Jesus as the Tabernacle of God
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The difficult history of worship of Yahweh.
The difficult history of worship of Yahweh.
When Moses went to the mountain top to receive the law we don’t know how long he was gone… it is likely that it was a short time, by the word construction a few days
The “peoples” response to this was not all that unexpected
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Ex
They gathered around Aaron. They knew Aaron, the looked to him as one like Moses (He was Moses mouthpiece)
Aaron immediately, forgot all that has happened in the last 40 years.
The SALVATION that had occured when God had made provision for the Hebrews in Egypt.
Make a note here… God could have relieved the Hebrew misery by making more straw appear miraculously. He didn’t
God wanted them FREE to follow only Yahweh. Our God is a Jealous God!
Aaron FORGOT all that had happened for the past 40 years and immediately RAN back to a former way of life.
The Hebrews before the Exodus lived in a “many-God’s” or poly-theistic world.
God had to compete for loyalty...
Look at your life… How long have you tasted the sweetness of God.
How long have to enjoyed fellowship with the creator of the universe.
How long have you “played” church, passively followed God,
Took advantage of all the sweetness that is available when you are in a relationship with Jesus
And so easily slipped back into old or new patterns of sin
So was the case with Aaron and the Hebrews awaiting Moses return from the mountain with the ten commandments
Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”
Ex 32
Where did the people get all of this gold jewelry?
Of course, God provided it.
The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
Why would God provide the very gold that was used to dishonor his very name?
Why would God provide the
God wants to give us… his creations CHOICE.
He does not want robots,
he wants people who LOVE him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength.
He wants people who above it all…CHOOSE Him.
It is clear from the text that not ALL of the people fell and reverted back to their old ways…those who did not became the Levites… His priests.
Following this whole incident including several other miscues by the Hebrews, God is recorded as saying
For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’ ” So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
Ex 33
This was their repentance… fortunately for us we have confession.
Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.
Ex
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While the Hebrews were still wandering Moses knew that they needed a “place” a “dwelling place for God.”
While wandering it was in the Tent of Meeting. It met the need.
Moses entered this tent, “the pillar of cloud” (a representation of the Holy Spirit for the Hebrews) followed him
The Hebrews when they were in their right minds, constantly and always pick Yahweh over the God-of-the-day.
While the Hebrews were still wandering Moses knew that they needed a “place” a “dwelling place for God” while wandering it was in the Tent of Meeting. It met the need. Moses entered this tent, “the pillar of cloud” (a representation of the Holy Spirit for the Hebrews)
Which “god” do we pick on a consistent basis?
Do we choose to follow Yahweh or do we choose to follow some other “god” that temporarily make us feel better?
Moses quest was to find a place where the invisible God could permanently dwell.
This quest, this theme was evident throughout the rest of the Old Testament. It is expressed well in the Psalms
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
The “when and where” of worship to God filled the minds, hearts and the actions of His people.
They were all awaiting the bodily presence of God as He had promised.
Constantly seeking relationship, then falling into sin, then redemption from God, which led seeking a relationship, falling into sin… over and over again.
Finally...
We come to Jesus, Our “Sacred Space,”
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Fills the mind with
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The Old Testament, the law and prophets now had finally been completed…in the person and work of Jesus Christ
All of sudden the redemptive plan of God had a focus.
It had “living space in which we could worship God, through our relationship with Christ!
I want you to consider carefully a verse that you have read 100 times...
I want you to consider carefully a verse that you have read 100 times...
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
“Dwelling among us” - A better, more complete translation than the NIV gives is
“The Word became flesh and TABERNACLED among us”
He was the living representation of
the“tent of meeting,”
the “tabernacle,”
the “Temple.”
Immanuel in Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship Jesus, Our “Sacred Space,” according to the Gospels
Where he is, there is God. When someone met Jesus, he or she was in the presence of God.
IF YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST…YOU ARE IN THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD!
Immanuel in Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship Jesus, Our “Sacred Space,” according to the Gospels
Jesus recognized the special importance of the temple even in his day; it was where one went to be with God.
Jesus recognized the special importance of the temple in his day…
It was where he went to be with God His Father
It’s where he could not tolerate “moneychangers” - because they were turning God’s house into a market.
Jesus, as the religious leaders were trying to trap him in his own words said this
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
Jesus was connecting the dots…if they could here him that would have heard the dots.
Jesus knew the Temple was temporary. He knew it would be destroyed in AD 70 during the Roman Wars.
But he knew that The Temple of His body, would be replaced by The Spirit and that all that find faith would be indwelt by Spirit and therefore The Temple.
Today let me leave you with this...
Immanuel in Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship Jesus, Our “Sacred Space,” according to the Gospels
The time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth
J. Alan Groves, “Foreword,” in Immanuel in Our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship, ed. Tremper Longman III and J. Alan Groves, The Gospel according to the Old Testament (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001), 68.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4
I want to spend eternity with those of us, who have willingly accepted the reigns of Christ in our lives
I want us to always be asking and always be concerned about others who may not know Jesus as we do
The time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way.
For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth