Exodus – A Story of Deliverance
Lesson 10
The Tabernacle, the Feasts and Festivals of Israel
Before the Exodus, Israel was a race of people loosely formed by tribes and bound together by their common ancestor Jacob who was renamed Israel by God. After the Exodus, God not only delivered them from bondage in Egypt, but He made them a new nation on its way to their new land. Because human beings are notorious for their bad memories concerning all that we owe God, He gave them a place to approach Him in worship and memorials to remember all that God had done for them.
- What great event that marked the deliverance of Israel from Egypt would mark the first month of the Hebrew calendar (Exodus 12:1-13)? Describe the memorial that God commanded Israel to observe in Exodus 12:14-20.
- What was the significance of the sacrifice of a lamb for each family (Ex 12:21-27)? How often and for how many years should they observe this memorial (Ex 12:24-27, 42; 13:10)?
- What further ordinance did God give them as a memorial concerning their first born sons (Ex 13:12-16)? Why did Jesus’ parents take Him to the Temple in Jerusalem when He was 8 days old (Luke 2:21-24)?
- In Exodus 23:14-17, what are the three feasts that all Hebrew males had to come to the Tabernacle (later the Temple) annually to observe?
- Describe the box that God commanded Israel to make in order to house the original tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them in Exodus 25:10-22 (a cubet is 18 inches). What was built on top of the ARK of the Covenant (25:17-22; 37:1-9)?
- What was the original tabernacle made of (Ex 26:7-12)? What did they make to separate the Ark of the Covenant from the rest of the Tabernacle (Ex 26:31-33)? Outside the Tabernacle there was a large courtyard fenced in (Ex 27:18). What large structure was erected outside the Tabernacle, but in the courtyard, to burn sacrifices (Ex 27:1-8)? Who paid for it all (Ex 38:24-26)?
- Whose family was ordained as priests (Ex 29:4-9) forever? What was their first function (29:10-18)? Where would the priests and the people go regularly to make atonement for sin and be in the presence of God (Ex 29:42-46)?
- What feast which anticipated the harvest were they to celebrate right after Passover (Ex34:22, Leviticus 23:9-14)? What feast were they to celebrate 50 days after the Passover when they brought an offering of their crops to the Tabernacle/Temple (Leviticus 23:15-16, Deut 16:9-10)? The feast of weeks is commonly known as Pentecost, and was a harvest celebration.
- What was the high priest (Aaron) supposed to do once a year on the alter at the Tabernacle (Exodus 30:10, Lev 16:30-34)? Why did he “make atonement” (Leviticus 16:16)? Describe the ceremony of the “scapegoat” in Lev 16:21-22. What role did the people of Israel play in the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:27-32)? How does the author of Hebrews 9:1-15 explain the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice over the Day of Atonement?
- What was the feast commanded to occur seven days after the final harvest which celebrated the final harvest (Lev 23:34, Deut 16:13)?
