We are moving into chapter forty of Exodus with our word for today. קוּם erect, build. It is used 627 times in the Old Testament, 5 times in our chapter. Our word is used in the sense to construct, build, or erect. We find it used to set up idol worship. Leviticus 26:1 You shall not make idols for yourselves or תָקִ֣ימוּ erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 16:22 And you shall not תָקִ֥ים set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates. 2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, וַיָּ֨קֶם and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. Our word is used in reference to setting up the tabernacle worship. Numbers 1:51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites יָקִ֥ימוּ shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. Notice that at this time God purposely designs a place of worship to be mobile because of the mission to bring his people into the land he promised them. Also notice that he gave very specific instructions as to who was to do the taking down and setting up. Here is an example of this taking place. Numbers 10:17, 21 And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out … Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle וְהֵקִ֥ימוּ was set up before their arrival. This is how our word is used 5 times in our chapter today. Exodus 40:1-2, 16-18, 33 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “On the first day of the first month תָּקִ֕ים you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting … This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle הוּקַ֖ם was erected. Moses וַיָּ֨קֶם erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, וַיָּ֖קֶם and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars … וַיָּ֣קֶםAnd he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. We have looked at a lot of aspects of the tabernacle worship that God set up for people to connect with him in worship. It is significant to notice that this special tent actually worked in that the Levites who were assigned the task of taking it down and setting it up were able to do so until they reached the land God promised to them. God knows what he is doing and how to connect people to himself when we follow his specific direction on how to do so. Today we connect with God through his Son Jesus Christ death in our place and our willingness to receive this salvation through faith. I’ll close with this great Psalm of praise that uses our word to describe how great our salvation in God is. Psalm 40:1-4 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, וַיָּ֖קֶם and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust.
