Exodus 26: The end - just the beginning

Likewise, It’s easy to see the end of the book as just that. We saw Moses delivered through miraculous circumstances. We saw him stirred to rescue his people before God had called him, resulting in him have to run and hide. In his hiding God called him from the burning bush, sending him back to Pharaoh with the message, Let my people go. This resulted in the 10 plagues on the nation of Egypt which would eventually lead to the freedom of the Israelites. God promised to lead them to a promised land flowing with milk and honey, but the path led them through the sea. When they got there, they had no way through and the army of Pharoah was pressing in on them when God provided a way out, having Moses touch the water with his staff resulting in a miraculous parting of the waters and the Israelites walk through on dry ground as the army follows them in, they are swamped when the waters return. Now in the desert, God provides for his people as they receive instructions for living in relationship with God. God provides food and water as Moses receives the Law. While there is rebellion, God is faithful to his promise to provide and protect the nation of Israel as he prepares them for his dwelling with them.

About 3 months after passing through the Red Sea, God began to give them instructions to build the Tabernacle, and they got to work. And now here they are, a year after coming through the red sea about to finish setting up a camp with their God.

There would be no way to tell what all would have happened in the last year. All the lessons they would learn. All the mistakes they would make.

Looking back…is encouraging. It’s encouraging to see how God has been at work. That these tings didn’t happen by chance. It’s good to look back in our lives too. But today, while we are at the end of the book of Exodus and the temptation is to look back. I want us to look forward.

The completion of the tabernacle wasn’t an end to something, it was the beginning of a life with God.

And this beginning would start with an anointing

Exodus 40:9–13 NIV84

9 “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them. 12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest.

Did you hear that. Anoint Aaron. Aaron the first to be anointed as priest. The first priest for the nation of Israel would be the same one one who led them into idol worship…God can redeem any past hurt, pain, or offense for his purpose.

Redemption

That gives us hope.

Because we don’t have a man to anoint us for service, Jesus anointed us with his blood. His dying for us, consecrated us to serve him…to glorify him

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Process of assembly moved from

Inside - Out

So the process of the Holy Spirit in our lives starts with what’s in us.....changes us inside. Then the outward changes come about naturally.

First guilt is our main motivation. But once we come to know Jesus, how he has set us free

Then we respond freely…with generous obedience.

Exodus 40:34–38 NIV84

34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

Ready to Move

This wasn’t their home…God was taking them there…so they needed to be prepared to move.

This is not our home either…Our God is on the move here in Rock Hall.

A group of us have been meeting to talk about how we as a parish of three churches here in Rock Hall might come together to better present God to our town we love so much. We have come up with a two pronged approach. One is to provide fellowship opportunities to the senior and retired citizens of our town. We are making plans to do this on a regular basis using our church facilities as a place to gather during the week.

But we aren’t just to care for one another in this way, we are also to develop others.

The End…Is just the beginning!

free to worship Him

Free to follow him

free to pray to him

free to praise

serve

study

have joy

sarifice

celebrate

marvel in

don’t have to sand back…we can enter in

know

from sin

from addictions

from penalty

from death

to worship

to communion

walk with

enjoy you

hear you

cry out to you

to honor you

to proclaim you

experience your goodness

he came to set us free so that we might be bound to him…he wants to be the only thing that binds us…to love.

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