Tabernacle

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Good morning Chapel family. We’re taking this summer to walk through the book of Exodus, which is the epic story of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt, and bringing them to the Promised Land. So the whole book of Exodus is this long journey from here to there. And along that journey, God was shaping them and building into them everything they needed for this new and better future. The reason Exodus is to timeless is that God does the same thing with us: he takes us from here to there—from where we are to the better future he has for us—which is a really exciting and hopeful thing, right? So following God is never stagnant—he’s always moving us forward. But in order to get where we need to go, there are some key things that God needs to build into us.

So last week, we looked at Exodus 20-24, where God gives the Israelites the laws and commandments that would guide them in their new land. He starts with the Ten Commandments, but he doesn’t stop there: he gives dozens of other laws and commands that govern the way they should act in just about every part of life. So it seems like all the bases are covered, and now they should be ready to enter the Promised Land.

But something is still missing. And the thing that’s still missing is the presence of God.

Now, you might be thinking, “Wait: I thought God was everywhere! How can you not have his presence?” And you’re right—God is omnipresent. There’s no place in the universe where God is not. But this is talking about something more. In Exodus 33, Moses talks about the presence of God, and the word he uses for “presence” is the Hebrew word for “face.” Isn’t that interesting? If you know somebody personally—if you go up to your friend—and you want to communicate with your friend, where do you look? (At your phone, of course—because you text them). No—where do you look? Do you look at their elbow? At their knee? You look at their face. That’s the most personal part of a person. It’s the thing that makes them, them.

So even though the Israelite people had all the commands of God, they weren’t ready to move forward until they were experiencing the face of God—his personal presence. So for the rest of Exodus—the last 16 chapters—God lays out a way for them to experience and enjoy his presence.

This is so relevant for us! Because, you can have all the principles of God, and you can memorize all the commands of God, but if you’re not experiencing his presence, your spiritual life will be flat and hollow and empty, and you will never move forward spiritually. We desperately need the presence of God!

So let’s begin by reading Exodus 25, the first nine verses. I invite you now to hear the Word of God…

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. This is the Word of the Lord.

God says, “Have them make this tabernacle for me, and I will dwell among them.” So starting from this passage, let’s talk about three things today: God Among Us, God With Us, and God In Us. The building of the tabernacle sets into motion a trajectory of increasing intimacy, where God lives first among his people, then with his people, and then, amazingly, in his people. God among us, God with us, and God in us. So let’s talk about that today, and then we’ll close with communion.

So, first: God Among Us. If you go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible—first few chapters of Genesis—you find that people were originally designed to experience the presence of God. They could actually walk through the garden and talk with God, just like you talk to a person! But then they rebelled. And they were put out of the Garden. And it says the entrance back into the Garden was guarded by a flaming sword, flashing back and forth. That’s a pretty powerful symbol.

So ever since that time, people have felt this longing to reconnect with God—in a sense, to get back to the garden. Moses and the people of Israel felt that longing. And the great news is: God had that same desire! And God’s way of making that happen was the tabernacle. So if you took the time to read some of the detail in chapters 25-31, you would see that God leaves nothing to chance. He gives a specific list of materials to collect—gold and silver and bronze and goat hair and ram skins and wood and olive oil. He specifies the kinds of specialists that this job will need—He talks about designers, and craftsmen, and weavers. He explicitly describes how every individual piece should be constructed.

And then if you read chapters 35-40, you find the people of Israel carrying out God’s instructions and building the tabernacle. And when it was all done, it looked something like this…(show picture). The whole thing was about 50 yards long—half a football field. And it was about 25 yards wide. Keep in mind that the entire thing was portable—it was designed for their journey through the wilderness. So you could pack everything up, and move it to a different location, and then set it up again. So after about six months of building, the tabernacle was complete.

At the very center, guarded by a thick curtain, or veil, there was a room called “The Most Holy Place.” And in that room was a chest—this wooden, gold-covered box—called the Ark of the Covenant. And on top of that were two huge, golden angel wings. And God said, “That’s the spot where I’ll show up. My glory—my presence—will manifest itself there, and that’s where I’ll meet with you.” So God had opened up a way that He could live among his people.

And then look at this—this is almost the last verse in Exodus—Exodus 40, verse 34: Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. We saw it at the burning bush; we saw it in the fiery pillar; we saw it on Mt. Sinai; and now the visible presence of God actually comes down and fills the tabernacle! Can you even imagine?

So—for the people of Israel, there was now a way to connect with God! You would show up at the tabernacle on certain prescribed days. And you would undergo ceremonial washings, and you would interact with the priests. And a crucial requirement was: you had to bring a sacrifice. Why? Well, do you remember what guarded the entrance back into the Garden of Eden? The flaming sword. Because God’s holiness is so pure, and sin is such a violation of God’s holiness, in order to be in God’s presence, something has to go under the sword. God’s judgment has to be carried out. So that’s what they did, year after year, as they traveled through the wilderness.

And then…years later, after they had settled down into their own land, they replaced the portable Tabernacle with a permanent version called…what? The Temple. So for many more years, the temple was the center of the community. It was the place where God dwelled among His people. It was really an awesome thing! In fact, they say the Jerusalem Temple was one of the most beautiful structures you could ever lay your eyes on.

And you say, “Great! So everything was good!” Well…sort of. Technically, it worked. But there were some down sides to it. It was complicated. It was messy. It made you very dependent on priests. And here’s what I’ve found: Any time there’s a heavy dependence on human religious leaders, some of them will get arrogant and greedy and abuse their power. Ever noticed that? And that started to happen. And any time there’s a heavy emphasis on ritual and ceremony—people start focusing on the ritual, instead of focusing on the meaning behind the ritual. Ever noticed that? And that started to happen. And it became more and more common for people to show up at the temple, and instead of encountering God, they would just go through the motions.

So, yes—the tabernacle and the temple served their purpose. God dwelled among the people! But as time went by, there was this growing sense that something better was needed. And that leads to our second point…

God With Us. About 1,400 years later, Jesus walked the earth. And you have to hear how John describes his arrival in John 1:14…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. That phrase “the Word” is talking about Jesus, and when it says he “made his dwelling” among us, that’s the Greek verb form of…guess what? Tabernacle. The eternal Son of God took on flesh and “tabernacled”—camped out—among us. In The Message translation, it says “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” So this is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise that when the Messiah is born, one of his names will be “Emmanuel,” which means…what? God with us. Not just among us, in a general way, but actually with us, in a much more personal way. Wow!

Early in Jesus’ ministry, he was standing in the Jerusalem temple—the permanent version of that Exodus tabernacle we’ve been reading about—and listen to what Jesus said: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” And the religious leaders became furious—in fact, they used those words as evidence against him when he was put on trial. Because they thought Jesus was threatening to knock down the Temple! But John’s Gospel clarifies for us: “the temple he was talking about was his body.”

So here’s the amazing truth: Jesus replaced the temple! In Matthew 12:6, Jesus says, “Something greater than the temple is here.” And he was talking about himself. Jesus replaced the temple! So now, if you wanted to experience the presence of God—the face of God—you no longer needed to go to this physical structure; you just needed to go to Jesus. And sure enough, so many people who felt unwelcome or unqualified to go to the temple felt welcomed by Jesus! And as they spent time with him, they experienced the face of God. Way better than the tabernacle!

But let’s push into that a little deeper. Jesus wasn’t just claiming to be the new temple. He was claiming to fulfill every aspect of the temple! Remember: every element in that tabernacle or temple represented different things you had to do in order to get into God’s presence, right? So for example, there was special bread; there were lamps; there were priests. And Jesus said, “I am the bread; I am the light; I am the priest.” Jesus fulfilled all that. Everything those things were intended to accomplish, Jesus accomplished infinitely better.

And most importantly, Jesus fulfilled the sacrifices of the temple. Look at this—Hebrews 9, verse 11: 11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Remember, something has to go under the sword to enter God’s presence, right? And when Jesus went to the cross, he willingly went under the sword in our place. And the moment Jesus died, the

curtain of the temple—that blocked the way into the Most Holy Place—was torn in two from top to bottom! Incredibly symbolic, right? Because every barrier had been taken out of the way, and the door to God’s presence had been flung open. Isn’t that awesome?

So everything the tabernacle and temple were intended to accomplish, Jesus accomplished it better. He blew it away. He exceeded it. He replaced it. Which means…that longing that you have to connect with God in a personal way can actually be fulfilled through Jesus. If you’ve been disillusioned by a religious system that put way too much emphasis on the rituals, or the sacred places and sacred objects, or that made you way too dependent on religious leaders, turn to Jesus. It’s that simple! Look at what he did for you on the cross, put your faith in him, and he will take you all the way in—to the very presence of God.

So…do you see the trajectory? How God has been allowing people to experience his presence in increasingly intimate ways? Through the tabernacle, it was God among us; then through Jesus, it was God with us. But there’s actually one step closer.

Let’s talk about God In Us. Shortly before Jesus was about to leave the earth, he gathered His followers together and He made them this promise—this is John 14, beginning in verse 16: 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you (and here it is…) and will be in you.

So after the death and resurrection of Jesus, He ascended into heaven. And his followers were gathered together and it says they saw what looked like tongues of fire (remember the fire in the burning bush? Remember the pillar of fire in the wilderness?—the presence of God!) and those tongues of fire rested on each of the believers, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s recorded in Acts chapter two. And ever since that day, every time a person turns away from their sin and turns toward Jesus, and puts their faith in Christ, something miraculous happens—even though you can’t see it, it’s happening. At that moment, the Holy Spirit of God enters that person’s life. Romans 8:9 says, If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to Christ. So every true believer has the Holy Spirit in them.

A few years we did an entire series on that that means—how the Holy Spirit empowers us and gifts us with spiritual gifts and produces the fruit of the Spirit and all kinds of other things…none of which we have time to talk about today. Because today is all about this longing that all of us have to get back into the Garden—to experience the face of God, and actually have a relationship with our Creator. And here’s the point: even though that happened to some degree with the tabernacle, and even though it happened to a more personal degree when Jesus walked the earth, if you were lucky enough to spend some time with him, today it’s open to anyone, anywhere through the Holy Spirit. And don’t hear me wrong: the Holy Spirit doesn’t replace Jesus; it’s the Spirit of Jesus—so we get to walk with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, wherever we are. We don’t have to make a pilgrimage or come to a temple; God is with us everywhere. He’s with you at your job. He’s with you in school and when you go off to college. He’s with believers in Afghanistan in this moment of terrible danger—they might have lost the presence of American troops, but they will never lose the presence of God.

The glory of God filled the tabernacle and lived among us. The Word became flesh and became Emmanuel—God with us. And now the fire God’s Spirit lives in us. Isn’t that amazing? We are now the temple of God! We as individual believers, and we collectively, as the church—we are the temple where the presence of God dwells on earth!

And therefore…what? What do we do with all this? Let me close with 3 implications of all this…

First, Practice His Presence. Remember when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush? And God told Moses, “Take off your shoes, for the place you’re standing is holy ground.” Well now, because God’s presence is in us, every place you go is holy ground! Which is why you should never wear shoes. No—it means we need to constantly remind ourselves that God is right there, with us, wherever we are.

There was a monk named Brother Lawrence who lived back in the 1600s, and his famous book is called The Practice of the Presence of God. He was actually a dish washer in the monastery, so he trained himself to be consciously aware of God’s presence while he scrubbed pots and plates. It’s a learned skill, and he said you can actually get better at it—you can become aware of God’s presence for increasingly longer periods of time.

I’ve been working on this recently. I’ll just stop, in the middle of whatever I’m doing, and I just say, “Jesus, thank you that you’re right here with me. Walking into the grocery store…pulling weeds…hiking through the woods. I’m actually in the middle of a root canal right now—the first one I’ve ever had—so I have to go back again next week. And I’m reminding myself that Jesus himself is right there with me in the dentist chair. There’s real comfort to that. Learn to practice his presence.

Secondly, Confess Your Sins. When you read about the Jewish tabernacle and temple, there’s a huge emphasis on making atonement for the sins of the people. The priests; the sacrifices; special days like Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement—all of that was because we all sin, and we need to clear the air with God. And now, because Jesus made the final and perfect sacrifice at the cross, all we have to do is confess. The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo—“to say the same.” So confessing is just calling sin what God calls sin. It’s coming clean before God. 1 John 1:9 says If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. No trip to the temple required; no priest required; just confess.

Why don’t we take God up on that more often? I think sometimes when we’ve sinned, we suspect think God is a little disgusted with us. Do you ever feel that way? Because it’s the same sin you’ve committed a few times before—or a few hundred times before. And we think, “God does not want to hear from me again.” So we wallow in our guilt and shame, and we keep our distance. How foolish. How stupid. We have no idea the depth of God’s mercy and his desire to forgive us and restore us. Listen to this quote by Dane Ortlund:

We all tend to have some small pocket of our life where we have difficulty believing the forgiveness of God reaches…[But] God’s forgiving, redeeming, restoring touch reaches down into the darkest crevices of our souls, those places where we are most ashamed, most defeated.

That is a beautiful truth. Satan is called “The Accuser”—so he loves it when we wallow in our sin and keep our distance from God. Don’t believe his lies. I don’t care what the sin is, or how many times you’ve committed it; turn from it; confess it to God, and receive his forgiveness. His mercies are new every day.

And then here’s the third practical thing: Honor Your Temple. Honor your temple. During the first century, nobody thought very highly of the human body. It was considered much less important than the human spirit. You could do whatever you wanted with your body. But then Christianity came along and said, “Actually God cares a lot about our bodies. Look at 1 Corinthians 6:19-20… 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. In other words, your body is not something to be trashed and abused. It’s sacred.

Now, in the context of 1 Corinthians 6, it gives two examples of what this means in a practical way. First, it means that your body is way too sacred to give yourself in casual sex. To give yourself physically, without also giving all that you are socially and financially and emotionally—in other words, without a marriage covenant—dishonors your body. Clicking through porn images dishonors your body. It treats God’s temple cheaply. You’re actually worth more than that. The second example in 1 Corinthians is about how we use food. So the reason you say “No” to eating the entire pint of ice cream before bed; the reason you grab the salad with grilled chicken instead of the double cheeseburger, is different than it used to be. And this also extends to exercise—the reason you decide to turn off the TV and put on your running shoes and go out for a run is different than it used to be. It’s not so you can feel better and look better (although you probably will). There’s a higher motivation. You are the temple of God! So treat your body with honor.

And the only reason any of this is possible—the reason God’s presence is actually in us—is because of the cross. Because Jesus lost the face of the Father as he hung on the cross, we get to experience God’s face forever. So as we close today, let’s come to the communion table and remember the cross.