Exodus 25

Study Guide 13: Exodus 25-40 ACCESS FOR SINNERS Overview The sequence of events at Sinai shows that the Law was never viewed as a way of salvation. The Law was given first to bring Israel awareness of sin. Immediately afterward a sacrificial system, with a priesthood and worship center, was established. The system permitted the approach of a sinful human being to a holy God, providing access through sacrifice. God then spoke to a cleansed people, to carefully define the way of holy living. A forgiven people are to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Finally the camp was organized. A disciplined people will be able to live successfully in a hostile world.

The Sequence of Events Law givenEx. 19-24 Tabernacle establishedEx. 25-40 Instructions for holy lifeLev. 1-27 Camp organizedNum. 1-10TABERNACLE. This “ tent of meeting” symbolized God’ s presence with His people. It was the place where He met with Israel’ s leaders, and was the visible worship center. The tabernacle also prefigures the work of Jesus for us. Hebrews calls its worship and furnishings “ an illustration for the present time” (see Hebrews 9:1-10).

Commentary The events reported in Exodus through Deuteronomy tell of Israel’ s redemption from Egypt. And they give us a portrait of our own redemption from sin. In the early chapters of the Book of Exodus, we’ ve seen several key truths. We have a deep need for redemption. As Israel was in slavery, so all men are lost and powerless under the sway of sin. Only God’ s action can deliver. God had to intervene in acts of power to break the authority of Pharaoh over Israel. God Himself had to intervene, in Jesus Christ, to save us. New life emerges from death: the Lamb must die. The Passover lamb’ s blood on the door protected Israel from the death angel. It is the blood of Christ, shed for the sins of the world, which provides our salvation. Our new life is to be marked by a holiness we do not have. Israel’ s response to God after deliverance demonstrated her need for standards and for a clear revelation of God’ s expectations. God is concerned about our righteousness as well: we are called to bear the image of His Son. The standard revealed in words in the Law has been unveiled in person by Jesus. We fall short of the goal to which God calls us. The Law defined the pathway of love for Israel. At the same time it demonstrated conclusively that Israel fell short. The New Testament also defines, in terms of principles rather than rules, the pathway of love. A look into the New Testament shows that we, like Israel, fall short of being all that God calls us to be. These are central messages that God gave Israel in the events we’ ve read about. Today the record of those events speaks the same messages to you and to me that were spoken to Israel. The last of these messages — the revelation that even after redemption we stand in need — launches us into an exciting segment of Scripture. God reminds us that we are a needy people. But He also gives us insight into the way He plans to meet that very need! LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT It’ s important to use review to help people maintain awareness of the major teachings of a passage of Scripture. Use the summary chart of Exodus to structure a review of the Book of Exodus. You may want to place just the outline on a chalkboard, and fill in cells together. Or leave a few of the cells blank, and let your group members recall events, messages, and key words. A good concluding activity for such a review is to ask group members to select one topic and pick a key verse that expresses the message of the section.

Summary of Exodus ScriptureEventsMessageKey Word(s)Key Verse Ex. 1-5Enslaved in EgyptMan needs redemptionHelplessnessExo_2:23 Ex. 6-11Plagues on EgyptGod acts to redeemYahweh Ex. 12-15The journey begunRedemption comes through deathPassover/ sacrifice Ex. 15-20Murmurings on the way to SinaiRedeemed people are to be holyLaw/God’ s character Ex. 20-24Commandment and case law givenHoliness involves love for God and for menLaw/God’ s expectations Ex. 25-40Sacrificial, tabernacle systems institutedRedeemed people need cleansing and enablementTabernacle The Days After Some who become Christians experience an almost immediate glow. Somehow life seems different! For some this glow persists for days or weeks. But, sooner or later, most find life itself brings a sudden jolt. The first flush of love fades. We become irritated again at our coworkers. We get angry at someone close. An alcoholic may feel free from dependence on drink — and then find the urge returns with overwhelming intensity as he passes a favorite bar. You think that salvation has freed you from an old temptation — and then find your thoughts and desires returning to it with nagging intensity. Often when such things happen new believers may be confused. Sometimes a young Christian will wonder about the reality of his conversion. Very often a believer blames himself, feeling deeply the shame of falling into old patterns of life after being so sure that everything was new. It’ s helpful for us, when we are captured by such feelings, to learn the lesson that God taught Israel in the events that followed the giving of the Law. Israel had known redemption from Egypt. But Israel had a continued and continual need for God. Only divine provision could lift individuals and the nation beyond themselves, to become the person and the people that God had redeemed them to be.

Exodus 25-31 God knows the need of believers for continual cleansing and enablement. Israel had not yet seen herself as a still-needy people. Yet God began to meet the need before it was understood. His provision was in the tabernacle — a tent of worship which became the only place where Israelites might approach God. (Later it was replaced by a temple, erected in the Promised Land.) Looking back, the writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews focuses on Exodus 25:9. The tabernacle was to be made “ exactly like the pattern I will show you.” The New Testament points to this as evidence that the tabernacle is a kind of mirror of reality. Its design reflects truth about our relationship with God and the special provision God has made for us. In the New Testament the tabernacle is called “ a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” (Hebrews 8:5). Looking at it, we can discover much about the reality you and I experience in Christ. The tabernacle plan. The tabernacle is a “ type” (an Old Testament character, event, or institution which has a place and purpose in Bible history, but which also, by divine design, foreshadows something future). In every aspect the tabernacle pictures the relationship between God and a redeemed people. In every aspect the tabernacle shows how God’ s presence with us not only sets us apart from all others, but meets our need for daily deliverance from sin’ s power. What, then, was the tabernacle like — and what does it tell us about our own need to experience freedom? The tabernacle was a large tent, surrounded by an outer court — a long, rectangular enclosure 150 by 75 feet. It was portable, the walls of the court and the tent itself being made of curtains. The tabernacle was a sanctuary, a dwelling place for God. It consisted of an outer “ holy place” and an inner “ most holy place” into which the high priest alone could enter, and then only once a year. During the time in the wilderness, God’ s presence was a visible thing, marked by a cloudy, fiery pillar which always stood over the tabernacle. When erected, the tabernacle always stood in the middle of the camp, with the people ranged around it on every side. God chooses to dwell in the center of His people. He is to be the center of our lives. Never just on the periphery. The tabernacle furnishings. It is, however, in the furnishings of the tabernacle that we gain insight into what God’ s presence in our lives provides. Each of the furnishings speaks clearly of a ministry of God through which the believer is protected from himself and enabled to become all God intends. (1) The bronze altar. There was only one door to this “ tent of meeting.” Any person who wanted to come into God’ s presence had to come through the one door which the plan of God provided. At the door, placed so that no one who entered could avoid it, stood the bronze altar. This was the altar of sacrifice; the place on which daily the prescribed offerings for Israel would be laid. As Leviticus would later make clear, “ The life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’ s life” (Leviticus 17:11). No one could approach God or receive the benefits of His presence without entering by the door of sacrifice and atonement. Later Jesus would use this same picture in speaking of Himself. “ I am the gate,” He announced. “ Whoever enters through Me will be saved. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:9, John 10:11). The message is clear. Access to the benefits God has provided for us is ours only as we come to God in the single way He has planned. (2) The bronze laver. The laver, a large container for water, was made of the same bronze metal as the altar. It stood at the entrance of the tabernacle itself, and was for the cleansing of those who entered the Presence. Jesus used a similar symbolism at the time of the Last Supper when He washed the disciples’ feet. They have been cleansed, He told them, so they did not need another “ bath.” But as they had walked the dusty roads after the bathing, their feet needed to be washed again and again (John 13:2-12). Believers have been cleansed by the blood of Christ. Yet daily we need to turn to God for cleansing. The provision of cleansing is clearly ours: “ If we confess our sins [those daily failures that mar the lives even of those who have experienced salvation], He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The continual cleansing each of us needs is provided in Christ, and pictured in the laver before the tabernacle entrance. Purified, we can freely enter the presence of our God. (3) The table of the bread of the Presence. Immediately inside the first veil a table was set. On this table, placed to the right in the chamber, was kept a constant supply of fresh food and drink. All that the believer needs to strengthen and sustain him is found in God’ s presence. (4) The golden lampstand. To the left as one entered the first chamber stood a seven-branched candlestick, so designed that there was a constant flow of oil to feed it. This was the sole source of light in the tabernacle. Natural light was blocked off by a series of curtains and coverings. In the presence of God, He alone provides the light we need to see our way. And that light is enough. (5) Golden altar of incense. Centered before the veil that separated the holy place and the most holy place stood an altar of incense. This altar spoke of worship and of other dimensions of prayer (cf. Revelation 8:3-4). Here praise and prayer blended as the priests approached the presence of God, awed and yet exalted by His closeness. (6) The ark of the covenant. There was a single article of furniture within the most holy place. The thick veil that separated this chamber was moved only one time a year, when the high priest entered there alone on the high and holy Day of Atonement, carrying the blood of sacrifice to sprinkle on the mercy seat. It was here, in the inner chamber, that the presence of God was focused. The veil itself communicates a message. The New Testament says that “ the Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing” (Hebrews 9:8). The Bible tells us that at the moment of Christ’ s death, “ the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). There is for us the fullness of God’ s presence, a fullness that goes beyond even the rich provision God made for His Old Testament people. What then was the ark, and what did it speak of? The ark itself was a gold-covered chest, containing special reminders of God’ s work for His people. There was a container of manna, speaking of complete and miraculous provision. There were the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, speaking of the righteousness God alone can produce. Later there was added Aaron’ s rod, which miraculously budded and bore fruit, speaking of God’ s power to bring life from the dead. The ark itself was named “ of the covenant,” a reminder of God’ s commitment to fulfill all His promises. On the ark rested a special cover, overlaid with gold, and called the “ mercy seat.” Here, between two carved angels whose wings met over the center of the mercy seat, God invested the fullness of His own presence — and it was here alone that God fully touched men. This is why the act of God in tearing the temple veil from top to bottom is so significant. In that act, which accompanied our Lord’ s crucifixion, we are told that there is no longer a curtain between the believer and the full experience of God’ s presence! No wonder Hebrews invites, “ Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). For the believer today, who has come through the one door to God, Jesus, and has entered, cleansed, into a relationship with God in which the Lord strengthens us, guides us, and invites us to worship, there is even more. There is full and complete welcome into the holiest place of all — the very presence of God where miracles are the norm, and where righteousness is worked in the personality of men and women who have passed from death to life. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT To study the tabernacle with your group, put the following chart on a chalkboard, or duplicate so each member can have a copy. The chart lists tabernacle furnishings and has a space for corresponding New Testament realities. You can make this study very practical by having your group brainstorm, before you show the chart, “ problems Christians face.” You are looking for things like a feeling of weakness when tempted, etc. After listing the problems your group members suggest, and working through the chart, try to relate the provision symbolized in the tabernacle to present-day needs. For instance, a vision of Christ as strengthener and sustainer, symbolized in the bread of the Presence, reminds us that we have His power in which to meet our temptations.

The Tabernacle FURNISHINGSYMBOLISMN.T. REALITY Brazen AltarEntrance demands sacrificeChrist died to win us access Brazen LaverThose within need cleansing Bread of the PresenceAll needed to strengthen and supply provided daily Golden LampstandLight by which to see provided Golden Altar of IncensePraise and prayer Ark of the CovenantPresence of God VeilWay into God’ s presence not open Exodus 32-34 While Moses was receiving instructions on the construction of the tabernacle, an event was taking place at the base of the mountain which clearly revealed Israel’ s need for its provision. Moses had been on the mount for days. All this time thunder and lightning gave constant testimony to the presence of God. Yet as the days passed, and Moses did not return, Israel became restless. A number of the people went to Aaron, Moses’ brother, and insisted that he make an idol. He took their gold and melted it to shape a golden calf, and then proclaimed a “ feast to the Lord.” The molten calf was presented to the people with the announcement, “ These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). When Moses returned, those who had sinned were severely judged. Yet even those who had not actually been involved bore their share of the responsibility. How could God identify Himself with such a sinful people? Yet it was just this, the presence of God, that made Israel distinct. As Moses prayed, “ How will anyone know that You are pleased with me and with Your people unless You go with us? What else will distinguish me and Your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:16) God’ s presence distinguished His people from all others. In the presence of God there must be found a remedy for the constant outbreak of sin which so threatened Israel — and which threatens you and me today.

Exodus 35-40 The failure of Israel at Sinai demonstrated graphically that even a redeemed people constantly need God. The failure of the people prepared them to sense that need and to see the importance of the tabernacle. In each detail, the tabernacle spoke of God’ s provision for His people. In each detail the people could discover another dimension of what God’ s presence with them would mean. The chapters here may seem to be merely a repetition of what has already been written in Exodus 25-27. But they are more than that. The story of the building of the tabernacle points up the fact that what God has provided for us must be appropriated. We must build into the very fabric of our lives all that God says He has given us in Christ.

For Us It is doubtful if Israel understood all that the tabernacle and furnishings promised. Only in the light of God’ s full revelation in Christ do we begin to see. But while the tabernacle pictures for us the realities we can experience in Christ, the tabernacle also had a practical message for Israel. Israel had sinned, and failed to meet the standard God’ s holiness imposed. Aware of failure, the people of God must have finally crouched in shame, wondering how they could ever be restored again to relationship with their God. And wondering too how they could ever find strength to live as a people whose holiness must in some sense approach the Lord’ s. At this point in time, when the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments in mourning for their sin (Exodus 33:6), God had His remedy ready. Again the commandments were repeated (Exodus 34:1-35), and then all Israel was invited to bring their offerings, to construct a tabernacle in which God might dwell. The presence of God within Israel’ s camp, and the promise of that presence — reflected in every aspect of the tabernacle and its furnishings — was the divine answer to man’ s need. A redeemed Israel would continue to be in daily need of God. But God would be there, available, and able. This is, of course, the great message of God to you and me today. We too continually need God. We too fail and fall short. That first moment of salvation is but the beginning of a long process of transformation. For our daily walk along that way there is only one possible source of help: God, present within us. He alone can meet our every need.

Teaching Guide Prepare Meditate on how much you have needed God’ s presence with you as you have lived your Christian life. Pray that your group members may sense that reality for themselves.

Explore

1. Ask, “ What has your life been like since you became a Christian?” Have each person draw a continuous single line that visualizes his or her experience. Then share and compare. How are your lines alike? Different?
2. Brainstorm “ needs Christians have.” That is, try to quickly make a list of problems Christians face in daily life. Discuss: “ Why isn’ t everything smooth or uphill after conversion?”

Expand

1. Do a historical review of the events at Sinai. Highlight the giving of the Law, the golden-calf incident, and the building of the tabernacle. Show the spiritual significance of the sequence. The Law made Israel guilty when she sinned, cutting her off from her holy God. But the tabernacle symbolized God’ s provision through sacrifice of forgiveness, and the furnishings speak of strengthening to live a holy life.
2. Do a study of the tabernacle and its furnishings. See the “ link-to-life” idea and chart.
3. Review the Book of Exodus, using the overview chart above.

Apply

1. Discuss: “ What one article of furniture in the tabernacle signifies something that is most important to me in my Christian life, and why?”
2. Read Hebrews 9:1-28 aloud, and take time to thank God that the reality pictured in the tabernacle is ours at last.