Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Well, I intentionally didn't wear my OU shirt, as some of y' all know, but my family did.
[00:00:10] So I told Kevin I had two points to the sermon this morning.
[00:00:15] Kevin and I have been watching the OU Texas game together since Michael, my son, who's 15, was a little baby. And so we've always had fun. And I was fully expecting yesterday we were leaving volleyball, and I'm coming to his house. I'm like, why am I doing this? Like, this is going to be terrible. And I'm really glad I showed up because things went better from there.
[00:00:38] It is one of the greatest blessings of walking with people in life is that you just get to have fun with people.
[00:00:44] One of the things we're going to see in our text today is that God is assembling a people together.
[00:00:52] And the purpose of this people coming together is that.
[00:00:56] That a holy God would dwell with his people.
[00:01:01] And what makes that really hard is that you got a holy God and you've got a sinful people. And we know that just by reading, like, man, the people of Israel were really sinful. And like we've talked about before is like, you get to a point where you're kind of like, I mean, really, guys? And then you realize that they're holding a mirror up for yourself. And you're like, that's me.
[00:01:22] How does a holy God dwell with. With me, a sinner, that I. I say I'm never going to do that, or I say that I'm going to do better, and then I end up back in that same spot. And you just realize, like, how do I. How do I dwell with a holy God? And why would a holy God dwell with me?
[00:01:38] And yet the story of the Bible, from the very beginning, God created the garden, and he put Adam and Eve there. And. And he was with them.
[00:01:46] Like he wanted to be with his people.
[00:01:49] Sin wrecked that. And there was separation. Because of that, there was death, separation from a holy God. And so we see in the book of Exodus that God's remaking in this tent, this tabernacle, a way for him to dwell with his people.
[00:02:07] Now, that's just a shadow of what's to come. And it points us forward to the tabernacle, which would be a physical building.
[00:02:15] But we know even that building was not the end. It was again, just a type and a shadow pointing forward even to Christ. That how would a holy God dwell with a sinful people?
[00:02:29] It would be through Christ, who came and dwelt among us and made a way for a holy God. And A sinful people to come together. Because Christ would take upon himself the just penalty of our sin.
[00:02:45] And he would give us, by faith, exchange our filth for his righteousness.
[00:02:52] That we would be considered holy and righteous because of what Christ has done on our behalf. That then we might have, like what we sang about, that we would have confidence, as the Book of Hebrews talks about, that we would have confidence to enter into the holy place, into the holiness of God. That we would have confidence to come because we're clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
[00:03:16] That's a story of your Bible, and that's a story that we find here in Exodus. As we get to the end of this, we're going to see that this is the assembly of the tabernacle. And so we're going to look and see, and I'm going to make some applications to us and pull in some New Testament passages that help us to understand this. But let's just go to the Lord and ask that he would stir in our hearts and that he would give us eyes and ears to hear from him. Would you pray with me, Lord? I am keenly aware this morning, Lord, of just my own sinfulness and my own inability to communicate your word. And so, Lord, I just ask for just your help, Lord, that you would give us by your power, ears to hear and eyes to see, and a heart that would be soft, that desires to obey your word, that desires to know you and to dwell with you, Lord, that we might be a people individually made up of people who are seeking you and your will and set apart for your purposes, Lord, that then collectively we might be a church in this community and across this nation and, Lord, across the globe, that we might be a church that demonstrates your glory, that offers hope to people, that says, if he can do it for us, he'll do it for you.
[00:04:49] So would you move in our midst this morning? We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:04:55] Well, let's look at this text. I want to start Exodus, chapter 40. And this is gonna break down really into kind of three sections. And so it's really.
[00:05:06] I wanna read it because I think it's important to read God's word. But I want you all to track with me. And so these first eight verses, the things that we're gonna see in here and kind of a theme, as you're reading different things, is you go, okay, what do I do with this? The theme, One of the things that you're gonna see in here is that they set up, they put that it's all about arranging, and it's about the assembling of how do you put all of these things, the pieces of the tabernacle which were all made? How do you put them together? And so look at this. This is the Lord spoke to Moses.
[00:05:40] So this is the instruction God's giving to Moses, saying, on the first day of the first month, you shall erect a tabernacle of the tent of meeting. Now, this is important, that Exodus, chapter 12, verse 2.
[00:05:53] God has already told the people of Israel. He said, hey, you're gonna reorient your entire calendar around this one event, which was the Passover, where I rescued you by the blood of a lamb, that you avoided the judgment of death because of the blood of the lamb. And you're gonna reorient your whole calendar around this.
[00:06:18] And so God now is saying on the first day of the first month, so it's one year later, he says, you're going to build this, and on the 10th day of that month, it's going to already be set up that you can then observe the Passover. This is incredible that. That this is the way of reminding the people of Israel that he rescued them out of their slavery because of the blood of the lamb.
[00:06:44] And so they're setting this up. One year later.
[00:06:47] He says, you shall erect this tent.
[00:06:50] But look at what the tent is for. It's not just a tent. It's a tent of meeting.
[00:06:55] That the whole purpose of this tent is that they would meet with God, that they would dwell with a holy God. And so they're to erect this in verse three. And you shall put in the ark of the testimony. And you shall screen the ark with the veil.
[00:07:11] And you shall bring the table and arrange it. And you shall bring the lampstand and set it up on its lamps. And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony. And set up the screen of the altar for burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And place the basin between the tent of the meeting and the altar and put water in it. And you shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen for the gate of the court. And so what do we see in those first eight verses? We see that God wants to dwell with his people, that this tent of meeting, that God wants to dwell with his people. And how is he going to do that? There's these individual pieces that are all brought together to be assembled, that it might represent a place where God would dwell with his people.
[00:08:02] A house of sorts that this tabernacle would be a dwelling place for God to dwell among his people.
[00:08:13] But how is it to be done? Well, it's all of these individual pieces that the individual pieces make up the whole.
[00:08:23] That's what I want us to see just out of this. But it's all this piece has to be brought. And literally it would be. The people would have been carrying it and they would have brought it and they would have been like Moses, where do you want it? And he says, okay.
[00:08:35] God said, put it over there. Okay, hey, we got this piece.
[00:08:40] We got the ark. Where do we go with that? And they would have carried it on those poles and they would have brought it. And he said, okay, we gotta set it up here and it's gotta face this direction. And okay, what about the table? They would have brought it on the poles and where's the table go? And he would have instructed them, the table goes here. The altar of burnt offering goes here. That. The wash basin goes here. That put the veil burnt between that. And so they would have been bringing these pieces to assemble all of this. But it would have come individual, piece by piece.
[00:09:11] I love this because as we think about jumping forward, one of the things that we see in the scripture is that this idea of me and my Bible on my own, me and Jesus, we got this just doesn't exist in the scripture that God would say about the church, his people that he's assembling, bringing his people together. And First Peter two actually would say this, that you're these living stones being built up and assembled, that there's individual pieces being brought, that you don't have everything you need in and of yourself. You can't just be a like, well, I got it. I mean, just imagine this. Like, what's that table doing over there? Oh, that's the table to meet with God.
[00:10:05] But why is it over there? Why is it not with everything else?
[00:10:09] Well, it just wanted to do its own thing.
[00:10:12] Like what?
[00:10:15] Like that it's a part of a whole. That these individual pieces come together to make a part of a whole. And they all work together for one purpose of the dwelling place of God.
[00:10:30] And so we see that there's instruction of all these pieces coming together.
[00:10:35] Each piece. I love this about the scripture, that it does this. That it keeps us from getting too prideful of, like, I'm better or I've got it and I don't need everybody else. But it also keeps us from getting too low in despair of going, like, well, nobody needs me. Nope, they do.
[00:10:53] If One of the pieces is missing, then it's missing, like you're needed as a part of the body, as a part of the building, to demonstrate the glory of God, that if. If it's missing, then it's missing. And so we see in this, the instruction that the Lord spoke to Moses, that all these pieces had importance, but they all had importance as they come together a whole.
[00:11:19] Look at this second thing, from 9 to 15.
[00:11:23] We see that all of these individual pieces come together as a part of the whole. But the individual pieces have to be set apart for the service of God. Look at this verse 9.
[00:11:36] You shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture so that it may become holy. Now this is important.
[00:11:49] That's the summary verse. And he's about to tell us about all the individual pieces that he then anoints. But the summary is that the Lord instructs Moses, you bring all these pieces and you assemble them together. But now you've got to set them apart for a purpose.
[00:12:03] This anointing them, it would have been a symbolic representation to all the people, that they would have taken the oil. And there wasn't anything magical about the oil.
[00:12:13] They made it from just everyday ingredient, but they would have set it apart. That the oil was a symbolic setting them apart, that they would have consecrated it. That's what it means to be set apart. That it has a purpose, not just for everyday use, but a singular purpose. And what was that purpose?
[00:12:35] In service to the glory of God. That these items were set apart for a singular purpose, to bring God glory.
[00:12:47] Look at this. He's going to go through this. You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and consecrate the altar so that the altar may become the most holy.
[00:13:02] You shall anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate it. Set it apart.
[00:13:07] Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of the meeting, and shall wash them with water and put on Aaron's holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest, that he may be holy and set apart verse 14. You shall bring his sons also and put the coats on them and anoint them as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests, that they would be set apart and their anointing shall admit them to the perpetual priesthood throughout all generations. This is where we see the Aaron line, the Levitical priesthood that we see it begin to be established here, that this was even one of the tribes that was set apart, consecrated for the Lord.
[00:13:58] When you think about this being set apart, I couldn't help if you got a Bible flip over to First Corinthians.
[00:14:09] This is the part where I got fired up just as I was studying. I was like, man, this is when you think about this idea of, okay, you got an everyday, ordinary instrument.
[00:14:20] You've got an item that was fashioned out of something precious, gold or bronze or silver. You got a tent that was made out of goat's hair and woven yarn and tanned ram skins. So you've got these everyday, ordinary items that God said, I want you to bring all of these everyday, ordinary items that have been made and fashioned for a purpose. I want you to bring them. And now together, we're going to set them apart for a singular purpose to glorify God.
[00:14:55] Now, if we don't set them apart, then how will they be in service to a holy God? Because they're not holy.
[00:15:04] What makes something holy? When we ask that, that this word holy would be to be set apart, it's different.
[00:15:13] That's what it looks like.
[00:15:15] It's not the same.
[00:15:17] It's different. It's set apart.
[00:15:21] And so how do you make these things holy? God told them, like, okay, you're going to make this oil and you're going to anoint it with oil. And then together as a congregation of people, you're going to say, this is only for this purpose. So we are setting this apart. But then when you think about us as individual people, if we're honest with ourselves, we wouldn't necessarily classify ourselves and put ourselves in this category of holy, that we're unholy, we're a sinful people, and so how do we become holy? And I love this. First Corinthians.
[00:16:03] Paul's writing this letter to a church, and he's writing it to a church that has a lot of issues and a lot of problems, but he's reminding them of that which is true. And so when he gets to chapter six, he gets to verse nine and he says this. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
[00:16:29] He's like, listen, do you not know that the sinful, the unrighteous, they won't get into heaven? They don't get to inherit that because God is holy, and only what is holy can be used of his purposes and his service?
[00:16:47] Do you not know that?
[00:16:51] But look at where he goes, he says, don't be deceived.
[00:16:56] Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. He starts listing off things and it's like, no, none of us get in.
[00:17:15] None of us are holy.
[00:17:19] Verse 11.
[00:17:22] And such were some of you.
[00:17:27] But you were washed, you were sanctified, set apart, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
[00:17:43] He says, how do you become holy?
[00:17:45] You were washed in the blood of Christ, you were washed in the righteousness of Christ. By faith you have been made holy because the Spirit of God has now indwelt you because of faith in Christ, that you're now set apart for a singular purpose, to glorify Him.
[00:18:08] That's who you are.
[00:18:10] That's your identity.
[00:18:13] I love this passage because he moves us from this place of like, everyday, ordinary, unrighteous, like, that's just another golden lamp, that's just another golden table. That's just another wash basin.
[00:18:27] That's just another curtain.
[00:18:30] He says, we move you from an identity of unrighteous, greedy, sinful.
[00:18:39] He says, and he transfers us, he gives us a new identity from unrighteous to righteous.
[00:18:49] How?
[00:18:50] Because we were set apart by Christ, that there's no other way that we can become holy, that we can be set apart except through Christ.
[00:19:00] I'd love for you just to Write down Psalm 51 this week. I'd love for you to just spend some time there.
[00:19:07] Psalm 51 is a journey of David going through this journey of seeing his sinfulness in light of a holy God and throwing himself at the mercy and grace of God.
[00:19:25] The one who defines himself as merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The one who forgives our iniquity, our trespasses and our sins, who by no means will clear the guilty who's just, but he has made a way that we might be set apart for his service, that that comes by faith in Jesus Christ, Christ alone.
[00:19:52] If we flip back over to Exodus, this is how we end. So we've seen that in the assembly that there were all individual pieces, but then those individual pieces come together for the purpose of being set apart for the purpose of one goal, of glorifying God. But then look at verse 16 to 33, the theme that comes out in this, and just listen for it, is that as the Lord commanded, Moses going to hear that repeated again, it's a theme. As the Lord commanded Moses. Look at verse 16.
[00:20:24] This Moses did according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. That's a summary.
[00:20:30] It just encapsulates all of it that Moses obeyed.
[00:20:35] In the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.
[00:20:40] Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, he set its frames, he put its poles and raised up its pillars, and he spread the tent over the tabernacle. And he put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
[00:20:54] He took the testimony and he put it into the ark. And he put the poles on the ark. And he set the mercy seat above the ark. And he brought the ark into the tabernacle. And he set up the veil of the screen, and he screened the ark of the testimony, as the Lord commanded Moses.
[00:21:10] And he put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side tabernacle outside the veil. And he arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord Commanded Moses. Verse 24. And he put the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle. And he set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
[00:21:30] And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil. And he burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
[00:21:39] And he put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle in the tent of meeting. And he offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord commanded Moses.
[00:21:53] And he set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and he put the water in it for washing.
[00:21:58] With which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet when they went into the tent of meeting. And when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and he set up the screen of the gate of the court.
[00:22:17] So Moses finished the work.
[00:22:21] It's super repetitive, right?
[00:22:24] God commanded it.
[00:22:26] Moses did it.
[00:22:28] God commanded it. Moses did it. God commanded it. Moses did it.
[00:22:33] Imagine if at the end of our life, your tombstone read as the Lord commanded that we lived with that.
[00:22:50] Whatever God says, that's what I'm going to do.
[00:22:56] Wherever he tells me to go, that's where I'll go.
[00:22:59] Whatever he tells me to say, that's what I'll say. Whatever he tells me to do, that's what I'll do. Whatever the Lord says, I'll do it as the Lord commanded.
[00:23:11] You see that?
[00:23:13] That's what demonstrates the glory of God.
[00:23:17] All these pieces brought together, set apart for a purpose.
[00:23:23] But then imagine that they were all set apart and then they didn't do what God commanded them to do.
[00:23:33] Yeah, we got all the pieces, we made them all holy, but we're just not going to follow through.
[00:23:43] What a tragedy that we get the same picture for us, all these pieces assembled, that God goes, I'm calling you out of slavery, out of darkness. I'm rescuing you from that. I'm calling you that I might assemble you together, set you apart because of what Christ has done, that you're now set apart as his holy living stones being built up into the house of God.
[00:24:14] And then we go. But I'm not going to obey.
[00:24:20] Like, why?
[00:24:22] Because I want to do what I want to do.
[00:24:25] But you don't demonstrate the glory of God in that.
[00:24:28] Well, I thought that this arrangement would look a little better. Well, I thought I could do it my way.
[00:24:33] Well, it seems a little exclusive or intrusive or it seems a little.
[00:24:40] A little outdated.
[00:24:43] I want to do it my way.
[00:24:47] The glory of God is put on display as his people walk in obedience to his commands.
[00:24:56] Individual pieces assembled, set apart for one purpose, walking in obedience.
[00:25:08] The scripture gives us these illustrations of the church, that the church is a family that we've been adopted in individual pieces, individual members brought in, adopted in to be a part of a whole for a purpose. That we would be the family of God, but not a dysfunctional family.
[00:25:36] A family that enjoys the fellowship of one another. A family that walks in obedience to what God says.
[00:25:43] All going in the same direction.
[00:25:48] See, but we know too well what a dysfunctional family probably looks like.
[00:25:54] We've experienced it, we've seen it, we've heard about it.
[00:25:57] That when people decide to do their own thing, then it doesn't strive for the glory of God.
[00:26:05] The scripture also talks about the church being a body, individual pieces made up that brought together, assemble a whole for one purpose, living, functioning for the glory of God.
[00:26:25] But we know too well that when those individual parts decide not to function the way that they're supposed to within our own body, it affects the rest of the body.
[00:26:40] That we understand. When they're not all going in the same direction of obeying the central command, it affects everybody and we lose the demonstration of the glory of God. All functioning together.
[00:26:58] Lastly, the scripture talks about the church as a building Let me read one more time. Out of second Peter or out of first Peter, chapter two, verse five.
[00:27:11] He says this.
[00:27:14] He says, you yourselves are like living stones being built up as a spiritual house. The tabernacle was a physical house with a spiritual purpose.
[00:27:29] We are physical people with a spiritual purpose. Being built up as a spiritual house.
[00:27:36] To be a holy priesthood that we would offer sacrifices of our lives acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
[00:27:50] The challenge for us is that we would recognize our identity.
[00:27:56] God desires to assemble us, called out, each one of us called to himself, consecrated, sanctified, set apart. Because what Christ has done for us, that we are a holy people, one purpose to glorify God.
[00:28:18] How do we do that?
[00:28:21] We obey his commands.
[00:28:23] It's that simple.
[00:28:25] If all of us just obey his commands and help one another obey his commands, we demonstrate the glory of God.
[00:28:35] Listen.
[00:28:36] This is what transforms communities, cultures, governments, nations. This is what transforms the world.
[00:28:50] He's done it all through history.
[00:28:53] Individual people assembling together to demonstrate the glory of God.
[00:28:58] Would you pray with me?
[00:29:03] I pray that we might find our identity in that. That you have called us, each individual pieces, individual people.
[00:29:14] That you know us. You know the number of hairs on our head, you know the number of days in our life, Lord, that you know us intimately and deeply.
[00:29:22] And yet you have. You have called us with a purpose that individually we might come together, each playing our part, being built up into a spiritual house with the purpose of demonstrating your glory.
[00:29:37] That we are sanctified, set apart because of what Christ has done for us, that once we were sinful, unrighteous. But you have made us holy, and yet you've called us to obey all that you have commanded.
[00:29:57] That as we walk in obedience, you demonstrate your glory to the watching world.
[00:30:05] Lord, Would you help us that we might remember that identity, even get caught up in that identity, that we might live out of that identity obeying all that you commanded us.
