Well, we continue tonight our study in the book of Exodus, second book of the Bible, and we come to chapter 25 as we tonight begin a section on the Ark of the Covenant, and ultimately here we're beginning the tabernacle instruction. So this is a very important section of Exodus. One correction from this morning's message, I think I kept saying that what Jesus was interacting with when he questioned the Pharisees about, when the Pharisees questioned him about Moses' certificate of divorce, I said Leviticus 24. Since all of you went home and looked that up, it's actually Deuteronomy 24, so just so you know. Exodus chapter 25 tonight, Exodus chapter 25, and we will read the first 22 verses. The Lord said to Moses, speak to the people of Israel that they may take for me a contribution from every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me and this is the contribution that you shall receive from them gold silver and bronze blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen goat's hair tanned ram skins goat skins acacia wood oil for the lamp spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense onyx stones and stones for setting for the ephod and for the breast piece and let them make me a sanctuary that i may dwell in their midst exactly as i show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture so you shall make it they shall make for me an arc of acacia wood two cubits and a half shall be its length a cubit and a half its breadth and a cubit and a half its height you shall overlay it with pure gold inside and outside you shall overlay it and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it you shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold and you shall put the poles into the rings and on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them the poles shall remain in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. You shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold. Of hammered work you shall make them. On the two ends of the mercy seat, make one cherub on the one end and one cherub on the other end of one piece with the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim on its two ends the cherubim shall spread out their wings above overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings their faces one toward another toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be and you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark and in the ark you shall put the testimony that i shall give you there i will meet with you and from above the mercy seat and between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony i will speak with you about all that i will give you in commandment for the people of israel may the lord bless tonight the hearing of his word well last time you remember in chapter 24 that we had really a sort of ratification of this covenant ceremony here on Mount Sinai and you remember what happened where Moses after the people promised obedience to all that God had commanded all that you said we will do they said and after they had made that promise Moses took blood and sprinkled it all over the people what a moment isn't it in our study of Exodus chapter 24, and I bring that to mind because tonight you'll notice that there was blood sprinkled somewhere else too in this passage that we read. But this is important because the authors of the New Testament made some kind of distinction between what was going on here, especially in the book of Galatians, where they drew a distinction between the Sinai covenant and the promises and the covenant of grace made with Abraham, drawing some kind of distinction, Calling one a ministry of death, of condemnation, and the other a ministry of righteousness. That was the fulfillment of everything that was promised to Father Abraham. Well, it's really interesting. I'm not going through all that again. We spent enough time on that last time. We probably could have spent a lot more time. But it's interesting that right after this, we now have a test of the heart, don't we? I find this very fascinating. A test of the heart. This, you'll remember, is going to be the real need for Israel. There will be a play constantly. Well, you need to circumcise your hearts. And then the Lord will come and say, ultimately, I need to circumcise your hearts because you can't circumcise your hearts. And so we're having scenes shown to us that anticipate the future here, that anticipate and foreshadow the future. But I believe that one of the proven ways of something has happened in the heart is evidence in response to the Lord, in response to what he's done. How did they view the Lord? A friend or a master? Were they servants or slaves or friends? For Abraham, he was called, remember, God's friend. But being under the law, we had another problem, as Paul will say in Romans 7, that another type of master is given where you are made a slave. So you have these two kind of relationships going on here. Well, now we sort of transition to the great purpose of the book of Exodus. In light of all of that, how do they relate to the Lord and what kind of relationship do they have with him as he is planning to come down and dwell among them? He is now commanding that a tabernacle be built so that he would, as he promised Moses in chapter three, come down and dwell with his people, tabernacle among them. God desired to go with his people. God desired his presence, his glory presence, to be with his people and to actually go along and before them in the wilderness. Think about that. That is remarkable. God would come down and tabernacle with his people. Sound like anything familiar out of John 1, by the way? When John says that Jesus came to tabernacle, same word, with God's people, playing off of that. He wanted them in their wilderness travel to know that they're not alone, that they could look out their tents in any time of their distress and in any time of their wilderness wandering and know that God's glory had descended. I mean, that's the end of the book. You know how the book of Exodus ends. This is it. And he raised up the court all around, the tabernacle and the altar, hung the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the cloud rested above it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The purpose of Exodus, what he had promised in chapter three would happen by the end. the Lord would descend and dwell in their midst. But the purpose in what was done in all of this was ultimately to proclaim to them the gospel of His Son. That's what all this is doing. Their attitude and heart would be exposed in their understanding of what all of this foreshadowed and what all of this anticipated. So I don't find it shocking that we have a sort of test now of the heart that they might share in this great project. And in this way, it challenges us tonight to think a little bit about fulfillment, what we are a part of, the building project that we are a part of, and to understand what the Lord is doing and what He's included us in. In that light, this is a wonderful passage displaying the ultimate building of His kingdom that the Lord would do and accomplish. But let's begin tonight here at the beginning in chapter 25 at verse 1, where he begins with this test, and the Lord said to Moses, speak to the people of Israel that they may take for me a contribution, an offering from every man whose heart moves him. You shall receive the contribution for me. And then he goes through and describes all the gold and the things that should should be given so it's very important that that throughout the old testament we see that presenting an offering before the lord was part of worshiping the lord think of psalm 96 give to the lord oh families of the people give to the lord glory and strength give to the lord the glory due to his name bring an offering and come into his courts worship the lord in the beauty of holiness here you have the lord telling israel bring me an offering bring me an offering it's hard today to speak on this isn't it all the abuses of that have gone on in the christian church when we talk about offerings and guilt that pastors can put easily on people to give i find it fascinating the lord doesn't do that. In the very first instruction on giving, you'll notice here that this is offset after what happened in 24. And something very surprising is given that it would not be normal to what we know as the Mosaic law and the law of the tithe. Bring me an offering willingly from your heart. Interesting, isn't it? From your heart. The test makes one ask, well, why does God need anything? Obviously, God doesn't need anything. He doesn't need your money. He doesn't need anything that you offer. He gave it all to you, by the way. Why is He doing this? There was an opportunity to say thank you. Very simple. Which assumes a good understanding and faith, as we talked about tonight, in what the Exodus was really all about. Did they understand it? Did they get it? Did they know what their deliverance from Egypt was really telling the greater story of? Did they understand? Because Hebrews tells us the gospel had been proclaimed to them the whole time. Preachers got up and preached the gospel. Moses preached the gospel. But it's interesting here. I want you to think. Here the Lord is inviting them to bring an offering willfully from the heart. And I think we understand this even in our culture today. It's somewhat rare, But when you invite somebody for dinner, the old rule of etiquette was you bring something, right? You bring something, a plant, whatever, it's a gift for the people coming into your home, and you're saying, thank you, this is really wonderful. I noticed that the older generation still really does this, not making you guys guilty if you don't bring something. But I've noticed that this really still happens among the older generation. Something is brought. We're so thankful that you opened your door to us and that you brought us into your home. It was an expression of gratitude. What a remarkable thing. This is not just inviting somebody, right? This is the king. You get to bring me an offering. But I want you to do it from the heart. And here's what you shall take. Gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet thread, fine linen, goat's hair, rams, skins, dyed red, madger skins, acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. Where did they get all that? They're not working. This was the plunder of Egypt. This was the plunder. Remember when they went out, the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses. They had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing. And the Lord had given people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so they granted them what they requested. Thus, they plundered Egypt. In other words, His gospel, His grace, filled them in delivering them. He gave them Egypt. They took out Egypt. They were filled with all kinds of blessing. Why did God do that? So that they could take it all into the land and hold tightly to it? No. Here's the reason. so that they would have an opportunity to give back and say thank you. That's why he gave it. Somebody who is really overwhelmed by the goodness of another has a desire to say thank you. Imagine if you have absolutely nothing to show gratitude with. You're going to say, well, what can I do for the Lord? How could I say thank you to such a wonderful master as this? How could I say thank you to such a wonderful master? And here's the Lord is teaching us that one of the ways that we show our thanks to Him is to take what He's given us and to present it back to Him to say thank you. So God filled them that they might give back. And God has done that for you. God has richly blessed us. Do you think of giving that way? Do you think of giving as a kind of test that says where you are? I failed it in many ways. I'll be the first one. But I want you to notice here it's a way of understanding and saying you have really been thankful for the grace that he's shown you see now this really tests as to where people were were they looking to what the exodus proclaimed or were they remaining under the law and another master it's really a fascinating section that the lord says in verse two from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take an offering it was a total free will offering later the lord would require 10 but the first instruction on giving is interesting in what it anticipates it anticipates everything that the new testament tells us about giving it anticipates uh the gospel freedom that we have the lord was testing the people to give out of the overflow of heart not on a rigorous requirement of the law immediately after it's it's Very fascinating, 24, the test comes exposing the need for a circumcised heart. Exposing the need for a circumcised heart. Imagine if the IRS, think of all this supposed loyalty that we have to the United States today. Imagine if the IRS said, well, we have so much need in this country, and we've decided since you are so loyal as Americans and you take such pride in this country, we're going to leave it all to your households to give. How do you think that'd go? Find out how loyal people really are to this country, right? You'd find out how quick and patriotic people really are. They'd give nothing. God gives this test. Does He have confidence in their loyalty to Him? Not without His work. Not without His gospel. Not without His grace. It's just true, and this is what the Lord is teaching us and showing us with this that the same is true with us when he sent his son, Christ died the cruel death of the cross and he plundered the kingdom of Satan. And Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, would come along to the churches and say, listen, because of that, everything's yours. He's given you everything. You have everything reserved for you. Heaven's yours. Glory's yours. He gives you many rich gifts to enjoy in life and he wants you to enjoy them. Don't look down on people because God gives them good things and can enjoy them. We do a lot of that. It's not right. God gives you good gifts to enjoy. He also gives you opportunities to give back. And this is why he said, and didn't come down with the rigor of the law on giving in the New Testament, and said, let each one give as he purposes in his heart. See? See what all this is anticipating here? Because he's about to set up the tabernacle and in this section, the mercy seat. Each one given in the heart, not grudgingly or of necessity. I don't want that kind of giving. Don't give me that way. God loves a cheerful giver. God wants you free in your giving. Isn't this wonderful? And God is able to make, says Paul, all grace to abound toward you. That you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written, He has dispersed abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. Now, may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, which you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. Now, here's where I love to think about what he's asking them to give to. He doesn't need it. What is he asking them to give to? There's a whole different spirit. I mean, a whole different tone from 24 to 25. It's really fascinating to me. Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them according to all that I show you. That is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings just so you shall make it. What was the purpose? Why was God asking them to give? He owns cattle on a thousand hills who can rain down bread from heaven. He wanted them to give so they could share and be builders in the kingdom that he was bringing in this case he is coming down to dwell with them so that in all their wilderness goings they would know that he's with them so that when this was built everyone would bring their best the levites would be provided for as they served to minister the word the people would give of their time and money and the tabernacle would go up obviously grace had affected a lot of them you know what happens in chapter 31 see i've called by name bezalel the son of uri the son of her of the tribe of judah and i filled him with the spirit of god and wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship to design artistic works to work in gold and silver and bronze and cutting jewels for setting and carving wood and to work in all manner of workmanship and i indeed i have appointed with him a holy ab uh the son of ahishma of the tribe of dan and i have put wisdom in the hearts of all who are gifted artisans that they may make all that i have commanded you and in chapter 36 we get this every morning they brought free will offering so moses gave a commandment and caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp saying let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary and the people were restrained from bringing for the material they had was sufficient for all the work indeed it was too much stop that's pretty neat isn't it i love that because we have something i can't see any other way of looking at this that's foreshadowing the work of christ i can't i can't see this any other way that the fullness of time would come, Christ would come, He would tabernacle among us, which is what John says. And the Old Testament said that in the day of His power, all the servants would be willing servants, not forced servants, willing servants in the day of His power, when He would build the kingdom of God, when He would erect a tabernacle without hands. And the giving would be from cheerful hearts, from the heart of people who were thankful to be a part of this so that they were building this structure in the old testament and you'll notice how it was to be constructed it's really fascinating um there's a little phrase here i don't know if you caught in chapter 25 and verse 9 i want you to do this exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture so you shall make it I want this to a tee I want this to a tee you know how Hebrews quotes that verse grabs that verse and says Moses was divinely instructed that when he was about to make the tabernacle for he said see that you make it according to all things to the pattern shown you on the mountain moses goes up on the mountain god hands him blueprints i want it just like this here's how i want it constructed don't deviate notice the precision to the tabernacle i want it don't you do it any other way just like this why because it was a sketch of something that was in heaven that's what hebrew says it was a sketch of something in heaven the earthly tabernacle was a shadowy sketch of the reality that is in heaven. The throne room. And no deviation was to be made in this. It was to be constructed exactly as God's blueprint. And notice how detailed, detailed, detailed this will all be. With the best materials, the finest stones, the beautiful dwelling place of God, teaching people something about Him. I want to stop just for a minute. The tabernacle was not all outwardly beautiful. We'll get there in that. Actually, it was pretty rugged. And when we think of Christ taking on humanity, we'll see that. But we have a tabernacle made without hands. Every time we're giving, we're saying, Lord, we're thankful for grace. We're thankful for what you've done for us. But we want to see your kingdom advance. We want to see your name advance. When the Escondido United Reformed Church was built, I was told it's like 1958, 59. I'm sure there was no cloud that rested on this place. There was nothing. Maybe you were here, a few of you, and remember how exciting that must have been. But I want you to think about the fact, when we think about the local church, we think about a building. The church, the local church is a place where God meets with his people. The church is not a building, but it is a place where people come to hear God's word proclaimed, where we come to administer the sacrament of baptism, where we fellowship, where we have a place of outreach. I thought in this regard, and this is why I say this, that Phil Rikens' comments were really interesting on this. I want to cite something that he said. He says, if church buildings are used for such a holy work, then God's people should bring offerings to support them. Some Christians think that building funds are unspiritual. They say, for example, that the money could be spent on missions. I've heard that a lot in the course of my life. But a building that provides a place for preaching, for worship, for ministry, is a part of God's holy work. And we participate in that work by giving. Certainly, it's sensible to do things as economically as possible. However, the cheap solution often turns out to be the poor stewardship in the long run. It can be a poor testimony. Christians should be exemplary in the care of their property. I've always thought that. We could take pride in driving around the beater, right? You can take pride in having the old church. This is part of being a good neighbor. A church that takes poor care of its property brings dishonor to Christ. According to the resources that God provides, we should aspire to build buildings and keep them well-maintained. I thought that was an interesting word, especially as we're thinking of doing that and in that process. But again, it's not forced. What we're a part of is part of the micro of the macro, big work of the Lord. And as the Lord burdens our hearts, and as the Lord gives us grace and help, this should be a free will, from the heart kind of giving. I'm good at hardening it, and I know that. I heard the story of a little old lady who gave a chunk of money to the church, and they found in her diary after she died that she wrote, quick, quick, after she made the contribution, before my heart gets hard. I thought that was interesting. So it should be no surprise here that the Lord begins with, in His building project, and again, this is not just about physical buildings. The fulfillment of this is in a temple made without hands. We know that. But the surprise here, it should be no surprise that the Lord begins with this Ark of the Covenant. This is an amazing thing that I want to leave us with tonight as we go. Because it was this focus, this area, this piece where God dwelt with his people between the cherubim. Remember, this is the sketch of the heavenly. In verse 10, the Lord commands that the ark should be made and he gives the dimensions. A little box around four feet by three feet made of acacia wood, durable, beautiful wood overlaid with pure gold inside and out. Four rings, one on each corner, was also made with pure gold, and a pole of acacia wood covered with pure gold to transport the ark. No one could touch it. Remember somebody tried to do that in history and got struck. When it even stumbled, Uzzah touched it, and he went down. In verse 16, we read, the testimony shall go in it. The law would go into the ark. And then it's described that above the mercy seat, On top of the ark was to be the mercy seat on top. So on top of the ark was what was known as the atonement cover. Above these were to be two cherubim hammered out in beautiful detail, these cherub on each end of this mercy seat. And lo and behold, the cherub were represented as stretching out their arms, facing each other. You've seen images of this in the study books. Facing each other with their wings toward the mercy seat. So that the glory, the cherubim of the glory would surround what was to be thought of and understood as the throne. This is the throne. It's going to go behind the most holy. And notice that they are lowered, gazing, looking down upon the ark. Their wings are stretched high. So again, this is the pattern of heaven. What do you have in heaven? The cherubim surround the throne. Think of Isaiah when he saw a glimpse of the glory of the Lord. I saw the cherub. I saw them. Their wings were outstretched. They're saying, holy, holy, holy. And remember those wings. You put it together with Ezekiel. The wings went up like a firewall around the throne. The wings covered their faces so that they weren't consumed. And then they had another set of wings that covered their feet because they were on holy ground. This is around the throne of God. And when that throne that was movable in Ezekiel, when he saw it on the wheels, that glory, the torches went back and forth so that the angels were ultimately shielding off the glory so that it didn't consume anyone outside of it. This is the imagery. Radiating the glory of God. Verse 21, You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony I give you. Listen to this. And there I will meet with you and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony about everything which I give you in commandment to the children of Israel. I want you to notice something. The Lord says, I will be above the mercy seat and speak there. There is no description of what He looked like. Not a word. Not a word. Holy, holy, holy. The Lord shielded off and walled off in glory, the cherubim bowing in His presence, the ark of the testimony, the law, and the mercy seat. There, Moses teaching Israel, knowing that behind the veil, put this together now, every year, the high priest would enter, going backward, would sprinkle blood there. This beautiful throne. Blood all over the mercy seat. Now the blood had just been splattered on the people. Bad. Bad. You don't want blood thrown on you. But here immediately after that, it's announced that the Lord in the covenant of grace, which is what all this intends and looks forward to, that the Lord Jesus Christ would come and shed His blood for His people. And this is why Paul says He is the propitiation. He's the satisfaction. He's the one that fulfills the covenant. God's people would never be able to keep the law, and on that altar, He would kill His Son, offering Him up in our place to spare us from the judgment that should have fallen on us as covenant breakers. So picture the scene. In heaven above is the Lord. Below on earth are covenant breakers. And there, 2,000 years ago, a cross would be nailed up. A man to that cross. And there his blood would be shed for the remission of sins so that Jesus Christ is your mercy seat. This is what the book of Hebrews is explaining to us. This is what we're sharing in. This is what His building project is announcing. That's what you're a part of in erecting a temple made without hands of living stones who believe that. Who have covering by Him. There's a lot more to say. There's so much to this and it's exciting to begin to go through. But I want to close with this tonight. Remember when in Luke, two men were into the temple one was praying at the front in worship and he says lord i thank you that i'm not like other men i thank you and he's he's right in worship and think about this in the temple i give of all that i possess i da da da da i do all these things remember the one in the back god be merciful to me a sinner the lord says that man went down to his house justified let me add this thought as they both passed out of the temple that day leaving the courts there were seven trumpet shaped boxes where offerings could be made imagine both those men together walking by those boxes. Which one do you think offered to the Lord from the heart? Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Gospel and thank You for what You announced to us all throughout the Old Testament. Showing people their sin in the Sinai Covenant, putting Israel under the law to teach them that they could never accomplish righteousness in themselves, and then declaring the way of escape through the mercy seat where blood would be sprinkled, ultimately anticipating the blood and the righteousness of Jesus. And Father, we know that that message must first overtake us in our hearts, believing that in true faith, for us to be active members in your kingdom and serving, not because you need our good works or not because you need our money, but because our neighbor does and you love to bless them through us. And so help us, Lord, to be servants of the Master. Thankful for the grace that we've received and to remember that You have called us friends and no longer slaves or servants. We relate to You that way because of Jesus who fulfilled all righteousness so that we might be in Your presence. That we might now be able to come because of that blood and not our own, for we could never do it, with boldness into the most holy place to receive from You blessing and not curse. For that, you excite our hearts. Thank you, Father, for your faithfulness and your love to us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.