You Can Have My Mirror

The children of Israel were not your usual refugees. They were not poor by any means. They actually had quite a lot of wealth, including what they had "borrowed" from their Egyptian neighbors when they left the country. "And I [God] will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians." (Exodus 3:21-22 NIV) The problem in the wilderness was, of course, that you cannot eat gold and silver and fine clothing nor was there any place to buy it. Although they were rich by some measure, they would have perished had not God miraculously provided for them.

We sometimes envision that this huge throng was constantly trekking through desert, but this was not the case. They traveled when the cloud of God's presence moved, day or night, and they stopped when the cloud held steady. We don't know much about this wilderness life of theirs, but apparently while they camped, life took on some of its normal routine. Specifically, we know that they cooked and ate and did the laundry, engaged in battle against enemies and had disputes among themselves. (Exodus 16-18) All the while they held onto their valuables—with the notable exception of giving Aaron their gold earrings to make a gold calf-god to worship. Even at that, when the call went out for them to bring offerings for the construction of the tabernacle and all its accompaniments, they came, both men and women, bringing all that was needed. Earrings, nose rings, rings and necklaces, fine linen and colored threads, goats' hair, sheep skins and badger hides, precious stones, spices and oil. Not your usual refugees.

I am especially taken with the gifts bought by one group of women. The workers, with Bezalel in charge, made the bronze washbasin and its bronze stand from the bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. (This is where Moses went to speak with God.) Can you imagine what it would be like to give up your mirrors?

"Do I look all right?" a woman questions anxiously. Oh, sure, sure, the husband says. She is not convinced, but she has no mirror.

"Do I look all right?" she wonders as she meets other women. "Or are they looking at me strangely?" She should have checked in the mirror—but she doesn't have one.

"Do I look all right? I'm not trying to be anything extraordinary, just okay." But she can't tell for sure. If there were just a tiny mirror . . .

Certainly, gold and silver and precious stones and fine textiles are wonderful to bring as offerings. But I have special admiration for those women who brought their precious piece of polished bronze and said, "Here, you can have my mirror." Each of them gave, in a special, unique way the costly gift of part of her self.

Marjorie

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.