One Way

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One Way

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord; How marvelous are Your courts which do surround; And how beautiful is Your gate, it pulls my heart toward the marvelous place; there on the dry ground I long to enter into the place where You dwell and to smell the burning of the sacrifice. Accept my offering O Lord and be pleased to tell that we are again in fellowship, so sweet and so nice. How lovely is Your dwelling place, my God, I long to stay here with You for eternal days; And to gaze upon the beauty of my Lord; And with my soul, forever to sing Your praise.

Psalm 84:10-12 says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” For the Lord God is a sun and shield;  ​​ ​​​​ the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold  ​​ ​​​​ from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you. Psalms 65:3-4 says, “When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.”

Psalms 100:4-5 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalms 116:17-19 says, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord—in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.” Psalms 96:6-8 says, “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. ​​ Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.” Psalms 92:12-15 says, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

As we see, God’s courts or courtyard are important and significant to His people. It was where they came to praise and worship Him. It was where they came confessing their sins and received forgiveness. It was where they came to be in communion with God. And it was where they came looking forward to the future hope of dwelling with God for eternity. It is interesting because we can see all these things in the church as well. We come here as a body of believers to praise and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we come here to meet with and commune with our holy God, we should enter having confessed our sins and received forgiveness so that there is nothing hindering that communion with Him. And as we come here worshipping and fellowshipping with other believers it should help us to fix our eyes on the glorious future hope we have of dwelling with God and Jesus in heaven for all eternity.

Now I want to preface all that with this: the courtyard of the Lord’s tabernacle was perfect and of course, the church is not but as we its members strive to live holy lives and become more like Jesus, connected to God and each other and as we all have an urgency to be in relationship with Jesus, we can draw closer to the perfection of the Lord’s courtyard and tabernacle. But we can only truly do this when we come to God on His terms and His terms are Jesus Christ. Only through Jesus Christ are we able to come into His courts confessing our sins and receive forgiveness. Only through Jesus Christ are we able to come into His courts praising and worshipping God. Only through Jesus Christ are we able to come into His courts and have communion with God. And only through Jesus Christ are we able to come into His courts looking forward to the future hope that is ours as believers. There is only one way to come into the courtyard of the Lord, into His presence, and that is through Jesus. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God demands His people come into His court (presence) on His terms.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, as we gather this morning in your presence, we come asking for your Holy Spirit to inhabit this place and our hearts. Show us the truths in your Word this morning and help us to be obedient to them. Open up our hearts and minds to what you want each of us to know and learn and share with those we come in contact with this coming week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning, the first is, God’s Presence Guarded, found in Exodus 27:9-19. This is what God’s Word says, “Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The south side shall be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains of finely twisted linen, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The north side shall also be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. “The west end of the courtyard shall be fifty cubits wide and have curtains, with ten posts and ten bases. On the east end, toward the sunrise, the courtyard shall also be fifty cubits wide. Curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, and curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on the other side, with three posts and three bases. “For the entrance to the courtyard, provide a curtain twenty cubits long, of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer—with four posts and four bases. All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands and hooks, and bronze bases. The courtyard shall be a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, with curtains of finely twisted linen five cubits high, and with bronze bases. All the other articles used in the service of the tabernacle, whatever their function, including all the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard, are to be of bronze.”

Moses continues to be on the mountain getting instructions from God about his house, the tabernacle, that will dwell in the middle of the Israelites’ camp. He continues to give instructions from the inside out and we come now to the courtyard of the tabernacle (picture) which will surround God’s dwelling place. The courtyard marked the outer boundary of God’s holiness. This was where God’s people would meet with Him in worship, fellowship, communion, sacrifice and receive forgiveness. No wonder there are so many psalms speaking about the courtyard of the Lord. It would be a wonderful place to be. A courtyard was needed for a couple of reasons. One, it was a barrier reminding the Israelites that they didn’t have free access to God because of their sinfulness and his holiness. Two, it also served as preparation for their orderly worship of the Lord. Three, it separated the outside world from His chosen people reminding them that they were to be a “holy nation” and a “light” to the world. ​​ 

The dimensions of the courtyard were to be one hundred cubits or one hundred and fifty feet long on the south side and the north side. Both sides were to have twenty posts and twenty bronze bases with silver hooks and bands on each post. The curtains or screens all the way around the courtyard, not counting the entrance, were to be made of finely twisted linen. These fine linens were probably white symbolizing the purity and righteousness of Jesus through which the Israelites were able to come into the presence of the Lord. Revelation 19:8 says, “Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Which only comes through Jesus.

We are not told what the posts were made out of or if they were overlaid with any metal. They were probably made out of acacia wood like the rest of the tabernacle, but it is possible that they were kept as is without any overlay at all. It would make sense that they would be wood being the farthest point away from where God would dwell and closer to the outside world. We have seen gold used closer to God symbolizing heaven and royalty, we’ve seen silver used farther out from the presence of God symbolizing redemption and bronze being used where the people would mostly be symbolizing the earth and being under judgment. As the courtyard was the dividing line between God’s chosen people and the outside world, it is possible that the posts were left as wood with no metal being used to overlay it. Next, God gives the dimensions of the west end and the east end. Both ends were to be fifty cubits or seventy-five feet long with curtains. The difference is that the west end would have curtains seventy-five feet long with ten posts and ten bases and the east end would have two sets of curtains twenty-two and a half feet long with three posts and three bases on either side of the entrance curtain.

It is interesting that God starts with the south side and then describes the north, west and east sides just as he did when he gave the dimensions of the frames of the tabernacle. If you notice when God gave the directions for the east end he said, “toward the sunrise.” This was a warning to the Israelites. While they were in captivity in Egypt, they would have seen the Egyptians facing the east worshipping the sun as it rose. God made the tabernacle with himself facing the rising sun in the east symbolized that the east was His domain and not the domain of these other gods. Also, the pagan peoples around them associated the sun with order, rule of law and moral justice and these were the one true God’s prerogatives. God wanted His people to attribute the sun to His justice and righteousness. Each morning when the Israelite worshippers approached the tabernacle courtyard their backs would face the rising sun, and their fronts would face the Lord. This was a reminder that God was the only one worthy of worship.

Next, God gives instructions for the one and only entrance to the courtyard. The entrance was to be twenty cubits or thirty feet long with a curtain made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen by an embroiderer. This curtain was to be made the same way as the entrance curtain to the Holy Place which connected the entrance of the courtyard to what would happen inside the tabernacle. Moses is then reminded that all the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands and hooks and bronze bases. Practically speaking, these bands and hooks were used to keep the curtains firmly attached to the posts (picture).

He is also reminded that the dimensions of the courtyard were to be one hundred and fifty feet long by seventy-five feet wide with curtains of finely twisted linen. But there is an added feature that the curtains around the courtyard were to be seven and a half feet tall. This would have rendered what was inside the courtyard unseen to those who were outside. This may have brought mystery and excitement to what was happening inside drawing those who did not yet believe in the one true God for their salvation. Then again for a third time, Moses is told that the bases of the posts are to be bronze. When something is repeated that many times, we should probably pay attention. Theologically speaking, the wooden posts may have symbolized the outside world and even the Israelites who were under judgment symbolized by the bronze bases. The silver bands and hooks symbolized the redemption of those who were able to enter the courtyard under God’s terms (Big Idea). Lastly, we are told that all the other articles used in the service of the tabernacle, whatever their function, including all the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard, are to be of bronze. These articles would have included axes, knives, hammers, etc. used to set up, tear down and repair the tabernacle and courtyard area.

That brings us to our second point, God’s Presence With Us, found in Exodus 27:20-21. This is what God’s Word says, “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.”

Once God had given Moses the instructions for the tabernacle, He seems to abruptly change the subject to oil for the lamps. These two verses are a transition from the appearance of the tabernacle to the function of the tabernacle. In chapter 28, God will start to give instructions for the priests who will be responsible for performing the tasks inside the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. One of these tasks will be to tend to the lampstand and its lamps. He commands the Israelites to bring clear oil of pressed olives for the light to keep the lamps burning. We have already seen God asking the Israelites to bring an offering of olive oil for the light back in Exodus 25:6. Now he fleshes that out by telling them specifically what kind of olive oil they are to bring. The oil for the light is to be clear from “pressed” or “beaten” olives. The oil required was to be pure so it would give off the brightest light with little or no smoke. This would have been important since the lampstand was inside the Holy Place. The olives were not to be crushed to a pulp as the pulp would have contaminated the oil but was to be lightly beaten with rods and left to drain by gravity.

The lamps were to be kept burning. In the NASB it says, “to make a lamp burn continually.” There is some confusion whether the lamps are to burn 24/7 because in the next verse, both the NIV and the NASB say they are to keep the lamps burning from “evening till morning.” If you remember, the lampstand had two functions. One was to give light so the priests could perform their tasks in the Holy Place. It’s possible that there would have been enough light during the day that they would not have needed to keep the lamps lit then. Practically speaking, it may not have been possible to keep the lamps lit all day, every day for the forty plus years they wandered in the wilderness. Two, the light was symbolic of God’s eternal presence with his people, protecting and providing for them. The main times they would have needed this reminder would have been at night when the sun went down until it rose again. No matter whether it burned all the time or only at night, the meaning was the same. The light was symbolic of God’s constant and watchful care over His people. It would have reminded them and reminds us of Aaron’s blessing in Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Next, we see that God may have also thought he was being abrupt in the change of focus, so he reminds Moses where these lamps are located that are to be kept lit. He was very specific that these lamps were in the “tent of meeting” or the tabernacle, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law. God, of course, is speaking about the lampstand and its seven lamps that sit in the Holy Place, before the Lord, outside the Holy of Holies. This is the first time the title “Tent of Meeting” is used for the tabernacle reminding us that this is God’s house where he will meet with Moses and the Israelites. Then we get a glimpse of the priestly family who are to perform the tasks in the Tabernacle. Aaron and his sons from the family of Levi are charged to keep the lamps burning from “evening till morning.” This command to the priests was to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come meaning they were to remain lit until Jesus, the “Light of the world” came to earth. The lamps being lit symbolized “everlasting praise” as someone would be worshipping in the Holy Place, day and night. That is the end of the instructions for the building of the tabernacle and its furnishings. Next, in chapter 28, God will turn to the role of the tabernacle in the daily lives of the Israelites. He will focus on the priests and what they are to wear as they perform the tasks within the tabernacle. We will realize that verses 20-21 were a prelude to His instructions to follow.

Before we leave our study of the tabernacle, we need to be reminded of one crucial fact. The tabernacle, its furnishing and in fact the entire courtyard pointed to the Israelites and points us to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. How can a holy God dwell among sinful people? How can a sinful man enter the holy place? The tabernacle has shown us the process for bringing sinners and the Holy One together. All this points us to Christ, the greater and truer tabernacle as we have seen in John 1:14. ​​ John Owen says, “Everything Moses did in erecting the tabernacle and instituting all its services was intended to testify to the person and glory of Christ which would later be revealed.” The tabernacle and its courtyard provide us with an amazing representation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “light of the world”, the true light and the true lampstand. John 1:9 says, “The true light that gives light to everyone is coming into the world.” And in John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus is also the ultimate provision from God. He is the “bread of life” represented by the table of the bread of the Presence. He is the bread that we desperately need to live.

Jesus is the better altar. His ultimate sacrifice on the cross is the source of our salvation. Jesus is our high priest who enters the holy place for us and tears the veil bringing us back to the Garden of Eden. Now, we can come boldly to the throne of God. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Jesus is the better sacrifice as the mediator who willingly shed his blood for us. Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Now by grace through faith we can enter into God’s presence. Finally, just like there was only one way into the courtyard of the tabernacle, Jesus is the one and only way into the presence of God. John 14:6 says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We can’t get into the presence of God through good works or going to church or by the giving of tithes and offerings. The only way to be in the presence of God is by believing in His son Jesus and what he came to earth to do, which was to die on a cross, be a ransom for many, saving us from our sins so we could be in a relationship with Him. It's all about Jesus. He is the one and only way to the Father. We must come into the presence of God on His terms and those terms are Jesus Christ (Big Idea). If you have never accepted God’s terms. If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can do so today. If you are ready to make that decision, mark that on your communication card and I will be in touch with you to talk about that decision.

So how can we apply the tabernacle and its courtyard to our daily lives? The Israelites came to the tabernacle for a number of reasons. One, they came to the tabernacle to confess their sins and make sacrifices asking for His forgiveness. Today, Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross allows us to come into God’s presence confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness. That brings us to our first next step which is to Come daily into God’s presence, confessing my sins before Him and asking for His forgiveness.

Two, the Israelites came to the tabernacle to worship the one and only true God. Today, we gather in worship before our holy God, wanting to come into unhurried and unhindered communion with Him. So let us draw near to God, pouring out our hearts to Him in worship.  ​​​​ That brings us to our second next step which is to Draw near to God, pouring out my heart to Him in worship, in spirit and in truth.

Three, when the Israelites came into the courtyard, they witnessed the splendor and majesty of the tabernacle, and they could fix their eyes on the hope of a glorious future with God dwelling with Him in heaven for all eternity. Today, with Christ as our Lord and Savior and his promise of going to prepare a place for us, we can fix our eyes on the hope of a glorious future with God and Jesus for all eternity. Revelation 21 points us to that future hope. To a place of pure gold, not just a place overlaid with it and a place where we will not need the lampstand or the sun, because God will be our light. That brings us to our third next step which is to Fix my eyes on the hope of a glorious future with God and Jesus in heaven.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Lord, again, we thank you for your Word and the opportunity to study together. Give us an urgency to be in a full relationship with you. Help us to surrender ourselves as living sacrifices to you. Help us to come into your presence on your terms and not ours. Help us to remember that you are the only one worthy of our worship and to give you all honor, glory and praise for who you are and what you have done for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction: Exodus 27:9-21 (The Court of the Tabernacle), Charlie Garrett

Conclusion: Exalting Jesus in Exodus, Merida, Tony

 

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Living Sacrifices

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Living Sacrifices

All eyes were turned to the boy as he slowly progressed forward, cuddling the little lamb lying quietly in his arms. His mother silently watched from afar, her heart broken over a pain in her son’s deepest being that she could never kiss and make go away. His father walked beside him—stone faced. He could not betray his inner emotions, the turmoil welling up inside of him. How well he remembered his first sacrifice and the conflicting emotions that warred within him. For weeks his son had loved and cherished this innocent creature, this spotless lamb. For weeks this lamb grew to love and trust the boy, even curling at his feet during the long cold nights. Surely the boy would do nothing to harm him. This was “his boy” and he was “his lamb.” Forward the boy continued, each step as if it weighed a ton, forcibly placing one foot in front of the other. He had known this day would come. He prepared for it as best he could. But how do you prepare for your heart being wrenched from the very depths of your soul? Tears welled up in the back of his eyes, but he didn’t make a sound. He was thirteen now. He was a man. He would show no weakness.

Very gently he placed his lamb on the altar before the priest. Lovingly, the boy placed his hand atop his head. The lamb looked up with sweet inquiring eyes, as if to say, “I trust you,” then obediently laid his head upon the altar. In the flash of an instant, down slashed the knife through the throat of the lamb. The boy was sure he saw that look of love in his lamb’s eyes even as his life force seeped out and ebbed away. The boy stood very still. “Good-bye” he whispered. The lamb had willingly given up his life for the boy. The boy had willingly sacrificed his lamb that he had raised, the one nearest and dearest to his heart, for his God. Thus, did the boy experience his first true act of worship! In sacrificing that which was precious to him, he consecrated his allegiance to his God. ​​ Worship in its truest form is total disregard for oneself, coupled with total regard for “God” who is most precious of all. In this story we come face to face with outward worship, the act of complete submission. We are also confronted with inward worship which comes from a heart wholly devoted to God, even in the midst of pain.

From the very beginning man was created to exhibit both forms of worship. But man’s outward worship became nothing more than a show, not of submission, but of piousness and legalism. Transforming it from an act of devotion and submission into nothing more than cold-hearted selfishness. Proof to all around, including himself, that he was religious, and God must accept him. This was never meant to be. Animal sacrifice was never intended to turn worship into a cold, mechanical act. It was meant to pierce deep into the soul. Now, animal sacrifice is no longer required. Christ’ death fulfilled the need for blood to be shed. His blood was sufficient for all. Yet, sacrifice was to remain an integral part of worship. What is the difference between then and now? Instead of laying an animal on the altar, we are to present ourselves as a sacrifice. Still, for many of us, we prefer to offer an animal sacrifice. A deed completed, easily forgotten, not to be remembered until the next day of sacrifice. The giving of ourselves as a sacrifice is to be an act of love, bringing the eyes of all who sacrifice to the Messiah—the one true Lamb who shed His blood for all.

Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Now that Jesus has willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, we are to daily, willingly present ourselves as a “living sacrifice,” totally submitted to God. This is the only way we can be in true communion and fellowship with Him which brings us to our big idea this morning that Communion and fellowship with Jesus requires sacrifice. For the Israelites, it required animal sacrifice, for us to come to salvation it required our belief in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and now as a Christian it requires a daily and personal sacrifice of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Before we look at the next piece of furniture of the tabernacle, the Altar of Bronze, let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly come into your presence this morning asking that you pour out your Holy Spirit on us. Please open our hearts and minds and give us insight into your Word and help us to be obedient to the commands found in it. Let your Word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths as you lead and guide us along our way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning. The first point, Altar of Bronze, is found in Exodus 27:1-8. This is what God’s Word says, “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar. Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar when it is carried. Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

Moses is still on the mountain getting instructions from God about the Tabernacle. The tabernacle (picture) is going to be God’s “tent” that He will dwell in, in the midst of His people’s, the Israelites’, tents. So far, we have seen God’s plan for building the ark of the covenant and the atonement cover (picture) that will reside in the Holy of Holies. We have seen God’s plans for the table of the bread of the Presence (picture) and the lampstand (picture) that will reside in the Holy Place outside the Holy of Holies. Last week, we studied the tabernacle proper (picture) which will be a forty-five foot by fifteen-foot tent that will house the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. This morning, we continue to move from the inside out as we look at the bronze altar (picture). This altar is also called the Brazen Altar or the Altar of Burnt Offering which distinguishes it from the Altar of Incense which will be made of gold and will not be used for sacrifices. As with the other pieces of furniture for the tabernacle it is made of acacia wood. Acacia wood was stronger than oak and was durable and pretty much indestructible. It was also prevalent in the Sinai area they were in. The height of the altar was to be four and a half feet tall, and it was to be a perfect square measuring seven and a half feet long by seven and a half feet wide.

Horns were to be made at each of the four corners of the altar and were to be made as one piece with it. Horns in the Bible symbolized a number of things. They are a symbol of salvation, strength, power and judgment. The horns of the bronze altar were probably modeled after animal horns and were used for a couple of reasons. One, they were probably used to tie the animal sacrifice to the altar to be slaughtered. Two, according to Exodus 29:10-12, the blood of the sin-offering was to be put on the horns of the altar signifying God’s acceptance of the sacrifice. In this way, the horns were used for worship, purification and atonement for sin. Then the entire altar was to be overlaid with bronze. Bronze signified the earth and was to be used for the parts of the tabernacle that were closer to man and the earth and farther away from the presence of God and heaven.

As with the table of the bread of the Presence and the lampstand, utensils were to be made that would be used in conjunction with the altar. These utensils would be made of bronze and included pots or open-topped pans used to remove the hot ashes from the altar. Shovels would be used to scoop up the smoldering ashes and other debris from under the altar. Sprinkling bowls would be used to collect the blood of the sacrifices to be sprinkled on the horns of the altar or on the atonement cover. Meat forks would be used to move and adjust the sacrifices on the altar. And firepans or censors would be used to transport burning coals to the Altar of Incense inside the tabernacle. These utensils would all serve the needs of the priests. Next, God instructs them to make a grating and or a bronze network for the altar. There is some confusion about whether this is one or two separate things, but it does make sense that there are two items being described. One would be a bronze network that would go around the outside of the altar and where the four bronze rings would be attached. This would allow air to come up through the altar from underneath to keep the fire stoked and burning. The second would be a grating put inside the altar, under the ledge and halfway up, to hold the fire and the sacrifice. This would allow the ashes, grease and fat to drip through to the ground.

Next, we are reminded that the altar was portable as were the other pieces of furniture for the tabernacle. Poles of acacia wood overlaid with bronze were to be made to carry it. These poles were to be inserted into the rings so they would be on two sides of the altar when it was carried. Overall, the altar was to be made hollow, making it easier and lighter to carry. Lastly, we are reminded again that Moses was to make the altar just as he was shown on the mountain. This is the fourth time that Moses is told to follow God’s instructions to the letter for everything to do with His house, the tabernacle. Giving the vagueness of the verbal instructions reminds us that Moses saw what the finished product was to look like, a divine “blueprint”, and would have relayed that information to those crafting and building the tabernacle and furniture to go with it.

I wanted to also give you some other tidbits of information about the Bronze Altar. It was the largest of the seven items of furniture in the Tabernacle, which indicated its importance. It was the only item, besides the Altar of Incense, to be called “most holy.” We see this in Exodus 40:10. The fire in the Bronze Altar was to always be kept burning in preparation for the morning sacrifices and the offerings brought by the people. We see in Leviticus 6:13. The altar was the only item to be wrapped in purple when being transported which connected sacrifice with kingship. For Jesus, first came the cross and then came the crown. The position of the altar was just inside the courtyard. It would have been the first thing the Israelite worshipper would have seen as they entered the tabernacle courtyard, coming into the presence of the Lord. We see this in Exodus 40:6. Pink says, “There it stood: ever smoking, ever blood-stained, ever open to any guilty Hebrew that might wish to approach it.” The altar was the symbol that death is the consequence of sin but also of sin “remitted” or canceled. At the altar, God dealt with sin not by punishing the sinner but by the death and shed blood of the sinner’s substitute. The holiness and righteousness of God in punishing sin is seen in the altar. The only way to be in true communion and fellowship with a holy God requires sacrifice (Big Idea).

That brings us to our second point, Altar of Christ. With the Bronze Altar, God was teaching His people that they needed to be saved and cleansed from their sin to be able to approach Him. A substitute had to be sacrificed in their place in order to live and be in communion and fellowship with God. Imagine how many sacrifices must have been made on that altar! The altar was always burning, ready to receive another sacrifice. At least two burnt offerings were sacrificed every day for more than 1,000 years. Fellowship offerings were made whenever people were grateful to God. Then there were all the sin offerings and guilt offerings. Think of all the bulls, goats, lambs, and pigeons that must have been required to atone for the sins of a million people. This was a powerful witness to the totality of Israel’s depravity and ours as well. The Old Testament sacrifices were intended to overwhelm. The Lord wanted His people to realize His holiness and their sinfulness and to be conscious of their sin.

In Isaiah 6 we get a glimpse of this. Isaiah 6:5 says, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” When Isaiah saw the holiness of God, the righteousness of His throne, the profound reverence of the heavenly intelligences, on the one hand; and his own sinfulness and the iniquities of the people among whom he lived on the other; he saw also the awful distance there was between his soul and God, and he cried, “Woe is me!” There was nothing Isaiah could do on his own to be cleansed from his sin. He was in danger of being destroyed by the holiness and righteousness of God. But then we continue in Isaiah 6:6-7 which says, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah’s salvation came from the altar and the live coal that had touched his lips. The live coal had done its work; the sacrifice had been consumed; and nothing remained but ‘the live coal’; this was applied to Isaiah’s lips, and his guilt was taken away and his sin atoned for. The “live coal” was symbolic of Christ’s work on the cross (his altar) to take away our sins. Have you ever considered the holiness of God and your own sinfulness and how unworthy we all are to come into his presence much less to be in communion and fellowship with the Lord God Almighty? Are we conscious of our sin and how it separates us from God? Are we truly sorry for our sin or is our repentance just a deed completed, easily forgotten, not to be remembered until the next time we feel the need to repent? Let us be people who take our sin and repentance seriously, having accepted the “live coal” from God’s altar that is Jesus Christ. That brings us to our first next step on the back of our communication card which is to Be conscious of God’s holiness and my sinfulness, taking my sin and repentance seriously.

The animal sacrifices were a foreshadowing of Christ’s death on the cross, which was the ultimate sacrifice to which all others pointed. By killing their sacrifice, cooking it on the altar and then eating it in God’s presence, the Israelites learned over and over again the concept of substitutionary atonement and renewed their commitment to their covenant with the Lord. The sacrifice represented the means by which the worshipper had access to God. The means to enter into the presence of God and have communion and fellowship with him is not through the sacrifice and blood of animals but through the sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ, God’s one and only son, shed on the cross at Calvary (Big Idea). 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

We ultimately show if we have truly accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by becoming daily and willing “living sacrifices” surrendering our hearts, minds, bodies and souls to Him. Every morning the priests were to offer a burnt offering on the bronze altar, which was a picture of total dedication to the Lord. Jesus Christ is our altar, and he bears the wounds of his sacrifice on the cross. In 1 Peter 2:5, it says that as a holy priesthood believers are to “offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We are to present our bodies, our material wealth, our praise and good works and a broken and contrite heart to the Lord daily and willingly. That brings us to our second next step which is to Start my days by presenting myself as a living sacrifice in total dedication to the Lord.

Now I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our theme for 2025. The tabernacle and the furniture we have been discussing all speaks to our relationship with Jesus. From the ark of the covenant and the atonement cover to the table of the bread of the Presence, to the lampstand, to the altar, it all speaks to our ongoing daily relationship with Jesus. It speaks to our table being empty (picture) or full (picture). Our theme for 2025 is Urgency (picture). I picked that theme because none of us know when our days on this earth will end or when Jesus will come back, and we must be ready. First, if you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I pray that today would be the day of your salvation. If you have questions about salvation or want to make that commitment, please mark that on the back of your communication card this morning and I will get in contact with you.

If you are already a follower of Jesus, there should still be an Urgency in our relationship with Jesus. We can become stagnant or apathetic and that is dangerous. I was reminded of a story during the Christmas season. It was the story of the wisemen coming to King Herod looking for the Messiah. Herod called the people’s chief priests and the teachers of the law and asked where the Messiah was to be born. They told him the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem in Judea and quoted the prophecy from the prophet Micah. Bethlehem was six miles from Jerusalem. It would be like going from here to Biglerville. That was how close the Messiah was to the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and they didn’t seem too excited. They had no urgency to seek out the Messiah. And sometimes I think that is how I am, and we are. We do not have an urgency in our relationship with Jesus and he is that close to us waiting for us to have an urgency to be in communion and fellowship with Him. ​​ 

So, if you look in your bulletin you have an insert with a survey on it. I picked three aspects of our relationship with Jesus, being in God’s Word, prayer and evangelism. There are more for sure, but I picked these three for 2025. The idea is to rank these 1-3. 1 meaning that you feel you are struggling in that aspect the most in your relationship with Jesus. The one where your table is the emptiest. And then #2 would be the next and #3 would be the one where you feel your table is the fullest. Starting in February, we would like to give you resources to help you improve in your #1 area. You would work in that area for four months and then the following four months work on your #2 area and finally the last three months of the year work on your #3 area. We would have resources in each area for you. It may be Right Now Media if you have that capability or a book to read. But the next step would be to fill out the survey and leave them at the Welcome Center, so I can start to compile them and see what resources are needed and how many are needed. I hope that everyone would be willing to have an Urgency in their relationship with Jesus. And if you feel like you have a good handle on these three areas, please continue to do what you have been doing but please still do the survey and just put that at the bottom of the insert and turn it in. That way I know where we all stand, and I can be praying for everyone where they are. We want to be intentional about our spiritual growth in 2025. That brings us to our last next step which is to Have an “urgency” in my relationship with Jesus.

As Roxey comes to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to gather as believers and study your Word. Lord, help us to take seriously your holiness, our sinfulness and our repentance. Help us to not take your grace and mercy for granted. Help us to present ourselves as living sacrifices in total daily dedication to you. ​​ Also, give us an urgency as we strive to have a deeper and deeper relationship with you. Give us a hunger and thirst for righteousness and help us to be obedient to your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction: https://lisasarnold1.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/precious-a-short-easter-story-about-a-little-boy-and-his-precious-lamb/

 

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On Earth As It Is In Heaven

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On Earth As It Is In Heaven

Ronald Reagan was known as “The Great Communicator.” As President of the United States, Reagan delivered many memorable speeches. One of the most moving was the one he gave after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. Only minutes after takeoff, the spaceship had exploded in a great ball of fire, killing all seven astronauts on board. As the President struggled to put a nation’s grief into words, he quoted a line from a poem by the World War II aviator John Gillespie Magee. Our astronauts, Mr. Reagan said, had “slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.” This line of poetry expresses one of our deepest longings. We were made for friendship and fellowship with God. This is the way God designed us. So we are seeking a relationship with him. We want to see him and know him. We are searching for the place where earth touches Heaven, the place where we can go and meet with God. We need guidance. We need direction. We need security and stability in a mixed-up, crazy world. What we need, very simply, is God and the kind of relationship with him that provides direction and meaning for life.

For the Israelites in the wilderness, the place where they could go and meet with God, the place where they could go for guidance and direction, the place where it is on earth as it is in heaven was the tabernacle. The tabernacle is going to be God’s dwelling place in the midst of the Israelite camp. It will be a temporary tent as it will move when they move and stop when they stop along their way to the Promised Land. It will be the place that the law is preserved in the ark of the covenant. The law represented their covenant with God and their obedience to it would prove their love and devotion for the Lord. The tabernacle will be the place where sacrifices for the sins of the people will be made. And the tabernacle will be the place where they worship. Interestingly, the tabernacle will only have one door. There will only be one way into God’s presence. Psalms 24:3-4 says, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” The only way into God’s presence was through the ritual sacrifice of the priests for themselves and for the people.

For us today, the only way for us to come into the presence of the Lord is through Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And in John 10:9 Jesus says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.” Jesus “tabernacled” with people while he lived on this earth. It was where they could meet with God himself. It was where they could go for guidance and direction. He came down from heaven to dwell with us and to show us what God was like and what he required of them. Now that Jesus is gone back to heaven, we have the Holy Spirit tabernacling inside of us; literally dwelling in us. God himself is inside of us. We have the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us as we sojourn on his earth. We have a little bit of heaven inside of us as we live on the earth and guess what? That is not the end. God has always wanted to dwell with his people forever. To walk and talk with them as He did in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Like he did with His disciples in first century Israel. Our ultimate purpose is to dwell with the Lord and when we pass from this earth or when he returns at the Second Coming, that purpose will be fulfilled. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires that His people dwell with Him forever. As Ronald Reagan said, we will “slip the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us another day of living on this earth and the opportunity to fulfill your calling on our lives. As we gather to worship you and hear your word, we humbly ask that you open our hearts and minds to receive your message for us. Let us be attentive to the working of the Holy Spirit within us. May we be obedient to the commands in your Word, faithfully applying them to our lives and be transformed by them and your grace and love, in Jesus' name, Amen.

We have three points this morning. The first is called Tabernacle Curtains, found in Exodus 26:1-14. This is what God’s Word says, “Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by a skilled worker. All the curtains are to be the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five. Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit. “Make curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. All eleven curtains are to be the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. Join five of the curtains together into one set and the other six into another set. Fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent. Make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. Then make fifty bronze clasps and put them in the loops to fasten the tent together as a unit. As for the additional length of the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over is to hang down at the rear of the tabernacle. The tent curtains will be a cubit longer on both sides; what is left will hang over the sides of the tabernacle so as to cover it. Make for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.”

Four curtains were made to cover the tabernacle. God’s instructions to Moses started from the inside out. The first curtain layer will consist of ten curtains made of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn. Finely twisted linen meant it was of superior quality. The linen is probably be white in color signifying purity. Alexander says, “Throughout the Bible, linen, more than any other fabric, is associated with the holy presence of God.” Blue signified the celestial and heaven, purple signified royalty and scarlet signified blood. ​​ Cherubim are to be woven into the curtains by “skilled workers.” A skilled worker would have created his designs with a loom, whereas an embroiderer, who we will encounter later, would have added a pattern by needlework. The cherubim would have been woven so that they would have only been seen on the walls and overhead from inside the tabernacle. Cherubim were the throne attendants of the Lord in heaven and would have emphasized that the tabernacle was “on earth as it is in heaven” and that God desired that His people dwell with Him there forever (Big Idea). ​​ All ten of the curtains are to be the same size: a length of twenty-eight cubits or forty-two feet, and a width of four cubits or six feet. Five of the curtains are to be joined together and the other five are to be joined together essentially making two huge curtains that would be connected together by fifty loops of blue material and fifty gold clasps. This was probably done to make it easier to transport. When they are fastened together, they would be forty-two feet by sixty feet and make one unit.

The second curtain layer will consist of eleven curtains made from goat hair which would be shorn and woven into a fabric. This curtain would go over the linen curtain to protect the beauty and the costliness of it concealing the majesty of what was underneath. It would also keep it dry and clean. All eleven curtains are to be the same size: a length of thirty cubits or forty-five feet, and a width of four cubits or six feet. Five of the curtains are to be joined together and the other six curtains are to be joined together. These two curtains would be connected together by fifty loops and fifty bronze clasps. And when they are fastened together there would be one unit. Notice that gold clasps are used to connect the two pieces of the linen curtain and bronze clasps are used to connect the curtain of goat hair. Gold signifies kingship, divinity and holiness and was used to indicate closeness to God’s throne and bronze signifies the earth and was used as they went farther away from the throne of God. The eleventh curtain would be an excess that would cover the rear of the tabernacle. The longer sides of the goat hair curtain would hang down below the linen curtain and completely cover it so it could not be seen. We are not told much about the third and fourth layers except the third curtain layer was to be made from ram’s skin, which was consistent with leather, and dyed red. And the fourth curtain layer was also to be made from leather either from badger or sea cow skins. This would have effectively made the tent of the tabernacle weatherproof.

That brings us to our second point called Tabernacle Framework found in Exodus 26:15-30. This is what God’s Word says, “Make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. Each frame is to be ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, with two projections set parallel to each other. Make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. Make twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle and make forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, make twenty frames and forty silver bases—two under each frame. Make six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, and make two frames for the corners at the far end. At these two corners they must be doubled from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both shall be like that. So there will be eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame. “Also make crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. The center crossbar is to extend from end to end at the middle of the frames. Overlay the frames with gold and make gold rings to hold the crossbars. Also overlay the crossbars with gold. “Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown to you on the mountain.

Now that God has given the instructions for the four layers of curtains of the tabernacle, he gives instructions for the frame that will hold the curtains up. The frames were to be made out of acacia wood. Each frame would be ten cubits or 15 feet long and a cubit and a half or 27 inches wide. There would be two projections like feet parallel to each other in each frame. All the frames were to be made the same way. They were to make twenty frames and forty silver bases for the south side of the tabernacle and twenty frames and forty silver bases for the north side of the tabernacle. Twenty frames would make each side 15 feet by 45 feet. The silver bases would serve as feet for each frame giving it stability, but it would also keep the frames from touching the earth itself. Silver was used when there was contact between God and his dominion.

Then they were to make six frames for the far west end which would be the closed end of the Holy of Holies. They were to make double frames for the corners from top to bottom to again bring stability and strength to the tabernacle frame. The corners would be fitted into a single ring in each corner. That brought the total frames for the west end to eight frames and sixteen silver bases for them. Next came the instructions for the crossbars of the frames. They were to make five crossbars of acacia wood for each frame all the way around the tabernacle. Each frame would look like a ladder. The center crossbar is to extend from end to end at the middle of the frames. All the frames and the crossbars were to be overlaid with gold and the rings used to hold the crossbars were to be made of gold.

Again, for the third time, God instructs Moses to “Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown to you on the mountain.” This reminds us that Moses saw “blueprints” and didn’t just hear the words and that he knew what the finished product was to look like. God revealed his perfect plan for His “tent” that would allow Him to dwell among His people and then graciously allowed His people to build it. God doesn’t want Moses to forget that this “tent” was no ordinary tent but was going to be His home. This tent would be luxurious and magnificent and would ensure that it be respected as a little piece of heaven on earth. By setting His “tent” among His people’s tents, they would be taught that God wanted to be in proximity to them and that they belonged there as well. His hope was that they would long for and live for the time when they would dwell in his presence for all eternity (Big Idea). It is appropriate that God reminded Moses to stick to His plan here because of what God will instruct Moses to make next.

That brings us to our third point, Tabernacle Veil, found in Exodus 26:31-37. This is what God’s Word says, “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Put the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law in the Most Holy Place. Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle and put the lampstand opposite it on the south side. “For the entrance to the tent, make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. Make gold hooks for this curtain and five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. And cast five bronze bases for them.”

After giving instructions for the four layers of curtains and the framework to hold the curtains up, God gives Moses instructions about making the tabernacle veil. This curtain was to be made with blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen just like the first curtain layer over the tabernacle. It was to also have cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. It was to be hung with gold hooks on four posts made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold and was to stand on four silver bases. Then God told Moses to hang this curtain so it would separate the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. The Holy of Holies was God’s throne room, and the Holy Place was his audience room where only specified officials of the king could approach Him.

Two rooms emphasized that there were barriers existing between a Holy God and sinful human beings. The Holy of Holies was a perfect cube, fifteen feet long by fifteen feet wide by fifteen feet high. This indicated perfection in the place and of God who would dwell there. God then instructed Moses to put the ark of the covenant law behind the veil in the Holy of Holies and to place the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law as well. God then instructed Moses to place the table outside the curtain on the north side and place the lampstand opposite it on the south side in the tabernacle or the Holy Place. This veil could not be easily opened providing a barrier that people couldn’t normally pass. Jewish tradition said that this veil was four inches thick. It was the corresponding item in the Temple that was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus breathed his last on the cross.

Then God instructed Moses to make a second curtain or “screen” for the entrance to the tent. This curtain was somewhat like the curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies but also very different. I was alike in that it was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen. But it was different in that it was done by an embroiderer and not a skilled worker. It was alike in that the hooks were made of gold, and the five posts were made with acacia wood overlaid with gold. But it was different in that the bases were bronze and not silver. Again, bronze was used the farther away something was from God’s throne. Also, this curtain was considered part of the courtyard, closer to man and the earth than to God and heaven. The Holy Place where the priests would attend to the worship of the Lord was thirty feet long by fifteen feet wide by fifteen feet high.

Imagine the beauty and the majesty of the Tabernacle, God’s heavenly home on earth. It’s hard to really comprehend how beautiful it was by just reading this account. Ross says, “The expensive materials, the rich colors, the density of the layers, whether of fabric and leather, or wood and metal, all contributed to a sense of wonder, mystery, and glory surrounding this structure.” The glimmering gold would have reflected God’s glory and holiness. The cherubim would have reminded the Israelites that God wanted to be with them and watch over them. Also, God set the agenda for their lives and offered them the blessings of being in a covenant relationship with himself. The tabernacle construction reminded the Israelites of God’s character and showed them what was required for a sinful man to meet with a holy God.

What the OT believers had in the tabernacle we have today in Jesus Christ. The furnishings and the ceremonies point to Christ and reveal the many glorious aspects of his character and the salvation he gives. But the Israelites and we are distant from God because of our sin. One man who wanted to get closer to God was King David. He wanted to know who could enter God’s holy tabernacle. We see David’s question and answer in Psalms 15:1-5 which Sue read earlier. “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.” This is all there is to it. If we want to meet with God—if we want to slip “the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God”—all we have to do is lead a perfect life. The problem is that our sins keep us from entering the Holy of Holies where God is and that is why we need Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the true tabernacle of God. He is the sacred space where heaven comes down to earth so we can touch the face of God. It was when Jesus died on the cross that the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was torn in two by the power and hand of Almighty God. Now everyone has access to the presence of God. And we gain that access through faith in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” In order to spend eternity dwelling with the Lord in heaven in the place prepared for God’s people we must confess that we are separated from God by our sin. We must trust that Jesus made the sacrifice for our sins when he died on the cross. And when we trust in Jesus, we come into a relationship with God. That brings us to our first next step which is to Confess I am separated from God by my sin, trust in Jesus for the sacrifice for my sins and surrender my life to Him. If you made that decision this morning, please mark that next step so I can be in touch with you.

Now every spiritual need of the Jewish people was met in the provisions of the tabernacle and once we are saved, Jesus meets our every spiritual need. 2 Peter 1 it says that in Jesus Christ we have everything that we need for “life and godliness.” Do we need forgiveness for our sins? Peace through the stress and trials of life? Comfort in our loss? Guidance for a major decision? Provision for our material needs? Healing for either body or soul? Hope to face the future? Strength to make it through life’s daily duties and difficulties? To the believers who loved God and wanted to please him, the holy sanctuary was the source of food and drink for their souls. Psalms 36:7-8 says, “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.” The same is true for us today. We, as believers today, can feast on Jesus Christ and find in Him all the satisfaction of our soul that we need. That brings us to our last next step which is to Feast on Jesus and find in him the satisfaction for my soul.

As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings let pray: Lord God Almighty, thank you for who you are and for what you have done for your people throughout the ages. Thank you for your tabernacle where you dwelt with your people so long ago. Thank you for your son, Jesus, who tabernacled with all people and willingly died on a cross for our sins and rose again. And thank you for your Holy Spirit who tabernacles within us now leading us and guiding us as we live our lives for you. May we trust in you for salvation and totally surrender our lives to you and for your service. And help us to feast on your Jesus and find only in him the satisfaction for our souls. In all of this may it be for your honor and glory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Leave the Light On

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Leave the Light On

“We'll leave the light on for you” is the tagline for Motel 6's radio and advertising campaign that began in 1986. The campaign featured the voice of Tom Bodett, an American author, radio host, and voice actor. The campaign was so successful that it made Motel 6 a household name and won more advertising awards than any other lodging brand. Motel 6’s advertising as a “home away from home” and motto, “We’ll keep the lights on,” gave assurance that no matter what time of day, you could find lodging there. The idea was that the lights being left on was a welcome sight in that someone would be home when you arrived.

We have been looking at the Tabernacle for the past several weeks. The tabernacle was the “tent” or house where God would dwell among His people within the Israelite covenant community, or neighborhood. Moses is on Mt. Sinai with the Lord, and he is getting the instructions for building God’s house and the furnishings that will be in it. We have been introduced to two rooms inside the tabernacle so far. The first room is the Holy of Holies where the ark of the covenant will reside. The ark of the covenant is where God will dwell and meet with Moses when he comes down from heaven and is symbolic of God’s throne on the earth. It also symbolizes His power and presence with His people. One day a year, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest will be allowed to go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the atonement cover. The blood of the sacrifice would cover the sins of the people and the penalty for their disobedience to God’s holy commands.

Then last week we were introduced to the second room called the Holy Place which would be right outside the Holy of Holies separated by a veil or curtain. There will be three items of furniture in the Holy Place. Last week, we talked about the Table of the Presence, which is where the twelve loaves of showbread, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel, will be kept. The table and the bread symbolize God’s presence with and provision for His people. As the priests tend to the Table of the Presence, they and the people through them will be reminded of how much God loves and cares for them, how much they can trust the Lord’s presence with them and how much they can trust that He will always provide for them. The table and the bread will also teach them a more important lesson that their deepest need is constant fellowship and communion with God.

Now this morning we come to the second item of furniture in the Holy Place called the Lampstand. In order for the priests to properly fulfill their duties in the Holy Place in a meaningful and acceptable manner, they needed light, and so God gave Moses instructions on making the lampstand and the ministry that it would have in the life of his covenant people. Just like the motto, “We’ll keep the lights on,” gave assurance that no matter what time of day or night, someone was home, and you could find lodging, the tabernacle and the lampstand served as a welcome sight that God was at home with His people. Just like the tabernacle, the table and the bread, the lampstand pointed to Jesus. God gave life and light to the world at creation and sent His son, Jesus, to the earth, to be the life and the Light of the World. Now that Jesus is in heaven with God the Father, he has left us and all Christians to carry on the ministry of the lampstand which brings us to our big idea that God desires that His people be life and light to the world. In order to do this, we need to “keep the lights on.”

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we worship you today for who you are. You are the Almighty, Sovereign, Lord of the universe and we give you all honor, glory and praise this morning. We come before you as your people, surrendered to you for your use. Pour out your Spirit on us and help us to have open hearts and minds to your Word. Speak to us and help us to apply what we hear to our lives and to share your Gospel with those we come in contact with this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning. The first point is Making the Lampstand, found in Exodus 25:31-36. This is what God’s Word says, “Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand, there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

We are still in the Holy Place (picture) which is the room on the right in the picture. You can see that the table of the Presence is against the far wall. According to Exodus 26:35, the table was to be put outside the curtain to the Holy of Holies on the north side of the Tabernacle with the lampstand opposite on the south side. So, you can see the north side was on the right as the priests were looking at the curtain to the Holy of Holies. The lampstand was opposite the table and the lamps were positioned to shine their light on it. There was a practical purpose for this. We haven’t gotten there yet but the tabernacle is going to be covered with four different layers of different kinds of material. These layers would make it difficult for the priests to see as it would be pretty dark inside the tabernacle. The lampstand would allow the priests to see what they were doing as the performed their duties. The Hebrew word for “lampstand” is “menorah,” and is derived from a verb that means “to flame.” The name menorah underscores the practical purpose of the lampstand which was to give off light for the priests who worked in the Holy Place of the tabernacle.

The lampstand was to be made of pure gold. Gold was used because it was a symbol of total purity, royal status, divinity, and holiness. It was used for items that would be in the immediate presence of the Lord. The lampstand was not to be made with a cast but hammered out of one piece of gold by hand. The lampstand would consist of a base and a single main shaft. Six branches would extend from the shaft, three branches coming off one side and three branches coming off the other side. Then three cups, with buds and blossoms of an almond flower were to be fashioned on each of the six branches. And four cups, buds and blossoms of an almond flower were to be fashioned on the main shaft. There was to be one bud under each pair of branches coming off the lampstand. Lastly, we are told again that everything, the 22 buds, the six branches and the main shaft, was to be hammered out of one single piece of pure gold.

So here are a couple of pictures. This first one (picture) is an artist’s rendition of the lampstand. You can see the 22 almond cups, buds, and blossoms, three to a branch and four on the main lampstand. The second one (picture) is a close-up view of the cups, buds, and blossoms. Here’s a picture of the Arch of Titus (picture). The Arch of Titus was constructed in AD 81 to commemorate the victory of Titus and his father Vespasian over the Jews in AD 70. It depicts the triumphal procession in AD 71 after the Romans sacked and destroyed Jerusalem. It provides one of the few contemporary depictions of artifacts from Herod's Temple. Again, it is one artist’s rendition, but you can see the lampstand on the left and the Table of the Presence on the right (picture). Here is a closer view (picture). According to this picture the six branches and the lampstand seem to be all the same height. Also, it is figured that the ark, the table and the lampstand were all the same height at a cubit and a half or about 30 inches tall. Going back to this picture (picture), imagine the skill and craftsmanship that it would take to hammer those cups, buds and blossoms out of one solid piece of pure gold. We may not know exactly what the lampstand looked like but because God had it built to His specifications and instructions it must have looked magnificent, just like the ark and the table. It was probably one of the most ornate objects in the tabernacle.

There are a few observations we can make about the lampstand. First, the lampstand or menorah seems to look like a tree with a trunk, branches, cups, buds and blossoms. It may have reminded the priests of a flowering tree which symbolized life. Most commentators feel that the lampstand represented the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. And the presence of the cherubim and a growing tree seems to enhance that point of view. Also, when we think about light, we are taken back to creation in Genesis 1:3 when God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. The number seven in the Bible speaks to perfection so the seven lamps of the lampstand symbolize the perfection of the light that will be shining in the Holy Place. As the priests and the people think back to creation, it will reinforce the truth that God is the supplier of life and light (Big Idea)

Second, we may wonder why God had cups, buds and blossoms of an almond tree fashioned on the lampstand. The almond tree was common in the eastern Mediterranean area. It was known for its early white blossoms which appeared before the tree started to leaf. It was considered a symbol of hope and fruitfulness. Jewish tradition is that the cups, buds and blossoms on the main shaft supporting the branches and the uppermost ones supporting the lamps symbolize the Lord’s divine watchfulness and care over His people with whom he dwells. The ornate lampstand would convey two messages to the Israelites. One, the Lord is the source of light for His people. We saw it at creation, we saw it in the pillar of fire, and we will see it in the Holy Place in the tabernacle. Mackay says, “There is to be no darkness in the presence of the Creator who has redeemed his people.” For the Israelites and for us the lampstand again foreshadows Jesus Christ as the “Light of the World.” John 8:12 says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Two, the Lord is the source of life for His people. As the priests saw the lamps on the lampstand illuminating the bread on the Table of Presence, they would be reminded of God’s blessing to them of the manna that He gave from heaven which fed them and gave them life. Both light and life are intimately connected to Jesus in the NT. John 1:4-5 says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

That brings us to our second point, Ministry of the Lampstand, found in Exodus 25:37-40. This is what God’s Word says, “Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.

Now we come to the purpose or ministry of the lampstand which was to hold the lamps. There would be seven of them, one on top of each branch and on top of the main shaft (picture). The lamps which were made separate from the lampstand were to be made out of pure gold. We see this in Exodus 37:24. When the lampstand was lit, its seven lamps would illuminate the space in front of it. I’ve already mentioned that the space in front of the lampstand was where the Table of the Presence and the showbread would be. Then we see there are to be accessories made for it just like there were for the table. The accessories, wick trimmers and trays, were practical items to be used in conjunction with the lampstand and were also to be made of pure gold. One of the duties and ministries of the priests was to keep the lamps burning and that meant adjusting and trimming the wicks. The trays would have been used to dispose of the wicks being trimmed or to carry the lamps outside to be cleaned or replaced. Next, we are told that a talent of gold was to be used in constructing the lampstand and all the accessories. A talent of gold would have weighed approximately seventy-five pounds. That was a lot of gold and again goes to show the splendor and majesty of what God was giving Moses the pattern to make.

Then Moses was reminded a second time by God to make these items for the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain. This reminds us of two things. One, this was a verbal description but there was probably a more detailed visual description given by God to Moses and later communicated to Bezalel and the others who were to do the actual construction. Second, the lampstand, like the rest of the tabernacle, was of divine design, not a human one. It was thought up by God and God alone. The tabernacle points us to heaven, our eternal home, which Jesus went to prepare for His redeemed people. We will dwell in His presence and in the home that He has built for us for all eternity, and He will be our life and light there.

There is one more thing that the lampstand would do. It would allow the priests to minister to God and the people because of its light. This is interesting because it showed that the lampstand was for the priests not for God. Just like the bread was not symbolic of food for God to eat, the lampstand was not symbolic of light for Him to see. In pagan worship, the worshippers would have set these items up for the gods themselves to use, but Yahweh was different. He was a living and all-powerful God and didn’t need anything from His creation to sustain Him. He is the author and sustainer of life and is the only one worthy of our worship.

This speaks to the priests’ ministry. Along with their duties of making sacrifices, the cleansing and forgiveness for their sins and the sins of the people, the priests were to worship God in the tabernacle. They ministered to the Lord in the Holy Place by tending the lamps, the table and the Altar of Incense. By fulfilling these duties, they worshipped the Lord with praise and thanksgiving, as a sweet fragrance before Him. These duties needed to be followed to the letter so that their worship was meaningful and acceptable to the Lord. Without the lampstand this would have been impossible to do in the dark. It is interesting that God supplied the lampstand, but the people supplied the olive oil to keep the lamps lit. If the lamps aren’t lit, the priests couldn’t worship in a meaningful or acceptable way and as such neither could the people.

No oil, no flame; no flame, no experience of God’s presence; no experience of God’s presence, no meaningful and acceptable worship of God. This is true for us as well so what is the application for our lives? Do you remember the old song, “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning, burning, burning?” One of the meanings of “oil” in scripture is the Holy Spirit. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t understand and aren’t enlightened to be able to worship our Lord and Savior meaningfully and acceptably. So, we must listen to the Holy Spirit as His oil enlightens us to what meaningful and acceptable worship of God is. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can as Romans 12:1 says, “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship.” That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten me so I can worship the Lord in a meaningful and acceptable manner.

The lampstand has another very appropriate application for us today. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said his followers were “the light of the world and they were to let their light shine before others so they could see their good deeds and glorify their Father in heaven.” This is seen in a parable by J. B. Phillips about Christians shining for Christ.

A senior angel was showing a very young angel “the splendors and glories of the universe.” Finally, the two angels came to our own galaxy: As the two of them drew near to the star which we call our sun and to its circling planets, the senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning very slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis ball to the little angel whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had seen. “I want you to watch that one particularly,” said the senior angel, pointing with his finger. “Well, it looks very small and rather dirty to me,” said the little angel. “What’s special about that one?” “That,” replied his senior solemnly, “is the Visited Planet.” “ ‘Visited’?” said the little one. “You don’t mean visited by—” “Indeed I do. That ball, which I have no doubt looks to you small and insignificant and not perhaps overclean, has been visited by our Prince of Glory.”

This was beyond the little angel’s comprehension. So to help him understand, the senior angel took him back in human history: While the two of them moved nearer to the spinning ball, it stopped its spinning, spun backward quite fast for a while, and then slowly resumed its usual rotation. “Now look!” and as the little angel did as he was told, there appeared here and there on the dull surface of the globe little flashes of light, some merely momentary and some persisting for quite a time. “What am I seeing now?” queried the little angel. “You are watching this little world as it was some thousands of years ago,” returned his companion. “Every flash and glow of light that you see is something of the Father’s knowledge and wisdom breaking into the minds and hearts of people who live upon the earth. Not many people, you see, can hear His Voice or understand what He says, even though He is speaking gently and quietly to them all the time.” “Why are they so blind and deaf and stupid?” asked the junior angel rather crossly. “It is not for us to judge them. We who live in the Splendor have no idea what it is like to live in the dark.… But watch, for in a moment you will see something truly wonderful.”

The Earth went on turning and circling round the sun, and then, quite suddenly, in the upper half of the globe there appeared a light, tiny, but so bright in its intensity that both angels hid their eyes. “I think I can guess,” said the little angel in a low voice. “That was the Visit, wasn’t it?” “Yes, that was the Visit. The Light Himself went down there and lived among them.… Open your eyes now; the dazzling light has gone. The Prince has returned to His Home of Light. But watch the Earth now.” As they looked, in place of the dazzling light there was a bright glow which throbbed and pulsated. And then as the Earth turned many times, little points of light spread out. A few flickered and died, but for the most part the lights burned steadily, and as they continued to watch, in many parts of the globe there was a glow.… “You see what is happening?” asked the senior angel. “The bright glow is the company of loyal men and women He left behind, and with His help they spread the glow, and now lights begin to shine all over the Earth.”

What J. B. Phillips described in his parable is our privilege as Christians. God has given us new life, and now that we are alive in Christ, we are called to shine for Jesus, giving a glowing testimony of his saving grace. We shine for Jesus when we go out of our way to show special kindness. We shine for Jesus when we do our work cheerfully, without complaining. We shine for Jesus when we give generously to help those in need. And we shine brightest of all when we share the gospel, telling people what God has done to save us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. An old children’s hymn that speaks about being a radiant Christian gives us a strong challenge to shine for Jesus: Be a light for Jesus, brightly shine each day; Radiate the Savior, in the home, at play. Others soon will see it, as you onward go; Keep on burning brightly, with a steady glow. Never let it flicker, never let it dim; Trim your lamp for Jesus, let it shine for Him. Shine on through the darkness, precious in God’s sight, Are His own dear children, walking in His light.

Let us be people who never let our light flicker or grow dim but keep it shining brightly for Jesus (Big Idea). That brings us to our last next step which is to Always keep my light shining brightly for Jesus.

As Roxey leads us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings let’s pray: Lord God, thank you for this time together with other believers saturated in your Word. You have called us to be life and light in this fallen and broken World. And you have supplied us with your Holy Spirit to do just that. Help us to pay attention to your Spirit inside of us. Let us be enlightened so we can worship you in a meaningful and acceptable manner. And enable us to always keep our lights shining brightly for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: brackenhurstbaptist.co.za; “Let There Be Light” Dog Van Meter

Conclusion: Ryken’s Commentary on Exodus

 

 

 

 

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Wonder Bread

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Wonder Bread

Often, in order to confirm how thoroughly he knows our situation, God provides exactly what we need. In their book Common Sense Parenting, Kent and Barbara Hughes describe how God provided for their family when their first child was born. At the time Kent was a full-time college student and a full-time factory worker. Times were tight. As Barbara’s due date approached, the Hughes’s calculated that they would have only 160 dollars to pay their medical bills. Unfortunately, the doctor’s fee was 250 dollars, and the hospital bill was another 250 dollars. All they could do was pray. Then, during Barbara’s last checkup, the doctor happened to notice that Kent was planning to go to seminary. Although he was not a churchgoing man, the doctor casually observed that deliveries for clergy were free of charge. This took care of half the bill, but the other half still had to be paid. On the day Barbara and her new baby girl were released from the hospital, Kent walked up to the cashier with only 163 dollars in his pocket. When the cashier handed him the bill, he was shocked. Since Barbara had been admitted in the middle of the night, the hospital had knocked one full day off their charges. The total came to 160 dollars. It only took Kent a few moments to realize what the extra three dollars were for: God had provided just enough money for him to buy Barbara some flowers!

Who is here this morning that God has provided for in some way? He provided just what you needed just when you needed it? This is what God was trying to teach the Israelites. He brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He provided a way through the Red Sea. He provided water when they were thirsty and quail and manna when they were hungry. In fact, in our narrative, God is still providing daily manna for them and will until they enter the Promised Land. God provided them with victory in battle and he provided His presence in the cloud by day and the fire by night. And in the Tabernacle, God will provide His presence in a close and personal way. His presence will dwell among the Israelites, in the center of the covenant community, in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, between the cherubim that rest on the top on the ark of the covenant.

This morning, we will learn about the next item of furniture that will go into the Tabernacle. It is called the Table of the Presence. The Lord will instruct Moses about the table and what is to be always kept on it. These items will continue to symbolize how much the God of the universe loves and cares about them, they can always trust the Lord’s presence to be with them in all they do and that they can always trust that he will provide for them as he sustains them and blesses their harvests. These items will also teach them a deeper lesson; the lesson that all they truly need is Him. The table and what is to be kept on it will symbolize that their deepest need is constant fellowship and communion with God.

It’s exciting and honestly a little humbling to realize that the God of the universe loves and cares about us so much that we can trust his presence to always be with us, that he knows exactly what we need and that we can trust him to provide it for us. He uses our times of need to continually teach us and remind us of these things. As he takes care of us over and over again, he is teaching us that we can always trust in Him to provide for us. And by giving us our daily bread or meeting our daily needs, He is teaching us a deeper lesson that he is all we really need. Yes, we need daily provision of the basic necessities of life, but our deepest need is for God himself. Our deepest need is to be in constant communion and fellowship with the Lord. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to provide for His people and to be in full communion and fellowship with them.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another day to come together with other believers in your house. Thank you for the freedom we have to worship you in this place. You are an awesome God, and I ask that your Holy Spirit fill each heart and mind this morning and that we would be open to what you want us to hear and obey. Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Lord, let us devour your Word today as sweet tasting honey. May we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Would you give us an urgency in our relationship with you? For your honor and glory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning. The first point is Pattern found in Exodus 25:23-29. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings.”

We have been talking about the Tabernacle (picture). Last week we saw that God showed Moses a pattern for the most important item of furniture in the Tabernacle, the ark of the covenant that resided in the Holy of Holies (picture). The Holy of Holies is on the left. The ark (picture) was a box made from acacia wood and covered in pure gold that would hold the Ten Commandments, the commemorative jar of manna, and Aaron’s budded staff. And on top of the ark was the atonement cover which was made from pure gold. Two cherubim were hammered out of the single piece of gold, and when the Lord came down to meet with Moses, he would do so above the cherubim. As I said last week, the Tabernacle was to reveal the realities of heaven, and the ark of the covenant was the symbol of the throne of God on earth. It was the only item of furniture in the Holy of Holies, and it symbolized the power and the presence of the Lord among His people.

As we open our scriptures this morning, Moses is still on Mt. Sinai with the Lord. And the Lord continues his instructions of the Tabernacle by giving Moses the pattern for the next most important item of furniture. We have moved out of the Holy of Holies into the next chamber, the Holy Place (picture). The Holy Place is on the right. There will be three items of furniture in this chamber. The first is called the Table of the Presence (picture). It is also called “the table of pure gold” or “the ceremonially clean table” or “the golden table on which was the Bread of Presence.” The table is to be made from acacia wood like the ark. It is to be two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Last week I used the royal cubit which was well known in Egypt and equaled 20.6 inches. This would make the dimensions of the table about three feet four inches long, one foot eight inches wide and about two and a half feet high. It would have been about the size of a coffee table. The ark and the table would have been the same height, and, like the ark, the table was to be overlaid with pure gold. There was also to be gold molding around the table which may have kept items from falling off it. There was also to be a rim or frame around the table about a “handbreadth” or about four inches wide with gold molding on it. The rim or frame would have also been made with acacia wood and covered with gold and would have made the table sturdier. We don’t know where the rim was located on the table exactly, in fact, the pictures of what people believe the table looked like varies widely.

Like the ark, the table was also to be portable. Four gold rings were to be made for the table and fastened to the four corners where the four legs were. We are also told that the rings were to be close to the rim and would hold the poles used to carry the table. So, if the rim was placed around the middle of the legs the rings would have been either right above or right below the rim. Like the ark, poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold were to be made to carry the table. Like the ark, the table was a holy object. The poles would be used to make sure there was no human contact with it. Now we aren’t told that these poles had to stay attached to the table at all times like with the ark, so it seems that it was not a requirement.

Next, we are told about four different items that were to be made to go with the table. These items were plates, dishes, pitchers and bowls. They were to be made from pure gold as well. The plates were probably used to hold the items that were to be on the table. The dishes were probably used to hold the pure incense used as food offerings as we see in Leviticus 24. The pitchers and the bowls were to be used for pouring out offerings, presumably “drink offerings.” These items were not only symbolic but would be used in worship by the priests and the worshippers. When we stop and think about what the Lord is doing here, we notice that he is setting up a dining room, so to speak, in His presence, with a table, plates, dishes, pitchers and bowls. This symbolized the Lord’s desire to be in fellowship and communion with His people (Big Idea). The tabernacle was his house, and his house or tent would dwell in the center of all the other tents in the covenant community, like a neighborhood. They would be invited to the Lord’s house, some further in than others, and every item in his house would symbolize the Lord’s desire to be in a personal relationship with them. Think about it, where do we spend a lot of time in fellowship and relationship with each other – around the table, whether in our own home or at a restaurant or at a church meal together. Back in Exodus 24, we saw that God sat down to a covenant meal with the leaders and elders of Israel. Every time the priests went into the Holy Place and saw the table and its furnishings, it would remind them of God’s covenant made with them, and they would then remind the people of the covenant they had made with the Lord. It was a picture of continual communion and fellowship with God.

That brings us to our second point, Provision, found in Exodus 25:30. This is what God’s Word says, “Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.”

Now we come to what the table was to be used for. It was where the bread of the Presence would be placed. The bread of the Presence would reside in the Holy Place, before the Lord always. We don’t get a lot of information from this verse, so we need to look at Leviticus 24:5-9, which says, “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. You shall put pure frankincense on each row so that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, an offering by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.”

According to Leviticus, twelve cakes of bread were to be made and put on the pure gold table before the Lord. The purity that is talked about is not only the purity of the gold but the ritual purity of the table as it was holy. The bread was probably unleavened and set in two rows, six cakes to each row. It is estimated that each bread cake was 12 inches in diameter and four inches thick. Pure frankincense was to be put by each row as a memorial portion which would represent the bread as a food offering to the Lord. The frankincense would be burnt up on the altar as an offering to God. Every Sabbath day fresh bread would be made to replace the old bread. There was never to be a time where twelve bread cakes were not set before the Lord. The bread was a continual offering to the Lord representing their obedience to the covenant and His intercession for them. It also represented their endless adoration and appreciation for His provision for them.

The bread was not food for God. It was a symbol of His presence with His people, that He was their provider, that atonement had been made for them and that He wanted to be in fellowship and communion with them. The bread showed His providential care for the Israelites in that God provided exactly what He had promised. And God’s total provision for their need would culminate in His son Jesus Christ coming to the earth to dwell among them. The Tabernacle, the ark and the table foreshadowed the incarnation of Jesus that we are celebrating right now.

This was an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel just like the Sabbath day was. The Sabbath was a gift of rest from God for God’s people. He knew what they needed, and he provided it. These twelve cakes of bread were symbolic of the gift of God’s continual presence, providence and provision from God for God’s people. This providence and provision would be seen in the harvest times each year and celebrated with the different festivals. The old bread was to be eaten by the priests, Aaron and his sons. And had to be eaten in the Tabernacle because the bread was a most holy part of their share of food offerings presented to the Lord. Aaron and his sons represented the twelve tribes of Israel, and their eating of the bread represented God had provided for them.

The table and the presentation of the bread of the Presence was an acknowledgement of all that God had provided to them, especially the daily supply of manna. Psalms 111:5 says, “He (God) provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.” And it reminds us of the Lord’s prayer found in Matthew 6:11 which says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God knew what they needed exactly when they needed it, and he provided it daily and providentially for them. He provided for every aspect of their lives, and he does the same for us today. He knows what we need exactly when we need it, and he provides for us daily and providentially as His loving gift to us. We can trust in the Lord to provide for us physically, emotionally and spiritually (Big Idea). Let us be people who trust in the Lord to provide for us in all ways. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Trust the Lord to provide for me in all the ways I need.

Physical bread is only one aspect of what the Lord provides us. The bread of the Presence was also a symbol of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God was preparing His chosen people for His son who would come to earth to be the Bread of Life. We need physical bread but what we desperately need even more is Jesus. John 6:32–33, 35 says, “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.… I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’” We need to realize and understand that we need more than just the physical things that Jesus provides for us. We need the spiritual things that only Jesus can provide. Jesus is the only one who can forgive our sins. Jesus is the only who can satisfy our souls. Jesus is the only one who can bring us into a relationship with God. And Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal life.

If we don’t know Jesus, we need Jesus. If we do know Jesus, we need more of Him. The table and the bread are a symbol of our fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ. Let us be people who realize and understand that if we don’t know Jesus, we must first make a decision to know Him, to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you this morning about “knowing” Jesus, please mark the upper right section on the back of your communication card where it says, “send me more info about becoming a follower of Jesus.” And I will be in contact with you.

For those who already have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, let us be people who realize and understand that we need more of Jesus daily. We can’t take a day or a week off from being in communion and fellowship with Him. We need more and more of Him and so we must continually feed on the Bread of Life. In fact, as I was reminded this past week, that we do need more of Jesus but also Jesus wants all of us. Jesus wants our whole life and that comes down to being totally surrendered to Him. The question for each of us is are we totally surrendered to Jesus? Is Jesus the center of our lives? Do we go to Him for the answers we need, or do we go to someone or something else? Surrender is not about giving up . . . it’s about giving over, your plans, your will, your trials, your all, to Someone greater than yourself. That brings us to our second next step which is to Realize and understand that I need more of Jesus, and he wants all of me.

So, why did God use a table? Again, around the table is where communion and fellowship with others takes place. And food or the bread we share is the vehicle for that communion and fellowship. Like everything else in the Tabernacle, the table and the bread of the Presence points us to Jesus and our relationship with Him. Jesus is the Bread of Life. He is the only One who can satisfy the longing of our souls, and our souls were created to be in relationship with Him. Our relationship with Jesus must be cultivated if we are going to grow spiritually and become more like Him. Jesus invites us to the table. He invites us to a full table. He invites us into intimate communion and fellowship with Himself. If you remember the bread was to always be on the table before the Lord. This means that Jesus is always available. We can come to the table at any time and in fact we should come all the time. He is our daily bread. We don’t have to make an appointment. We don’t have to stand in line. We don’t have to take a number. He is always present and available.

The question is how often do we take advantage of being in the presence of Jesus? How often do we commune with him? How often do we come to the table and enjoy fellowship with our Lord and Savior? I have used this picture before. Does your table look like this? (full table) Or like this? (empty table). I want to continue to challenge all of us as a body of believers to be people who come regularly, consistently, daily to the table and enjoy communion and fellowship with Jesus. That brings us to our last next step which is to Come daily to the table and enjoy full communion and fellowship with Jesus.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the provision of your Word, thank you for your financial provision for us and this church, thank you for providing your son, Jesus, as our Savior. Help us to trust in You to provide for us in all the ways we need. Help us to realize and understand that we daily need more of You, and that You daily want more of us. And Lord, give us an urgency to come daily to your table and enjoy full communion and fellowship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: Ryken’s Commentary on Exodus

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First Things First

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First Things First

A black Methodist preacher was sent to a formerly all-white church in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the most magnificent church his daughter had ever seen. It was a Gothic structure with beautiful, polished wood and had a beautiful crystal chandelier. Presidents had worshipped there, and a President had even been married in the sanctuary and the parsonage was so large that every one of his children could have their own room. Under the parsonage was a huge cellar, a dingy, dark place with a couple of dim light bulbs hanging from long wires, and cobwebs and shadows. One day, the pastor’s sons found a hole beside the furnace leading to a tunnel and when the pastor and his sons went over to the church building, they found that beside the furnace there were some old boards. As they removed them, they discovered another hole with other tunnels. They explored those tunnels and that night around the dinner table at the parsonage in Cincinnati, five blocks from the Ohio River their father told the story of the Underground Railroad, a network for helping slaves to escape to freedom. Slaves were hunted and would have been brutally punished if caught and it was against the law to help them, but the Underground Railroad helped slaves get to their freedom in Canada. The father said, “Children, I want you to remember this day as long as you live, for today we have found a station in the Underground Railroad.” He went on to say, “The greatness of this church is not in its gothic architecture, its beautiful furniture, its crystal chandelier, or even its social status. The greatness of this church is below us. We are on hallowed ground…” They were on hallowed ground because the tunnels beneath them represented the gift of freedom. Freedom from slavery.

Last week we started our study of the Hallowed or Holy ground of the Tabernacle of God. The Tabernacle was to be a sanctuary that was “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.” This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” It was holy because it was where the Lord would dwell and “tent” among his covenant people. As I mentioned last week, there are two accounts of the Tabernacle. The first account in chapters 25-31 are the instructions given to Moses by God and the second account in chapters 35-40 will show the actual construction of the Tabernacle. Later, as the Tabernacle is constructed the most holy place will be last but now, first things first, the instructions for the only furnishing that would be in the holy of holies is given by God to Moses. This is because it was the most important furnishing in the entire tabernacle. It was the ark of the covenant, and it was the place where the law of God would be placed. It was the place where God would speak to Moses. It was the place where the sins of the people would be forgiven. It was the place where God’s power and presence would be manifested. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires that His power and presence be with His people.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another day that you have made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We praise you and give you all glory and honor for who you are and for what you have done. Thank you for creating us and breathing your breath into us. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we open your Word. Give us wisdom and insight from it and allow it to grow us spiritually into the people you want us to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is God’s Holiness found in Exodus 25:10-16. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Have them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.”

God starts his description of the tabernacle, not with the tabernacle itself, but with the most important item that would be in it, the ark of the covenant. It was described first because it was the symbol of the presence of God with His people. Because God was holy and the Israelites were sinful, God designated a way that He could dwell in their presence without the possibility of them being slain. Because of his love for them and because he wanted to be in a personal relationship with them, he provided a way to be close to them. The word “ark” is an Old English word for “chest” or “box.” It is a different word than the one used for Noah’s ark and for the papyrus basket Moses was put in as a baby but all three were saving arks. There are many names for the “ark.” The ark of the covenant, the ark of the testimony, the ark of the Lord of all the earth, the ark of the Lord God, the holy ark and the ark of Thy strength. God commanded that the ark be made of acacia wood. If you remember from last week this was one of the offerings God asked the people to give for the construction of the Tabernacle. Acacia wood was one of the local sources of wood growing in the Sinai area. It grew to between 15-25 feet high and would have been suitable timber for woodworking. It was also resistant to insects, durable and would not decay.

God also gave specific measurements for the ark. It was to be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. A cubit was the distance measured from a person’s elbow to their fingertips. Of course, the distance would vary per person but there were three standard sizes for a cubit in the OT: 17.5 inches, 20.6 inches and 21.85 inches. The 20.6 inches was known as the “royal cubit” in Egypt. This may have been the standard used by the Israelites since they would have been accustomed to it. So, if we go with the royal cubit the ark would have been about 4 ¼ ft. long and 2 ½ ft. wide and 2 ½ ft. high. It doesn’t matter that the size of the ark was. What matters is that Moses followed God’s instructions to the letter.

The ark was not to be left as a wooden chest or box. It was to be overlaid with pure gold, both inside and out with gold molding around it. Mackay says, “Pure gold, as the most valuable metal available, was employed in those parts of the Tabernacle that were closest to the special presence of the LORD.” Pure gold was probably attached to the inside and outside of the wood in some way and the molding probably went around all the corners of the ark to seal it completely with gold. Next, we learn about another feature of the ark. It seems that there were feet attached at each corner to keep the actual chest from resting on the ground. Also, four gold rings were cast and attached to each of the four legs, two on one side and two on the other. These rings would hold what God commanded Moses to make next. God commanded Moses to make poles from acacia wood and overlay them with gold. The rings and the poles were to keep all human hands from touching the ark. Those who transported the ark would only touch the poles as they carried it. The poles were to remain in the rings and were never to be removed from them. This probably signified the readiness of the Lord to move with His people. Lastly, God commanded that Moses put the tablets of the covenant law or the “Testimony” in the ark once they had given to him. In this way, the ark was a box used to store the Ten Commandments as a testimony and witness to the covenant established between God and His people. It was a visible reminder to the Israelites of their covenant obligations and of who God is. They were to be holy as the Lord is holy in their conduct toward him and each other.

That brings us to our second point called God’s Mercy found in Exodus 25:17-22. This is what God’s Word says, “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”

At this point the ark was just an open chest that was to hold the tablets of Testimony after God gave them to Moses. But now God commands Moses to make a cover for the ark. The ark of the covenant was actually made of two pieces, the ark and the atonement cover. When the Israelites would come into the Tabernacle to worship the Lord, they would be faced with His Holiness signified by His law, and they would be reminded of how they had fallen short in their obedience to His covenant. Of course, this was one of the purposes of the ark of the Testimony. But there was another important part of the ark and that was its atonement cover. The atonement cover is also called the propitiatory or the mercy seat. Propitiation means to appease. And the mercy seat was not used in the sense of a “chair” but meant the place where mercy was to be found. Atonement means “a process by which estranged parties are “at one” or “made as one” with each other. The Hebrew word means “to cover.” The fact that the atonement cover would “cover” the tablets of the Law made it clear that what was being covered was the penalty for the people’s disobedience to God’s holy commands.

They would not be able to keep His holy law and deserved condemnation, but the atonement cover pointed to the possibility of this death sentence being dealt with in a different way. The atonement cover played an important part on the Day of Atonement when it was sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices to cleanse the nation of Israel of their sin and appease the wrath of God. Leviticus 16:15-16 says, “He (Aaron) shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been.” It wasn’t the cover that brought a commuted sentence. It was the blood of the sacrifice that was sprinkled on the cover itself. The atonement cover foreshadowed the work of Christ on the cross. He lived a perfect life, obeying God’s Law completely and perfectly and was the perfect lamb of God who willingly, once for all, poured out his blood for the ransom of many. With the atonement cover, the Lord was teaching His people about the coming Messiah who would take away the sins of the world. Guzik says, “It is remarkable that even before God gave Moses the tablets of the Ten Commandments, God made provision for Israel’s failure under the law.”

God commanded Moses to make an atonement cover out of pure gold the same size long and wide as the ark. The intimate connection between the ark and the atonement cover is shown by the use of pure gold in their construction and that they were to be the same size. This would show that the holiness of God and His wrath on sinners symbolized by the Testimony or the Ten Commandments was completely covered by the atonement that was made. God’s holiness and his mercy were equally displayed in his character that he made central to his worship at the tabernacle. Next Moses was commanded to make two cherubim out of hammered gold at each end of the atonement cover. The cover and the cherubim were to be made out of the same piece of pure gold. The cherubim were to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the atonement cover. And they were to be facing each other with their faces turned down looking toward the cover of the ark.

As I said last week, the tabernacle was to reveal the realities of heaven and cherubim are real creatures that reside in heaven. Ryken says, “They function as guardians of the sacred and throne attendants of the Almighty.” They are the highest among the angelic order of creatures and are mentioned over ninety times in the Bible. The first time was in Genesis 3:24 when they were to guard the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Their likeness will also be embroidered all over the inner curtain of the Tabernacle. Their wings are outstretched, overshadowing and protecting God’s throne. Their faces were to be turned downward in adoration, reverence and awe that would be appropriate when the presence of the Lord descended upon the ark and was enthroned between the cherubim. Psalms 80:1 says, “Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim.” And Psalms 99:1 says, “The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim.” These verses emphasize that the ark was considered the throne of God on earth.

The ark was to be finished by putting the atonement cover on top of it and by putting the tablets of the covenant law in it that again God would give to Moses. The ark of the covenant was to be the throne of God on earth, symbolizing His presence with His people. It was also to be the place where His holiness and His mercy resided as symbolized by the Ten Commandments and the atonement cover. We now see another purpose for the ark of the covenant: it was also the place where God would meet with Moses and give all His commands for the Israelites. The word “meet” reflects the name Tent of Meeting given to the Tabernacle. These encounters between Moses and God would not be casual ones but arranged for the definite purpose of meeting together. Moses would continue his special role as covenant mediator between God and the Israelites even after the institution of the priests. It is important that the space above the ark remains empty. One of the Ten Commandments was to not make any graven images of the Lord and so that space had to be empty. It would be where the cloud of God’s presence or the shekinah glory of the Lord would rest when He entered the holy of holies in the Tabernacle.

Another interesting fact that we all probably know is that no evidence of the ark remains. There are many hypotheses about what happened: it may have been lost at the time of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Others have argued that it was lost during the invasion of Shishak shortly after Solomon’s death. Some believe that it was probably taken by refugees to Egypt during the time of Manasseh’s oppression, and afterwards brought to Ethiopia. Some believe that it could still be buried someplace below the Temple in Jerusalem. We do not know and we are probably not supposed to know.

How can we apply the ark of the covenant to our everyday lives? As I said, the tabernacle was not permanent; it was made to move. And when the people were commanded by God to move, they would take the ark of covenant with them leading the way. In this way, the presence of God was always with them and always leading them. There are three different places the ark was that reminds us of God’s presence.

The first place the ark reminds us of God’s presence is at the Jordan River as the Israelites were getting ready to enter the Promised Land. The ark at the Jordan shows God’s prevenient or “preparing” presence. The priests carrying the ark were to go ahead of the people and walk into the Jordan River which was at flood stage. Joshua 3:15-16a, 17, says, “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.” This is a picture of the prevenient presence of the Lord; the Lord going before His people and preparing their way. Do you believe that God’s presence goes before you in your life preparing the way for you? Do you believe that He will be there at every crucial time in your life? We don’t need to worry about something happening that may never happen. We don’t need to worry about going to places where we’ve never been before. F. B. Meyer asks, “Do you ever ask what you will do at the swellings of Jordan? Do you ever fear that heart and strength may fail? There is a presence with us – a divine companionship, the angel of the covenant, the Christ of God. Shall we have the faith to answer, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou are with me?” The Lord goes before us preveniently, preparing the way, and meeting us at every overflowing Jordan and at every swelling river of our lives. That brings us to our first next step which is to Trust in God’s prevenient presence to go before me at every swelling river of my life.

The second place that the ark reminds us of God’s presence is at Jericho. The ark at Jericho shows God’s powerful presence. The Israelites were to walk around Jericho in a procession of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant followed by seven priests blowing their trumpets and the Israelite fighting men. They were to walk one time around for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. On the seventh time around the priest made a long trumpet blast and all the people shouted, and the walls of the city came tumbling down. What caused the city walls to crumble? Was it the priests? Was it the trumpets? Was it the army? Was it the shouts of the people? No, it was the presence of God signified by the ark of the covenant that brought the walls down. It was the powerful presence of the Lord. God’s presence is power for those who are fearful and discouraged. God’s presence is power for those who are sick and in pain. God’s presence is power for those who are separated from loved ones, lonely and in despair. God’s presence is power for the rest of us as well. We all need to stay alive to God's presence. We all need to cultivate His presence in our lives. Let us be people who make a willful decision to start each day acknowledging God’s powerful presence and allow it to transform our lives. That brings us to our second next step which is to Trust in God’s powerful presence to enable me to overcome any obstacle in my life.

There’s one other place that the ark was that we must study as a warning to us and that is the ark in captivity. This is the passing presence of the Lord. This signifies times when the presence of the Lord is not necessarily in our lives due to our disobedience and sin. After arriving in the Promised Land, the Israelites grievously sinned against God and were unfaithful to Him. The presence of God departed from them and the ark was captured by the Philistines. The point is we make our own decision about God’s presence in our lives. We either cultivate it or we don’t. He is always near but due to our sin and unfaithfulness, His presence is not evident in us. We must continually respond to the Lord and be obedient to Him. The vital presence of God depends upon our obedience, response, receptivity and cultivation of His presence. That brings us to our last next step which is to Cultivate God’s presence in my life by being obedient and responsive to Him. ​​ 

As Roxey comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Lord, thank you for the privilege of learning from your Word and hearing from your Holy Spirit this morning. Thank you for your power and presence in our lives. Thank you for your preparing presence that goes before us in every swelling river of our lives. Thank you for your powerful presence that helps us to overcome any obstacle in our lives. Help us to cultivate your presence in our lives by being obedient and responsive to you and help us to trust in your power and presence every day of our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Opening: Jeff Strite, sermoncentral.com, The Secret of the Hidden Room

Closing: The Communicator’s Commentary, Maxie Dunnam, pgs. 316-321 (selected)

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God With Us

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God With Us

In his book Faith, Hope, and Hilarity, Dick Van Dyke told about a Sunday school teacher who asked her students to talk about how they felt about their church. The students responded in the usual ways: some said something silly to get the rest of the class to laugh, while others tried to be more serious. One of the girls was new to the class, and she felt uncomfortable about entering into class discussions, so she never raised her hand or volunteered an answer. That Sunday, however, she did have an answer for her Sunday school teacher, and it was unforgettable. She said that going to church was “like walking into the heart of God.”

We are about to walk into the heart of God by walking into the study of the tabernacle in Exodus chapters 25–31. For the next several weeks, we are going to examine a blueprint for the tabernacle just as God gave it to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then we will watch the actual building of this masterpiece in chapters 35–40. The fascinating thing about this last section of Exodus, in chapters 25-40, is that God is preparing to give the people what they need even before they realize they need it. God understood what His covenant people needed. They needed a visible representation of God’s presence and power; concrete ways to live out their relationship with Him; to worship Him in a place of beauty, majesty and mystery; a way to be put back in a right relationship with Himself, and an opportunity to feel they had significant contributions to make. In the tabernacle, God would reveal His heart to His people by fulfilling these needs inside of them.

The tabernacle was an actual building not only for the meeting of God with his people but also where the priest would offer sacrifices for the sins of the people to bring about complete fellowship with God. In the first fifteen chapters of Exodus, we have seen God’s leading of Moses and the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt. The next nine chapters revealed God’s sovereignty in leading His people through the wilderness and right up to the borders of the land they had only dreamed about. Now we are going to learn about the tabernacle where God was to make his holy habitation and speak to man. We learned a couple of Sundays ago that God desires to dwell with His people and that big idea could easily be used again and again in our study of the Tabernacle. But today as we start to study these scriptures, we want to see how God reveals His heart through the Tabernacle and that brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to reveal His heart to His people. We will see God revealing His heart to us as we look at our three points, Offering, Overview and Obedience.

Let’s pray: Lord, we thank you for the opportunity and privilege to be in your house this morning. We thank you for your desire to reveal your heart to us. Help us to be willing to put our hearts in tune with yours. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we learn from your Word today. Open up our hearts and minds to what you want us to glean and share with those we come in contact with this week.

Our first point is Offering found in Exodus 25:1-2. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.”

Before we look at the first two verses I want to give some background about the Tabernacle. One reason for the tabernacle was because the Israelites would not remain at Mt. Sinai forever. God had promised His people an inheritance of the land of Canaan. As God’s covenant people traveled to Canaan, the Lord wanted to dwell among them, and so they would need a visible reminder of His presence with them. This visible reminder was the Tabernacle. Wherever they went, they would know they weren’t alone, because their Lord and God, Yahweh, was dwelling in their midst. The tabernacle would be a portable structure moving from place to place as they wandered in the wilderness. The tabernacle was not only God’s house or palace, but it was also His temple. There would be barriers, and the people would only be allowed to approach God to a certain point. So, the tabernacle was not only a visible reminder of God’s presence with them but a constant reminder that God was holy, and they were sinful people, and it was no simple or trivial matter to approach a holy God.

A study of the tabernacle is vital for our spiritual maturity. More space in the scriptures is given to the account of the tabernacle than any other single object or subject. There are two chapters devoted to God’s creation of the world, people and animals and fifty chapters total devoted to a discussion of the tabernacle. In Exodus alone, thirteen chapters are devoted to this subject and only two are devoted to the Exodus and only two-thirds devoted to the Ten Commandments. This highlights the importance of the presence of God among His people, the importance of His people meeting with God and the importance of worship in the life of the covenant community. God’s presence would bring both reassurance and a holy fear. God's presence would set them apart from all other nations. Almighty God would dwell among them; they would be his people, and he would be their God.

We also see the importance of the tabernacle in that the instructions for it are given twice, once in chapters 25-31 and again in chapters 35-40. First, God gives Moses instructions on how to build it and later on we will see the actual building of it. The only difference between the two accounts is the given order of the items for construction. In the first account the items are described from the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies, outwards. The place where God’s presence, His shekinah glory, would dwell, would give the structure meaning and significance, and as such, is described first.

The tabernacle revealed God’s heart by the way he chose to dwell with his people. 2 Samuel 7:6 says, “For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; rather, I have been moving about in a tent, that is, in a dwelling place.” The Lord wanted to dwell in a tent just like His people did. He wanted to live in the center of the covenant community. He was committed to the journey with them and for the long haul not just for the mountaintop experiences but the ones in the wilderness as well. Leviticus 26:11-13 says, “I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.” God promised to be with His people and actually walk among them. And God dwelling in their midst was entirely at his own initiative.

In verse 1, “And the Lord said to Moses” starts an uninterrupted divine speech that goes to chapter 30. This is the longest divine speech in Exodus highlighting the importance of these instructions on the tabernacle. There is no greater event recorded in the OT. Alexander says, “Exodus moves from ‘service’ (slavery) to Pharaoh in Egypt, to the ‘service’ (worship) of Yahweh at Sinai.” This was the reason why Moses was to go to Pharoah in Exodus 4 asking him to let God’s people go. It was so they could worship Him and Him alone.

The first thing God told Moses was to have the Israelites bring Him an offering; an offering from everyone whose heart prompted them to give. God revealed His heart by wanting to reveal the hearts of His people. God is a giving God, and he does so unconditionally, and he wants His people to be giving as well (Big Idea). We can notice a few things here. One, Moses was asking for these items on God’s authority and behalf, not his own. Two, God did not just miraculously supply the materials to construct the tabernacle. It was to be a voluntary, willing offering, not given grudgingly but joyfully. It was to be an act of worship for God’s glory. Giving in this way revealed the hearts of his people. Their giving reflected their gratitude to the Lord for saving them from slavery in Egypt and providing for them in the wilderness. Who God is and what he had done and would do for them would prompt the people to give. Their giving would show their generosity and self-sacrifice and would give them ownership in their ongoing relationship with the Lord. This was accomplished as later on they had to be told to stop giving because they had given so much. The Hebrew for “whose heart prompts them to give” is “whose heart makes him vow” meaning they wouldn’t be able to help themselves; they would have to give. And it would be dedicated to God’s use as a freewill offering. God gave his people an opportunity to contribute to the construction of his tent that would dwell in the midst of his covenant people.

Giving to God is a sign of our commitment to Christ. Our willingness to give back to God a portion of what he has given to us already is a sign of our spiritual health and our relationship with Him. It reveals our hearts. When we dwell on who God is and what he has done for us, individually and as a church, it should prompt us to give voluntarily, willingly and joyfully as an act of worship. It also reveals God’s heart as He is more concerned with the attitude of our giving than the amount of our giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” That brings us to our first next step this morning on the back of your communication card which is to voluntarily, willingly, and joyfully, give my offerings to the Lord as an act of worship.

That brings us to our second point, Overview, found in Exodus 25:3-7. This is what God’s Word says, “And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.”

We see an overview of the materials that God specifically and precisely commanded Moses to collect from the people as offerings. Nothing was to be left to chance in the construction of the tabernacle. These were valuable materials and are mentioned according to type and costliness. There are metals, fabrics, skins, wood, oil and incense and precious stones. The metals mentioned are gold, silver and bronze or better translated as “copper.” They would be used for covering the wooden framework of the tabernacle structure, the altars and tables inside the tabernacle and the ark. They would also be used in pure form for pieces within the tabernacle such as the lampstand, dishes, bowls, plates, etc. There were mines in the areas of the Dead Sea, Midian and Sinai so these materials would have been close by. Next mentioned are threads or yarns dyed with three different colors: blue, purple and scarlet. These dyes were very costly to make. The blue and purple dyes came from the various shellfish found on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea near Phoenicia and Palestine. It is believed that twelve thousand murex shells needed to be opened, and its liquid extracted to produce 1.4 grams of pure dye. The scarlet or crimson dye was obtained from the eggs and bodies of the cochineal insect or worm. Woolen cloth would be dyed these colors to make the curtains and other hangings for inside the tabernacle.

Next on the list of offerings are fine linen which would have come from Egypt. The Hebrew word for “linen” is an Egyptian word for “twining together many strands of the finest flax.” This material would have been white and would have been a cool fabric making it preferable for the priests in the tabernacle. Next on the list is goat hair. It was considered the least expensive material on the list, but it was a durable fabric that would have repelled rain making it perfect to be used for the outside walls of the tabernacle. The next materials mentioned would have already been prepared for use, ram skins dyed red and leather from badger or sea cow hides, depending on your version. Badger skins are self-explanatory. And sea cows were a seal-like animal found in the coral rocks of the Red Sea. The badger or sea cow hides would have been made into a durable leather and also used for the outside walls of the tabernacle.

The next material listed is acacia wood. This would have been easy to find locally. It reached 15-25 feet in height and would have been sawn and planed into suitable construction materials. It was good for woodworking, supposedly resisted insects and was very durable. Acacia wood would be used for the framework of the tabernacle, the tables and altars, etc. Next we see materials mentioned that also state their purpose. Olive oil would be used for light and spices would be used for anointing oil and fragrant incense. Olive trees were common in the Mediterranean and the oil could be used for light, cooking and lotions. Precious stones, such as onyx, are mentioned next and were to be mounted on the ephod and the breastplate worn by the high priests. These precious stones could be found in the Sinai area.

We may wonder where the Israelites would have gotten some of these materials to give as an offering to the Lord. Some probably came from their forefathers, some were obtained when they “plundered” the Egyptians, some probably came from the spoils of the battle against the Amalekites, some probably came from trading with the caravans they came in contact with in the wilderness and some were local to the wilderness they were traveling through. These materials indicate how costly the tabernacle was. Dewitt says, “In the proportion of the finished tabernacle the present-day value of the materials total more than $13,000,000. Their combined weight would be almost 19,000 lbs. God was going to dwell in a “tent” among the “tents” of His people, but His tent would be different. It would be “glorious, majestic” and costly. It would be the place where God met with His people, their sins would be cleansed and fellowship restored with their God (Big Idea).

God provided everything they would need in order to give back to Him the materials to build His “tent.” These materials were costly and the very best of what they had been given and would be used for his glory and his holy work. The same is also true for us today. We need to give our very best to God, the first fruits of what He has already given to us. We also need to give from the heart because this shows that our hearts align with God’s heart. And lastly, we give to do the Lord’s holy work. In 2 Corinthians 9:8 right after it says the Lord desires a cheerful giver, we see these words, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” At Idaville Church we want to be about doing God’s holy work and abound in every good work that he has for us. And we participate in his work by giving tithes and offerings. Our first next step was to voluntarily, willingly, and joyfully, give my offerings to the Lord as an act of worship. This list of materials that were to be given as an offering to the Lord, the costliness and what they were to be used for, I believe offers us an opportunity for another next step that goes along with the first. Which brings us to our second next step to Give my very best, from my heart, for God’s kingdom work.

That brings us to our third point, Obedience, found in Exodus 25:8-9. This is what God’s Word says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.”

Interestingly, God doesn’t tell the Israelites what the materials were for before asking for the materials. It didn’t matter what the offering was going to be used for, he wanted them to show Him their hearts. Would they give without knowing what it was to be used for? That’s hard for us, isn’t it? It is also interesting that it wasn’t until he redeemed His people to himself that he came to dwell in their midst on earth. This was proof of God’s grace in wanting to bring them into a relationship with himself, again, revealing the heart of God to His people. Now the Lord reveals the reason for the offerings. It was to construct a sanctuary for Himself so that he could dwell amongst them in the midst of their community. Stuart says, “he (God) desired that the people make a home for him and then locate their houses/tents around his house/tent and join him regularly at his courtyard for covenant meals, confirming their ongoing relationship and receiving the blessings inherent therein.”

The word “sanctuary” is connected with the idea of something being “holy” or set apart for God. This “sanctuary” would be where the Lord would make himself known to His people. The word “dwell” also means “tabernacled.” The dwelling presence of the Lord or the “shekinah” glory of the Lord, the cloud that would come down, would reside amongst His people in the tabernacle. The English word for “dwelling-place” is derived from the Latin word for “tent.” The Lord would literally “tent” among His people showing them his heart in how much He wanted to identify with them and their circumstances. He wanted them to be His people and be their God. The tabernacle would be a constant witness to the Lord’s presence amongst his people.

The word “show” may mean that God’s instructions went beyond spoken details. Moses may have also been given a vision of what the completed tabernacle was to look like. The tabernacle was not an idea or design of Moses or the people. It was not what they thought a proper house for God should be. It was God’s idea and design and the pattern of the Tabernacle, and its furnishings had to be strictly obeyed to the letter. Moses and the builders couldn’t deviate from the instructions given to them by the Lord. Moses is commanded no less than seven times to make the tabernacle after the pattern he is shown on Mt. Sinai. The word “pattern” suggests an architect’s model. The pattern of the earthly tabernacle was a copy of the true dwelling place of God in heaven. Hebrews 8:5 says, “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.” And Hebrews 9:24 says, “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” One of the purposes for being patterned after heaven was to give the people the hope of heaven in their hearts. The tabernacle was to be a symbolic representation of the realities of heaven. God’s heart revealed his desire for his people to live with Him in heaven forever (Big Idea).

You know God’s presence is right here in this place right at this moment. This is a holy place because God is holy, and he is here. And He now tabernacles in us through the Holy Spirit. Do you ever sit back and ponder this reality? God is with us every Sunday that we come together as God’s people in worship. More so God is with us, inside of us, everywhere we go. How would we live differently if we took these realities seriously? How would we worship differently? I hope it would have a profound effect on how we live and worship and so much more. Let us be people who take seriously the fact that God is with us here this morning and every Sunday and that God is with us everywhere we go as Christians. Let us live holy and set apart lives for God’s honor and glory. Let’s live in an awe that God would even want to dwell inside us and be our God. That brings us to our last next step which is to take seriously the presence of God with me in worship and in my everyday living.

What started as “tenting” among His people, in the wilderness, on the way to Canaan, was perpetuated when Jesus came to earth as a baby, dwelled among His people, and died on a cross for their sins and our sins. Today, we still have God with us in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. This is why He is called Emmanuel meaning “God with us.” God as Jesus again wanted to identify with His people and their circumstances. I think it is so cool that today is the first Sunday of Advent, and the sermon title is “God With Us.” That could only be orchestrated by God himself.

Today, as we start the celebration of Advent, we anticipate that glorious, promised incarnation. During Advent, we celebrate the Messiah coming to earth, we reflect on the Word made flesh and it points us all to the hope we have only in and through Christ. We light candles as a reminder that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness” (Isaiah 9:2). Today we lit the hope candle and in the coming weeks we will light the candles of peace, joy, and love and the Christ candle. Without Jesus we have no hope, without Jesus we have no peace, without Jesus we have no joy and without Jesus we have no love. So, as we approach Christmas, let’s take the opportunity to remember and wait, to celebrate and anticipate. In doing so, we are participating with other believers of old and around the world, with our church family, and in our own hearts and homes, in the hope, peace, joy, and love of our Savior.

As Gene and Roxey lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. Thank you for showing us your heart. May we truly give our offerings as an act of worship pleasing to you. Help us to give our very best from our hearts for your kingdom work. Lord, give us a sense of awe and seriousness as we come into your presence to worship you and as you dwell in our hearts daily. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

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Farther Up and Farther In

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Farther Up and Farther In

What makes for a good meeting place? It probably depends on the kind of meeting you’re having. If you’re having a serious work meeting a monster truck rally or speedway is probably not a good place to meet. If you are a counselor your meeting place must be a safe, private and quiet environment. You are probably not meeting at a football game or a loud rock concert. If you are meeting someone for a first date, a restaurant or coffee shop is probably a better meeting place than a library. If you are going out for a romantic dinner, you are probably not going to a fast-food restaurant. And if you want to meet to play basketball with your friends, you are probably not going to a theater. The meeting place needs to match the purpose for your meeting.

This brings us to the question of what makes a good place to meet with God? Where do you go to be in God’s Word to learn more about who He is and what he requires of you? Where do you go to pray to the Lord and seek His face? Now, the answer to this question will vary from person to person. For some it may be a very quiet place in your house. For others it may be outdoors walking through the woods or by a body of water. It may be while you’re listening to music or it could be while driving to work. Hopefully, when we gather here at Idaville Church on a Sunday morning with other believers, this is a place where you are also able to meet with God.

If we are going to meet with God and be in relationship with Him, we must first believe in his son, Jesus Christ, for salvation. If we’ve not accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we won’t want to meet with God and can’t meet with Him. Once we have accepted Jesus, we can draw near to God but our hearts must also be in the right place. Our hearts must be clean, sinless and holy as we come before a holy God confessing our sins. We can then be forgiven and put back into a right relationship with Him. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The only way to meet with God is if we have Jesus Christ in our hearts and life, we are striving for holiness and are becoming more like His son Jesus every day. God wants to meet with His people, but he also desires to dwell with His people in a fuller relationship of communing and fellowshipping with Himself. And this has been his plan from the very beginning of time. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to dwell with His people.

Let’s pray: Holy God, we come into your presence asking for your Holy Spirit to be poured out on us. Give us open hearts and open minds to your Word this morning. May your Word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path as we walk in this world, serving you and telling others about your son, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning. The first is Moses Ascends, found in Exodus 24:12-14. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”

Last week, in our study of Exodus 14, we saw the leaders of Israel draw near to God as they went up the mountain to eat and drink in a covenant meal together. Those who ate and drank had offered sacrifices and the Lord had accepted them. They had been sprinkled with the blood of the covenant and were allowed to come to a holy, set apart, place to eat and drink with the Lord. It was the Lord who initiated the covenant, and it was the Lord who initiated this intimate meal with His people. As we have studied Exodus, we have talked about how God desires that we draw near to Him but I think it is a greater, more awe-inspiring thing to grasp that the Creator of the Universe, the Most High God, the One, True and Living God wants to draw near to us, he wants to come and meet with us, and he wants to dwell with us. Just think about that. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God through the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. Let that sink into your hearts and minds. Think about what that means. How should we be living? How should we be treating others? How should we be serving others? How should we be worshiping the Lord?

This morning in our scripture, this picture of eating and drinking and meeting with God is going to be taken a step farther. Moses is going to be summoned farther up the mountain and will enter into more of God’s presence. Moses is going to meet with God on the mountain and stay there for a while. This was not just going to be a meal with God, it was going to be communing with Him, and fellowshipping with Him. And there was a purpose to this meeting. God was going to give Moses tablets of stone with the law and commandments that God himself had written, which would be for the people’s instruction. This was a continuation of teaching the covenant to His people. The Ten Commandments and the instruction of them would show how God required his people to live lives pleasing to Him. There needed to be an official copy of the Law which would be kept in a prominent place to be a reminder to the people that they were bound by the covenant. Normally, covenants were between a king and his people. The king may have said he received it from their god or gods, but it was written and given to the people by the king. But this covenant was unique, in that it was written to the people by their God, himself. In this meeting, God would give Moses the official covenant, the Ten Commandments, that were written by the Lord’s own hand and instructions on where it was to be kept.

Even though it is not explicitly mentioned here, the fact that God wanted to dwell with His people will be seen in what follows in chapters 25-31 Not only will God instruct Moses on how His people can meet with Him, by obedience to the Law, he will instruct Moses on how they were going to worship Him and how he would dwell with them. The place God was going to meet with His people had to be a place that is holy and set apart, because God is holy. It had to be a place where the law would be, because God is the law-giver. It had to be a place where his mercy is seen, because God is merciful. It had to be a place of sacrifice and atonement because the people were sinful. It had to be a place where His people would be cleansed in order to serve Him. But it also had to be a place where God could meet with and dwell with his people while they were on their journey to the Promised Land. Without the presence of God dwelling with them, there would be no point in continuing the journey. Mt. Sinai was important, holy and sacred, because it was the place where God first met with His people. But the Lord didn’t want His people to stay at the mountain. The reason he had brought them out of Egypt was to take them to the Promised Land that he had promised their forefathers. So, the place where God would dwell with His people had to be a place that was portable. The place where God would dwell with his people would be the Tabernacle (Big Idea). The instructions for which Moses would receive during his time with God on the mountain.

We don’t want to get too bogged down in the timeline, but we can see that events are not happening in a linear fashion. Most commentators believe that the leaders of Israel went back down to the base of the mountain after eating and drinking with God. Then in verse 12, God calls Moses to come back up the mountain and meet with him to get the Ten Commandments. Then we probably need to skip to verse 14. Moses, realizing that “to stay here” means to hang out with God a while, makes provisions for the administration of his responsibilities while away. The elders are to wait until Moses and Joshua come back to them. And Aaron and Hur will be with them to settle any disputes that may arise while Moses is gone. He is delegating his responsibilities to Aaron and Hur. This makes sense, since Aaron is his second in command, so to speak, and the one who God will put in charge of the priestly duties later on. We have seen Hur before in Exodus 17, where he was holding up Moses’ arms during the battle with the Amalekites. Hur is probably mentioned here because one of his relatives will be instrumental in building the Tabernacle. Moses is leaving things in what he believes are capable hands.

Then in the timeline we come back to verse 13 where it says that Moses and Joshua set out to go up the mountain. Now where did Joshua all of a sudden come from? We also last saw him in Exodus 17, leading the battle against the Amalekites and defeating them. Maybe Joshua was one of the seventy elders that ate and drank with God, but we don’t know for sure. We are told that he was Moses’ aide. He probably attended to Moses as a younger mentee would with a mentor in that time and setting. Joshua is probably mentioned here because he would be the one to take over and lead the Conquest of the Promised Land once Moses died. So Moses may have been teaching Joshua valuable lessons in leadership and ministry, as an older mentor would a younger mentee. By serving Moses in these practical ways, he would learn the skills he would need later on. Joshua would also learn valuable spiritual lessons as well watching Moses interact with the Lord in various ways.

This is important for us today as well. The church should be the perfect place to either mentor someone in leadership, life and spiritual things or to look for someone who could mentor you in leadership, life and spiritual things. Our commissions and small groups are great places for these relationships to form. So, I want to challenge all of us to think about who can I mentor in these ways and reach out to them. Or be thinking about who can mentor me in these ways and reach out to them. This is how our church can develop the leaders that are needed to lead into the next decade and beyond. And this is how we all can develop spiritually, learning to become more like Jesus from someone who is doing it well. This brings us to our first two next steps on the back of your communication card which is Pray about who I can mentor in leadership and or spiritual things and reach out to them. The second is like the first which is to Pray about who can mentor me in leadership and or spiritual things and reach out to them.  ​​ ​​​​ 

That brings us to our second point, God Descends, found in Exodus 24:15-18. This is what God’s Word says, “When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”

When Moses ascended up the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mt. Sinai. The Lord descended as Moses ascended. The cloud should be familiar to us as we have seen it before all the way back to when the Israelites first came out of Egypt into the wilderness. They have been led by the presence of God in the pillar of fire and cloud. The cloud is synonymous with the presence of God with His people. God descended on the mountain, and His glory settled on it. The “Glory of the Lord” is His reputation and majesty, His mysterious and awesome presence alongside His grace and mercy that manifested in the cloud. The word “settled” is the Hebrew verb meaning “dwelt.” It is what is called the “shekinah” glory of the Lord, “an outward manifestation of His presence to men” as Cole says. This word “dwelt” is also the word “tabernacled” used in John 1:14 that says, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and “dwelt” or “tabernacled” among us.” We see the significance of the Lord dwelling with Moses on Mt. Sinai as he would later dwell with His people in the Tabernacle and dwells within His people through the Holy Spirit, today. (Big Idea)

For six days the cloud covered the mountain as Moses waited on God. Finally, on the seventh day, the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. This should remind us of seven days of Creation and how God made the seventh day holy by resting on it. The seven days that God dwelt on the mountain made it a holy place where Moses, who had been consecrated and set apart through the covenant ceremony, could meet with the Lord and the Lord could dwell with him. Then we get a glimpse of what the people at the base of the mountain saw. The glory or the presence of the Lord looked like a consuming or a “blazing” fire on top of the mountain. This was the glory of the Lord’s holiness which represented His relationship with Israel on the basis of the Law. It also signified that the place and the event was a holy occurrence. Seeing the glory of the Lord and Moses entering into it would have been another authentication that Moses was God’s chosen mediator and stressed that what God was telling him would be of the utmost importance.

This was another spectacular event. Last week, the leaders of Israel ate and drank with God. Now we see Moses entering into the cloud into God’s presence and dwelling with Him. This was not just eating and drinking with God. Moses was communing and fellowshipping with the Lord, himself. This was living with, breathing with and dwelling with God in a close, personal relationship. Moses, the covenant mediator, spent forty days and forty nights dwelling with the Lord. Now you and I are not Moses but our relationship with the Lord should be continually growing, becoming fuller and fuller. I asked you last week, what the table of your relationship with Jesus looked like. Was it empty? (slide) Or was it full? (Slide). As we grow spiritually, we should be striving for a relationship that becomes fuller and fuller as we become more and more like Jesus.

So what does communing and fellowshipping with the Lord look like? I believe as we look at Exodus 11, communing and fellowshipping with the Lord is a full table all the time. There may be times when our relationship with the Lord wavers between an empty table, a full table or something in between. But what we should want and strive for and what God wants for us is to commune with Him, to be in fellowship with Him and to dwell with Him. Moses’ table is full as for forty days he is communing and fellowshipping in the presence of the Lord. May we be people who strive for a full table all the time. May we be people who strive for full communion and fellowship with God himself. This is what he wants. This is why he sent his son, Jesus, to this earth to die on a cross for our sins and then raised him from the dead. It was so God could dwell with us in full communion and fellowship. That brings us to our third next step which is to Strive to be in full communion and fellowship with the Lord. Now, we should strive for this kind of relationship while we are living on the earth, but I also believe that this picture of Moses communing and fellowshipping with the Lord for forty days and forty nights is a picture of what it will be like in Heaven. Heaven is the place where we will dwell with God and He will dwell with us in perfect relationship, in perfect communion and fellowship for all eternity.

We see this in The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. The book ends with the old land of Narnia passing away and all true Narnians entering the new Narnia. This is a picture of Heaven, in which the old passes away and all things become new. There is a tremendous sense of excitement as the subjects of that new and glorious kingdom begin to explore. They leap over hills and cascade down waterfalls. Each new thing they encounter is more amazing than anything they have ever seen before. They don’t stop; they keep moving faster and faster. Everyone shouts, “farther up and farther in,” and then they rush off to see more wonders in their new land. This was Moses’ experience on Mount Sinai. He went farther up and farther in. God called him up the mountain. There the prophet saw God’s glory, heard God’s voice, and ate and drank with him. Then he entered into glory. He kept going farther up and farther in until finally he was enveloped by the luminous, radiant presence of God.

This is also the story of our own salvation, which Exodus 24 reveals from beginning to end. First God calls us to worship him, speaking to us by his Word. But we are separated from God by our sin. Therefore, we have to keep our distance until God provides a sacrifice of atonement through the blood of his covenant. God, himself, came to us in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and to reveal the glory of God. John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John’s point was that Jesus reveals the glory of God in his very person. Since he was the divine Son of God, he was the full expression of God’s glory. Like the bright cloud that settled on the mountain, Jesus came down to reveal the glory of God. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, our sins are covered, and we can have fellowship with God. We can sit down to feast at his table. But that is not how the story will end. It ends with our entrance into glory. This is the goal of our salvation: not just to meet with God and to sit down with him but to participate in his glory. What happened to Moses will happen to us: God will come down and lift us up into glory and He will dwell with us forever.

We have been saved for the glory of God. Glory is our destiny as God’s children. I Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” We will go farther up and farther in. Like Moses, we will be surrounded by the radiance of God’s glory. I Corinthians 2:9-10 says, “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” Let us be people who live like we know where we are going. Let us be people who worship and serve like we know where we are going. And let us be people who know that God desires to dwell with us for all eternity.

As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for these moments we have had studying your Word. I thank you for the privilege of your presence and your desire to dwell in us. Let us cultivate that relationship. May it be a fuller and fuller table as we are being sanctified. We look forward to dwelling with you for all eternity in the place that you have prepared for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: gracefv.com “The Meeting Place”

Conclusion: Ryken Commentary on Exodus

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Signed, Sealed and Delivered

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SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

On April 16, 1988, I heard some semblance of these words: Marc, do you take Judith to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward - to have and to hold, in good times and bad, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health; will you love, honor, and cherish her for as long as you both shall live? And of course, I said “I do.” Then the pastor said: Judy, do you take Marc to be your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward - to have and to hold, in good times and bad, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health; will you love, honor, and cherish him for as long as you both shall live? And of course, Judy said “I do.”

Then I heard words to this effect: The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity. It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love. And now as a token of your love and of your deep desire to be forever united in heart and soul, you, Marc, may place a ring on the finger of your bride. Marc, please repeat after me: Judith, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you, with this ring, I thee wed and I put her ring on the appropriate finger. Then the pastor said to Judy: By the same token, Judith, you may place a ring on the finger of your groom and say: Marc, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you, with this ring, I thee wed and she put my ring on the appropriate finger.

Then after all that we heard these words: Marc, Judith, having proclaimed your love for, and commitment to one another in the sight of Almighty God and these witnesses, it is my pleasure to pronounce you, by the power vested in me by the state of Pennsylvania, husband and wife! You may now kiss the bride! And then the pastor said to the congregation: It is my great pleasure to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Marc Webb!

In our marriage ceremony, there was a Declaration of Intent, a Vow/Ring Exchange and a Pronouncement of legal and binding marriage. There was a signing, sealing and delivering of an intimate, covenantal relationship between Judy and myself that was done before witnesses and is to last for as long as we both shall live. This morning, we are in Exodus 14:1-11 and we will witness the signing, sealing and delivering of another intimate, covenantal relationship. This covenant relationship is between the children of Israel and Yahweh that will last forever. The covenant will be signed as the children of Israel confirm their declaration of intent to obey God’s Words and Laws. The covenant will be sealed as both the parties make vows literally with blood during a solemn ceremony initiated by Yahweh. And the covenant will be delivered as Yahweh makes the pronouncement by inviting the major representatives of the people to a sacred meal in His presence.

This same intimate, covenantal relationship is what God still wants with each one of us today. It is a covenant that is still signed by those who confirm they will follow God by obeying His Words and Laws found in the Bible. It is a covenant that is sealed and initiated by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross once for all and remembered by us during the sacred sacrament of Communion. It is a covenant that is delivered as God invites us into a sanctifying relationship with himself which is a daily feasting on His word, a daily prayer time with Him, and a daily striving to become more like Jesus. All this brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to be in an intimate, covenantal relationship with His people.

Let’s open in prayer as we dedicate this time to the Lord. Heavenly Father, pour out your Holy Spirit on us this morning and open our hearts and minds to what you want us to learn and share with others. May your Word be a light unto our paths, and it may lead us, guide us, correct us, rebuke us and train us in righteousness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is Covenant Confirmed found in Exodus 24:1-3. Please follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”

We have finally come to the end of the Book of the Covenant God gave to Moses which started back in Exodus 20:21. God had just given the Ten Words or Commandments to the Israelites, and they were terrified by the holiness of Yahweh and their sinfulness. They told Moses to speak to them and to not let Yahweh speak to them or they felt they would die. Moses tried to convince them not to be afraid but to have a reverent fear of the Lord which would keep them from sinning. Then as God’s mediator between himself and the people, Moses approached the thick darkness where God was on Mt. Sinai. And Moses has been there ever since through chapters 21-23. The Lord told Moses about idols and altars and gave him the Book of the Covenant which were laws that fleshed out the Ten Words. By obeying the Book of the Covenant, the people would be able to live better connected to Yahweh and to each other in the covenant community.

Now that the covenant had been given to Moses, it had to be ratified or adopted by both parties. First, it needed to be confirmed by the people. The Lord is still talking to Moses and instructs him to gather representatives of the Israelite people to “come up” to the Lord. These representatives were Moses, his brother Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, and seventy of the elders of Israel. Moses would come up as God’s chosen mediator. Aaron, Nadab and Abihu would come up as the “priestly” representatives, and the seventy elders would come up as representatives of the whole Israelite community.

We see that there are divisions here among the people of Israel that we will also see later in the Tabernacle and the Temple. The Lord is setting them up now for what is to come. He is foreshadowing His intention to come and dwell in the midst of His people and the sacrificial system which must be in place to make that a reality. This is the beginning of the old covenant which will be abolished with the death and resurrection of Jesus as the new covenant is ushered in. This scene will be a worship service where Moses alone is allowed to approach the Lord, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders, will be allowed to come and worship from a distance. The rest of the Israelite people will have to stay at the base of Mt. Sinai. By setting these boundaries God was teaching his people to honor his holiness.

After the Lord gave the Book of the Covenant and these instructions, Moses came down and told the people what the Lord had said. He recited the Ten Commandments to them again and the Book of the Covenant. The people responded, with one voice, all in one accord, saying, “everything the LORD has said we will do.” This was the second time they had agreed to the Lord’s terms. We saw the first time in Exodus 9:8, where they accepted the terms of the covenant before ever hearing what they were. This time they accepted the terms again after hearing it for themselves. By saying these words, they declared their intent to obey the Words and the Laws of the Lord, confirming the covenant with Him. When we consider our covenant relationship with the Lord, are we determined to obey the word of God? When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are confirming that “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.” Are we passionately resolved to obey God no matter the circumstances, by His grace, and for His glory? As God’s people we have a responsibility to be obedient to Him and His Words and He will hold us accountable to our covenant relationship with Himself. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Affirm my obedience to the Lord and His Words and be held accountable to His covenant with me.

That brings us to our second point this morning, Covenant Ceremony, found in Exodus 24:4-8. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Once the people had reaffirmed that they would obey the covenant as spelled out by the Lord, Moses wrote it all down. This was the second time we are told that Moses wrote something down. This was a customary part of the covenant. It needed to be written down so it could not be changed and would not be forgotten by future generations. Writing the covenant down finalized it. The next morning Moses prepares for the covenant ceremony to take place. He gets up and builds an altar at the foot of Mt. Sinai. He then sets up twelve stone pillars. The altar would represent the Lord, and the stone pillars would represent the twelve tribes of Israel, in the covenant ceremony. The two parties of the covenant were represented in this way in order to seal the covenant. We can notice the way the Lord is teaching His people. In Exodus 23:24 they were told to tear down the Canaanite pillars used in pagan worship. But not all pillars were unlawful. God directed them to set up twelve pillars that were not to be worshiped but were to represent themselves in the sealing of the covenant. God taught them what was unlawful and then taught them what was lawful.

The first part of the covenant ceremony was the sacrifices. Moses sent young men to offer young bulls as burnt and fellowship offerings on the altar. The importance of the covenant ceremony can be seen in the sacrifice of young bulls as these were of greater value than sheep and goats. These young men would not have been priests because the Lord had not appointed Aaron and his sons to the priestly office yet. They were probably selected for this priestly task because of their strength. It would have taken many strong young men to wrangle and tie what would be a significant number of young bulls up onto the altar to be sacrificed for the people. The burnt offerings were offerings that were completely burnt up and given over to God. These offerings represented full atonement for sin, thanksgiving and a total dedication of themselves to the Lord. The fellowship offerings represented peace and fellowship with God and were served as a meal.

The second part of the covenant ceremony and a significant moment happens next. Moses took half the blood of the bulls and put it in bowls and the other half he sprinkled or splashed on the altar. This application of blood on the altar signified the Lord’s acceptance of the people’s sacrifices, their forgiveness and that He was one of the parties of the covenant. It also showed that this relationship that they were entering into was initiated by God and not by them. The third part of the covenant ceremony started as Moses read the BOC to them a second time. The people then reaffirmed their commitment to the Lord’s covenant a third time. The people affirmed their vows before the Lord who had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and was bringing them to the Promised Land as he had promised Abraham. This repetition was necessary to teach the people the terms of the covenant and for the people to be fully informed and fully understand what they were entering into with the One, True and Living God. To live in fellowship with God, the people needed to affirm their complete obedience to the covenant terms he set forth. This time when they said “We will do everything the Lord has said” it was an emphatic acknowledgement that they knew that Yahweh was their covenant Lord and that they knew who would enforce the terms of the covenant if they were broken or ignored.

The fourth part of the covenant ceremony began after the people had again pledged their obedience. Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people. The people being the seventy elders who represented the entire covenant community of the Israelites. This symbolized that they were the other party in covenant with the Lord. You can imagine how the blood would be a reminder of the covenant they were making that day. The sacrifices of the bulls and the splashing of the blood would be memorable to the people. The blood would remain on their skin for days and on their clothing maybe for as long as their clothes lasted. Every time they looked at the blood on their skin or clothes, they would be reminded of the formal covenant they had made with Almighty God to which the Lord and themselves were bound to by oath. This reminds me of the wedding rings Judy, and I gave each other during our wedding vows. We wear them to remind us of the sacred covenant we are bound to “till death do us part.”

Then Moses said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” With these words the covenant was sealed and both parties were swearing in blood that they would keep the covenant. It was a matter of life or death. If the people didn’t keep the covenant their blood or life could be required of them. Sealing this covenant between Himself and the Israelites in blood showed how serious the Lord was in demanding their obedience. We saw this same symbolism in the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15. Both parties walked through a line of severed animals symbolizing if the covenant was broken, they deserved to be severed just like the sacrificed animals.

The Lord knew that the people could not completely obey His covenant so at the same time the blood was a sign of His mercy. It was the way for them to be reconciled to Himself when they sinned. Moses’ words, “This is the blood of the covenant” should cause us to remember Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. Matthew 26:28 says, (Jesus is talking) “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” It is only by Jesus’s shed blood on the cross that we can enter into an intimate covenantal relationship with God (Big Idea). The only way to be saved, to be forgiven, to have a right relationship with God, and ultimately to get to Heaven, is by the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood must be applied directly to our sins. Hebrews 9:21-22 says that we must be “sprinkled with blood” because without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. And if our sins are not forgiven, we can’t be in relationship with God, we can’t draw near to Him. The only way to be in an intimate, covenantal relationship with the One True and Living God is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and then you can enter in. Maybe you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and the Lord God of the universe is speaking to you right now. Maybe in your spirit right now you know that you need a relationship with Jesus. That feeling is so strong that you realize you need to make that decision this morning. That brings us to our second next step which is Accept Jesus as my Savior and enter into an intimate covenantal relationship with Him. ​​ 

That brings us to our third point, Covenant Meal, found in Exodus 24:9-11. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.”

This has got to be one of the most spectacular scenes in all of God’s Word. We are told twice that the leaders of Israel, “saw” or “beheld” God and lived to tell about it. Currid writes, “The verb translated ‘beheld’ is not the normal Hebrew word meaning ‘to see.’ It is a stronger, more intense term.” These men fixed their gaze upon God. This was God in his grace and mercy giving Israel a glimpse of the intimate relationship they could have if they were obedient. Intimacy always was and is the goal of God’s covenant with His people.

Later in Exodus 33:20, God will tell Moses that “no one can see me and live” so we don’t know exactly what they saw. Moses, again in Exodus 33, was only allowed to see God’s “back” and that was it. Here it seems like they were allowed to see God’s feet because they tried to describe what was underneath. But this picture was not definitive as they saw “something like” pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky. Sapphire, or as Ezekiel 1:26 calls it, “lapis lazuli”, describes the “throne room” of God in Ezekiel’s vision. “Clear as the sky itself” suggests there were no imperfections and “clear” literally means “cleansed.” It is possible that when they “saw” God they were bowed down, prostrate at His feet in worship. It is also possible that they were looking up at God from underneath and could only see his feet and what he was standing on. No matter the perspective, it could not be adequately described by Moses. It was the most spectacular thing any of them had ever seen or for some of them would ever see again. These leaders of God’s people were granted the extraordinary privilege of seeing God’s glory and majesty.

Moses and the elders started at a distance separated from God by their sin. God invited them into a covenant with himself, gave them His Word, atoned for their sin and brought them into His presence where they saw Him. Ryken says, “It was a foretaste of Heaven.” This is also the story of our salvation. We were separated from God by our sin, God atoned for our sin through the blood of his son Jesus Christ, the blood of the covenant and one day we will be welcomed into heaven, into his presence and we will see the Lord face-to-face. We are told a few more things in verse 11. First, God did not “raise His hand against the leaders of the Israelites.” “To raise his hand” meant to bring judgment on them. There would be no judgment meaning death, because God had cleansed and invited these men into His presence. So why did Moses mention this? I think God didn’t want His people to take his presence for granted. This was special permission given by Him for these specific representatives and He didn’t want later Israelites to believe that it was ok to approach without the proper preparation. Just like the covenant, this special presence of the Lord had to be initiated by Him.

Next, we see that these leaders were given another special privilege and one that I do not want us to miss this morning. It says they ate and drank with God. We don’t know what they ate and drank. Maybe it was the “fellowship” offering that was sacrificed earlier. Maybe it was bread and wine. Whatever it was, after the covenant was signed and sealed, they partook of a covenant meal which delivered the covenant to God’s people. It was common for those entering into a covenant together to share a meal. We see this with Isaac and Abimelech in Genesis 26:30 and with Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31:46. The theme of eating and drinking with God runs all the way through Scripture. Abraham welcomed a divine angel into his tent for dinner in Genesis 18. King David said that the Lord prepared a table for him in Psalm 23:5a. We see the covenant meal here in Exodus, in the NT with the Lord’s Supper and in our partaking of Holy Communion and one day we will share in “the wedding supper of the Lamb” as seen in Revelation 19:9. The act of breaking bread is symbolic of friendship and relationship. This eating and drinking with God demonstrated that they had fellowship with and were at peace with Him. It symbolized the intimate covenantal relationship that the Lord wanted with His people. It connected them to one another and was a powerful symbol of belonging. Yahweh was their God, and they were His people. The Bible often describes our relationship with God in terms of sharing a meal and these covenantal meals show us that God wants to be in an intimate covenantal relationship with us (Big Idea).

The power of a meal to bring people together is vividly portrayed in Babette’s Feast, a film set around a dinner table. In the film a master chef living as an exile from Paris in a small Danish fishing village spends her fortune preparing an elaborate feast. Although her guests are generally cantankerous and unkind, the feast forms the context for the restoration of old friendships, the rekindling of old loves, and the reconciliation of old enemies. Doesn’t that describe us? We as human beings are generally unkind and cantankerous at times especially without knowing Jesus and not having the Holy Spirit inside of us. We were enemies of God before we were saved and have been reconciled through the blood of the covenant, the blood of his son Jesus shed on the cross. And now as we are being sanctified, the Lord, Himself, invites us to sit down and eat and drink with him. He offers us this kind of intimate fellowship with himself.

Is this the kind of relationship that you have with God? Do you have such a close friendship with the Lord that it’s like sitting down to eat and drink with Him? As Christians, our relationship with the Lord can vary. It can be shallow going wide but never deep. It can be a relationship we try to manage on our own terms or think it depends on what we do and not on what God had done through Jesus. How tragic it is when God’s people settle for a lower level of relationship than what he wants with us. The God of the Universe is calling us to enter in His presence to eat and drink with Him. James 4:7-8 says this, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Let us be people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Let us be people who strive to become more like Jesus every day. Let us strive to be holy as the Lord is holy. Let us be people who seek God and His table with our whole hearts and not settle for less of a relationship than He has called us to. That brings us to our third next step this morning which is to Seek the Lord with my whole heart and yearn for a full relationship with Him at His table.

As we wrap up this morning, it is this sitting at the table with Jesus, as a picture of our relationship with him, that excites me. Our relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in our lives. This relationship takes dedication and work, as with a garden, it needs to be cultivated and tended, so that it will grow. If we only cultivate it on Sundays and Wednesdays, it will not be the full relationship we see in our passage this morning. It must be cultivated daily and it must go deep. It can’t be shallow if we are striving to live holy lives, set apart for God’s work in this world. So, I want you to think about, meditate and pray on your relationship with God this month. Think about the environment of your relationship with Jesus. Think about the table of your relationship. What does it look like? Is it full? Is it deep? Are you seeking after God with your whole heart? And we will come back to this picture in the near future.

As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, your Word is living and eternal. Your Word says that Heaven and earth will pass away, but your words will not pass away. Lord, help us to be people of your Word. Lord, we want to affirm our obedience to you and your Word and be held accountable to your covenant with us. I pray that those who don’t know you will accept your son, Jesus as their Savior and enter into an intimate covenantal relationship with Him. And Lord I pray that we will all seek you with our whole hearts and yearn for a more intimate relationship with you where we linger with you at your table as you invite us to eat and drink with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen. ​​ 

 

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Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

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Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

A three-year old boy was visiting his aunt overnight and he begged for the hall light to be left on and his bedroom door ajar when he went to bed. His aunt reminded him that he wasn’t afraid of the dark at home and he responded, “Yes, but there it’s my dark.”

How many people have ever been afraid of the dark? I didn’t look this up, but I would suspect that most younger kids, maybe ages ten and below, are afraid of the dark at one time or the other. I remember a time during those ages that I was afraid of the dark. I would get a running start up the stairs or make sure that I turned on certain lights to illuminate the darkest spaces in my house. As a teenager, I became comfortable in the dark, as I worked as a janitor in our church, and it got pretty dark there during the winter evenings. Then after graduating from high school, I worked from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am doing security for office buildings. We would never turn on all the lights, so I became comfortable in the dark. It kind of became my friend and not a place of fear, even when I was working alone. There was also a point where I came to trust the Lord to go before me and protect me from the dark or whatever fears I may have been experiencing.

We all have fears. The world is a dangerous place, and we can be so afraid that it can become debilitating. But the one constant is the presence of the Lord. Without the presence of the Lord in our lives we would not be able to stand up against the fears that Satan would throw against us. Darkness, or any other fear, can’t debilitate us because with the presence of the Lord in our lives, we make them our old friends. Am I still afraid of certain things? Like snakes and flying? Yes, but I know that if I had to fly or came across a snake, that I could turn to the Lord, in those times and my fear would lessen. The presence of the Lord makes the dark my dark and can make the dark your dark as well.

This morning, we are finishing up the Book of the Covenant. God has set before His people a long list of laws that he demands they obey, as their covenant God. He has redeemed them, saved them, and as they are on the precipice of the Promised Land, obedience is key. He gave them His law, now He will give them His presence. In our scripture this morning, God will send His special presence to be with them to guide and protect them, He will bless them as they worship Him and Him alone, and He will establish them in their Promised Place. But they aren’t going to be allowed to just sit back and watch it happen. In order for this to take place, God demanded that the Israelites give him their absolute and undying loyalty and obedience. The same is true for His people today. We are on the same journey as the Israelites. They were saved from slavery to Pharaoh. We have been saved from slavery to sin. They are on the way to their Promised Land. We are on our way to our eternal promised land, heaven. And as we journey on this earth, God has sent His special presence to be with us and to guide and protect us, He blesses us as we worship Him and Him alone and he has established a promised place for us in heaven. And while we are on this earth, in the process of sanctification or becoming more like Jesus, we are also called to an absolute, undying loyalty and obedience in and to the Lord. That brings us to our big idea this morning: God demands absolute, undying loyalty and obedience from His people.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, your day that you have made. Help us to rejoice and be glad in it. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we learn from your Word. Show us what you want each of us to know and share with others. Let our words, actions and thoughts honor and glorify you during this time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is, Presence, found in Exodus 23:20-23. This is what God’s Word says, “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.”

After setting all the laws before His people in the past two chapters, we would expect to see the Lord state an expectation of obedience to all the laws he commanded. But he doesn’t. Instead, he states he is going to provide an angel for them, and they would be expected to obey this angel he is sending to them. Before we talk about who the angel is, let’s talk about the angel’s role. The angel is to go ahead of the people to guard them along the way as he brings them to the place he has prepared for them. What is this place God has prepared for them? It is the Promised Land, the land of Canaan, promised to their forefathers.

What else do we learn about the angel from this passage? The angel has authority from God to command them. They are to pay attention to him, listen to what he says. The angel also has authority to forgive or not forgive their sins. They’re not to rebel against him and if they do, the angel will not forgive their rebellion. Also, God’s name is in the angel. God’s name is the very essence of who God is. It includes His character and attributes. They are to listen to what the angel says and do all that God says. This means that the words of the angel are the very words of God. If they are obedient to the commands of the angel, God promises to protect his covenant people from their enemies. The enemies of God’s people will become the enemies of God himself. The last thing we learn here about this angel is that he will wipe out those in the Promised Land that have come under God’s judgment for their sin and rebellion against Him. This angel is a warrior angel who will wipe out all the nations living in the Promised Land. They would no longer be counted among the nations of the earth. The list of six peoples occupying the Promised Land is not exhaustive but means that every nation in the Promised Land will be wiped out to make way for God’s chosen people. ​​ 

Now that we’ve talked about what the angel is going to do, let’s talk about who the angel is. There are five possibilities put forth by the commentators. One, it could be the pillar of cloud and fire that has been leading them ever since they entered the wilderness. Two, it could just be a metaphor for the Lord’s guidance. Three, it could be a human being such as Moses or Joshua. Four, it could be an actual angel like Michael or Gabriel. Lastly, it could be the pre-incarnate Christ. When we take into account all the angel will do and how closely he is connected to God, I believe that the angel is the second person of the Trinity, the pre-incarnate Christ. Christ can forgive or not forgive sins, Christ is the very essence of God, with the same character and attributes. Jesus and the Father are one. The words of Jesus are the very words of God. We have already seen the pre-incarnate Christ at the burning bush. The pre-incarnate Christ was going to be with them, go ahead of them, guide and protect them and would deliver them to the Promised Land. They didn’t need to be afraid of anything along the way because God was with them. God made the dark their dark. They needed to pay attention to the angel, listen to the angel and obey the angel just as they would to God. He demanded absolute, undying loyalty and obedience from His people. (Big Idea).

That leads us to our second point, Promise, found in Exodus 23:24-30. This is what God’s Word says, “Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

We have seen over and over and over again what God wanted from His people. And we’ve seen that God knew what sin would plague His people in the Promised Land. Last week, I said we can know what is important to God by what he reiterates to His people and what is important to God should be important to us. He again warns them to not bow down before the Canaanite gods, to not worship them or follow their practices. God knew that the gods of the Canaanites would be enticing to the Israelites, so he warned them again. But he commanded them to do more than just abstain from bowing down, worshiping or following their practices. He demanded that they take an active role by demolishing the Canaanite gods and sacred stones. The Canaanites would set up stone monuments to their gods and would worship them and the Israelites were to completely destroy all symbols of pagan worship. This was so the Israelites would not be tempted to worship them. We have the same things in our culture today and even in our own lives that we need to demolish and break into pieces. What are the idols in your heart and in my heart that competes with God for our affections, our hearts, our time, our resources, our attention, and our love? The Lord demands our absolute, undying loyalty and obedience (Big Idea) and that means we must destroy all idols and sacred stones in our lives. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card: Destroy the idols and sacred stones in my life that keep me from worshiping the one true God.

After warning them what not to worship, the Lord tells them who they are to worship. They are to worship Him, the Lord their God. Then he made covenant promises to them. If they would worship Him and Him alone, the Lord promised that His blessing would be on their food and water. He promised to take away sickness from among them. He promised that their women wouldn’t miscarry or be barren. And he promised them a full life span. These were essentially the same promises of blessing that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12. These were also covenant promises meaning that if the Israelites kept the covenant, the Lord would keep these covenant promises that he just made to them. But if they didn’t keep the covenant, then the covenant promises would be forfeited. The same covenant promises would turn into covenant curses because of the people’s disobedience as we saw in Deuteronomy 28:1-15 that Jackie read for us.

After making covenant promises that affected the people and their well-being, he goes on to make covenant promises that would affect the Promised Land that he was giving to them. The Lord would send His terror and His hornet ahead of them into the Promised Land to confuse the enemy nations they would encounter. Their enemies would “turn their backs and run” and be driven from the land, out of their way. The Lord’s “terror” and “hornet” could be the angel He is sending ahead of them, or it could have been the Lord himself confusing their enemies as he did to the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. “Terror” refers to the dread that would overwhelm the Canaanites when they realized the Lord was fighting for the Israelites. “Hornets” refers to the fear and panic that would ensue. Think about what it would look like to see a group of people being attacked by a hive of angry hornets. That’s the picture.

The phrase “turn their backs and run” could mean that as the Israelites were coming into the Promised Land all they would see are the backs of their enemies running away from them in terror. Or another translation could be that the Israelites have their enemies by the neck meaning their enemies are in total submission to them implying total victory over them. Then the Lord explains to them how he will drive the Canaanites out. It will not happen immediately upon their arrival or even in a single year but little by little. There were a couple of reasons for this. First, if he drove all the Canaanite peoples out immediately upon their arrival the land would be desolate and wild animals would become too numerous for them. The last count we had of the Israelites was somewhere around one to two million people. The land that God was giving to them was about 1.2 million square miles which would be equivalent to the areas of Alaska, Texas and California. In 2010 it was estimated that 63 million people lived in those three states. If all of a sudden, those 63 million people were gone and replaced by 2 million people, it would become a desolate place, and wild animals would be roaming around. So, until the Israelites could grow in population it made perfect sense for God to drive the Canaanite peoples out little by little. This didn’t negate the promise that God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it just made the land more effective for God’s chosen people. The Canaanite people would still be judged and still be driven out, it would just be done so the land promised to them would be healthy when they took full possession of it

That leads us to our third point, Place, found in Exodus 23:31-33. This is what God’s Word says, “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”

God has promised that his presence would be with His people and go ahead of them. He made covenant promises to them about their bodily health and the health of the land they would be inhabiting, as long as they kept their end of the covenant. Now, the Lord speaks to them about the specific place they would be inhabiting. He begins by spelling out the borders of the Promised Land he was giving them. Their land would stretch from the Red Sea in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the west and from the desert in the east to the Euphrates River in the north. Then we see again that taking possession of the Promised Land meant taking action on their part. The Lord would give the people into the hands of the Israelites, and they would drive the Canaanites out before them. If they were obedient to the Lord this would be a simple process. If they weren’t obedient, it would be difficult to impossible.

Then the Lord closes the Book of the Covenant commanding them to not do certain things and tells them why they needed to obey these specific commands. First, they were to not make any covenants with the Canaanite peoples or their gods. In Middle Eastern culture when a covenant was made, the names of their gods were invoked as part of ratifying the covenant. If you remember last week, God commanded them to not invoke the names of other gods and to not let them be heard on their lips. We now see the reason why that command was important. If they were tempted to make a covenant with the people in the land, which they were commanded not to do, God had already commanded them against what would take place in making that treaty. God set these laws, these checks and balances before them, so that His people would live holy lives with absolute, undying loyalty and obedience to their covenant King. (Big Idea)

Second, they were not to let them live in their land. In Deuteronomy 20, they were to destroy every man, woman, child and animal as they went into the Promised Land. We may wonder why this was needed. It was because if they didn’t, the temptation to become like them instead of becoming more like their covenant King would be overwhelming and would cause them to sin against the Lord. They would worship the gods of the Canaanites instead of the one true God. God made us with what I call a God-shaped hole in our hearts. He made us to worship Him and if we decide not to worship God, it is guaranteed that we will worship something or someone else. This is why God warned them again and again and again against worshiping other gods. He knew that he made them to worship and by giving them the choice invariably many would choose other gods besides Himself. These other gods would be a snare or trap to God’s people. The Hebrew word for “snare” means not just falling into sin but falling into destruction. God knew that getting caught in the “snare or trap” of these false gods meant their destruction.

This is why our big idea is so important. If we aren’t as jealous for our God as he is for us, we will be tempted to follow after and worship every other god in the world. If we aren’t daily diligently seeking after the Lord, if we aren’t serious about our absolute and undying loyalty and obedience to the Lord, we will not only be tempted but will lose out to that temptation and sin every time. If we are not careful it can lead to our destruction. That brings us to our second next step on the back of your communication card: Not allow the gods of this world to be a snare to me in worshiping the one true God.

If we destroy the idols in our lives and if we don’t allow the gods of this world to ensnare us, we can fulfill our purpose to serve and worship the one true God. But we need to go deeper than that; we must be on guard daily against the attacks of the enemy. We must desperately want complete victory and not be satisfied with a partial victory. God adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward the Canaanites and their gods, and we must do the same with the gods of this world today. We can’t settle for a partial victory that stops short of our absolute, undying loyalty and obedience to Christ. (Big Idea) We may be tempted to think a little exposure to sin won’t harm us. It’s ok to look at a little pornography. Or it’s ok to have premarital sex. Or it’s ok to get a little drunk once in a while. Or it’s ok to cut corners at work sometimes. Or it’s ok to gossip or tell a little white lie when I have to. These little compromises trap us as Christians and before we know it we are indulging in bigger and bigger sins that can lead us to destruction.

When it comes to sin, we must adopt a no compromise and a zero-tolerance policy. We must tear down and destroy all temptation in our lives. That may mean not going to certain places, not being with certain friends, not entertaining certain ideas, conversations or desires. If we claim to follow Jesus Christ, we need to get rid of anything and everything that can become a snare or trap for us. Here are some questions every one of us should ask ourselves: What do I need to get rid of? What temptations do I need to avoid? What is keeping me from total obedience to Christ? If we don’t get rid of these things, we’ll be trapped. We need to remember that as Christians we are on the way to our eternal Promised Land. We are under the watchful care of our Guardian Savior—Jesus Christ—who has won the victory and whose kingdom is advancing little by little. There is no room for compromise. That brings us to our last next step this morning: Not settle for a partial victory that falls short of full obedience to Jesus Christ.

As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Lord God, thank you for this opportunity to be in your Word this morning. I pray that each of us will take something new with us and share it with those we come in contact with this week. Help us by your Holy Spirit to destroy the idols and sacred stones in our lives that keep us from worshiping You. Help us to not allow the gods of this world to be a snare to us in worshiping You. And help us to not settle for a partial victory that falls short of full obedience to Jesus Christ. And Lord, help us to demand absolute, undying loyalty and obedience to you from ourselves. May we strive to be holy people, becoming more like your son, Jesus, every single day. In Jesus’s name, Amen

 

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