Welcome to Old Testament Survey. This is class five. Hope everybody has a handout. We put these together each week for you to take notes, follow along, but sometimes there's things in here we're gonna reference while we teach, and today's one of those situations, so make sure you have one of those, since I don't have a whiteboard to draw on. But let's go ahead and begin with a brief word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for giving us the chance to gather around your word, and Father, to see the ways that you have worked throughout redemptive history. Help us to see things today that we maybe have never seen before in your word. Help us to be encouraged by your sovereignty and goodness. We pray these things in Christ's name, amen. Well, as I mentioned, we are in week five of Old Testament survey. Last week we did the first. We're still in the mid, and this week we hope to finish it. My way of context, we're still in the mid-15th century BC. Moses, still the author of the Book of Exodus. Yahweh has just rescued his people out of brutal slavery in Egypt through many great signs and wonders. Hopefully you remember that, the Exodus. He judged Egypt and all the process as he delivered his people to himself. In it all, Yahweh caused his great name to be magnified in all the earth. Now the people are heading headlong to a land promised to their ancestors, which was promised really long ago. And on the way, they come to a place called Mount Sinai, where they are to worship Yahweh before they go any further. So it's here at this junction that we're going to spend most of our time. In the scope of God's greater plan to redeem his people for himself out of all the nations of the world, and return the world to its original Edenic state. When I say Edenic state, I'm talking about Eden. Okay, we're gonna see that God's plan to redeem his people out of the nations as he makes progress to return the world to its original Edenic state. And if you remember last time or two weeks ago, and really every time, we've talked about God's people under God's place, under God's rule. And what we see today is that we're gonna be at a real high point, which also will have some low points for us to point out as well. As soon as the first sin was committed, God had promised to send a Savior. Remember that from looking at Genesis 3.15. Then we saw that he promised one man, namely Abraham, that the promised Savior would be one of his descendants. So all this is kind of background, giving us a little bit of historical context for where we are today. In today's section of Scripture, we're going to see Abraham's descendants becoming a real nation. They're about to get their own laws and their own national religion. The recreation of humanity is slowly creeping forward and God is beginning to dwell among his people again. So a thematic sentence for the second half of the book of Exodus might sound something like this. God, and this should be in your notes, I think, yep. God is establishing the covenant terms to direct his people in how they are to live in fellowship with him, since he will now dwell with them. You see that theme there, and we're gonna spend some time working that out. So in this part of God's word, we'll see the covenant laws that Israel was to live by. We'll also see the construction of something called the tabernacle, right? So the law and the tabernacle are gonna be the two main focuses of our time today. And this tabernacle is where God's presence was, right? And in it all, we're gonna see how poorly the people kept the terms of the covenant, particularly his laws. and we're gonna see Yahweh's response to them as covenant breakers. And again, biblically speaking, here's a definition of covenant that we've used for this series so far. A covenant is an inviolable bond between two parties that, if kept, brings about great blessing, but if broken, will bring a curse. In these chapters, Yahweh will give the terms of the covenant to his people. Will Yahweh enforce the full wrath of the covenant curse? Should they break it? It's a good question. We'll have to see as we progress. Now, in the second half of the book of Exodus, there's a lot of laws, right? In this class, I'm going to talk a lot about grace. So today, yes, we're going to focus on a lot of laws, but it would be a mistake not to highlight God's grace through all of this. And we're going to see why in just a moment. But first, I want us to think about those two concepts. Why is it that we need to understand God's law if we are going to understand God's grace? So I'll ask that again. Why is it that we need to understand God's law if we're going to understand God's grace? What do y'all think? Why is it necessary to understand law if we are to understand grace? Yes, ma'am. Okay, so we need to be aware and understand our own transgressions in order to even maybe recognize the need for grace, that we would receive grace. Okay, that's good. Anything else? Yes, ma'am. That's right. We need to see the holiness of God, which is revealed in the law, which essentially serves as a kind of measuring rod, right? That reveals His holiness and shows just how far we are from achieving such a standard. That's another good one. What else? We have to understand our sinfulness. We have to understand our sinfulness. That's right. That's good. We have no goodness. That's right. Yep. And without the law, there's no need for grace. Yeah, without the law, there's no need for grace, right? Because if there is no law, then there would be no transgression of it. And what would be the need of grace? So you can hopefully see that law is not something, it can definitely be a heavy burden. And if you're trying to pursue righteousness according to the law, it will be that. But it also can reveal something very important about ourselves, which is we don't measure up. And then right behind the giving of the law is this flow of gospel, flow of grace, that is what brings the comfort that we need. So thank you all for that discussion. But we wanted to highlight these ideas. And these things are shot all through the Bible. So you have to become a good interpreter of law and grace, or law and gospel. This distinction really does matter. So just a few comments on the structure. It's important that we take a few minutes here at the beginning to talk about the structure of the second half of Exodus, because that will provide us with the basic outline for our time together. In chapters 20 through 23 of our text, we have the Ten Commandments. Okay, this is also called the Decalogue, right? as it's sometimes called, along with a lot of other additional commandments and regulations regarding society, morality, and the religious calendar for God's people. Now historically, theologians have described the moral, the civil, the ceremonial aspects of the Old Testament law. I think that's perfectly appropriate. and they recognize this threefold division. But however you want to talk about the way to categorize the laws, laws do point to different things within the Jewish context. These four chapters, which lay out the covenant obligations of Israel, act as a prologue to the second half of the book. Okay, so the four chapters, this is 20 through 23, serve as a kind of prologue for the second half of the book. Now this is where the structure gets rather interesting, right? So 24 through 40 are written using a literary device called a chiasm. Has anybody heard of a chiasm before? There's a few, okay. If you know it and you raised your hand, you probably have a little smile on your face because you're excited that you just heard the word chiasm and you never thought you'd hear that word again after it was first introduced to you. But a chiasm is a way of forming an argument where, think about an outline in your mind, A, B, C, how it indents along the way. So a chiasm will go A, B, C, C1, B1, A1. So it'll step in with the middle point being the most important point, and then it steps out. And each of those points The A and the A1, the B and the B1, and the C and the C1, they all correspond to each other. But it's just an old way. So here's what my notes say about it. Achaism is a structure. It's found commonly in text from the ancient world, in which important concepts are placed in a symmetric order for emphasis. The chiasm in chapters 24 through 40 of Exodus is especially noteworthy because it presents us right here at the outset of the Old Testament with a beautiful picture of the gospel. So this is where I need you to take your hand out. If you take your hand out, turn it over, turn to the back, and let me explain. So you'll see on the back a study for Exodus 20 through 24 there on the back. Now look where it says section two, the Roman numeral two, starts with Exodus 24. Okay, so section two, which covers chapter 24, is about the ultimate goal of the covenant, fellowship with God. Section three explains how this is going to happen. So we've taken a step in on our chiasm here. It explains how it's gonna happen. Then it gives the instructions for building the tabernacle where God will dwell with his people. But then four, okay, Roman numeral four, chapters 32 through 34 test the covenant. Chapter 32, Okay, let's see. Now, interestingly enough, I'm gonna make a little point here. When you get to Roman numeral four, you'll notice that the Roman numerals stop, but there's a continued increase in the chiasm, so to speak. And really, between chapters 32 and 34, there's a additional chiasm within those chapters, and that's what's represented in the 32, 33, and 34. So you almost have like a sub-chiasm within the main point of the broader chiasm there in point four. But let's just, let me say this. So in chapter 32, the people sin. And in chapter 33, God shows grace. Chapter 34, quite expectantly, God renews the covenant even after the people's rebellion, and then we continue to work our way out of that chiasm, with each section paralleling the one above it. So do you see that? Exodus 35, this is number five, Exodus 35 through 40, the covenant meeting place is built, that corresponds with number three, which is where God describes the tabernacle, and then finally, in section 6 where we see the promise of section 2 fulfilled as God's presence enters the tabernacle. Okay, so these structures are important because what the biblical writer is doing is telling us what's most important. And where do y'all think they put the most important point? Where do y'all think? right in the middle, so it's the crux, it's where the chiasm comes, and it hits that middle point, and that's usually the main idea that they're trying to communicate, and everything that flows into it and flows out of it is really pointing to this centerpiece. That's the crux of the matter, so to speak. So what's in the middle of this section of laws, disobedience, and punishment? Well, it's chapter 33, which is a chapter about God's grace. the centerpiece of the gospel, at the turning point of the second half of Exodus. As we journey through the second half of Exodus, we'll talk about each part of the chiasm in more detail. And as we do that, my hope is that we will all, we'll take away a greater awe of God's grace to us in Christ, which is previewed for us here in the book of Exodus. So let's turn, go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter 20. And let's get right into the text, beginning with the prologue that we discussed. This is Exodus 20 through 23, the covenant obligations. So chapter 20, now let's read the law that Yahweh gives to the people on Mount Sinai. Now one little note about the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue, and this came from our textbook that we're using. The Ten Commandments are distinct from the rest of God's law in that they were spoken directly by God. they were written by his finger, and their pronouncement yielded its own response from the people." Okay, so it's one thing just to highlight maybe this special place of the Ten Commandments within the Israel law. Let's look into 20 verse 1. And I'm going to summarize this because it's really long, and y'all know the Ten Commandments. We're going to rehearse them real quick. So verse 1, and God spoke all these words saying, verse 2, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And then here we go. Number 1, you shall have no other gods before me. Verse 4, number 2, you shall not make for yourself a carved image. Number 3, verse 7, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Number 4, verse 8, Remember this Sabbath day and keep it holy. Number five, verse 12, honor your father and your mother. I'm losing my count. Six, thank you. Law six, verse 13, you shall not murder. Law seven, verse 14, you shall not commit adultery. Law 8, you shall not steal, verse 15. And then 9, verse 16, you shall not bear false witness. And finally 10, you shall not covet, verse 17. Now a lot of you have probably noticed that there is a kind of, there's two elements of the Ten Commandments. The first half really relating more to the people obeying God, right, their relationship to the Lord. know that God's before me, carved image, not take the name of the Lord as your vein, remember my day, keep it holy, and then the last six relating to how we relate to one another. So definitely there's something to that. Verse 18 says this. Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and they trembled. And they stood far off and said to Moses, you speak to us and we listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die. And Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you and that you may not sin. The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Alright, so let's say a few things if we are to understand this law and God's economy of grace. Remember that God's promise to Abraham are being fulfilled here in this text. Those promises were pure grace, a free gift. So why does God give these commandments to his people when the covenant was already made with Abraham as a promise by grace, right? I will make you a great nation. I will bless all the nations through you. In you, the promised seed will eventually come. All of this was given to Abraham. So why does God give these commands to the people? when this covenant was essentially already made back in Genesis chapter 12. Let me just go ahead and begin working out an answer to that. Hopefully you have some thoughts in your mind. Remember that in the Garden of Eden, God's plan was to display his glory and beauty to and through his creatures. He wanted to display his glory to and through his creatures. And we learned in Genesis 12 to 50 that he was going to do this through a particular people, okay? A special family, as we discussed. While Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received God's promise, they were just as sinful, maybe perhaps even more sinful in some sense, right, than Adam and Eve. That brings us to this point in Mount Sinai. So why was the law added to God's promise to Abraham? I'll give you two reasons. First, do you remember reading Exodus 19, verse 6? Go ahead and turn there, somebody. Exodus 19, verse 6, and let's read that real quick, just a few pages. Denise, would you read that for us? Yes, ma'am, 19.6. What did God want? He said that you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is creation image, right? This is creation language. That's mankind imaging, as it were, God. Look again at verse 5. It says they will only fulfill this purpose and be this people if they obey Him fully and keep His covenant. So God seems to be saying, if you keep my word, if you keep my commandments, then you will rightly image me once more. I am giving you the law as a blueprint for what this looks like. So this law is being given as a way to have Israel image him to a watching world. So in other words, the first purpose of the law is that it revealed, we actually said this earlier, it revealed who God is, right? And the people needed direction about how to image forth their creator. Okay, but as we know, the law gets broken, doesn't it, right? We break it, they broke it. How does all that fit into this? Galatians 3, verse 17 through 19, we read a few important aspects of the answer. And I'll let you turn there later when I'll have time to go and read it. But Galatians 3, 17 through 19, we read a few important aspects of the answer. In these verses, we see that the law in no way replaces God's gracious covenant that he made with Abraham. Even when the law is broken by God's people, God will never break His gracious promise to Abraham. The promise was given, was guaranteed by the very promise of God that the seed will come from Abraham's line, and that was a rock-solid promise. No amount of disobedience or anything was going to have that promise to Abraham be rescinded. And second, we see that the law was added because of our sin. It's there to make our sin clear to us so that we will flee to God as our Savior. So I want to make this very clear. First you have the promise, then you have the law. Why is the law added to the promise? Well, first, as we saw in Exodus 19, it's to fulfill God's purposes of revealing His character. But second, as we learn later in the New Testament, it was added because of transgression. Because through the law, we become conscious, conscious of our need for a Savior. It has this tutorial, a tutor, plays the role of a tutor in our life to teach us of our need of a Savior, and then it should drive us to Him. So two reasons here, then, why the covenant of law was added to this gracious covenant that God gave to Abraham. At least one point of clarification needs to be made concerning the law, and it's this. The Israelites were not saved. When we're talking about Israelites being saved, we have to think about a kind of a national salvation. They were taken out of Egypt, right, as a nation. Okay, that doesn't mean that every single Israelite was a child of Abraham in the spiritual sense that we come to know it in the New Testament. But in terms of their national identity, okay, they were saved out of Egypt. They were, as Paul will say, they were baptized in the Red Sea and all the rest. But we're speaking about a national salvation. Israelites were not saved because they kept the law. That's an important point. Rather, you'll notice that in Exodus 20, verse 2, it says that the Israelites were already saved out of their bondage before they were given the law. So what bondage were they saved out of? I just made reference to it. Slavery in Egypt. That's where they were. They were saved out of that as a nation. And only after that happened were they given the law. They were already saved out of their bondage before they were given the law. No one has ever been saved by keeping any kind of law. Salvation has always been by grace through faith. Now the application here for us should be obvious. Do not use the law as a means to establish your own righteousness, right? As though God will approve you if you were to keep it well enough. This is a huge mistake. Misunderstands the nature of God, misunderstands the nature of our own sinfulness, and those who pursue righteousness according to the law will absolutely be disappointed. Rather, we use the law to remind ourself of our own sinfulness and have it drive us to Christ. then endeavor by the grace and strength that God provides through his spirit to keep the law, right? So it's not as though the law becomes irrelevant for us, it is a tutor that teaches of our sin, but also teaches us how to, as we talked about, image Christ, image God, to the world. We endeavor by grace and strength that God provides through his spirit to keep the law, not to establish our own righteousness, but to image God more accurately to the world. Let's go ahead and press on, Exodus 32 through 34. Covenant disobedience and covenant grace. So that was our prologue, which introduces God's law. Let us venture further into the chiasm, and we'll start from the center and work our way out. Okay, starting at the center, and this is on that outline on the back of your handout there. Let's start in the center and work our way out. How did the people do in keeping this covenant? How do y'all think they did? Great, Mark says not too great, okay. They did poorly, quite poorly, okay. Look at chapter 22, not a very happy chapter indeed, right. While Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, here's what was going on at the bottom of the mountain, okay. Look at verse one. When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. Right? Well, guess what happens? There goes commandments one and two, even before they're brought down from the mountain and delivered to the people, people are already breaking them. How does God respond to this covenant disloyalty? Look down to verses 17 through 10. I'm sorry, seven through 10. And the Lord said to Moses, go down for your people. whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt. They have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. And they have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, these are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore, let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, that I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you. So God's about to disown them. I mean, he's pretty much there, right? Do you notice that he doesn't call them my people anymore? But what does he say to Moses? They are who? Your people, right? They're your people. But look what Moses does. And if you remember a few lessons ago, we talked about typology and a type, right? Moses is truly a type of Christ here. What does Moses do in chapter verses 11 through 13? What does he do? He intercedes, he mediates for them. Here's the verses. Moses implored the Lord his God and said, O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, with evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. So Moses intercedes, right, on behalf of the people. Look at what Moses appeals to. He appeals to in God. God's desire for His own glory. One of the primary doctrines of Scripture. God works for His own glory. Look at verse 12. He doesn't want the nation, so Moses doesn't want the nations to see God's actions as evidence that God is evil, that he is unable to save this people, right? Look at verse 13. Moses appeals to Yahweh's faithfulness and covenant trustworthiness. He says, keep your promises. Do it for your own names, your own names sake. I think this reveals that people need a mediator. They needed Moses to mediate for them, they needed Moses to intercede for them, and really our situation is no different. We need a mediator, we need an interceder, and Moses is typifying, he's picturing, he's shadowing forth, right, a greater mediator who is to come in this text. So God hears and answers God-centered prayers. We see that in verse 14 and the verse that follow, that he shows the Israelites grace. And you'll notice in verse 14 that they are called God's people again. Just that quickly, right? Are there consequences to this? Of course there are. God is gracious and his plan of redemption moves forward. In chapter 34, we read that God has renewed the covenant with his people, even after what they did, and gave them what? What did he give them? What had gotten broken at the first instance? Yeah, the tablets were broken, right? So in chapter 32, people break the covenant, Moses intercedes, Okay, the connecting point in the chiasm is chapter 34, the covenant is renewed, right? It's renewed and the new stone tablets were delivered to them. But we are not done with Moses' request just yet. Okay, look at verse 18. Moses said, now show me your glory, right? Now show me your glory. God's glory is the manifestation of all of his internal perfections and beauty, the full realization of his dazzling brilliance in who he is. Moses wants to see that, right? But look at what God says. To summarize, he says, Moses, you cannot see my face and live, right? You cannot see the full display of my holiness and beauty, my perfections and radiance. You cannot see my full glory. You are a sinner. and because of that it would destroy you. So what is God's solution? So that he could grant at least part of Moses' request, he protects Moses from the blast of his glory, right, by placing him in the cleft of a rock. So Moses can just for a moment see God's glory pass by. Just like we'll see ultimately with Christ's death on the cross, God is making a way to be with his people while protecting them from the holy outlash of his glory against their sin. Exodus 25-31 and Exodus 35-40, so we're stepping out of the chiasm again. Okay, instructions four and the construction of a covenant meeting place. So we spent most of our time looking at the law, the renewal of the covenant. Now let's talk about the construction of a covenant meeting place. This is really important and I thought very encouraging and helpful. Now speaking of God's glory and how that causes a problem for sinful people, let's turn to the tabernacle. This is the next pairing in archaism. The tabernacle was a tent which Yahweh instructed his people to build so that he could dwell with them even though they were sinful. How can Yahweh dwell with his people and go with them, as Moses said, if they are sinful? Well, the tabernacle, I'm gonna say that word wrongly and sound like a fool, it's okay. The tabernacle offers the solution. In these very important chapters describing the tabernacle and its worship, we are pointed backwards as well as being pointed forwards. We're pointed backwards in the biblical storyline as well as we're pointed forwards in the biblical storyline. First, let's look at how it points backwards. So the tabernacle is presented in these chapters as a reconstruction of Eden. It's presented as a reconstruction of Eden. Let's look how. Notice the parallels between this account and the creation account. I'm going to have to show you, obviously. We can't read through all of it, but I'm going to show you where they are. So it's structure. Whenever you come across these structural, the way things are structured in the scripture, a lot of times the structure itself is pointing to something that happened before or will happen later. So it's really important to pay attention to structure. The creation account in Genesis is structured around what? Seven acts of creation. each marked by the statement, and God said, right? So each act of creation, all seven of them, is marked off with a statement, and God said, and the Lord said. Here, read carefully, and you will find seven acts of tabernacle building, each marked by, and the Lord said. So open to chapter 25, and we're gonna look at some of these. Get ready to do some flipping. So the first one is Exodus 25.1. And what does it say? What does it say, Jay? 25.1? Yes, sir. Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying. Yep. Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying. Then God said. Then God spoke to Moses, saying. OK, turn over to chapter 30, verse 11. This is the second act. What does 3011 say? It says the same thing, right? Go ahead. What does it say? Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying. There's number two. Turn to verse 17 of the same chapter. So 3017. What does it say? He always spoke to Moses saying. On and on and on. So each of the acts of constructing this tabernacle are marked out by similar language to what we find in Genesis at the creation account. God speaks, and the tabernacle, his presence, is to be constructed. The tabernacle is a form of a reconstruction of God's good creation. So it's this way in structure. If you think about the descriptions of the tabernacle, the tabernacle parallels Eden in that it contains the following. Pure gold. Genesis chapter 2 verse 12 makes that reference. Exodus 25 verse 3 makes that reference. Precious jewels. They both contain precious jewels. Genesis 12, 12. Exodus 25, 7. Both are guarded by cherubim, right? Cherubim in Genesis 3, 24, God places a cherubim outside to guard the tree of life, that the simple people will not eat it. And how are the cherubim represented in the tabernacle? Over the ark, okay, they're over the ark. That's one example. That's not the one I thought of, but that is probably the more obvious one. It's because I read this kid's book to my kid called The Garden, The Curtain, and The Cross. It's about that. So what is it? I just gave it away. The curtain. On the curtains that divided the rooms of the different tabernacle were cherubim that were etched in that curtain to represent cherubim guarding the holy of holies. So that's another way that cherubim are present in the tabernacle. Okay, the idea of Sabbath. Here's another parallel, right? At the close of the creation account in Genesis 2, 1 through 3, it's a reminder that God rested on the Sabbath day. Now the last instruction of the tabernacle account is what? That the people observe the Lord's Sabbath. That's Exodus 31, 12 through 18. So you see both of these events concluding with this call for the people to keep the Lord's Sabbath. And then God's evaluation is another similarity. At the end of the creation account, God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. And then Exodus 39, 43, after the tabernacle was built, Moses saw all the work and behold, they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So not word for word, but you can see some similar language being picked up and reutilized. And the last similarity, the fall. Genesis 1 and 2 is followed by the fall of Genesis chapter 3, where Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command. Now immediately after chapter 31, what comes next? It's another fall. Exodus 32, Israel worships the golden calf and disobeys God's command. So time and time again, God tells Moses that the tabernacle was to be built according to the pattern that had shown him, that he had shown him. The tabernacle was to be a model of God's Edenic paradise, of his heavenly abode. God was creating a place where he would dwell again with his people. So all that's how it points back. So let's think about how it points forward. Let's think about how these chapters in light of what's coming ahead, right? Let's focus on chapter 29. An insightful and frankly astonishing chapter in which God lays out how these priests are to be consecrated and explains the function and purpose of the tabernacle. The persevering question at this point in the biblical narrative is this, how can sinful people dwell in the presence of a holy God? That is the big question in the book of Exodus. Really, it's the big question of the Bible. It's one of them. And it's really addressed here. Let's look at seven descriptions in this chapter. So verse 38, if you want to follow along, you can. I'm not going to read all these, but they should be in your notes. This offering is to make atonement for sins. Verse 36 and in other places in the Old Testament make it clear that sacrifices are for the atonement of sins. Now notice that they have to be carried out every single day. Okay, so how can sinful people dwell in the presence of a holy God? Well, there's offerings that are being offered to make atonement for their sins and these offerings have to be ongoing and carried out every single day. Verse 42, it shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you to speak to you there. So reiterating the point, only through the forgiveness of sins that anyone can meet with God, and the mechanism they had to picture that was through this sacrificial system. You'll also notice in verse 42 that the tabernacle is the place where Moses receives revelation from God. It's in this place that Moses will receive revelation from God. Verse 43, there I will meet with the people of Israel and it shall be sanctified by my glory. So the tabernacle is where God will meet and reconcile with his people. It becomes the place where the offerings are made and God will reconcile with his people when they are in sin. Verse 43 also tells us that the tabernacle is holy because of the presence of God's glory. So we're painting a picture of just how central the tabernacle would become for the people of Israel. It's holy because it possesses the presence of God's glory there. Verse 45, I will dwell among the people of Israel and I will be their God. And finally, verse 46, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. The goal is for God to be known in all of his beauty and glory and power. So these seven realities I just laid out for you, they describe the priests and the function of the tabernacle. And hopefully, as I was reading through those, you're like, there's something about those that sound a little bit familiar, right? Hopefully, that's kind of what's going through your mind. But hopefully, you recognize that in a very profound sense, Jesus does all of these things for us. So that's why they were there, right? To prepare a people for the one who would come and do them in a greater way. So Jesus, the first one, Jesus makes atonement for sins once and for all. Hebrews 9, 26, Jesus has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sins by the sacrifice of himself. Jesus does not need to be sacrificed daily. Once and for all, it's done, right? It is through the atonement for sins found only in Jesus that anyone can come to the Father. Jesus, John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Three, Jesus is the full revelation of God, the place where we learn the most about him. The tabernacle is where Moses received revelation from God. Where do we see God most clearly portrayed to us? In the person of Jesus Christ. In these last days, Hebrews 1, 2, he has spoken to us by his son. Number four, God meets and reconciles with his people, where? In the person of Jesus Christ, Romans 5.11. We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Five, Jesus is the manifestation of God's glory. John 1.14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Six, Jesus is God in physical body dwelling with his people. Think of the tabernacle, right? Colossians 2.9, in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And finally, only through Jesus does anyone know God. John 14.7, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. So you get the point, right? The tabernacle is a beautiful picture of how God condescends to be with his people. They don't deserve this blessing, but God does it. And all of this is meant to point forward to an even greater revelation of God and even more immediate access to God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, that's how we have this greater revelation and even more immediate access to the Lord. It's not through a tabernacle, it's through the person of Jesus Christ. Let's go ahead and finish up. I'm almost done here, so y'all hang with me. Exodus 24 through, I'm sorry, Exodus 24 and Exodus 34 through 38, this is the last pairing of archaism. Covenant ceremony and God's presence. So let's conclude our time on a high note with the climax of the book of Exodus. In Exodus 24, Moses, Aaron, and the other important men of Israel confirm their covenant with God in an elaborate ceremony, and God dwells with them. Then Moses goes up to Mount Sinai and continues to have fellowship with God. However, God is not yet done dwelling with the people because there is not yet a tabernacle. He hasn't done it yet at this point because the tabernacle hadn't actually been built. The instructions have been given, but it's not there yet. And the people are not yet acceptable to a holy God, so Moses has to continue to go up onto the mountain. But in Exodus 40, 34 through 38, the mirror chapter to chapter 24, Moses has interceded for the people and the tabernacle is finally built. So everything comes together. Verse 34 of chapter 40. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. If the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, and the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all of their journeys." The point is, finally, God is again dwelling with his people, just as he did in the Garden of Eden. The plan of redemption is not done yet, but we are all well on our way here at the end of Exodus. So final point of application, then we can be done. We have already thought about some application today, but before we leave, we should make one more obvious, yet utterly critical point of application. The gospel of grace is shot through every page of scripture. It's progressively revealed, it's intensified, it's clarified, and it culminates in Jesus Christ. Like the Israelites, we are sinners who cannot have fellowship with a holy God without a Savior. And that is exactly what God has provided for us in Jesus Christ. Let Exodus and the story of Israel and their covenant disobedience and God's grace and covenant faithfulness lead you to despair of your sin and cling to the cross of Christ this week with a full heart full of praise to this holy God whose glory, as it says in the text, filled the tabernacle. Let your prayer be the same of Moses on the mountain, God show me your glory, and then praise him for how he has shown us his glory in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Richard, would you close us in prayer?