakhel chiasm today.