Israel and Humanity - The Tabernacle of the desert
The history of the construction of the Tabernacle first, then the temple of Solomon, and finally the Second Temple which was to be the last, is no less instructive. These include above all a remarkable arrangement that enhances the eminently peaceful and humanitarian these houses of God. The law had required that the use of iron was banished to the size of the stones at least in the sacred precincts, because Moses said: "The mere contact of your sword on the stone the profane", which means, by very true rabbinic interpretation, it would not be proper that the sword which shortens the life used to build the altar that is intended to extend it. "If we want to remember that the prophets hurry their vows on the day when swords will be converted into casings and spears into sickles, and where the war will nag the face of the earth, and that David was denied the glory of the Temple building, which he had attended the materials only because he had spilled much blood and great wars undertaken without writing makes no distinction between the blood of Gentiles and the Israelites, we do not doubt for a moment that the exclusion of iron in the work of the sanctuary has been well meaning indicated by the rabbis. In their commentary on the words of Moses: "Whoever touches the body of one who was killed by the sword", the players make contact with the sword as of the corpse of a cause of impurity that makes a man unworthy to touch the sacred things and even enter the Temple precincts.
Now the big part played by gentiles in the building of the sanctuary. We have already noticed that the precious objects which were used for this opportunity all came from Egypt. An oppressed people as was Israel could obviously have other kinds of wealth than he had from his persecutors, and if the text says about the subject, brought from Egypt: "You will put them on your son and your daughters, it does not they have used in the manufacture of accessories Temple, because when it came to building the golden calf, we thugs that brought everyone to this effect Aaron jewelry he was carrying. Whether there were amulets and other items of a religious character, it suggests that the Aramaic paraphrase "and it is likely that the trophy is taken as the victory of the God of Israel on Egyptian gods and they would then be used to build his sanctuary. " We know other than Egypt and the desert, many converts were committed to a more or less complete in the religion of Israel and it is natural to assume that they have voluntarily provided their assistance in this circumstance. Do not we see Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to formally bring, too, the God of Israel, they have offered burnt offerings on his behalf? If the two leaders of Israel have dared to take this language to the king of Egypt, which proves that there was nothing that was not entirely consistent or beliefs of the country or to the principles Jews themselves, there is no doubt the multitude of converts who followed the Israelites in the desert has been invited to cooperate in building the Tabernacle.
He is also obvious that the workers, designers and artists of all kinds have been used for various works of the sanctuary had acquired in Egypt and perfected their knowledge and skill requirements. It is true that the sacred text speaks of a special science that God would have communicated, but it is also explicitly discussed previously trained artists, already experts in the exercise of their professions. If we recall the amazing similarities that modern archeology has found between the shrines and religious objects from Egypt on the one hand and, secondly, the tabernacle and sacred vessels described in Exodus doubt is no longer possible and the cooperation of the Gentile goes into the general system that we see dominating one end to another of the Bible and to distinguishing between true and false in the various religions of the mankind and to select and retain whatever they contained good and legitimate.
