Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019)
Article: The Meaning Of The "Mishkhan"
Author: Kenneth R. Cooper

JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019) p. 195

The Meaning Of The Mishkhan

Kenneth R. Cooper

* Kenneth R. Cooper, M.A., D.D., Ph.D., professor of Bible and theology, Tyndale Theological Seminary and Biblical Institute

When God delivered his people from Egyptian bondage, his expressed purpose was that they might serve Him. Part of that purpose, if not the essence of it, was the worship of God, since frequently in Scripture, worship and service go together. For example, God assured Moses of his presence and candidly expressed his purpose when He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain” (Exod 3:12).1 The word translated “worship” in this passage is the same word frequently translated “serve” in passages in which Moses called on Pharaoh to “Let My people go that they may serve Me in the wilderness” (7:16).2 However, several other things Moses was told to explain to Pharaoh seem to indicate that this service included worship of several kinds. For example, Moses was told to tell Pharaoh to let Israel go “that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God” (3:18); and, on another occasion, “Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness” (5:1). Sacrifice and feasts were both forms of worship;3 it would, therefore, seem that there is a close connection between serving God and worshiping God.

JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019) p. 196

When the remainder of the book of Exodus is examined, one should notice that more than one third of the book focuses on the worship of God. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. made this identification and stated,

The final sixteen chapters of Exodus center on the theology of the worship of God. The only interruption of this theme is the episode of the golden calf (chs. 32–34). But this section only contrasts the divinely appointed worship established in connection with the tabernacle with humanly devised worship that adores the work of human hands and leads to debauchery.4

Kaiser added, “The sheer amount of text devoted to the topic of worship ought to demonstrate its importance.”5 Terence E. Freitheim agreed, adding, “The volu...