Exodus 37–40

We’re picking it up here tonight and it begins by saying, “Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood.” And what I’m going to be doing while we're reading through these verses, once again, is to put pictures up on the screen for you so that you can see those and we'll start with the picture of the Ark of the Covenant. And this isn't a picture of the Ark of the Covenant because we don't have the Ark of the Covenant to take a picture of, but this is a rendering of it, of what the ark most likely looked like. And we can do pretty good on these renderings because so much detail is given to us, frankly in the Word of God. And I want to remind you of something else and that is that all of these things that we're going to be going through once again here, they all point to Jesus in one way, shape, or form. And we've talked a lot about this and so I won't I'll try not to be redundant here, but as you look at that picture of the Ark of The Covenant, I want to remind you that it wasn't just an empty box. It contained things that were there to remind the Israelites of certain realities. But those realities, again, point to Jesus. The Ark of The Covenant contained the tablets of the law as an example. It also contained a jar made out of gold that had some of the manna. And because you'll remember that if anyone kept manna for longer than just the day in which it was given, except on the day before the Sabbath, the manna would go bad. But this manna stayed. I don't think the ark had refrigeration and it just stayed. It was, but it was there as a reminder of God's provision. And then also, we haven't even read about it yet, but there's going to come a challenge later on during the Israelites time in the wilderness to the priesthood of Aaron. And some of the men, some of the elders of Israel are going to rise up in a spirit of rebellion, and they're going to say, why are you guys so special? You take too much upon yourselves. We're just as special as you are. And they were basically challenging God’s choice of who He made high priest. And of course the sons of Aaron were then in line for that as well. And you'll remember what happened. God, most men at that time carried his staff, and God told Moses to tell the these individuals that the person whose staff, which of course is a cut off, is a stick cut off from a tree. The person who staff buds and blossoms is the one God chose. And then you'll remember, that's how it goes. The staff of Aaron abutted and blossomed even though it was a dead stick, and that staff was in the Ark of the Covenant as well. So there were these reminders to the people of Israel. Some of them involved their rebellious attitudes, but they also pointed to the person of Jesus. The tablets of the law remind us, of course, that Jesus came to fulfill the law, and to do what we could not do in the sense of keeping the law perfectly. The manna reminds us that Jesus is the provision of God, the very bread of life that came down from heaven. And of course, the priestly staff points to Jesus as our high priest. We're still in verse 1, it says, now concerning the arc that it was,

other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.” (ESV) And again, I want to remind you, the mercy seat is an important picture. Again, as far as the ark is concerned, it's really just the lid, but the mercy seat is in essence, a picture of the very throne of God. And upon the mercy seat, the blood of the offering would be sprinkled once a year. Once for the priest who would go in to make atonement for the people and once for the people of Israel. And the blood was sprinkled there on top of the atonement cover, if you will, on the mercy seat. But it's important to understand that the word, atonement, means covered. Meaning that the sins of Israel were covered and that's an important distinction. The sins of Israel were not paid for, they were covered. Now, I'm not saying that the people weren't forgiven. They were forgiven, but they weren't punished. They didn't get punished. Who died when there was a sacrifice? Well, an animal died, but that's not, that can't be the punishment. And there are some scriptures that help us to understand this. And the first one is in Romans chapter 3, verses 21 through 25 up on the screen for you, it says,

But now a righteousness of God, apart from law, (in other words, the keeping of the law) has been made known, (and I'm quoting this, by the way, out of the NIV. I really like the way it's worded) to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes (how?) through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, (your Bible in a different translation will say, propitiation) through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate (now listen, this is the important part, He did this to demonstrate) his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand (in other words, before the cross) unpunished— The reason I read this out of the NIV for you is because the wording is actually quite clearer than what we read in some of the other modern translations. And I particularly am pointing you to the fact that Jesus had to come to be punished. Why? Somebody had to pay. Somebody had to pay. Do you think that the animals paid for the people's sins? Heavens no. Animals can't pay for the sins of man, even though they did sacrifice animals, but that wasn't in payment. We know that because of what is written for us in the Book of Hebrews. Look at this on the screen. Hebrews chapter 10 says,

…it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. You see, the animals were there standing in as a picture of substitution because God was training the Israelites to understand that the ultimate forgiveness would come their way through a substitutionary sacrifice. And that is the person of Jesus Christ who came and substituted Himself because the sins that were committed beforehand were left unpunished. Your sins were left unpunished. Jesus came and bore the punishment that we deserve, right? He did it for past sins. He did it for present sins. He did it for future sins for those who embrace and accept what He did on the cross by faith. It's important to understand, the pictures that we have in the Old Testament and what they point us toward and what Jesus came ultimately to fulfill. Jesus came to be punished for all of the sins that were never punished. Boy, I get so many notes from people who are going through hard times. And they'll say to me, pastor Paul, is God punishing me for my sin? And, I always want to clarify when I'm talking to them, if I'm talking to a believer. And when they tell me, yes, I am a believer. I try to bring them back to the cross and remind them that's where God punished your sin. That's where He punished your sin.

Well, it isn't what I'm going through right now a punishment. Now, I don't think—the Bible doesn't say that God punishes those whom He loves. You know what it says? It says, God disciplines those whom He loves. He punished His Son for you. Now, does He discipline his children? Oh yes and we'll just call that His spanking spoon, and it's very effective. But please understand, dear saints, you're not being punished. Jesus was punished for you. You are being disciplined and thank God you are being disciplined because He disciplines those whom He loves. He treats us as children because, again, what child is not disciplined by their parents? And our parent, the Lord our God is faithful to do that in our lives as well. All right. Next we come in verse 10 to the table of show bread, or the bread of the presence. There's the picture up on the screen for you. And we have here the construction of the table and its utensils. It says,

And once again, the table of showbread points us to Jesus as the bread of life, the One who enables us to fellowship with God. Next, we have the construction of the lamp stand up on the screen for you there so you can see that as well. You recognize this. We call these, a menorah these days. It says,

Must have been absolutely amazing. Next we have the construction of the altar of incense, which we've read about before in terms of its design. There it is on the screen for you.

It says,

It must have smelled absolutely amazing, basically inside the tabernacle. Chapter 38, we continue on with the construction of the altar of burnt offering. We'll put that up on the screen so you can see that one, essentially how it looked. (Editor’s Note: The YouTube video for this teaching incorrectly shows a repeat picture of the altar of incense. The correct picture is shown here.)

We're told it was made like the others of acacia wood. In this case, it was “…Five cubits (long)…, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. 2 He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3 And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze. 4 And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. 5 He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. 6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7 And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.” There you have the altar of sacrifice. Now we move on here. Verse 8 and it says, “He made the basin of bronze (we'll put the next image on the screen for you, this is also referred to as the laver) and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.”

So this must have had a pretty incredible sheen to it as well being made from mirrors and also of bronze. And of course, this is where the priest would wash related to his functions in the sacrificial system. Next, as we get into verse 9, it begins by saying, “And he made the court.” And so this is the construction essentially of the courtyard which was really just a big fenced area surrounding the tabernacle. When the temple was eventually built, this was referred to as the outer courts of the temple. And in Jerusalem, this is as far as a Gentile could come. They could go into the courtyard, the outer court, and they could worship there, and they could come before the Lord, but they could not go any further than these outer courts. And this is where they were also buying and selling, you'll remember.

And Jesus took it quite issue with that on a couple of occasions and drove those who were buying and selling out of this area. But of course, that's when the temple was actually built. Verse 9 says, “And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; 10 their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11 And for the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 13 And for the front to the east, (once again) fifty cubits. 14 The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15 And so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. 17 And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18 And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19 And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver. 20 And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.” And then we end this chapter with just a record of the offerings and the contributions that the people of Israel made toward the tabernacle and all of its furnishings. And so it says in verse 21, “These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22 Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; 23 and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: 26 a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men. 27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. 28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them. 29 The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; 30 with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, (notice now, we’re interchanging the name of the tabernacle with the tent of meeting) the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, 31 the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.” All right. Chapter 39. This brings us to the preparation of the priest's garments. Since we have a rendering here as well in the form of a picture, painting, drawing, whatever. And it says,

It sounds heavy to me. Phew! Can you imagine putting this on a hot day and going into minister?

(I think we got that)

--- 34 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.” Boy, this is incredible. I mean Moses used to go up onto the mountain and he would be in the presence of God to the degree that his face would shine when he came down the mountain and began to tell the people what the Lord had said. And so he was obviously in the presence of the glory of God and yet we're told here that the glory of the Lord so filled the tabernacle, that Moses couldn't go in, he couldn't enter. And this is interesting because there's a corollary to this in the building of the first temple, Solomon's temple. You'll remember perhaps reading in 2 Chronicles, when the temple was built and when it was dedicated, we're told in 2 Chronicles, I believe it's in chapter 5, that as the house of the Lord was dedicated, it was filled again with the glory of the Lord to the degree that the priests could not go in and minister. They couldn't enter because of the glory of the Lord filling the house of God. So we have a repeat, if you will, in that sort of a deal verse. The last few verses, 3 verses of the chapter, and of the Book of Exodus simply say that, “36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.” Now, you can imagine this was not a fast sort of a setting out. I don't know if you've ever broken camp. If you've been out camping, you decide it's time to go home. You pack up your stuff. Can you imagine having 2.5 million people we think, and all of the tents and things that go along with these people. And then the tabernacle, which has to be taken down, and packed up so that it can be moved, and put in just the right place, and packed just the right way. It gives me the shakes just thinking about it. But anyway, it says that when, “…the cloud was taken up (here again, verse 36) 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 (in other words, it literally hovered over the tabernacle by day and that cloud became a pillar of) fire…by night, (or if you will, fire inside the cloud) in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.”

And so we end the Book of Exodus with this statement about how the people of God were led by the Lord through the wilderness and they did not move unless the Lord moved. There's certainly something for you and I to learn from that as well. I read through a book like this, Exodus, and of course, Leviticus will be coming up next. And I read about all of the procedures that had to be performed just right, according to the specific way that the Lord had commanded Moses and the people. And they had to go in and do things in just the right way. And the priests were dressed in just the right way, and they performed their duties in a very specific pattern. And the holiness of God was paramount. And the sacredness of all that they did and performed was so vital to the entire process. And I think about how that is so different from the relationship and the way that we go about our worship. And I have a deep appreciation for what the Israelites had to do, and the things that they were commanded from the Lord, and how they performed those things. But I'm so glad I live in the time that I live. I'm so glad that I live in that time period when the message isn't what it was for the Israelites. Their message was, stay away, keep your distance. And our message is exactly the opposite from the Lord.

And we can come anytime we want before the throne of grace. And Christians, I just want to encourage you. Don't take that for granted. Don't take coming before the throne of grace for granted. It's a privilege that we have, but it's a privilege that is ours because it's of what Jesus did for us on the cross. He made the way. He's the key that opens the door. He, in fact, He even said,

It is through Him that we pass. And what a blessing, what a blessing to be righteous before God, bearing not a righteousness of our own, but a righteousness that is imputed by faith, amen. What a blessing. What a blessing. Don't ever take it for granted. We stand righteous before God right now, not because of our good deeds, not because of our actions, but because of our faith in what Jesus did on the cross, we are accepted as righteous. Let's pray. ---

--- Father, we thank You so much for this study tonight and really the whole study of the Book of Exodus. And we see this incredible picture that even applies in our lives today. How this book began by introducing us to a deliverer, how this book began by explaining that the people of God were languishing in slavery and bound to their burden, and how You had a plan to set them free, to release them from their bondage, to bring them into freedom. But how the people lacked understanding and at times walked in rebellion. And Lord even that applies to our own lives. We have seen also Lord through this study, this overwhelming picture of the glory and majesty of the Lord on high. Help us to remember Lord, that even though we have an open invitation to come to You and before You at all times, Your glory has not waned from those days. You are still the same consuming fire. And that makes us Lord even more thankful that our sins are forgiven. That even now we have a clean slate to begin again, to begin anew. To walk in that freedom, to walk in that forgiveness, to walk in that newness of life. Lord, help us to live in a way that honors all that You have done for us. We thank You. We praise You. We give You our worship, which means we give You our very selves, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and soon coming King, amen. ---