A Survey of the Old testament Law--The Sign of the Sabbath

This week we will look at the final portion of the old covenant that God spoke to Moses. The terms of the old covenant are contained in the portion of Scripture that starts at Exodus 20:1 and runs through Exodus 31:17. The final command given to the people was the sign or pledge or token of this old covenant. That sign or token or pledge was the seventh-day sabbath. If you recall way back in Exodus 24, we talked about how covenants were ratified, always by blood. But there was also always a sign or pledge that both sides would fulfill their part of the bargain. After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah, that God would never again destroy all life on the planet with water. God put a rainbow in the sky as a token of His faithfulness. In the covenant that God made with Abraham, God gave the sign of circumcision. And under the covenant that He is making with the nation of Israel, God gives the sign of the seventh-day sabbath.

Exodus 31:12-17—12 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'" 

Out of all of the Ten Commandments, the keeping of the sabbath is the one that is the most widely debated. Are Christians bound by the sabbath? If so, do we keep it on Saturday or on Sunday? Well, the short answer is this: the church, under the new covenant, is NOT bound by ANY sabbath—neither Saturday nor Sunday. Phrases like “Sunday Sabbath” or “Christian Sabbath” are really not appropriate. The true Sabbath is not a day of the week. The true sabbath is eternal rest in Christ.

Should we come together as a body to hear the word and to partake in the worship of God? Absolutely. Hebrews 10:24-25—24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. But keeping the sabbath on any day of the week is not part of the new covenant. And there are two very simple reasons. ONE—God says in Exodus 31:17 that the sabbath is what? “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever.” This was the sign of the old covenant. God tells Israel, “Keep My sabbaths, and I shall be your God and you shall be My people.” The sabbath was not enforced on any Gentile nation. It was a sign between God and Israel. There is an interesting little passage in the book of Nehemiah chapter 10. The people have come back from the Babylonian captivity, they have rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and the people sign a decree that they will separate themselves from the pagan nations around them. And we find the following language in this decree, in Nehemiah 10:31—If the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day. Did this decree say that the Israelites, if they found a foreigner selling grain or wares on the sabbath, would put that person to death? No. It said they would not buy from the peoples of the land on the sabbath. What does that tell us about the sabbath? It was between God and whom? It was between God and Israel. It was not binding on any Gentile nation—never was, never has been.

Another point I want to make is this: when we think of all the ordinances and rituals and offerings and sacrifices that we find throughout the old covenant, they are all, for the most part, “Work, work, work; do, do, do.” However, the commands concerning the sabbath are what? “Don’t work; don’t do.” Contrary to what many legalistic, sabbath-keeping groups demand of their followers, the commands concerning the sabbath were not meant to be a yoke upon the neck of the people. If it was, then we would not see the many confrontations between Christ and the Pharisees over sabbath-keeping. And we will see one of these confrontations if we turn to Matthew 12:1-8—1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." 

In this passage, did Jesus encourage His disciples to sin by working on the sabbath? Well, if He did, then He was partaking in that sin--yet the Scriptures declare Christ to be sinless. So no, they were not working on the sabbath. They were picking a few heads of grain and eating them to ease their hunger—which they were allowed to do under the Law (Deuteronomy 23:24-25). But the Pharisees had turned that into work. John MacArthur—“In picking and rolling and rubbing and discarding, they had been reaping, threshing, sifting, grinding, winnowing and preparing food.” All by picking a few heads of grain and rolling them in their hands and eating them.

Now, we find a dire warning for those who break the Sabbath, we find it in Exodus 31:14—“Everyone who profanes [the sabbath] shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it…shall be cut off.” How does Jesus describe what the priests did in the temple on the sabbath? Matthew 12:5—“On the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless.” The priests in the temple “profane the sabbath.” Then look at what He says in Matthew 12:7-8—“But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” First, He refers to the actions of His disciples as ‘guiltless.’ But He also explains, from the prophet Hosea, that it is not the keeping of the strictest letter of the Law that God desires, but for men to know God, and that God is a merciful God. A little later on He gets into a discussion about how these men would pull out their neighbor’s goat out if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath. He also reminds them that, in order that the Law not be broken, they would circumcise their male children on a Sabbath if must needs be.

Now, let's remember one thing: when Jesus walked the earth, were the Israelites still under the old covenant? Yes. Were animals still being killed, cut up and burned, their blood being poured out around the altar and sprinkled and smeared all over the temple? Yes. Was the Torah still being taught? Yes. Were the people of Israel still being commanded to keep the sabbath? Yes. BUT here’s the thing, and the second main point I want to make—the Pharisees had taken the sabbath and changed it from a day of rest to a day of work. What I mean is this: it was harder for people to keep the sabbath than it was to not keep the sabbath. They had to spend all day, every waking moment of every sabbath day (keep in mind, they did not refer to it as “Saturday”) worrying about whether or not they were breaking the sabbath! “Oh no! I picked up my mixing bowl up off the floor! Did I just break the sabbath?” There were literally hundreds of volumes of books being written by the rabbis about what counted as ‘work.’

In fact, according to one book I found, even today many “traditional” Jews will not drive a car on the sabbath. Want to know why? Spark plugs. “Turning a key in a car sets the ignition on—which creates a spark—a fire. Not the kind of fire of banging two stones together, but a fire nevertheless—a human being creating when God commands that he rest from all creative acts. Granted, some of these (forbidden activities) are so routine and ordinary, with no ‘work’ involved, and don’t seem to involve any genuine creative efforts, but that is the challenge of observing the Shabbat to the letter of the Law.” (From a discussion at AskMoses.com, quoted in Brown, Michael L., 60 Questions Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices, ch. 15). In fact, this is a misapplication of Exodus 35:4—“You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” So unless they're firing up their Buick in their living room, they're OK. Now we read that and we say “Oh, how silly!” But it’s really not any sillier than people who want to teach that the sabbath is still binding on the church under the new covenant. Because it’s not. Especially the “Saturday” sabbath, which is a misnomer because the Jews don’t use the term “Saturday.” They call it “Shabbat.” 

The point is this—when Jesus refers to Himself as “Lord of the sabbath,” He is telling these Jews, who are still teaching the Law, still keeping the sabbath, that HE is the one to whom the seventh day was dedicated. HE is the one who says what can and what can't be done on the sabbath. To them, that was blasphemy. In a parallel passage to this, He says in Mark 2:27-28—27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." The Pharisees had gotten it all backwards. They were teaching that man was the servant of the sabbath, when the truth was that the sabbath was the servant of man. Just like Paul said in Galatians 3:24-25—24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. The law was a servant to point the way to Christ. But now that Christ has come, that servant has been fired (so to speak).

The sabbath was not meant to stir people up to anxiety—it was meant to give them rest. From the first day through the sixth day (which was how they refer to what we call “Sunday through Friday”), it was “work, work, work; do, do, do.” But the seventh day was “stop working and stop doing.” Exodus 31:15—“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.” Remember that phrase “Sabbath of rest.” It’s going to be very important. Because now we are going to see the next reason why the sabbath is not binding on the church—that is, that Christ is our sabbath; He is our rest. Hebrews 4:1-3—1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. First, let’s put this in context. The book of Hebrews is a commentary on the Law. Is all Scripture given by God? Yes. So, not only is the book of Hebrews a commentary on the Law, it is, in all actuality, GOD’S commentary on HIS OWN Law. It was written by a Hebrew to Hebrews. The people he was writing to would have had a pretty good knowledge of the Old Testament. Now when we read Hebrews 4:3—For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" we see the word ‘rest’ used twice, and having two very different meanings. What is the first ‘rest’ he is talking about? Resting in Christ. Matthew 11:28—“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” What is the second ‘rest’? When Joshua led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan—the “Promised Land,” the ‘rest’ the Israelites were looking forward to. Now, who was it that would not enter into that ‘rest’? It was all those who rebelled in the wilderness (see Numbers 14:1-35), because of whom the people had to wander the desert for 40 years. Those who rebelled did not enter into the ‘rest’ they were looking to. 

Hebrews 4:4-5 hold the key to this whole issue of the sabbath. Hebrews 4:4-5—4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; 5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." Many times when you read the book of Hebrews you will find passages that say something along the lines of “God has said in a certain place [this], and in another place, [this], and again He says [that].” He does that all through the entire first chapter (Hebrews 1:1-14). And what he’s doing is stringing passages of Scripture together to make a single point. And the point he is making here is that both of these ‘rests’—God resting on the seventh day (the basis for the seventh-day sabbath) and the people resting when they entered Canaan—these were both simply types and shadows of the rest that Christ would bring. God rested on the seventh day, but did He stop working altogether? No. John 5:16-17—16 The Jews…sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." So even after God rested on the seventh day, He did not stop working. He was working even while Jesus walked the earth; He is still working now! The people of Israel looked forward to that day when they would enter Canaan as their promised rest. But did they really ever rest? No. They were always fighting pagan nations and even amongst themselves. Obtaining a piece of land did not give them rest.

BUT—the rest that we have in Christ is the true sabbath, and we see that in Hebrews 4:8-10—8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. If you have a KJV, verse 8 is not correctly translated. It should say If Joshua had given them rest, not If Jesus had given them rest. Through the first eight verses, the Greek word translated ‘rest’ has been the generic Greek word for ‘rest.’ BUT! There is another Greek word that literally means ‘sabbath.’ That is the word σάββατον (sabbaton). And in Hebrews 4:9, where it says There remains therefore a rest for the people of God, the word translated ‘rest’ is the Greek word σάββατισμός (sabbatismos). There remains a σάββατισμός (sabbatismos) for the people of God. That word literally means “a keeping of the sabbath.” What does that mean for us? It means we don’t look at one day out of the week as our sabbath—we look to Heaven as our sabbath.

True rest comes on that day when Christ Jesus welcomes us into His kingdom. Revelation 14:13—13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." So if we are looking to Heaven and the rest that Christ has promised us, guess what we do every single day of the week? We keep the sabbath! By doing that, we remember the Sabbath and keep it holy! Keep in mind, the point the writer keeps making throughout the entire book of Hebrews is how Christ is so much greater than the Law. And if Christ is greater than the Law, then the rest He gives is far greater than a day of the week. That is why Paul tells us in Colossians 2:16-17—16 Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. The seventh-day sabbath was a shadow of the true ‘rest’, the true sabbath that we look forward to by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I really think one reason God took the sabbath so seriously is because it was a gift He gave them. In Exodus 16 we see God giving the people manna. The command was that on the sixth day they were to gather up enough for two days because He would not give them any on the seventh. Exodus 16:27-29—27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." In verse 29 God says “The LORD has given you the sabbath.” What happened to those who rejected the gift of the sabbath? They found no food. What happened to them under the Law? They died. Christ is our sabbath; He is our rest from our own works. What happens to those who reject the gift of rest that is found in Christ? Eternal death. Those who rejected the gift of the sabbath under the old covenant were cut off physically; those who reject the gift of the sabbath that is Christ under the new covenant are cut off spiritually, eternally. Hmmm…I think there is a parallel there.

We could go on, literally for months. But the fact is simple—the church, under the new covenant, is not bound by a Sabbath. Saturday, Sunday, doesn’t matter. Should we take one day and rest, and be refreshed, and come together as a body to worship God together? Absolutely. But there is no such thing as a “Christian Sabbath.” Christ is the fulfillment of the command concerning the Sabbath. And we are to remember Him and keep Him sanctified in our hearts, and be looking forward to our eternal Sabbath rest which comes from Him.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

Prayers for the Persecuted Church--1/20/2012

1/18/12 Sudan (CDN) Sudan Threatens to Arrest Church Leaders - Sudan's Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide their names and contact information, Christian sources said. THe warning in a January 3 letter to church leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) arrived a few days after Sudan President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds on January 3 that, following the secession of the largely non-Islamic South Sudan last July, the country's constitution will be more deeply entrenched in Sharia Law. "We will take legal procedures against pastors who are involved in preaching or evangelistic activities," Hamid Yousif Adam, undersecretary of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment, wrote to the church leaders. "We have all legal rights to take them to court." Sources said the order was aimed at oppressing Christians amid growing hostilities toward Christianity. Full Story Pray for both North and South Sudan who have been plagued by anti-Christian hostility and persecution. Pray that the new government in North Sudan will not oppress and persecute the church now that the South has seceded. Pray for the remaining church in pro-Islamic North Sudan that they will remain strong and faithful to Christ. Pray for the new leaders in North Sudan, that they might be convicted and changed by God and know Christ as their Lord.

1/18/12 Nigeria (ICC) Religious Cleansing Happening in Nigeria - With more than 80 Christians killed by radical Muslims since Christmas, a Nigerian church leader believes that Islamists are carrying out religious cleansing against Christians in Northern Nigeria. In an exclusive interview with ICC, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, called upon Nigerian Christians to defend themselves from the ongoing problem. The Christian leader decried the Nigerian government's failure to protect Christians from the killings and accused some security agents of taking sides. He said, "The security agencies are polarized along religious lines. Even when the security agents have information (concerning security measures to be taken against Boko Haram), some of them pass the information to these criminals. This is because some of the security agents are more loyal to their religion (Islam) than to Nigeria as a nation." In a disturbing development, the violence has also spread to southern Nigeria where Muslims and their places of worship have been attacked in apparent retaliation for the killing of Christians in Northern Nigeria. According to a report by BBC, a mosque and an Islamic school were burned down in the Southern Nigerian city of Benin on January 10. Five people were killed and six were injured in the violence in the city.  Full Story Pray that the violence in Nigeria, towards Christians and Muslims, subsides and peace resumes. Pray that the Christian population does not retaliate to the violence, but rather displays love toward their enemies. Pray for the Muslims who are determined to wipe out the Christian population in Nigeria. Pray for the victims and their families, that they may be faithful witnesses to Christ and that they may be comforted during this persecution.

1/18/12 United Kingdom (TheChristianInstitute) Use of Sharia 'Courts' Increasing in UK - The use of Sharia 'courts' is on the increase in Britain with thousands using Islamic law to settle disputes, according to the BBC. The news comes as a leading barrister claims that Sharia Law is compatible with human rights and beneficial to communities. However, critics say the courts discriminate against women and should not operate as a parallel legal system. A bill has been brought before the House of Lords by Christian humanitarian, Baroness Cox, to curb the growth of Sharia courts. Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad, a representative of the Islamic Sharia Council at Leyton, told BBC Asian Network that his caseload at the east London council had "easily more than tripled" over the past three to five years - dealing with up to 300 disputes a month. Sharia opponents believe the law discriminates against women as well as rulings falsely claiming legal jurisdiction over criminal and family law. In 2009, think-tank Civitas reported than an estimated 85 Sharia councils could be operating in Britain. Full Story Pray for this disturbing trend to cease in the UK, as it has enormous implications for the future of the European country's legal system. Pray that the church and those representatives in the government who oppose the implementation of Sharia law will continue to fight its use as a parallel legal system. Pray for the church in the UK, who, in recent months, has been faced with its own oppression.

1/18/12 Pakistan (CatholicCulture) 2,000 Protest Government's Demolition of Church Buildings - Two thousand Pakistani Christians, including Auxilary Bishop Sebastian Shah of Lahore, priests, and Protestant leaders, protested the Punjabi government's decision to confiscate Church land and demolish the charitable and educational institutions located on it. "We shall continue protesting until the government returns all the land it took and pays for the losses," said Father Morris Jalal. "We do not fear anyone and will fight for our rights."  Full Story Pray for Pakistan, as the oppression of Christians continues in various forms. Pray for the government. Since implementing blasphemy laws, Christians have been a target of frequent legal oppression and even the death penalty for speaking positively about Jesus Christ or negatively about Mohammed. Pray for the success of these protests, so that the land and buildings can be rebuilt and provide a place for education and worship in Pakistan. Please pray that these protests remain peaceful and loving despite their opposition to the governments actions.

1/16/12 Iran (ACLJ) Under Increased Pressure, Pastor Youcef Refuses to Recant Faith - Iran is continuing its relentless attempt to force persecuted Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani to recant his faith in Jesus Christ. New reports state that Iranian officials are still pressuring the pastor, who has been sentenced to death for his Christian faith, "to renounce his faith in Christ and accept the prophet Muhammad as his savior." Pastor Youcef once again refused, remaining steadfast in his faith. Remember, Iran previously demanded on at least three separate occasions that Pastor Youcef recant his faith and convert to Islam at his latest trial, to which he replied, "I cannot". The Iranian court tasked with making a final determination about Pastor Youcef's fate has ignored its own promise to make its determination over a month ago. Iran's move to further delay a determination regarding Pastor Youcef not only violates international law; it violates Iranian law as well. Full Story Pray for Pastor Youcef. Give thanks to God for his steadfast faith in Jesus and pray for his faith to remain strong. Pray for those eyes who are watching Pastor Youcef, that they might see and wonder who this God is that he would lay down his life for before he denies Him. Pray for Iran, as the church there is exploding and many more pastors and believers may face pressures similar to Pastor Youcef's.

1/14/12 North Korea (Crosswalk) Seven Underground Churches Raided in North Korea- The underground church has faced increased persecution in North Korea since the unexpected death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on December 17th. "Three weeks ago seven underground churches got exposed," says Thomas Kim, executive director of Cornerstone Ministries. "It's been very difficult for the last month and I think it's going to continue," he says. The North Korean leadership apparently fears the kind of insurrection that swept other communist regimes and is now sweeping through the Middle East. "They are scared there will be an uprising," Kim notes. "They are scared by the expansion of the Christian faith because Christians will die for their faith." "Now the regime is putting out many people to search for the underground church. There is a need to pray for protection," Kim said.  Full Story Pray that this change in leadership may result in eased pressure upon the North Korean church. Pray for the leaders of North Korea, that they may see the love of Christ in these Christians. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing some of the most intense persecution in the world. Pray for their faith to be strengthened and that they would remain faithful to Christ. Giving Made Easier! ICC Offers the Ability to Automate Your Monthly Gift!   You can sign up to be a monthly supporter of the persecuted through a monthly credit card transfer via our website. Your automated recurring gift will help us plan, build, and serve the persecuted with greater confidence. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to serve our persecuted brothers and sisters. You can sign up for recurring gifts or make a secure online donation by clicking here. Thank you for caring and praying for the persecuted.   2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #941 Washington, D.C. 20006-1846 Web: persecution.org Phone: USA 1-800-422-5441       Email: icc@persecution.org

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Picturing the Tabernacle

(For a more visual look at this subject, go to my earlier posts: Part 1, and Part 2)

Today we are going to continue in Exodus 36. But we’re actually going to begin in Exodus 27, looking at the tabernacle, or “tent of meeting.” It was the tent of meeting where the priests burned incense and kept the lampstand lit. It was, in fact, the central place where YHVH was worshipped by the people of Israel under the old covenant. But before one could enter the tent (and bear in mind, only Levites could set foot in the tent), they had to enter into the outer court, which was formed by a series of large curtains. And the details for these curtains are found in Exodus 27:18—“The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty cubits throughout, and the height five cubits.” Now, I'm sure the question on everybody’s mind after reading this is…what’s a cubit? Anybody know, off-hand, how long a cubit is? Well, there were two different lengths that were called "cubits", but the one used here was about a foot and a half long (about 18 inches). So, basically, the courtyard would have been roughly 150’ long on the north and south sides, about 75’ wide on the east and west, and near 7½’ high. We ain't even gonna try converting it into metric.

The courtyard and tent were set up in an east-west direction. And to get inside the court, you had to go to the gate located on the east end. Like so:

So all the tribes are camped around the tabernacle according to their tribe (Numbers 2:1-34). Not only that, but there was to be a great space between the people and the tabernacle. And it was that space that was given to the Levites to dwell, since they were not given any land. Now, the distance between the people and the courtyard itself was probably about 3000 feet (1000 yards). Most sources I've read arrive at that measurement from Joshua 3:3-4—“3 When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure.” So if you were camped on the west, with Ephraim and Manasseh and Benjamin, not only did you have to walk more than half a mile to the fence, you had to walk clear to the other end of the court—just to get into the courtyard. Now, let’s consider another factor. How many people do you think there were in the entire camp of Israel? Numbers 1:45-46—45 So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel—46 all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. That was just the number of males from 20 years old and up. This did not include women, this did not include children. This did not even include the tribe of Levi, which would have been about another 50,000. But that’s for another day. Numbers 23:10—“Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel?” This did not include the tribe of Levi. They were not to be numbered. They were not to go out to war—they were simply to minister for the people. Which is why God did not allow David to build a temple to worship Him, 1^st Chronicles 22:8—"But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.’" But I digress. 

So there were, conservatively speaking, over ONE MILLION PEOPLE camped around this court that was 150’ long by 75 feet wide by 7½ feet high. Let me put it to you this way: imagine TEN Neyland Stadiums—flattened out and spread out. Now, imagine all those people--those ONE MILLION PEOPLE--camped out around a McDonald’s. And not only did you have ONE MILLION PEOPLE, but what did those ONE MILLION PEOPLE bring with them? Animals! They did not have a “one pet per household” rule. Not every family had livestock or sheep, but adding these animals to the crowd—now you see what a miraculous work God did in providing for these people out in the middle of the desert. Now, once you go inside the eastern gate, what’s the first thing you see? The first thing you would come upon would be the altar of burnt offering. And what would be going on around this altar? The Levites and priests would be killing, cutting up and burning animals. You ever watch the folks in the meat department at Kroger’s or Ingles? How long it takes for them to cut up even small cuts of meat? Imagine being out in the desert, knowing that you have committed some breach in God’s Law, and you have to drag your animal more than half a mile to the court of the tent of meeting. And once you get there, you find a sea of people and animals. And then it hits you—“We might be here a while.” 

Anybody ever stand in line for concert tickets? You would be standing in the heat of the day, in the desert, waiting for the priests to kill, cut up and burn one animal after another after another after another. Imagine the stench of the blood and the waste from having to clean out the entrails, and the smell from the burning flesh and burning fat. All day long this goes on. And then they may finally get to you. What happens if they don’t? You get to come back the next day. It ends at sundown. Let’s say you finally get inside the gate, and there stands the priest. And behind him is the altar of burnt offering. And beyond that is the laver for washing and finally the tent itself. Like so:

Now, let’s take a look at this tent. The entire 36th chapter of Exodus echoes chapter 26, and describes what was used to make the tent and how the tent was to be constructed. We’re not going to do a verse-by-verse study of this chapter—and aren't you glad? We are going to get kind of an overview of it. When we think of a tent, what comes to mind? Some aluminum poles for the frame, covered by some kind of synthetic, waterproof, polyester/nylon fabric. This ain't that. They didn’t have the option of pulling into Bass Pro Shops and asking the associate if they carried Coleman tabernacles. They didn't go online to Cabelas.com either. I really want us to see the ingenuity behind the construction of the “tent of meeting.” But instead of going in order of the verses, we’re gonna work our way from the ground up. And once we’ve seen how the tabernacle was put together, there is a really good application for the church today.

Exodus 36:20-28—20 For the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. 22 Each board had two tenons for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards 26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. 28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. What’s a cubit? About a foot and a half. So according to verse 21, how long was each board? About 15 feet. How wide was each board? Little tricky, huh? 2¼ feet. And in verse 22 we see a funky little word, a word we don’t use too often. It’s the word ‘tenon’. The Hebrew literally means “hands.” Think of tongue-in-groove for siding, or dovetail two boards together. Only this was 100 times better. So ingenious. What they would do would be to carve out niches in the ends of the boards, like curved “hands.” When these “hands” were set inside one another, one after another after another, they would look like one continuous piece, even though it was made up of many smaller units. Kinda like the church should be today, true? That’s for later. This is what these "hands" might have looked like:

When these boards were fitted together, then the whole wall was lifted up. And keep in mind, these boards were overlaid with a layer of pure gold. So this one continuous wall would have an almost mirrored appearance. This would reflect the light from the menorah or lampstand. And because it reflected the light from the lampstand, it would increase the amount of light inside the tent. Now, twenty boards on the long sides at 2½ feet per board equals 50 feet long. Then six boards on the short side times 2¼’ would be 13½ feet wide for the western wall. Now on the east side, they used two boards to make the door. One board on the north corner, one board on the south corner, and the screen in between. All these boards would be set in sockets or foundations, hooked together by the tenons or hands, and fastened together by the bars we read about in Exodus 36:31-33. So, standing up, they would look like this:

Now that was the frame for the tent. As far as the covering, Exodus 36:8-10—“8 Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. 10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another.” This was no lightweight tent you could fold up into a backpack and sling over your shoulder. Each one of these curtains was 42 feet long and six feet wide. There were 10 of these linen curtains that were joined together on their long side, making for a total length of 60 feet. So this would hang over the frame on each end. There were 10 individual curtains, joined together to make one curtain. Kinda like the church today should be, huh? But that’s for later. This curtain of linen was only the first layer that would cover the frame we just put together. Exodus 36:14-16—“14 He made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves.” Eleven curtains made of goats’ hair. Each one 45 feet long, so they lapped over the linen curtains underneath them And they were six feet wide joined together on their long side for a total length of 60 feet. There were 11 individual curtains, but they were joined together to make one curtain. Kinda like the church today should be, huh? But that’s for later. Are you sensing a pattern?

This curtain of goats’ hair was only the second layer that would cover the frame we just put together. Exodus 36:19—“Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of badger skins above that.” Now, if you notice, every aspect of the construction of this tent is remarkable. It could be put together and taken apart relatively quickly. It was heavy enough to withstand the high winds that often came up in the desert. Yet it was also weatherproof, the rams skins and badger skins, when prepared properly, were—for all intents and purposes—waterproof. Good luck finding something like that at Cabela’s. This is what the layers may have looked like:

Now, I could go all Perry Stone and spiritualize each layer and why God said to use this animal instead of that animal, and why blue and purple and scarlet. I could go Zola Leavitt on you and explain why the third letter in the word for “tabernacle” has significance in end-times prophecy. But I don’t have that much time on my hands. So I'll leave that to men who have been called to that work. But there are two very important points I want to make while we’re here. First: If you did not belong to the order of Aaron, or even to the tribe of Levi, you do not go into that tent. If you step foot in that tent, what happens to you? You die. Did the magistrates drag you out and stone you? Or did God Himself strike you down? They may have had to drag your dead body out of there, but God would take care of you Himself. You did not approach God on your own. You came to a priest who was standing in the outer court who went before God on your behalf. Without that priest going to God on your behalf, God did not hear you. You were dead to God.

Now, did you come to that priest without blood? If you were poor you could redeem yourself with money, but why did you need to bring blood? Because when we sin, something has to die. Romans 6:23—The wages of sin is death. From the very first sin, when God covered Adam and Eve with the skin of an animal God Himself killed, sins could not be taken away—or even covered over—unless something died. And even though many people refer to this old covenant as a “covenant of works” it was really a covenant of grace, seeing as how God even allowed something else to die for your sins. He didn’t even have to give them that. And when you have ONE MILLION PEOPLE in one place, you're going to have a lot of sin. And when you have a lot of sin, that calls for a lot of death and a lot of blood. When you sinned, you brought an animal to be killed. That was life under the old covenant.

But now, under the new covenant, how many animals do we have to bring every time we sin? God Himself made one sacrifice on behalf of all who will believe. He sacrificed His own Lamb, so that He can forgive the sins of all who come to Him in repentance and plead to Him. John 1:29—“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” When we cry out to God and confess that we are a sinner and ask Him to accept Christ’s blood on our behalf, God looks at the blood Jesus shed and forgives our sins because Christ’s blood paid for those sins. Could we come to God before we knew Christ? We were like Gentiles when Israel was under the old covenant. We could not take part in any kind of worship of God.

BUT—that is why Paul said what he did in Ephesians 2:11-18—11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ouch! That’s harsh! Know what Paul is saying there in not so many words? He’s saying “You guys were headed for Hell. You were unclean Gentiles, you couldn’t worship God even if you had wanted to!” 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. In verse 15, where it says having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances. What that means is that yeah, Israel was given commandments by God. But did God say, “Hey Moses, take My Law to the Gentiles so I can save them”? If you wanted to be saved you had to become a Jew. BUT now, both Jew and Gentile are saved in the same way—by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Not by works of the Law. We don’t have to kill, cut up and burn lambs of the first year at dawn and at twilight every day. We don’t have to bring bulls and goats and slaughter them day after day. Christ made one sacrifice, and that sacrifice was sufficient for anyone who draws near to God in faith. And we don’t have to keep bringing Him back up and perpetually sacrificing Him continuously like in the Catholic Mass. Hebrews 10:14—By one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. A verse which, by the way, speaks to the fact that if a person is truly saved, they are saved forever and cannot be “lost” again.

The second aspect I want us to see from the example of the tabernacle is this: The frame consisted of many individual boards clasped together. The curtain over the top of the tabernacle was made of many layers of curtain which were, in turn, made up of many different curtains clasped together. And what do you think is the application for the church today? Suppose they left one of the linen curtains in Kirjath, or they left a couple of the sockets for the pillars in Ai. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to do without.” Not so much. How well do you think that tabernacle would have held up in the middle of a windstorm or a sandstorm? They needed every single little part in order for the tabernacle to function properly. And they needed even the smallest utensils for things like the lampstand and the altar of incense. Keeping that concept in mind, listen to Ephesians 4:11-14—11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. How many offices did God ordain under the old covenant? Two: priest, and high priest. Under the old covenant, there were many high priests. Why so many? They died. Why did they die? Simple—they sinned. Under the new covenant, how many high priests are we ever gonna have? One (Hebrews 6:20). Now, as for the priests—look in that passage from Ephesians. You see offices like apostle and prophet and evangelist and pastor and teacher. Do you see a separate office of priest? No. Why is that? Are we kings and priests to God (Revelation 1:5-6)? Are we a chosen generation, a royal priesthood (1st Peter 2:9)? YES! We’re all priests! Paul did not mention the office of priest, but Peter did! And he tells us that there is no separate office for priest--that is, there is not this special group of men who alone can be called "priest"--because each and every believer is a priest to his God and King!

Should we all be working toward the same goal? Should we share in that labor with others of like faith? Some churches have a ministry, and they have this mindset that “This is our ministry! You can't have any part of it!” Does that make sense? Luke 9:49-50—49   Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side." Does this mean we join with just anyone who says they're a Christian church? Like those who call themselves Saints of the Latter-Day? Or Witnesses of Jehovah’s kingdom? No. But like those individual parts of the tabernacle, we should all be working together for the building up of the church. We should treat every member of the church the same, because we are not supposed to be separate and unequal. Like the boards of the tabernacle, we should join with each other and lift each other up. As those boards that formed the walls, we should be joining hands with other boards, if you will. Grace Community Church should be, as it were, joining hands with—well, we’ve got a couple families downstairs from Basswood Baptist Church. They want to “join hands” with us to build up the tabernacle called “the church.” Like Jesus said, if they are not against us, they are for us.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

A Survey of the Old testament Law--The Calling of Bezalel and Aholiab

Last time we met we looked at Exodus 30. We saw the ransom money—the half-shekel (according to the shekel of the sanctuary). Each Israelite from 20 years old and older was to give the ransom money to atone for their souls. This ransom could be paid in gold or silver, or bronze. And it was a weight which would have been equivalent in weight to about 160 coffee beans. We saw the incense that was to be used for burning on the Altar of Incense before the veil in the tabernacle—and that was the ONLY thing to be burned on that particular altar. And we saw how they were to mix the oil for anointing. And how if anyone tried to copy the recipe for the incense or the oil that they would be “cut off from their people”—a phrase that God used many times as a way of saying “Do that and I will personally kill you Myself!” And we saw that the gifts that the Magi brought to the infant Christ—gold, frankincense and myrrh—these  may very well have been given for the maintenance and preparation of His earthly “tabernacle” (as many of the NT writers call our bodies a tabernacle). Today we move on to Exodus 31:1-11. And for this section we are actually going to skip to Exodus 35:4, because it is there that we read these same words almost verbatim, but with fuller elaborations.

But before we get to that, I want us to consider the verses from the Psalms that were part of our discussion last time. If you recall (and I don’t expect you to), when we linked Christ with the anointing oil, I read from Psalm 45:6-8—6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. 8 All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia (three of the main ingredients in the anointing oil). And I didn’t have time last time, so this morning I would like to share with you this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

“The excellencies of Jesus are all most precious, comparable to the rarest spices; they are most varied, and to be likened not to myrrh alone, but to all the perfumes blended in due proportion. The Father always finds a pleasure in him, in him he is well pleased; and all regenerated spirits rejoice in him, for he is made of God unto us, ‘wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.’ Note that not only is Jesus most sweet, but even his garments are so; everything that he has to do with is perfumed by his person. ‘All’ his garments are thus fragrant; not some of them, but all; we delight as much in his purple of dominion as in the white linen of his priesthood, his mantle as our prophet is as dear to us as his seamless coat as our friend. All his dress is fragrant with all sweetness. To attempt to spiritualise each spice here mentioned would be unprofitable, the evident sense is that all sweetnesses meet in Jesus, and are poured forth wherever he is present.” 

What He looked like when He walked the earth is NOTHING like the way He appears now, in the Heavens, enthroned in glory, with all of creation awaiting the Day He returns.

Well, speaking of the tabernacle—we’ve gotten the dimensions for it; we have received the commands of how to prepare the furnishings that would go inside it; we’ve been instructed on who would minister in the tabernacle and how they were to be prepared for their service—now the only thing left to do is what? We know WHAT to do and HOW to do it. Now we have to actually BUILD the tabernacle and FASHION all the furnishings and utensils. You need to make the STUFF. And even before that, don’t you think you need the STUFF you need to make the STUFF? “We need to make all this stuff! But we don’t have the stuff to make the stuff we need to make!” Or did they? Hmmm.

Flip back to Exodus 12. Listen to what happened on the night of their flight from Egypt. The Angel of YHVH has passed through Egypt, killing all the firstborn. And listen to what happened in Exodus 12:34-36—34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. And because they plundered the Egyptians, they had all kinds of silver and gold and precious stones and so on and so forth. And now, all it is doing is weighing down their camels and their oxen and their donkeys. After all, what good is all that stuff going to do them out in the middle of the desert? Well, I'm glad you asked! Turn to Exodus 35:4-9—4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: 5 'Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats' hair; 7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.” What good are all those things they took from the Egyptians doing them out in the desert? Well, now you know!

Now, let me ask you this—which of the following statements do you think is closer to the order in which these things actually happened: (A) The people scrounged what they could from what the Egyptians randomly gave to them, and God said, “Well, let’s just use what we’ve got.” Or, (B), God told the Egyptians to give the Israelites what He wanted them to have to build those things He would require? Exactly, (B) is the correct answer. Exodus 12:36—And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Aha! God working in the hearts and minds of these Egyptians to give them what they requested. And what things did they request? Probably things like gold, silver, bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, dyes, oil, spices, onyx stones, and maybe all the kinds of stones that were to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. Just a guess. The point I want to make is this: God is a planner. He does not do anything by the seat of His pants—pardon the expression, since He doesn't wear pants, seeing as He does not have a body of flesh and blood. Do you think He knew what He wanted to go into the building of the tabernacle and the clothing of the priests and for all the things that went along with worshipping Him? So do you think He would leave anything to “chance”? He did not sit on His throne saying to Himself, “Gee, I hope they can find all the things I want to go into all this! If they don’t I'm going to have to change My plans!” HE causes all things to work together.

And He had the people gather all those things they got from the Egyptians (and using some of the resources in the area they were camped). And not only did they need the things—they needed to make tools to make these things. But even before all that—they needed people to make all these things. So, Exodus 35:10-19—“‘10 All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12 the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering; 13 the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread; 14 also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’” Did we leave anything out?

Now, the artisans that God calls out in verse 10. Where had they been for the last 400 or so years? Egypt. What had they been doing for those 400 or so years? They had been learning trades. They had become metal smiths, sawyers, engravers, tapestry makers, perfumers, architects, weavers, wood carvers, stone cutters, tanners. All those skills they learned in those 400 some-odd years in Egypt—guess what? God is going to use all of it for His glory. Can you believe that! God using trials and afflictions for His glory! But isn't that how God often does it? Not always, but so many times, He takes what men mean for evil and He turns it around and the outcome brings glory to His name. Remember what Joseph told his brothers when he revealed himself to them in Egypt? Genesis 50:20—But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day.” Another example, He took one of the greatest teachers of the OT Law ever, a man who was so zealous for the Law that He often received extradition papers to bring Christians to Jerusalem to be killed—God took that man named Saul of Tarsus and used his knowledge of the OT Law to show from that Law just how that Law was nothing more than a slave that was meant to take us to Christ. And in perhaps the most well-known example, He allowed a sham of a trial to take place; He allowed an innocent man to be tortured and His body destroyed on one of the most inhuman (not just inhumane, but inhuman) instruments of death ever created by depraved human minds—in order to bring many sons to glory, did He not? And He takes our miserable excuse for a life, which is filled with wickedness and depravity, and He reaches down, saves us, takes out our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh.

Likewise, God was now going to take those skills that the Israelites learned during their 400 years of slavery to a pagan king in order to build a tent where He would be worshipped. Now, before we can even make the stuff to make the stuff, the people that are going to make the stuff will need someone to supervise the project. Think about it. It wasn’t like Moses could take these instructions to Denark-Smith or Creative Structures and say “Hey guys, I got these instructions on how to build this humongoid tent, can you make some blueprints and get them back to me by the end of the month?” They couldn’t get on the internet and go to Cabelas.com; they couldn’t just stroll through the aisles in Dick’s Sporting Goods or Bass Pro Shop to find something that could hold everybody and everything. They had to take these very specific, very detailed instructions—which were written out, in words, by the way. They had to take these directions and convert them into a three-dimensional working model of EVERY THING INVOLVED. Somebody had to take on this enormous task.

so what did Moses do? Did he go around the camp until somebody stepped up and said, “Hey, I got some ideas!” Did he say to himself, “You know, I think my cousin Shimon might be able to cook something up!” No. Remember, who was ultimately in charge of every detail surrounding this project? God! It was His house, and He would be the one to determine who would supervise the building of His house. This was not a task that just any person could take upon themselves. And it is for that reason that we see God say what He says in Exodus 35:30-35—30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. 34 And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.” 

What do we know about Bezalel and Aholiab? What we read here is all we know about these guys. We find these guys talked about in less that 10 verses in the entire Bible—and 6 of those verses are in this section of Exodus. But what is important that we learn about them from this passage? In verse 30? “The LORD has called by name Bezalel.” The same with Aholiab in verse 34. God calls these men by name to do this mighty work. That is what God does. I think this whole chapter shows the sovereignty of God. From the calling of these men to even hearkening back to the stuff that the Egyptians gave the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt—God is sovereign over everything. Now, question: how did Bezalel and Aholiab get the job of overseeing the construction of the tabernacle everything in it? Did someone tack a sheet of paper to a bulletin board for people to sign up? Did they put an ad in the Sinai Gazette, “Wanted: foreman for large construction project. Send resume to  Moses@burningbush.com”? This was a work of God, and as such He called men who would devote their lives to this project, and who would not allow their egos to get in the way and think they could improve on what God ordered. God Himself chose these men. The same principle applies to the church. When there is work to be done, God does not necessarily call those people that we humans with our feeble, depraved, human thinking would call. He does not call the best-looking—I am Exhibit A of that. He does not necessarily call the most intelligent—I am also Exhibit B. He does not always call the most self-confident or the most well-spoken or even the smoothest speaking voice—Exhibit C, D and E. But He calls those who will make themselves available to Him.

Think about young Samuel. About 12 years old, living with Eli the high priest, hears a voice call out to him twice. The third time he says “Here am I, LORD.” Another example from a man who was in an infinitely different situation—Isaiah. There he was in the throne room of God, the Lord was seated on His throne, the angels were shouting “Holy, holy, holy.” Shouting so loud they about rocked the doors off the place. He realizes he is s sinful man who lives among sinful people. And Almighty YHVH asks him, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" And what is Isaiah’s answer? "Here am I! Send me."

There are four words that will change your life more than any other words you could ever utter: “Here am I, Lord.” Those words changed the lives of Isaiah, Samuel, Abraham. And even Bezalel and Aholiab. God called, and they said, “Here am I, LORD.” Fast forward about 1500 years. We see God calling 12 other men to work for Him. He’s walking by some fishing boats, sees some fellows casting out their nets and He says “Drop your nets and follow Me.” And they said, “Here am I, Lord.” Now, God doesn’t always talk in an audible voice—I dare say He does NOT speak in an audible voice anymore. And if you ever hear anyone say that “God told me…” or “God spoke to me last night…” then I would be real suspect of what they were “told” or what was “spoken to them.” God has spoken all He needs to speak, and we have it here in our Bibles. All He requires of us is to read His word and say “Here am I, Lord.”

Exodus 36:1-7—“1 And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.” 2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. 3 And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do." 6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much. Now, that’s interesting. What is the command? “Stop giving!!” God does not need every penny we have—in fact, He doesn’t need anything (Acts 17:25). But also, He doesn’t want us to give Him every last penny we have until we have nothing left to feed our family. He knows how much is needed for the work. When that amount was given, He said, "That’s enough."

Several weeks ago we read the account in Luke of the widow who put her last two copper coins into the treasury and how Jesus rebuked that system that would take a widow’s last dime and send her home to starve to death while they built their beautiful building. Now, don’t get me wrong—I'm not saying “Don’t give.” Don’t go telling people "Well, this one guy on the internet said we don't have to give." Should we give to the church and the work of the church? Absolutely. Galatians 6:7-10—7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Should we—first of all—give to support our parents when they get older? Absolutely. 1st Timothy 5:8--But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. “Honor thy father and mother.” Should we give to help feed and clothe the poor? Absolutely. That is, those who are TRULY poor; not those who are poor because they drank and smoked and snorted away their food and rent and light bill.

But we are not to give so much that giving becomes a burden to our family. 2nd Corinthians 8:12-14—12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. He says in the next chapter, 2nd Corinthians 9:7-8—7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. If I give away every penny I have today to some cause, and I have nothing left, what good is that going to do—first, for my family, or even to someone who needs help tomorrow? In other words, give what the person needs—but not so much that you burden your own family. That’s what Paul is saying in that passage we read a moment ago, 2nd Corinthians 8:13—I do not mean for others to be eased and you burdened. It’s what Jesus told the Pharisees. God does not want more than we can give. If He did, He would be taking food out of the mouths of widows and orphans, and He would be contradicting the same Law which declares that He will destroy anyone who afflicts widows and orphans (see Exodus 22:21-24). Matthew Henry— 

“Works of charity, like other good works, should be done with thought and design…Due deliberation to the matter of our own circumstances, and those of the persons we are about to relieve, will be very helpful to direct us how liberal we should be in our contributions for charitable uses.” 

God does not mean for others to be eased while we ourselves are burdened. However, we should give out of our abundance to supply others’ lack, so that there may be equality among all in the church.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Ransom Money, Incense, Anointing Oil

Today we are going to study Exodus 30. We will be covering the whole chapter today, looking at three commandments God gave concerning the tabernacle. We’ve already seen what it probably looked like; we’ve seen what the instruments of worship—the Ark of the Covenant, the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Lampstand, and so forth—what they probably looked like. But there are a couple of items we haven’t seen yet, such as the oil for anointing and the incense for burning on the Altar of Incense. Just as God gave very detailed instructions for building the tent and the furnishings and the garments for the priests, He was also very specific about the oil and the incense. You didn’t just walk into Food City and pick up a bottle of ValuTime extra virgin olive oil (in fact, they were not to use virgin oil, but beaten oil. But that will have to wait for another day), nor did you stop at the local gas station and grab some sticks of incense. These things were to be made very meticulously and according to the pattern that God would give. But before we get to those things, we’re going to look at what was called “ransom money.” Exodus 30:11-16—11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "12 When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. 13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the LORD. 14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves." Before we go any further, let’s look at some more terms here. In Exodus 30:13—“(a shekel is twenty gerahs).” And of course we ask ourselves, “Right. What’s a gerah?” A gerah was equivalent to about 16 coffee beans. A shekel of weight was equal to 20 gerahs or 320 coffee beans.

Therefore the ransom money, a half-shekel, would be about 160 coffee beans. Now, this shekel is different than what you would find in other places in Scripture that talk about a “shekel of silver” or a “shekel of gold.” This was the “shekel of the sanctuary,” and this was paid by every male 20 years old and older. Now, what was the amount that the people were to give? One half shekel. If you owned 10,000 head of livestock, how much were you commanded to give? One half shekel. If all you had was some loose change in a little sack, how much were you commanded to give? One half shekel. Exodus 30:15—The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. The poor were not exempted because they were poor; the rich were not penalized because they were rich. Everybody gave exactly the same amount. No more; no less. So, that leads us to this question—if a person is rich, how are they saved? Christ. If a person is poor, how are they saved? Christ. Is there one way for the poor to be forgiven of their sins, and another for the rich? Way back in Exodus 23, we saw that there was one Law for both Jew and Gentile, and that there was one Gospel for both Jew and Gentile. The same is true for rich and poor. The rich are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The poor are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Now, we find the reason for paying this ransom was “for the service of the tabernacle of meeting” (Exodus 30:16). If we were to read in Exodus 38, we would see that when they did take the census and gathered the money together, they came up with one hundred talents and 1775 shekels of silver (Exodus 38:27) and that they used that silver thus: Exodus 38:28—And from the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: one hundred sockets from the hundred talents, one talent for each socket. Then from the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals (tops of the pillars), and made bands for them (to hold the curtains). A talent was 3000 shekels—a whole bunch of coffee beans. Or, about 94½ lbs. The “sockets of the sanctuary” were the bases for the pillars that held up the tent, the “sockets of the veil” were the foundation of the framework upon which the veil was hung. They could have used that silver for any purpose, but they were led by God to use it for these purposes. Now, let’s think about this a minute. The silver from the ransom money was used for what parts of the tabernacle? They used the first 100 talents for the foundation, the ground if you will. Then, they use the rest of the ransom to finish the pillars and make the bands that would hold the whole tent together.

Hmm. Isn't that interesting? The tabernacle and the temple—many times in the OT we find them referred to as the “House of God.” Well, in the NT the church is called the “House of God.” Hebrews 10:21—Having a High Priest over the House of God. 1st Peter 4:17—Time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. Then listen to what Paul says in 1st Timothy 3:15—I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God—then what does he call it? The pillar and ground of the truth. Hmm. Isn't that interesting? The ransom money—the silver and gold—was paid to build the “ground” of the tent. The ransom that Jesus paid—His blood—was paid to build the “ground” of the church. The church is the ground of the truth. We were ransomed, by God, to be built into a spiritual house devoted to the worship of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. 1st Corinthians 3:16—Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Under the Old Covenant God dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle; under the New Covenant He now dwells inside of each believer. Ephesians 2:19-22—19 Now, therefore, you are…fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The people paid their ransom, and that ransom went toward building the house of God. They were redeemed by their silver and gold—BUT!! We are redeemed by something greater. Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom; 1st Timothy 2:5-6—5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Matthew 20:28—“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The next thing we’re going to look at is the oil for anointing. Exodus 30:22-33—22 Moreover the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "23 Also take for yourself quality spices—five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, 24 five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy. 30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests. 31 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on man's flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.'" 

500 shekels of liquid myrrh would weigh about 14 lbs., and of course 250 shekels of the other ingredients would weigh about 7 lbs. each. This mixture would weigh about 42 lbs. altogether. Then mix it all into about 5 quarts of olive oil. It’s not so important that you know what the ingredients were, that’s kind of interesting. The main point is this: this oil was to be used for one purpose and one purpose only—to anoint Aaron and his sons and to anoint the tabernacle and the furnishings inside it. What would happen to the soul that found the recipe and said “Hmm, I’d like to make some of that for the house.” They would be “cut off.” That is a phrase that you find in many places throughout the Law. And it means, in a way, to be put to death. There is a difference between the phrase “he shall be put to death” and the phrase “he shall be cut off from his people.” When one was “put to death” it was carried out either by the people themselves or by the civil magistrates in an official manner. However, one was “cut off” directly by the hand of God Himself (we’ll see an example shortly). Anyone who made anything like this holy oil could look forward to the Hand of God Himself taking their life from them and “cutting them off.” 

Next, we’re going to see the incense that was to be burned on the Altar of Incense, in Exodus 30:34-38—34 And the LORD said to Moses: "Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for the LORD. 38 Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people." There’s that warning again. This was the incense that was to be burned on the Altar of Incense. And this was the ONLY THING that was to be burned on that altar. We would see that if we read Exodus 30:9-10—“9 You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it…10 It is most holy to the LORD.” If we were to fast-forward to Leviticus 10 we would find the most well-known case of one being “cut off” for burning something on the Altar of Incense that they ought not to have been burning.

Leviticus 10:1-3—1 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. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.'" So Aaron held his peace. There is an application in that episode for us today. A growing sentiment these days in some churches is: in order to appeal to this generation, we must combine the things of God with the vulgar and profane things of the world. Churches are playing music that is—no other way to say it—vulgar, satanic (whether outrightly so or in a more subtle fashion). And then you have youth “pastors” who think that to appeal to the kids their supposed to be pastoring (by way of the word of God), instead they feel the need to act like children themselves. Which is why so many young people leave the church once they leave home. They’ve been subjected to years of “stupid youth pastor tricks” and all kinds of nonsense, so to them church is nothing more than a social club. It makes no impact on their life. Which is what happens when we do what the priests were doing in Ezekiel 22:26—“Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean.” These churches are, in a way, guilty of offering up “strange fire” to the Lord. Listen to this from an article I found:

“You see at least fifty kids standing around…in a circle watching and laughing at something. You move closer into the circle and see the youth pastor and a kid trying to eat a banana through pantyhose covering their heads. You look around and notice no open Bibles, no sound of hymns or worship music, and no one praying. All you see is just a group of teenagers watching an adult and one of their peers awkwardly trying to eat a banana. You think to yourself, ‘Is this supposed to be church? This looks more like a party!’ Well, unfortunately, this is church now. Youth group used to be opening your Bible and hearing what God had to say to you. It used to be led by someone older, someone with more experience and wisdom on how to live a godly life. It used to be about learning to listen to God and keeping Him close to your heart. Not anymore…The youth pastor might read a verse or two, but only after losing the kids’ attention and respect because of his display of looking like a fool.”

Amen. Want to know who wrote that? The girl that wrote that was 16 years old. The same principle that God displayed when He destroyed Nadab and Abihu—“By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.”

OK, so what we have seen now is those things that were necessary for the construction and sanctification of the tabernacle, and for the prayers of the people to be heard by God. We have silver (or gold) for the ransom money. We have myrrh in the anointing oil. We have frankincense to be burned on the altar of incense. Let’s see…gold, myrrh and frankincense. Seems as though I've seen a list similar to this somewhere in the NT. Matthew 2:11—And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But all that OT Law stuff is so boring and has nothing to do with Jesus! The gifts that the Magi brought were specifically for the support and sanctification of the tabernacle of flesh of Christ’s body and for the prayers of the saints. And before we begin, although I wrote and taught this lesson back in July, I think it's not a little ironic that I am getting around to posting it a week and a half before Christmas. And on that note, let’s get rid of some myths. These men were not kings. They were “Magi,” probably philosophers or astronomers. But not kings. There were probably more than three. They did not show up until Jesus was about 2 years old—meaning, they weren’t at the manger. So “We Three Kings” and all the pictures of the wise men at the stable—we can get rid of them, because they are wrong. At any rate. Oh, by the way, Isaiah 60:6—The multitude of camels shall cover your land, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah…they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD.

First, the gold. The ransom money under the Old Covenant, which was used to redeem the people. Now, under the New Covenant it is Christ’s blood that provides our ransom and redemption from sin. Romans 3:24-25—24 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood. Propitiation simply being a fancy way of saying “To satisfy a debt.” 1^st Peter 1:18-19—18 You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Ephesians 1:7—In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

The myrrh. Which was the chief ingredient in the anointing oil. Psalm 45:6-8—6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. 8 All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad. See if you see what I see. Psalm 45:6—Your throne, O GOD, is forever… Who is being spoken to there? Then Psalm 45:7—Therefore God, your God, has anointed You. Who is being spoken to here? So obviously, in Psalm 45:6, it is the 2^nd member of the Trinity that is being referred to as God. In fact, in Hebrews 1:9, the writer makes the point that God the Father is saying these things to God the Son. Read Hebrews 1, all of it, and you will see that the writer is making it as clear as he possibly can, without coming right out and saying it, that Jesus Christ is God. Then Psalm 45:8—All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia. The same ingredients we find in the holy anointing oil. 

Finally, the incense. In the tabernacle and the temple the burning of incense was meant to symbolize our prayers rising to YHVH. Revelation 5:8—The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. This does NOT mean that we are to pray to angels and dead saints as the Roman Catholics do. What did Jesus say? “Pray in this manner, ‘Our Father, which art in Heaven’” (Matthew 6:9). But that’s for another day. Malachi 1:11—“From the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the LORD of hosts.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.