Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall (Exodus 38:8)
Our text for tonight’s message is taken from Exodus 38:8. Let me read for you. “And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation". The Lord bless the reading of His holy and sacred Word.
Introduction
This was the basin of brass, which was the last piece of furniture for the tabernacle. It was located in the courtyard between the doorway of the tabernacle and the altar of sacrifice. Like everything else in the courtyard, it was made of brass or bronze. We do not know for sure what size or shape it was. Most likely, it was round and large enough to hold sufficient water for the priests to wash themselves. There were two parts in this basin of brass. There was the basin itself and the stand on which the basin was sitting upon, and then it was filled with water.
The location of this brass basin was very crucial and vital because before the priests could enter into the tabernacle to perform their sacred duties, they had to first stop by this brass basin to wash their hands and feet. Today, some families or parents would not allow their children to come inside the house and sit at the table unless they had cleaned themselves by washing their hands and feet. It is considered disrespectful to sit at a table without first washing oneself.
But in the spiritual realm, washing is more than just a matter of respect. When the priests entered into the tabernacle, they were coming to serve and worship the one living and true God. Remember, the priests had already received atonement for their sins through the sin offering at the altar of sacrifice. So if they had already received atonement for their sins, why did the priests still need to wash their hands and feet? The answer is simply because they needed to be cleansed, sanctified to be pure and holy for their service to God.
Perhaps, the layout of the tabernacle will help us to have a better understanding. The first thing the priests encountered when they entered into the courtyard was the altar of sacrifice. The altar was symbolic of their justification. They needed to have their sins forgiven before anything else. And on the basis of the blood of the sacrificial animal, their sins were atoned for. They were covered with the blood.
In a sense, you can picture the image. They were bloody with all the blood sacrifices they had offered. Then, as the priests move from the altar of sacrifice toward the tabernacle itself, the next thing they encountered was the brass basin. Since they were covered with the blood, the right thing for them to do was to go through some kind of ceremonial purification. This ceremonial purification was done on this brass basin.
Though their sins had been atoned for, but they were still sinners. And in order to cleanse themselves from the corruption of the ongoing sins in their lives, they had to wash their hands and feet. The ceremonial cleansing was symbolic. It was symbolic of their sanctification, their progress in holiness. Even the priests, as holy as they were, had to be sanctified before they could enter into the holy place to serve a holy God.
This is applicable to all of us. The first thing we need is to be saved, justified, and forgiven of our sins. Once we believe the gospel and embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour for salvation, we are justified. But as long as we are alive, living in this mortal body known as the flesh, we are still troubled by sin and temptation. So, we need to be cleansed, sanctified. And we are sanctified daily through confession, repentance, prayers, the Word of God, and the wonder-working of the Holy Spirit.
Today, we want to consider just one verse, Exodus 38:8, and draw spiritual lessons from it and it is about the women mentioned here, and to be more precise, it is about mirrors, which I will explain shortly. The title of the message is “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.”
This is a phrase taken from the fairy tale of Snow White, where the wicked queen asked this question as she looked into the mirror: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all’? When she was told that it was Snow White, she was filled with hatred, envy, and jealousy.
I. They Served God (Exodus 38:8b)
The first lesson we want to learn is about the women serving God. Look at the last part of the verse. These women were gathered at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. In other words, they were gathered to serve at the entrance of the tabernacle.
The Bible does not tell us what they were doing. Maybe they served as greeters and ushers at the tabernacle. Or they were singers and musicians, or they helped in some practical ways in leading the sacrificial animals into the courtyard. But whatever be the case, they were actively serving God.
Throughout church history, women have played an important role in the service of the Lord. Though the Bible does command women not to usurp the authority of men. 1 Timothy 2:11 says, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.” It is in the imperative. It is a command. Women must learn in silence with all subjection, which means with complete submission.
But we must not misunderstand the meaning when it says women should be in silence. It is only against authoritative speaking, like public preaching, teaching, and ruling in the church. That was why the Apostle Paul continued to say in verse 12, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” “To suffer not” means it is not permitted. It is not allowed.
Why? Because they must not usurp the man’s authority.
Well, some people would argue, but what about the women in the Bible like Deborah, who served as a judge in the Old Testament, or the daughters of Philip in Acts 21:9, or Phoebe and Priscilla? They were all involved in ministering the Word of God. But those were the exceptions rather than the norm. And even then, Deborah herself had declined to lead the military campaign against the Canaanites until God raised up a man, Barak.
If you notice throughout Scriptures, no woman served as priests. None of the authors of the Old and New Testaments were women. No woman had an ongoing preaching ministry like Elijah, Elisha, or the other prophets. There were no women pastors or elders in the New Testament. There were no recorded sermons or teachings of any woman.
God has ordained different roles for men and women. The role of man is to lead. The role of woman is to submit and support his leadership, whether in the church or in the family. But there may be special instances or unusual circumstances whereby the women have to lead.
For example, when the husband or father is absent, then the woman of the house must assume the leadership of the family. Or in times of war, when men are called to fight in the battlefield and they are killed, then the women must lead. But those are the exceptions rather than the norm.
So women ought to serve according to their God-given roles. They can serve by teaching other women. Especially the mature ones are to teach the immature ones. The older women are to teach the younger women. They can teach children. Most of us would agree that some of the best Sunday school teachers are women.
They can serve as ushers, greeters, musicians, in the refreshment team, PA ministry, logistics, administration, and so forth. The point is that the areas and capacities for women to serve are endless. And they ought to avail themselves to serve like these women of old, gathered together to serve at the entrance of the tabernacle.
II. They Gave To God (Exodus 38:8a)
The second lesson we want to learn is that they gave to God. The first part of verse 8 says, “And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass.” So the basin was made of brass or bronze. And where did they get the bronze? From the looking glasses of the women. Looking glasses means mirrors.
Most likely, these women received the mirrors from the Egyptians when they left the land of slavery. When the historians dug up the remains of ancient Egypt, they found many amazing artefacts, among which were the mirrors. The mirrors were made up of either copper or bronze, bronze being the more valuable and expensive ones. And they were owned by the rich. They were polished to shine radiantly, like the reflection of the glass mirrors we have today.
Can you imagine? These Israelite women had lived their entire lives as slaves. They never owned anything. They never possessed anything of beauty. They had seen their Egyptian mistresses with their mirrors. Sometimes they had to help their mistresses with the cosmetics or to plait their hair, and they could only steal a glance of their own faces at the mirror. How they wish they could own one for themselves.
Then all of a sudden, as they left Egypt, the Egyptians gave them all the treasures, including those beautiful mirrors. Finally, they could own their own mirrors. They could see what they actually look like and to make themselves as beautiful as they had always longed for.
Then came the day when Moses invited the Israelites to bring their gifts for the tabernacle—gold, silver, and bronze. The people went home to see what they had to offer. And these women look around their tents and realise that their mirrors were made of bronze or brass.
Immediately, they made up their minds and offered the mirrors to the Lord.
No doubt, some women were tempted to keep their mirrors, and probably some of them did. After all, there was nothing wrong with wanting to look beautiful. But to the praise of God, these women were willing to part with their most precious possessions.
Word must have spread throughout the camp, and everyone heard what these women had given. More importantly, their offering pleased the Almighty God, so much so that He instructed Moses to write down these words in the Holy Scriptures, that for generations to come, everyone would know that the bronze basin was made from the looking glasses of these women.
Today, almost everyone owns a mirror. Some of us have several mirrors at home. But we need to understand and appreciate the significance of these women of old offering their mirrors. It meant everything to them. It was the most precious thing they had, and they gave it to the Lord.
Dear friend, what is the most precious thing in your life? Your job, your money, your car, house, and other material things, or perhaps relationships, your children? But if that is the very thing God wants from you, will you offer it to Him, or will you withhold it from Him?
Do not be like the joke about a certain couple who had three sons: Peter, James, and John. One day, they discussed between themselves, “Our first son Peter is very good with languages. We should send him to Oxford to study law. He will be an excellent lawyer. Our second son James is very good with music. We should send him to Juilliard to study music. He will be an accomplished musician. Our third son John is very slow, not wise, and often gets himself into trouble. We should send him to the Bible college. God will be able to use him in the ministry.”
Is that our attitude? Giving God the leftovers? God forbids.
Rather, we should be like these women who gave to God their most precious possessions, the mirrors.
III. They Glorified God
Our final point is: they glorify God.
Obviously, mirrors are used to show a reflection of ourselves. We want to see what we look like and, if possible, to improve our looks. Generally, people feel good knowing that they look good, and they feel even better when others think they look good.
Recent studies tell us that the average woman looks into the mirror at least six hours each week, while the average man spends half the time. Most women would put on cosmetics, so they need to spend more time.
In a sense, like the title of our message, they will look into the mirror and say, “Mirror, mirror on the wall.” Maybe they may not say, “Who is the fairest of them all?” but they will say, “Am I fair enough? Am I beautiful and handsome enough? Am I good enough to go out in this outfit?”
It is all about the outward physical appearance. Right? There’s nothing wrong with the outward physical beauty, but there is something more important than that, and it is the inner beauty.
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to 1 Peter 3:3. Referring to the women, the Apostle Peter said, “Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning, of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel.”
The original Greek word for adorning is from where we get the English word for cosmetics. It is interesting that this passage was written almost 2,000 years ago, and after a long passage of time, the situation hasn’t changed much.
Women are still focusing on the plaiting of hair, wearing of jewelleries, and putting on of nice garments. In fact, in our modern times, women can hardly walk into the store without being bombarded with advertisements of all kinds of hair products. They cannot walk down the street without being overwhelmed by the number of shops selling jewelleries. They cannot open a magazine without being persuaded to think that there’s a lack of clothes in their own wardrobes.
The Bible is not saying that it is wrong for women to look beautiful. Which woman does not desire beauty? The emphasis here is against the preoccupation with external beauty. Instead of devoting all your time, and effort, and money on external beauty, it is the inner beauty that is more important.
The woman who has inner beauty will know what to wear on her outside. A beautiful woman is one who has inner beauty and radiance. That is why verse 4 says, “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
All the earthly fashions of this world will soon pass away. But the inner beauty of spiritual virtues will not pass away because it is not corruptible. It is not corruptible because this quality of humility and a quiet spirit is very precious in the sight of God.
It is the kind of spirit that makes the gospel believable. And God is the only One who can see into the innermost of our hearts. He is the only One who can see the beauty of the inner person that no man can see. And it is so precious to Him that the Bible says it is of good, great price.
A word of encouragement to our young ladies. Maybe you are struggling because you think you are only average-looking. You are not outstandingly beautiful, and you think that you will have a hard time finding a husband. But if you cultivate and work on this inner beauty, do not worry about it because a young, wise man will come along who is looking for this inner beauty, and he will say, “This is the kind of woman I am praying for.”
On the other hand, there are some young ladies who are very happy with their looks. Please do not depend on your looks, because this outward physical beauty will soon pass away. The wrinkles will come. The grey hair will come. The freckles will come. And when these things appear, the so-called love of your life will disappear, because you have always depended on the outside beauty.
According to an old Jewish commentator, he said, “It is the custom of all the women to behold their faces every morning in the mirror, that they might see what they look, how they look, that they might need to clean and touch up their faces, dress their hair, to look beautiful.”
But these women were able to see beyond their outward physical appearances and onto the Almighty God who had created them and made them to be the persons they were. They saw not their own beauty, but the beauty of the Lord, and they were willing to give up their mirrors so that others would be able to see His beauty and glorify Him.
Do you realise how true that was? Because from then onwards, every child of Israel who walk into the courtyard would see this bronze basin, and it would be so shining. And what was it made of? From the mirrors of these women.
And today, by the grace of God, we are reading and considering this passage.
This is a challenge not only to Christian women but to every believer. When you and I look into the mirror, what do we see? Do we only see features we wish we could change, flaws we wish we could replace, wrinkles we wish we could remove? Or do we see a man or a woman loved by God, who has been justified by the blood that Jesus offered on the cross and is being cleansed daily by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit?
When we look into the mirror, do we see such a person? And what beauty do we desire? Do we wish that God could make us look like someone else, like the celebrities in the movies? Or do we say, “Lord Jesus, when people look at me, I don’t care how beautiful they think I am. I don’t care how handsome they think I am, or how ugly they think I am. Because in Your eyes, I’m always beautiful and precious. So beautiful and precious that You are willing to die for me and shed Your precious blood to save me. And this is all that matters”.
So, as the title says, “Mirror, mirror on the wall,” when we look into it, we ought to see someone who has been saved by the grace of God. It is not about the outward physical beauty, but the inner man, the inner beauty that God desires for each and every one of us to have, to the glory of His precious name.
Conclusion
Closing Prayer
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, indeed Thou has taught us once again not to conform our lives to the pattern of this world. For this world looks at the outward physical appearance and beauty, but it is the inner beauty that is more important. And this inner beauty that we ought to work and cultivate is not corruptible, because it is precious in Thy sight, and Thou has reminded us that it is of great price.
So, even as we study the bronze basin which is located in the courtyard of the tabernacle, it stands as a testimony of those women who had served Thee so willingly, who gave to Thee their most precious possessions, the mirrors. They were willing to part with the most precious thing in their lives because they sought to glorify Thee.
When they looked into the mirror, they saw not their own beauty, but the beauty of the Lord. And this is what every one of us as believers ought to see too as we look into the mirror. We ought to see a sinner saved by the grace of God, bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and we will always be beautiful and precious in Thy sight. We give Thee thanks. And we pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.