2017-10-14 Exodus 30
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1 “You are to make an altar for the burning of incense; make it of acacia wood.
2 It must be square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide; it must be thirty-six inches high. Its horns must be of one piece with it.
3 Overlay its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold; make a gold molding all around it.
4 Make two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with.
5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
6 “You are to place the altar in front of the curtain by the ark of the testimony—in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you.
7 Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps.
8 When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.
9 You must not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt or grain offering; you are not to pour a drink offering on it.
10 “Once a year Aaron is to perform the atonement ceremony for the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the atonement ceremony for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement on the horns. The altar is especially holy to the Lord.”
Prayer brings us into the presence of God.
Prayer brings us into the presence of God.
6 “You are to place the altar in front of the curtain by the ark of the testimony—in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you.
7 Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps.
8 When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.
Prayer is the intimate conversation we have in the presence of God.
Prayer is the intimate conversation we have in the presence of God.
6 “You are to place the altar in front of the curtain by the ark of the testimony—in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you.
Illus: Think about this conversation for a moment:
How can I help you:
Yes, I would like a big mac combo, fries, and a large dr pepper. Can I also get an order of Chicken Mcnuggets and a sprite?
Does this complete your order?
Yes.
Your total is 12.78.
Is this a conversation? yes. Is this a relationship? No.
This conversation is far closer to the way we pray than the relationship that God desires.
When I talk to my wife our conversation is not me listing what I want from her.
I tell her she is beautiful. I talk about my struggles. I listen to her talk about what is important to her. It is the art of both listening and speaking.
When God put inside in the tabernacle he intended it to paint a picture of prayer as the very breath of men.
6 “You are to place the altar in front of the curtain by the ark of the testimony—in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron must burn fragrant incense on it; he must burn it every morning when he tends the lamps. 8 When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn incense. There is to be an incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.
(CSB)
1 Lord, I call on you; hurry to help me.
Listen to my voice when I call on you.
2 May my prayer be set before you as incense,
the raising of my hands as the evening offering.
Our prayers rise to the throne of God.
Our prayers rise to the throne of God.
6 “You are to place the altar in front of the curtain by the ark of the testimony—in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony—where I will meet with you.
Illus: Have you ever been in a conversation where you know they are not listening.
Perhaps you are sitting with them at a meal, their eyes are fixed on the soft glow of their smart phone and you know that their attention is split on what they are seeing.
Maybe you have been out with friends where you are sharing real struggles you are dealing with and realize that there person you are talking to has zonned out. You say, “did you hear anything I just said?”, and they can’t tell you even an idea of what you are dealing with.
God is not like this. We are not bothering God by coming in prayer to him. God started the conversation with us.
If there is one uninterested party, it is that God is ready and waiting to speak with us all the while we either ignore him, are to interested in our own business than have a real conversation with him.
Can you imagine what relationships would be like if we let our minds wander the way we give so little focus to prayer?
Look at the picture of prayer in heaven!
8 When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
We pray the way God prescribes.
We pray the way God prescribes.
9 You must not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt or grain offering; you are not to pour a drink offering on it.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Even though we pray honestly, we still should pray reverently.
Even though we pray honestly, we still should pray reverently.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
Illus: There has been a well intentioned trend in prayer where people have attempted to make God more approachable.
They encourage people to start their saying “Hey God it’s me”, telling you to talk to God as a fellow chum.
Hear me, I want my kids to talk openly with me, but I still want them to approach me as their father, with the respect due to my authority.
God wants to have a relationship with us, but we need to approach him rightly as He is God. Nor in formalism, but in reverence.
Arron’s sons learned quickly what would happen if you took lightly the reverence of God.
1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.
2 Then fire came from the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
3 Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has spoken: I will demonstrate my holiness to those who are near me, and I will reveal my glory before all the people.” And Aaron remained silent.
God is jealous of how we pray.
God is jealous of how we pray.
(look at how God centered the Lord’s prayer is, and how me centered it is)
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Illus: look at how God centered the Lord’s prayer is, and how me centered it is
When you look at your prayers, how much of it is God centered, and how much of it is you centered?
Certainly God wants us to come with our brokenness and pain, but if our entire relationship with God is approaching him with just requests it is not really a relationship.
The bible teaches that there are times when God turns a deaf ear on our prayers.
18 If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
9 Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law— even his prayer is detestable.
2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Prayer is effective because of the gospel.
Prayer is effective because of the gospel.
10 “Once a year Aaron is to perform the atonement ceremony for the altar. Throughout your generations he is to perform the atonement ceremony for it once a year, with the blood of the sin offering for atonement on the horns. The altar is especially holy to the Lord.”
Without Christ we cannot pray.
Without Christ we cannot pray.
(what does it REALLY mean to pray in Jesus name?)
Illus: There is an idea out there that like magic words that prayers work if we sat “In the name of Jesus” at the end.
This is a distortion of what the word of God intends.
We approach God in Prayer, but the only way for God to have a genuine relationship with us is the the perfect work of Jesus on the Cross.
Just as the altar was cleansed by blood, so also our prayers are purified, and our relationship secured by the precious blood of Christ.
12 “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Questions:
Can you be both intimate and reverent in prayer to God?
What does it mean to pray in Jesus name?