Exodus Chapter 40

[Music] shalom and welcome to via after israel a hebrew phrase which means you shall love israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr baruch shares his expository teaching from the bible dr baruch is the senior lecturer at the zehra avraham institute based in israel although all courses are taught in hebrew at the institute dr baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in english to find out more about our work in israel please visit us on the web at loveisreal.org that's one word loveisreal.org now here's baruch with today's lesson we are coming to the final chapter of the book of exodus tonight chapter 40 and is my hope that we will complete this chapter and the entire book of exodus we have been in it for nearly a year and a half and we have seen over and over the emphasis of this book on two things redemption leading up to passover and then after passover the proper way to serve god and understand there is that inherent relationship between serving god and worshiping god what we learn by that term of serving god is that it's his objectives that we are interested in he sets the course of our life what we should do and what we should not do it is all about worship is all about us recognizing publicly the authority of god in our life and it's only when we do that will god respond and he will give us a heavenly joy a gladness that directly emits from him into us and that is what we should be seeking so let's begin tonight exodus chapter 40 the final chapter and notice what we learned here and there's so many interesting things about when this is happening what month and why that month for example exodus 40 verse 1 and the lord spoke to moses saying on the first of the months so the first month and on the first day of the month now we know that there's been no changes in the biblical calendar and no changes in the rabbinical calendar so many times people ask and say when was the calendar change from the bible to what judaism follows today it's never been changed the first month is always the first month and the seventh month even though what the rabbis called rosh hashanah the beginning of the year is in the seventh month did you hear that it's in the seventh month the biblical seventh month and we can just think of this in the same way that we have a new school year doesn't begin in january in most places that new school year begins in the fall and companies will have fiscal years doesn't always begin in january can begin at any time so when we speak about a new year it can be at different times that that new year is rendered but the months the biblical months never change so we read in this first verse that god continues to give revelation to moses and then in verse two on the first month and the first day of the month moses did something god's commanding and it says you shall raise up you shall erect the tabernacle the tent of meeting now we see how everything in the previous chapter we see that things were brought to moses and moses inspected the work and he blessed the people and now we're seeing the erection of the tabernacle before the children of israel it's setting up for a new worship something that they had not experienced before not the patriarchs not those that were in bondage in egypt of the children of israel this is a new experience and it's done on the first day this is rosh the new moon and there is a unique relationship between the moon and israel see many other religions they emphasize the sun but in judaism although the calendar is both solar and lunar there's an emphasis a preference on the moon why is that because we are called to reflect the glory of god just like the moon reflects the light of the sun the moon emits no light of its own we don't have any glory to to show forth all of that is a false pride that is based in the sea if we think we have any self-glory we do not it is only when we submit to the truth of god then and only then can we become an instrument that reflects the glory of god that he has placed upon us and that's why each month in the cycle that lunar cycle when it begins anew there's a new month and it's on this first month on the first day of the month that moses is commanded god says that you shall raise up set up the tabernacle the tent of meeting and again i've said it a few times but i want to say it one more time as though we are coming to the end of exodus therefore we may not hear it again for a while and that is that word for meeting moed the tent of meeting oh hell moed within that is a word for a destination a point of arrival the goal the purpose and we see here that it's through worship that god brings revelation and his provision so that we can accomplish what he desires his goal his purposes that he can take us to the destinations that he wants us to be in and this is going to be underscored this moving this traveling with god towards the end of our study tonight look now to to verse 3 and you shall set there that is in the tent of the meeting in the tabernacle you shall set there the ark of testimony now we've come across the ark many times but but infrequently we have that term ark of the testimony and the testimony has to do with those tablets that reflect and relate to the commandments of god and it's interesting the first thing that's mentioned is the ark and there's two things that we glean from the ark first the ark represents the presence of god why because and we've talked about that when we studied numbers chapter 7 and verse 89. that the present hashem the presence of god the glorious presence of god dwelt upon the ark of the covenant between the two kruvim the two cherubim on the caport the mercy seat the covering of that ark and in the midst of that were this testimony these tablets of testimony that reflect the commandments of god so you shall set there the ark of the testimony and you shall cover put the cover upon the ark now it's not and i really didn't translate this well it's not putting the covering on the ark but making a covering and this is a concealing of the ark and what he's going to be speaking about is not the capport the mercy seat that's on the ark but rather the parochiat this is what hides conceals the ark and makes a separation between the holy of holies in the holy place at times the priests and i want to say that correctly priests in the plural could go in to the holy place but they could not the priests could never enter into the holy of holies with one deception and that is the high priests so priests the normal priests the sons of aaron they couldn't go into the holy of holies only aaron the high priest and therefore there was this separation and this is what he's speaking of here when he writes about that you shall we might say partition make a separation concerning the ark with the veil the parochite verse 4 and you shall bring the table this is the table of showbread and you shall arrange its arrangement and bring thee the menorah that's golden lampstand and you shall light the lights so here we have moses putting everything in order it begins with the ark and then he makes that separation that partitioning of the holy of holies from the holy place and then he begins to move and set up according to its proper arrangement the the table of showbread and also in that same place that holy place he speaks about the manure which you shall kindle its lights verse 5 and you shall set the altar the golden altar of incense before the the ark of testimony now we can enter into a debate we talked about this earlier several months ago about how there is the normal altar of incense but there may well be also an additional altar of incense specifically for yom kippur and what's interesting here is it's not specific on what he's speaking about you shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony and you shall set the screen now my impression because we've already spoken about the menorah and the table this was in the holy place so obviously this this golden altar is not the one perhaps for yom kippur but the daily one that the priests by rotation would get the privilege of going in and offering up this incense which relates to which pictures the the prayers of the saints going up to god verse 5 once more the second half he says and you shall set the screen which is the the entrance of the tabernacle verse 6. now that screen is on the end of the holy place so you would go through that screen that patak that opening that has the screen into the holy place and then you would come to the end of the holy place with the parochiat and on the other side of that parochial would be the the ark of the covenant the ark of the testimony verse verse six outside the tabernacle in the courtyard and that's what we're speaking about now you shall set the altar of burnt offerings before the entrance of the tabernacle the tent of meaning so it's outside that tabernacle that that place that consisted of the holy place and the holy of holies it's outside of that verse 7. and you shall set the the basin between the tent of meeting and between that altar this would be the the bert offering altar and you shall set their water obviously the kior this basin is for washing for the priests the levites to wash themselves their hands and their feet in a way of dedicating commissioning themselves consecrating himself for service to god verse 8 and you shall set the courtyard round about so the courtyard goes around the the altar of bert offerings and the basin some called the laver all of this is in the midst of the courtyard but there is a border and we've spoken of this several times a border for the entire tabernacle structure and that's what he's talking about here and you shall set the screen and this is a different screen not for the tabernacle that structure that consisted of the holy place in the most holy place but we're talking about the end of this courtyard where one would enter into the courtyard on the way to that holy place there would be a screen there and this would be which is the gate of the courtyard verse 9. and you shall take anointing oil and you shall anoint the tabernacle and all which is in it you shall anoint it and all of its vessels and it shall be kadosh it shall be holy now remember holy is related to and i hope you all know the word that i'm going to speak next it's the word purpose only when things are set up properly done correctly and anointed with oil this oil represents a transition from that which is common to that which is set apart for a purpose and this being set apart for a purpose is what holiness is about so what moses is doing now is commissioning the tabernacle for service for the purpose of god by anointing it verse 10. and you shall anoint the altar of the burnt offerings and all of its vessels and you shall sanctify the altar and it shall be that the altar should be interesting expression kodesh koreshim the holy of holies now why is that there because the altar it's not the holy of holies the holy of holies is in that interplace of the tabernacle not where this alter the burnt offerings is but here's the message it was upon that brazen altar the burnt offering altar that the most important sacrifices were made those for example for passover for shavuot for sukkot and therefore even though the people never made it into the holy of holies only the high priest once a year if one would offer up the offerings that were required upon that burnt offering altar and again the people didn't do that they gave them to the levites and the priests that served in their behalf but there was a connection what he was saying is that these sacrifices would bring one into the presence of god not physically but symbolically or spiritually that they would draw near and experience the presence of god that's why the end of verse 10 ends in that way verse 11 and you shall anoint the the basin and its base you shall sanctify it and you shall draw near that is to make to come near aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of the meeting and you shall wash them with water and this would be this ceremonial washing verse 13 after the washing you shall dress aaron with the holy garments you shall anoint him this would be with the anointing oil you shall anoint him and you shall sanctify him and notice this this sanctification simply the word to make one holy is in order for him to serve me so once more we see the word for serving doing that which god commands and this concept of holiness holiness is not a state of being when you do nothing holiness is a state that one becomes in the midst of serving god fulfilling being committed to his purposes this is what we see and this is foundational for being in a position where one can worship god experience god and be an instrument that manifests the glory of god verse 14 in the same way that that aaron was set apart anointed so that he might serve and manifest the holiness of god look at verse 14. and his sons mate to come near meaning the same thing and dress them in what the tunics verse 15 and you shall anoint them just as you anointed their father and they shall serve me same word it's the word that we get the word in hebrew cohen from cohen is just the hebrew word for priests so they will serve me they will function as priests in other words they will serve me and it shall be to them their anointing and their priesthood shall be eternal throughout their generations now when i use the word eternal we have to understand this properly because we know something there is not going to be the typical levitical priesthood from aaron in the new jerusalem there will be in the millennial kingdom there's some unique aspects of that but not in the new jerusalem we all are going to be a kingdom of priests now what he's saying here is this this word that i translated and i did so because almost every bible does an eternal priesthood but what it speaks of is a priesthood that relates to this word olam eternal can also be and i say this frequently is a word an adjective that relates to the kingdom so their ministry teaches us in parts to us a kingdom reality a kingdom foretastes a kingdom experience that's what it's supposed to teach us and this is throughout their generations as long as this world endures this is what he's saying verse 16 and moses did according to all which the lord commanded him thus he did now we're going to see just like as we did in chapter 39 this expression moses did according to all which the lord had commanded him i hope you remember in chapter 39 that expression appeared 10 times but in chapter 40 it's going to appear repeatedly but eight times altogether 18 and according to jewish tradition and there's some evidence of this biblically but the number 18 relates to life so here we see the number eight in regard to thus moses did according to all and i want to emphasize that all which the lord commanded him and the number eight relates to kingdom it relates to newness it relates to a transformation and that's what this worship was supposed to bring about among the children of israel so once again look at verse 16 and moses did according to all which the lord commanded him thus he did verse 17. and it came about in the first month so the month of nisan or as a torah calls it the month of aviv this is in the springtime and it came about in the first month on the second year on the first day of the month so again we're learning that this event of of setting up causing to raise up the tabernacle it took place on the second year from coming out of egypt in the first month on rosh chodesh on the new moon on the first day of the month the new moon is always the first day of the month look again we see here verse 17. it came about on the first month in the second year on the first day of this month that he this is moses that the tabernacle and it literally says who come hamishkan which literally means the tabernacle was raised up it was established it was erected before the people verse 18. and moses he raised up the tabernacle and he set its its sockets and he placed the planks and he put the bars these are these locks that that gave stability and security to the tabernacle and he raised up its pillars verse 19. if rosh this is vegetaros i want to say this right valifrost this is a word to spread out and what he did was he spray he spread out those hangings those curtains that would go upon the tabernacle that forms its walls this is what it's talking about here in our our texts we read once more and he raised up its pillars in the verse 18 now verse 19 and he spread the the tent over the tabernacle this would be the coverings of these skins ram skins and this other animal that we don't know how to translate and he set the covering these are the skins of the tent upon it from above just as the lord commanded moses this is the second time we see that expression verse verse 20. and he took and he set the testimony to the ark meaning this now he took those the the the tablets of the covenant and he placed them within the ark of the covenant and that's why it's called the ark of the testimony again verse 20 and he took and he placed the testimony to the ark and he set the pulse concerning the ark and he set the capport this is that mercy seat the covering upon the ark up above meaning upon it verse 21 and he brought the ark to the tabernacle and he set it and that is the the veil of separation the parochite he set it as a screen and he partitioned the ark of the testimony meaning it's separated it was distinct it was separated he partitioned it off look at the end of verse 21 just as the lord commanded moses the third time this expression is said verse 22. and he placed the tabernacle and the tent of meeting on the side the north side of the tabernacle outside meaning on the other side of the veil the parochiat and he arranged it and its order of the bread before the lord here's the fourth time just as the lord commanded moses so in these last two chapters over and over a total of 18 times everything and i want to emphasize that everything that moses did he did exactly just as the way that the lord commanded him and this is to teach us that the tabernacle was was set up it was arranged all of its vessels every part of it just as god instructed god commanded and that's why we should learn if nothing else from this study we should learn that worship is not about us expressing our liberty and our freedom to worship god as as we like that is idolatrous worship is us submitting to the instructions the biblical instructions that we find elsewhere in the scripture principles here but very clear instructions later on as well in the new covenant for how one should worship god verse 24 and he set the menorah in the tent of meeting before the the table upon the southern side of the tabernacle and he caused to to kindle he kindled the lights before the lord here's the fifth time just as the lord commanded moses so every re-instruction god tells him and moses puts it into practice he makes it a reality and it's this submissiveness which lays the foundation for worship and hear this carefully worship being a possibility verse 26 and he set the golden altar in the tent of the meeting before the veil now this is clear it's before the veil which means that it must be must be in the holy place and not in the holy of holies so we're not speaking about perhaps the the altar of incense for yom kippur but the daily verse 27 and he offered incense upon it the incense of spices just as the lord commanded moses the sixth time and this is important because we remember the sons of aaron nadav and abihu in the next book sephiroth the book of leviticus that even though they were told you cannot just offer up to god what you want they offered up in defiance of that where they wanted when they wanted how they wanted they attempted to worship god and it brought about death now i want to underscore these two different approaches one who says i'm going to worship god but i'll do it where i want how i want and with what i want to offer him such a mindset brings about death and the sons of aaron and think about this the very sons of air nadav and abihu they were slain because of that that is a strong admonition for us verse 28. and he set the screen of the entrance to the tabernacle and the altar for the bird offerings he placed at the entrance of the tabernacle the tent of meeting so all it means is it's outside of that tabernacle structure in the courtyard before the entrance into the tabernacle verse 29 and the altar of burnt offerings he placed at the entrance of the tabernacle at the tent of the meeting and he offered upon it the bert offerings and the grain offerings just as here's the seventh time just as the lord commanded moses and he placed the key or the basin the laver between the tent of meeting and between the altar this would be the birth offering altar and he set their water for washing verse 31 and they washed from it moses and aaron and his sons their hands and their feet now notice that moses in order to do the work eventually moses as well it reached a stage in this this setting up of the tabernacle it reached the time where moses himself because he was a levite he also washed in order that he could serve and do these final things verse 30 and he put the basin in that place where he watched from it moses aaron and the sons they washed their hands and their feet verse 32 when they came to the tent of the meeting when they draw near to the altar they washed just as and notice it's a change they wash just as the lord commanded moses and what's important about this is that they heard and saw what moses did and they responded to the instructions that moses gave them and they did so in obedience obedience is foundational in worship verse 33 and he raised the courtyard around about the tabernacle meaning he erected that tabernacle structure with the the fencing those pillars that had those sockets those bands that placed upon them those hangings those curtains with the cords and the pegs that's what we're talking about now that form the border for the entire tabernacle area and he did this with these cords all of this look again at verse 33 he raised up the courtyard round about the tabernacle and about the altar and he sat there the screen that was the gate of the courtyard meaning that screen there was two one to get into that holy place and then for the high priest to continue all the way into the most holy place there was a screen entrance but also to get into the courtyard here we also learned that they had that scream that served at the gate of the courtyard and moses completed the work now make a distinction here between the word avodah we talked about this last week for work but this is service and it can relate to worship and the word melecha which always is forbidden on shabbat this is what they did this labor to prepare for worship but it was not part of worship now we're ready for verse 34 as we begin to wrap up this final sex session and section within the book of exodus this last chapter chapter 40. and it's interesting and you have to ask yourself why does god speak about the journeys of the children of israel their journeys from horosinai the mountain of sinai into the promised land why does he speak of these journeys in light of the tabernacle because it's only when we worship will we be led to go from one location to another and both of those locations and all those locations that we should be relate to the purposes of god and it's through worship that we have revealed to us when to travel how to travel and to where to travel so look at verse 34 and the cloud covered now this cloud as we're going to see relates to the glory of god it'll say it specifically verse 34 and the cloud covered the tent of the meeting and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle and moses was not able to come to the tent of the meeting because the cloud dwelt upon it and the glory of the lord filled this tabernacle so we see that the cloud was there and the glory of god filled the tabernacle verse 36. and when the cloud would go up from the tabernacle the children of israel will travel and all their travelings and if this could be but if the cloud did not go up then the children of israel that's the implication they did not travel until the day that it did go up so it wasn't it depended upon their desire they didn't have that liberty to say let's go today today would be a great day to travel no they followed the lord they did so under his leadership solely they did not make such decisions now look at verse 38 the last verse for the cloud of the lord upon the tabernacle was a day and fire it was at night before the eyes of and notice the change we normally see the children of israel bane israel the sons of israel but there's a change here it changes from bane israel to beth israel the house of israel and house according to the sages of old this word house and this this youth speaks of family see worship when we do so although we're god's servants but when we worship we have a family experience with god we are brought into intimacy this is what worship is being taught as a a motivation for that we want to be experiencing the family blessings of god once more for the cloud of the lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire it was by night in it before the eyes of all the house of israel in their dwellings or in their journeys i want to say that right in their journeys so we see something see you may be very frustrated with your life your life may be spiritually stagnant for most believers that is a common experience and the reason for that the reason why they do not feel direction the lord's leadership in their life that they're confused they are in spiritual darkness they're not experiencing god's uh direction is because they're not worshiping god when we do worship god according to his instructions his glory is going to be manifested he is going to feel there will not be a vacuum of absence from god's presence his provision his anointing but god will be there he will fill that house he will fill our bodies our souls we will truly become that tabernacle for the holy spirit and the outcome of that is that god will direct us move us reposition us where we're supposed to be so that we can and here's the key accomplish the purposes of god well the book of exodus what an outstanding book one that we should read and re-read and as you read it ask yourself questions write these down and not send them to me but pray over them ask the holy spirit to lead you into a scriptural response to that question god he wants to be your teacher and when god's not teaching you revealing to you things you're not going to have that that dynamic spiritual anointing you're not going to know that joy of the lord that gladness that paul speaks of it is going to be absence and that absence of that joy is a reminder it's a call that we need to affirm a biblical base worship we'll stop with that until next week and we begin a new book of study shalom from israel well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love israel.org again to find out more about us please visit our website love israel.org there you will find articles and numerous other lectures by baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the lord bless you in our messiah yeshua that is jesus as you walk with him shalom from israel

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Length: 43min 44sec (2624 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020