Exodus 35-37 - 2011 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational we call this a textual community let's rejoice and learn God's Word in an interactive and enjoyable new way so nice to see y'all we're going to finish Exodus next week do you believe that some of you have no faith oh you have little faith you'll see why tonight probably you'll see why tonight probably while we'll finish the book of Exodus next week but we will finish the book of Exodus next week it'll be our last study in this book you brought your Bibles yes good thinking Exodus chapter 35 we were texted a message that was a little bit unrelated because it deals with Genesis but we'll throw it up anyway because it does segue with something that we read about with Moses in Exodus so we'll begin with that instead of usually how we normally begin since the text question came up it says did Adam and Eve see God's face it's a good question it's asked because the Bible declares no one no man has seen God at any time so the question is well what about Adam and Eve did they see God's face I don't believe they did first of all we're not told they saw his face it's not even mentioned at all but what is mentioned is they heard God's voice God walked with them in the cool of the day we're told were not told how or what form he took whether there was some like with Abraham some form that he took like the angel of the Lord that's a possibility but to see God in his total effulgent glory no one has ever seen so the Lord walked with Adam and with Eve but it doesn't record that they saw his face but they did hear his voice okay enough said with that let's begin with prayer Heavenly Father we turn our hearts toward you tonight Bibles open hearts open and in sitting here Lord we make a commitment that our bodies are surrendered as living sacrifices holy and acceptable which is our reasonable act of worship Lord with that commitment to tune in we don't want anything or anyone to distract from how the Spirit of God might seek to apply truth to our hearts some of us Lord are just starting out in the Christian faith like one that I just read in the chatroom joining us via the internet who has recently come to faith in Christ others are veterans here they've they've served you and walked with you for a long time all of us Lord at different levels still need to hear from you still need the touch of your spirit still need the voice of the Spirit speaking to our hearts you know our needs you know our situations you know where we have come from the things that are causing anxiety if anything at all in our life that we surrender to you and rather than being distracted by those things we are determined to tune in to listen as you speak through your word help us Lord to apply these truths in Jesus name Amen I had a wonderful experience yesterday I met with a man that I hadn't seen since fourth grade I didn't even know he was in town we grew up in Southern California I remembered his name Joe emailed me and then gave us a call and I set up a lunch I met him in first grade and the last time that I remember seeing him was fourth grade that's a long time ago obviously Joe looks a lot different today than he did in fourth grade as do I now he told my assistant what he looked like you know what his hair and his beard didn't have that in fourth grade what what it looked like but but as I walked into the restaurant and I I saw him it was an instant recognition which fascinated me that I recognized him not because of a beard or hair which had totally changed and I have totally changed but there are certain features that are recognizable that even as a 1st and 4th grader I still remembered I remembered the shape of his eyes and his nose and his mouth and the way the lower lip was formed I remembered thinking that as I studied his face in first grade it just came back I recognized him it's like when we meet somebody we construct a facial map that enables us to recognize that person for months and years to come the way the features are set in the face and the way they communicate with each other relate to each other it's very unique we all have that unique capability we relate to each other by looking at each other face-to-face that's when our relationship is at its best not in an email not in a letter not even in a phone call but to be able to see the face and the body language created by the face while the words are coming out is always the best way to communicate it's the most intimate form of fellowship a face-to-face kind of communication so I find it interesting when somebody comes up to me and they'll say I've listened to you for years on the radio you're not what I pictured in my mind and I always feel like I'm disappointing them I don't know what they pictured and so Alf and say well I'm sorry but when we can see the face and put the voice with the face the picture is complete and so the Bible speaks about the communication and relationship with God along the same lines the psalmist said hide not thy face from me O Lord or may the Lord's face shine upon us Psalm 61 now Moses wanted to see the face of God show me your glory God didn't let him see his face and we've gone through why he was however allowed to see something less than the full manifestation of God God put it in in this fashion I'm gonna pass by you I'm gonna put my hand over where I hide you in the cleft of the rock and you'll see me after I pass by you'll see my back or the afterglow of the effect of the divine presence well even that had enough phosphorescence in it to make Moses face glow he came down from the mountain and the Bible says back in chapter 34 where we were able to end last week thought we get through 35 but it says in 2 versus that Moses face shown and we started going through a little litany of what that shining face meant what it confirmed we mentioned first of all that Moses glowing face confirmed God's choice Moses was picked by God to be his representative he was the mediator of the Covenant this is the guy no one else there was some question and there will be some question by a few as to is Moses the right leader but God confirmed his choice Moses face was glowing also we saw last week it confirmed God's presence Moses had been in the presence of the Lord his face is glowing as he comes down the mountain confirming that God's presence as seen in the mediator is going to be with them on the rest of the journey God is not forsaking them but his presence is going to go with them we saw also that it confirmed God's greatness Moses was with Yahweh in his face shine what other person was ever in the presence of a false god a pagan god or goddess and came away from that experience with their face glowing no one and that's simply because there are no other gods they're all invented by people they're all made up and so people will say well your God is a lot like my god no he's not there's only one true and living God all the rest are wannabes they're their falsifications invented by mankind so it showed God's greatness he was in the presence of God and it was visible I heard a story of a man a missionary in India was traveling around and a Hindu walked up to him and said what do you put on your face to make it shine the missionary said I don't know what you're talking about I don't put anything on my face to make it shiny goes oh no that's not true he says everyone that I meet like you believers in Jesus you all have that same look about you I've seen it he said from the cities around Agra to the streets of Mumbai then the missionary understood that what that Hindu was seeing was the reflection of the light of God's truth that peace that confidence that comes in a relationship with God that is visible to some and obviously to that Hindu man now I had an interesting thing happened to me when I was a relatively new believer I was going to college and medical training in San Bernardino was a UCLA program I went home to my apartment I knew that I had an orderly that worked in the hospital that lived right across the driveway from me in that apartment he knocked on my door that evening and he said to me I've never had this happen ever before I said I've watched you in the hospital he says it's like your face is glowing it was it was the oddest visit I've ever had as I said I've never had anyone ever tell me that before I've had people say smile or don't smile as much or but never your face is glowing so I immediately left the front door and went to the bathroom to look and see what I'd been exposed to after all I was working in radiology who knows an isotope perhaps so I decided to use that opportunity to share the gospel with him I thought if my face is glowing and he noticed it I'm gonna get a little bit of his background what was most interesting is that he was a self-proclaimed Satan worshipper but he had at least enough interest piqued that he wanted to find out why my face was glowing and I said look I don't think my face is glowing but deep down inside my heart is going and here's why and by that end at the end of that conversation I was privileged to lead him to Christ not because I glowed but because God's true so God confirmed his choice God confirmed his presence God confirmed his greatness also we saw last week God confirmed his power Moses had been in the presence of God he had changed because of it and in coming back down to the camp they could see there was a change because he was in the presence of God but then we gave you a cliffhanger last week I said there's there's a fifth confirmation but I don't have enough time to finish it so that's where we begin tonight the glowing face of Moses fifth of all confirmed God's plan God's plan you see the glowing face of Moses and the reason he put a veil over his face one of the reasons we're told is because the glow wasn't staying as strong as the days went by the glow was fading off of Moses now the people were like blown away and intimidated by the glowing face so it says Moses put a veil over it but apparently Moses and Aaron could tell that the glow is fading and so put a veil over it the people are you know enjoying this experience they're seeing the presence and power of God but the glory is fading away so put a veil over now I want you to turn to a scripture in the New Testament to see that so turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verse 12 therefore since we have such hope we use great boldness of speech unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away here was God's plan and the glowing face revealed the plan of God the law was temporary was not permanent the New Testament was permanent and it would overshadow and overtake the Old Covenant and when Paul wrote these words he was at that shoulder period that transition period that overlap between the old and the New Testament the old was fading away the New Testament was permanent that was God's plan from the beginning was never meant to be a permanent relationship or a permanent covenant now when he wrote these words there was still a temple in Jerusalem sacrifices were ongoing in that temple every single day but very soon that would all be done 70 AD you know what happened the Romans came in destroyed the city destroyed the temple and since AD 70 sacrificial formal Judaism has come to a complete end did you know that there are no sacrifices since 70 AD the Jewish system has had no means to atone for their sins and they're in a little bit of a dilemma because the Bible says in the Old Covenant the Old Testament the Torah without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins the old was passing away it was designed to be temporary the New Testament is permanent also when Paul wrote these words using this experience of Moses there was a group of people inside the church known as Judaizers some of you've heard that term before Judaizers were people who said they were Christians and many of them probably or but what they were trying to do is combine two covenants the old and the new the law of Moses and the New Testament and kind of merged them make a synchronistic system out of two covenants as interestingly I still find people today trying to do that trying to go back to the laws of Moses back to the practices of Judaism and so what Paul will write here in Galatians and other places is why on earth would you want to go back to something that has faded away and was designed to be temporary when you have a freedom and something permanent in Christ now here's just a little footnote of interest in the Hebrew when it says that Moses face shown the word literally is Moses face horned it's related to the word horn like the horn of an animal and it's because the word literally means raid or showed raised so it's translated here shown but it could be translated horned it's just simply emanated raised when Jerome translated the Bible into the Latin Vulgate he was living in Bethlehem when he translated it from Greek into Latin he actually translated it horned Moses faced horned now I'm sharing that with you because if you ever see ancient depictions of Moses by different artists they often depict Moses with horns coming out of his head seriously you'll find some of the greatest artists during the Renaissance period painted Moses look it up google it tonight look up a depictions or artwork of Moses and you'll see the horns because of Jerome's translation instead of shown it was horn so that's just a little bit of trivia if you're interested now let's go back back to the Old Testament verse one boy I promised we'd be done next week we'll watch then Moses gather other congregations that's it no - just kidding see if I was Jay Vernon McGee there's no way then Moses gathered all the congregation it's like would take me a month to get through it okay backtrack then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and said to them these are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do work shall be done for six days but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you a Sabbath of rest to the Lord whoever does any work on it shall be put to death now God has already gone through the Sabbath laws why is it coming up again why is it repeated again well this is the repetition of the Sabbath law now for the tabernacle builders who probably were thinking that perhaps they were exempt in some way because they're doing God's work and so I want you to notice something this is the only time it's mentioned in relationship to the Sabbath but it's mentioned nonetheless and so look at verse 3 you shall Kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day evidently there was a thinking going around that to Kindle a fire really wasn't work it was like preparation for the work it was like pre work so it's Sabbath day but we can light a fire because after all we're eventually gonna do the Lord's work and we're gonna need it for our meals during the Sabbath anyway but now is the prohibition and it's the only time it's written up to this point anyway you will Kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day now later on the rabbi's will comment on this verse and they will say what this means is you are not permitted before the Sabbath to light any kind of a fire or an I'm sorry on the Sabbath to light any kind of a fire so before the Sabbath begins light a fire in your home to provide light in your dwellings but you can add no fuel to it later on in the middle of the Sabbath so that today the modern Orthodox Jews will not turn on a light switch on the Sabbath because it's kindling a fire it's starting the spark it's creating light they won't turn on their oven because it's Shabbat so in Israel you can buy Shabbat or Sabbath lights and they're on timers they begin the glow of the light before Sabbath and they'll turn off at the end you can also have timers for all your appliances so you can get them going and then you can have heat if you ever go to Jerusalem and you're there on the Sabbath on a Saturday and you go to one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city Maya Sharene if you try to drive your car through Maya Sharene you'll be surprised because the Orthodox Jews will throw stones at your car because you are violating the Sabbath you're kindling a fire on the Sabbath by driving the car that that's how the law reads that's how they live you can do it before or after but not on the Sabbath which to me brings up something interesting in the light of seventh-day Adventism if you're familiar with that seventh-day Adventists will say I keep the Sabbath and we worship on Saturday not on Sunday like those who take the mark of the beast that's what they used to call it worshipping on Sunday we worship on Saturday we go to church on Saturday now when they tell me that I like to say really how do you get to church well I Drive my car I think you may be breaking the Sabbath because as the coil provides electricity to the spark plug that enables the spark the ignition spark and then the explosion of the gas in the air in that compressed cylinder you've started a fire on the Sabbath that's breaking the Sabbath you don't keep the Sabbath and so here's the prohibition even for tabernacle workers no fires have been kindled on the Sabbath verse 4 Moses spoke to the congregation of the children of Israel saying this is the thing which the LORD commanded saying take from among you an offering to the Lord whoever is of a willing heart let him bring it as an offering to the Lord gold silver bronze blue purple etc etc etc now we have seen this command back in chapter 25 God told it to Moses Moses is back down from the mountain the second time now they're actually taking up the offering note this is not the tithe this is a freewill offering this is above and beyond the tithe they will be commanded to tithe this is a separate offering a free will offering from the heart separate from the tithe sometimes people will say well I take my tie then I give it to different places every month depending on how I feel LED that's good but that's not your tithe I give my tithe to my local fellowship and then above and beyond that as the Lord prompts my heart toward other things I'll also give that's the idea here the idea of the tithe is different the idea of the tithe is that you relinquish control it's not like as I feel led you you you in the Old Testament would give a tithe to the priests as they feel led you are losing control you are trusting the Lord that Lord's work will be carried out and maintained through that tithe this is separate it's above and beyond that now here's the question where did they get the silver in the gold and all the purple and all the rest of the stuff from from Egypt from the Egyptians back in Genesis 15 God told Abraham way before any of this was even on the radar screen said your descendants will be afflicted for 400 years they'll be in service to foreigners they'll be in a land not their own but I will punish that nation and bring them out with great wealth so that in the book of Exodus and we've already covered of refreshing your memory in fact I'll read this read it to you I marked it in my Bible this is Exodus chapter 12 listen to this now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses and they asked from the Egyptians articles of silver articles of gold and clothing they just asked for them and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they granted them what they requested thus they plundered the Egyptians this is wild it's like the Lord just opened up their hearts because the Egyptians hated the Hebrews but the Hebrews could go up to an Egyptian go you know I love that bracelet it's solid gold isn't it oh yes it is could cost my husband a lot I'd like it okay and she'd give it away anything they asked for and now by the time they asked for it the Egyptians were happy to get rid of the Hebrews take it take everything get out of here you've caused enough havoc in our nation so thus they plundered him so all of that spoiled they have and they're gonna give it in this offering verse 10 all who were gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded the tabernacle its tent its coverings class boards bars pillars sockets the ark with its poles etc down in verse 20 and all the congregation of the children of Israel departed the reason I'm skipping is because this is repeated material all that you read in chapter 25 231 this is saying they did that and this is them doing that so I'll refresh a little bit where it's pertinent but I'll skip over material that is repetitive verse 20 the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses and everyone came whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirit was willing and they brought the Lord's offering it was the Lord's offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting for all of its service and for the holy garments that's how the Lord wants I believe all of us to give not out of pressure but out of praise it's to be part of our worship we're to do it with a generous heart not with a guilty conscience 2nd Corinthians 9 says so let every man give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly nor of necessity for God loves a cheerful Giver he LaRon is the word cheerful hilarious Giver God loves him we go Lord you gave it to me to begin with I'm happy I'm happy hilariously joyful to see your work continue that's how the Lord wants us to give so rather than how much the Lord is interested in how one gives do you remember in mark chapter 12 it says the Jesus sat opposite the Treasury and watched listen to the wording watched how people put their money into the Treasury not what not how much not what the amount was how they did it did they do it simply did they do it ostentatiously did they do it to be recognized or to be seen by men and so I don't believe based upon biblical text that anybody should be pressured into giving or it should be done with great fanfare I don't have huge pledge drives or I don't resort to wait a minute I'm getting a word from the Lord there are 20 people that have $1,000 each hallelujah I believe that is patently wrong but as the Lord moves to the heart and as you decide in your heart so a person should give Jesus said when you give or do a charitable deed he shouldn't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing did you know that Mark Twain used to go to church he didn't speak too favorably of Church if you read his writings but he said he went to church and he had planned they put money in the offering but he heard the preacher go on and on and on begging and begging for money that not only did he not give what he was going to give but when the offering plate came around he actually took money out of it and put it in his pocket just got sick of hearing that stuff that's why we have a copy boxes so you can't do verse 22 just kidding they came both men and women as many as had a willing heart and brought earrings and nose rings yep they had those back then rings and necklaces all jewelry of gold that is every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord and every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet etc they gave they gave freely and that's how we ought to give it's true that no significant work of the Lord is ever done without the contribution or the volunteerism of God's people and we ought to see finances as well we're Stewart's of whatever the Lord has placed in our hands we're Stewart 7 we don't own it God owns it all of it is his he's just saying give 10% and then some as the Lord lays it on your heart but it's all his he lets you keep 90% be happy now back in the Old Testament it was a requirement for the tithe this is a freewill offering in the New Testament it's totally free well there is no mandatory amount there's no mandatory time it's as you purpose in your heart God loves a hilarious Giver look at it this way somebody said money is like manure stack it up and it'll stinks spread it around it makes things grow it's a good way to see it Lord I want to see things grow how can I invest in your work in your kingdom now Martin Luther said something interesting also he said there are three conversions that are required the conversion of the heart the conversion of the mind and the conversion of the pocketbook and he said I found by experience the third one is the most difficult to be converted I'll give you my heart my mind but not my pocketbook God in a recession don't you know you know that God promises to give and it will be given to you press down running over shaken together I've discovered you can never ever out give God try it in fact it's the only time in the Bible God says test me on this test me on this and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on you that you're unable to contain so verse 25 all the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands and brought what they had spun of the blue the purple the scarlet the fine linen and all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom it's spun yarn of goat's hair and then verse 27 the rulers so we have the men the women and the rulers I find it interesting that typically typically the word that has been reserved up to this point to refer only to the masculine gender males that has gifted artisans it's only been males up to this part is now tweaked it's a little bit different see this is up this is a call that goes out a talent call for anyone who's gifted in these areas men and women and I draw your attention to it because in God's work it's not just supposed to be men hierarchically doing everything and women are second-class citizens if you get that idea that that's a New Testament directive you would be wrong even in the Old Testament and into the New Testament we see great women Miriam a worship leader Deborah one of the judges of Israel who'll de one of the prophetess says of Israel not just prophets prophet tests deaconesses in the early church Philip had four virgin daughters who also prophesied and so in the Old Testament they contributed by their giftedness as did the men as did the rulers verse 29 the children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the Lord all the men all the women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the Lord by the hand of Moses had commanded to be done and Moses said to the children of Israel see the Lord is called by name Bezalel we read about him the son of Orie the son of her not him her sari of the tribe of Judah and he has filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom understanding and knowledge in all manner of workmanship to design artistic works to work in gold silver and bronze and cutting jewels for setting and carving wood to work on all manner of artistic workmanship and he has put in his heart the ability to teach in him and a holy Abbe the son of a hiss amah of the tribe of Dan he has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker in blue purple scarlet thread fine linen work of the weaver those who do every work and those who design artistic works so these guys are the design directors these two men are the design directors of the project that's going to take six months to build they're the guys in charge of it all they're collecting the materials they're the ones who have the gift not only an engraving but and in administration so the children of Israel are going to take this offering and they're gonna build God a tent in the wilderness do you know that in the New Testament we're called also utilize our gifts Ephesians chapter 2 verse 22 building for God it says a holy habitation they were building a tent for God to dwell in we're building up the body of Christ a holy habitation a holy dwelling place the church by the utilization of our gifts you were born with certain talents you were born again with spiritual gifts often those spiritual gifts dovetail with your natural talents but in employing the spiritual gifts and adding your natural talents you can reach a community you can build up the body of Christ you can do what others can't do some of you have the gift of administration some of you have the gift of teaching others of you have the gift of helps etc etc I was so proud of our men who went out on their turn at loose when the men went out and found people within the body of Christ who needed things one gal who just needed a light bulb changed in the vanity in the bathroom because she nor her husband could reach up any more to replace the light bulb so they couldn't go in that room to use it clean up in the yards a couple of guys replacing sprinkler systems using their gifts so that God and his kingdom could be glorified now that was men we've had turn it loose where there's men and women and there are certain things that God can call a woman to do that a man can't do and vice versa I heard a great story County Commissioner in Pittsburgh his name was Pete flattery clarity Pete Flaherty County Commissioner in Pittsburgh he was out on a job site one day where the city of Pittsburgh was building some community building it was one of the community projects and he was scoping it out making sure everything was a-ok and lined up like he wanted it and he was there with his wife Nancy so it was Pete the county commissioner and Nancy his wife and they're surveying the job one of the construction workers yells to Nansen say Nancy do you recognize me remember I'm so-and-so we used to date in high school SP - Nancy walked away Pete said Nancy aren't you glad you married me because if you'd have married him you'd have been the wife of just a city construction worker she smiled said no honey if I'd have married him he'd be the county commissioner good answer a lot of what a man is is because of what the woman in his life has done for him now in chapter 36 we're gonna breeze through the next two chapters because as I mentioned a lot of it is repetitive so we'll just take a couple of the highlights the construction actually begins in this chapter and as I said it takes six months so verse one bezalel and oholiab and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord had put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the manner of work for the service of the sanctuary to do according to all that the LORD commanded and Moses called Bezalel and a holy app and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom every one whose heart was stirred to come and do the work are you noticing a common thread in this chapter and in the previous chapter it's not only your heart needs to be stirred to give financially your heart must be stirred by God to serve practically and spiritually God wants your heart God wants you and I to have the right motive when we serve it's not all about you and your need to do a project because it's how you're built your just project driven I just want it's not about that God has stirred your heart and you're not doing this because of duty but because of desire you're not doing it because you have to know you want to that's the right attitude to have you're not keeping a clock or watching a clock or punching a clock it's what's five o'clock going to leave no I'm just I'm serving the Lord keep something in mind here's a little context they were slaves man they used to have to work but now to be able to work as you want to do it well I tell you what I see this all the I'm so honored with this fellowship because I see your attitude when it comes to serving you have jobs in the secular world many of you most of you and yet you will serve in this capacity or in that capacity in the church volunteering leading up a group being part of a group setting up or in the community and when you serve the Lord you do it with such joy and people notice that and I hear those reports so as they say in Australia good anja for that and they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought the work of service for the work of service of making the sanctuary so they continued bringing to him free will offerings every morning now watch what happens then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came eats from the work that he was doing and they spoke to Moses saying the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do so Moses gave a commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary and the people were restrained from bringing for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done indeed too much what a good problem to have I have never heard of this ever being repeated at any other time in history since where we have to stand up and go please stop giving your time and your money to the Lord's work it's too much never been a problem since but it was a problem then they were so grateful for the second chance they got as Moses came back off that mountain the second time and they're building God a sanctuary they have the right attitude now three workers in one city we're doing the same exact job a man approached all three workers and asked all three workers hey what are you doing the first worker said I'm breaking rocks he went up to the second guy hey what are you doing he said I'm earning a living he went up to the third one and said hey what are you doing he said I'm building a cathedral they were all doing exactly the same job but they had three different perspectives I'm breaking rocks I'm earning a living I'm building a cathedral we're building a tabernacle for God in the desert a jewel in the desert so they gave of substance and of service but it says it was indeed too much in verse seven out the next four chapters is the construction part it begins verse 8 through 19 we've already dealt with its the hangings the the hanging curtains and the coverings that are made beginning in verse 20 down to verse 34 the boards are constructed and the bars for holding the thing together in verse 35 down to verse 38 the veil is made and the screen is made and we've seen all of the stuff for it already we've read all these things now that just says they made them so we don't need to repeat them now chapter 37 see I told you we'd make it and we'd finish next week so we're gonna cover three chapters tonight we're in chapter 37 it'll go even faster verse 1 then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood two-and-a-half cubits was its length the cubit and a half was its width a cubit and a half its height and he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside and he made a molding of gold all around it chapter 37 we have the furniture the special furniture for inside the tabernacle structure I refresh your memory there are three compartments there were three compartments in the tabernacle you number one the outer court number two inside the little tent structure the holy place and number three the Holy of Holies those are the three spaces in the tabernacle three compartments the outer court the priest went in to sacrifice in to wash it measured seventy five feet wide by a hundred and fifty feet deep if you were able to go into the holy place that was 15 feet wide by 30 feet deep and it had three articles of furniture on the left-hand side as you in in was a lamp stand on the right hand side a table of showbread immediately in front of you before the veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies there was a little altar of incense on the other side of that veil in that secret spot where only the high priest went once a year that's where God hung out that was the special intersection where God would meet man when blood was applied to the mercy seat once a year so there were six special articles of furniture that were made for the inside parts of the tabernacle and they're outlined in this chapter I just read the first couple of verses that's the Ark of the Covenant to put it in our measurements it was 45 inches long by 27 inches wide by 27 inches tall had a lid on it solid gold angels covering it or cherubim covering it their wings touching looking down toward the mercy seat also of solid gold now inside that Ark or that chest just think of it as a chest as what it was a box there were three things that were kept a copy of the law that's the second copy the first was busted by Moe because he was really ticked off member he broke him so the second copy of the law Aaron's rod that budded and the third thing was anybody remember jar of man oh you said man a jar of manna those things were kept in there as reminders now law is the law they failed to keep it was God's covenant that was his standard that was God's standard they never really kept God's standard in fact they broke God's standard before Moses came down the mountain the first time so the copy of the law was always a reminder that they failed to keep God's perfect standard they broke the law but aren't you glad get the visual that when the angels look down representing heaven looking down where God would meet as they would look down they couldn't see the broken law they couldn't see the perfect standard of righteousness the man failed to keep instead what they could see that is that it was covered with gold and once-a-year covered in blood blood of an innocent victim would be sacrificed to Kafar to atone to cover the law that had been broken beautiful visual and we've given meaning to that before go over to verse 10 doing fine for time verse 10 through 16 that table of showbread if you if you walked into that holy place keep this in mind you walked in on your right hand side your right hand side would be this little table with 12 loaves of bread that table was 36 inches long it was 18 inches wide and it was about 24 inches tall had 12 loaves of bread which represented the 12 tribes of Israel so Israel gets represented three different ways number one the table of showbread number two the high priest has a couple stones on his shoulders six names of the tribes on one six on the other and then a breastplate that hung over the ephod that had 12 stones one representing each of the 12 tribes so the priest represents Israel before God and they're represented in three different ways to verse 10 he made a table of a Keysha wood about by the way remember acacia wood is like indestructible it's the hardest very common wood only found in the desert regions of the Middle East particularly it's found in a few other places but it was abundant down there and it's measurements are given that's the table of showbread verse 16 he made a pure gold utensils which were on the table of showbread it's dishes cups bowls pitchers for pouring something else just to remind you I think I mentioned this but it's easy to forget a lot of these facts the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed finally in what year 70 AD see a lot of people don't know that you this church you know that that's cool okay it was destroyed by a guy named anybody knows named Titus I heard that named Titus the son of this station the Roman emperor Titus came and destroyed the city of Jerusalem took some of the utensils back to Rome according to Josephus one of the implements he had was the golden altar was the table of showbread and when he was giving his victory march through the streets of Rome he took out the table of showbread to show the people and the crowds in Rome became almost violently excited at the victory of having gold plundered from the Jerusalem Temple if you go to Rome today and look at a particular arch in the forum of Rome still in place called the arch of Titus built for Titus after 70 AD still there today on the inside you'll see a relief carved out in stone and it shows the armies of Titus marching through Rome and what are the things they show them carrying is the table of showbread and the two silver trumpets that were also used by the priests it's in bold relief on the stone since 70 AD still there today another little footnote for you trivia verse 17 the golden lampstand the menorah that's what you'd see if you walked in it was on your left hand side in the holy place he also made a lamp stand of pure gold hammered work he made the lamp stand its shaft it's branches it's bold the ornamental knobs it's flowers were of the same piece so all the way down to verse 24 the lamps and is described why do they need a lamp in there because there was no natural light it's as simple as that and it was representative yes but the priest would be unable to do any of his duties at all unless there was some kind of light so twice a day morning and evening when the priest would go in to put incense on that golden altar before the veil he would trim the lamps put oil in the lamps make sure the was continually burning and by that he could see to do the rest of his duties now verse 25 look how fast we're going after the golden lampstand the altar of incense from 25 to 28 is given and he made an incense altar of acacia wood its length was a cubit that's 18 inches its width was a cubit that's I just said at 18 inches and it's and two cubits was its height so it's three and a half feet tall by 18 inches square has a nice little trim around and four little protrusions or horns he overlaid it with pure gold etc so twice a day morning and evening my day begins my day ends with the Lord I burned incense before him which represents the prayers of the nation of Israel the incense goes up if the idea metaphorically is God going the prayers are sweet to me this representation is sweet to me but the fire for the altar of incense where did that fire originated where did that come from it came from a coal from the altar in the outer courtyard the bronze altar where sacrifices were made so a coal was taken from the sacrificial altar brought into the prayer or incense altar which tells the story there can be no approach without sacrifice you can't hang out with God just because I want to hang out with God you have to come the way of sacrifice there can be no worship no prayer without sacrifice and for us the fulfillment is there can be no relationship with God except for the cross of Christ the only way to approach and have fellowship with God is through the blood of Jesus that has been shed for us that's by the way that's why when we pray it's one of the reasons we always end our prayers not by saying in the name of Yahweh or in your name but we say in Jesus name my approach is utilizing the name of the Son of God as I approach God the Father that's how Jesus taught us to pray in the name of His Son Jesus who would be the mediator of the New Covenant and the go-between than the New Covenant verse 29 which is the last verse of chapter 37 and our ending verse tonight speaks about the anointing oil and the incense that they were to make the recipe has already been given verse 29 he also made the holy anointing oil in the pure incense of sweet spices according to the work of the perfumer so Moses or let's put it this way mo who has the glow is overseeing the building of the tabernacle his glow is fading because the very Covenant that he is the mediator of is also fading now we began by looking at a verse of scripture in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 I want you to close there with me go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 and we'll close and we'll pray but I wanted to read a little more than just that one verse beginning in verse 7 you there second Corinthians third chapter verse seven but if the Ministry of death he's speaking now of the law the law is the Ministry of death he calls it the Jewish Old Testament law is the Ministry of death if the Ministry of death written and engraved on stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not steadily look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance which glory was passing away how will the Ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious for if the Ministry of condemnation had glory the Ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory for even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect because of the glory that excels for what for if what is passing away was glorious what remains is much more glorious therefore since we have such hope we use great boldness of speech unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away but their minds were blinded for until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ but even to this day when Moses is read the veil lies on their heart nevertheless when one turns to the the veil is taken away now the Lord is the spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed notice that word into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord we're living in the New Covenant the veil that was on our hearts that kept us from being able to see clearly the truth has been taken away in Christ but there's more please don't stop with I can see I know the truth I'm a New Testament believer notice once more and we close verse 18 we with unveiled face beholding a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed the word transformed is the word meta Morpho that's the lexical form Metamorpho we get the term metamorphosis means a total and complete change it's a word that is used to describe the larva that turns into the pupa that turns into the mature insect or a caterpillar turning into a butterfly goes through a metamorphosis a complete and total inward and thus an outward change you've come to Christ great but sanctification growing in the Lord becoming holier stronger more godly is the process God is committed to and will be committed to until we die and go to heaven or the Lord comes to the rapture he's committed to that total change please therefore though legalism has its lure and a lot of people are lured by legalism they love the boundaries and the parameters and the condemnation you think who would love that but there's a lot of people who love legalism why would you ever want to go back and settle for something that Paul says has faded away and was temporary well what is permanent is a liberty and an ongoing metamorphosis change I love that it shows me that the Christian life isn't just about hearing music and singing to it and then listening to a speech once a week there's got to be more to it than that there is it's a dynamic walk where we're changed from glory to glory to glory so don't settle for the old legalism be transformed into the life that is Christ Heavenly Father we thank you for the time we have spent in these three chapters and the time we spent in the book of Exodus and we're looking forward to finishing off these truths next week thank you Lord for your commitment to our metamorphosis to our sanctification as well as our salvation that the veil has been removed but our hearts are still being transformed thank you lord in jesus name amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 5,031

Rating: 4.7530866 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Exodus, Sermon

Id: c7QHxvW47-I

Length: 62min 13sec (3733 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018