Exodus 25-27, Blueprint for the Tabernacle

[Music] now last week moses entered into the fiery glory of god and this week we find him in the midst of that 40 days with a sense of excitement and challenge as god laid out the blueprints and decoration details for god's tabernacle but in this next series of talks remember that the house moses was to build was not for himself this was god's house it was to be built not the way moses wanted to do it but the way god wanted it to be done to be furnished and to be serviced the way god designed so this week we'll look at the construction and furnishing of god's tabernacle next week steve will guide you through the choosing ordination and service of the priests after that we'll all take a look at who god chose to do the actual building and adorning this week i'll take it in three parts each one is a chapter exodus 25 is the holy place 26 is the tabernacle and 27 is the outer court so keep in mind that today's passage is about god giving moses the pattern for the tabernacle the tabernacle itself does not start getting built until chapter 35 will get there just not this week god was proposing to dwell in the midst of god's people and the pattern god gave was actually a copy of the heavenly tabernacle the book of hebrews explains the symbolism in the book of revelation describes the real tabernacle in heaven so let's pray lord our god your glory shines throughout the earth and what a privilege it is to enter with moses into this holy place where you gave him all the design for the real tabernacle that is in heaven oh lord we ask that by your glory by your light you would reveal yourself in these next three chapters and help us to see you through your son our lord jesus christ we pray to the praise of your grace amen so the people were to provide all the materials for this building the lord said to moses tell the israelites to take for me an offering from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me this is the offering that you shall receive from them gold silver and bronze blue purple and crimson yarns and fine linen goat's hair tanned ram skins fine leather acacia wood oil for the lamps spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and for the breastpiece now where would a whole nation of enslaved people on the run get treasure you might well ask and here's where the scriptures lift the curtain for you and me to see how the sovereignty of god is at work in the events of human history hundreds of years before god had given the founding father abraham a prophecy know this for certain that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years but i will bring judgment on the nation that they serve and afterward they shall come out with great possessions now for the next four centuries that prophecy lay dormant and then on the night of passover as the whales rose up from the households all over egypt and in the palace itself pharaoh summoned moses and aaron rise up go away from my people both you and the israelites go worship the lord as you said take your flocks and your herds as you said and be gone and bring a blessing on me too the egyptians urged the people to hasten their departure from the land for they said we shall all be dead so the people took their dough before it was leavened with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their cloaks on their shoulders the israelites had done as moses told them they had asked the egyptians for jewelry of silver and gold and for clothing and the lord had given the people favor in the sight of the egyptians so that they let them have whatever they asked and so they plundered the egyptians okay finally acacia wood is abundant actually in the sinai peninsula and it's a lightweight wood that's harder than oak all the treasure had come from god now god was asking the people to share their treasure with god out of love for god as joyful thanksgiving because they wanted to have a beautiful place for god to dwell among them and here's what the giving of their treasure would create god began with the ark because it was the most important part of the whole design in fact the width between the pillars meant that the ark had to be put down first upon the ground and the tabernacle had to be built up all around it god then moved outwardly from the ark in the most holy place to the furnishings in the holy place and then to the tabernacle itself the movement here is of god coming to the people by chapter 27 the movement is of the people coming to god beginning with the bronze altar at the entrance of the tent and then moving inward to the courtyard and finishing with the lamp that was always to stay lit everything about the tabernacle was determined by the meaning and purpose of the ark at its center the most notable aspect of the ark was the solid gold cover called the atoning or making atonement the root hebrew words end up meaning to cover over an offense by paying the price which is another word for propitiation covering over sin with the sacrifice of blood inside the ark was to be kept the two stone tablets of god's law over the law went the atoning the continuing payment of the people's sin of breaking god's law with the presence of the shed blood that was sprinkled on the arts cover on either end of the atoning covering were the cherubim standing guard so now think after jesus resurrection picture the disciples seeing two angels one at the head and one at the foot of the place where jesus had lain and death the symbolism here is that the ark represented god's throne this is where god said god would meet with the people and speak where mercy covers over judgment the symbolism of the ark was fulfilled when the lord jesus christ made atonement for all the sins of the world next came the table of bread the bread of the presents as the priest walked into the tabernacle he would enter the holy place to his right would be a three foot high golden table with 12 loaves of bread on it baked with a special recipe found in leviticus god called this bread god's presence god gave manna to israel to sustain them and this bread was to remind them of god who is always with them and sustains all things by god's almighty power in fact in the book of hebrews chapter 1 jesus is said to sustain all things by that power the symbolism here is that jesus is the bread of life god gave jesus to us just as god gave manna to the israelites and jesus sustains us as jesus said of himself i am the bread of life as we receive the spirit of christ who raises us to new in eternal life and take in the lord's word in scripture and in prayer our spiritual lives are nourished and strengthened and spiritually kept alive we are sustained by the power of jesus word after this came the lamp stand to the priest's left was a lamp stand shaped like a candelabra and crafted from 75 pounds of solid gold it provided the only source of light in the room it was made to look as if it were a living tree with buds and blossoms and almonds these represent the three stages of life and they're reminiscent of the tree of life in the garden of eden it was also reminiscent of the burning bush the symbolism here is shown to us by the writer of hebrews who described jesus as the brilliance of god's glory and jesus said of himself i am the light of the world as the lampstand illuminated the loaves so jesus spirit illuminates god's word now the key phrase for this whole chapter is in verse 40 and see that you make them according to the pattern for them which is being shown you on the mountain the book of hebrews in the new or christian testament explains these were all only shadows of the reality yet to come there was a sort of built-in obsolescence in this revelation because all of these things would one day be fulfilled in the lord jesus christ and the truth we get from this chapter is that god delights in worship that comes from the heart if my heart is not in it then it's really not worship worship is not a ritual or a ceremony or a right those are just vehicles for worship worship is the outpouring of love and reverence it can only come from the heart but it is also not just the feelings of the moment even though certainly worship can be very moving and uplifting worship from the heart reveals the status of our hearts do i love god do i accept god's love for me that is the worship that delights god so what has god given to you and me that the lord is now asking us to give back to god out of love for god and thanksgiving for god's generosity to us that we feel our hearts prompted to give you see when the people gave generously to god by following god's design and purpose for the treasure which was originally god's gifts to them they created a real place and community with within which god would dwell among them like never before so that brings us to the tabernacle in chapter 26 now this was the tabernacle itself and all of the pillars and rods and fittings that were going to make this tent that they could set up and take down wherever they went in the wilderness and it was also about this thick gorgeous veil which separated the holy place from the most holy place now of particular note were the colors to be woven into this curtain you shall make a curtain of blue purple and crimson yarns and a fine twisted linen it shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it you see all three colors were variations of what was known as tyrion or royal purple a dye so precious it was worth more than its weight in gold only royalty were permitted to wear certain versions of this color this one item the curtain was of incalculable value now the symbolism here is that the curtain represented the body of the lord jesus protecting god's people standing between the purifying holiness of god and people's own sinful selves later it was this curtain of course obviously we're talking thousands of years later so a new curtain but the same curtain that was torn from top to bottom the moment jesus died on the cross as if the father had reached down from heaven and torn the curtain in two opening the way for god's people to come into god's throne room through the sacrifice of god's son later the writer of hebrews would explain it this way we have this hope a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain where jesus a forerunner on our behalf has entered the truth here is that jesus opened the way for complete communion with god and again the writer of hebrews put it this way therefore my friends since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of jesus by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith you know sometimes i wish there really was still this breathtakingly beautiful tapestry woven with cherubim and the most precious and royal colors of the world to help me remember that in christ i am invited behind the veil into the very throne room of god as a beloved daughter and that brings us to the outer courtyard that's chapter 27. and here we have the bronze altar now in scripture bronze was often associated with god's judgment there was only one way into the courtyard just as jesus described himself as the only way to the father and the bronze altar stood between that doorway and the tabernacle just as the cross stands between you and me and access to god day and night a fire was to burn on this enormous bronze altar signifying god's purifying wrath against sin and the judgment of god morning and night blood was to be shed and sacrifices were to be burned to atone for people's sin one day all this would be fulfilled in the one perfect sacrifice the lord jesus christ whose one death was sufficient to atone for all the sins of all the world today god calls every believer to symbolically place our own bodies on the altar of god as a living sacrifice we say to god here i am all of me to be purified by you to have all earthly desires and pursuits be transformed into heavenly desires and pursuits in whatever way pleases you o lord our god from the bronze altar we go into the courtyard every person who came to the altar could see the tabernacle across the courtyard they could see that the lord dwelt among them but they could not approach god any way they wanted one day jesus was going to so radically change that that the tabernacle of the lord was going to be placed within the actual body of each believer and would also be present in another unique way when believers came together peter describes that tabernacle in his letter saying that each stone is alive and yet we are also priests within that tabernacle from there we moved to the oil even though the priests were the only ones who could go into the holy place every person was represented there in a real way here's how you shall further command the israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly in the tent of meeting outside the curtain that is before the covenant aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the lord it shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the israelites you see the israelites represented every single one in that oil that burned the light before the curtain this last truth is that jesus light purifies and illuminates those who come to him in faith god is both transcendent and near high above and close to us the lord was willing and ready to dwell in the midst of god's people but it required the willing response of the people if they did want god then they needed to fulfill the conditions that god laid down in other words god gave them the opportunity but they had to make something of it by responding to god in generosity and a willingness to do everything as god described you and i have the same opportunity before us today god is willing and ready to dwell within us and to be part of our lives god has given us ways to realize this opportunity first through receiving jesus as savior and then through reading and applying god's words through prayer and through worship through christian fellowship and through service so how ready are you and i to experience both the transcendence and the nearness of god by generously offering who we are and what we have to god after all everything we are and everything we have all things find their origin and source in god so how willing are we to make the most of what god offers to us according to god's design and god's purpose we will know the answers to those questions the more we by the mercies of god present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to god which is our spiritual worship and are not conformed to this world but are transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may discern what is the will of god what is good and acceptable and perfect let's pray oh lord our god reading about your design for the tabernacle it's brilliant it's amazing it's so innovative even today and all the ways that you showed how your son would one day fulfill every single part and that you would place this gorgeous tabernacle within each of those who come to you in faith and in love lord we ask now that you would show us the beauty of this tabernacle that you've placed within us by your spirit the very life and character and every spiritual blessing in heaven that is reflected in that tabernacle now within us and we ask also that you would show us how to give ourselves to you as living sacrifices so that your light may burn ever more brilliantly in the tabernacle that you have made us to be we ask it to the praise of your glorious grace [Music] amen [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Grace and Peace Joanne

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Keywords: Book of Exodus, Exodus, Exodus 25, Exodus 26, Exodus 27, Moses, Tabernacle, Tabernacle Curtain, The veil, the holy of holies, the holy place, the holiest place, the ark, the ark of the covenant, ten commandments, atonement, propitiation, bronze altar, God's wrath, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Messiah, Messiah, Christ, the oil, oil for the lamp, the show bread, the showbread, the bread of the presence, menorah, candleabra, lampstand, table for bread of the presence, Bible, scripture

Id: G8666JThl-M

Length: 20min 59sec (1259 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 05 2020