Ministry in the Tabernacle

Introduction:

Describe the tabernacle and its furnishings.

Leviticus 24:1–10 ESV

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly. 5 “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. 6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.” 10 Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp,

As we turn our attention to the next chapter in Leviticus, we see that God wanted to make sure that the people of Israel did not get so caught up the festivals that they forgot their daily and weekly responsibilities.

It can be very easy for us to do this when we serve the Lord. We usually love the big events. We love the revivals and the big Christmas and Easter services. We love when something different or out of the ordinary happens, but sometimes we get lost in the mundane, day-to-day tasks, or I should say opportunities, of serving the Lord.

Their are two tasks that were to be a regular part of worship and service at the Tabernacle for Israel: trimming the wicks and tending the lamps in the Tabernacle and putting out the weekly Bread of the Presence on the table in the Tabernacle.

These two items were simple tasks. There isn’t anything mystical or spectacular about them. However, these two things represent something very important for us to remember as we serve the Lord.

1. We must remember to be the light in a dark world (vv. 1-4)

Illustration:

Most of us have smart phones that we carry around with us everywhere we go these days. Some of us may be more attached to our phones than we should be and can’t go anywhere without them. However, there are a lot of useful tools on our smartphones. We have a calculator for shopping. We have measuring tools for decorating. Now, I wouldn’t go and build a house with that tool, but it is pretty neat to see that you can use your camera and scan from one spot in a room to another and the computer is able to figure out the distance. There are also QR code readers. If you are not familiar with these, you can go to restaurants now that have a QR code on the table and when you scan the code, it pulls up the menu.

One of the coolest and most useful tools of all on our phones still has to be the flashlight! I can’t tell you the number of times I have needed that app to help me get around in the dark. It’s pretty cool too that now you can even intensify the brightness of the flash. Most of the time the brightness is already set at about 50% of what it can be, and that brightness is quiet enough.

You see it doesn’t take very much light in a dark place to light up the room.

Application:

Have you ever considered that even with all the smudges on your lens, you still can shine brightly for Jesus?

You have to tend your oil and wick. This is done through time spent daily in the Bible with Jesus.

You should clean the lens by having the Holy Spirit clean you.

But, you can shine brightly for Jesus in this dark world and help people see the light of the gospel. Are you doing this?

2. We must maintain fellowship with God in a covenant relationship (vv.5-9)

Illustration:

I love to eat! My family is looking into vacation plans and I have recently started to become interested in cruises. I have to tell you that one of the things that interests me most is the food!

We usually don’t go out to eat at the beach, or in town for that matter. It’s too expensive for me to do that. However, I love to eat and hang out with other people.

Fellowship and food go hand in hand together.

Bread in the Bible represented that fellowship meal together. It was an intimate gathering where people were invited to come in to a home and share a meal together and talk. There is a relationship that is developed there.

God also invites us to fellowship with Him every day. The Bread of the Presence was symbolic of God being in a covenant relationship with Israel. There were 12 loaves that represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

Notice also that the bread is seasoned with frankincense and it is mentioned that this is to be a part of the covenant. This is not just a meal to eat, but this is a meal that represents that communion with God. This is why so many churches have a communion table in them.

Application:

How is your relationship with God?

How often are you coming in fellowship with Him? This was to be a weekly event. You and I need fellowship with God daily!

What things do you need to do in your life to carve out that time to spend with God?

Conclusion:

As we look at these verses tonight from Leviticus 24, we need to keep in mind our witness and our fellowship with God.

Some of you may be familiar with a man by the name of Herschel Hobbs. There is a commentary named after him that is still widely used by many in the church.

He tells the story of one of his first pastorates at the Vinesville Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He said that there was a lady that lived across the street from the church who had not joined the church nor did she come. He visited her one day to ask her about it and she said that she had not settled down yet and didn’t know how long she would be living there. Dr. Hobbs did some digging and had found out that the woman had been living there for 16 years already, so he told her, “If you are not settled now, you won’t be until they pat you in the face with a spade.”

These are some harsh words of reality, but let me try to put them into perspective for you and me. If we are not pursuing fellowship with God through a daily walk with Him now, why would we think we will enjoy that in heaven one day?

Don’t believe the delusion and don’t lie to yourself. Be the light that God has called you to be and have regular fellowship with Him. Don’t neglect the ordinary ministry and service He has called you to, chasing after the extraordinary moments in life.