I thought about reading chapters 36 through 40 tonight, but I didn't think anyone would be very happy with that. We would be going on for a good 40 minutes. My reasoning for concluding the study is because there is a section here where we left off last time tonight in the book of Exodus, where we stopped in chapter 36, And then it transitions into a long section of what we studied earlier of now the completion of the tabernacle and the construction itself of the tabernacle of everything that we already studied. So I would encourage you, I'm not downplaying at all the importance of why the Spirit inspired this. I think it's most helpful to see in sort of the end the big picture as we conclude the book. The big picture here of what's being shown to us with the completion of the tabernacle and the glory descending. So tonight we'll turn to chapter 40. Actually, the end of chapter 39. And we'll read at verses 42 to a few verses into chapter 40. And then we'll skip down to 34 and read to the end. So I'm asking you to turn to chapter 39, verse 42. And this is the word of the Lord. According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, So the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work. And behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded. So had they done it. Then Moses blessed them. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall put it in the ark of the testimony. You shall put in it the ark of the testimony and you shall screen the ark with the veil. And then I'll have you skip down to verse 34. Verse 34, 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. But if the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out till the day it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day and fire was in it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. And that ends the book of Exodus. There is a day coming when Christ will return in glory that finally will be said, God will tabernacle with men and will dwell with them. We'll look at that here in a moment at the conclusion of this. His people will be with Him. They will enjoy Him. And there will be no more, as we considered this morning, struggle, no more hardship, no more sin, no more sorrow no more tears god will wipe away the tears and the tabernacle of god will be with men you know where that's found that's found in the last book of the bible that's found in the last chapters of the bible so there's an important connection tonight between the end of the book of exodus and the end of the whole bible isn't there uh it's a beautiful ending to the long study in Exodus. Finally, after so much struggle, after so much pain, after so much hardship, we're left with the last words in the book of Exodus of God descending in a cloud to be with His people and to never leave them, to dwell with them. Endings to books are very important. Very important. And there is nothing that should inspire us more here than to see by faith that God saved a people for his glory and that God had fulfilled his promise that that's what we're really seeing here at the end God had fulfilled his promise to come and dwell with his people he had said this all along and now as we conclude our study in the book of exodus everything comes together it's not our story is it it's his story of God saving a people for his glory and being with them exodus has has been the story of salvation we walk away from it and remember through um through deep struggle and tribulation we read all throughout the scriptures that we enter the kingdom of god through deep struggle through deep tribulation through deep hardship at times we enter and no matter how great the struggle is no matter how bad it's going to be no matter whatever is mapped out for us in the wilderness journey God is telling us at the end of this book he will fulfill his promise and bring us home that's what he's saying now I need to hear that and so do you it's what Peter picks up on he's reserved it for you he's coming back to get you he's going to take you there the kind of gospel displayed on the pages of exodus drives us to be then his special people for we see all of this anticipating what we've been considering in the new covenant that which we get to enjoy in fullness now that jesus has come and it it inspires us then to take very seriously the problem of what what have we learned in the book of exodus to take very seriously the problem of idolatry how doesn't it well that's been a big point of exodus along the way take very seriously the problem of idolatry to remain his special people remember that you are his people he's he bought you he brought you out he delivered you he purchased you you're not your own even how you look at the church as we were challenged tonight you're not your own you're supposed to to think about others and not you he's called us to be his special treasure a kingdom of priests and kings under our god says revelation and the simple point that that is being made to us tonight at the end of this book is god is faithful to deliver and that is how the story concludes with god tabernacling with israel and it will conclude the same way with us rehearse for just a minute with me the story put it all together it helps to do that exodus began and a whole nation was in bondage enslaved to an awful antichrist figure think of this morning who was hurting them destroying them uh killing their their babies he was a remember, he was an antichrist figure who wore the sign of the serpent. We connected all that with Genesis 3. It was an awful existence of hard, brutal bondage and slavery. Mortar, bricks and straw was their life. But God had promised years ago to a man named Abraham that his people would be down there 400 years and after they would see a deliverance like no other deliverance with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm he would bring out his people and bring them to the land that he swore to give to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob at the beginning of exodus that promise was at the forefront and he raised up Moses and sent him and said I am the God of your father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and Moses hit his face for he was afraid to look at god then the lord said i have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in egypt i've heard their cry because of their taskmasters i've heard their prayers i know their sufferings and i've come down to deliver them i'm bowing down heaven and i'm coming down to get them and i will pull them out of the hand of the egyptians to bring them out of that land to a good land a broad land a land flowing with milk and honey that's what i'm going to do that was already determined wasn't it he was going to do that god did an amazing work of deliverance didn't he he he plundered that nation with plagues and that powerful nation in the earth with things nobody had ever seen before he displayed his mighty power put on display to the most powerful nation of the time, the most powerful king of the time, sending his prophet, speaking the word of the Lord, showing that he has control of every single heart, even of the Egyptians. He controlled that king's heart. Who is this God? He could soften, he could harden hearts. You mean our God is the God of heaven and earth? Yeah. But after the death of remember the firstborn in the tenth plague he brought Israel out he plundered that nation and the first thing he did was begin to teach them his gospel I want you on the first of the month on the first day to celebrate Passover why? well I want you to pick out a perfect lamb a spotless lamb I want you to celebrate it along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and I want to teach your generations continually that without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. And I want you always to remember in the Feast of Unleavened Bread that this was a brand new beginning for you. I pulled you out of there and I didn't want you looking back. I pulled you out. Think of this morning. You don't need to look back. I don't want you looking back. Your old life of sin, your old life of slavery, all that that was bondage to you, you're free. That's what I've done. And you celebrate that. Gospel feasts were first presented to them immediately upon being delivered. And then they get to the sea and they panic and God parted the sea and passes people through the sea. And we studied all this. It was all symbolic of death. They came out safe on the other side. And they turned around and they could see the bodies of the mightiest nation's warriors floating on the sea, drowned and pummeled in the midst of the sea. Pharaoh and his armies. And we learned about salvation right there. We learned that the work of deliverance from slavery, the whole exodus out of Egypt, the passing through the sea, was the whole message of the Bible, wasn't it? It is. It's the message of the cross. God sent His Son. the spotless lamb whose blood covered us and he came and went down into egypt and he came out of there and and remember what happened we were baptized into his death and we came out victorious on the other side and just as they sang a song we sing a song revelation connected that for us says they sang the song of moses revelation says we sing the song of moses and the song of the lamb i will sing unto the lord exodus 15 for he has triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea the lord is my strength and my song he has become my salvation this is my god and i will praise him my father's god and i will exalt him and then you turn to the back of the bible and it says the song of moses song of the lamb you are worthy oh lord to take the scroll for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth. Deliverance accomplished. But then it got hard. Then it got hard, didn't it? Did they know themselves? Did they know their God? Did they understand it? Did they know what they were saved to? For? Did they understand deliverance? And then the deeper question of Exodus is how could this God come and dwell among His people? And so the application now of redemption was wilderness life, wasn't it? Redemption accomplished and applied was wilderness life. And we looked at the whole story that the New Testament paints the life of sanctification as a wilderness journey, A wilderness way for a wilderness people headed to the promised land. The new heavens and the new earth. The place of milk and honey is where we're headed. A home not of this world. But boy, wilderness life is hard. It's really hard. Nothing very glorious about any of this. We always want the glory though. Can't really achieve it right now. They got out of the wilderness and what a struggle. What's this God doing? Brought us out here to die? Food isn't any good. It stinks. Worship isn't any good. It stinks. We don't have the water we want. We want to go back. A bunch of knuckleheads. That's what they were. Always complaining out in the wilderness. God's faithfulness comes to the forefront. but we came to the problem of how could He be with a people like this and not consume them? He gives them drink. He rains down food from heaven. He dropped down meat on their doorsteps. Still wasn't good enough. Gave them manna from heaven. Still wasn't good enough. And the reoccurring thing kept happening, which the Scriptures tell us over and over, and they would not listen to Him. So we get to Sinai. Tests them. They wait. Where is this servant? What is this? Is it no fun? Do they understand? Do they know? God hands them a law. I am the Lord your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before me. First thing they do. They make a God. Proving everything we've ever taught our children in the Heidelberg Catechism, that we have a natural tendency to hate God and hate our neighbor. The struggle of wilderness life was the struggle of idolatry. And notice this, the life of learning to live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wrestling moment there was at the mountain with Israel. So much so that after the Golden Cap event, the Lord said, I'm done. I'm done. And Moses says, no, no, no, no, no. We're taught now about the need for a mediator. Only problem was, wrong kind of mediator. But we're taught the principle. You can't. You promised. You promised to Abraham these were your people. You can't give up on them. You ever committed terrible sins and feel like he's got to give up on me? It's as bad as it gets at the foot of the mountain. As bad as it gets. So here we are with this deep moment and the tension of can this relationship work hits all time highs. Just the bitterness comes to an ugly head and the Lord's wrath is then confronted with the people. It's brought to the forefront and that becomes then the great struggle. And what happens? All of a sudden, teaching us about sin and misery and the Sinai Covenant. Then in the midst of all this, we see everything that was promised to Abraham start to come out and a Gospel sermon gets preached and the people fall into deep repentance as he preaches the sermon and declares forgiveness to them, all foreshadowing another day when the ministry of righteousness would flourish. And God sends down with Moses this elaborate building plan. The tabernacle. dwelling place. It would be the answer. It would be the answer of how God could dwell with His people. The people in the last section that we left off were so moved and affected by grace and forgiveness that we had the brightest moment in Exodus. The brightest moment of their hearts finally responding to all of this. where they bring more than enough. They give more than enough. Hearts were stirred. They're glad to be a part of the community of faith. They're glad to be the church. They're glad. They're not complaining anymore. They're finally a part. They understand the privilege of being a part of it. And the joy that overtook that community. The work that began in the community. The service that began in the community. That's the last section of Exodus. so here we are we read um tonight that the lord said that all the work of the tabernacle in the tent of meeting was done they built it just according to regulation israel did everything you notice that At the end of 43, Moses saw the work they did as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. And Moses blessed them. You keep getting this. Everything over and over and over in Exodus, this had to be constructed. Just as the Lord commanded, there could not be any deviance from the building plan. It had to be just right. A perfect tabernacle according to plan. And the end of the book says it was accomplished. Remember, the Spirit was there building. What a moment. The tabernacle's finished. It's beautiful because all these hearts have been prepared. All these hearts have been stirred. They obediently build. And what do we read in verse 43 is that Moses is inspecting it now. You have, it's an inspector. building inspectors can be real pains can't they moses is looking at it and saying spot on everything is just according to god's command in fact when you read that in verse 43 moses saw the work and behold they had done as the lord commanded they had done it and moses blessed them it's almost a moment like creation isn't it God finished the creation project and said this is all very good. Moses looks at the tabernacle. This is all very good. It passes with flying colors. Lo and behold, then the great moment comes of Exodus. In verse 34, then a cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. What a moment to end the book. God, the imagery here that we're getting at the end of the book is that God approved of this tabernacle structure and filled it with His glory. In verse 36, we read that And throughout 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, they did not set out till the day it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. What an awesome end to this book. As they're standing there looking over the finished work, Moses stretches out his hands and blesses them. God, at that moment, descends with all of His glory upon that structure. His glory and His resplendent majesty filled it beaming with divine light. He's an inapproachable light. They had come to dwell. You get the sense that this tabernacle structure was transfigured in the wilderness. That's what's going on. The God who made everything has now showed up in His power, in His deliverance, promising never to leave them nor forsake them. And now this glory has filled this structure. But there's one problem. One problem in closing. Look carefully at verse 35. but Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the clouds set on it. Exodus leaves us with something that still was lacking. God was close to Israel, but Israel still could not get too close to Him. If they were paying attention, there was an important detail that was mentioned in the construction of this tabernacle when it was finished. And I want you to look up to verse 1 of chapter 40. That's why I read it tonight, and you'll see it there. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, On the first day of the month, you shall erect the tabernacle. On the first day of the first month, you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting and you shall put in it the ark of the testimony and you shall screen the ark with the veil. The first day of the first month. Test time. When was that? That's the anniversary exactly to the year. One year when, remember, they first had come out of, remember at the beginning when the Lord had delivered them and it it it said there that on the first day of the first month the tabernacle here was raised up on the very year to the very day the tabernacle was raised after all this mess of idolatry all this hardship all this struggle here's what's overwhelming about it this is what god said at the moment of their deliverance from egypt this month shall be the beginning of months it shall be the first month of the year to you it was their brand new beginning and what did they celebrate right then and there on the first day of the first month tabernacles raised the Lord spoke to Moses on the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of meeting what were they to celebrate on that day the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread they were delivered by grace and then notice that the lord is teaching them christ was already their lamb he was teaching them the whole story right here the passover lamb was the blood and so it had remember here it's mentioned here that um in verse four bring the ark of the testimony partition off the ark with the veil that's only christ's blood that makes that symbolically sprinkled there by the high priest once a year that gave access notice it keeps going on in verse four bring in the table arrange the things arrange the table of showbread arrange the golden lamp stand and i want you to arrange the altar of gold the altar of bronze in the courtyard all those things we studied spoke of the work of jesus so you had the passover that celebrated the lamb uh the deliverance you had the feast of unleavened bread that celebrated their brand new life you had here notice in verse 4 the table of showbread which celebrated the bread that he would provide in the wilderness who did that teach us of he's the manna from heaven he's the light to us he's the candlestick he's the the laver for washing um all of this the new testament picks up and applies to jesus put on the clothes aaron all of that was meant to teach us about the need for him and here's where i hope it comes together tonight that when john began his gospel and i've quoted this numerous times throughout that john said the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth the word became flesh and he tabernacled among us that's the word and we saw that glory when jesus took on our flesh and became man it was declared right at his birth he is emmanuel he is god with us the body of jesus the whole testament is teaching us is our tabernacle when we see moses saying it passes inspection what he's looking at is everything that we look at when we look at the life of jesus that's the beauty of this jesus's whole life was put on display uh for uh for them in this the glory radiating remember in his own transfiguration when that veil was pulled back and the glory of the transfiguration in the wilderness when they saw a glimpse of that he was there with Moses and since he's become one of us he is our tabernacle he gives us direct access when Jesus died on the cross and rose on the first day of the week that body was erect that body was raised just as the tabernacle was raised up in celebration. The connection's right there. The tabernacle was raised on the first day, so Jesus was raised. And in His resurrection, the raising of His body, the raising of Christ reveals to us the glory of God. Our new beginning is in Him. And He gives us direct access to the throne of grace. He is our tabernacle. And those who come to Jesus, who come to God's tabernacle have the promise that they have been covered by His blood. That they have been received into glory. And now we're ready for the end of Revelation. I just want to read these passages to close out this study of this book. Listen to Revelation 22. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates outside remember there was a whole structure of those who are outside our dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murders and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood but inside are these and i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea and i john saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down from god out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and i heard a great voice out of heaven saying here it is behold the tabernacle of god is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. That's glory. That's glory. The Gospel is Exodus, delivered from slavery to sin by the blood of the Lamb, washed in that blood, passed through death, sanctified by the Spirit, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I pray that as we close this book tonight, you can see that whole story before you. God never left nor forsook His people. God always planned to save His people Israel. And Israel in the New Testament is all the people of God who've confessed and believed in the name of Jesus Christ. His promise to all who believe in Him stands today. I am coming again to receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also. And so I hope that in the wilderness way and the hardships that we go through, we never forget that the end of the book of Exodus told us God fulfilled His promise. God came to dwell with them and Joshua tells us He brought them home. And that is the true story of Scripture where I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. In your wilderness way, keep your eyes fixed on the God of our exodus from sin. Let's pray to Him. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word tonight. And thank You for this summary that helps us to see the whole picture. I hope it was helpful to Your people, but bless it to their hearts that they, Lord, would see this great story unfold as we have all throughout the Scriptures and be thankful that Christ is our tabernacle, that in Him we have access by the curtain that is through His flesh, by a new and living way through His blood so that we can come boldly into the most holy place and have access and know that on that day, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, we will forever be with you. And the Lord will, as is said so wonderfully in the book of Revelation, the tabernacle of God will be with men and you will dwell with us. And we shall be your people and God Himself will be with us and we will be your God. And be their God. Thank You, Father, for Your care for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.