SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 9 - Ex. 39:42-43; 40:1-4, 34-38 - PRESENCE
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Ex. 32:1-6, 11-14 we covered the sordid episode of the Israelite's rebellion against God and the worship of the golden calf. While Moses had been up on the Mountain for 40 days and nights receiving God's instructions on the Law and the plan for the Tabernacle, the Israelite nation meanwhile degenerated into a virtually leaderless mob who demanded that Aaron make them a material 'god' they could see and touch. Aaron's misguided efforts to establish worship of the One True God and this craven idol at the same time only resulted in a drunken orgy. It was at this point that God interrupted His instructions to tell Moses that His people had corrupted themselves to the point that God planned to (1) utterly destroy them and (2) make a new nation from the line of Moses. Moses responded to this with one of the greatest examples of intercession in Scripture. Moses pleaded with God to "relent" and show them mercy for three reasons: (1) That because of their history, they were actually His people who belonged to Him, not to Moses; (2) That because He had very publically brought them out of Egypt and identified them as His people, destroying them at this point would really make Him look bad to the surrounding nations; and (3) That He should keep the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God, who foreknew all these things, was simply waiting for Moses, as the peoples' mediator, to pray exactly as He wanted him to pray. Moses' example points to Christ, who is our mediator before our holy God right now. We learned three points of application: (1) That the first step toward unfaithfulness and sin is disregarding God's Word. It led the Israelites to idolatry; in churches today, it leads to apostasy. (2) We must never underestimate the power of intercessory prayer. We NT Christians have the same access to God as Moses. And (3) like Moses, we must agree with God's attitude towards sin when we intercede for others and plead for mercy rather than condemnation.
Today we will conclude our study of Exodus with Chapters 39:42-43 and 40:1-4, 34-38, which report the completion of the Tabernacle and how God's glory (presence) filled it.
Read Ex. 39:42-43 - THE SONS OF ISRAEL DID ALL THE WORK
42 So the sons of Israel did all the work according to everything that the LORD had commanded Moses. 43 And Moses examined all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as the LORD had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.
Note: We skipped what happened in remainder of Chapter 32, when Moses came down from the mountain, threw down and broke the stone tablets God had given him, and vented his fury against Aaron and the people. Moses took the golden calf, burned it up, ground it into powder, then sprinkled it on the water and made the people drink it! When Moses saw that some of them were still partying as before, he ordered the Sons of Levi to kill them, which is estimated to have numbered about 3,000 people. We skip Chapter 33, where God commands Moses to leave Sinai, and Chapter 34, where Moses makes new tablets and God renews His covenant with Moses and the people. Chapters 35-39 all pertain to the completion of the Tabernacle.
v. 42: "So the sons of Israel did all the work according to everything that the LORD had commanded Moses" - Contrast this verse with the peoples' blatant rebellion in last week's lesson. After making the offering that supplied all of the metals and materials needed for the construction of the Tabernacle (Ex. 35:4-29), the people, under the meticulous supervision of Bezalel and Oholiab, made "everything" according to the precise specifications laid out in Chapters 25-30 and 36-39. There was nothing like Lowes back in those days, so that every single item had to be fabricated, formed, carved, molded, wrought, spun, or woven from raw materials using hand tools.
v. 43a: "And Moses examined all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as the LORD had commanded, this they had done" - In today's lingo, we might call Moses the job superintendent. It was his responsibility to his superior-God-to make sure every part or piece of the Tabernacle was completed according to the exact specifications. Since God had given him a photographic memory of the architect's model (Ex. 25:9), Moses had the ability to judge whether everything had been completed "Just as the LORD had commanded," and his examination confirmed that it did, in fact. I would imagine that every item was completed as close to perfection as human hands can achieve.
v. 43b: "So Moses blessed them" - This is the final step of approval by Moses and God. This is what is earned from obedience: God's blessing.
Read Ex. 40:1-4 - THE TABERNACLE ERECTED
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen off the ark with the veil. 4 Then you shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps.
v. 1: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying" - The adverb "Then" connects to verse 42 and 43 of the previous chapter, meaning that God and Moses are now ready for them to move to the next step.
v. 2: "On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting" - This was the first of Nisan, the "New Year's Day" of the Israelites, which indicates that it is exactly one year since they came out of Egypt and makes it a very fitting and proper day to inaugurate a place of worship. The past year had been an incredibly amazing time in the history of Israel. The sequence of events dictated here is that the Tabernacle was to be set up first of all, then the "tent of Meeting" would be placed over it.
v. 3a: "You shall place the ark of the testimony there" - The first thing-the most holy object-to be placed within the Tabernacle was the ark of the testimony (or covenant), which contained the foundation of the covenant between God and Israel and symbolizes God's presence with His people. The two stone tablets (i.e., the second set that Moses cut and made in Ex. 34) were placed in the ark before it was brought into the Tabernacle. Then, two tables were brought into the Tabernacle.
v. 3b: "and you shall screen off the ark with the veil" - The "veil" was a vertical screen or curtain that separated the ark from the front portion of the tent. The screened-off back space containing the ark would be the holy of holies and the front room with the tables would the holy place. The idea here is that the Ark must never be open to public view.
Note: the next items were to be placed in the Holy Place in the front room of the tent.
v. 4a: "Then you shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it" - This is the "Table of the Show-Bread," which symbolized God's giving of life and provision to the 12 Tribes. The bread of the Presence (12 loaves for the 12 tribes) was to be set on the table along with plates and dishes for incense and bowls to pour drink offerings.
v. 4b: "and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps" - This is the golden lampstand, which was fashioned with a central stem having three branches on each side. It was modeled on the form of a flowering almond tree. The order to "mount its lamps" indicated it was to be immediately supplied with lamp oil and lighted.
Read Ex. 40: 34-38 - THE GLORY OF THE LORD
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
v. 34: "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle" - Here, we see the work of the Tabernacle is finished, the incense burned (Ex. 40:27), and the first sacrifice offered (Ex. 40:29). Everyone had left the Tabernacle itself, even Moses, when very suddenly and without warning, there was an expression of divine power and presence: The pillar of cloud that had previously gone before them as they journeyed, moved and covered the Tabernacle eternally, while a blinding white light-which manifested the glory of God-filled the whole interior of the Tabernacle. Significantly, this meant that God accepted this dwelling and had entered it. At the same time, we need to see that this didn't happen because Moses and Israel deserved it by doing "all the LORD commanded," but because their obedience had demonstrated their faith and love for God.
v. 35: "And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle" - This verse implies that Moses tried to enter the tent of the Tabernacle, but the "glory" prevented it, caused him to back off and turn away. It's interesting that the same thing occurred over 500 year later when Solomon completed the Temple in Jerusalem. When God's glory entered it, Solomon and the priests had to withdraw (1 Kings 8:10-11).
vv. 36-38: "Throughout their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel." - This establishes the pattern, a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night-signifying the presence of God with them-that guided the people of Israel in their wilderness wandering over the next 40 years as reported in detail in the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. Thus, the Book of Exodus ends with the fulfillment of God's promise that He would dwell among them. The Book also ends with great hope and trust in God. Despite being in the middle of a barren desert, despite their tendency to fall into sin and rebellion, and despite the prospect of facing fierce enemies in the Promised Land, God was with them.
APPLICATION-According to all the LORD commands:
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS
Next week we'll undertake a new OT study in the Book of Leviticus. The primary theme of Leviticus is holiness. God's demand for holiness in His people is based on His own holy nature. A corresponding theme is that of atonement. Holiness must be maintained before God, and holiness can only be attained through a proper atonement. Because the Israelites had been held captive in Egypt for 400 years, their concept of God had been corrupted by the Egyptians' worship of their polytheistic deities. The Book of Leviticus was designed to provide instruction and laws to guide a sinful (but redeemed) people in their relationship with the one true God. There is an emphasis in Leviticus on the need for personal holiness in response to a holy and almighty God. Sin must be atoned for through the offering of proper sacrifices (chapters 8-10). Other topics covered in the book are diets (clean and unclean foods), childbirth, and diseases which are carefully regulated (chapters 11-15). Chapter 16 describes the Day of Atonement when an annual sacrifice is made for the cumulative sin of the people. Furthermore, the people of God are to be circumspect in their personal, moral, and social living, in contrast to the then-current practices of the pagan people around them (chapters 17-22).
What, as NT Christians, can we learn from the Book of Leviticus? That God takes His holiness very seriously, and so should we. The trend in the postmodern church is to create God in our own image, giving Him the attributes we would like Him to have instead of the ones His Word describes. God's utter holiness, His transcendent splendor, and His "unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6:16) are foreign concepts to many Christians. We are called to walk in the Light and to put away the darkness in our lives so that we may be pleasing in His sight. A holy God cannot tolerate blatant, unashamed sin in His people and His holiness requires Him to punish it. We dare not be flippant in our attitudes toward sin or God's loathing of it, nor should we make light of it in any way. As Christians, we can praise God that because of Jesus' death on our behalf, we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices. Leviticus is all about substitution. The death of the animals was a substitute penalty for those who have sinned. In the same way, but infinitely better, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the substitute for our sins. Now we can stand before a God of utter holiness without fear because He sees in us the righteousness of Christ.
PRAYER: Our Father in heaven, we come into Your presence this morning with humble and grateful hearts. As Your people, we especially thank You today for the good fellowship we enjoy as a body of believers in this good church. Although we've been through many up and downs in the life of this church, You, by Your mighty power, have preserved us and sustained us up to this very day. We know, Lord, that this is a very important day in the life of this church. Starting today, Pastor Mike Donothan-the new shepherd You have sent us-will undertake the job of leading this church into a new future. Taking the example we learned this morning from Moses and the Israelites, I pray, Dear God, that you will inspire and move the heart of every person here to join Pastor Mike and help him accomplish all the work You have called him and us to do, and please help and equip each one of us to be Your obedient servants. And I ask all these things in the name above all names, Jesus Christ, AMEN.
