Exodus 25:1-22 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Build on the Rock Summer Series 5 July 1, 2018 “The Tabernacle”
Where is God? The reason that most people who ask that question do so is that things don’t seem to be going their way. If God loves me, why is he allowing this to happen? Why can’t I tell or feel that God is with me? Where is he? The Israelites in the Old Testament asked that question. Last week we heard about the slavery into which the Egyptians forced them. It was cruel with harsh task-masters over them forcing to work. They were put to work building store cities for Pharaoh. And when they kept growing and multiplying, Pharaoh even ordered the deaths of all their baby boys. The Israelites, in such an awful state, asked, “Where is God? Why is he letting this happen to us? Aren’t we the descendants of Abraham whom God promised to bless? Didn’t he promise us a land of our own? Where is he now?” God answered that question. God was with the Israelites. He knew their suffering. He saw their pain. And he had a plan for them. Moses was born, a special child who grew up to be a special adult. God trained him, slowly, forcing him to be patient along the way. And then he called Moses to be the leader of his people and to free them from their slavery in Egypt. God showed the Israelites at that time that he was with them. He brought annoying and frustrating and even deadly plagues upon their Egyptian masters. Through many of the same plagues he kept the Israelites unaffected. And finally, after ten such displays of his power and might against the Egyptians, including the last and deadliest of all, God had convinced the Egyptians to let his people go free. And the Israelites left Egypt and started walking through the wilderness in the direction of Canaan, the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. After going through all that, you might expect that the question “Where is God?” had finally and permanently been answered for the Israelites. But the reality was that the Israelites would forget that God was with them over and over again. On one occasion they were coming to the Red Sea, and Pharaoh had decided he wanted his slaves back. So his army was in pursuit of the Israelites. They had already seen God’s power over and over again, so did they simply trust that God was with them and that he would take care of this problem? No. They panicked. They were terrified. They hardly thought about the God who had already done so much for them. God rescued them again, this time by bringing them through the sea on dry ground and by drowning Pharaoh’s army behind them. Did the Israelites finally remember that God was with them and would take care of them? No. They grumbled and complained about food and water, even when God miraculously provided for them. In this summary of the account of the Israelites leaving Egypt, you begin to see one of their greatest issues. They should have known from experience and from God’s promises to them that he was with them, but over and over they did not. They forgot. That is one of the reasons that God had the Israelites undertake a new building project. He wanted to continue to remind his people that he was with them. He wanted to give them opportunities to worship him. So he instructed them to build The Tabernacle. Our lesson from Exodus 25 was just a portion of the instruction that God gave about the building of The Tabernacle. The Israelites were to have an offering and to collect all of the materials, like gold, silver, and bronze and fine linen, that were needed for its construction. They were to follow some precise instructions about the building and about the furnishings. And they would build a very special building. And while this Tabernacle would last the Israelites for a very long time, it was unique in this way, that it was not a permanent building. The Israelites did not set it down on a foundation. The Tabernacle was built as a large and elaborate tent. As the Israelites moved from place to place, they could pack up the Tabernacle and move it along with them. And that is what they did. They did so according to specific instructions that God had given, even down to the specific people who were to carry the various portions of the Tabernacle. When it was time to continue on, the Tabernacle was disassembled along with all of
the Israelite camp. When they reached their next stopping point, the Tabernacle was set up again as were all of the tents in which the Israelites lived. At every step of their journey, a journey that would end up being extended by many years, the Israelites had this special building as a monument to God’s presence with them. God promised, “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” Eventually, after the people had settled into the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was replaced. You will hear more about that in coming weeks. But through it all, and at all times since, God has been with his people. In our Second Lesson today we heard assurances of that (Hebrews 13:1-8). Our Gospel shared Jesus Christ’s own assurance that he would always be with his disciples. God is with us. The fact that God is with us has certain implications. If God is always with us, that means that he sees and knows everything that we do, even those things we would rather he did not. It means that every time the Israelites grumbled or complained, God knew it. He was there. It means that every time we gossip about someone else, God is there to hear it. Every time we think we are alone and can look at pictures we shouldn’t or do whatever else it is that we look around to make sure no one sees us, God is there. We don’t see him, but he sees us. And when we stop to realize that God has been with us to witness everything that we have done, it can be terrifying. A powerful, holy God has expectations of me that I have never even gotten close to. I have failed so frequently and so terribly. And God tells me in his Word that I deserve to be punished. And he certainly has the power to punish. God is with us, and that is a horrifying reality for a sinner like me. But God is not with his people to punish. That is not why he had the Israelites build a Tabernacle. It wasn’t a reminder so that they could look at it and think. “God is watching! I better behave!” No, God was with his people with his love. He drew near to them and dwelled with them in that special building in order to teach them about his love and to remind them of his promise. He came there to receive their gifts and offerings. He was with them to save them. And when the right time had come. God sent his Son Jesus to live among his people and to fully and completely save them. They didn’t need a special building to remind them that God was with them. They could see him face to face. They could listen to the words he spoke. They could learn from his teaching. And they could see the great sacrifice that he offered, the sacrifice to which all the sacrifices offered before pointed and about which they taught. And so when Jesus says to disciples like us, “I am with you always,” that is not meant to terrify and frighten. It is meant to reassure. The one who took away our sins on the cross is with us and is watching out for us. When we feel alone or frightened, he is there. We are not alone. When we wonder about the difficulties that have come into our lives, he knows. He sees. And he promises that he will work with them and through them to accomplish good things for you. And not just good things, things better than you can even imagine. And God’s people respond to that good news. The Tabernacle was not just a teaching tool about God’s presence. It was the place where his people would worship. It was where they would in a special way celebrate the good news that God had given to them. And part of that public worship was learning more about God and his promises; part of it was seeing the symbols and the ritual. And part of it was bringing offerings and sacrifices. The Tabernacle stood among God’s people because he was with them and because he was worthy of their worship. We don’t have a Tabernacle any longer, and God no more demands animal sacrifices. But he is with his people, and he is worthy of their worship. So we still gather at a place that represents his presence among us, and we still learn more about his promises and his keeping of those promises. And we still bring our offerings to God, whether in the offering plates in a service, or by other actions throughout our lives as we serve others in thanks for what God has already done for us. The Tabernacle was a temporary building, but it teaches lasting lessons about us and about our God. He is always with us. Let us worship him!
The Text: Exodus 25:1–22 (NIV) The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 8 “Then
have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. 10 “Have
them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 11 Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. 15 The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. 16 Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you. 17 “Make
an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.