Exodus 37

Read Exodus 37 here or at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraphs:

37:1-9 {p} He made the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat
37:10-16 {p} He made the table of showbread and its utensils
37:17-24 {p} He made the lampstand and its utensils
37:25-29 {s} He made the altar of incense / utensils / anointing oil / incense

I learned something interesting when I worked out the Hebrew Root Word parable for “hammered work.”

It is Strong’s H4749, miqshah, a concrete noun meaning “hammered work,” from Strong’s H4748, miqsheh, a concrete noun meaning “turned work,” from Strong’s H7185, qashah, a primitive root meaning, “to be hard, to be stiff-necked.” The 3-letter root is quph + shin + hey.

quph ק = sun on the horizon, thus condense, circle, time
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
hey ה = man with upraised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath

The related words brought to light by the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon helps us discover the story. One is “stalk,” as a stalk of grain; another is “stubble,” that which is left in the ground after the grain is harvested. In the old days, when grain was harvested, the stalks were gathered together (as light is gathered from the earth and the sky to the sun when it is on the horizon, and condensed within that circle, quph)  and pressed together (shin) making a compact bundle, which was tied together with a cord. Thus gathered, condensed (quph) and pressed together (shin) makes something hard; when that hardening is internalized (hey) the result is to be stiff-necked.

Hebrew is famously known for having both a positive and a negative meaning on its verbs. The negative meaning of being stiff-necked is to be stubborn, unyielding even in the face of truth or evidence. So often God charges His people who returned to idolatry again and again, and did not heed His commandments:

But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction. Jer 17:23

How can there be a positive meaning? It is just this: being so grounded in YHVH, and in the truth, that no amount of deceptive doctrine and false teaching can move you from it.

But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. Eze 3:7-9

The trials we suffer in life can have two outcomes for us, and we choose which outcome it is. Being hammered by trials can make us hard. We can become hard-hearted, if if we decide that the trials are unfair, and God is unfair to allow them to happen to us. This option shipwrecks our faith. Or, we can submit in humility to God, and seek Him for His wise response to our trials, and strengthen our faith in His goodness and the truth of all that the Bible says of Him. We can become like hammered work in our determination to shine His light to our families, our neighborhoods, our communities, and our world.

If there are questions, these are good resources:

When tragedy strikes – Christine Miller
What my thimble taught me about wounded hearts – Christine Miller