THE TABERNACLE WORSHIP Exodus 25-Leviticus 27 1. The Beauty of Sacrifice (Ex. 25, Lev. 1) 2. Total Dedication by the Savior (Lev. 1-2) 3. Total Dedication by the Saved (Eph. 4:32) 4. Living for God (Lev. 2: 1-16) 5. Continued 6. Old Testament Fellowship (Lev. 3; 7:11-38) 7. When God s People Sin (Lev. 4-7) 8. The God Who Lives With Us (Ex. 25:1-8, Jn 1:14) 9. The Significance of the Tabernacle (Heb. 9:1-11) 10. A Successful Building Program (Ex. 25:1-8; 36: 3-7) 11. The Fence Around God (Ex. 27:9-19; 38:9-20) 12. The Old Rugged Altar (Ex. 27:1-8; 38:1-7) 13. God s Dirty Children (Ex. 30:17-21; 30:8; 40:7) 14. Jesus The Tabernacle of God (Ex. 26; 38:8-18) 15. Ministry and Intimacy (Ex. 25: 31-40: 27:20-21) 16. The Communion (Ex. 25:23-30; 37:25-28) 17. The Ministry of Prayer (Ex. 30:1-10; 37:25-28) 18. God s Room (Ex 25:10-22; 37:1-9)
2. The Tabernacle Worship Sermon 8 2) The Setting (Ex. 25:1-8) Ex. 25:1-8 3) The Special Home (Ex. 40:33-38) Ex. 40:33-38 Jn. 1:1,14 THE GOD WHO LIVES WITH US Exodus 25:1-8 The Lord said to Moses, Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering... These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver... fine linen... ram s skins... spices... (etc.). Then have them make a sanctuary (MIQDASH = special place) for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle (MISH-KAN = dwelling) and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. Exodus 40:33,34,36-38 And so Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tent (OHEL) of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (MISHKAN). Moses could not enter the tent... In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. We have looked at the Old Testament sacrifices and what they meant. Now we look at the holy place where they were made - the Tabernacle. We begin with the setting (Ex. 25:1-8) and then look at the Tabernacle as the home of God where God sojourns, God lives, with His redeemed people and goes with them through life with its defilements and dangers. I. THE SETTING (Ex. 13-40) 1. The Journey to Sinai (Ex. 13-18). When God led Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 1-15), He gave them a
visible sign of His glorious presence. By day it was a huge cloud column or pillar and by night the cloud was filled with fire. The Bible says of their journey to Sinai, By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. (Ex. 13:20-22). 2. At Sinai (Ex. 19:1-Nu. 10:10). Israel came to the Sinai region after three months of travel (Ex. 19:1) and stayed there for sixteen months (Ex. 12:2; 19:1; Nu. 10:11). Here several things happened. Israel... 1. Agreed to become God s nation (Ex. 19) 2. Accepted God s laws (Ex. 19-24) 3. Received God s plans for the Worship Center (Tabernacle) (Ex. 25-31) 4. Broke God s law (Ex. 32-34) 5. Built the Worship Center (Ex. 35-40) 6. Saw the glory cloud of God, which had covered the mountain (19:3; 21:17); and visited a tent Moses had pitched outside the camp (33:7-11); finally came down to live in the Tabernacle-Worship Center (Ex. 40:33-38) 7. Received various laws and days and seasons of worship (Ex. 21-23; Lev. 11-27) 8. Prepared to leave (Nu. 1:1-10:10) II. THE SPECIAL HOME (Ex. 24-40) 1. The Sight of God (Ex. 24) After giving the Law (Ex. 19-23), God called Moses, the seventy elders and Aaron and his sons, Nahab and Abihu, to his Holy mountain, where His glory was. Only Moses drew near (24:1-2), but they all saw God (24:10). What they saw we don t know, but the Bible says,
Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God and ate and drank (Ex. 24:10-11). Moses then went up to get the stone tablets and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai... To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain - forty days and forty nights. (Ex. 24:16-18). It was during this time that God gave Moses the plans for His Tabernacle (25:1-31:11), the laws of the Sabbath (31:12-17) and the two tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God (31:18). And it was also during this time that Israel broke their agreement and sinned before the Golden Calf (Ex. 32-34). 2. The Special Home for God (Ex. 25:1-31:11) 1) The Home Requested (25:1ff.) While Israel was wallowing in sin God was making the unbelievable announcement that He, in His fiery glory, no longer wanted to live above and apart from His people, but WITH THEM in a Tent (OHEL) pitched right in the middle (Nu. 2) of their tents (OHEL). He said,...have them make a sanctuary (MIQDASH) for me and I will dwell among them. (Ex. 25) How can we say the God beyond this universe lives anywhere? Solomon knew he couldn t live in the Temple he built. He prayed, But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less the temple I have built... Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place (1 Kn. 8:27,30).
God doesn t live anywhere but there are places He has chosen to manifest His presence, reveal His character and bestor His salvation blessings. To the Hebrews it was at altars, then at the Tabernacle and the Temple and now is is through the blessed Son lifted up by His church. 2) The Home Described Three words are used for God s home: Tent (OHEL), Dwelling place (MISHKAN) and Special or holy place - sanctuary (MIQDASH). What this was, was a portable sanctuary Israel set up, in the center of the camp (Nu. 2), in all the fortytwo encampments of the wilderness years (Nu. 33). It consisted of a Tent approximately 45' x 15', which sat on the western end of a 150' x 75' fenced courtyard (See diagram. These measurements make a cubit about one and a half feet). The home was called: A. The Tent of Meeting (Ex. 40:34, etc.) B. The Tent of Witness (Ex. 25:16, etc.) 3) The Home Deployed It was a place of wrath where blood sacrifices were made for sin to be forgiven; a place of worship for individuals (Lev. 1) and the nation on holy days. It was a place of witness (25:16) where God s holy nature and require-ments were revealed. It, during the wilderness years, was a place of watchcare as God s glory guided and guarded (Ex. 40:35-38). 4) The Home Previewed (33:7-11) Right after the Golden Calf episode Moses pitched a tent outside the camp (33:7). He called it by the same name he would call the Tabernacle - the tent of meeting (33:7). We read in Exodus 33:7-11: Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the
camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. 5) The Home Occupied (40:35-Josh. 1) Moses temporary tent was replaced by the portable worship center known as the Tabernacle. In Israel s eleven months and five days stay (Ex. 19:1; Nu. 10:11), approximately five months (Wood, A Survey of Israel s History) were spent building God s house. (1) At Sinai (Ex. 40:35-Nu. 10:11) The Tabernacle was ompleted the first day of the first month (Ex. 40:17) and we read, Then the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Ex. 40:35). God stayed there for a month and a half as He gave Israel the sacrifice and worship laws in the Book of Leviticus. On the twentieth day of the second month (Nu. 10:11) the glory lifted up and went to the Desert of Paran, and as God instructed, Israel broke camp, packed up the Tabernacle and went to where God was (Nu. 10:11-13). This began the next phase... (2) The Wilderness Years (Ex. 40:36-38; Nu. 33) For approximately 39 years, Israel and God lived together in the
desert. There were forty-one moves and encampments (Nu. 33), as God s cloud would lift and Israel would follow it (Ex. 40:36; Nu. 33)....the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels (Ex. 40:38). God was living with and guiding His people from the CENTER OF THE CAMP (Nu. 2-4; 10:11-28) (See Diagram). Because of the sin of the Golden Calf, God s glory did not go into Canaan (Ex. 33:1-3) but His angel did (Ex. 33:2; Josh. 5:13) and the Tabernacle did. 6) The Home Unoccupied in Canaan (Ex. 33:1-3) God s glory left the Tabernacle when Israel crossed over into Canaan (Ex. 33:1-3). The Tabernacle was taken in and had several resting places, all just north of Jerusalem, until it was placed in the Temple at Jerusalem. It was centrally located and was a center of worship. At Gilgal, by the Jordan, Israel camped first (Josh. 5:10), but this was temporary. In the land the first home was at Shiloh, a central location (Josh. 18:1) just north of Jerusalem. Here it was called the temple (1 Sam. 1:9), the Hebrew (HEKAL) word for palace (Ps. 45:15). It had three more homes - Nob, Gibeon and Jerusalem - all within thirty miles of Shiloh (2 Sam. 6:17; 1 Ch. 16:1). Solomon placed it in the Temple (1 Kn. 8:4). Thus ends the Bible story of the Tabernacle until that day God came to tabernacle with us in Jesus (Jn. 1:14) who is Immanuel, God with us. Conclusion Hosea 11:1-4; Mk. 14:36; Gal. 4:6) All this tells us we have a very special God who wants to be close to us and go through the pilgrim journey of life with us. He is not content just to be an awesome fiery pillar of fire and smoke who makes mountains quake and people tremble with fear. He is the God of the Milky Way but He wants to be the
God of the hospital corridor who shares our sorrows and the God of the marriage altar and baby nursery who shares our joys. To see just HOW close God wants to be we need to look at Hosea 11 where God looks back at these wilderness years and says, When Israel was a child I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son... It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms...i bent down to feed them (Hos. 11:1,3,4). Do you get the picture? God compares Himself to a dad and his little boy or girl by his side as he leans down to hold their arms and teach them to walk and to feed them. We ought to be like the little girl who said to her parents, I m going upstairs to say my prayers. Do you want anything from God? We ought to be like the high school football player who, when he scored his first touchdown, thought of his dad who had died years before, said, Daddy and Jesus, did you see that? When Davis Love III won a golf tournament on Father s Day, a tournament his dad had won years before, a rainbow stood over the final hole and Davis, as he sank the winning putt, in tears raised his hand as if to say, This one s for you, Dad! The announcer said, Heaven seems to be smiling on this! A preacher friend of mine was critical and said, God s not interested in the outcome of any golf tournament. I love and respect that preacher, but I feel he is wrong. God wants to be a bigger part of our lives than any of us imagine. I know we don t like the irreverence and over-familiarity of phrases like the man upstairs. But I m afraid we Conservatives go to the opposite extreme. We keep God at arm s length and are afraid to let Him get real close. We call Him Father but do we ever, as Paul tells us to, and Jesus did in Gethsemane (Gal. 4:6; Mk. 14:36), call Him Abba - DADDY. We need to and He wants us to. The Tabernacle tells us God wants to be our daddy. Let Him!