As the title says, you reap what you sow
Exodus (110) You reap what you sow (Exodus 38:1-20)
< The blessing of dedication >
The text records the construction of the altar of burnt offering, the laver, and the fence of the tabernacle, which are the utensils outside the sanctuary. They are instruments of repentance, of the cross, of devotion, of holiness, of holy separation. The tabernacle is like a treasure map of the soul that allows you to find God and experience God's presence. So, to experience God's presence, repentance, cross, devotion, sanctification, and holy separation are also necessary.
In particular, the most moving record in the process of making the tabernacle is the record that the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting made a laver by offering a bronze mirror. To say that the women offered mirrors means that the painter gave the brush and the soccer player gave the soccer ball. It is not usually meaningful to say that women offered their mirrors in those days when it was difficult to find them again in the wilderness.
Especially for the women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting, a mirror was a necessity. Also, looking at the words of 1 Samuel 2 that Eli's sons slept with a woman who served at the door of the tent of meeting, these women were generally good-looking women, and they had to dress up their bodies beautifully because they had to serve many people. Such women gave mirrors. In that way, when you listen to someone's servant, you give your most precious thing, and God's blessing will also be assured when you are assuredly served.
An elder's company went bankrupt. At that time, all the employees were busy collecting their severance pay and leaving, but only the elder told the boss. "boss! If the boss goes to jail, our company is completely ruined. Put it all back on me. I take full responsibility and go to jail and build the company until I come out.” And I went to jail. In the meantime, the president was able to start the company again. And to the elder who came out of prison after serving his sentence, the president thanked him and set up a company, and it is said that the company has grown bigger than the previous one.
When it comes to serving, it is definitely character that is served. Those who serve in this way receive the grace of God and the grace of men. What does it mean to attend? A true servant is to do your best to meet the will of the one you need to attend, and to know how to give when the one you need to attend even if you need it for yourself.
<You reap what you sow>
A laver was essential to the priests. Because if you enter the holy place without washing your hands and feet, you will die (Ex 30:18-20). After all, the priests knew that they could live only if there was a laver, so the women who served them gave their precious things. God will surely remember such a heart and devotion.
This is a story from the Midrash, a book of Jewish teachings. When Moses asked to offer offerings to build the tabernacle, Moses initially wanted to accept only men's offerings. Then the women came and protested. “Moses! Why don't we take what we give? Can't women exalt the name of God? Here are the clothes we used to wear. Take a yarn from this garment and use it to make the veil for the house of God. Also here is the brass mirror we used. Please use this mirror to make the film forming apparatus.”
So when the women appeared with bronze mirrors, Moses was angry and said, “This mirror is a sensual and sexual thing used to shape the body. How do you use these things to build the holy house of God?”
That's when God spoke. “Moses! Among the offerings of the people, I am most pleased with the bronze mirror. When my people lived as slaves in Egypt, when men returned home after working hard all day, the wives treated them with care and mirrored themselves to please their husbands. Seeing this, men wanted to have wives, so my people had many children. I promised to make my people multiply like the stars in the sky, but the tool that made that prophecy come true is the mirror. Take that mirror and use it to make a laver.”
God saw and accepted the mirror as a precious tool to fulfill God's promise of fertility, and he used the laver made of the mirror as a barometer of chastity. So, if you look at Numbers 5, when Israeli women at that time were openly suspicious of their husbands, the priest brought the woman to the front of the burnt offering in the tabernacle, put water in a pottery bowl, took the dust from the bottom of the tabernacle, put it in the water, and wrote the curse words on paper.
Then he washed the paper in the water of the laver and had the woman drink it, and if nothing happened, he was told to be recognized as a clean woman. In the end, the laver made of mirrors provided by the women became a tool to remove the false accusations of women later. That is the blessing of devotion. A devoted life always has its rewards. You reap what you sow. Great devotion leads to great life. Be blessed spirits who always give their precious things for the precious things that please God.