Holy: Apart on Purpose: A Divine Shelter in Place

English Standard Version Chapter 1

47 But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Relevant Passages:

Exodus 26:31-33: “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.

Exodus 40:34-38: Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

II Chron 7:1-3:  As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” 

Introduction: Apart on Purpose

The Levites Redeemed by God for this Special Roll

Number 3:11-13

Bridge

Why was a bridge even necessary?

Part I: God’s Holiness

53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Creation:

Fall:

Redemption: Exodus, how now shall we live as a freed people?

Leviticus: Shelter in Place: Calling out ‘From’ the Tabernacle

Leviticus 1:1: The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting

Can’t go in! Don’t get near.

Book about how to operate as Free:

Festivals

Book of Leviticus- no other tribe has a book of the Bible

Unauthorized fire: Leviticus 10:1-2: Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

God’s Holiness is like Electricity

Numbers: Shelter in Place: Calling from ‘Within’ the Tabernacle

Numbers 1:1: The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt

God provided a way to Reside/Dwell within His people=

Part II: Christ’s Holiness

Holiness of God stuffed in a person:

“Jesus Tabernacled Among Us”

- Came from Heaven to be within the World

All the Holiness of God in a person!

Colossians 2:9: For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily...

Hebrews 7:26: For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 8:5-7: For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

Hebrews 9:11-12: But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Application:

Westminster Confession: Give God glory

Triune God: Shared Glory!

Holy God demands worship:

Toronto pastor: Cosmic Egotist??

Part III: Holy Camping

One year stint at Mount Sinai and ready to go.

47 But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel.

Not called to fight, their role is equally dangerous, but different.

50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony...

Levites Role:

Carry the Tabernacle, set up the Tabernacle. Poles, fabric, furniture.

LOT OF WORK: Get kids to set up tents

VERY DANGEROUS

Dangerous job! I love camping. Part of the fun was setting up the campsite, where to place the tent. Fun!

But not so for the Levites: Playing with Fire!

Show Picture of Camp:

NEW ANALOGY: Levites were like Electricians:

Ark= Generator

Curtains, and partitions and Levites, they were like the rubber around an electric chord.

Curtains were like protective rubber layers

Levites role was to protect Israel from God’s Holiness:

Set apart on purpose! Purpose was for God to dwell with Israel.

Purpose was to make it possible for God to dwell with his people.

Purpose was to set up the rubber coating necessary to protect the world from God’s holiness

Role of Levites made it possible for God’s holiness to safely camp with Israel wherever God led them

Application #1: YOU are the Tabernacle

Hebrews 10:19-22: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near

Fulfilled the Role of Levites

The Bible tells us that God’s holiness dwelt within Jesus and because of his sacrifice made it possible for us to approach him without being zapped.

The Church doesn’t need to be electricians, concealing God’s holiness!

The work of the Levites was fulfilled in Christ!

Therefore, let us draw near!

Just as Christ fulfilled the role of the Levites as our high priest, we fulfill the role of the Tent!

How near?

Well, you don’t need to go very far:

I Corinthians 6:19: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

Set up and tear down teams:

We set up tear down each Sunday, but NOT to create a protective Tabernacle. NO, the Tabernacle, the Temple are the people who set up our worship camp there at Penny Road Elementary! You are the church.

That’s why Church isn’t cancelled! You sitting there in your living room, YOU are the CHURCH! You continue the work of Christ, not the Levites!

You ‘house’ the Holiness of God!

What you do with your body matters:

Get changed, take a shower, set up chairs.

What we do with our bodies matters, even during this time.

When we were first quarantined, my wife asked me if I was going to wear jogging pants every day- because, that’s what I was doing… I love my jogging pants.

But again, what we do with our bodies matters during this tie of quarantine.

Compelling argument to stay

You house the holiness of God!

Netflix is worth more than Disney.

Application #2. Get out of the Camp!

Hebrews 13: 11-13: The bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp (Lev. 16:27). 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

Are you stuck in the Camp?

The Camp represented safety, shelter, protection, isolation, comfort

It also represented safety within an obsolete religion, it meant holding on to religion without the Cross.

Clinging to comfort rather than the cross, religion over relationship, denial of sin rather than watching your sin die with Christ.

Sticking with camping means Crossless Christianity, which is no Christianity at all,

Sticking with those camping is a Gospelless Gathering rather than a Cross-Bearing One

Get out of the camp means abandoning the safe confines of religion and revealing our Crucified King!

It means staying in a religious gravesite rather than the Gospel of Light!

Getting out of the camp means denying a herd mentality towards your faith and making your faith personal!

Have you run to the cross!? Have you abandoned the camp to cling to the cross? Is your faith personal? Is your faith personal, transformational, relational, experiential- have you died with Christ…

You can find comfort sitting in pew, but sitting there must draw you to the person of Jesus.

What camp are you in? Are you in the camp that contains you, or frees you!

You know, as we wrap up here, I’m amazing that Jesus

2. Get Jesus out of the Grave!

But I don’t want to end with the cross for the same reason Jesus didn’t stay hanging on it. He was placed in the tomb and those who plotted to kill Jesus tried to do one last concealing of the holiness of God.

But something happened before Jesus pulled off the greatest rabbit out of the hat move...

The tomb was concealed to keep the body in the Tomb. When we rush out of the camp to cling to the cross, we can also run to the empty tomb to experience Resurrection Life

Matthew 27:62-66: The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.