On the Deliverance of God

We have found our way to the end of our study in Exodus. Over the span of two years and 50 sermons, we have looked at the people of Israel and the Lord who has delivered them. We will spend more time this morning looking back than we will placing our focus on the passage itself. I do want to remind you that the book of Exodus was originally composed of the second book of five, which is why this seems to be an odd conclusion to a book.

We will look at the overall book and what it means to be delivered!

Read Exodus 40:33-38

To Be Delivered Implies a Previous State

There is significance and importance in these verses being included at the end of this chapter. The first thing that needs to be pointed out is where the people of God had come from and why this moment where the tabernacle is finally put together is so important. If we rewind back to Exodus 8 just after the Lord has caused the plague of flies, we will notice an important interaction between Pharaoh, Moses, and Aaron. Exodus 8:25-26.

Exodus 8:25–26 ESV

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

The desire the whole time was that Pharaoh would release the people of Israel so that they might be allowed to go so that they could serve the Lord. This was the plea time and time again. Pharaoh attempts to make a provision so that the people might worship the Lord while there in Egypt but Moses points out that this would have been extremely offensive to the Egyptians.

Simply put, the people of God were unable to worship the Lord in the way that He desired for them to worship. Let me restate this: before the people had been delivered, they were unable to properly worship the Lord. Sure, they would be able to privately worship and offer praises, but not able to offer the sacrifices that He would later command. Nor could they gather as one united group. Pharaoh would have never allowed it.

The most significant thing that we can notice at this point is that the work was finished at the end of verse 33! There was a great deal of work that went into completing the various components of the tabernacle and then Moses had to put all of that together. And once that work was completed, the presence of the Lord filled the tabernacle in the form of this great cloud. Without the presence of God, our worship is lacking. If we just go through the motions of worship without considering the meaning of the words that we sing or the passages that we read, we do the Lord a disservice and He is not glorified. To worship is to assign worth to the one that is the center of who we are gathered for. I don’t know about you but that very sentence is challenging for me as a pastor. We are not gathered for me. We are not here to please your parents, friends, or grandparents. Our goal and aim is to worship the holy God together!

As we think about the deliverance that is made possible to every person from their own sin, we ought to be reminded that we were not permitted to worship the Lord because of the chasm, as one worship song notes, between us and a holy God. However, those who confess the name of Jesus have been delivered from the former enslavement.

Proverbs 5:22 actually states this in a beautiful way.

Proverbs 5:22 ESV

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

And this is why the completion of the tabernacle is a reminder for each person of the boundaries and difficulties that each person faced before they encountered Jesus Christ. Life was different then. We were held back. We were tortured and served a master in sin who had no care for our well being. Only to continue to keep us from the God who loves us and desires that we might live for Him.

We move, then, from the previous state and can see that

To Be Delivered Includes a New Freedom

At this point I want to go back and remind you of a specific note that I made when we looked at the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 26. There are extensive details on how the tabernacle was to be formed in that chapter and I pointed out two things that I want to remind us of this morning.

The Lord desires our worship.

Because He gives specific instruction on both how to build the structure as well as how to go about offering sacrifices and when to do it, we can understand that there is great pleasure found when we obey Him in that.

2. The tabernacle provided relief from the elements of the desert.

We must remember that the heat was harsh in the wilderness. There was protection from that in the tabernacle. In the same way, when we come together for corporate worship, we receive shelter from the harsh elements of the world. Here, we don’t need to worry about carefully stating our opinion on something out of fear of offending. When it comes to the truth according to the bible, we lift one another up with the truth because that truth comes from the source of all things that are true: God!

I give these reminders because for those that have been delivered from enslavement of self, we should be overjoyed that we now have the freedom to worship the Lord as He has told us to and are not restricted to worship in the ways that our flesh might have for us to. There is a great deal of intention put into our worship gathering. It keeps in mind the fact that we are worshiping a holy God. It recognizes the importance of the gathered body of Christ. We are clear on our belief that we are guided by the Holy Scriptures. All of these things guide what we do with the hope that God will be honored and glorified. Beyond that, we are free to worship the Lord how He would best be honored.

To Be Delivered Acknowledges the Future

Finally, we should take note of the future actions of the people of Israel as they move forward from this place. “Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.” The people of God were delivered for a purpose: to serve the Lord. But until Jesus returns, there will always be other obstacles just as there were additional obstacles for the people of Israel. Yes, they were delivered from the hand of Egypt, but there were additional trials that they faced before reaching the promised land.

If you have received the free gift of salvation, please be reminded that there will continue to be trials faced in this life. The evil one will continue to test us. But we can rest assured that we have the presence of the Lord with us just as Israel had God’s presence with them. With a cloud by day and fire by night, the Lord was always in the sight of Israel.

I point this out because there will come days when we will need to be reminded that we are not in this life on our own without any sort of aid. In fact, I want to read for you the words of Jesus in John 4:15-26. It is lengthy but greatly beneficial for us today.

John 4:15–26 ESV

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

We have been delivered for obedience. Paul makes this exact statement in Ephesians 2:8-10.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So, how do we draw the book of Exodus to a close? I think the third verse from the Charles Wesley hymn, And Can It Be? is perfect for us to reflect on this morning.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature's night Thine eye diffused a quickening ray I woke – the dungeon flamed with light! My chains fell off, my heart was free I rose, went forth, and followed thee

Amazing love! How can it be That Thou, My God, shouldst die for me!