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to the book of Acts, the Acts 
of the Apostles. We find ourselves in chapter 
7, Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin or the council, the 
highest religious and political council of men in Israel at that 
particular time. Remember that in chapter 6, Stephen 
had been falsely charged. Men said, according to chapter 
6.11, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses 
and God. They formalized the charges in 
chapter 6 at verse 13. They also set up false witnesses 
who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against 
this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that 
this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs 
which Moses delivered to us." So two fundamental charges laid 
against Stephen, that he was anti-Moses and that he was anti-law, 
or rather anti-temple. And so, he spends the bulk of 
his time defending himself with reference to this charge that 
he's anti-Moses. We have finished up that section. 
It begins in chapter 17 and runs to verse... I'm sorry, verse 
17 to verse 43. It speaks of Moses specifically, 
and now he turns his attention primarily to defending the charge 
that he's anti-Temple. So, I want to read beginning 
in chapter 7 at verse 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle 
of witness in the wilderness as he appointed, instructing 
Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 
which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with 
Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove 
out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who 
found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God 
of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. 
However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, 
as the prophet says. Heaven is my throne and earth 
is my footstool. What house will you build for 
me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? 
Has my hand not made all these things? You stiff-necked and 
uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. 
As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your 
fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold 
the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the 
betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the 
direction of angels and have not kept it. When they heard 
these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at 
Him with their teeth. But He, being full of the Holy 
Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus 
standing at the right hand of God, and said, Look, I see the 
heavens open down the Son of Man, standing at the right hand 
of God. Then they cried out with a loud 
voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord. And 
they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses 
laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, 
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then he knelt down and cried 
out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this 
sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Now Saul was 
consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution 
arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were 
all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, 
except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen 
to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for 
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging 
off men and women, committing them to prison. Amen. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
the written Word. We thank You that all Scripture is given by 
inspiration of God, and that it's profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And we pray this morning that 
as we survey Your Word, as we study Your Word, You would impart 
blessing to us. that the Holy Spirit would come, 
that He would guide us, that He would lead us, that He would 
direct us into that truth that is written before us, that we 
would again have the forgiveness of sins and anything that would 
darken our understanding. And we ask this in the name of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So, remember Stephen's 
tactic in terms of defense. He doesn't simply say, no, I'm 
not anti-Moses, and no, I'm not anti-Temple. But rather, he lets 
their scriptures and their history demonstrate that. He cites the 
history of Israel in terms of redemption, and he cites their 
own word, their own scripture, to show that it's not Stephen 
that is anti-Moses and anti-Temple. Rather, it is his accusers. It 
is the Council. It is the Sanhedrin. Moses and 
the Law pointed to the Lord Jesus. The Temple pointed to the Lord 
Jesus. The Council, rejecting Jesus, 
made themselves anti-Moses and anti-Temple. That's Stephen's 
tact for them to see that through their own history and scriptures. 
Now they understand his point, they simply do not agree with 
him. That's why they send him out of the city, or rather drive 
him out of the city, and they execute him, they murder him, 
they kill him. Kids, if you don't understand 
what's happening at the end of this particular section, that's 
precisely what happens. Stephen stands up, he argues 
from their scriptures, they can't agree, and so they take him outside 
the city, they take up big stones, and they throw them at him, until 
he is a dead man. So the martyrdom of Stephen we'll 
consider in the coming weeks, but this morning I want to look 
specifically at the tabernacle in verses 44 and 45. Now, I have spent a lot of time 
going through this particular defense of Stephen, because as 
I explained, it's a window for us to seek to understand the 
Old Testament. If you don't understand or you're 
not a reader of the Old Testament, Stephen's speech is a good place 
to start. Stephen is summarizing, again, not for their instruction, 
but rather to make his point. But I want to look at it for 
our instruction because there is that need for all of us to 
be skilled in and well-versed in the Old Testament Scriptures. 
But in verses 44 to 50, essentially what you have is the reference 
to tabernacle and temple. We see the tabernacle of witness 
in verses 44 and 45, which we're going to take up this morning. 
Secondly, you see the temple of the God of Jacob in verses 
46 and 47. And then finally, Stephen ends 
his sermon with this testimony of the prophet Isaiah in verses 
48 to 50. Again, I was reminded by one 
of the commentators who suggests that Stephen didn't finish his 
speech. Stephen most certainly did finish his speech. Stephen 
answers the charges. He's not anti-Moses, and he's 
certainly not anti-Temple, but rather the council are both. 
And as a result, they murder and execute him. So let's look 
at verses 44 and 45, as it will take us to the books of Exodus, 
Leviticus, and as well to the book of Joshua. So I want to 
look at two things this morning. First, the tabernacle in the 
wilderness, verse 44, and then secondly, the tabernacle in the 
promised land in verse 45. But with reference to the tabernacle 
in the wilderness, there are three things we ought to appreciate. 
First, the command to build the tabernacle. Secondly, I want 
to look at the purpose of the tabernacle. And then thirdly, 
the completion of the tabernacle. We're going to spend time on 
this theme because it's most important. Tabernacle and temple 
mean dwelling. And the reality that the God 
of absolute sovereignty would want to dwell with the likes 
of us ought to blow our minds. That Genesis begins with God 
dwelling with his creatures and the book of Revelation ends with 
God dwelling with his creatures is really something that should 
marvel us or cause us to marvel and stand amazed that that God 
would want to be with the likes of you and me. That is a major 
emphasis or theme in scripture. God is in Christ reconciling 
the world unto himself so that there'll be this great church 
amassed, the church triumphant that will dwell in the presence 
of Yahweh, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity. So it's 
important for us to get this concept in our head, God's dwelling 
with his people. Note in the first place the command 
to build the tabernacle. So Stephen says in verse 44, 
our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness 
as he, God, appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to 
the pattern that he had seen. Now, this is an obvious contrast 
with the temple of Moloch or the tabernacle of Moloch. Notice 
back in verse 42. Then God turned and gave them 
up to worship the host of heaven as it is written in the book 
of the prophets. Did you offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifices 
during 40 years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took 
up the tabernacle of Moloch. And so when Stephen says that 
they had the tabernacle of witness, the very thing that God appointed, 
that God commanded, in order for God to meet with His people, 
this exacerbates or highlights or demonstrates further their 
sin and corruption. They had the very tabernacle 
of witness that God had ordained, and yet they turned themselves 
to this tabernacle of Moloch. They have the God of unrivaled, 
unparalleled, unmatched sovereignty and glory, and they are chasing 
after and have gone a-whoring after Moloch, after Baal, after 
the deities of the ancient Near East. So what Stephen is saying 
to them is that this nation as a whole has big problems, and 
it's culminated here in the first century in the fact that the 
council, or Sanhedrin, and men like them didn't receive Jesus, 
the one that was sent to them. the one that was the altogether 
lovely and chief among 10,000. So God had purpose that they 
would have this, and it's identified as the tabernacle of witness. 
Again, I'm assuming that you at least know what a tabernacle 
and a temple are, that you've at least read something in the 
Old Testament. The tabernacle was a movable 
thing where the people of God would meet with their God. It 
becomes stationary at the temple. It's no longer movable. It's 
no longer contained in a tent. But rather, once David consolidates 
power, once David makes Jerusalem the center of not only political 
but religious affairs in Israel, according to the written word 
of God that there'd be a central sanctuary, David wants to build 
the temple that Stephen mentions, but it ultimately comes under 
Solomon. And so it's this stationary place where the people of Israel 
come with sacrifice to meet with the living and true God. But 
prior to that stationary temple, they had this tabernacle. And 
there were specific rules, and there were procedures, and there 
was a whole host of things that went into putting this thing 
up so that the people could sacrifice, they could offer, and they could 
meet with God. And so Stephen is highlighting 
this for them, again, leading to this testimony of the prophet 
Isaiah that Yahweh is not confined by these things. God may have, 
in the past, revealed himself in this manner, that his visible 
presence is seen in the tabernacle and temple. But the Jews thought 
that exhausted the presence of God. They thought that box contained 
God. And that is where they were wrong. 
And they thought that as long as the temple was standing, God 
was in this place. That's not the way it ought to 
have been understood. And Stephen gets this, and Stephen 
is pressing this upon them. But it's identified as the tabernacle 
of witness. Matthew Poole says here it is 
called the Tabernacle of Witness because God here testified or 
witnessed His glorious presence and especially because in it 
the Ark of the Covenant, the Law and the Testimony were kept. 
Now you can turn back to Exodus chapter 25. Exodus chapter 25. You have the command by God given 
on building this tabernacle. This takes up the latter part 
of the book of Exodus. If you ever wanna know what Exodus 
is about, just learn 3D words. God delivers Israel, God demands 
from Israel, and then God dwells with Israel. Deliverance is obviously 
the Exodus. Demand is obviously the law from 
19 to 24. And then dwelling is 25 to 40. The first section, he gives the 
instructions on how to build the tabernacle. And the latter 
part shows the actual construction of the tabernacle. And so God 
demands that the people of Israel make this tabernacle. And as 
Stephen says, our fathers had this in the wilderness. Now notice, 
secondly, the purpose of the tabernacle. The purpose of the 
tabernacle, it's spelled out in Exodus 25 at verse 8. God says, and let them make me 
a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. And I think that 
we as New Covenant believers, we as Christians take this for 
granted. We just sort of read through 
passages like these and we say, oh yeah, that's just the way 
it is. God is dwelling among them. God, most high, dwells 
among the most low. God, altogether glorious, comes 
and dwells with those who are altogether inglorious. God who 
is holy, holy, holy, whose eye is too pure to look approvingly 
upon any evil, deals with man in such a way that he can now 
dwell in their midst. You see, this is the purpose 
behind tabernacle according to Exodus 25, 8. Turn over to Exodus 
29. You see this again specified 
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, who brought them up out 
of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord, 
their God. It's good for us at times to 
just take a step back and realize God's dwelling with us. See, 
in the New Covenant, it's the church of Jesus Christ, according 
to the apostle in Ephesians chapter 2. What does Paul tell us in 
1 Timothy 3 in terms of the church? It is the house of God. God makes 
His abode with His people in situations very similar to this. In other words, God is in this 
place. He is dwelling among us. That ought to cause our hearts 
to soar and to race, and it ought to cause us, as far as it is 
able with us, to be in the house of God. This is why David said, 
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of 
the Lord. Why? Because it's the house of the 
Lord. What's better than that? What's more glorious? We have 
been invited, nay, conquered in such a way that we are brought 
in to the very house of God himself. This is the purpose behind tabernacle. But as the apostle tells us in 
the book of Hebrews, both the tabernacle and the temple were 
typological. In other words, they pointed 
forward to something, and they pointed forward to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And I think that's Stephen's 
point invoking this history. Now that Jesus Christ is here, 
we don't go back to tabernacle, we don't go back to temple, but 
rather we have him who is the temple. We have him who is, in 
fact, the house of God and the one who leads us into that house 
of God, which is the whole point of temple. Now notice, Thirdly, 
the completion of the tabernacle, Exodus chapter 40. Now, whether Stephen wanted us 
to do all this or not, I doubt. As I said, I don't think Stephen 
is instructing his hearers. They knew their history. Stephen 
is making a point to defend himself of the charges and to show those 
men that they were the ones that were guilty of being anti-Moses 
and anti-Temple. But for our purposes, this is 
a great window, Stephen's speech, to sort of get an appreciation 
of what's happening here in the Old Testament. Now notice in 
Exodus chapter 40, we see the completion of the tabernacle. 
Verse 33, 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. Now notice, we see God's dwelling. We see God's dwelling. Notice 
in verse 34, then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and 
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. An old black 
spiritual that says, heaven came down and glory filled my soul, 
filled my soul. We used to sing it at a Bible 
tabernacle that we used to preach at. And it was glorious to sing 
that. Heaven came down and glory filled 
my soul, filled my soul. That's what's happening here 
at the end of Exodus. They finished the construction 
of the tabernacle. Yahweh most high now is dwelling 
in this tabernacle. God has made His abode among 
men. God is present in this place. But notice, there's a particular 
problem. Moses, verse 35, was not able 
to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above 
it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Now, you 
need to let that sink in, because Moses was the godliest man in 
Israel. Moses was the God-ordained ruler, 
the God-ordained deliverer. He was the one that the Lord 
had raised up in a special and peculiar way to lead his people 
out of bondage. And yet this godliest man, Moses, 
can't enter into the tabernacle. You see, Exodus ends with tension. Exodus ends with us sort of hanging 
in the air. We've got this dwelling place 
now. God has taken up residence, but 
the holiest man, even Moses, can't enter into the presence. 
That's what the book of Leviticus is all about. It solves that 
problem. It provides a solution to that 
tension. You need to get this framework 
and understand that the Bible isn't just haphazardly thrown 
together, that the books of the Pentateuch have rhyme and reason. 
There's cohesiveness and there is connectivity. And so Exodus 
ends with this tension that the book of Leviticus is tasked with 
resolving. And quite frankly, it resolves 
it this way. In the first place, in Leviticus 
1 and 2, we learn that it's based on God's Word. In other words, 
how do we resolve attention when it comes to God? We do it through 
His Word. We do it through His instruction. 
We do it according to His mind and His will. We're not smart 
enough to figure this out. We're too sinful to figure this 
out. We need the written word in order to provide that solution 
to us. And then in the second place, 
the book of Leviticus specifies how men enter into the very presence 
of God. It is through sacrifice. So please just maybe nod. I don't know if everybody's following 
me. I'm trying to make this very simple. Tension at the end of 
the book of Exodus. God now dwells in the midst of 
Israel, but they haven't been able to meet with God yet. If 
the purpose of God is that I dwell in their midst, there's a reciprocity. It's not just that God is there, 
but God wants Israel to be with Him where He is. But when the 
glory of Yahweh fills that tabernacle, the holiest man in Israel can't 
enter in because of his own sinfulness. And so the prescription comes 
in Leviticus chapters 1 to 9. You need to enter in through 
sacrifice. You need to enter in through 
a bloody knife and a burning altar. You need to enter in as 
a result of God's having expiated your sin. In other words, sinful 
man doesn't just wander into the presence of a holy God. Something 
must happen. There must be forgiveness. There 
must be atonement. There must be blood. This is 
why in Hebrews chapter 9, without the shedding of blood, there's 
no remission. This is why we don't just preach 
morality as Christians. This is why we don't just preach 
virtue. We don't just go out and tell people, be a better 
you. The problem is they're miserable wretches that stand liable to 
the wrath and fury and curse of God Almighty. There's no encouragement 
to be a better you in somehow thinking that's going to commend 
people to God. We preach Christ crucified, Paul says, to the 
Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. But to 
those who are being saved, Christ the wisdom and the power of God. You see, brethren, we are not 
moralists. We are not about virtue. And that's why any, any insistence, 
like the one man in the history of the church has gone on record 
saying, you know, always preach the gospel and when necessary 
or when you're able, use words. The only way you can preach the 
gospel is through your words. Men don't learn blood atonement 
through your virtue. Men don't learn substitutionary 
atonement through your virtue. Arguably, you don't have a whole 
lot of virtue to begin with, but secondly, if you did, it 
doesn't preach the necessity of the blood of Jesus Christ 
to forgive us of our sins. See, Israel is being taught the 
pathway to a holy God is not every head bowed and every hand 
raised. It's through the cross. It's 
through Calvary. If you're not a believer here 
this morning, the message that I have for you is not go out 
and try harder, go out and be better. Joel Osteen can tell 
you that, Tony Robbins can tell you that, and they can tell it 
a whole lot better than I can. My emphasis has always been, 
and I hope will always be, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just 
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must also 
the Son of Man be lifted up. What was the point? God sent 
snakes to bite the grumbling, whining Israelites. Have you 
ever thanked God that He no longer does that? Because we'd have 
a lot of snakes in our lives, wouldn't we? Wouldn't we? We whine a lot, 
brethren. We complain a lot. We've grown 
a lot. Well, they did that in the wilderness, 
so God sent fiery serpents to bite them. What was the remedy? 
Moses, make a brazen serpent, lift it up, and when they look, 
they'll live. Not when they drag themselves over to it and kiss 
it, not when they suck the poison out and add that to their look, 
but they look and live. The gospel isn't about you try 
a little bit better, you do a little bit more, you get a little bit 
higher up on the social scale. No, you look and live. Don't 
try to suck the poison out of your own leg. You're certainly 
not fit and capable to do such things. You need Christ, the 
one alone that relieves the poison in our bodies. But notice, back 
in our text, in terms of the approach to God, one man says, 
the book of Exodus closes with a tension that is not resolved. 
After the completion of Israel's sanctuary, Moses is not allowed 
inside the tent, specifically because the ladder is filled 
with the divine presence. In other words, although He is 
present among His people as promised in 25.8 and 29.45, Yahweh cannot 
be approached, even by Moses, and the gap between God and man 
remains insuperable. After Exodus 40, Leviticus 1-10 
recounts the gradual abolishment of this gap. The next time you 
as a New Covenant Christian are reading through Leviticus chapters 
1 to 9, and you start to raise your eyebrow and go, man, this 
seems to be overly pedantic and a bit boring. This is how they 
entered in to the very presence of God. This was the preaching 
of the gospel. This typified the cross. This 
pointed them to Messiah. This showed them the way to a 
holy God, and the language is Morales in a wonderful little 
book called, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? Morales 
does a biblical theology of the book of Leviticus, and he highlights 
that blessed fact that Israel learned the way to Yahweh was 
through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. That's Christ, brethren. Christ is in Leviticus. Now, 
notice in Leviticus chapter 9. We won't actually read Leviticus 
1 to 9. It'd be a long time. And I would imagine someone would 
say, okay, we get it. They needed the sacrifice. Notice 
what happens in Leviticus 9.22. Then Aaron lifted his hand toward 
the people and 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. See that terminology? It was the tabernacle where God 
dwelt. The end of Exodus chapter 40, 
we see God dwelling. Now we see God being met with. 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. It was glorious. It was wondrous. It was awesome. It would be great 
if that kind of a spirit infested itself or infected our own hearts 
when we gathered into the very presence of God. There's this 
shout for joy. Why? Because God is here among 
us. Heaven has come down and glory 
has filled our souls. Brethren, I think we can tell 
a lot about Christianity by how people treat corporate worship. 
If it's a necessary evil, if it's something that we just have 
to do, if it's this sort of chore that sort of punctuates the end 
of the week, that's not good. More so, the spirit of David 
is to be sought and coveted after. Oh, I was glad when they said, 
when that alarm clock goes off on Sunday morning, it's not, 
oh no, oh, how terrible. I don't want to go to the house 
of God. No, you get this image of David popping out of his bed, 
going to the tea, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and 
he's ready to go. He says things like, I'd rather be a doorkeeper 
at the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. He 
extols what God thinks concerning corporate worship when he says, 
Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places 
of Jacob. Don't think God hates the dwelling places of Jacob. 
He's not anti-family. But he loves it when the people 
of God gather together as the Zion of God, and they sing his 
praises, they pray unto him, and they rally around his word. 
They are joyful at the reality that God is in their midst. They 
don't sing, heaven came down and glory filled my soul. They 
sing it with gusto and delight in it. And that is precisely 
what we find. Now, if you continue in the narrative, 
Nadab and Abihu offer up strange fire in Leviticus chapter 10. 
Notice what happens here, because this is another problem that 
needs to be solved. Verse 1, chapter 10, then 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. Another principle I'd like 
to think that the church would get. We are not supposed to be 
innovative in the worship of God. In fact, there's a particular 
text in Exodus, in terms of tabernacle making, that Moses is supposed 
to do exactly what God says. Notice that Moses is not told 
how he's to decorate Moses' house. God doesn't say, hey, Moses, 
I want you to have the couch over here. I want you to have 
your sink over here. He doesn't do that. It's the regulative 
principle of worship. He tells Moses that you are not 
to deviate. You are not to be creative. You 
are not to be innovative, Moses, but you're to be obedient. John Gill makes the observation, 
which teaches us It's in Exodus 25, 40, that everything in matters 
of worship ought to be according to the rule which God has given, 
from which we should never swerve in the least. You wonder what 
Moses would think at some of the swerving that goes on today 
in evangelical and even in reformed worship. I mean, thankfully, 
Moses doesn't come down and fill our souls. Thankfully, Moses 
doesn't come down and join with us to some degree. We're not 
supposed to swerve. We're not supposed to be creative. This is one area where God doesn't 
want you creative. He doesn't want you innovative. 
He wants you obedient. Again, when the church gets this, 
we'll see or be able to sing, glory has come down and heaven 
has filled our soul. You mean that Paul and the Apostles 
didn't envision the, you know, chatty pastors with their hands 
in their pockets and the latte in their hand? Or a repelling 
pastor that comes down with his headgear and he's, you know, 
able to do all the sorts of things that Spider-Man does? You mean 
that's unauthorized? I most certainly mean it's unauthorized. 
Notice what happens with Nadab and Abihu. They offer up profane 
fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire 
went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the 
Lord." You have to see the marked contrast between chapters 9 and 
10. In chapter nine, they offer up sacrifice that God had ordained. 
They do it in the correct way. Fire comes down, consumes the 
sacrifice, glory fills the place, and everybody rejoices and shouts. 
In this instance, they bring profane fire. So fire comes out 
again from Yahweh, but it devours them. And they died before the 
Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, this 
is what the Lord spoke saying. Again, a good lesson that everybody 
today needs to internalize. By those who come near me, I 
must be regarded holy and before all the people I must be glorified 
one man is well observed that much of evangelicalism today 
we we'd rather saying that God is altogether nice nice nice 
versus holy holy holy now how is this problem resolved Leviticus 
16 Leviticus 16 We know that Leviticus 16 is 
connected to chapter 10 by virtue of verses one and two. Notice 
in Leviticus 16, 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. And the Lord said to Moses, tell 
Aaron, your brother, not to come at just any time into the holy 
place inside the veil before the mercy sea, which is on the 
ark, lest he die, for I will appear in the cloud above the 
mercy sea. Now, persons typically think there are one of three 
reasons why God killed Nadab and Abihu. One, probably the 
most obvious, is that they offered profane fire before the Lord. 
The second is that they were under the influence of intoxicating 
drink at the time. If you continue in Leviticus 
chapter 10, there's a reference to that. And some suggest that 
Nadab and Abihu might have tipped a little bit, and then they went 
in there, and because of their perversion, God smote them, God 
killed them. But Leviticus 16 too tells us 
Not saying it's okay to tip a little bit and go into the service of 
God. Certainly not suggesting at all it's okay to offer up 
profane fire before the Lord. All those things are bad, but 
here's what I think the particular offense was. Nadab and Abihu 
went into the Holy of Holies without the sanction of God. 
Isn't that what verse 2 tells us? Notice what he says. Tell 
Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the holy 
place inside the veil. Remember that the tabernacle 
was a two compartment dwelling. There was a holy place and then 
a holy of holies. The Holy of Holies was entered 
into one time a year, and that's what Leviticus 16 is all about. 
It's the Day of Atonement, and the only time that the high priest 
would enter into that Holy of Holies was that Day of Atonement 
with the requisite blood. There's a ceremony prescribed 
here in Leviticus chapter 16, teaching Israel how to deal with 
this kind of pollution, this kind of sin. The high priest 
goes in probably three or four times, sprinkles blood on the 
mercy seat, which is in the Holy of Holies. And then Israel has 
one more goat, a living goat. And the high priest takes his 
hand, lays it on the goat, probably presses it on the goat, confesses 
the sins of Israel, and then drives that goat out into the 
wilderness. It's a beautiful picture, isn't 
it? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. The 
blood of Jesus Christ removes our sin. I mean, what a lesson 
that would have been to the faithful Israelites. I'm sure some treated 
it as just some rite or some external or some form that they 
didn't have a heart for. But to the faithful in Israel, 
watching that scapegoat run out into the wilderness was a glorious 
picture of my sin. Oh, the bliss of this glorious 
thought. My sin, not in part, but the 
whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise 
the Lord. Praise the Lord. You see, Israel 
is taught that in order to dwell with God or meet with God, you 
must come through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. That's what 
the book of Leviticus is all about. Morales says, after the 
expulsion from the Garden of Eden, this entrance into the 
tabernacle, holy of holies, represents the nearest human approach to 
God's presence. Consequently, this festival was 
understood both as a day of judgment and a day of reconciliation. 
Cleansing God's house of the pollution caused by Israel's 
uncleanness was the main focus of the ceremony, with the ultimate 
purpose of maintaining God's tabernacling presence in their 
midst. So if you ever, as a New Covenant 
reader, read the book of Leviticus, before you say, oh, this is boring, 
remember that this is how they stayed in touch with the living 
and the true God. They would have read this the 
way we read Romans. They would have responded to 
this the way that we respond to the Gospel of Matthew. They 
would have read this the way that we respond to the Passion 
Narrative. Again, not the faithless, but 
the faithful, because in it they saw this is the means by which 
we dwell in the presence of Yahweh. Now, Stephen goes on. He speaks 
about that tabernacle of witness going with the fathers into the 
wilderness. And that takes us to the book 
of, not only at the end of Deuteronomy, but also Joshua specifically. And if you have the King James 
Bible, in chapter 7, verse 45, he refers to Jesus as the one 
who brings the children of Israel into the promised land. Well, 
Jesus and Joshua are the same name in Greek. Yahweh is salvation. Joshua certainly functions typologically. Joshua certainly is that deliverer, 
that conqueror, that one that takes the people from one place 
to another through his power, through his leadership, and through 
his victorious reign. But if you look at the book of 
Joshua, you can turn there, Joshua chapter 1. So if anybody ever says, how 
could the pastor preach on only verses 44 and 45? Well, he used 
them as a window so that we could look at some of these Old Testament 
books that perhaps we're not as familiar with as we should 
be. But if you notice specifically the book of Joshua, it's very 
clearly laid out. It's all about them entering 
the land, taking the land, dividing the land, and retaining the land. 
That's it. If you want to know how to quickly 
and simply summarize the book of Joshua, in fact, chapter 21 
gives you that very outline. It's about them entering, taking, 
dividing, and keeping. That's what the book of Joshua 
is charged with saying. And so Stephen's point is, is 
that when they went into the promised land, they went with 
the tabernacle. They went with this tabernacle 
of witness, represented by the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark 
of the Covenant was the primary element that went into this tabernacle, 
into the Holy of Holies. And in Joshua chapter 3, as they 
crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, they do so in sight of 
the Ark of the Covenant. What's it symbolize? What does 
it represent? It represents that God is with 
us. We're not on a fool's errand here. We're not going in based 
on our military superiority. We're not going in against these 
Canaanites based on our supreme weaponry. We're going in as the 
children of God Most High. And it's that God Most High that 
is going to dispossess these enemies from the land, and He's 
going to give us this property in accordance with the promises 
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You see how all of this works 
together and all of this typifies or shows forth to our Lord Jesus. The apostles in the New Testament 
everywhere speak to these types. They show how it's all representative 
of something to come in New Covenant era under Jesus the Lord, under 
the Messiah, under the King that God would send. And here, specifically, 
they go into the Promised Land with the Ark of the Covenant 
in view. Now, in terms of the Ark of the Covenant, that's an 
interesting sort of study as well. Before it's ultimately 
in Jerusalem, it's typically in various places. Remember, 
it's a movable thing. The children of Israel are somewhat 
wanderers at this particular point, so they have this movable 
tent wherein they can house the Ark of the Covenant. It pretty 
much rests in Shiloh for the most part. There's an instance 
in 1 Samuel 4, we're going to look at actually tonight, where 
the Ark of the Covenant is captured by the Philistines. And the reason 
I want to look at that is to try and show that Israel did 
treat these things as idols. This really wasn't Stephen, you 
know, just pontificating saying, you guys got big problems. This 
was the history of Israel. It's kind of the history of us. 
God gives us good things and we turn the good thing into God. 
God says, yeah, you can have food. We eat too much. God says, 
you can do this. We do it too much. God says, 
you can have this. We do it too much. Well, they 
had something that was good that God had ordained and given to 
them. It was by His sovereign appointment. And yet they made 
that the end. They did it in 1 Samuel chapter 
4. They'll do it again throughout their history. And that's what 
Stephen is pressing upon their consciences. But ultimately, 
it rests in a particular house until the time of David, and 
then David gets it in 2 Samuel 6 and brings it to Jerusalem. 
Now, that's kind of the history of the Ark of the Covenant, of 
the tabernacle. Now, notice what Stephen also says, and this is 
imperative for us to appreciate. I know we've done a lot this 
morning. We're gonna wind this down as we move to the end of 
Stephen's section here on the tabernacle. But notice what he 
says in verse 45, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also 
brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, 
whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the 
days of David." I don't think Stephen's emphasis is that God 
was driving out Canaanites until the days of David. It wasn't 
the case that all the Canaanites were gone, but I think Stephen's 
point is, is that this tabernacle that they had, this movable tent, 
this Ark of the Covenant, was in use by our fathers. Notice 
Stephen appeals to that this way still. Our fathers, our shared 
history, our shared scriptures. It was in use until the days 
of David. And that's when he introduces 
David as the one who had this desire to build a house for Yahweh, 
but it would ultimately be Solomon that does it. But the point I 
want to emphasize here is a point that we neglect to our peril. Notice in verse 45, which our 
fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua 
into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out 
before the face of our fathers. God drove them out. You see, 
brothers and sisters, my emphasis to you on reading the Old Testament, 
studying the Old Testament, it's not simply so you can appreciate 
the history of Israel. It's not simply so you can appreciate 
Israel's cult. And by that, I don't mean Jehovah's 
Witness, the religious structure by which they entered in to the 
presence of God. But I always encourage this for 
the comfort of your soul, for the encouragement of your heart. 
You don't fight the various battles in your life in your own strength. What's Paul say to us in dealing 
with our own personal sin? I don't want to moralize, you 
know, our giants or our Canaanites or all that sort of thing, but 
I think there's a parallel that we ought to observe. If by the 
Spirit you do mortify the deeds of the body, you will live. Why 
would we try to fight sin, resist sin, deal with temptation, deal 
with the struggles of our lives in a Bible-less and prayer-less 
manner? Why would we think there'd be any victory in Jesus if we 
are negligent with reference to the corporate means of grace? 
Why would we think we're gonna have victory over a particular 
loss in our hearts if we steadily and consistently resist the things 
that God has given for our good? You see, brethren, we learn that 
very vividly in the physical, in the carnal, I don't mean carnal 
in the sinful way, but in the carnality of the physicality 
of Israel. You seek God's aid, God's assistance, 
God's strength. You see him bear forth his mighty 
right arm. And this is what Stephen says. 
It wasn't them. It wasn't our fathers. It wasn't 
their competency that rid the land of the Canaanites. It was 
our God. It was our Yahweh. It was the 
one who promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's the one 
who makes good on his promise. He tells Moses in Exodus 33, 
1 to 3, that I'm going to drive these ites out from before you. 
He reiterates this in Deuteronomy chapter 32 at verse 49. He tells 
Moses to look upon the land that they're going to receive. Moses 
is no fool. The children of Israel are no 
fools. They know there are Canaanites in the land. They know that for 
them to take possession of the land, and I don't want to offend, 
I don't want to, you know, I'm giving you a trigger warning, 
but they know they need to go in and kill people in order to 
take the land. They know they're doing it in the strength of Jehovah. See, our task is not holy war 
in terms of Deuteronomy 7. Our task as new covenant believers 
is not, you know, utterly dispossess Abbotsford of all the Abbotsfordians. 
That's not what we're called to do. Or conversely, really, 
Abbotsfordians don't try to dispossess Chilliwack of its Chilliwackians. That would be horrible. We don't 
want you to do that. But our task is nevertheless 
dependent upon the strong arm of God. Our task is the church. Doesn't Jesus reiterate this? 
In fact, if you look at Joshua 1 and Matthew 28, it's hard to 
miss the parallels. Joshua on the verge of entering 
into the promised land. How does God encourage him? Be 
of good courage and know that I am with you. What's Jesus saying 
in terms of our entrance into the land of promise, in terms 
of the conquest given to the church? He says, go therefore 
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching 
them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So the argument 
here is very clearly that when you look at these Old Testament 
passages, you see the strong arm of Yahweh gaining victory 
for his people, sending out the Perizzites, driving out the Hivites, 
driving out the Hittites. But that same God is our God. That same Jehovah is our Jehovah. That same Lord is our Savior. And if we have need, if we have 
issues, we have challenges, we're supposed to go to that God. It's 
not untoward to take God's book of promises to him and say, Lord, 
the way you drove out those parasites from the land, would you give 
me the aid and the assistance and the power of the Holy Spirit 
to get rid of this parasite from my heart? You see, we have this 
same living and true God, and this is what Stephen is highlighting 
here for them. God drove them out. Turn back 
to the book of Joshua for just a moment. Joshua 3 to 12 is actually the 
conquest. It's where the people of Israel 
go to these various parts. They engage on campaign after 
campaign after campaign. Just one, actually. Look at Joshua 
10. Joshua chapter 10. This is a southern campaign. 
Joshua 10, 1 to 43. We see there's this Amorite coalition, 
and we see that they have to go and do things that pretty 
much outside of their ability. Remember that Israel in Egypt 
didn't just make weaponry. Israel in Egypt didn't just hone 
their military skills. It wasn't a training camp for 
them going into the promised land. They were agrarian people. 
They were a simple folk. They weren't the kinds of people 
that were necessarily equipped for battle. If they're going 
to go into the promised land and dispossess the nation or 
dispossess the peoples from the nation, they're gonna need God's 
aid. And you see that specifically 
in verse 10 of chapter 10. We'll pick up at verse seven. 
So Joshua ascended from Gilgal. He and all the people of war 
with him and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to 
Joshua, do not fear them for I have delivered them into your 
hand. Not a man of them shall stand before you. Isn't that 
great? You see, we think, oh, but we 
don't get those sorts of promises. You most certainly do. Before 
you're ever told, if by the Spirit you do mortify the deeds of the 
body you will live, in 813 of Romans, you get Romans 6. You've 
died with Christ. You've been buried with Christ. 
You've been raised with Christ. Therefore, no longer let sin 
reign in your members. You can't say, well, I don't 
have the same sorts of resources that Joshua did. You most certainly 
do have the same resources that Joshua did. You have God. You have the Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit. You have the one who has pledged 
himself to your aid and your assistance and your help. Notice 
in verse 8, do not fear them for I have delivered them into 
your hand. Not a man of them shall stand before you. Joshua 
therefore came upon them suddenly having marched all night from 
Gilgal. So the Lord, notice he's the subject of the verbs in verse 
10. So Yahweh routed them before Israel, killed them with a great 
slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth 
Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makedah. And 
then later he said, well, let's just keep reading, verse 11. 
And it happened as they fled before Israel and were on the 
descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones 
from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There 
were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed 
with the sword." Well, Pastor Butler, it doesn't seem very 
Christian to rejoice over those hailstones. It most certainly 
is. There's a whole psalm rejoicing over those kinds of hailstones. 
Psalm 136. You know that psalm that has the blessed refrain, 
for the mercy of Yahweh endures forever? Do you know that some 
of the substance of the psalm where that refrain occurs is 
that God killed all the firstborn in Egypt? For the mercy of Yahweh 
endures forever. I get it. The Egyptians don't 
see it that way, but Israelites do. And Israelites praise their 
God as a result. Do you get that? It's a question 
of perspective. Praise God for hailstones that come down upon 
Canaanites and wipe them out so that the people of God can 
receive their promise. Again, I'm not suggesting you 
go out this afternoon and pray that hailstones destroy your 
boss. Or if you're an Abbotsfordian, please don't pray that for Chilliwackians. 
The nature of the warfare is a bit different, but the warrior 
is the same, even God most high. Notice Joshua 21. Joshua 21 here's 
the I don't want to say key because it sounds Christian book ish 
Here's the key to how to understand the book of Joshua. I don't like 
that stuff But it is the key on how to understand the book 
of Joshua notice in Joshua 21 43 so Yahweh gave to Israel all 
the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers and 
they took possession of it and dwelt in it and The Lord gave 
them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their 
fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. 
The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not 
a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to 
the house of Israel. All came to pass. That's the book of Joshua, 
brethren. Again, there's that point. There's 
no peace ultimately for the people of God without the destruction 
of God's enemies. And that's a New Covenant concept 
as well. If we read further, or previous in Revelation 21, 
8, and then we read later in Revelation 22, you know what's 
glorious about the New Jerusalem? Do you know what's wonderful 
about the New Jerusalem? There's no riffraff there. There's 
no sinners there. There's no sexual perversion 
there. There's no abortion there. There's no euthanasia there. 
The glory of the New Jerusalem is that the enemies of Yahweh 
have been crushed and the friends of Yahweh now live forever in 
his presence. If that doesn't make us long 
for heaven, I don't know what will. I mean, this world is terrible. It's disgusting. There's a woman 
with four babies in her womb asking that the two boys be terminated 
because she wants girls and isn't into boys. that such a thing 
would even be entertained, that that would even arise in the 
mind, shows us how disgusting and polluted the world is in 
which we live. The fact that we have gone from, 
at least in America, in terms of the Democrat Party, to, you 
know, we're not big fans of abortion, we don't think it should be done 
often, but we want it to be legal, to now shout your abortion? Show 
the world your abortion? Parade your abortion? Brethren, 
if that doesn't make you long for the new Jerusalem, and that 
place where nothing defiles will come in. You know, that's been 
said with reference to heaven. You know, it's that reality where 
God is, where we are with him in his presence. Of course, there 
aren't the sorts of things that offend in this lower world. Learn 
that from the book of Joshua. Learn that from the conquest 
in Israel. There's no peace, no happiness, no safety for Israel 
in the land of Canaan until the Canaanites are gone. Now people 
say here, well that's so disgusting that the God of Israel would 
wage genocide upon these poor innocent Canaanites. They were 
vile, wretched, bestial, sexually perverted people. They look very 
much like the sorts of people that you and I rub shoulders 
with on a regular basis. They look very much like the 
sorts of people that make up certain political parties in 
Canada and in America. They were vile, they were wretched, 
and God used Israel, who was not altogether righteous, to 
be His chastening hand, with reference to driving out those 
Israelites. Now, before you say, well, God's just not fair. When 
Israel acts like Canaan, guess what happens? They get dispossessed 
from the land. When Israel is canonized, which 
the book of Judges starts to show us happening not long after 
their reception of the land. You see it with reference to 
Israel's history. When they act like Canaanites, 
when they engage in gross sexual perversion, when they're offering 
up their babies to Moloch, what's God do? God sends Babylon. God sends Assyria. God shows 
us that His justice is not arbitrary. His justice is not capricious. 
His justice is consistent with His holy perfections. It is who 
God is. This idea that it's just not 
fair for this God. You're not fair. You don't have 
a right to start to lecture God. I love that in the prophet Ezekiel. 
The Lord through Ezekiel says, the children of your people say 
the way of Yahweh is not fair. God says, but it's their way 
that's not fair. We have violated his law. We 
have raised the fist at him. We have transgressed that law. 
He tells us don't engage in idolatry. What do we do? We go a whoring 
after whatever God there may be. He tells us not to blaspheme 
his name. What do we do? We use the name 
of God and Jesus like it's filler in a sentence akin to a, or um, 
or right. Or we just flat out blaspheme 
that holy and precious name. He tells us, I'm going to give 
you the gift of one day for you to come out of the world and 
enjoy me. Oh, no, we can't have a whole day. You get a morning, 
God, if that. In fact, we're going to move 
our services to Saturday night like the Catholics did. And that 
way we have all day Sunday so we can go to the lake. God tells 
us, tells you children to honor and obey your parents. What do 
you do? I'm not picking on you personally, but if you're thinking 
along with me, you'll know I don't always obey them. I don't always 
do what's right in their sight. I've got an attitude. I've got 
problems. I've got issues. Now, again, 
I'm assuming you're honest here. God tells us not to murder. Now, 
we pride ourselves in not actually stopping people's hearts, but 
even in the church, brethren, we deal with each other in such 
unkind ways. I think it's the sixth commandment 
that's at the root of do not gossip. I think it's the sixth 
word at the root of do not slander. I think it's the sixth commandment 
that's at the root of a condemnation of whispering and backbiting. 
We're not supposed to do that. I mean, seventh commandment? Oh yeah, we live in a perverted 
age. We're perverted. Jesus said, if you look upon 
a woman to lust, or women, if you look upon a man to lust, 
you have broken the commandment. God tells us not to be thieves 
or lie or covet. All of us do all of that on a 
regular basis. And yet we say to Yahweh, oh, 
your way is not fair. It's not right that you would 
kill those poor innocent Canaanites. What do you mean it's not right 
or fair that God would kill those poor innocent Canaanites? They 
were bestial, vile, wretched people that God used Israel to 
bring judgment upon. And if we conduct ourselves that 
way, He does it to us. There's a link between, say, 
Leviticus and the book of Revelation. In the book of Leviticus, in 
chapter 18, God says it's for this cause, the bestial, wicked 
behavior of the Canaanites, that the land vomits out the inhabitants. Don't think it's accidental that 
Jesus uses the same image when he speaks to the churches in 
Revelation 2 and 3. Because you're neither hot nor 
cold, I will what? I'll spit you out of my mouth. 
The Old Testament, it was the land that spit out the vile inhabitants. In the New Covenant, it is the 
false professor. It is the fake. It is the fraud. 
Not the person that goes to Christ for forgiveness. Not the person 
that pleads with the Father for forgiveness. Not the person that 
takes seriously John's admonition. My little children, I write these 
things so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have 
an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. 
That's one of those texts that we all give a hearty amen to. 
But to hypocrites, you're a hypocrite in the professing church of God, 
Jesus will spit you out of his mouth. See, he is no respecter 
of persons. It's not arbitrary. It's not 
caprice on his part. When God tells Israel to go in 
and dispossess the land of Canaanites, that is not an act of genocide. It is an act of justice. See, 
this is our problem. We don't like the justice of 
God. Like we read in the last hour, I read a bit from Pink's 
Attributes of God concerning the holiness of God. And he uses 
the argument of the holiness of God as a proof of the inspiration 
of Holy Scripture. He says nobody develops or nobody 
conceives of a holy God. Why? When men make idols, they 
make idols that are like them, or at least will sanction them. They don't make up holy, holy, 
holy God. He says they no more make that 
holy God than the lake of fire that they're going to go to for 
having made their false God. He's right. So we lose these 
thoughts and we lose sight of this. So Joshua himself gives 
praise to God for his victory. Notice in 23.9, 23.9. For the Lord has driven out from 
before you great and strong nations, but as for you, no one has been 
able to stand against you to this day. 2418, and the Lord 
drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites 
who dwell in the land. We also will serve Yahweh for 
he is our God. You see it in Nehemiah chapter 
nine. So the people went in and possessed 
the land. You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, 
the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands. with their 
kings and the people of the land, that they might do with them 
as they wished. We sang Psalm 44 at the outset of our worship. 
Hopefully you remember that Psalm because it says, we have heard 
with our ears, O God, and our fathers have told us the deeds 
you did in their days, in days of old. You drove out the nations 
with your hand, but them you planted. You afflicted the peoples 
and cast them out, for they did not gain possession of the land 
by their own sword, nor did their own arms save them. but it was 
your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance 
because you favored them." Again, that God who gives that grace, 
that God who gives that deliverance, that God who has that victory 
and power is our God. Work out your own salvation with 
fear and trembling. Why? For God is at work in you, 
both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Brethren, 
you're not fighting sin in your own strength. Now, don't lay 
on the couch and think that somehow you're satisfying the requirement 
to fight sin. Well, these Doritos are really 
helping me fight sin. No, no, no. You're not supposed 
to be passive, but you're supposed to recognize the presence and 
the power of the Holy Spirit in you. That's why Paul's language 
makes sense. If by the Spirit you put to death 
the deeds of the body, how are you going to fight sin? You're 
going to do it in a particularly spiritual way. You're not a moralist. It's not just behavior therapy 
modification. That's not what Christianity 
is. And that same God is our God. Well, brethren, in conclusion, 
Stephen's defense focuses primarily on the charge that he's anti-Moses 
in verses 17 to 43. He tells them, I'm not anti-Moses. You and your forefathers are 
anti-Moses. Moses wrote about Jesus. And if you reject Jesus, then 
you reject Moses. That's the essence of his argument 
to show that he's not anti-Moses. The essence of his argument with 
reference to the temple is that he's not. The tabernacle and 
the temple functioned for a time. It was a type pointing unto the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Now that the Lord Jesus Christ 
has come, attachment to the temple is sin. Attachment to the temple 
is idolatry. Attachment to the temple is to 
go back to the types and shadows and neglect the substance, which 
is Jesus. Stephen sounds a whole lot like 
the book of Hebrews in this particular defense. In terms of, secondly, 
the dwelling of God. You know, in our studies in the 
book of Genesis, back when we looked at Genesis chapter 2 specifically, 
we noted that Genesis chapter 2 is a sanctuary. It's a temple. Adam's primary calling was an 
agrarian. Adam's primary calling was priestly. Adam was tasked, yes, to cultivate, 
yes, to protect, yes, to guard the garden, but also to extend 
its boundaries so that Yahweh could dwell with his creature. And yet, Adam and Eve sin. They're 
driven out from that dwelling place of God. And that brings 
to us the rest of redemptive history to show us the means 
by which God restores what was lost with reference to Adam the 
first. And that restoration comes through 
Adam the last, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who said, destroy 
this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up. And they 
marveled at him, and they said, it took our fathers 46 years 
to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days? 
What's John the theologian tell us? He tells us that Jesus was 
talking about the temple of his body. John 1.14, a blessedly 
glorious incarnation text, talks about the Word became flesh and 
He what? He dwelt among us. He tabernacled 
among us. The book or the revelation that 
we read, Revelation chapter 21 in the New Jerusalem, what do 
we learn? We learned that I saw no temple in it for the Lord 
God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. See, here's the point. 
If Israel is taught in Leviticus 1-9 how they're supposed to enter 
into the dwelling place of God in order to see it achieved as 
a meeting place of God, it comes through a bloody knife and a 
smoking altar. That pointed forward to the Lord 
Christ. If you want to dwell with God 
today, Not under his wrath or his fury or his curse and his 
justice and his righteousness, but if you want to dwell with 
God in a way of relationship, it's through Jesus Christ. Isn't 
that glorious? God has made a way where people 
like you and I can ultimately be in the new Jerusalem. I mean, 
we should be, Revelation 21, eight, we should be, Revelation 
22, those dogs outside of the city. We should be excluded from 
that dwelling place of almighty God. But through the blood of 
Jesus Christ, we have been brought nigh. You want to be near God, 
you need to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word, and we thank You for this theme in Scripture, so clear, 
so obvious, the dwelling of God with His people. Lord, we look 
forward to that day when we enter into the new Jerusalem. We look 
forward to that day when Jesus comes again in glory to judge 
the living and the dead. that the land is ultimately dispossessed 
of all of the Canaanites and righteousness dwells forever. 
Lord God, we thank you for the prospect of heaven typified by 
Canaan. We thank you for the prospect 
of dwelling in the presence of God typified by tabernacle and 
temple and ultimately realized even now through our Lord Jesus 
Christ foretastes even now in the church of the living God. 
Lord, we pray that sinners who do not know you would be brought 
nigh through the blood of Jesus Christ, confessing their sins, 
laying by grace their hands upon that scapegoat, and seeing it 
driven out into the wilderness. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, let's close and sing 
the Doxology.