Exodus 25 - 28 - I AM Living With You

[Music] good morning everybody let's open up our bibles to the book of exodus chapter 25. you know i come and i stand before you and i hear all that's going on as we bring announcements and talk about what god's doing in our church family and i feel like i could just go on and on all morning about how blessed i am with what god's doing in our church family how blessed i am with what he's doing with the women's ministry and the men's ministry and what we do for the children i'll bless them for the start of a new bible college semester which we just got started with the new semester it's so great we're so happy about it i just feel like i could go on and on about that but let's just expect that god will continue to bless us as we now give attention to his word so let me pray father in heaven i'm so grateful for your work in and through your people here in the life of this congregation lord lord i feel that i feel it that we're a body that we're really a a team uh a a common group working together to reach this community and to reach this world for your glory lord we want more and more of that among us we want only to increase and never to decrease but father we know that it begins with the work that you do in our hearts by your spirit through your word so we surrender ourselves before you now to receive some of that in jesus name amen well good i hope you've opened your bibles now to exodus chapter 25 but it's sort of an interesting message i have to bring before you because actually what i'm going to be doing before you now this morning is surveying exodus chapters 25 26 27 and 28 four chapters to survey it takes up some 141 verses now really i'm doing this much out of the same approach and attitude that we dealt previously with exodus chapters 21 22 and 23. what we did is we noticed that there were very detailed and intricate laws given to instruct the judges and the people of israel and so we sort of looked at it in a summary fashion on sunday morning and then in our video studio which praise the lord that we have that resource in that video studio we went there and just went piece by piece in these conversational expositions well friends we're taking very much the same approach with these chapters that describe for us the building and the implementation of the tabernacle of israel this wednesday david wally and nate wagner and myself we're going to sit in that video studio again and begin going through piece by piece in great intricacy the the specific aspects of these four chapters but right now it's my intention to give you just sort of a summary of it all you see because god called moses to meet with him on mount sinai and into the very thick cloud that represented his presence and his glory and with moses met with god god revealed more to him now not first about more and more laws for the people of israel that's what god had already revealed to moses and we saw that in exodus chapters 21 22 and 23 but now god spoke to israel about how he wanted them to worship him and friends right there in that pattern i find something so significant and so heart challenging for myself and i hope for you as well that yes god laid out his law before israel and he said this is my will for you this is my character reflected in my laws listen to this israel but then after that god came to israel and said now i want to speak to you about worship you know what that says in a very powerful way to myself and to you as well it says that god is interested in more than your obedience he also wants your devotion he wants your heart now i thank god that there is a spirit in this congregation that wants to obey god and i don't think for a moment that there's any life in this room of course that obeys god perfectly we all sin and fall short of the glory of god but you know that there's something a special there's something powerful about a christian life that says lord you helping me as much as i'm able i'm going to live a life that's in obedience to you and that's a good thing and i want to encourage you in it but i will tell you very plainly it's not enough let me illustrate it to you this way what if you had a child that came to you let's say a nine-year-old child that came to you and looked at you straight in the eyes and said mother father whatever the case would be it said mother father i will obey you for the rest of my life whatever you tell me to do i'll do whatever you tell me to stop doing i'll stop doing it now right there i think there's a tear welling up in the eye some parents think oh that only my child would say such a thing to me but the child would say i'll obey you for the rest of my life but i won't love you how many of us would take that trade we'd say no no i don't only want the obedience of my child though that is important to me i want my child to love me because i love them don't you see that in this big context when god is talking about the worship of israel it's because god cares about the devotion the love and and this is an encouragement to some of us you're really good about giving god a general tenor of obedience in your life and praise jesus for that but do you give them your love is there a devotional warm relationship between you and god now when god wanted to teach israel about this it all began by building a place of worship and building it according to pattern the pattern that god would show them you see moses went up on that mountain with all its fire and cloud and smoke and the glory of god he went up on that mountain for 40 days and for 40 nights and when he came down not only did he carry 10 commandments written on stone tablets but you could say just figuratively speaking he also came down with a roll of blueprints under his other arm because god gave him specific instructions blueprints for how to build a place of meeting i find fascinating that before god gave them the blueprints with the specific instructions about what to build god told them to take an offering for how this whole building project would be funded look at it right here exodus chapter 25 verse 1. then the lord spoke to moses saying speak to the children of israel that they bring me an offering from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take my offering right there verse 2 it says it very plainly speak to the children of israel that they bring me an offering before god ever told moses what the offering was for he told moses to receive this offering because god wanted israel to be motivated more by a willing heart to give than by a specific need and i think this is a marvelous principle for our own giving of resources unto god our giving should not be primarily according to need now there is a place for need there is a place from time to time for the church or for another body or some good work to come before you and say look this is a good work that we want to do or this is a good work we want to maintain would you please consider supporting it there's a time and a place for that but at its core our giving unto the lord is not primarily motivated by the need of the church or any other organization it's motivated by the fact that our willing hearts want to give to god isn't that a beautiful difference in other words it's like well the church needs money i'll shell some out no the primarily motivation is this i need to give unto the lord i need to be a giver and that's why god says in verse 2 bring me an offering now anytime you're talking about an offering received or asked for among the congregation of god's people you have to begin with the fundamental principle god is rich god has plenty of money there's no shortage of resources with god and god could use any means of providing that he so chose just as much as god brought manna to israel in the wilderness could he not miraculously just rain down everything he was asking for from heaven for the people of course he could that was completely within the power of god but that's not how god wanted it to go he wanted his people to support his work why because god wants to develop giving hearts within us when we become givers we become more and more like god because god's the greatest giver how about this for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that was the most precious gift ever given there's just something about the generosity of the heart of a giver that reflects something of the character of god and it's a beautiful thing and i'll add one more thing about this one of the great sins in our culture at large one of the sacred cows among us in our culture and you know it i'm not revealing anything strange to you it's materialism isn't it it's consumerism we know this every one of us struggles with it for some and if you're not struggling with materialism or consumerism at all it's probably because you're completely given over to it and so this is just the fact this is just how it is with our lives so i'm not revealing anything strange to you but let me tell you god's glorious antidote for the poison of materialism is to be a generous giver it really has a counteracting effect in our heart for us to keep a loose hold onto the material things of this world and to have very generous hearts towards what god wants to do and so therefore we must be givers not so much because god or the church needs our money but because we must be conformed into the image of god's glorious son but notice this there's another point to this and i'm sure you saw this in verse two did you notice it it says from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart god only wanted contributions from those who would give it willingly he is not interested in your coerced giving in your manipulated giving no it should always be far from it and when you ever sense that idea of coercion or manipulation giving you put yourself a little bit distance from that it's also reflected in the passage in second corinthians chapter 6 verse 7 excuse me chapter 9 verse 7 where it says so let each one give as he purposes in his own heart not grudgingly or of necessity for god loves a cheerful giver no giving isn't to be manipulated or coerced never it's to be given out of a willing cheerful heart let me add one more thing from verse two before i move on to verse three it says this you shall take my offering whose offering was it gods isn't that precious the offering didn't belong to moses it didn't belong to the elders and it didn't belong to israel itself god said you shall take my offering and whenever money is received in the name of the lord it better be managed to the glory of god and i'm so grateful to say that the the financial management team we have at this church it both impresses me and blesses me with how well they steward what god provides well let's go on here this is what god specifically wanted from them look now verse 3 of chapter 25 and this is the offering which you shall take from them gold silver and bronze blue purple and scarlet thread fine linen and goat's hair ram skins dyed red badger skins in acacia wood oil for the light and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate this is the offering that you should receive this is what we need and he just starts clicking down all these materials that they would need to build something they needed gold silver and bronze because precious metals would be used they needed blue and purple and scarlet thread they needed fine linen and goat's hair dyed red and badger skins and all the rest they needed all of that together to build what god wanted them to build and then they would need acacia wood and oil and spices and incense and onyx stones and other precious stones and all this reminds us that this was a real structure that god wanted them to build this was a building project and god says the most go ask the people to bring the materials that they need for the building project because here's the promise look at verse eight and let them make me a sanctuary that i may dwell among them according to all that i show you that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings just so you shall make it this is glorious in verse 8 god says to the people let me make them a sanctuary that i may dwell among them the purpose of the sanctuary of the tabernacle was to be the dwelling place of god now please nobody should think for a moment that either in israel's mind or in god's heart that the idea here was that god lived only at the tabernacle and no place else no friends god didn't exclusively live in that place but it was a specific place where he would come and meet with his people you see the whole idea behind the word sanctuary means that it's a holy place it's a set apart place and you know this don't you do you understand that every square inch of this world belongs to god this is our father's world the earth is the lord and the fullness thereof yet there are some places that god sets apart and that we set apart consciously and deliberately to be a meeting place with him this room is just such a place this room is a place i hope it's not the only place you meet with god i i earnestly hope with all my heart that you have a relationship with god that goes beyond the walls of this room i hope that this is not the only place where you open up your bible i hope this is not the only place where you worship him i hope this is not the only place where you pray but friends this should be and can be a special place where you come and meet with god why he said it right there in verse 8 that i may dwell among them this mean god wants to live among his people but that meeting place isn't only for man it's for god god wants to live among his people and to meet with them now notice this also in verse 9 it says that god told him to build it according to the pattern of the tabernacle you see the first representation of god's dwelling place would be a tabernacle that is a tent and not a permanent structure i don't know how many good been extended camping trips or he live in a tent for a long time but it's different than living in a house isn't it it's different living in a tent than in a permanent structure god said i want my first dwelling place to israel to be a tent and they were to feel that god was traveling with them every place where they went so he says here in verse 9 again according to the pattern that i show you that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings now i find this fascinating because verse 9 tells us that god not only described the tabernacle in its furnishings but it also says right there in verse 9 look at it he says that he showed moses it in other words i'm convinced that moses had some kind of vision of what all this should look like it wasn't merely a verbal description but it was also a vision why was it so important why did god describe it so minutely why did god actually give moses a vision of how it was supposed to look i'll tell you why because the pattern of the tabernacle was according to a heavenly reality hebrews chapter 8 says this very powerfully it says that it was a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things this is going to blow some minds here this morning because you never thought of this before but i'll tell you to it straight out the tabernacle was a scale model of a heavenly reality there really is something in heaven that corresponds in proportion and an appearance and in general sensibility to what god told moses to make there is a heavenly reality of a throne room of god there's a heavenly reality of a sea that's before him there's a heavenly reality of some kind of altar or place where sacrifice was recognized there's a heavenly reality of all that is represented there by the tabernacle one commentator says that the pattern here means almost an architect's model because god was basing it upon what was existing in heaven so god told them to build a tabernacle he told them what to build by working and i find this fascinating from the inside out when god told them to do this work the first thing he describes from you can see it right there in chapter 25 the first thing he describes him to do is to build the ark of the covenant the thing that was the core the very center of the tabernacle built that first because you know what isn't this the pattern of god's work not just in describing a building project but in our lives he wants to remake you from the inside out so first he describes the ark of the covenant with that special lid that was a place of atonement now by the way as i describe these things we're going to put up powerpoint slides you understand these are not actual pictures of what existed back there in moses day these are artistic renderings or models based on a pretty detailed description but we'll just do it the best we can to give us some kind of visual representation of what actually existed so first you have the description of the ark of the covenant then you have the description of the table of show bread this stood inside of the tent and the bread there represented the fellowship that israel was to have with god matter of fact literally in the ancient hebrew show bread is called face bread you say well that's kind of weird no because it's what she would eat in fellowship before the face of god it depicted the fellowship the communion that israel was to have with god then he told him to make a golden lamb stand and to put that in the temple and that that would illuminate the entire uh tabernacle building right there it would be the only source of light within then god told them to build now we're into chapter 26 into building the tabernacle itself with its frame and multiple coverings there were four layers of coverings the first one was the artistic design of cherubim then there was something made out of goat's hair then there was something made out of ram skin then finally there was something covered with it says badger skin some people think it's porpoises some people think it's sea cows but some kind of leathery cover then there was the description of the altar of burnt offerings that stood within the court that place of sacrifice right there in the middle and then there was the fence that marked the border of the tabernacle that fence that went all around this white fence that said this marks the court of the tabernacle then god told them to make the lamps for the oil and the golden lampstand and then finally getting into chapter 28 he told them to make the garments for the high priest garments for glory and beauty god wanted that high priest to be decked out with a special robe and a special apron and a special ephod with a uh covering a breastplate so to speak and things on the shoulders and a turban and a beautiful insignia over the turbine that said holyness to the lord and then finally at the end of chapter 28 you have the garment for the other priests now the entire layout of the tabernacle gave israel a wonderful center for worship for sacrifice for national rituals and it was also portable it was perfect for their journey through the wilderness now does this sort of fascinate you do you kind of look at each piece of that the ark of the covenant the table of show bread the clothing of the priests all of it collected you look at it and say wow how does that all fit together well like i say piece by piece in our conversational expositions we're going to be going through it and putting all that content right on our website for you so you can walk through each piece and see what it was in itself and how it all gloriously points towards the ministry and the person of jesus christ on our behalf right now this morning i thought you know what i'm just going to give us a closer look at one item one item you think well pastor david what would you pick would you pick the ark of the covenant that's pretty big they made a whole movie about the ark of the covenant would you pick the uh the the the lamb stand the menorah and all of it how about the altar and all that no the one thing i picked for you and i to look at at greater depth is something called the veil let's take a closer look at the veil turn to chapter 26 beginning now with verse 31. again just so everybody knows from chapter 25 all the way through chapter 28 it's the description of what each one of these items should look like and how they fit in and then the priests and then all how they should look in their clothing and all the rest of it but right here chapter 26 starting at verse 31 look at this you shall make a veil woven of blue purple and scarlet thread and fine woven linen it shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim you shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold their hooks shall be gold upon four sockets of silver what you see on the model's depiction that we have for you up on our screen you see the tabernacle as if the back wall was taken off in that enclosure what you see is you see the veil from the inside of the holy of holies because this tent that god commanded them to make which by the way was not a large tent i wish i would have measured it out in the sanctuary but as i look here in the room that we meet in you probably could have fit five or six of those tents just in the room we're meeting in right now if not more it was not terribly a large thing you're talking about something about 45 feet by 15 feet you're not talking about something very large but in that tent it was separated into two compartments one was called the holy place and the other was called the most holy place or the holy of holies and separating those two compartments was the veil that's why he says in verse 31 you shall make a veil make it a fine linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarn with the artistic design of cherubim now of course we have no idea what artistic pattern was how the colors mixed together how exactly they conceived of and shaped the look of the cherubim i'm sure moses told them how to make it look and so artists give their different depictions of what the cherubim might have looked like or how the colors might have mixed together but nobody knows for certain but this is what we should know the veil was not a light thing when i say veil you think of something that a bride might wear very sheer very transport you could see right through it no that wasn't this kind of veil this veil was something that was thick now later on in the days of the temple when they made the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place the ancient jews told us that the thickness of that veil that stood in the temple in jesus day was the thickness of four fingers that's how thick it was it was a very thick piece of blanket or fabric that went between the two and it was filled with the artistic design of cherubim why because cherubim surround the throne of god and god wanted the imagery there that this was a miniature model of his great throne and to conceive that there they were in the very throne room of god now notice the purpose of the veil here verse 33 of exodus chapter 26 and you shall hang the veil from the clasps then you shall bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the veil the veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the most holy please notice those words verse 33 the veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the most holy the veil separated that tent into the two compartments into the first compartment was the golden lampstand and the altar of incense and the table of show bread but into that second compartment was the smaller room containing the ark of the covenant ladies and gentlemen that veil was a barrier and no priest could go beyond that veil into the most holy place except one man once a year and he could only enter on the day of atonement and he went into that room twice once he went in to offer atonement for his own sins and then he went in to offer atonement for all the sins of israel i want you to think about this didn't i tell you before that there's a heavenly reality that all this earthly pattern corresponds to the bible tells us specifically that jesus made atonement for us in the heavenly reality listen to this in hebrews chapter 9 verse 12 it says this that jesus with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption ladies jim i don't know exactly what it was like i don't know exactly how the scene transpired but in some sense jesus appeared before god the father with the blood of his sacrifice just as the high priest went into the most holy place on the day of atonement and he said father it is finished father here is the blood of atonement father this never has to happen again i come before your throne and offer the perfect atoning blood that's why at the death of jesus what happened to that veil come on now you know it what happened to that veil it was torn in two at the death of jesus and by the way was it torn in two from the bottom to the top as if man torton too by all his good works or self-effort no it was torn into very specifically the gospel matthew tells us from top to bottom because god said now because of the finished work of my son the way is open wide now the most holy place is open to us i love it what the writer the hebrew says he says this in chapter 10 starting at verse 19. he says now having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and he's piling image upon image he's saying just as that veil was torn into so the body of jesus was pierced and in a sense you could say it was torn so that we can come into the presence of god friends you see just in this one figure from the tabernacle there's a gold mine we think of this veil that separated god and man this veil that said to all of humanity stay out don't you come in here you be careful matter of fact they were to take such care that we're gonna see this as we go into greater depth but when you take a look at what god commanded the priests to wear he commanded them to wear an apron with little bells at the base of it little bells that would make a sound every time the priest walked around the high priest would walk around you hear the tinkling of a bell and these bells around the hem of his garment it says why should he wear such a strange thing it says in the text of exodus chapter 28 so that he may not die friends i've never put bells on any things that i may not die but you know what the idea there is is that the bells were necessary so that the continual tinkling and sound of the bells would assure people that the high priest was still alive when he went into the secret place of the holy of holies because if they should hear well i picture in my mind a big crash of bells and then a collapse and you hear nothing else then you would know that there was something amiss in that high priest and god struck him dead you mentioned the fear the foreboding could you imagine how with a heart pounding in a shaking hand how the high priest went in there going into the most holy place thinking i hope god doesn't strike me dead and all of that fear all of that apprehension god has done away with in jesus christ and he says now enter in i want you to think back to the depiction of the tabernacle as a whole think of it all so that we can enter in there's the tabernacle with the perimeter fence there's the tabernacle with the altar of incense excuse me the the altar burnt offering there's the tabernacle with the laver for washing there's the tabernacle with the building itself and you think about this think about you being a worshiper coming in through that front gate and you come to the altar of sacrifice that's wonderful you come into his courts you've come into the presence of god to meet with the lord that's wonderful come into his courts but then you come to the altar of sacrifice that's even better you said yes i needed atonement for my sin and you look to the cross into what jesus did for you on the cross that's better yet and then you wash yourself in the laver you realize that in the daily just events of your life you need to have your feet continually washed by the work of jesus and that warms your heart and you do that and then you come into the presence right there into the building and you burn holy incense before god you're illuminated by the lamb stand you're in fellowship with him at the table of showbread but then i think don't you realize that god has split the veil into so that you can enter into the holy of holies this is what i'm saying friends i lay before you a deep and what i believe to be a profound challenge you keep going until you touch god god never meant for you to stop in his courts or to stop at his altar or to stop at the place of prayer you keep going until your heart is bare before god and you touch him because god's heart is still to live among his people god's heart is to not meet with them and attend but in the person and work of jesus christ who tabernacled among us and who leads us to the father do you see now all that jesus has done to tear that veil into and to say you you come enter in i think there would only be two things that would keep somebody from entering in the first one would be sin you recognize that you're a sinner you think of your life in the daily and in the big picture and you realize how far you fall short of god and even though you believe you're bound for heaven even though you believe you're going there you recognize that there's something stained in your life right now friends do you realize that jesus christ and his everlasting atonement came to cleanse you from that but then secondly it's not just sin that would keep you isn't also unbelief in all of its forms unbelief in the coldness of your heart unbelief in a lack of desire to go further with god unbelief in the sense of not believing that it's for you i think god speaks to you and to me right here right now that we should enter in father that's my prayer i think jesus i think of the great privilege that we have at this moment to not just disperse and to leave these doors but actually in a very conscious way bring our heart bring our mind bring our voice bring our very being before you recognizing that you dwell in all the earth and that now even now you want to live with us so how can we not worship you lord how can we say anything else then we want to give you right here right now more than our obedience we want to give you our worship the devotion of our heart stir us lord to do this and to worship you a right in the new and living way that you've made for us by jesus on the cross we pray this now in jesus name amen [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 1,502

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, calvary chapel, exodus 25-28, exodus 25, exodus 26, exodus 27, exodus 28, i am living with you, tabernacle, priests, ark of the covenant, old testament

Id: ryfV3y2NbAE

Length: 36min 5sec (2165 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 09 2020