Exodus 25 Part 1 - Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Exodus 20:5 verse one the Lord said to Moses speak to the people of Israel that they take for me a contribution from every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me and this is the contribution that you shall receive from them gold silver and bronze blue and purple scarlet yarns and fine twined linen linen goats hair tan Rams skins goatskins acacia wood oil for the lamps spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrance incense onyx stones and stones for setting for the ephod and for the breasts peace and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture so you shall make it let's pray father as we enter into this amazing journey concerning your sanctuary in the Old Testament we pray that you would grant us revelation of what this means for us today Lord we ask as we just sang as we pray throughout this worship set that you would change us and that Lord we would truly understand who you are and how you pursue us and Lord he would ravish our hearts it would captivate each person in this place Lord and we just asked for that today as we read your word and so Lord we just pray that you would protect every mind and heart from that bird and those birds of the air that come to steal the seed but Lord would you prepare in us good soil that the seed may be planted deeply into us producing fruit producing much fruit for your glory and so lo we look to you for help and you will help us in Jesus name we pray amen you may be seated last week we discussed the various laws that God had given the people of Israel after the Ten Commandments and so we understand the Ten Commandments but then God gives these different specific more civil laws between chapter 21 in chapter 23 and we highlighted some we didn't take every single one at the consideration but what we did is we highlighted the ones and all of them can be applied in some way or another but we highlighted some that applied to the Christian life in the Christian practice and as we come to 25 we have to do a little bit of a background we have to lay a foundation when we come to 23 20 at your Bibles in 23 20 from verse 20 down to the end of the chapter really what God is doing again is he is reassuring the people of Israel of his promise that if you just to walk in my ways if you just obey me surely I will take care of all your enemies surely I will go before you surely if you just obey my statutes watch all these blessings and you can read those blessings from 25 down to 28 but we won't and so we just see this reassurance trying to put in confidence into his people and really just saying listen I'm in this are you and so he's provoking them for a response but we've touched on this verse early on in Exodus I just want us to explore it again very briefly it's in verse 29 of chapter 23 look what the Lord says when he talks about the enemies in the lane of Canaan this is how he was to deal with them I will not drive them out before you in one year I'm not gonna do it in 365 days I'm not going to do it in 12 months I'm not gonna do it in a year no less the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you verse 30 little by little I will drive them out before you until you have increased and possessed the land and so we talked about this before concerning our walk with the Lord and how God has given us promises and how God has given each of us specific promises and a specific plan and a specific calling and oftentimes if your heart is truly set wanting to know that for yourself and wanting to fulfill that in this one life that you have you eagerly want to see it and perhaps you've prayed prayers like I've pretty even myself Lord used me in my younger years use me in my days now Lord there if there's anything I have to give up if there's anything I have to put aside in order for you to just recruit me in this moment and send me into the field whatever it takes god I will do it and God oftentimes works the same way he worked with the Israelites little by little the calling was there the promise was there the fulfillment was to come but he works on a different timetable and so he says I'm gonna do it slowly I'm gonna do it bit by bit less why what's what's the reason the same reason for you and I because if he were to take us from a to the letter T and not do everything in between we can be overwhelmed just like the Israelites could have been overwhelmed we could bite way more than we can chew and God wants to develop our character and God wants to develop our our attitude and our discernment and our wisdom and our understanding of the word and all these different things that need to come into consideration and so that's what they have to understand when they went to Atlanta KB it's not just gonna come like that it's not just gonna be this kaboom everything is gonna go and you're just gonna have this whole land to yourself right away no no no no no it says little by little and so that requires something on our part patience requires patience as we follow Christ it requires trust as we as we believe in his timing even though our hearts may be stirred but you know you you you really gave this passion to me I really sense that this is what I'm doing for the rest of my life I really believe that you answered my prayer and you've confirmed that this is time to live for you and it goes I know but I got to develop you first and there's something else that we need to do while God does his part God's part is I'm gonna lead you little by little that's God's part you know what you're a part of mine is when you read here in verse 32 you shall not make no covenant with them and their gods they shall not dwell in your land lest they make you sin against me for if you serve their gods it will surely be a snare to you you know what your part and my part is while God does his part you're a part of my part is to remain faithful in the process because during that process you bet believe that there will be temptation for you to get off of that process and to get off that road and to give yourself to other things just keep your eyes on Jesus keep your knees on the ground and keep believing that he is leading you little by little and ignore the voices that would lead you astray so so he says I'm gonna do my part trust in me but you do your part because during this process many many many hear me very clearly many many many have abandoned the call of God in their lives because they didn't wait long enough and you can do that in many ways you can do that by sinning and just backsliding altogether you can do that by trying to get ahead of God you can do that by staying to behind just stay in tune with him that's important and so their part was to wait their part was to be faithful then we come to 24 and everything from 21 to 23 because we read last time that after the Ten Commandments Moses had gone up and these were all the things that Moses was given to say to the people and he does that look at chapter 24 look at verse 3 Moses came and told all the people the words of the Lord and all the rules so he does his part but when you go back to verse 1 we know that God had asked Moses to come back up look then he said to Moses come up to the Lord and Aaron you and Aaron and a tabata by who and send me the elders of Israel and worship from afar and so there is an invitation to come back up to give the instructions but there is more instruction to be received and see we can't really understand 25 onward unless we really comprehend what happened in chapter 24 and so if you never read chapter 24 here's what really happens the turning point really not just for the people of Israel but for all history concerning God's dealing with man chapter 24 is so important and if we were to sum it up what happens is that God's covenant with men is ratified it's made officially valid God's relationship with the people of Israel has been made has been stamped has been approved based on something called what a covenant now does anybody know what a covenant is promise sure a promise from one party or from to two parties it's a contract essentially it is a contract it's when two or more parties come together and they want to establish a contract and agreement but that agreement requires the parties to fulfill a certain part on their end in order for the fulfillment of that covenant to be fulfilled and so one party says this is what I'm gonna do a part of our relationship and the other party says well I'm gonna do this and here's the thing God always initiates the Covenant it's by his grace as far as mercy and and this is very common in this time where they would make covenants concerning relationship and concern it's to really solidify it's not just some empty commitment it's a deep-rooted vow which speaks so much of what God requires and delights in us and wants from us God is in this relationship long-term that God does not want to make some flimsy you know I'll be there sometimes in some days I might get busy and you got you're on your own no he wants to make a covenant with humanity he wants to make a deep-rooted commitment and he's always faithful and when you read the covenants and there's several throughout the Bible there are some and people would debate this but there are some that are clearly conditional and unconditional some are unconditional some does not require the faithfulness of men in order for God to do his part and there are some also that are conditional that God will only do his part when man does his this is a conditional covenant so God says I'll do my part I'll do my part and here all the blessings that will come from that but you got to do your part in order for you to do your part these things will come about if you don't do your part in fact this is what's gonna happen and so this is a this is an important chapter because God here it wants to establish something long-term and he does it how he gives his promise she gives his commitment and you see here in verse 3 the second part all the words that the Lord had spoken we will do that was the people's response so they heard everything from chapter 21 to 23 and they go we're gonna do it oh yeah you know they're excited it's like the heat of the meeting you know it was the right song of the right at the end of the message so they got really excited yeah we'll do it God we're in it and then we see that they say it again in verse 7 the second part all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient and then in verse eight and Moses took blood the blood and threw it on the people and said Behold the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words why is that important in light of 25 because we're gonna learn from chapter 25 onward that a majority of the rest of the book of Exodus is dedicated to the instruction and the construction of something called the tabernacle and if you and I want to just sum up what the tabernacle is all about and we're gonna learn in detail what it's about we have to understand that it is simply God's expression of wanting to dwell with mankind it is God's desire to move and to be in the midst of his people but that cannot be possible unless a covenant is laid down this is so important 25 and onward the reality of God wanting to come in close proximity with man cannot be possible unless it is built upon the foundation of concrete commitment you realize that God is not into intimate fellowship with people who are not wanting to be wholeheartedly dedicated to him this is why many people who bear the name of Christianity do not have any fruit or any evidence that they know God because they made maybe some half-hearted confession but they have not made a covenant with Jesus Christ and unless you and I make a covenant where we respond to what the demands are and we say Lord here's my life then it was the old covenant new us it's the new covenant through Christ and His blood even that principle is true in the New Covenant no relationship with the Living God no intimacy no sense of exploration no sense of walking with Him day by day lest you have made a covenant with God and so that's the foundation that God requires and rightfully so do you remember when we talked about Moses he encountered God he had a commission from God but there was one thing he was missing what was he missing covenant why he did not have circumcision nor did he circumcised his sons and God was already ready to kill him right there in that moment after all those things because God is not interested in doing this relationship thing we have made up our mind says my life is yours my heart is yours all that I am is dedicated unto you that's what God is looking for as the starting point for all these other blessings to flow from that's important we can stop it right here and examine our hearts and see if we made that kind of a commitment to Christ but we get this amazing glimpse we're still building the foundation for 25 here it's in verse 9 so they they get this covenant established and it kind of continues in verse 9 to verse 11 then Moses and Aaron made up and a by who and seventy of the elders of Israel went up and they saw the God of Israel there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone like the very heavens of clearness and he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel they beheld God and ate and drank I don't get caught up in the thing in the idea that they saw God to simplify it when you go to John 646 when you go to John 1:18 it talks and it talks about how nobody has ever seen the father so I believe that this is the second person of the Trinity that we're seeing and they're seeing here the second person of the Trinity and here's the thing that we have to understand is that when they come there are specific people named this is why we have to understand the scripture in its entirety there are names there that are familiar they not Moses and Aaron who are those two other guys main that Nate Ivan a by who who are those guys if we can open up Leviticus chapter 10 Leviticus chapter 10 made a banner by who they were worship leaders now Nate I've been a by who I mean they were Aaron's sons the sons of Aaron each took his censer and put fire in it this is when the tabernacle was established and erected and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord which he had not commanded the next verse and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord that's a great text if you want to get worship leaders serious but here's the connection that we have to make here you see that Nate Avenue by you go up to the mountain and they have an amazing encounter with God and just one book later they die you know what that means because you hear from a lot of people oh I I heard of so-and-so and I knew so-and-so and and they fall and they fallen bad there could be no way that they were walking with God says who they're kenobi there can be no way that they really had a significant relationship with that says who maybe that's true in some cases but right here right here we see that it is possible for someone to have a genuine experience a genuine contact with the Living God and all it takes is inconsistency all it takes is sin to creep in and somebody not to sustain that relationship and they can fall and can make it fall bad so Nate Avenue by who failed to do one thing they fail to sustain the very thing that ignited them in the first place and that's so true of so many people this day oh the number of parents even today that had a once upon a time with God but they're so far from God all they have is a before this and when I was this well my question is not what when it happened what's happening right now I think that question will really convict a lot of people not what's your testimony it's who is God to you now not what is God has done for you what is God doing for you now you'll get a much different answer and so Nate happen to by who they this is an example to us a terrifying example that we can have a genuine touch from God and we can also if we let ourselves loose if if we become loose with God and we just let go of that standard and we stopped seeking Him and waiting on him and abiding in him we can get really flipping and God though he allowed them to have this privilege and I was just a privileged a position still he says I'm holy I don't have favorites in my kingdom here I'm not a respecter of persons worship leader preacher you can get invited to all the conference's you want but I'm holy and you better treat me as holy if people really understood that how much more integrity would we have how much false fire would be extinguished for the real thing it's a scary thing is it not can you imagine what these guys thought while they were going up that mountain I was really not thinking that here are these 70 something guys walking up this mountain what's going on in their minds they're getting closer to the cloud and there's thinking like what are we gonna see up there what are we gonna experience up there are we gonna die if we go up there and made God's God's calling us so surely is something for our good can you imagine the conversation can you imagine the imagination can you imagine the expectation and I thought to myself you know what that should be our same attitude when we come to the Word of God Lord what are you gonna say to me what are you gonna say to me in Deuteronomy there should be this expectation there should be this longer there should be this yes something is gonna happen surely god you're gonna reveal something to me about me to me give me that hunger there is no way that these guys are walking up there casual which is another day going up to see the mountain of God and seeing God no way just read something like that I said Lord would our hearts my heart have this continuous expectation that sure that you're gonna reveal something and what do they see they saw the God of Israel maybe just a glimpse of his glory there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone blue crystal like the very heavens of clearness I don't even know what that really means but I believe Moses though he was inspired by the Holy Spirit couldn't even have the language to really describe what he saw in that moment and perhaps these men were so stunned by the glory of God that laid prostrating the only thing that could really see was his feet so caught up in him just seeing what they could see in that moment and he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel they beheld God and this is probably the most touching part and they ain't ate and drank with him now that eating and drinking if you're if you're familiar with the Covenant and how covenants are made that's a that's a way of really sealing a covenant as well of taking the sacrifice that was made to make that covenant happen and eating of it as kind of like a confirmation but it's still speaking of something else it's still speaking of intimacy I believe so don't don't lose this this is important in connection to 25 this is the heart of God and all his glory and all his majesty and all his brilliance and all his holiness he calls men up and he says let's eat and drink just picture that I mean it gives a description that his feet under his feet there's their sapphire stone brilliant light brilliant colors and here's God which sinful men supping with them and if you think this is just an exodus go to Revelation 3:20 and this is Jesus knocking on the door of a lukewarm Church and what does he say to this lukewarm Church behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me so we see God here in Exodus eating with these men and we see God in Revelation the last book of the Bible saying I want to eat with you I want intimate fellowship with you which says something gives us an insight about how you know you're lukewarm you're lukewarm when you fail to practice fellowship with Jesus that was the diagnosis of this church Jesus is saying I want to come back to that place with you where you and I can sit together in fellowship and have that communion and so a person who can self diagnose himself they can do one thing amongst many other things you know that you have fallen into the place of lukewarmness when you fail to practice fellowship with Jesus and that's the cry of God's heart for you and me let's sit together and eat and I've made everything possible for you to even be in my presence so he's knocking you know what a knock is really it could be many things but you don't want to knock is its rebuke it's making you realize how far you've fallen from that place but although it's a rebuke in the same chapter to the same church he says I rebuke those whom I love and so even though it's hard to hear that you have fallen to lukewarmness even though it's hard to hear it that you have stopped fellowshipping with Christ it's still an invitation from him saying I want to come to this place so this is this is what we're seeing here this is we're seeing God's heart and it's gonna be made manifest in a powerful way as we come closer to 25 I can't help but comment in verse 15 of chapter 24 so Moses gets called up to go higher he says Moses you only have access to come higher because I have something to tell you specifically for the people as a mediator of Israel but look what it says then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain verse 16 the glory of the Lord dwell on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud stop there for a moment we can re pass these details and not realize what it means for us do you see something special there that Moses just had an amazing amazing experience with God and God calls him to come up higher and as he calls him to come up higher you would think that right away God has something to say got us something to reveal no God doesn't say anything for six whole days you know that's true of you and me when God does reveal something to us and he does continually invite us to go higher in him don't expect something to happen necessarily immediately this is a picture of the practice of patiently waiting on the Lord he calls Moses up six days there's not a word but on the seventh day he speaks and I think there's something else with it without reading too much into it but if that seventh day is a Sabbath then it reinforces the truth that God established those six days of work for the seventh day to be a day in which we rest but we rest on the Lord not only that because we're free from the Sabbath keeping law from Friday sundown to sundown Saturday we're free from that but the principle is still true that when you and I choose to set time apart to meet with God to rest from everything else we can expect him to meet us there like Moses did on the seventh day it's that practice and the the idea of here's my time apart from everything else and the Lord wants to meet us in that place that's what we see they're waiting on God Moses at the wait on God we have to wait on God we should set that time apart to meet with God and God is faithful again to meet us there so then we come here 18 Moses enter the cloud and went up to the Mount and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights so we see him there now 40 days 40 nights and part of that was to receive everything he needed to know concerning this thing called the tabernacle from Exodus 20:5 to Exodus 31 and so the purpose of this Bible study is not to dive into the deep end with a tabernacle we have to understand the overview of this we have to understand a foundation of what the tabernacle is we have to get familiar with this structure before we get or else we're going to get lost we're going to get lost and confused we're gonna have so many questions so we need to we need to kind of build a framework here and so when we understand the tabernacle we have to we have to we have to understand how much God gives attention to the tabernacle in the book of Exodus alone we see from chapter 1 to chapter 14 that God dedicates those chapters for what just the general understanding what are those chapters dedicated to dedicated towards the deliverance of the people of Israel from chapter 1 to chapter 14 fourteen chapters were reserved for recording the deliverance of God's people from Egypt when you go to chapter 15 to chapter 19 it is another set of chapters dedicated for what think about 15 to 19 this will refresh your memory what happened at 19 and 20 what happened without looking at your Bibles what happened from 15 to 19 God Records the wilderness wandering from Egypt to Mount Sinai right where again now another five chapters are dedicated to what the giving and the instruction of the law now from 25 till the end of the book of Exodus from 25 to 30 one and from 35 to 40 thirteen chapters dedicated to giving the instruction and the construction of the top and I've got 13 chapters now if you were to go in Exodus if you were to go in numbers if you were to go to Leviticus Deuteronomy and even the book of Hebrews some would say that there is a total not verses there is a total of around 50 chapters in the entire Bible dedicated to the construction the instruction and the activity that happens within the tabernacle / the temple now if 50 chapters are dedicated in the Bible for that that demands our attention if God only gave a few verses to and he spoke and the stars came and he spoke and this came and all creation was given two chapters in the Bible do you think that God is trying to give us a hint hey give your attention to the details that I have given through the tabernacle there's something for you there there's something for you to discover there's a wealth of revelation there and I'm not against this please I don't want to sound like I'm against this but so many people try to and give all their attention to whether we're young earth or old earth and how God created and where everything came from and I get it because there was a lot of attack in the past few years concerning that but don't give yourself over to questions and stop looking for answers that the Bible is not trying to give God wants to reveal something concerning His redemptive purposes and it is seen through the tabernacle and so here's a sobering question for all of us how much time have we dedicated in our own devotion studying it if around 50 chapters in the entire scriptures are calling for us to see what's there for us what does that say about our devotion to it so what is the tabernacle well we just read that is a sanctuary it is a portable tent that was given towards the people of Israel for the rest of their wilderness wandering and would be planted in the land of Canaan for many many years until when until when how long would the tabernacle be in existence for until the temple of David until Solomon built the temple so we're talking many many years where the tabernacle is there until David has an honest heart I want to build a temple for God look at where I'm living and look at where God's living he had that conviction and so he he calls upon his son to build a temple which is a very familiar structure to this but more concrete and a little bit more sophisticated and so this is essentially the worship center for Israel this is where they came this is where they met with God and this word God would meet with them this is vitally important and here's the reality of it sometimes we can read these chapters and kind of get lost and not know what it would look like but we live in a day in which we can find out people have actually given us visuals and we're gonna do that in a moment actually if Sarah you can put it up I want us to just see what the tabernacle would have looked like and this is an exact replica of somebody who took the measurements and did it in real life and the reason why I'm doing this is so that you can have it in your mind for the rest of our journey through the tabernacle what it looks like and what it would have been like for the people of Israel what it would have been like for the priests and all these different things and so you know oftentimes we try to take the Bible and bring it into our world but many times we have to go into their world to understand and so why is understanding the tabernacle important well we already discussed it because it's a revelation of God's heart towards us go back to Exodus 24 look at verse 16 the glory of the Lord do out it dwelt on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days and so there's this picture of of abiding of resting of being there of wanting to be in fellowship with Moses but listen when you go to 25 verse eight and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst do you see this that when God had invited Moses and invited Aaron and all these leaders he did want to meet with him they were the representatives of the people but he did not want to stay there see this understanding of being close to God near to God having fellowship with God is not just reserved for spiritual leaders and God's heart is not just for the spiritual elite doesn't matter how gifted doesn't matter how popular doesn't matter how knowledgeable any spiritual leader is if there is any any sense from that person that they are more than those that he serves he's got it all twisted because God's heart for that person is just as much as it is for the person nobody knows about in the church the invitation and the longing for God to dwell is not just for Moses nor is it just for and he goes you know this is great but Moses the reason why I'm doing this is so that you can figure this out and you can get it in your heart to give it to their heart that I want to be amongst them yes them the same people that were rebellious the same people that complain the same sinful people I want to be near them and so he says here my instructions for this tabernacle that I made dwell in their midst and again if you think this is just a reserve for the Old Testament you got to go to Revelation chapter 21 verse 3 and this is when everything comes to an end this is when the new heaven the new earth all these things are being ushered into our existence and you know what it says concerning that when God comes it says and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God Himself God Himself will what be with them as their God so this is God's heartbeat from the beginning of the Bible to the end I want to be amongst my people I want to dwell with them but not only that and this is where it gets a lot more complex in a good way the tabernacle itself is an object lesson for the people of Israel and for us in the New Covenant if there is a message and everything concerning the tabernacle relating to three important and major things so in the immediate sense it is yes God's desire to be with man and man's instruction of how to worship God this is how God wants man to worship Him but there are lessons here for us and Before we jump into these lessons we have to have this kind of caution there are two warnings and two extremes that we need to take a hold of before we jump into this number one there is an extreme of over spiritualizing every detail and so somebody can look at the tabernacle and try to pull out meaning that the Bible is not trying to get meaning out of and so there's a sense in which somebody can try to look for things just for the sake of looking for things and you can fall into error and exaggeration and so we have to we have to trust the Bible to interpret the Bible and not put our own ideas in it so we need that we need to be close to the Bible when it comes to the tabernacle and seeing how it relates prophetically the other extreme is being so afraid of that just like so many other things right so afraid of that and so wanting to be careful and not allegorical or all these things that it doesn't really have any significance other than its immediate purpose that is just some historical sanctuary for God's people or what God met them and yet God wants to meet with us and they fail to see what even the Bible encourages us to investigate so what are the three things that the tabernacle points to number one is anybody know so there's a sense in Hebrews eight where it says that this was kind of a copy of heavenly things sure and people debate what that might mean and one safe way of looking at it is that it speaks of a person the tabernacle itself speaks of a person who's that person Jesus Christ the tabernacle is a object lesson it is a sermon so to speak and every piece of furniture of the coming Messiah and so you read verses like John 1:14 what is John 1:14 say and the word became flesh and what dwelt the Greek the original languages he tabernacled Jesus tabernacled he came with the same language as what God desired for them to do he erected at tabernacle God came not in a tent though in a body and he dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of only the son from the father full of grace and truth and here's another example that will whet our appetites concerning Jesus how he's a foreshadowing of the temple Hebrews 10:19 Hebrews 10:19 just listen to this therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus by what the new and living way that he opened for us through what the curtain right he tore the veil away that is through his flesh so there's something significant there concerning Jesus and how he is a reflection of the furnishings of the tabernacle of tabernacle itself meaning what that there is redemptive lessons to learn from even the moment you step in the outer court the measurements all those things want to invite us to see Jesus you want to know how much the Bible screams Jesus not only is the Tabernacle budgies the high priest is about Jesus the sacrifice on the furnishing is Jesus Jesus it's all Jesus so we have the strong invitation come see Christ didn't Jesus say that the Scriptures testify about me says the law the prophets the Psalms speak of me and so we have to learn when we study the time and I go put on the Jesus lenses and try to see Christ see Jesus knowing that the New Testament even encouraged us to do so not only that what else does the Tabernacle speak of where is sanctuary absolutely in that scripture where does it say that yeah first Corinthians 6:19 and 20 what does it say well do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God you were not your own for you were bought with a price so glorify God in your body so when he is trying to entice and encourage them to live holy concerning sexual purity he says here's what I want you to understand you are the temple of God you were where God resides so you know what that means when we look at the tabernacle it means this that when we see the furnishings and we see all those different things it says something about us so us as individuals but there's one more thing that it speaks of the church exactly and this is also found in first Corinthians but there's a slight difference in 1st Corinthians 3:16 it says do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you what's the difference the you there in Greek is plural and so what he's saying you are God's temple he's talking to the whole church and so we have three major concepts here Jesus Christ the Church of the Living God as a corporate level and the individual temple of the Holy Spirit do you know how much time that will require from us just to see in those lenses separately how this talks of Jesus how the speaks of the church how this speaks of you and me as individuals rich wealth treasures waiting for us to discover so what does it have to do with you and me I think what we have to understand is that what we're gonna discover as we go through each piece of furniture we're gonna discover how we ought to worship God the same way it was instituted for them the principles of worship and approaching God is found in these pieces of furniture so when we go through this there might be more emphasis on Jesus and less emphasis on the church and less emphasis on you and me and some other places might be more emphasis on you and me and how we relate to God nevertheless it is glorious it is exciting you can't look at this and say this is boring measurement stuff no look at it with these lenses and ask the Lord to reveal to you Lord in light of all of Scripture what is the Ark of the Covenant mean about the church there's a talk about the presence of God does it talk about how we need God to be in our midst what does it talk about the burnt offering what does it talk about the washing is the washing talking about the Word of God how we need to be washed by the word what does it talk about the the tabernacle the fact that there's only one gate to get in meaning there's only one way to come into the presence of God what does it talk about the fact that Judah is right there before the gate when all the tribes surrounded speaks of Judah being praised and the way you would get into the presence of God is by worship all these things that await us and we're gonna explore this together and so we see here as we read in the beginning the Bible study that before he even gives any instructions about the details of the furnishings he asks for a contribution so we can read this at a surface level the Lord said to Moses speak to the people of Israel that they take for me a contribution from every man whose heart Musa Musa receive the contribution for me then from 3 down to 7 he lists what he asked of for the people what does that mean what does that mean isn't God all-sufficient can't God provide the material for himself could he have not the same way he gave the instructions say hey listen here's all the material you need here let me open up the heavens I'm gonna drop a pair of shoe with everything that you need for you to contribute to my house no he doesn't say that he says here's the instruction but I'm I'm asking for you to make a contribution it's God's invitation okay there's a part of sacrifice and we'll get to that in the latter part but on the surface level on the practical means what does it mean God could have supplied himself he wants us to participate in his plan absolutely but why what is it about giving what is it about me reaching into my pocket what is about me going and giving what God's house needs what what's in that for God worship worship it's an act of worship Philippians 4:18 tells us how when Paul had received a gift from the Philippians he it says something you can close out just to put up the verses thank you so much Sarah Philippians 4:18 look how Paul describes the physical gift that the Philippians had give into him concerning his need I've received full payment and more I am well supplied having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent and now what does he talk about the gift what is it it's a fragrant offering a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God he's not talking about prayer there he's not talking about worship song he's not talking about your evangelistic efforts he's talking about you giving physically for a physical need and this is what we have to understand on the surface level the same way God's house in the Old Testament had needs is the same way that God's house in the New Testament needs has needs and God the same way he's inviting them to contribute to participate he's inviting you and I how what a convicting thing I mean we don't we don't think of giving as worship and I know a lot of people are hesitant talking about giving because so many have taken that doctrine to a whole new level but it's still scriptural and it's still in the Bible and we're still invited to participate in that act of worship reason why God said I want you to give it's because it's worship its worship but notice what kind of a giver he's looking for what does it say from every man whose heart moves him you so received the contribution for me he's looking for a specific type of Giver a cheerful Giver second Corinthians 9:6 talks about how God even in the New Testament says God loves a cheerful Giver and so for somebody to come up here and manipulate and coerce and just say and do whatever to twist your arm to give God's not interested in that he's interested in a person whose heart is so moved that as an act of worship not just singing not just praying saying Lord hear here's here's what I can give whatever I can give to help advance your kingdom to build your house I'm willing to do it and he wants it out of a heart that has a revelation of something so here's how you and me can have a heart stir because I read that here's the reality when we talk about giving we we kind of not do it because we have all these things that come to mind and our hearts are not really stirred by it a majority of people are not really stirred by the act of giving and there are some people who are they love to give I mean they see it as a ministry but a majority people we can safely say they don't see that as an act of worship so how can your heart and mind be stirred so that we can as an overflow of that say Lord here it is number one when you understand that what he gave you is from him when you understand that what you are giving is not really yours you're kind of gonna get stirred to realize I'm just giving back to you what you gave to me where in the world that the Israelites get all this material in the first place they weren't working in the wilderness even before that Egypt when he said listen you're not leaving empty-handed you're gonna be able to ask of the Egyptian neighbors and they're gonna give you and when it came to exodus chapter 12 the last plague they said here take it whatever you need to do just get on out of here you guys have caused so much trouble and so was it really from the Egyptians though now it's from God and so if you and I want to get stirred to give to the body of Christ to the local church to God's house one way is really saturating in our minds the truth that everything that you have every penny that you have in your bank account is not yours neither is it mine it's God God provides every good and perfect gift that job is God's who's giving it to you all those things every gift God God God and we need to be so convinced of that so that whenever there is a need our hearts would be certain low this isn't mine this is yours only that I think our hearts can be stirred with this truth that we get to contribute into God's kingdom we get to participate in that God's calling us to participate through our giving and I think that's a beautiful thing and lastly when we really give to God's house we're not giving to God's house or we're not really giving to Moses or leaders we're giving to God himself I think of it that way when you go later on to Exodus and when they actually come to do this when they get the instruction then they do it we're gonna realize when they do it that it says that they gave unto the Lord they gave directly to God and so every penny that you put them you don't know what your left hand is well your right hand your left hand are doing your giving and and you're not doing it for people to see would you pass your heart to realize Laura as though I'm putting it below I'm putting it at your feet here it is this is your this is yours it's an act of worship and so I read something like I said Lord provoked that in me more and more let my heart be stirred with giving and let me really see it as an act of worship let me really see it as an act of worship but there's a picture here it's a vital principle here concerning the spiritual spiritual 25/8 right what does it say and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst okay verse eight cannot be a possibility unless verse one happens and verse nine happens what is verse nine exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture so you shall make it so without verse one and without verse nine verse eight cannot be a possibility what's verse one sacrifice sacrifice what's verse nine submission without sacrifice and without submission we cannot experience the reality of God's dwelling amongst us individually corporately that's significant because verse one and a principle speaks of willing to give whatever it takes to have God near and to be near to God whatever it takes for him to reveal himself concerning the church and concerning my life as an individual whatever the price is I'm willing to pay that price and see many people can't do this many people can't come to terms of this many people can't give and it's not necessarily in materialism talking about their time I'm talking about their energy I'm talking about theirs whatever needs to be there for me to know that God will be in this house and every service I'll be there and that's sacrifice but not just sacrifice submission submission to what he says you can't build this tabernacle the way you want to everything that I give concerning the instruction of my house has to be done my way and so many people are willing to sacrifice and give so much into God's program but it's not really their program it's become it's become now God's program their own program and so they are more invested in building their kingdom and their vision and their little Empire called their church and because they have not followed protocol of how God's house is supposed to be they've made a lot of sacrifice but they have not submitted to the standard of God concerning how his house ought to operate whether on an individual level I'm talk corporate as well so God says I want my house to be specific where I want these specific elements in my house and so pray because my house shall be called the house of prayer and so we hear that that's the standard prayer the altar of incense God wants that as a part of his house and how many churches today are lacking that very element well they're willing to sacrifice oh how many churches are willing when it comes to the choir multiple practices a week we'll be there every single practice when it comes to one prayer meeting a week you want to do it your way do it your way but God has specific instructions you don't want to follow protocol then you do it your way but you forfeit my presence all less word more entertainment less word more stories less preaching more life coach discipleship you want to do it your way build it your way before for my presence and so God says before we get this we get this to us don't get it twisted here you better do it my way or else this is not gonna work and so when we look at the New Covenant and we see the standard of what God's house is supposed to be and the activity of God's house we have to realize that if we miss those things we can say bye-bye to the privileges that come if we do it God's Way we'll have something but will forfeit something so much greater the price to pay whatever the price is Lord I'm willing to pay see if you want to come near there has to be some separation if you want more there has to be less of something else there is always a price this is the principle here in Exodus 20:5 sacrifice and surrender if not those things hand in hand in your life whether individually for the church all these things concerning what can come about will not be so we have to determine that within ourselves and satisfied with a once upon a time like need happen to buy who I do not want to be an a dab in a by who that can point back to some stories here and there but have figured out how to manipulate this system and go with the flow and do things my way and have strange fire in my life I want the real thing I hope you would want the real thing - there's always sacrifice always and there always needs to be surrender to the standard I remember being very little and for some reason this story came to mind when reading this and somebody who was a family friend who was in Bible College at the time had had had a weekend where they could invite people there was a bunch of activities on campus and and my brother and my my friend we lived in the same neighborhood she had invited us at that age young elementary school to go with her and she was a family friend my parents were all for it and remember my brother my friend did not even hesitate they said we're coming I totally forgot a bit of story until for some reason reading this text and I remember our family friend said if you want to come Daniel you got to let go of that action figure I had this one action figure and I could not let go of it I loved it was a toy and I don't I don't remember why she asked me I couldn't bring with it but I remember she just told me if you want to come you got to leave it behind and I remember it came to the day where they left my brother in the front and my friend where in the car they were ready to go and I'm sitting there on the driveway holding onto this toy I can't let this toy go I can I Britian I try to justify and I tried it I try to give all these reasons why that I can just bring it to I won't do anything I won't it won't distract me all these different things but the standard was said and she was not budging and so finally said okay that's the choice you're gonna make I'm just gonna leave that and she got in the car and I saw them drive off and I'm here I'm holding this toy and they left for the weekend and I convinced myself that I made the right decision I guess and when they had come back oh did they rub it in my face they took pictures they told me all the things I did and my brothers tell me about these older guys that they get to hang out with and the volleyball that they played and all the candy that they could eat and all these different things and I spent my week weekend with a lifeless toy sounds cute but so many people do that with the relationship with God you know frustrating I'm trying to find the verse in the Bible where I can just go up to somebody say don't you just get it yet don't you understand what's awaiting you if you just let go of the silly things in your life the things that you have so much about and it's not even any benefit to you it's lifeless it gives some thrill to you but really can you compare it to all of this that that's just waiting for you to just explore and it was all free the whole weekend was free everything was made available everything was just there and they just had a ball and Here I am with my and so many people do the same thing in this life there's an invitation that come up there's an invitation for more and they just hold on to things that doesn't even matter and I'm so convinced that it will take until that person gets to eternity and so they realize that they themselves are the tabernacle of God and all the things that all the things that they could have walked through in this life but they've just held on to the silly things the worldly things they are necessary things so you and I need to be convinced Lord if this is what you say of me if there is something awaiting for me if all these things that we're gonna explore concerning the tabernacle and that's me body soul and spirit let me know what it means to walk through that reality and let me know what it means to know that you want to dwell in my life you want to dwell in this church that you want to dwell in our community we want it all we want it all and so we conclude with that before we jump into the Ark of the Covenant next week but can we just set our hearts to do just that know this of the Bible that the heartbeat and the thread of the scriptures from all the things that are revealed in the surface know this as the heartbeat of God for Humanity is I want to dwell with you from exodus to Revelation it is God's pursuit towards man and he's done everything including the cross to bring us to a place in which we would be we would be face to face with him one day but until then we are his dwelling place and so there's an invitation for us to know what that means in this life right now and what it requires of us is what sacrifice and surrender there's a price to pay but is it really a price again now even gold and silver and all these things if you line it up to what is a waiting us if we just let go oh we would do it in a heartbeat if we really understood it so even in your mind and life and mind maybe we examine our hearts as we enter into this journey through the Tavor not going to say lord help me see Jesus help me see Jesus help me see how this relates to the church and Lord let this church be the dwelling place of God how my life realize that I myself am a temple of the Holy Spirit what an awesome thought soul or whatever we need to let go of the same way the Israelites were called to let go of certain things and to submit to the standard of the Scriptures so that we could experience the life and the animation of God in us bring us to that place and even tonight if you have not made that covenant with Jesus Christ if you've not ever made that wholehearted commitment Lord you know I realize that you have laid it out for me through the cross that I can only have that relationship with God through a covenant the new covenant that you've established Lord I come through that covenant that awesome covenant and I give my life I lay it all down I say lord have your way in me but we come together as it houses the tabernacle God's God's temple corporately and we say well we want everything that your word has to offer and then we're here to be with you we're here to eat if you were we're here to worship you and whatever sacrifice or surrender needs to come about for that to be a reality where you made yourself known in greater ways Lord if if it takes anything God or willing to pay the price if you put your finger on anything even as specifically as you were with the Israelites concerning the material god gift pinpoint things in our lives that need to go here is Lord we give it to you Lord our prayer tonight is that that passionate not pursued in every person's heart we might die without die but we're praying Lord together that it would come to life through the study of the tabernacle Lord if anybody in this place anybody has a dull heart towards the scriptures Lord let it come to life and let us realize how you are so obviously calling us to you even in Exodus 20:5 and Lord not only are you calling the nation of Israel you're calling us today in 2018 you're the same God and so lord help us where should be the way you deserve leadership and help us pursue you the way you want us to pursue you and help us know you in the way that you wants to know when you go we want to know for this house lower that's even hard to even end this meeting God talk to you to end this meeting with the truth that this is God's house and that Lord you you tore that veil or all these things that are available to us so perhaps a little ender come to a close to magnet we can walk out of here as the time Oh God oh this is the gods temple yes we can walk out individually as God's temple and we can continually be in that place of adoration and worship and community with you what an awesome privilege over well stunned by you God lord I pray I pray we pray together don't let that don't let that die in this God

Channel: UE Church - Chicago

Views: 1,137

Rating: 4.8518519 out of 5

Keywords: Exodus, 25, Bible, Study, Exodus 25, Part 1, Bible Study, Exodus 25 Part 1 Bible Study, daniel batarseh, Uec, ue church, united evangelical church, agape young adults services, ue church agape, bible, christians, sermon, preaching, teaching, jesus, god, holy spirit, christ, christianity

Id: sv5YoTnkxwE

Length: 60min 16sec (3616 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 28 2018