EXODUS - The Tabernacle
EXODUS: “The Way Forward” • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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EXODUS: “The Way Forward” - The Tabernacle (Part 1)
EXODUS: “The Way Forward” - The Tabernacle (Part 1)
Quick Notes
Quick Notes
Exodus End in Sight
Exodus End in Sight
Next week should be the last installment.
There are a few things coming to be excited about.
Youth-led Services
Youth-led Services
Coming soon.
Look for more youth involvement. Including photography. This isn’t to invade worship. It’s capturing what happens in here so people out there can see it and then hopefully taste and see!
RISEN Easter Drama
RISEN Easter Drama
Need help! Minimum 10 people. Sunday night practices.
BOTT and Landmark Happening
BOTT and Landmark Happening
Tune in, if possible.
Great training last Sunday night.
Recap
Recap
Jesus is the thread that runs all the way through this story. Though He has not come yet, He is foretold and He is exalted!
The Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus = Redemption
God redeemed Israel through the shed blood of an innocent lamb, liberating them from Egypt’s bondage.
Jesus is my Passover Lamb!
The Law
The Law
The Law = Responsibility
Once God liberated Israel from bondage, He gave them the Law, in order to teach them how to live as His people.
I do not live under the Law, but Jesus is day-by-day teaching me through His Word and the matchless power of His Spirit… He’s teaching me how to live and be like Him! He is imparting His nature to us!
The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle
This is where we are at today in our journey through Exodus.
The Tabernacle = Reconciliation (to restore harmony and relations between two parties)
The tabernacle would serve as the place where God would dwell among His people.
And yes, Jesus is going to show up here, too…
Chapter 25-30
Chapter 25-30
The Tabernacle and Its Furnishings
The Tabernacle and Its Furnishings
We have just spoke about holiness and the sanctification of the people. Pillars to false gods were removed. Moses put up pillars at the mountain. Then, at the end of Exodus 24, the glory of God came down strongly on the mountain.
We pick up here.
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. 3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze;
These are the items used to build the Tabernacle. Giving was required for the Tabernacle to be built.
Sure, God could have dropped all the materials in their laps. But He didn’t. God does not need the gifts of His people, but He receives their gifts as a part of their true worship of Him. Freely. Of the heart. Gladly.
4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 9 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.
What you’re looking at is the reason for the Tabernacle. Read verse 8 again.
When you think of the Tabernacle (all of the animal sacrifices and specific requirements that are a part of it), you might begin to think that it’s all about a God in which it’s “His way or the highway.” And make one wrong move, one missed detail… judgment comes to you. The crude nature of the blood and the burning of animal flesh…
But truly, all of these things (particular details that can’t be changed, the blood)…
WE HAVE TO RECEIVE HIS MESSAGE AND HIS PURPOSE IN THIS. Which is… (read the verse again).
Do you want to know what one of the foremost goals of God has been from the very start of the world?! “That I may dwell among them!”
Every time that you pray through the Tabernacle Plan for Prayer, you need to understand… “As I pray through this, I remember that what I am doing right now is what has been His goal all along: TO DWELL WITH ME!!!”
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
So what you must understand about the Tabernacle that God is instructing them to make is that it directly and gloriously pointed toward Jesus!
Here is how we can look at Jesus: He is God, tabernacled in flesh, come to dwell among us!
And this is not just me making more of the Tabernacle than what it actually is. The Bible itself, in the book of Hebrews, testifies that the Tabernacle was an example of heavenly things:
1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
So, the Bible tells us that the Tabernacle was the “example and shadow of heavenly things.”
“Moses, you can’t possibly understand the depth of what I really mean when I say, ‘Dwell with you.’ But there is a lot of meaning that will become clear one day… and it’s only going to be seen if you will build this Tabernacle EXACTLY as I tell you to.”
Make this altar where sin demands payment… because I’m going to be the ultimate debt payoff one day.
Fashion this laver where there is cleansing… because I want to wash you… make you clean, pure, and holy.
Make for Me a table of showbread… because, just as the unleavened bread and the manna that you have unknowingly testified with, “I am the bread of life!” And you will be spiritually sustained by me.
Build this golden lampstand that will be your only source of light in this Tabernacle… and you’ll know Jesus will be your light. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men!”
Create this altar of incense… because I want you to go beyond offering. I want you to intimately worship me. My sacrifice will make it possible!
In the greatest part, the Holy of Holies, I’ll have you make the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant, which represents my very presence… it must have a mercy seat because I am a God of mercy! You’ll sprinkle the blood on this mercy seat… because one day I, Myself, will sprinkle my own blood on the mercy seat of heaven… and mercy will come as you are covered by my blood!
Put up a veil, but it won’t be there long. Calvary will make quick work of it!
Cover it with badger skins (not pretty, not pleasant)… because one day, you’ll see me stand before you in the flesh. As my prophet will tell you, “[He’ll] have no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him” (Is. 53:2). Beyond that, my visage will be marred… it won’t be pleasant… but it will be for you.
When all of this is complete, and you have placed it as I have directed you to, you may not understand why this should be there and that should be here… you may not see any significance in the shape I have chosen to arrange it in… but one day...
One day… someone is going to come to a Midweek Service… someone is going to come to hear from my Word… And they are going to look up… and see me in this Tabernacle!
They’re going to connect it to what I’ll do at Calvary! And they’re going to look at all of this, and they’re going to know: …I DID ALL OF THIS THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG YOU!
Aaron and the Priesthood
Aaron and the Priesthood
At chapter 28, specifics start being laid out for the priesthood (Aaron and his sons). These were the only ones who were permitted to go into the Tabernacle and use these items and encounter the glory of God.
There were special garments for the priesthood.
A breastplate
An ephod (a close-fitting garment that contained the names of the 12 tribes)
A robe
A tunic
A turban
A sash
These were holy garments used in ministry before the Lord.
You’re not going to be able to wear old garments into new places.
The book of Leviticus is all about the functions of the Levitical priesthood. There was much required. Much is required of ministry.
There’s an interesting scripture in here regarding Aaron:
37 And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. 38 And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
The meaning of the phrase “bear the iniquity” seems to indicate that the holy gifts of the people (sacrifice) would be acceptable only when presented through the mediator of a holy priest.
In other words, only Aaron (and descendents) can carry your sacrifice.
But those words are also pointing toward the work of Jesus, who took on the sins of the world as our ultimate High Priest. He definitely bore our iniquity.
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Chapters 31-40
Chapters 31-40
Artisans to Build
Artisans to Build
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,
Under the old covenant the infilling of the Holy Spirit was not available to all as it is today. However, God chose specific persons to fill with His Spirit for the purpose of carrying out special ministries. Bezaleel is an example of such a person.
5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.
6 “And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
The Golden calf
The Golden calf
1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
WHO brought them up??? Interesting. Hold that thought.
Now the apparent issue here is that Moses was taking too long. This seems to indicate that they were overly dependent on man to keep them in covenant.
And, for sure, ministry is the watchmen on the wall. There is great value in shepherds. We are guided in how to live and how to fulfill calling and destiny. Maybe there is a point to take here that, without proper visible leadership, people fail. But when your covenant with God is actually just that you’re on the Moses train… your covenant is merely skin deep.
You’re not going to be able to come in here and coast on someone else’s anointing every week. Your covenant is with God. The world’s view of Christianity is not Apostolic, but more importantly, often not biblical. You are not Christian because you claim to be and you come to church!
And that describes these people pretty well.
So they shift from one man to the other. They not only came to Aaron, they told him to “come” and make gods with them.
And shockingly, as we’ll see in what we read next, there is absolutely no pushback from Aaron, the right hand man. God had been abundantly clear about other gods.
Somewhere around 40 days before this happened, the entire body of people stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai and heard God directly speak the Ten commandments, which, you recall, began with “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image.”
Before going up the mountain to receive the tablets, Moses “told the people all the Lord’s words and laws.” And you might remember that they all responded (and I quote), “Everything the Lord said we will do.”
This all makes for the worst case of impatience (and, frankly, rebellion) you could imagine, here.
2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
The “molded calf” was a common object of worship of the day. In particular, the cow and the bull were strongly worshipped in Egypt. And the bull was a familiar symbol of Baal seen in Canaan. (Oil painting at the National Gallery in London, titled The Adoration of the Golden Calf created by Nicolas Poussin in 1633)
They begin worshiping this god of theirs. Aaron is apparently right on board. But it’s not just normal worship we might think of.
The day began early in the morning with worship by sacrificing sin offerings and peace offerings. It might be seen as typical worship style.
But it ended crudely. After they had all feasted on their portion of the sacrifices, they “rose up to play.” And later, in verse 25, we are told that the people were wildly out of control. We aren’t for sure about the specifics, but all of this points to profane worship that was a disgusting party of sorts.
This gave an instant shift to the Lord’s tone.
7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ”
God is alerting Moses to their sin. “Have corrupted themselves” - the Hebrew here means “to pervert” or “to ruin.” It’s also used to describe the ruin of man that caused God to bring the Flood.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
“Stiff-necked” - the first occasion this phrase is used. It’s stubbornness of the people refusing to follow the ways of God.
Then it turns very strong with the threat to destroy the nation entirely and start fresh with Moses.
And Moses at this point begins to intercede on behalf of the people for God’s mercy. He argued three things in this prayer:
Their deliverance from Egypt was the work of the Lord - how could He abandon them now?
The Egyptians left would hear of this judgment and would believe that they had triumphed after all - how could He destroy them now?
The covenant had been established long before this moment or any of these people - how could He revoke this promise now?
Moses had personal humility, compassion for the people, and zeal for the glory of God. The result was a powerful response from God:
14 So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
Now it is time for Moses to go back down the mountain, carrying the two tablets. Look at what happens:
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said: “It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear.”
It appears that Joshua had come with Moses on at least a part of the journey to Mt. Sinai. Just think… while Moses was with God, Joshua was nearby and from where he was, he was the first to hear all of the raucous below.
I would have been better if had been the noise of war. Instead, it was mere noise. Noise to a false god.
STARTING POINT
Judgment
Judgment
19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.
Moses had just pled with God to preserve these people, but when he saw the wickedness for himself, he became beside hisself.
It would seem that although the people had made a triumphant exit out of Egypt, Egypt had not completely exited them.
God did not want Israel to just leave Egypt. He wanted them to reject it.
Some people refuse to reject what God calls them out of. 400 years of not feeling spiritual freedom takes more than just walking out. God will break you out, but then you have to allow it to be purged from YOU.
Remember Lot’s wife? She was willing to leave Sodom and Gomorrah but not reject it.
Changes that aren’t accompanied by a change of heart won’t last.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” 22 So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
Pushback and excuses.
A friend of mine said, “People can be in bondage for so long that when it’s finally confronted, they have a tendency for confrontation with it feels like cruelty and deliverance feels like danger!”
This is why when some are confronted with their sin or their hurt or their problems, they tend to want to walk out and go to the bathroom. If we aren’t careful, we try to lie to ourselves and believe that what we’re hearing doesn’t have anything to do with us, because we’re okay.
Do you know what the correct approach is? “I’m here - Lord speak to me. I will receive whatever it is that is spoken. If there is a problem in me, I want to make it right. I’m not avoiding. I’m not running away. And I’m not sitting still and lying to myself. I’m opening up my heart and responding to your Word!”
What happens next is not pretty.
Standing at the camp’s entrance, Moses calls out for those loyal to God, and the Levites gather to him (Exod 32:25–35).
Moses commands the Levites to execute judgment throughout the camp, and approximately three thousand people die that day (Exod 32:25–35). This act of obedience serves as a consecration—a way for the Levites to set themselves apart to God’s service (Exod 32:25–35).
The following day, Moses acknowledges Israel’s grave sin and announces he will intercede with God on their behalf (Exod 32:25–35). In his prayer, Moses confesses their idolatry and offers himself as a substitute, asking God to blot him from his book if he will not forgive them (Exod 32:25–35)—a stunning act of self-sacrifice for the people’s sake.
However, God responds that only those who have sinned against him will be blotted out (Exod 32:25–35). God permits Moses to lead the people forward with his angel’s guidance, yet promises to visit judgment upon them for their sin when the time comes (Exod 32:25–35). The passage concludes with God sending a plague upon the people because of the golden calf (Exod 32:25–35).
35 So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.
What was the plague? We are unsure.
Some interpret it as a disease.
Others suggest that whatever they dealt with was coming to them as a result of them drinking the water mixed with powder from the golden calf.
We truly don’t know.
But you may recall that God had told them that if they would obey Him, none of the plagues that came on Egypt would come upon them. Obviously, they didn’t listen.
This all illustrates both the severity of covenant violation and the possibility of intercession—Moses’ willingness to stand in the gap foreshadows Christ’s ultimate mediatorial work on behalf of sinners.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Moses Draws Near to God
Moses Draws Near to God
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’
2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
We’ve now spent a significant amount of time (several chapters) at Sinai. Although God was saying they should go ahead and leave, they weren’t quite done there yet.
He had said here that He would be removing His presence from them. But once again, Moses begins interceding and God promises to go with them.
He does this at what Scripture calls the “tabernacle of meeting.” This is different from what the Tabernacle we discussed would be. It was a place where Moses would specifically speak with God. Here, it says:
11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…
Moses asks God:
13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
And God responds:
14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
This promise has to do with their immediate need of His presence with them. But it would also be fulfilled in Jesus and in the infilling of the Spirit. (“The Comforter has come.”)
And then, Moses famously asks God to show him His glory. God shows only His back while Moses is in the cleft of the rock.
When he would come back to the people, they would notice the glow that was about his face. It had come from his encounter and seeing the Lord. He would begin to wear a veil. The people could tell he had been affected by God.
There’s something in this. We may not see God physically when we encounter Him, but our encounters with God should be regular and should produce serious change in us.
He brings with him a fresh set of tablets holding the commandments. This time it was a much better situation.
Tabernacle Completion
Tabernacle Completion
In chapter 36, they begin the work on the tabernacle. And we read:
4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.”
The people had a heart to give toward the work of God. And it quickly became more than enough. They had a willing, joyful, giving heart.
42 According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. 43 Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, just so they had done it. And Moses blessed them.
34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
