Sermon
The Tabernacle - The Place of Worship
October 10, 2004
Pastor Donald Sheley

Some weeks ago when we enter the fall season we had spent the summer in talking about some of the great characters of the Old Testament. We learned a lot of lessons from those Old Testament characters, and my heart was inspired with this truth, much of our Christian faith has its foundations in Old Testament Scriptures. And if we do not understand the foundations of our doctrine, we'll miss some of the glorious blessings that we learned from the New Testament that relate to our Christian faith. And so I've decided that what we would do for a few Sunday is go back into the Old Testament and we will find that truth or that event or that story and we're going to take that truth and transfer it to the New Testament to see how the New Testament doctrine has its foundation in an Old Testament truth.

For instance - we joined the children of Israel as they're getting ready to leave the land of bondage. And you remember the night they were to leave the death angel was going to pass over at midnight, they had been warned and they were told to kill a lamb, take the blood of that lamb and sprinkle it on their doorposts and on the lintel, and when the death angel passed over at midnight when he saw that blood applied to the door, he would not destroy or kill the firstborn. But if that blood was not there, then the firstborn of the house and the cattle all died.

And the Bible tells us that at that night there was great mourning throughout all of Egypt, and it was that event that caused the heart of Pharaoh to say, leave, we've had enough.

And we learned that meaning, the meaning of that blood applied to the door of the Old Testament as we transferred that great truth into the New Testament and learned that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The reason why we partake of communion and the reason why we honor the blood of Jesus Christ, because it's the power that cleanses us from all sin. So the truth of the blood of Christ and the power of the blood of Christ has its foundations way back in that Old Testament story.

Then we joined the children of Israel as they started on their trek, and about six weeks out they find that their knapsacks are getting empty and the food is getting scarce, and so they pray, or they plead with Moses and say, did you bring us out here to let us die? We want food! So Moses prays, the angels in heaven, because manna was called angel's food, the angels prepared manna, and all around every tent they had their food, they had manna, and they also had quail.

We took that Old Testament story and found that in John chapter 6, in the words of Jesus, He said, yes, you had that manna in the Old Testament, but I am the bread of life. So the truth of Christ being the bread of life has its foundation in an Old Testament setting.

Now Pastor Leighton in the last couple of weeks in my absence continued the journey. They come down near the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula and God invites or instructs Moses to come up onto the mountain because He wants to give them instructions concerning the guidance of a nation, and there on the mountain Moses is given the Ten Commandments. These were the regulations, the laws, that would bring blessing to them as a nation, but God also included a great number of other instructions while Moses was there.

And one of the instructions had to do with something so unique that it had never happened before in the history of the Jewish nation. God said I want you to build Me a sanctuary where I may dwell. Prior to this time, throughout the early pages of the Scripture, God walked and talked with Adam in the garden or He talked personally with the great patriarchs, but this is the first occasion that God says I want you to build Me a place where I came dwell in your midst.

Now join me as we take our notes, and I trust you all have them. I put most of the Scripture verses in our lesson today and we begin reading in Exodus chapter 24: "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them." So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them."

Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats' hair; ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate."

Pause -you say where did those poor slave people who had been slaves for hundreds of years, where did they get all of these things? Remember, the night that they're leaving Egypt God touches the hearts of the Egyptians and they are so glad to see him go, because they put up with nine plagues, and these folks are getting ready and God touches their heart and these Egyptians poured all of their personal wealth into the hands of the Israelites. So when they left they literally had ransacked the treasures of Egypt and they had them with them as they went across that Red Sea.

So God now says it's time for an offering. I want you to bring some of these things. Why? Look at the next verses: "And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." Remember this is the first time that God has instructed man to build Him a place where He might dwell here on earth. "According to all that I show you, that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings, just so you shall make it."

"And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain. You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim." That is in the design of an angel.

"You shall hang it upon the four pillars of the acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy. You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put a table on the north side. You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, their hooks shall be gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them."

Notice the intricate detail as to how God is saying, I want to dwell amongst you but I want you to build My place very precisely; just the way I tell you.

Exodus 40: "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of tent of meeting. You shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and partition off the ark with the veil. You shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it."

Now just a few paragraphs then I'll talk to you. From the beginning of chapter 25 of Exodus to the end of chapter 40--excepting for the important parenthesis of chapters 32 to 34--the Holy Spirit has given us a detailed description of the Tabernacle, its structure, furniture, and priesthood. Now it's a fact worthy of our closest and fullest consideration that more space is devoted to an account of the Tabernacle than to any other single object or subject treated in the holy Bible. So what we're talking about today God considered to be a most important subject; the tabernacle.

Its courts, its furniture, and its ritual are described with a surprising particularity of detail. Two chapters suffice for a record of God's work in creating and fitting the earth for human habitation. In other words, the creation story is told in two chapters of our Bible. Whereas ten chapters are needed to tell us about the Tabernacle.

Now let's look at the picture, shall we? On pages 2 and 3 we have an overlay by an artist taken from the description out of the Scriptures. You'll notice they are encamped and in the center of the picture is the enclosure, and inside that enclosure there is an altar that is burning, there is a little laver there between that, and then there is this little building, this little tent, called the tabernacle.

Now it's very interesting. God said I want you to lay it out and here is the size that I want you to measure it. It's 75 feet across, that's the front, and it's 150 feet deep. Now the curtain around the enclosure - you can see the white curtain as it hangs around the fences there - it's set on acacia wood poles covered with gold. It's made out of very fine linen, and that was the way that God enclosed that very sacred spot.

Now out here to my left on page two, down near the bottom, in the front portion of that enclosure there was what was called the door. That would be located right here, and the curtains pulled aside and the first thing that happened when you walked inside that enclosure you would see the altar of sacrifice. So if you and I lived in those days and we came to the tabernacle for our worship, and we came to bring our sacrifice, we would enter through those curtains and the first thing we would see would be that brazen altar burning in front of us. We would take our sacrifice to the priest, he would lay it on that burning altar, slay the animal, and after the sacrifice was made, I would turn around and leave. I could not go any further into this enclosure. It was an enclosure that had limitations for the worshiper.

Now you'll notice right behind that burning altar is a laver. It looks like a round bowl there, and it's very, very interesting - in all of the details that God gives to us with regards to the instruments of this beautiful building, or this building that He's arrange for His habitation, He does not give us a dimension for that laver so we really don't know how big it really was. But it was big enough because after the priest had made the sacrifice he washed himself, his hands, in that laver preparing himself then to go into the inner sanctuary itself.

Now that is really a tent. It's made up of frames, acacia wood poles, and then the wall was structured with three walls of acacia wood and then over the acacia wood would be draped some linen, some various colors, some scarlet color, and what's on the outside of that enclosure are badger skins or this skins of animal. So it wasn't a very, very attractive building at all, and it was 15 feet wide and 45 feet long. So it's a small enclosure, a building, a tent inside that enclosure.

Now let's look across onto the next page. And if we were looking down on that enclosure - really we would have to invert the picture if we put it as it should be - but here on page 5 you have the opening which is the door. That's where the curtains come back, and the worshiper walks into the courtyard. You'll notice the courtyard. The first thing he sees it is the main altar or the brazen altar where he's going to give his sacrifice. He's going to give his sacrifice then he'll leave out the door.

Now the priest has made the sacrifice. Once the priest has made the sacrifice he washes himself in that laver, that round circle there, and then he approaches the screen or the curtain that forms the front door for that small tabernacle tent. When he walks inside now he's in the holy place. There in that holy place you'll notice God tells them where to put the table, where to put the candlesticks, and where to put the incense table. So onto the right he's got the table of shewbread and that the priest entered this portion of this small building every day.

He made sure that the bread was changed there on the table of bread. He made sure that there was oil in the lamps so the lights were burning in that candelabra, and he made sure that there was enough on the incense table to have a continual burning because that represented the prayers of the nation going up to God.

Now he went in there, the priest went in there, once a day to take care of those chores, or daily I should say. Now this is not drawn according to scale because the Holy of holies was really 15 feet by 15 feet by 15 feet. It was a perfect cube. And inside that Holy of holies you'll notice just in front of it is that veil. And look at the picture right above it. There's the priest standing there by the table of bread. You see the candelabra. We see the incense altar burning, and then that beautiful veil that's there.

That veil separated man from God. Only once a year did the high priest go behind that veil into the Holy of holies where he placed on that ark, which had a mercy seat of gold, where he placed the sacrificial blood for the sins of the nation, but it only happened once a year. So the priest would come daily, but they could not go beyond that veil because only the priest once a year went beyond that veil into the holiest of holies.

In that small compartment was only one item of furniture. It was called the ark of the covenant. It was about five feet long, five and a half feet long, about three feet wide and fairly deep, and inside that ark there were three items. There was Aaron's rod that budded, there was a pot of manna that had been collected when God had rained manna from heaven, and there were the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.

Remember the first two tablets - when Moses came off that mountain he was so angry as he saw that golden calf, he threw the tablets down and they broke into 1000 pieces. God calls him back up to the mountain and says I'm going to rewrite them again, and so the second set of tablets that God writes are put in that little ark of the covenant. So there are the tablets, there's Aaron's rod that budded, and there is the pot of manna.

But that little enclosure was such a wonderful spot because that's where the Shekinah Glory, absolutely the glory of God filled that little room. God said that's where I want to dwell on earth.

Now when you look at that - back to the picture over here - we knew God was there because notice right above that holy place is that pillar of fire, that cloud. During the day, God's presence was evidenced by that pillar of cloud that was above that holy place. At night, that cloud turned into a pillar of fire and that indicated this is where God dwells. This is His habitation among men. It wasn't a beautiful building. It was just a tent, and it was made so it could be taken apart very, very quickly.

And what would happen is when the Levites started to see action or the beginning of the movement of that pillar of fire or that cloud, they would immediately start taking down all of the curtains. They would disassemble this tent, this temporary tent, and all of these things, these vessels had staves so the men could carry them, and they would follow that glory of God in the cloud to wherever God was leading them to the next place, and then they would re-establish God's place of worship.

So it was a temporary way, but it was very, very clear when those people saw that glory of God hanging over that little temporary tent they knew that God was in their midst.

It was often referred to in the Scriptures also as the tabernacle or the tent of testimony. Now out there in the wilderness, surely, and there was, when we read the Old Testament, there were many tribes and from time to time the children of Israel had conflicts with the tribes of the wilderness. But can you imagine if you lived with a tribe and you maybe lived three or four miles away, but you saw this encampment of 2 million people and you saw this little tent and you saw this fire coming down at night and you saw the cloud during the daytime, it would be an awesome sight to behold for those living in the wilderness. And to those children of Israel it was the promise and the pledge of God's presence.

Now just a couple other items -- coming back to this picture, you'll notice the tents are all placed perfectly around that enclosure and then there's a wide open space between the tents and the enclosure. God told them - certain tribes - over here on the top side of the picture Gad and Simeon and Reuben, they had their tents over there. But all the tents that were around the first tents in every one of their sections, those were the Levites. They lived in the first tents closest to the enclosure.

The Levites were the people who took care of this building. They maintained it. They protected it. They were the custodians. They watched over the house of God. They were called the Levites.

Now you'll notice that area, that wide area, the clear area around the enclosure and then the tents, that's where the people gathered. There were 2 million of them. So when it came time for worship they gathered and stood around that enclosure for their worship and Moses would lead them in worship. Now God said I want a tabernacle, a sanctuary, that I can dwell in your midst.

Now the question is...that was a temporary facility. As soon as they arrived in the Promised Land to tent wasn't necessary anymore. In fact when you do a chronological study most likely they used that tabernacle for their place of worship for about 35 years. When they arrive in the Promised Land you have Saul who is a king then you have David who wants to build the house of God, and you have Solomon his son who builds Him a permanent temple. So the temporary, the non-permanent housing, that little tent was done away with and now they've got a temple.

Now the question is this - if that's how God demonstrated His presence in the Old Testament time, was there a difference the way God demonstrated His presence in the New Testament? Yes. Let me tell you.

When you get to Acts chapter 7, old Stephen the first martyr is preaching his sermon, it's the last sermon he'll preach because they're going to stone him to death for his sermon. Acts chapter 7, and in the middle of that sermon or near the end at verse 44 old Stephen says, and he references that event where God gives the pattern to Moses to build that tabernacle in the Old Testament. And then he carries his thought forward and says but God then allowed Solomon to build his temple, then he makes a very startling statement that really angered his crowd...He said God does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Well that was a shocker because those Israelites had always thought that God dwelt in a building. They had the Old Testament tabernacle then they had the temple, but old Stephen says God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. Well where does He dwell in the New Testament time?

You have a very interesting Scripture verse that's found in John 1:14. It has to do with Jesus Christ. And here's what the Scripture says: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. Now if we were reading that in the original Greek this is the way it would read: and the Word became flesh and tabernacled with us. Speaking of Christ, speaking of God in the person of Christ, taking on human flesh, God now becomes in the person of Christ the demonstration of God's glory among the people.

And when you take that picture of the overlay of the setting up of the furniture, it's an amazing thing how it has such wonderful typology in the person of Christ. We go out here, I'm on page 5, out here to the edge where it says 'the door'. And you'll notice there's only one door into that entire enclosure. There's only one way that you can get into this place of worship, and that's through one door. Jesus said I am the door, no man cometh to the Father but by Me. And immediately we see a representation of the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

Now when we walk into that courtyard immediately we're confronted by that altar, and that altar is representative of death and sacrifice, and that altar says that on the cross of Jesus Christ, Christ died for us. He became our sacrifice. We go a little further in and we see the laver and it's by His word we are cleansed. We enter into that Christian life and the bread, Jesus the bread of life, becomes our spiritual bread. The lampstand represents He is the light of our pathway. The incense burning there represents His priesthood, and that veil in the person of Christ - remember when He died - it says that veil was rent from top to bottom. So that in Christ now I have total entrance right into God's presence. That's what the book of Hebrews tells us.

And so this entire layout of the furniture, and the very way it's laid out, has a type of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ was God in human flesh. He was God dwelling amongst men.

You say, well what about the glory? Because in the Old Testament you had the glory of the cloud and the pillar of fire, where was the glory demonstrated in the life of Christ? Well when you read John chapter 2 it tells us of Jesus when He changed the water into wine, and verse 11 says, and they beheld His glory. His glory was demonstrated in what He did, in the works that He performed, in the words that He said, and when He went about doing good He was portraying, He was showing the glory of God.

Can you imagine standing there on that ship as it's being tossed, and He says, peace, be still. And the glory of God is demonstrated and its control of the atmosphere and the seas. And He walks up to a coffin and says, be healed or come alive, and that man came alive. Can you imagine being a part of that funeral procession when Jesus demonstrated His glory in bringing out of death life again? And so in Jesus Christ in the New Testament we have the representation of God dwelling among men when Jesus takes on human flesh - He is God in human flesh.

You say, Pastor, 2000 years have passed now since the New Testament time, does this truth come into our day? When Jesus died, buried, rose again, ascended back to heaven, He stood on that mountain and made a promise...I'm going to send you My Holy Spirit. And what happened is when Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to live within us. We have become the habitation of God. And Paul says ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost.

So no longer is it a crude tent in the Old Testament, Christ has ascended to His glory. Where does God's presence now dwell? Here! For we are the temple of God. Now ladies and gentlemen when you really grasp that, it is a tremendous truth. We have access into the very presence of God through Jesus Christ. Christ's spirit dwells within us, and one of the interesting things about that old tabernacle, one of its names was the tent of testimony. Why? What did it testify to?

When all of those folks out there in the wilderness saw that pillar of fire and that cloud that testify to the presence of Almighty God. And you and I being the tent of testimony wherever we are, because His spirit dwells now here. This is the tent of witness. This is where He dwells. You and I by living the life that brings honor and praise to God, our lives should radiate His presence wherever we are us. When people are around us or near us there's something about us because the spirit of God is alive within us.

We are the place where God now dwells. When you grasp that one to realize the wonder of it all...into our human flesh He chooses to make this His thrown.

Remember the hymns we sang - Make me a sanctuary. Make my life a sanctuary.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would not have wanted to live and watch those sacrifices and that tent being taken up and down, even though I would have admired the glory of God. It would have been wonderful, possibly, to have lived during the times of Christ, but I probably would have joined all the rest of the crowd and said, crucify Him, crucify Him, because the Scripture says there was no beauty that we should behold Him. But in our day, because of what Christ has done - He has sent His holy spirit, and when you become a child of God, God said I'll make your body My habitation.

Almighty God by His spirit dwelling right here. That's what it means to have God enthroned in our hearts. When you and I gather as a group of Christians, my prayer always is, dear God, may Your presence be mighty amongst us as we sing our hymns, as we lift our voice, as sanctuaries unto God.

You know, in the Old Testament it says that God chose to place His name -- that is, God chose to demonstrate His glory at certain places in the world, and one of those places was when He demonstrated His glory over that ancient tent.

And my prayer often is, almost every day, dear Lord Jesus, when we gather in the church this weekend my prayer is that You'll choose to place Your name amongst us. That is, will You demonstrate Your glory and Your power and the majesty of Your presence in our midst? And I'll tell you, when God's spirit settles down upon a congregation, and we sing some of these great hymns, and we sense His presence, His name is glorified and He is honored in our worship, in our praise.

Where does God dwell today? Here! Amen.

Father, may that truth thrill us. There's no longer a veil that separates. There're no longer curtains, there are no longer badger skins. That's all been done away with. And You by Your spirit now make our hearts Your throne. What an awesome thought. And may it be that as we live our lives at the job, at the school, at the office, may we be that very unique and peculiar person who brings forth glory to You in what we say and what we do, and may the world around us know that You dwell within us. That's our prayer, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you folks. God bless you.