Exodus 39:32 – 40:38 ~ 20121021 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

10/21 Exodus 39:32 – 40:38 The Finished Work; The Restored Presence

We are at the close of the book of Exodus. Here's a broad outline of the entire book:

(chapters 1-14) God's Redemption of His People

(chapters 15-18) God's Care for His People

(chapters 19-24) God's Covenant with His People

(chapters 25-40) God's Presence with His People

The focus of the entire book of Exodus is God's presence with his people. God saved his people from slavery, cared for his people in the wilderness, entered into covenant relationship with his people, so that he could dwell in the midst of his people. This last section, chapters 25-40, culminating God's presence with his people, is broken in half with chapters 32-34, which recount the covenant treason of the people with the golden bull idol and Moses' intercession for the people. The first half, chapters 25-31, detail God's instructions for the construction of his tent in the midst of the camp, the tabernacle. The second half, chapters 35-39, recount the faithful, precise obedience of the people following the commands of the Lord down to every detail. This structure demonstrates the total, complete forgiveness and restoration that God graciously extended to his broken, repentant people. Chapters 35-39 read as if nothing had ever happened. In our study through Exodus, we covered the corresponding fulfillment sections as we went through the command sections. Now we jump to the end of chapter 39.

Exodus 39:32 Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did. 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 34 the covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins, and the veil of the screen; 35 the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; 36 the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 37 the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38 the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent; 39 the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand; 40 the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests. 42 According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. 43 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.

Exodus 40:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4 And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 6 You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, 7 and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 8 And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court. 9 “Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. 10 You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy. 11 You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it. 12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water 13 and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. 14 You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, 15 and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”

16 This Moses did; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did. 17 In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. 18 Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. 19 And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 20 He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. 21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 22 He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, 23 and arranged the bread on it before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 24 He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, 25 and set up the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 26 He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 28 He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 29 And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 30 He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31 with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses. 33 And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

Moses was the only one that saw the heavenly original of which the earthly tabernacle was to be a copy. So he was the only one able to inspect all the craftsmanship to make sure it matched what he had seen on the mountain. Remember, the tabernacle was designed to be a portable worship center for a people on the move, so the people could easily bring all the pieces to Moses for inspection. Amazingly, there is no record of anything failing to meet his approval. There was no instance where he said 'I'm sorry, but that's just not good enough. You'll have to try again.' It says:

42 According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. 43 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.

Re-Creation

Much of this language echoes the language of the creation narrative in the beginning of Genesis. The tabernacle, like the garden, was to be the place where God would dwell with his people. In the creation narrative, God said... and it was so. Here, as LORD commanded, so they had done it.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

Exodus 39:32 Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did.

Exodus 40:33 ... So Moses finished the work.

At the beginning of the creation narrative, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen.1:2); for the building of this sanctuary,

Exodus 35:31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, ...34 And he has inspired him to teach... 35 He has filled them with skill... (cf. Exodus 31:3)

The amazing thing about these echoes of creation in this narrative is that in the original creation, there is no 'God said, and they did just the opposite and screwed everything up and brought the anger of the LORD, but then they repented and God forgave them, and it was so.' It was simply 'God spoke and it happened'. Perfect obedience. Here, after violating their covenant commitment with a false god, the final verdict is:

Exodus 39:43 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.

This, too, is an echo of the creation narrative.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill ...and subdue ...and have dominion ...

Good News

This is the great news of the gospel.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Jeremiah 31:34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Psalm 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

The good news is that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Because he paid our price in full, we can be treated as if we had never sinned. Our relationship with a holy God can be restored to the intimacy it was designed for. We can be accepted as if we had kept the whole law perfectly, not because of our own efforts, but because of the perfect obedience of Jesus credited to our account.

Jesus

Remember, the whole tabernacle points to Jesus. Jesus, the covering of mercy that appeases God's wrath over the broken law; Jesus the bread of life, Jesus the light of the world, Jesus who offers himself as the once-for-all sacrifice, Jesus our great high priest, Jesus whose prayers continually ascend to the Father for us, Jesus, in whose blood we are washed clean, Jesus, who clothes us with his righteousness and anoints us with his Holy Spirit, Jesus, who is our sabbath rest, Jesus who is the meeting place between God and men, Jesus, who is God pitching his tent in our midst, Jesus the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Heb.1:3).

The Glory

The work was finished exactly according to plan. The dwelling place of God was complete. We finally reach the climax of the Exodus:

Exodus 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 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. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 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.

Will God go with us? God gave evidence that he had taken up residence with his people. They had built a tent for him to dwell with them, and immediately upon completion, God takes up residence with them. The intensity of the glory of God is emphasized here. Moses, who spent two periods of 40 days each with God in the glory cloud, Moses, whom God placed in a cleft of the rock and caused all his goodness to pass by, Moses whom God talked with face to face, as a man talks with his friend, Moses, whose face radiated the glory of God with such intensity that he covered it with a veil, this 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.' Moses, who had experienced so much of God's glory, was not able to enter. At this point Moses, who served as mediator between God and the people, is now shown to be one of the people. If you hire a general contractor to build your house, he oversees the construction and has access to the house while it is being built. He oversees the craftsmen and ensures that it is built according to the plans, and he has authority to inspect the work and can even require that things be re-done. He has access to the house until it is completed, and then he hands the keys over to the owner. He does not keep a set of keys for himself so he can come and go as he pleases. Once the owner moves in, he looses all rights to access the house. This is the situation with Moses, and the author of Hebrews highlights this contrast between Moses and Jesus in Hebrews 3.

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses--as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

God is the builder, Moses is a servant, Jesus is the Son. We believers are the house that God lives in. Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses. The glory of God had now come to dwell in the tent, and Moses was unable to enter.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled, pitched his tent] among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Moses was unable to enter because of the glory; Jesus is the one who is glorious, the only Son from the Father.

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Moses had limited access into the tabernacle. He served as priest when the tabernacle was first set up, arranging the bread and burning the incense, offering the burnt offering and the grain offering; he anointed Aaron and his sons as priests to serve in the newly constructed tabernacle. And then he was unable to enter. But Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and when he entered the holiest place after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of his Father. He has a right to live in the house, because he is the Son.

Presence of God

This is what Exodus is about; the presence of God dwelling with his people.

Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

Exodus 29:45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

Exodus is about Jesus.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

Jesus said:

John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

We, believers in Jesus, have become the dwelling place of God, the temple of God. This is the focal point of all of history, as the final book of Revelation sums it up.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

We, believers in Jesus, can now enjoy the presence of God, we can walk with God, we can experience his guidance, we can reflect his glory, we can know his indwelling presence.

The message of Exodus is the message of Immanuel – God with us.