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We looked at the instructions 
concerning the tabernacle, just dealt with that in sort of an 
overview fashion. So from 25 to 31, we took most 
of that material in terms of an overview and we'll do the 
same thing tonight. So basically we left off at the 
end of chapter 34. Chapter 35, verse 1 to the end 
of the book deals with the construction. And so basically the book of 
Exodus breaks down to three simple sections. First, there is deliverance. So in chapters 1 to 18, you have 
God deliver his people out of bondage from Egypt. And then you have the second 
section, which is 19 to 24, which is demand. God gives his law. to the children of Israel. And 
then chapters 25 to 40 deal with dwelling. So you've got deliverance, 
you've got demand, and then you've got dwelling. And much of the 
book deals with dwelling. So God had purpose to be with 
his people. And so he gives this instruction 
concerning the tabernacle in chapters 25 to 31. There's that 
interruption with the sort of anti-tabernacle conduct of the 
children of Israel in terms of their idolatry in chapter 32. 
We get back on track in chapter 35. And then the tabernacle is 
finished or completed here in chapter 39. And then we have 
it erected. It's set up and in place for 
worship according to chapter 40. So I'll read the chapter. 
And then, as I said, we'll do a bit of an overview of the preceding 
chapters. So then the Lord spoke to Moses 
saying, on the first day of the first month you shall set up 
the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall put in it 
the ark of the testimony and partition off the ark with the 
veil. You shall bring in the table 
and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it. And 
you shall bring in the lampstand and light its lamps. You shall 
also set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of 
the testimony and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. Then you shall set the altar 
of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of 
the tent of meeting, and you shall set the laver between the 
tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. You 
shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen at the 
court gate. And you shall take the anointing 
oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and you 
shall hallow it and all its utensils, and it shall be holy. You shall 
anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils 
and consecrate the altar. The altar shall be most holy, 
and you shall anoint the laver and its base, and consecrate 
it. Then you shall bring Aaron and 
his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and wash them with 
water. You shall put the holy garments 
on Aaron, and anoint him, and consecrate him, that he may minister 
to me as priest. and you shall bring his sons 
and clothe them with tunics. You shall anoint them as you 
anointed their father, that they may minister to me as priests, 
for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood 
throughout their generations." Thus Moses did according to all 
that the Lord had commanded him, so he did. And it came to pass 
in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the 
month, that the tabernacle was raised up. So Moses raised up 
the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put 
in its bars, and raised up its pillars. And he spread out the 
tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent 
on top of it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He took the 
testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through 
the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the 
ark. And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil 
of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of the testimony, 
as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the table in the tabernacle 
of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the 
veil. And he set the bread in order 
upon it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He 
put the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting, across from the table, 
on the south side of the tabernacle. And he lit the lamps before the 
Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the gold altar 
in the Tabernacle of Meeting in front of the veil, and he 
burned sweet incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 
He hung up the screen at the door of the Tabernacle, and he 
put the altar of burnt offering before the door of the Tabernacle 
of the Tent of Meeting, and offered upon it the burnt offering and 
the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He set the 
laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and 
put water there for washing. And Moses, Aaron, and his sons 
would wash their hands and their feet with water from it. Whenever 
they went into the tabernacle of meeting, and when they came 
near the altar, they washed, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 
And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the 
altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished 
the work. Then the cloud covered the tabernacle 
of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 
And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because 
the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled 
the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken 
up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would 
go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken 
up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken 
up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, 
and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house 
of Israel throughout all their journeys. Amen. Well, as we have 
considered in this particular book, I emphasize that last section 
as dwelling. So chapters 25 to 40. Now that's a theme not only in 
the book of Exodus, but it's a theme replete throughout scripture. 
When you go to the book of Genesis, specifically the Garden of Eden, 
and we look at Adam's task in the garden, typically we interpret 
it in an agrarian fashion. He was a farmer, he was given 
a task to expand or to cultivate and deal with the garden. But 
we should view Eden as a sanctuary. It is a temple. It is a place 
where God met with his people. And Adam's task primarily was 
priestly. He was given that task to meet 
with God and to mediate the blessings of God to creation. He was to 
extend or expand that garden sanctuary to encompass the earth. Now we know he forfeited that 
by his sin and fall away from God. So when we get here now 
to the book of Exodus, we see that God calls for the children 
of Israel to make a tabernacle. Tabernacle simply means dwelling, 
dwelling place. You've got the tabernacle, which 
is temporary, while the children of Israel wander in the wilderness 
until they get to their final destination in the land of promise. Now when they get to their destination 
in the land of promise, then comes the instruction concerning 
the temple. So the tabernacle was a mobile. You can see they were able to 
put it up in a day. They were able to take it down 
so that when they traveled they had access to that or God was 
with that. So they put that tabernacle up 
wherever they would be and then they would take it down when 
they would embark on their travels. So when they get back or get 
established in the land, and you see this emphasized in 2 
Samuel chapter 7 when David wants to build a house for God. God 
says, no it's not going to be you David, it's going to be your 
son Solomon. And essentially Solomon is the 
one who builds the temple when they have stability in the land. 
And then as we move forward in redemptive history, we see they 
forfeit that. We see that ultimately the Babylonians 
sacked the southern kingdom in the 6th century BC. They sacrificed 
that. They reaped the benefit, or the 
curses rather, of the covenant when they had sinned against 
God. And yet, when we come to the New Testament, we see this 
theme of tabernacle or temple or dwelling. The Word became 
flesh and did what? He tabernacled among us. And 
in the New Covenant, we see this high emphasis on access or presence 
to the very location of God. We see it in Ephesians 2, 18 
and 22. The church comes to the Father 
through the Son in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. 
And in the last book of the Bible, we see this new Jerusalem descend 
out of heaven. Well, it's described in a manner 
of temple. It's described in the manner 
of a place where God and his people meet together. So this 
theme or this idea of the dwelling of God with his people, it's 
not an afterthought. That's one of the primary emphases 
that we find all throughout scripture. And that's one of the things 
that the Exodus, or the book of Exodus, describes for us in 
great detail. Now, as I said, there's a lot 
of material that we just sort of bypassed. There are Abler 
commentators on the specific furnishings within the tabernacle 
and all of the spiritual significance involved. I would suggest John 
Gill's commentary is very good. He's not too far off the beaten 
path. I think he does spiritualize 
quite a bit. but not quite perhaps as much as some others and other 
sort of reformed traditions. But for our time, I just want 
to give an overview of the chapters previous to this. Now, you'll 
notice when the temple or when the instructions are given for 
the tabernacle in chapters 25 to 31, the flow or the particulars 
differ from the actual construction. And I think this commentator, 
Stewart, makes a good observation. He says in chapters 25 to 31, 
the call for Israelites to bring as donations materials out of 
which the tabernacle and its furnishings can be made, followed 
by a description of the objects themselves in the order of their 
importance and holiness. I think that's the emphasis that 
you see when the instructions are given in terms of the building 
of the tabernacle. He says, that is moving from 
the most sacred, for instance, the ark, a direct representation 
of Yahweh and the place of his contact with his people, to the 
least sacred, which is the courtyard perimeter. He says in chapters 
35 to 40, by contrast, the objects are described in the order they 
were actually constructed, an order dictated by common sense 
and necessity. So the same material is covered 
in terms of the instructions given and the actual execution 
of the plan and the building of the tabernacle and its several 
components. But in the giving of the instructions, as he says, 
the emphasis begins with the Ark of the Covenant and then 
we see it go out from there. When it comes to the actual building, 
it's a bit of a different story. Now, when we look at the last 
few chapters, you can go back to chapter 35. Basically, the 
section begins with the importance of the Sabbath in chapter 35, 
verses 1 to 3. I'm going to give you the overview 
now. Secondly, you have the offerings for the tabernacle in chapter 
35, verses 4 to 29. Third, you've got the artisans 
for the work on the tabernacle in 3530 to 367. If you're not 
able to write all this down, you can email me and I will send 
you the notes if you're so inclined. Fourth, you've got the construction 
of the tabernacle proper, and that's 368 to 3931. And then 
fifth, you've got the garments for the priests in 39, I'm sorry, 391 to 31. And then you've got the completion 
of the work in 32 to 42. And then the assembly that we 
read here in chapter 40 in verses 1 to 33. And then you've got 
the glory of the Lord in the tabernacle in chapter 40, verses 
34 to 38. So that's an overview of the 
several chapters. But let's look at a few of these 
things in a bit more detail. Look at the importance of the 
Sabbath in 35. So verses 1 to 3, 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. You shall kindle no fire throughout 
your dwellings on the Sabbath day. This is a pretty consistent 
law that is repeated several times. You see the giving of 
the law in the Ten Commandments in chapter 20. at verses 8 to 
11. You see it repeated again in 
chapter 23 at verse 12, chapter 31 at verse 15, chapter 34 at 
verse 21, chapter 35 here at verse 2, you'll see it in Leviticus 
chapter 23, and then again in Deuteronomy 5 when the commandments, 
the 10 commandments are repeated. So, why the emphasis on Sabbath? I would suggest, first of all, 
it is the sign of the covenant. In chapter 31 of Exodus, verses 
16 and 17, God says as much. The Sabbath was not the only 
aspect of their covenant, but it was good shorthand to demonstrate 
that agreement, or that covenantal arrangement between God and Israel. 
as well with reference to the occasion for worship. It seems 
appropriate and fitting in a block of data that's given in terms 
of instructions on the place of worship and then the actual 
building of that place of worship. It is a good reminder for the 
time of worship. Israel was regulated by a calendar. They were supposed to be a Sabbath-keeping 
people. And then also the warning concerning 
work. They're going to build the tabernacle. 
Well, don't violate the Sabbath command in the building of the 
tabernacle. You need to abide by this. You 
need to respect this aspect of the covenant. And you need to 
realize that God ultimately has given you Sabbath for your good. And when there is that cessation 
of labor, it's a time for refreshment, it's a time for rest in the presence 
of God Almighty, it's a time for worship, it's a time for 
rejuvenation. So then secondly, the offerings 
for the tabernacle. Remember in chapter 25, that's 
how it starts off. And the emphasis is upon the 
free will of the people. The emphasis is upon the cheerfulness 
of the people. You see that over and over again. 
Notice in chapter 35 at verse 5. Whoever is of a willing heart, 
let him bring it as an offering to the Lord. Again, this willingness is emphasized 
in verses 21 and 22. Then everyone came whose heart 
was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing. And they 
brought the Lord's offering for the work of the tabernacle of 
meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. They 
came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, 
and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all 
jewelry of gold. That is, every man who made an 
offering of gold to the Lord. And then again that's repeated 
in verse 29. The children of Israel brought 
a free will offering to the Lord. That same emphasis is in the 
New Testament. Yeah, there is an ought to, or 
rather a must-ness in terms of giving unto the Lord, but there's 
a get to-ness as well. It is a blessed privilege for 
the people of God to return back to God what he has entrusted 
to them, or given them stewardship over. And then notice the artisans 
for the work on the tabernacle. I think this really explodes 
the myth that has often attached itself to the Christian church, 
this sort of sacred-secular dichotomy. If you're a priest, or you're 
a pastor, or you're a missionary, or you have some sort of special 
gifting for the sacred aspect in terms of church service, you're 
held up on a pedestal. And all the rest of the people, 
all the rest of the rabble, they're just not as important. Well, 
notice that these men, these artisans, these craftsmen, were 
filled with the Spirit of God Almighty. Whatever the Lord gives 
you to do in terms of the extension of Christ's kingdom here on earth, 
it's a blessed thing. It's a good thing. It's a noble 
thing. You can't say, well, I'm not a pastor. I'm not a missionary. All I can do is this. Well, God 
has gifted his people to serve in a whole myriad of ways, and 
you see that. This whole idea of, if I can't 
be a pastor, I can't do anything. That's simply not biblical. It 
is simply not reflective of what scripture teaches. In fact, with 
reference to these men, again, notice in chapter 35, verse 30, 
Moses said to the children of Israel, See, the Lord has called 
by name, Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe 
of Judah. And He has filled him with the 
Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and 
all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work 
in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, 
in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. God doesn't want you to cheap 
out. God doesn't want you to get the guy who doesn't know 
how to swing a hammer. God is going to fill a man with 
the Spirit of God so that he has the knowledge and the wisdom 
and the capability to not only build but to teach others as 
well. To have other apprentices that 
he can educate and instruct so that they can function in the 
context of building this particular tabernacle. Notice in verse 34, 
he has put in his heart the ability to teach in him and Aholiab the 
son of Ahissamach 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. So God not only calls the people 
of Israel to do this task of building a tabernacle that is 
functional, but it also reflects who God is. When you get to the 
temple under Solomon, it's not only functional, but it's glorious. It is absolutely incredible. 
The amount of gold and silver that are used in terms of building 
that, it was to reflect the glory of God Almighty. This was a civilization 
or a people, not just the Israelites, but they would build temples 
to their gods. They would build temples and 
tabernacles to their gods. So are we going to put Yahweh 
in the worst? Put him in a hut? Are we going 
to give him what is truly honorable with reference to his greatness? 
So when we see this emphasis on craftsmanship and on ability, 
it reflects God's glory and it reflects the fact that He is 
a God of aesthetics, beauty, and those sorts of things honor 
Him and please Him. So it shouldn't surprise us that 
Bezalel and Aholiab are gifted artisans in whom the Lord had 
put wisdom and understanding. and then dropping down to the 
actual construction of the tabernacle. Just give you the heads. So the 
tabernacle proper in 36, 8 to 38. It's talked about in chapter 
26, 1 to 37. You've got the Ark of the Testimony. 
Remember, that is the Ark of the Covenant where they deposited 
the two tablets. The one tablet represented Yahweh's 
covenant obligation, the other tablet represented Israel's covenant 
obligation. Again, this was a practice amongst 
the ancient Near Eastern peoples. You had covenant documents, you 
put them in sacred spaces for safekeeping as a testimony of 
the obligation that was between the God and between the people. And so the arc of the testimony 
functioned in that capacity. So 37, 1 to 9, it's spoken of 
in terms of instruction in 25, 10 to 22. Then you had the table 
of showbread. And essentially that indicated, 
again, it was a tabernacle, a dwelling place for God. God doesn't eat 
bread. God doesn't need candles. God 
doesn't need all those sorts of things, but when he comes, 
to call his children to make a dwelling place for him, he 
uses things that they know, he uses things that they understand, 
he uses things that bespeaks dwelling, that bespeaks a house, 
that bespeaks God's occupation in that particular place along 
with them. And then you have the gold lamp 
stand in chapter 37, verses 17 to 24. That's in chapter 25 by way 
of instruction. You have the altar of incense in 37, 25 to 
29. That was spoken of in chapter 30. The bronze altar in chapter 
38, 1 to 7. The bronze laver in chapter 38, verse 8. And then 
the court of the tabernacle in chapter 38, verses 9 to 31. Again, a lot of material, a lot 
of text, a lot of things in terms of, you know, we're just overviewing 
here. As I said, there's commentaries 
that go into every jot and tittle. I think it would cause us to 
probably never end the book of Exodus if we did it that way. So this is kind of my attempt 
to get us through to the end. And then there's probably going 
to be a break before we pick up on Leviticus. Leviticus is 
going to be a bit of a challenge. Certain chapters for sure, but 
it's probably going to be more of a thematic treatment, at least 
at the beginning. So we'll probably need a couple 
weeks to figure that out. But that doesn't mean we won't 
have Bible study. We will still have Bible study. 
It will just be other material. And then the garments for the 
priest, that's in chapter 39, verses 1 to 31. Now consider 
this. God is building, or God is having 
them build his house. dwelling. He's also having them 
get priests. Priests are those who mediate 
on behalf of the people to God. Now they already know that God 
is holy. They already know that they are 
sinful. So they already know why they need priests. Now, it's 
going to get more detailed when we turn over to the book of Leviticus 
in terms of priests and sacrifice and that legislation. But already 
they know, based on what happened in chapter 32, dancing around 
the golden calf, you know, the tablets being broken, signifying 
the rupture of the covenant. God has brought them back. He's 
restored them. But they need a way of access 
into the presence of this God. And in fact, the book of Exodus, 
as we'll see, ends on the emphasis of God's dwelling, but it's still 
not a meeting place. It's a dwelling place for God, 
the tabernacle, but it's not yet a meeting place. And that's 
the connection between Exodus and Leviticus, and we'll explore 
that as we move through the material. So you've got garments for the 
priests. And again, they were supposed 
to reflect the glory of God. They would wear those garments. 
They would be decked with that. regalia except for the day of 
atonement. Again, Leviticus chapter 16 is 
going to deal with that. They would take off all the garments 
except for the linen, the linen that they wore on their bodies. 
It was on that time alone that they would enter into the Holy 
of Holies in terms of the sacrifice of atonement for Israel, that 
one time out of the year. And then chapter 39, 32-42 is 
the completion of the work. You've got the obedience of Israel, 
and then you've got the work presented to Moses. So verses 
33-41, they do, or they take all that they had built, they 
brought the tabernacle, according to 39-33, They brought the tabernacle 
to Moses, the tent, and all its furnishings, its clasps, its 
boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets. So everything 
that they had constructed under the supervision of Bezalel and 
Aholiab, it's been completed in accordance with the instruction. 
And that's one of the emphases that you'll find as you move 
through this section, especially in chapter 40. You see it in 
verse 16. You see it in verse 21. You see 
it in verse 23, verse 25, verse 27, verse 29, and verse 32. There is this obedience. Moses 
obeyed God. And what do we glean from that? 
Well, as people that adhere to what's called the regulative 
principle of worship, we see that in here. We're not free 
to develop our own thoughts on worship. Moses couldn't say, 
well, you know, the Lord said the table should go there, but 
I kind of have a hankering to put it over here. No, you're 
not supposed to be a thinker. You're not supposed to be an 
innovator. chapters 40 at the beginning 
you've got the assembly of the tabernacle again instructions 
concerning tabernacle and priesthood and you've got the compliance 
concerning tabernacle and priesthood and then you've got this theological 
summary and this theological summary in verse 33 connects 
us to the book of Genesis notice what it says in verse all around the tabernacle and 
the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished 
the work. If you go back to Genesis chapter 
2, after the work of creation, we see something similar that 
God does. Chapter 2, the book of Genesis, 
thus the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them were 
finished. And on the seventh day God ended his work which 
he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his 
work which he had done. blessed the seventh day and sanctified 
it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created 
and made." So the building of the tabernacle is completed, 
Moses is finished with it, and there's this musing over it. 
Same thing with the Garden Temple in Eden. God completes it, God 
rests from, with a complacency in terms of the approval or approbation 
of his work. So the Lord created all things, 
the Lord establishes Eden as a temple, and then the Lord finishes 
the work. I think this is a connection. 
Moses finished the work, reminds us of what God did after building 
Eden, building that sort of temple, garden temple. Now that brings 
us to the last section. We're gonna spend a good time 
here. The glory of the Lord in the 
tabernacle. So notice in verse 34, then the 
cloud covered the tabernacle immediately, and the glory of 
the Lord filled the tabernacle. Go back to chapter 25. Chapter 
25, after the demand portion, we move into the dwelling portion. And in chapter 25, specifically 
at verse 8, you have something of a, sort of a key text in the 
book of Exodus. Notice in 25a, and let them make 
me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. according to all 
that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and 
the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it." And 
then again in chapter 29, we see that emphasis in verses 45 
and 46. Verse 45, I will dwell among 
the children of Israel and will be their God. and they shall 
know that I am the Lord their God, and brought them up out 
of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord 
their God." You see that trajectory that does see parallel in New 
Covenant. God delivers us, not so we can 
lay around on our couch and enjoy the blessings that he's given. and that we can have communion 
with him. He saves us so that he can dwell among us, and we 
have access to his presence through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then 
again in chapter 30, at verse 6, and you shall put it before 
the veil that is before the ark of the testimony, before the 
mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. Now, I should make this qualification 
that when God dwells in the tabernacle, that is not doesn't mean that 
he's nowhere else. Theologians speak of God's omnipresence, 
we know what that means, he's everywhere present, or his immensity, 
that means he fills all things. So when it talks about the glory 
of the Lord filling the tabernacle, it is a metaphor among the people of God. So it's 
not that God leaves heaven and is now presently local in this 
place. In fact, turn to 1 Kings chapter 
8 where you see something parallel to this. 1 Kings chapter 8, this 
is the dedication of the temple under Solomon. and then the art is brought to 
the temple, and then Solomon dedicates this temple to the 
Lord. You notice 1 Kings 8, 27. But will God indeed dwell on 
the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven 
of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which 
I have built. So the theologians in Israel, 
which should have been all of them, but some of them didn't 
probably care, but the remnant and people like Solomon understood at that particular time. Now, 
the worshipers of Danon would have thought that. The worshipers 
of Molech would have thought that. But not the worshipers 
of Yahweh. They understood that God is transcendent. That means he's removed from 
the creation. He's also imminent. That means 
he's present with his creation. But he's not locally present. 
In one spot, and then he moves to another spot. So Solomon recognizes 
this. He says, yet regard the prayer 
of your servant in his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to 
the cry and the prayer which your servant is praying before 
you today, that your eyes may be open toward this temple night 
and day, toward the place of which you said, my name shall 
be there, that you may hear the prayer which your servant makes 
toward this place. So what we have in tabernacle 
and temple of movement from heaven, now 
God's gonna come down and hang out in the tabernacle for a while, 
then he's gonna go back to heaven. Now God never ceases being God. God is always omnipresent, God 
is always immense. Now when we come back to chapter 
40, verse 34, basically what this statement is, it's a statement 
of approbation, it's approval. The things are going according 
to plan. Here's the instructions. For 
the tabernacle, they successfully carried out those instructions, 
and now the glory cloud fills this tabernacle. Stuart makes 
the observation, the cloud was none other than that which first 
appeared in chapter 13, 21 to 22, and guided and protected 
the Israelites thereafter in the wilderness as described in 
chapter 14, and then again in chapter 16. It was the same cloud 
the Israelites had seen atop Mount Sinai since their arrival 
at the mountain, and the same cloud that indicated the presence 
of Yahweh at the entrance to the little tent of meeting that 
Moses had set up outside the camp. That was in chapter 33, 
verses 9 to 10. Again, it's the representation 
or an emblem or a symbol of God's presence. You see the same thing 
when you go to 1 Peter, if we went back there, verse 11, the 
cloud fills. They call it the shekinah. covers the tabernacle, the cloud 
represents the presence of God, but then notice that the book 
ends on a note of tension. Notice in verse 35, Moses was 
not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the cloud 
rested above it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. on the top of the mountain. He 
was invited and he was bidden to come and he went. So in chapter 
19 Moses ascends to Sinai, chapter 24 Moses ascends to Sinai, and 
then again in chapter 34 he ascends to Sinai. And there he communes 
with God in such a way that in chapter 34, when he comes down 
from the mountain, his face is shining so brightly that the 
children of Israel, including Aaron, can't even look upon him. 
He's gotta veil his face when he stands around him. So what's 
happening here? Moses was not able to enter the 
tabernacle of Eden because the cloud rested above it and the 
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Well, the present 
inability. So one commentator, Stuart, makes 
the suggestion that the fact that this is now God's dwelling. 
Let's just say I was a contractor and I built your house. If I 
completed your house, I give you the keys to your house. I 
don't get to come into the kitchen and get a pop or go make coffee 
and have a piece of cake. It's not my house. This is God's 
house. So Moses is not allowed in the 
house. I kind of get that, but I think 
there's a better explanation. I think that verse 35 connects 
to the book of Leviticus, and verses 36 to 38 connect to the 
book of Numbers. Let's just drop down to verses 
36 to 38 for a moment, then we'll get back to verse 35. Notice, 
whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, 
the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 
But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey 
till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord 
was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night 
in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their 
journeys. So we've already alluded to previous 
instances of God's presence in leading Israel. So chapter 13, 
chapter 14, chapter 16. But when you get to the book 
of Numbers, They actually depart from Sinai at 10, 11. So chapter 
10, verse 11, they leave Sinai. They're there for, I think the 
time is about 11 months. Let me just see here. Where is 
it? No, that's not it. Yeah, I think 
it's, yeah, 11 months total. So from 19, Exodus 19 to Numbers 
10, they're at Sinai. But whenever they had any movement, 
they would have this pillar of cloud and this fire to lead them 
and direct them. And so you'll see that later 
in the book of Numbers. But back to verse 35 and its 
connection with Leviticus. So now we've got God dwelling 
in the midst of Israel. But verse 35 tells us that Moses 
can't meet with God. So the dwelling place has not 
yet become a meeting place. That's a tension. That's an issue. That's a problem. That sets the 
stage for the book of Leviticus. If you look at Leviticus chapter 
one, verse one, it says, now the Lord called to Moses and 
spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting. So God is there and 
God addresses Moses and he gives him specific legislation concerning 
sacrifice. Now if you look at chapter nine, 
you'll see that the glowing place becomes the meeting place. Chapter 
9, specifically at verse 22. Then Aaron lifted his hand toward 
the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin 
offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses 
and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed 
the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared 
to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and 
consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all 
the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. So here's 
what I suspect is going on. So in Exodus, they build the 
house of God. It's a dwelling place. Moses 
tries to go in, but he can't because of the glory cloud. Because 
of the fact that he's not been bidden. He's not been invited. 
He has not been called by Yahweh into that sacred place. Rather, 
Yahweh calls to him from that sacred place and gives him detailed 
instructions in chapters 1 to 8 in the book of Leviticus on 
sacrifice. So the message is simple. If 
you, sinful man, want to enter into the presence of a holy God, 
you must do so through what? You don't just wander into the 
meeting place of God. You don't just get bidden in. 
You don't just get invited. You don't get to go to the kitchen 
and take out a piece of chicken from the fridge. You have to 
go through a particular structure, a system, and you have to approach 
God in the manner that is consistent with His holiness. So the book 
of Leviticus addresses the tension at the end of the book of Exodus. 
Our holy God is accessible. there is a condition. And that 
condition is a bloody knife and a smoking altar. That condition 
is atonement. That condition is that that God 
must be appeased through sacrifice by the priesthood. So notice 
the flow, then, in Leviticus 9. So you've got this statement. They offer up the sacrifices 
properly. They're given the detailed legislation 
from chapters 1 to 7, primarily, chapters 8 and 9. Chapter 9, verses 22 to 24, it's 
successful. They obey. They do what they're 
supposed to do. They now have access into the 
presence of God Most High in the tabernacle. So the dwelling 
place has become a meeting place. Now, notice in verse 1 of chapter 
10 that Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his 
censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane 
fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. Brethren, 
if you ever doubt the sinfulness or the foolishness of man, may 
I suggest you just read the Bible and probably keep an eye on your 
own heart? Detailed legislation on how to 
approach Yahweh, an actual successful attempt on approaching Yahweh, 
and then these two offer up profane fire before the Lord at the end 
of verse 3, which He had not commanded them. Now notice, just 
like fire came out from before the Lord in chapter 9, but there 
it consumed the burned offering, here fire comes out from the 
Lord and devoured them. And they died before the Lord. 
And Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke, saying, 
by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. And before 
all the people, I must be glorified. So at the end of Exodus, in chapter God speaks to him from the tabernacle 
to prepare not only Moses and Aaron, but the entirety of Israel. And much of the legislation in 
the book of Leviticus is on how to maintain not only forgiveness 
of sin for this approach to God, but also ceremonial cleanliness. There's a lot of law that the 
book of Leviticus is going to go through in terms of being 
able to relate to God and to one another. In fact, look at 
Leviticus chapter 16. Leviticus 16, I mentioned earlier, 
this is the day of atonement. And this is pretty much the central, 
I mean, literally, theologically, thematically, Leviticus 16 is 
central to the book of Leviticus. Some would argue that Leviticus 
16 is central to the entirety of the Pentateuch. It is the 
day of atonement. But notice in verse one, now the Lord spoke 
to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they 
offered profane fire before the Lord and died." You see, this 
is the occasion for the introduction of the legislation concerning 
the Day of Atonement. The wrath of God must be appeased. The wrath of God must be dealt 
with. You don't wander into the presence 
of a holy God in all your sin and depravity. You must be clamped 
down. you must be purified, and in 
this instance it would be the legislation on the Day of Atonement. So going back to the Book of 
Exodus in chapter 40, the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle. Moses himself, who is the holiest 
in the group, I mean let's not Not saying, he's obviously the 
holiest one, he's the godliest one, he's the most faithful one, 
he is the one who has had intimacy with Yahweh, but Moses was not 
able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the cloud 
rested above him. We get the legislation concerning 
the sacrifices, the end of chapter nine in Leviticus, we see the 
offering up of the sacrifices, and then we see that access granted 
to Moses and to Herod to go into the midst of the tabernacle. 
So Leviticus is a vital component in terms of the Pentateuch relative 
to how does sinful man enter into the presence of a holy God. So that's the conclusion in terms 
of exposition. Just a couple of thoughts, and 
then I'll close. And if anybody has any questions, 
we can deal with that. First, the recurring emphasis 
on the regular principle of worship. Again, don't miss this. In our 
day and age, in the New Covenant, we think it's a free-for-all. 
We think that we can do whatever we want in the Church of God. 
I don't mean we specifically. I don't, again, think we do everything 
right, but I think we at least know there's a pattern as to 
what we are supposed to be pursuing in terms of doing things right. 
But in much of evangelicalism, sometimes even in the Reform 
world, you see strange fires. This is where that language comes 
from. Nadab and Abiod in Leviticus chapter 10, they offered up profane 
fire or strange fire. What do we make of the new covenant 
church that introduces all manner of strange things in the public 
worship of God? It ought not to be the case that 
we do anything other than pray the word preach the Word, read 
the Word, sing the Word, speak the Word, be about those things 
that God has commanded in New Covenant worship. Over and over 
and over again, they did as the Lord had commanded them. Why 
do we think in the New Covenant that doesn't apply to us? We 
can innovate, we can create, we can introduce all kinds of 
profane fire and just throw it up to God, and of course He'll 
bless us, So there are regulations concerning 
the approach to God and worship of God. Another passage that 
speaks to this in the New Covenant setting is Hebrews chapter 12. 
Hebrews chapter 12. The apostle says, see that you 
do not refuse him who speaks. 12.5. For if they did not escape 
who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not 
escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven. whose 
voice then shook the earth, but now he is promising, yet once 
more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now this yet 
once more indicates the removal of those things that are being 
shaken as of things that are made, that the things which cannot 
be shaken may remain. Then he says, therefore, since 
we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have 
grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and 
godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. We don't have an Exodus 
25 to 40. We don't have detailed legislation 
on how to build the tabernacle, on how to function in terms of 
priesthood and sacrifice. But we have the same God who 
commands us in the new covenant how we're to approach Him. And 
when Paul says here, let us have grace by which we may serve God 
acceptably, that acceptability is not only on the part of the 
worshiper, It's on the part of the worshipped. Who gets to define 
what acceptable worship is? Sinful wretches like us that 
would prefer a Metallica-type band in our Sunday morning services, 
or the God who is absolutely holy and glorious and wondrous? 
Acceptable worship is defined by God, by which we may serve 
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, And intriguingly, 
the Apostle cites a verse that's in Deuteronomy 4.24. For our 
God is a consuming fire. Positive law in the Old Covenant 
dictated the way of approach in terms of worship. Positive 
law in the New Covenant dictates the way of approach in terms 
of worship. That differs. Again, no sacrifice, 
no central sacrifice. but the same sorts of things 
apply in the new covenant. The overarching principle is 
our God is a consuming fire. If you're a nabab and a badu 
and you offer up profane fire to the Lord, God may send fire 
out and kill you. What happens in our day when 
people offer up profane... I mean, talk about the long-suffering 
of God. If I was God, And I was the author 
of the New Covenant. And I was the one who said, this 
is the way you worship. And I saw some of these guys 
doing the things they did. I mean, come on. Repelling pastors 
and, you know, the motorcycle pastors. And Isaac always says, 
I need to update my repertoire. When I was younger, it was puppets, 
ponies, and programs that Mark Crowe feigned fire. If it was 
only that tame nowadays, again, we've got pastors who repel that. The point is, we engage in acceptable 
worship, and that acceptable worship is defined by God. As 
well, please appreciate the connection with Leviticus. You see, Exodus 
and Leviticus underscore the absolute holiness of God, the 
comprehensive sinfulness of man, and the necessity of blood atonement 
for us to enter into the presence of God. To go from a dwelling 
place of God to a meeting place with God requires blood sacrifice. Thirdly, the typological significance 
of the tabernacle. I'm just going to quote Gilead. 
I think he's bang on. This tabernacle was an emblem 
of Christ, the brightness of his father's glory, dwelling 
in and filling the tabernacle of the human nature, where the 
Godhead, the Shekinah, the divine majesty, dwells bodily. Beautiful. So we've got the typology involved 
in the tabernacle and temple pointing us forward to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus in John 2 destroyed 
this temple, and in three days I will build it again. Dave isn't 
being subversive against the temple. He's simply saying the 
temple stood to point to Jesus. He's the reality behind the temple. We don't go backwards in redemptive 
history vis-a-vis, say, for instance, Christ is the purpose for which 
the temple was initially built. Christ has come. That means no 
going back in the Testament history, building physical structures 
and waiting for Jesus to come again. And then finally, we need 
to appreciate the goodness of God in the book of Exodus as 
a whole. And I remember quoting Davis. 
You probably remember this as well. He mentions the God of 
3-5 and 19-21 is also the God of 25-8. So in 3.5, he reveals himself 
in the burning bush. Doesn't mean it's always a burning 
bush. It's a theophany, a manifestation 
of God. And 19.21, he reveals himself 
from Mount Sinai. So the God of 3.5 and 19.21 is 
also the God of 25.8. I said that is one of those passages 
that's kind of primary in the Book of Exodus. It's the sanctuary 
and not mulling with his people. He says, that is, the God of 
the bush, who will rescue his people from slavery, and the 
God of the hill, who declares to his people his law, is also 
the God of the tent, who dwells in the midst of his people, with 
his tent among their tents. Indeed, the climax of the book 
of Exodus is not at the sea, chapter 14, nor on the mountain, 
chapter 19, but in the tent, chapters 25 and following. The 
pinnacle of Exodus is Well, I will pray and then if 
there's any questions on that, then we'll deal with that. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this book of Exodus. We thank you 
for all that it contains concerning your glory and your majesty and 
your power. We see it in the redemption of 
your people out of Egypt. We see it in the glory of the 
law given at Sinai. And we see it in that blessed, 
wonderful emphasis in your intimacy with your people. You are our 
God and we are your people and we see that fleshed out in this 
book so beautifully. We thank you for the new covenant. 
We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, the word who became flesh 
and dwelt among us. We thank you that in him we have 
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according 
to the riches of your grace. And we praise you for the access 
that we have to the father through the son in the spirit. And we 
pray in Jesus' name, amen. It feels good anticlimactic to 
do that many chapters sort of that quick, but again, we've 
been here for a long time. I just don't think I'm competent 
enough to go through every job in the middle, so. Any questions 
or comments on any of that? Yes, sir. So, and you were just 
right about the blood of goats, and I guess members of Hoisin, 
but so why is it that Well, I would suggest there's 
a couple of reasons. First, typologically, those things 
point to Jesus. So I mention it often in the preaching 
on John. Behold the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of the world. So Israel in the Old Covenant 
is being taught something concerning Messiah when they bring these 
bulls and goats, and they come to the tabernacle, and they cut 
the throat, and they hand it over to the priest. They're being 
tutored. They're learning. As well, there's an outward sort 
of, the old covenant, there was an external sort of connection 
to the community. And in order to maintain cleanliness, 
in order to maintain access to the tabernacle, there needed 
to be those certain blood rites that were engaged in. So it was 
typological pointing to Jesus and the redemption through Messiah. 
But it was also practical in terms of the old covenant situation, 
so that they could maintain that connection to the people, that 
connection to God. So, as I said, when we go through 
Leviticus, we'll see that. You'll see not only blood rites 
for access to, you know, offering up sacrifice and that sort of 
thing, but again, just to maintain your connection to God and the 
people. And it was, you know, sort of 
a system that was super regulated and highly detail-oriented because 
it was a means to sort of keep the people in check. It was to 
keep them from going to Baal and going to Asherah and going 
to Moloch and going to the gods around them. So it was a very 
regulated covenant. I mean, if you compare covenants 
old and new, The new doesn't have, like I said, 25 to 40 in 
terms of how you get up on Sunday and go to church. I mean, it 
dealt with the food. It dealt with clothes. It dealt 
with everything. So that the people would be kept 
in check, not compromise their status as covenant citizens by 
going after the other gods, but as well maintaining the nation 
so that the seed to Christ, or the seed to God, which is Christ. You get to Ezra and Nehemiah, 
and they marry pagans. And God calls them, or the reformers 
do, but God tells them to put away those pagans. Well, it's 
not based on ethnicity. It wasn't an ethnic issue. It 
was a spiritual issue. If you go out and marry pagans, 
you're going to compromise the seed, and we're not going to 
get our Messiah. So the old covenant was heavy 
on detail, heavy on legislation, very restrictive, so that the 
people could be kept in check. Anyone else? No? Sophia? Okay. You just like the blood 
of the goat in his mother's milk, right? Alright, well we will 
have theater next Wednesday. It probably won't be on Leviticus 
1, so I'll probably do a free series on something until we 
get into Leviticus.