God's Dwelling Among His People

Call to Worship

: Ps 2

Psalm 2 LSB

Why do the nations rage And the peoples meditate on a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord mocks them. Then He speaks to them in His anger And terrifies them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like a potter’s vessel.’” So now, O kings, show insight; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

New Testament Reading

NT Reading: 2 Peter 1:16–21

2 Peter 1:16–21 LSB

For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly devised myths, but being eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And we have as more sure the prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Gospel Reading

Matthew 17:1–9 LSB

And six days later Jesus brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three booths here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

Intro

AG: “From the very beginning, God’s desire has been clear: to dwell with His people.

In Eden, His presence walked among humanity.

In the wilderness, He descended in cloud and fire.

At Sinai, He unveiled a plan for His presence to move into the midst of a redeemed people.

The God who fills the heavens longed to pitch His tent among them, to be not a distant deity but a near and living presence. “

TS: In Exodus 25–31 God reveals His dwelling plan: not just how to build a structure, but how a holy God might live among a sinful people. 

After giving the Ten Commandments and establishing the covenant with Israel, God begins an extended discourse about construction plans.

Six chapters of detailed instructions about curtains, poles, rings, boards, and religious furniture. Yet these chapters tell us a lot about God. They reveal the nature of worship, God’s presence, and what it means to be in relationship with the Almighty. 

The key to understanding these chapters is found in Exodus 25:8, where God declares His purpose: 

Exodus 25:8 LSB

“And let them make a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.

As we study 25-31, we will not go into great depth verse by verse. Instead, we will look at how all the parts and pieces fit together to establish God’s dwelling among His people.

AP: God still wants to dwell among us! Due to His NEW COVENANT, we have the Holy Spirit with us as believers always. But our “filling” our complete surrender and understanding of His presence can wain. As we study GOD’s plan to dwell with Israel, we can learn lessons about ourselves.

​ 1. Requires Hearts moved by grace 25:1-9

Exodus 25:1–9 LSB

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak with the sons of Israel so that they take a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart is willing you shall take My contribution. “And this is the contribution which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. “And let them make a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. “According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall make it.

God was going to build the tabernacle through donations.

V.2 Voluntary as moved by God

God was going to burden them to bring contribution

His touch of grace would change them and guide them

v. 3-7 Spells out the type of offerings

These were the spoils of Yahweh’s showdown with the Egyptian pantheon.

Remember, God granted them favor with the Egyptians and they plundered them by simply requesting.

Exodus 11:2–3 LSB

“Speak now in the hearing of the people so that each man may ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.” (And Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses himself was very great in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.)

God’s hand had been at work on their behalf

V. 8-9 Make a sanctuary

The Purpose- So that God could dwell among them.

This is the purpose statement of this section of Exodus (25-31)

God, HOLY, All Powerful wanted to dwell among them.

Problem: they were sinful!

The courtyard, tabernacle, sacrifices, priesthood, etc were all to make it possible.

God would be worshipped only the way HE directed.

God put provisions to atone for the sins of Israel and to protect them from approaching Him in their sinful state.

Furthermore, we find later that the tabernacle (then temple) followed the pattern of heaven.

Hebrews 8:5 LSB

who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “That you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

The people responded with joy and enthusiasm, in fact, the ultimately will be told to stop, there had been enough offerings!

Exodus 36:6–7 LSB

So Moses commanded and a proclamation was passed throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman any longer do the work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more. Indeed, the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to do it.

AP: God’s Grace changes everything!

His plan was for far more than just an earthly tabernacle.

His plan include the seed of Even, Jesus, where He would dwell with mankind actually in the flesh.

John 1:14 LSB

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Through that, He planned to make atonement and restore us to sanctification so that we can enter into His dwelling.

John 14:1–3 LSB

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

God’s grace accomplishes that!

Ephesians 2:8–10 LSB

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

2. Requires the mercy seat 25:10-22

Exodus 25:10–22 LSB

“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. “You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. “You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. “You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. “You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. “The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. “You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. “You shall make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. “Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; from one piece you shall make the mercy seat with the cherubim at its two ends. “The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be toward the mercy seat. “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all which I will command you for the sons of Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant V 10-15

Construction as commanded

The construction details are precise:

acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, golden rings for carrying poles, specific dimensions. The most significant feature is the mercy seat on top. It was made of pure gold with two cherubim facing each other, their wings outstretched. God promises,

Carried the “testimony”

This is the name used for the stone tablets upon which the 10 commandments were written.

later, we will see GOD spell out EXACTLY what was to be placed inside for a memorial

The Mercy Seat v 16-21

Called the mercy seat because it was here that atonement would be made.

Between the Shekinah glory cloud above the ark and the tablets of law inside the ark was the blood-sprinkled cover. Blood from the sacrifices stood between God and the broken law of God.

This central spot at the heart of Israel’s camp is where heaven and Earth would meet.

MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary

Forged as one with the golden cover of the ark were two angelic beings rising up on each end and facing one another, their wings stretching up and over forming an arch. Cherubim, associated with the majestic glory and presence of God (cf.

God will meet with them. v. 22

God promises to meet with them (Moses and High priest) at the mercy seat.

AP: God’s dwelling among sinful people is possible because He has provided a way for His justice to be satisfied and His mercy to be extended simultaneously.

The holy God can live among unholy people. This is possible because sin has been dealt with through a substitute sacrifice. A substitute sacrifice means that someone else takes the punishment that we deserve. Mercy doesn’t ignore justice but fulfills it.

God Himself paid the price when Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross.

1 Peter 2:24 LSB

Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.

God’s wrath was poured out upon Jesus.

He was our substitute

2 Corinthians 5:21 LSB

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

3. Requires Continual Fellowship 25:23-30

Exodus 25:23–30 LSB

“You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high. “You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it. “You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it. “You shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet. “The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table. “You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that with them the table may be carried. “You shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its offering bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. “You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

Table of Presence

Each week a new batch of 12 lovest of bread was laid on the table on the north side of the Holy Place.

Table of Presence V. 23-29

Like the ark, God gave great detail on how to make this

Bread of Presence v. 30

Bread was to be placed on it

It represented GOD’s continual presence and provision

The golden table was to hold twelve loaves representing the twelve tribes of Israel, continuously before the Lord. The phrase “at all times” is crucial because this wasn’t occasional or intermittent presence, but constant, unbroken fellowship.

The bread was eaten in teh Holy Place each Sabbath by the priests on duty

Leviticus 24:5–9 LSB

“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 Yahweh. “And you shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to Yahweh. “Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh 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 offerings to Yahweh by fire, his portion forever.”

AP: The NT connects the bread to being a picture of Jesus

John 6:32–35 LSB

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

As we can see, the tabernacle was part of GOD’s instruction to teach His people.

Jesus made is clear that He was bringing eternal life and permanent change.

He abides with us and continues to restore us.

Conc

God dwelling among His people requires:

Hearts moved by grace

The mercy Seat

Continual Fellowship

Works Cited

Lucas, David, “God’s Blueprint for His Dwelling”, https://valley-harvest.org/sermons/gods-blueprint-for-his-dwelling-exodus-25-31/