All right, you can turn with me and your Bibles to the Book of Exodus, Chapter 25. That's the Book of Exodus, Chapter 25. I know last time I was getting my chapters and verses mixed up quite often, so forgive me for that. If I do that again, say three times, please someone just wave their hand in the air so that I don't confuse anyone anymore.

Anyway, the book of Exodus chapter 25, we're just going to read verses 1 to 9. The thesis of the section or the main point is found in verse 8 and 9 of chapter 25. So let us read together. uh... chapter twenty five verse one then the lord spoke to moses saying speak to the children of israel that they bring me an offering from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take my offering and this is the offering which you shall take from them gold silver and bronze blue purple and scarlet thread fine linen and goats hair ram skins dyed red badger skins and acacia wood oil for the light and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate and let them make me a sanctuary that i may dwell among them according to all that i show you that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnish furnishings just so you shall make it amen well let us pray Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We thank you for your grace and goodness.

Father God, help us to understand that you are a true and holy God. Help us to prepare our hearts for you, to prepare our hearts when we enter your house. Help us to appreciate the requirements that it takes to build your house, Lord God. You are the true and the living God.

You are the being of all beings, Lord God, and you certainly deserve the best of us, and even the best of the adornments that the Israelites had. And Father God, we pray that you'd forgive us of our sins, how quick we are to sin against you and forsake you, even on our wedding night. Father God, we thank you for the work of Christ, who is the mediator of a better covenant. We thank you, Lord, that he died as that perfect sacrifice.

He did what the Israelites could not do, and he did what we could not do. Father God, we pray that we would have encouragement and refreshment concerning the right worship of you, but also help us to remember that you dwell with us, Lord God. We thank you that Christ tabernacled with us. We thank you that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us as temples.

Father God, help us to take these things to heart and remember these things. And help me as the one who's teaching these truths. Help me to teach the truth accurately and rightly. Help me to be precise, Lord God.

Help me to be clear. And Father God, may ultimately, may your Spirit be here and may your Spirit speak through me, Lord God. Help me to remember that I am a no-name, Father God. I am just simply a herald of your truth.

Father God, may you be glorified in all things. And in the name of Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Well,

Introduction

we come to the last section of the book of Exodus. That's chapters 25 through 40. I want to highlight a few things about the Book of Exodus before we begin. First of all, we need to remember that I take the author of the Book of Exodus to be Moses and the audience of the Book of Exodus to be the people of Israel before they entered into the Promised Land.

And the primary or overarching theme of the Book of Exodus is namely that God is present with his people, specifically as their Israel's king and their savior as well. And as we'll see tonight, the climax or the main point of the Book of Exodus is namely that God dwells with his people. And so the overall structure of the Book of Exodus can be divided this way. We saw, first of all, the deliverance from the tyranny of Pharaoh in chapters 1 through 18.

Then we saw the divine demand of God Most High in chapters 19 through 24. And tonight we are going to look at the dwelling of the Lord God with his people, chapters 25 through 40. So remember the first time we got together with Exodus, we looked at how God in his goodness and kindness remembered his covenant with Abraham. And we saw that right off the bat in chapter 1.

We saw the increase of the people that was promised to Abraham. This was a nation that had increased. We haven't seen the place yet, but we've seen the people. And remember, the people of Israel groaned unto Yahweh, asking Him for relief from the tyranny, from the slavery that they were under.

And then God, in His goodness and kindness, brought forth Moses, his mediator, and brought them up out of the land of Egypt. And then we saw in chapters 19 through 24 the divine demand of the Lord God Most High. We saw in chapter 19 how Yahweh wastes a whole chapter preparing the people of Israel to receive the law of the Lord. Remember, Davis said that in order to prepare the people to receive the law of the Lord, they must have a reverence and an awe and a fear of the Lord God Most High before they actually receive the law from the Lord.

And then here in chapters 25 through 40, we see this holy God. We get to see how he dwells with his people. Now, I know chapters 25 through 40 aren't always the most fun to read in the Old Testament. There's a lot of numbers, a lot of measurements, a lot of building going on, but we have to appreciate what's actually happening here.

This is really about the worship of the Lord God Most High as He dwells with His people. We get to see the building of the house of the Lord. Now, I'm sure most of us are very keen to be involved in the building of our own house. Now, how much more must we be aware of the house of the Lord and the accouterments that He has as well?

So in Exodus 25 through 40, Yahweh charges Moses to build the tabernacle where Yahweh would dwell in the midst of his people. So we see Yahweh giving this command to Moses with specifics, since it's Yahweh's house Moses received these specifics on how he was supposed to build the house of the Lord. And by when he built the house of the Lord, then Yahweh would dwell with his people. We will look at this dwelling of the Lord God Most High under three main headings.

We will look at the command for the tabernacle, Exodus 25 through 31. We will look at the challenge to the tabernacle, Exodus chapter 32 through 34. And then finally, we will finish with the construction of the temple, chapters 35 through 40.

Command for the Tabernacle

So let us first look now at the command for the tabernacle, Exodus 25 through 31. And we'll look at two main points under the command for the tabernacle. We're first of all going to look at the material for it, and then we're going to look at the plan for it. So notice with me in chapter 25, verses 1 to 9, which is what we just read.

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, and scarlet yarns, and fine twine linen, goat's hair, tans, ramskins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamp, spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod, and for the breast piece." So what we see here is this contribution that Yahweh is calling for where the people, notice it says, It says to them that this contribution you shall receive from them, but from every man whose heart moves him, you shall receive this contribution.

It's a free will offering by which all these different types of material would be given to Moses for the furnishing and the building of the tabernacle. And it's kind of like before you build a house, you need lumber, you need Electrical wire. You need the various things in order to make a house properly. And so even before we get into the building of the house, the blueprints, we know first of all what Yahweh requires or the adornments that Yahweh wants in his house.

But then notice specifically in chapter 25 verses 8 and 9. This is the primary task. 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 all its furnishings." This sanctuary idea carries the idea of something that's a sacred place. In fact, the word in Hebrew for sanctuary is very much a derivative of the word that's holy. It's a holy place.

Gil says, And there Yahweh dwelt as their king and their God, to whom they might have recourse on all occasions, and on whom they should serve and worship. Remember, God appeared to them in his holiness, in his presence in chapter 19. And remember that they said to Moses, Moses, no, you mediate for us. So what happens here is we have the building up of the sanctuary where which Yahweh would dwell and where his people could approach him in an appropriate and proper way.

Thankfully, now we have the Lord Christ by which we can approach the throne of grace. The idea here is that Yahweh is a holy God and he needs to be approached in the way that he specifies, even in the building of his house. And I think the illustration that I think can resonate in our minds is the idea, especially in this summary section of the command of the tabernacle, is the idea of a blueprint, the blueprint for a house, the draft for a certain house that we are going to build. Before you go to the site or the lot which you might build your house, you have to understand how the lot's set up, how it's supposed to be dealt with.

You gotta go to the city, get the right permits, and you have to have the right structure or plan in place in order for things to go smoothly. How much more for the house of the Lord? How much more for the preparation for God to dwell with his people? And so this is what we see in chapter 25, 10. to chapter 31 verse 18.

We see the blueprint for the tabernacle. We see how Yahweh wants his house to be set up. And he's serious when he says in chapter 25 verse 9, exactly as I show you, exactly as I show you concerning this pattern and even its furniture as well. Yahweh Most High has a specific design, not only for the preparation for people, but even once you dwell in his house, for the appropriate worship of him as well.

So

Blueprint and Furnishings

I'm just going to summarize this blueprint. I'm just going to summarize the various furnishings and the way the tabernacle was made. So I'm not going to go into detail here, but I'm just going to summarize it. So under the blueprint section, we're under the command, we're under the blueprint, now we're looking at the tabernacle and its furnishings, chapter 25, verse 10 to 27, verse 21.

We see the making of the Ark of the Covenant, chapter 25, verses 10 through 22. The Ark of the Covenant, it was a chest, right? It housed the tablets of the testimony. It also served as the mercy seat that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant which also kind of was set up kind of like a throne where Yahweh would sit.

Probably more accurately, one commentator highlights, it was more Yahweh would stand on that, would stand on the top of the mercy seat as well as he dwelt with his people. And remember when the temple would be built in the time of Solomon, you had the cherubim that set up. It looked like a throne where Yahweh would sit and where people would come and meet with him. So we see the Ark of the Covenant, which is one of the primary symbols of God's presence.

Remember the Israelites, when they went to war with the Philistines, they thought just because they had the Ark of the Covenant that they would win. Of course, we all know what happened. That wasn't the case because it wasn't, it's not just for that reason. It's because Yahweh dwelt with his people, not the sign of Yahweh dwelling with his people.

Nonetheless, it did serve as that primary symbol of God's dwelling with his people. In chapter 25, verses 23 to 30, we see the table for the bread. This probably highlighted Yahweh's protection and provision as well. We see the golden lamp stands in Exodus 25 verses 31 through 40.

That was to give light in the tabernacle. And then we actually see the blueprint for the tabernacle itself in Exodus 26, 6 verses 1 to 37. We see the tabernacle. We see the tent that's supposed to go over the tabernacle.

We see the various clasps that hold the various materials together. We see the upright frames that would hold it in. We see bars, we see veils, and we see the screen as well, specifically for this tabernacle where Yahweh would dwell. In chapter 27, verses 1 through 8, we see the bronze altar.

Stuart says that this was the primary place where atonement, or substitute for sin, would occur. And that was right when he walked in to the tent of meeting, specifically. He walked in and there was the altar by which the sacrifices were offered up unto the Lord. which probably teaches us what? That we need to have atonement of sin before we actually enter in and meet with this holy God.

We see the court of the tabernacle in Exodus 27 verses 9 through 19. This is the area of worship for the people other than the priests during worship, even including the sacrifice. Remember, the people weren't allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies. The priests were the primary ministers, where there is this courtyard where which the people would come and worship the Lord God.

We see the oil for the lamp in Exodus 27 verses 20 and 21. So that's the tabernacle itself and the furniture that's in there. Then we see the ministers of the tabernacle in Exodus 28 verse 1 to chapter 30 verse 38. We see the priest's garments in Exodus 28 verses 1 through 40.

And then we see the process by which these priests would be consecrated in Exodus chapter 29 verses 1 through 46. Then we see this altar of incense in Exodus chapter 30 verses 1 through 10. And this was probably a portrayal of either the prayers of the people up to Yahweh, a constant perpetual prayer, or it carried the idea that when the incense was offered, it was offered either in the morning or in the evening, typically when the sacrifices would be offered up. So kind of like how the offerings to the Lord would be an aroma that's pleasing unto Him.

So it's kind of two different options or ideas probably going on here that the different commentators had. Then we see this census tax in Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 through 16. Probably it was done to get money for the service and maintenance of the tabernacle. Then we see this bronze basin in Exodus chapter 30 verses 17 through 21, highlighting the cleanliness needed in holy matters.

Then we see this anointing oil and incense in Exodus chapter 30 verses 22 through 38. So we've seen the tabernacle and its furnishings under the blueprint. We've seen how the ministers are supposed to function. But notice in chapter 31, verses 1 through 11, we need men to build it.

We need master craftsmen. We need the foremen, if you will, to come and build this house right. And God says in chapter 31 verses 1 through 5, 1 through 6, sorry. The Lord said to Moses, see, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah.

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him, O Holiab, the son of Hissamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability that they make all that I have commanded you. Verse 7 as well.

The tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments of Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you, you shall do." So we see the need of these men to come and build the house of the Lord. And thankfully the Lord set apart men who were skilled and intelligent to make sure that the house was built properly. How many of us want a hack who can't build a house?

Not usually. Usually we want someone who's skilled, who's crafty at their trade, can do it well and do it right to make sure there are no issues with the house. Now, this seems kind of tedious, doesn't it? There's a lot of specific furniture.

There's a lot of specifics going into each piece of furniture. But nonetheless, we have to appreciate that this is the Lord's house. And everything that gets built must be built in a certain and proper, specific way. I remember when I was working in construction, I was able to work with a guy who knew how to kind of do everything.

And he let me do some plumbing. And so I did some plumbing and then we put the drywall up and then we forgot, we realized we forgot to test the water to make sure it all ran okay. And sure enough, we tested it and there was one piece, little piece I forgot to crimp. And so there was water spraying everywhere.

So it's important that as we build a house, that we have the specifics in place and even more so for the house of the Lord God most high. Then in chapter 31, verses 12 through 18, This section closes with this idea of the Sabbath, this importance of worship. And then we have a summary statement in chapter 31, verse 18. And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

So we see the summary statement here that leads us into the next section. But Kaiser says, concerning the section of the Sabbath, he says, even though the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings was a sacred work, the workmen were not to overlook the sacred institution of the Sabbath. That's a day that's set apart for the Lord God Most High. We do not do what we did the other six days on that day.

We come and worship the Lord God. It's even hard for seminary students not to do homework on Sundays. And that's something that we need to take into consideration because it is something that we do the rest of the six days. But nonetheless, this Sabbath idea is extremely important and a regulator for the people of Israel, even for the men who are supposed to build the tabernacle or the dwelling place of the Lord.

So I think

Application: Preparing for Worship

one important application we can take away from all this preparation is this. We need to sometimes properly, no, not sometimes, all the time, properly prepare ourselves when we come to dwell with the Lord God Most High. Now, I don't want to be legalistic here with what I'm about to say, but nonetheless, I think the principle still applies. How do we prepare ourselves before Sunday morning?

What does our time frame look like on Sunday night? Are we staying up late? Are we exhausted the next day so we're falling asleep in the heat? Or are we actually going to bed in a good time?

Are we arriving in good time? Are we making our hearts prepped? and ready for actually meeting this thrice holy God. If you're five minutes late, can you get up just five minutes earlier? Like, it's not hard.

Five minutes isn't a big deal, right? This is the house of the Lord we're preparing ourselves for. We would certainly prepare ourselves to go to a wedding or to go to someone else's house, but how much more do we need to prepare ourselves for the house of the Lord? Again, I'm not trying to be legalistic, But the point is, and the principle we can take away, is that we do need to prepare our hearts for the Lord when we go and worship Him on those days.

And moreover, when you go to someone else's house, you typically respect the rules of the house or the homeowner that you attend, right? So how much more even for the house of the Lord? We'll get into this in a moment after we look at the golden calf incident. But the idea is that Yahweh has set specific rules and parameters in place for the worship of His house.

And so we need to take into consideration the idea that I can't just go into someone's house and change all the colors that go on there. If I were to walk in a friend's house and say, you know, I really hate that color, I'm just going to paint it pink, you would have hell to pay, right? So the same is true here for for the House of the Lord. We need to understand that we approach him in a right and proper manner.

I just want to say I'm sorry I said hell. Please forgive me. I shouldn't have said that. That was not right.

Please forgive me for that. So we've seen the command for the tabernacle, we've seen the materials for it and the blueprints for it as well. Now

Challenge to the Tabernacle

let us look secondly at the challenge to the tabernacle in Exodus chapter 32 verse 34. Now we need to ask ourselves the question, why is this here? in the text. We've seen the Law of God given. It would seem to make a lot of sense for this section to fall after the Law of God that's given, or the giving of the Law of God.

But here we have several chapters about the worship of God. Kaiser says this, But this section only contrasts the divinely appointed worship established in connection with the tabernacle with humanly devised worship that adores the work of human hands, and it leads to debauchery. The sheer amount of text devoted to the topic of worship ought to demonstrate its importance. So we see the preparation for worship, and then we have these three chapters where Israel commits adultery on their wedding night.

It's set up here to show us that the right and proper worship of God is appropriate. We must worship God in an acceptable manner in the way that he has prescribed. So we will look at this challenge to the tabernacle under three points. We will look at the calf, then we'll look at the work of the mediator, And then we will look at the covenant renewal.

So under this section of the challenge, let us first look at the golden calf, Exodus chapter 32, beginning at verse one. When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, up, make us gods who shall go before us. And as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. Now, remember back to Exodus chapters 19 and 24.

Remember, Moses spoke the words of the covenant, read the book of the covenant out loud to the people of Israel, and they said in Exodus 19, verse 8, all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. The same thing is repeated in Exodus chapter 24, verse 3. And all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words that the Lord has spoken, We will do. Exodus 24 verse 7.

All that the Lord has spoken, we will do and we will be obedient. Israel has just gotten married, right? And now they're committing adultery on their wedding night. It's like the husband goes away for a little while and the wife looks for the best man on the wedding night.

That's exactly what it is. And so we see here what they're doing. They're saying, you know, Moses is kind of gone, you know. But one thing that we get to see that the people of Israel didn't is what Dale Ralph Davis calls eavesdropping.

We know Moses is going to be 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain. The people of Israel didn't necessarily know that, but it's very, it's very quick to see how quickly they turned from the true and the living God and sought to worship him in an inappropriate way. He's so and so we then we see Aaron's compliance with this so Aaron said to them Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives your sons and your daughters and bring them to me So all the people took off the rings of the gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron and he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf and They said these are your gods. Oh Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it.

And Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." But notice what they do before they even ascribe worship to this calf. They said in chapter 32 verse 1, As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt.

Who brought them up out of the land of Egypt? It wasn't Moses, it was Yahweh who brought them up out of the land of Egypt. So they relegate God's work to a mere mortal in this instance. And then they go on even further in chapter 32, in chapter 32 verse 4.

These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, referring to the golden calf. So they relegate their deliverance even further to metal. It's pretty absurd when we see what they're doing when they turn from the true and living God to worship this idol. But perhaps, even though the first commandment is in view here, perhaps the second commandment is even more in the forefront of this text.

Because Aaron says in chapter 32, verse 5, tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. tomorrow shall be a feast unto the Lord." So it's almost, they were still worshiping Yahweh, but through the vehicle of this calf. This is breaking that second commandment. Remember, the second commandment deals with how we are to worship God. And remember, we've spent several chapters building up about how the temple of God is supposed to look, the worship of God is supposed to be.

But yet, here they're worshiping God in an inappropriate way that's devised by human ideas. And so we need to remember that when we come to worship God, we don't need any human ideas brought into it. We don't need the ways of the world to win people to the Lord God Most High. God has set forth His plan before the foundation of the world to save sinners through Jesus Christ by the proclamation of the Word.

We don't need shred-along songs with shredding guitarists during the worship of, of, of, of, of, of, in, in the house of the Lord. This is the house of the Lord and His rules are set and the rules that He set are the one that we need to continually follow. Kyle and Dalich say, their faith was corrupted by the impatience and unbelief of a natural heart, which has not been pervaded by the power of the living God, and imagines itself forsaken by Him whenever His help is not visibly and outwardly at hand. So we see them disown themselves and give them up to worshiping God in an inappropriate way through the vehicle of this calf.

But what's interesting is the primary focus of this section, the major chunks, primarily focus on the mediator at work, the imperfect mediator, namely Moses, who mediates on behalf of the people. And there are actually three sections. But first, we see God's anger in chapter 32, verses 7 through 10. And the Lord said to Moses, go down, for your people whom you brought up out of the land have corrupted themselves.

They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it and said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them, in order that I might make a great nation of you.

Notice the covenant language has changed. No longer is he, they are his people, but he says, they are your people. the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt. And this idea of that second commandment involved is found in chapter 32 verse 8. They have made for themselves a golden calf and they have worshipped it and sacrificed to it.

Again, the idea of bringing humanly devised ideas into the worship of God. And so we see God seemingly disowning his people here in chapter 32, verses 7 through 10. So we've seen this golden calf, we've seen this adultery on the wedding night, but then we see, but

Moses as Mediator

that brings us to our second point under the challenge to the tabernacle, that is the mediator at work. Chapter 32, verse 11 to chapter 33, verse 23. And we see three instances of Moses mediating for his people. And Kaiser says, the God who seemed unmerciful, however, is the same God who had mercifully prepared Moses for just such as an occasion as this, where Moses would work as his job to be that mediator on behalf of the people.

So we see the first mediation in Exodus 32, verses 11 through 14. And Moses here, he says, oh Lord, why does your wrath, chapter 32, verse 11, oh Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say with an evil intent did he bring them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. and the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people." So we see Moses, first of all, appeals to the Exodus. He appeals to the great work that God has just done and said, why would you bring these people out so that you just might kill them? Why would the Egyptians even want to say this? Why would you consider to do this?

Now the psalmist brings this idea up in Psalm 106. Psalm 106, verses 19 to 23. And the psalmist here is praising Yahweh for his goodness in relenting. Psalm 106 verse 19 to 23.

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them.

Had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him and turned away his wrath from destroying them." So we see the psalmist praising God's goodness in turning away the wrath through the work of Moses, albeit the imperfect mediator. But he also appeals to the Abrahamic covenant as well. Remember, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring and they shall inherit it forever. And then we see the Lord relenting.

Now the Lord did not change his mind. This is something to accommodate to our finite capacities. It's what's called anathropopathism. We've obviously dealed a lot with impassibility lately.

The idea here is not so much that God changed his mind, but it helps us understand the relationship between Moses and Yahweh and the flow and the structure of the narrative. Anathropopathism just means that they attribute human emotions to God to help us understand how Yahweh is dealing with his people. Yahweh didn't change his mind here, but in his goodness and kindness demonstrated his grace to Moses the mediator and ultimately to the people who had just disowned him. And then we see Moses descend and confront Aaron.

Exodus 32 verses 15 through 29. The groom returns. And we see he comes down, we see him burn with anger, and then he crushes the calf. He crushes that calf.

Now, if you remember from your readings in the books of 1st and 2nd Kings, remember what was the charge primarily to the kings of Israel. That is, they were supposed to break and crush the idols and the asherah poles and the idolatry that was going on. So we see an instance of what most of those kings should have done. Unfortunately, they did not.

But here we see Moses as a mediator crushing the idolatry that is here, just as Christ our Savior crushes the head of the serpent. But then we see this confrontation with Aaron. And Aaron makes up some funny excuses here about what had gone on. It's like the cheaters were caught by the groom.

The best man and the groom's wife have been caught, and now the groom is dealing with them. And now the groom says, what did this people do that you have brought such a great sin? And Aaron said, let not your anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people.

They are set on evil. For they said to me, make us gods, you shall go before us. As for this Moses, that man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. So I said to them, let any who gave gold take it off.

So they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf." That's pretty funny, right? That's pretty funny that he said, oh, I just threw gold in there and just popped up. Oh, this guy was just in my room. He just found his way here.

It's pretty pathetic when we see that, but you know what it serves for us to see? The great grace of God in this moment. You see, we see them committing this adultery on their wedding night. We see these foul excuses against the Lord God.

We see God's goodness and how he relented and how he renews the covenant with them in Exodus chapter 34. And then we see, after this confrontation, the punishment by the Levites, where 3,000 people were killed. So that's that first mediation. Then we see the second mediation, chapter 32, verse 30 to 33, verse 11.

And Moses the next day said to the people, you have sinned a great sin, and now I'll go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. So Moses returned to the Lord and said, Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.

But now if you will forgive their sin, but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written. But the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angels shall go before you.

Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And this idea of atonement highlights the necessity of the justice of God to deal with the issues. God really does judge between the righteous and the wicked only, and it is He who determines who receives eternal life, namely only those who have been forgiven. You see, Moses wanting to bear the punishment with his people, but God is saying, I am the one who judges rightly, who deserves punishment and who deserves deserve sin.

Now we all deserve sin, but Yahweh does say in Exodus 33 verse 19, I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim before you my name the Lord and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. As we know, Paul quotes that in Romans 9 to deal with predestination. God is the one who shows mercy on whom he will. He is the just God.

He is the holy God. And he will deal with people in the right way that he said he would. And then we see this response. Then we see in chapter 33, verses 1 through 6, we see that God, this response, to the people.

It's kind of, it's a punishment. What that says is. Chapter 33 verses 1 through 6. The Lord said to Moses, Depart, go up from here, you and the people who you have brought up out of the land of Egypt.

It is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying to your offspring, I will give it. I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hevites, and the Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go among you, lest I consume you on the way for you are a stiff-necked people." Now when the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, say to the people of Israel, you are a stiff-necked people.

If for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments that I may know what to do with you. Therefore, the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb and onward." What this is highlighting is that contact with Yahweh has been limited. They have sinned against the Lord God Most High, and even more, how much more do we need this dwelling place, this tabernacle where we can approach God in a right and proper way?

Thankfully, we have the Lord Christ in our day where we can approach God, we can approach the throne of grace with boldness because of what Christ has done. And this idea of this contact limited I think is seen for us in Exodus 33 verses 7 through 11. We see this summary of the tent of meeting. But what it is, is it's a pre-tabernacle, pre-tent of meeting that we've seen all the preparation for.

It's more of a temporary one before that one was set up. And then what that was trying to do is highlight his relationship even now with Israel. Namely, that there's a separation between a holy God and an unholy people. That you have to approach God in a right and proper way.

That's probably the idea that's going on here. I had a tough time figuring out how this section fit here that's probably what's happening most the commentators deal with it that way but then we so we've seen two mediations by Moses but then we see one more mediation the third mediation in chapter 33 verses 12 through 23 and Moses said to the Lord see you say to me bring up this people but you have not let me known whom you will send with me the crying out may see the need for the presence of the look and he sees the need for the presence of the Lord to be with them. It's been severed, but Moses wants Yahweh to go with them regardless. And he says in verse 13, now therefore, if I found favor in your sight, please show me your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.

Consider to you that this nation is your people. And he said, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. And he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, This very thing that you have spoken, I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." Again, we see God's goodness. He requests this favor that Yahweh would still go with him.

And this idea of favor is repeated five times in verses 12 through 15. Lord, if you have favor upon us, go with us. We do not want to go if you don't go with us. We do not want to go.

We do not want to travel unless you are near us. And that, I think, is the same for us in our Christian walk. Even for a pastor, I don't want to get up in the pulpit, come before a microphone, unless the Lord God is with me. How terrifying it is to not have the dwelling of the Lord God with us.

So we see Yahweh grant this. We see His grace here. He grants this. My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

But then Moses requests something very, very interesting. He says, Lord, please show me your glory. Chapter 33, verse 18. And Yahweh said, I will make my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name of the Lord.

Jumping down to verse 21. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back but my face shall not be seen. So we see that Moses has requested to see the Lord.

Show me your glory. And Yahweh says he will do that, but only in a limited sense. So we've seen under this idea of command, or of the challenge, we also, we saw under the idea of challenge, we saw the golden calf, we saw the mediator at work, and then now

Covenant Renewed

we're looking at the covenant renewed in Exodus verse 34 this is a confirmation of favor the Yahweh would pass before him and verse 34 at chapter 34 verse 1 the Lord said to Moses cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke be ready by the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain No one shall come up with you. And let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain. So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first.

And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand two tablets of stone. Then the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

And Moses quickly bowed down his head toward the earth and worshipped." We get to see something of some theology proper here. First of all, in chapter 34, verse 6, we see the Lord, the Lord. And what this is highlighting is his immutability, that God is unchangeable. Even with the things we're about to see about his character, he's unchangeable in his mercy.

He's always slow to anger. He's abounding in steadfast love. Those things never change. And so we see immutability.

We see God's merciful mercy and graciousness. The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious. Gill says, from whence it appears that it is in Christ and for his sake that God forgives sin, even through his blood, righteousness, sacrifice and satisfaction. And this forgiveness is of all sin, of all sorts of sin, original or actual, greater or lesser, public or private, open or secret, of omission or commission, of heart and life." So we see God's grace and His goodness even to this wife that had committed adultery on her wedding night.

If you miss the grace of God in the Old Testament, you're not reading it properly. It's very clear and it's very, very wonderful. But we see his justice and his righteousness as well. He will by no means clear the guilty.

We need someone who will bear the punishment in order where we can have atonement and forgiveness of sins. Then we see the right response to this. Moses quickly bowed down his head to the earth and he worshipped. He worshipped the Lord God after seeing just a glimpse of his glory.

And then we see the actual covenant being renewed, chapter 34, verses 10 through 28. The conquest of Canaan is promised once again. And then we see some worship-related commands in chapter 34, verses 17 through 26. And notice they center a lot on proper worship.

You shall not make for yourselves any gods of cast metal, chapter 34, verse 17. Six days you shall worship, the reiteration of the Sabbath. So we see the idea that worship is extremely vital, and he's trying to reiterate that even in the renewal of the covenant. And this renewal of the covenant is another demonstration of God's great grace.

God's great grace. So the covenant is rewritten, the covenant is renewed, But then we have this interesting little statement, this section here, where we see the shining face of Moses. And why is it so detailed here? Stuart says, it highlights that Moses had actually met with the Lord.

It also confirmed Yahweh's presence with his people. It also confirmed Yahweh's greatness. And it reminded of a possible close connection with Yahweh through the proper means. And it also highlights how the New Covenant glory far exceeds the Old Covenant.

All who know Christ as Savior and live for Him reflect His glory even more powerfully than Moses did, though without the visible frightening effect, by reason of living the transforming life of the Spirit of God. So we see that this idea that we can have connection with Yahweh and we are meant to shine as lights in that crooked and perverse generation, to shine as lights, to demonstrate the glory of Christ and how it far exceeds the glory found even in the old covenant mediator as well. So the application we can take away from this challenge, we saw We saw the golden calf. We saw the mediator at work.

We saw the covenant renewed. But we need to have proper worship in the dwelling place of the Lord God. It is his house. We approach him on his terms through his rules because it is his place.

And we do that through the proper mediator, namely through Jesus Christ. The people did that through Moses, the mediator. He was imperfect. We need Christ, the true mediator for new covenant believers.

And I think a good charge for us here is not to worship idols. And that's exactly how the Apostle Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 10. verse 7. So we need to have a right and proper, not only preparation, but have proper worship when we arrive as well. We need to be awake.

We need to be slapping our faces if we're falling asleep. We need to be pinching ourselves. This is the house of the Lord God most high. So we've seen the command and we've seen the challenge, but

Construction of the Tabernacle

let's finally look at the construction of the tabernacle. This is basically just a fulfillment of all the things promised in the command for the tabernacle. I'm just going to summarize these as well. Chapters 35 through 40.

Chapter 35 verses 1 to 3 reiterates the idea of proper Sabbath worship. Sabbath worship was extremely important. The right and proper worship was extremely important. And as he reiterates, before they even get to the building of the tabernacle, they need to highlight, it's important that we approach God properly on the day that he has specified.

Right worship is extremely vital. Then we see the summary of the contributions for the tabernacle or the fulfillment of it, Exodus 35 verses 4 through 29. We see a summary statement in chapter 35 verse 29. All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

So all those various things we read about in 25 are now fulfilled here in verse 35. Then we see the actual building or the construction of the temple, tabernacle, sorry, Exodus 35 verse 30 to 39 verse 43. We see the building of the tabernacle, 35 verse 30 to 38 verse 31. That's the tabernacle specific.

We see a summary statement in 38 verse 21 to 31. And then we see the summary of the priestly garments being made. We don't actually see the consecration until Leviticus chapter 8. But here in Exodus 39 verses 1 through 43, we actually see the crafting of the priestly garments by the two master craftsmen and their men.

But there's something, there's a repeated phrase that comes throughout this section. And it is this, they had done as the Lord commanded. They had done as the Lord commanded. Again, highlighting the idea that we need to approach the Lord as He has commanded.

And so then the last section, chapter 40, deals with the glory of the Lord appearing in the tabernacle. And we see the formation of the tabernacle in chapter 40 verses 1 through 34. Again, that same term is repeated, as the Lord had commanded Moses, they did. As the Lord had commanded Moses, they did.

But then we see the climax of the whole book in chapter 40 verses 34 through 38. namely the dwelling of the Lord God Most High. This is the point of Exodus. This is the purpose that Yahweh Most High dwells with his people. It isn't the Exodus itself.

It's actually the dwelling and the worship of the Lord who brought them up out of the land of Egypt. Stuart says, holiness does not happen because God's people are gathered all together in one place, but occurs because God is in a place regardless of whether his people are there also. What makes a place holy isn't the people, It is the one whose house it is, namely the Lord God Most High. There are certainly people who gather in the name of the Lord on Sunday mornings, but I do not think that the Lord dwells in their midst.

But here we see in Exodus 40 verse 34 through 38, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.

But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journey. And Yahweh does dwell with his people. And this was one of the distinguishing factors that made Israel a special people, that he dwells among his people.

And remember, the tabernacle is that primary symbol of God's presence with his people. Wherever that was, that's where God would dwell with them. So one application is this. God does dwell with his people, and it's primarily realized in the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 1.14. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. And that's the idea that the Word has, that the Lord dwelt and tabernacled among his people. And when we read Exodus 32, how great and gracious that a holy God would dwell in the midst of sinners like us, how he would send his Son in the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the law, made in our likeness, how he emptied himself that he might become like humanity.

It's truly a wonderful thing when we think of the work of the Savior and how the Lord Jesus dwelt with the people and died as that perfect sacrifice, doing what those Israelites could not do, doing what we could not do. And so thank the Lord that we do have Christ who dwelt with us. Thank the Lord also we can look to the new Jerusalem that one day where we will dwell with the Lord, that perfect, that heavenly tabernacle, but also as well that the indwelling of the Spirit that the Spirit dwells within us as a tabernacle, as a temple, as well, according to 1 Corinthians 6. So, in conclusion, Yahweh does divinely design the tabernacle, and he does it as a means by which his people would dwell with him.

And we saw the command to build this tabernacle. We saw the challenge to the right and proper worship of the Lord God in the right place, and then we saw the construction and the fulfillment of the command to build it towards the end. But we ultimately saw the dwelling of the Lord God most high. We'll close with several applications.

Namely, we need to prepare our hearts for Sunday morning. We need to be prepped and ready to come to the house of the Lord. We need to be awake and alert, for this is the Lord's house. This isn't our house.

We didn't build it. We didn't make it. We didn't make the rules. God made the rules.

And we get to come and worship him in the way that he has prescribed. And thankfully, we come to a church where the men actually do what God has prescribed. And they seek to regulate us by the word of God to do what is right. And so we need to prepare our hearts for that worship.

Also, we need to have proper worship as well. I think that piggybacks off preparation. But nonetheless, when we come, we need to do what's right. Preach the word.

Sing the word. Pray the word. day in and day out, every Sunday morning. That is the purpose of the men, of the pastors in this church, to do what God has required of them. And namely, thankfully, as I said, we have Christ who tabernacled among us.

Christ who is Emmanuel, God with us.

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 8

Now I'll close by reading Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. The writer draws on these wonderful ideas of the difference between the earthly and the heavenly tabernacle, but also the difference between the Moses, the imperfect mediator, and Christ, the true mediator. Hebrews 8 at verse 1.

Now the point in which we are saying this is this, we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.

For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown on the mountain. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry. that is as such more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish my new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them up out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant, And so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their hearts, in their minds, and write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

They shall not teach each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." And speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete, and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Amen. Well, thanks be to God for Christ who tabernacled who is the true temple, that we can approach God through the mediator of this better covenant.

Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We thank you for your grace and goodness.

Father God, we pray that you would forgive us that we do not always prep and are ready for your day. Help us to remember that it is your day and it is your house that we come to worship you. We thank you, Lord, how you do teach us what we must do on those days. And Father God, we thank you for the faithful men that seek to do that.

Father God, we pray that you give them strength and aid to continue to do that as well. Father God, we thank you for your great grace. How you saved sinners, even after they committed adultery on their wedding night, just as many of us have done. And Father God, we thank you for the blood of Christ, who covers our sin.

We thank you for that mediator of a new covenant, one who is better than Moses. And we thank you, Lord God, that you show us these things, even in the Old Testament, concerning your truth, concerning your salvation through the work of Christ. Lord God, we pray that you would edify us, give us strength, and that you'd help us go out into this world and live as light, shining as a crooked and perverse generation. Father God, may you be glorified in all things.

In Christ's name, amen.

Scripture References

• Exodus 19:8; 24:3; 24:7; 25:1-9; 25:8-9; 25:9; 25:10-22; 25:23-30; 25:31-40; 27:1-8; 27:9-19; 27:20-21; 28:1-40; 29:1-46; 30:1-10; 30:11-16; 30:17-21; 30:22-38; 31:1-6; 31:12-18; 31:18; 32:1; 32:4; 32:5; 32:7-10; 32:8; 32:11-14; 32:15-29; 32:30-33:11; 33:1-6; 33:7-11; 33:12-23; 33:13; 33:18-21; 33:19; 34:1; 34:6; 34:10-28; 34:17-26; 35:1-3; 35:4-29; 35:29-30; 38:21-31; 39:1-43; 40:1-34; 40:34-38
• Leviticus 8
• Psalm 106:19-23
• John 1:14
• Romans 9
• 1 Corinthians 6; 10:7
• Hebrews 8:1