Sermon Tone Analysis

A MEETING WITH GOD

 

TEXT: Exodus 25:1-22

 

“And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.”

PROPOSITION: God seeks after us to meet with Him above and beyond the mercy seat

 

ANTITHESIS: 

People desire to have a relationship with God and worship him by many means and by using multiple instruments of worship.

THESIS:

However, the reality is, no matter what we do to seek God, no matter how many ways we try to relate to God, it’s not us that are seeking after God but rather God is seeking after us, God is seeking to meet with us.

RELEVANT QUESTION:

Since God provided such discriminate detail in his plan for Moses to make the ark, and since God allowed His people to come through so much to capture the three sacred commemorative vessels of worship, and since Moses went through so much pain staking work to build the mercy seat, why does God tell Moses that he will meet with him “above these things”?

SYNTHESIS:

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God told Moses to meet Him above the mercy seat because He did not want Moses, the children of Israel, or us to confine Him to a place or the past.

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God told Moses to meet Him above the mercy seat because He wanted Moses, the children of Israel, and us to understand that there is a difference between work and worship.

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God told Moses to meet Him above the mercy seat because He wanted Moses, the children of Israel, and us to understand that the ark, the sacred items, and the mercy seat is temporary but God is eternal.

CELEBRATION

 

PREACH!!!

\\ A MEETING WITH GOD

 

My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and in Creation, there is a time in life when the people that God created desire a relationship with him.

Non-Christians begin to sense an innate desire or longing for a relationship with Him who created them.

Christians desire a deeper relationship with God, a more real, meaningful intimate relationship with God.

They begin to ask questions like: Who created me?

What is my purpose in life?

What about life after death?

Is there a heaven or is there a hell?

Where does the soul go when I die?

Does God know what’s going on in my life?

And Jesus says, in response to their questions, “if any desire to follow after him they must first deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow him.”

Developing a relationship with God requires sacrifice.

For some, it is not easy and often they seek to have a relationship with Him by many means.

Some do it by reading about God in the bible.

Some do it by engaging in works for God, while still others by practicing specific rituals or religious habit.

Oftentimes, some blunder, some hiccup, some catastrophic circumstance in life catapults many into deeper fellowship with God.

The non-Christians begin to seek and search for a higher power; while Christians pray and connect to the Power.

Non-Christians begin to investigate religions, while the Christians cultivate their relationship with God.

Non-Christians begin to go to Church, but the Christians begin to worship.

Non-Christians begin their quest in search for God, while still the Christians begin to submit to God. 

Developing a relationship with God requires sacrifice and time.

The reality is, however, that no matter what we do to seek God, no matter how many ways we try to relate to God, it is not us that is seeking after God but rather it is God that is seeking after us.

I know, many of you have read Tommy Tenny, the author of the book God Chasers, who asserts we must chase hard after God.

That’s nice for exciting evangelical Christianity, and that’s great for selling books, but the truth is God chases after us.

I’ve got good ground to stand on too.

The bible says in…

 

| Psalm 53:2 | God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are /any/ who understand, who seek God.

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| John 4:23 | But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

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| Matthew 15:24 | Jesus said I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel  |

| Luke 15 | It’s not the lost sheep the finds the shepherd but it’s the shepherd that’s left the 99 in the fold to go and find the lost sheep  |

| Luke 15 | It’s the woman who finds the coin and the coin finding the woman |

 

That brings me to the text for today.

Moses, the sun sheik prophet of Israel, Moses, the divinely destined deliverer, Moses, God’s Midianite Messenger, Moses, God’s man was instructed by God himself, in Exodus 24, to come and worship God, along with Aaron and his sons: Abihu, Nadab, and seventy of the elders.

According to Exodus 24:2, Moses alone was permitted to draw near to God.  Evidently God spoke to Moses, and Moses in turn told all the people what the Lord said.

Then all the people answered, with one voice saying, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Moses took the book of the covenant, read it to all the people, and again, the people responded, “all that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Then for 40 days and 40 nights Moses stayed on the mount of God, meeting with God and receiving instruction from God.

God instructed Moses to have the children of Israel bring an offering from all whose heart led them to give.

From their entire offering, Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle, the portable place of meeting, the sanctuary, where God would dwell and meet with his people, and his people would worship and meet with him.

And for the next five chapters in Exodus, Moses records the instructions that God gave him for the design of the place of worship, the tabernacle, the sanctuary, the place of meeting with God and the instruments of worship.

In Chapter 30, God provided the procedures on how to prepare for worship.

In Chapter 29, God decided to dedicate the priest for service in overseeing the operation of the tabernacle and helping people maintain their relationship with God.

In Chapter 28, God instructed Moses on the making of the garments for the priesthood.

In Chapter 27, God instructed Moses on the making of the alter and the creation of the court which was the gathering place of the worshippers and the pivotal place of praise.

In Chapter 26, God instructed Moses on building the curtain or veil, used to separate the holy place from the most holy place.

In Chapter 25 God instructs Moses on how to make the golden lamp stand, the plates and dishes (instruments of worship), an when & where to set the showbread.

Most importantly, above all the other things that Moses was to make and place in the tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant.

Here in Ex 25:1-22, the first instrument of worship that God instructed Moses to make is the ark of the covenant.

Before we go too far into the details of the ark, let me pause parenthetically and say that in order for Moses to make the tabernacle, in order for Israel to be obedient and do all that the Lord said, in order for Moses to build the instruments of worship, the people of Israel would have to sacrifice and give.

God required the entire nation of Israel to make an offering from their hearts.

It was going to require sacrifice, material sacrifice, sacrifice of time, sacrifice of talent, sacrifice of treasure, and above all of the sacrifice, extreme obedience to God.

In the tabernacle behind the veil or curtain made of purple, scarlet, and blue and hung on 4 pillars of acacia wood, was the ark of the covenant.

The Ark – the chief symbol of God’s covenant with his people that he would deliver them and lead them into a land of plenty; The Ark – the chief symbol of the power and the presence of God; The ark of the covenant, placed behind the curtain, separating the holy place from the holy of holies, was the most sacred object in the tabernacle, and rightly so the most costly.

Once a year the High priest, Moses and~/or Aaron, would go into the second tent, make a blood offering for his self and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people of Israel.

The ark, constructed of acacia wood, grown only in the wilderness, wood grown out of very dry ground, was strong enough to withstand extreme conditions and survive, symbolizing the strength of God and the ability of God to redeem his people out of their wilderness experience.

The ark, made of acacia wood, was overlaid inside and out with pure gold, gold that had been tried in the fire, symbolizing the divine glory and purity of God.

The ark, a foretaste of the Christ to come was carried by two poles made of acacia wood, overlaid with Gold and placed through four rings, on in each corner, cast from God.

God chose Moses, the stammering tongue, excuse giving, dessert running murderer.

God chose Moses, the Midianite sheep tender, to build His ark, a rectangular box 2 ½ cubit in length, 1-½ cubits in width, and 1 cubit in height.

God said, “Moses, make an ark, 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 18 inches deep, and make a mercy seat, the lid of the ark and there I will meet with you from above the mercy seat.

Do you see it?

It was about as long and wide as this pulpit, and about as high or deep as this bulletin, do you see it?

Inside the ark were three things, three sacred items used to commemorate God and cause the people to worship God as they remembered what the Lord did for them while the priests and the people came into the tent of meeting.

First there was  the  golden urn or jar containing an omer (2.3 liters or 2 quarts) of manna was placed inside the ark as a testimony, for all generations to come, to the way God provided food for the Children of the wilderness.

When the children of Israel left Egypt, rather was lead out of Egypt, on their way to the Promised Land, about halfway between Elim and Mount Sinai, the people in the congregation began to complain and murmur against Moses and Aaron.

They said, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt.

For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger.”

The Lord heard their complaining and heard their murmuring and told Moses to test the people to see whether they would follow his instructions and to tell the people, “you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out and not us, in the morning you will see the Glory of the Lord, he has heard your complaining against the Lord, for who are we that you should complain against us.

Your complaint is not against us, our complaint is against the Lord.

When you complain against the leader, you complain against God.

When you murmur about the leader, your mummer about God.

But God responded to their complaining, not by wiping them out, but by sending them manna down from heaven as a test to see whether they would follow his instructions.

Instead of blasting them out of existence, God sent Manna to make them dependent on him.

For 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God tested the Children of Israel’s trust to follow his Instructions and their very survival depended on that trust.

Manna is the provisions of God dispensed by the Grace of God.

Manna, manna, manna – what is it?

Manna, in the Hebrew, literally means, “indescribable.”

Manna is a heavenly provision, which can only be described by comparing it to an earthly substance.

Manna is the provision of God in the wilderness.

Manna is a demonstration of divine provision.

Manna is the divine response to a complaining people.

Manna is the symbol of the unknown, never seen before blessing of God given in spite of disobedience.

Manna is the symbol of God’s provision prior to the Promised Land!

 

Manna was dew like, fine flaky, substance that was similar to coriander seed.