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February 7
Our Bible reading today is in Exodus chapters 25,26,27.
Today we are still camped at the foot of Mt Sinai with the congregation of Israel.
Moses is still on the mountain with God. God is giving him detailed instructions about a “mobile sanctuary” to be built for the purpose of the worship of God.
In the years to come, around 40 of them, people would pass by the different encampment sights of Israel in the wilderness.
Rabbi’s say...% that they would see the cloud...they would see the fire in the sky above the “tented-palace” and would ask out loud, “What’s that?”
The older travelers would respond, “That’s the house of Israel’s God...the God who defeated all of “MIGHTY EGYPT.”
Wow...I kind of think...that if I was passing through that way, I believe that I would at least respect the place, and perhaps even give serious consideration to finding out more about such a powerful God.
Well, just like God came down on the mountain to meet with His people at Sinai, He would come all the way down on this tabernacle every year...not for the giving of the law, but to atone for the sins of the people who had broken the covenant laws that year.
Now to today’s text...
Question.....Who was going to build the Tabernacle? This House of God?
Answer....The people of Israel! They would fund it and build it, inside and out, through their own personal resources.
This “tent of meeting”, which is translated “tabernacle,” would be a rectangular structure...framed in with acacia wood...45’ long...15’ wide...and 15’ tall.
The grounds outside, just adjacent to the tabernacle, were called the “court of the tabernacle.” That’s where the common people would gather for worship regularly and specially.
Now, do you remember in our earlier Exodus readings how the people were warned not to go on the mountain...or even touch it?....in order to meet God?
They needed a representative to intercede for them for God’s favor. That representative was Moses.
Now...think of the tabernacle...placed at the center of two million Israelites encamped in the wilderness of Sinai...
...Could the people just go right into the tabernacle to worship and fellowship with God?
No!
They would need a representative to intercede for them for God’s favor. Those representatives would be the priests of Israel.
They would aid Moses in teaching the people the law outside the tabernacle. ##But primarily, they assisted Aaron in pleading to God on behalf of the people...and they would do that inside the House of God...another name for the tent.
So, let’s get this straight...the Israelite people could not get to God...on the mountain...or in the Tabernacle...on their own...They had to have someone go for them.
O what a foreshadowing of the ministry of our Saviour Jesus. We couldn't get to God on our own. So Jesus came all the way down to earth for the purpose of getting sinners to God. That happened at the cross that He suffered and died on...1500 years after Mt Sinai and the Tabernacle.
Right before Jesus died in our place, He cried “it is finished”....that moment, the veil in the Temple, that separated the people from God in the Holy of Holies, was rent into two pieces...opening the way for believing sinners to see and know and worship up close, the God of their salvation...THANK YOU JESUS!
Have a great day
