And our text this morning will be continued as we work through the Book of Exodus. So I'd like to leave it to Dr. Gottlieb Gottler to make your way to the Book of Exodus. We will begin the 25th chapter this morning as we continue our work. In his commentary on the Book of Exodus, specifically regarding this passage, Matthew We see this event unfolding and Moses entering into the cloud surrounding the mountain. It says, in fact, that after the glory of Yahweh dwelt on Mount Sinai, the cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day he called Moses from the midst of the cloud. And then we see in verse 18 that Moses enters the midst of the cloud and then literally as he experienced this occurrence on the mountain. But what we've got to remain focused on is not speculation, not wonderings, not thoughts of what did it look like, but on the truth that God provides us. consuming fire, we are to see the Word that Moses continues to receive from our Lord. Now already as we have worked up to this point, we have received the Ten Commandments, we have received the Civil Law, we have received pictures What we will begin to see starting in chapter 25 is very detailed, very specific instructions and principles and specifications regarding the worship of God as He instructs His people for us to understand exactly what this term This entire body of the text of God is devoted in the greatest part, the biggest amount, the primary or dominating theme that radiates through all of this section of text is the worship of a holy God. Now we stand on the other side of Christ coming and redeeming his people in a final sense of paying the price of God because we take our eyes off of what God instructs us regarding His mercy. And although we will see and we will go over this several times that this is not where they should worship, how they should worship, by whom worship should be done, with whom worship should be done, and with what worship should be done. The means of worship literally means the medium or method or instruments that are used in the act of worshiping God. So the medium, so you have three different You have methods and then you have instruments. And all three of these will come together to define for us how God is to be worshipped. And so for ancient Israel, the medium would be the substance or the intervening agents that a part of the workshop that made the sacrifice, all of these things are the methods. In fact, as we But the second principle we have to remember, the second truth that we have to keep in mind as we look at this is that we are not ancient Israel. Now why is that important? Well, it's important directions given here by God to Moses. We need to construct an ark of the testimony. We need to build an altar. We need to build all the accoutrements that we find in the tabernacle so that we can properly worship God. But the reality is, these things teach us principles about our worship and not commands that we are to be obeyed. In fact, when we deal with the tabernacle, what we are truly dealing is a type or shadow of the greater tabernacle, the one that John records for us in 1 John 14. The word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld his glory. Glory is the only begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. That word dwelt in the original language and is, in some versions, translated as tabernacle. That God literally, in the form of Christ, tabernacles with man. He came to be amongst his people. And so as we work this morning through our facts, we will be introduced to the next section of the book of Exodus and that the true tabernacle was so that God could dwell among his people, and that as his people, we willingly worship and give. So let us stand for the reading of God's fully inerrant authoritative word. Beginning in the 25th chapter, in the first verse, Moses writes, then Yahweh spoke speak with the sons of Israel, so that they may take a contribution for me. From every man whose heart is willing, you shall take my contribution." And this is the contribution which you shall take from them. And let them make a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among you, according to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall make it. Let us pray. Father, as we enter this time of worship together, we thank you for your faithful word. We praise you that we can see, we can gather together, and we can seek real truth from the one who is true. May you be faithfully proclaimed in this place today so that you are exalted and your glory is magnified above all things. We ask all of this in the name of your precious son, Jesus Christ, by whom you are able to make this petition known. Amen. Please be seated. In the preceding chapter in the book of Exodus, we encounter Moses. glorifying Him, we saw that this worship service contained the elements of worship services that we are supposed to contain within ours, a call to worship, the reading of the Word of God, a confession of our faith, and then a consummation of a sacramental meal or the performance of the ordination of the Lord's Supper. However, noticeably absent from this first worship service is a concept that many feel is absolutely imperative to the worship service of God, and that is a giving of a free will offering by the people of God to support the work of God. Left out of that Interestingly enough, there is a condition or stipulation regarding the obedience of this command. Note to begin with, in Exodus 25 verse 1, Moses again reminds us that this is not Moses' command. This is not the imagination of an individual. These are literally the words of the living God. the Ten Commandments that Moses began that section the same way. This is what God said literally here. He says, then Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, begins by saying that he is to speak with the sons of Israel, so go in and talk with the sons of Israel, and as you go talk to the sons of Israel, what I want you to do, Moses, is tell them to take an offering or a contribution from me. Now, within this context, within this understanding of this verse, we see in the second clause here that this is to be a willing offering, meaning that there is to be a desire to give. The action of giving to God is commanded, but it is also dependent on the condition We'll talk about all of those things and kind of delineate that better, but the danger in this teaching lies in the motivation regarding giving. Tithing is something that was a command that did not carry this willingness. It was a command to give a ten, period. You did that. Giving, free will giving, this type of offering of the condition of the heart. And so the tendency tends to be that people in the church see the tip as a minimum requirement, as a, hey, listen, all I've got to do is get that much, and I'm covered. I'm good. I'm taken care of. And secondly, we need to understand the implications of this command on the church today. And so if we begin to kind of unpack that, we note that this is a command again with a stipulation that God commands Moses to speak to the sons of Israel so that they will take up This word means to raise up, to exalt. This carries with it the understanding that the contribution to be made was to be offered up to God for Him. Now notice, pay very close attention because this is very easy to mistake. The offering that is being taken up is not specifically for the purpose of building the tabernacle. I will repeat that. He didn't elaborate at this point. Now later he's going to tell Moses, hey, this is what I'm going to do with it. But at the beginning, at the outset, the conversation that Moses is to have with the people is that this offering is for God. It is for His purposes. It is not a stated reason of worship. situation of these people. What has occurred over the last few months of their lives now. Now I'm just going to tell you, in case you haven't been keeping up, we're on week 72 of going through with this. It's taken us a lot longer to get here than it did them. You understand? So it's not been like years since they've gone through In fact, we see in Exodus 12, 35 through 36 that they are obedient to this command, that as they come out of Egypt, God told them in Exodus 12, 35 through 36, now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, they had asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing. And Yahweh had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they could what they could ask and they literally plundered the Egyptians simply because God's command was to go ask and they obeyed. I'm he does in return is he is now asking, he is now requiring that they simply return a portion of what they had received from him for him. Now it is necessary that we recognize the stipulation on this condition that has to go along with this gift. That we recognize and we understand what it means done from a willing heart. Those are the reasons that it is so imperative for you to study or learn to find sources to dig deeper. literally how we would interpret this is if somebody told us they were willing to do something we would interpret that to mean that they were doing it simply because Hebrew language here actually uses a word It contains this idea of being impaled to do something. out of duty and responsibility to his country, right? The idea and understanding that you have this gut desire that goes beyond just a, I want to go do it, right? It goes beyond just a, I woke up today, felt like I wanted to go fishing, so I went fishing. That's not the kind of willing that we're talking about. We're talking about something that they could not ignore. If you want to think about it, terms, think about Jeremiah. Jeremiah's message was so intense in his life that it had to come out. It was literally painful if he didn't get it out and share the word of God. This is the same idea that those at this giving of this offering, this desire, is so great that they desire nothing more than to give to the one, the first baby. The question that deals with exactly what bearing does this have on the church today, on this principle still applies exactly like it did in the Old Testament, just as much willingly, that your heart is so transformed that you have nothing else but to desire to give. Now a few moments ago I read 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7, but in the surrounding text as a regretting obligation. We should give and we should give generously to God, not out of a need to check a box. Not out of a desire to just say we did that thing over this week, but out of a heart that has been changed from the heart of stone to the one of flesh, one that desires to give simply because He has first given to us. In verse 6 of that same chapter of 2 Corinthians, give the more you receive. That if you want to have a big house and a big car and a big bank account, make sure you give big to God. That's not what this verse is dealing with. That's not what Paul is talking about. The interpretation of this verse is somehow used to imply that God owes us more just because we give more. But the truth is that God has already given all we need. Secondly, if we understand in obedience. Now, look at what happens when the people of God responded to God in obedience. We get down to verse 4 of chapter 36 and it says this, and all the wise men who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he Obama any longer do the work for the contribution of the sanctuary, thus the people were restrained from bringing any more. The material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work that they had to do. This is what is happening when we see with God's presence among his people in the tabernacle of the wilderness and with us with a deeper understanding and awareness of communion with God through the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary and the inflowing of Holy Spirit in the lives of his people. That is where we see our blessing. It is in the growth of a Christian into maturity. And there's one final observation that I think needs to be made from verse two. Although it is not specifically stated, I believe that it is implicitly implied. And I believe that just as it is an imperative that our gift It is a lifestyle of living before God in such a way that our entire lives, everything we do is given over to the exaltation of God. It's got to be done from a willing heart. But then we've got another problem. So many do not have a willing heart. And so we've got to understand where a willing heart comes from. Because you see, you can't get up in the morning and as an individual just muster You can't, as an individual, just simply all of a sudden decide that your heart is going to be willing. Your heart is only willing because of the change that is wrong in the life of the believer by the power and work of the Holy Spirit and the application of the work of Christ. The heart that has been regenerated, has been made new, has a desire to please and obey God, and what a better way to obey God than by willingly And so that brings us to verses 3 through 7. Now, as I kind of stated in the introduction this morning, this particular passage is really tied to kind of an introduction to this whole next section that we're going to be dealing with. So one of the things that we will talk about here is in verses 3 through 7, God outlines the variance important things that we talk about. Now, as we go through and we talk about the different components, we will talk about materials in more depth. But we do want to give kind of an overview. We want to address them briefly, first and foremost, because they're needed. And to not address them, to simply move along, would be to be guilty of not understanding what it is God has for us, from this word. But the major divisions of the earth all contribute The division of minerals provides the metals. The division of plants provides the yarns, and the fabrics, and the animals provide the dye, and the skin, and the leathers, and the sacrifice. Literally, all of the earth contributes to construct the dwelling place of God in the midst of His people. A.W. Pink said in his book, Gleanings in Exodus, gold, his divine glory. The silver, the redemption which he wrought and bought for us. The brass, his capacity to endure the wrath of God. his incorruptible humanity, the oil for the light, his divine wisdom, the spices his fragrance unto God, the precious stones his priestly The bronze likely came from what was given to the Israelites as they left Egypt. The cloth either through trade, through the skills learned in captivity, or also through what they received as they left captivity. The dyes, the skins, the other leather goods throughout the world, trade. things that came to be in the possession of the people it was accomplished through the provision of God and if you'll notice the listing of many of these things is done in an order of greatest reveals to Moses his specific intentions regarding the materials that have been gathered. R.C. Sproul stated it like this, the kingship was now to be appropriately recognized by the building of a residence for God as a symbol of his royal authority over Israel. If you will notice, this dwelling, this action does not take place until at first his people had been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. Much like the Holy Spirit does not dwell in an individual until they have been regenerated and released from the bondage of sin. Until they were separated from their enemies in the final defeat of Egypt. and until the covenant. Solomon commented after completing the temple, which, as you probably know, was a much bigger structure than the tabernacle he observed in 1 Kings 8 and 27. But look, God truly dwelt on the earth. Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built. The house that Solomon had built was so much less had the ability to contain God than how much Moses, during his life, with his throne, the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant, would be housed. It was of such importance to God that through Moses, he devoted ten chapters, what we call chapters today, but an equivalent, right, of ten chapters of material This truth is in the life of Israel and even in our life today as we understand that it is a sign, a title, a shadow. They're standing in front of Mount Sinai, witnessing the glory of God surrounding the mountain. It would seem as though they wouldn't need another sign or reminder. But remember, they are much like us in that we need daily, constant reminders of the presence of God in our life. This is why we should devote ourselves to the study of the Word. devote ourselves to prayer, devote ourselves to understanding the things of God. As we walk through the instructions, through the next 10 chapters, we will remain and need to remain acutely aware that these things are principles for today's church. to describe the action. The very first thing that God commands Moses to construct is the Ark of the Testimony. The Ark of the Covenant. The very Mercy Seat. until it reaches the doorway. Much the same way and in the same order as the sovereign grace of God moves in the life of a believer, working from the inside out. However, what may be interesting to note is that as we study the actual We move from the walls, from the curtains, to the inner parts, or the order of the experiential nature of a believer in which the divine truth is ultimately apprehended by the soul. It's interesting that to get into the tabernacle, one had to pass through the tribe of Judah. Now, this is one of those things that's not necessarily specifically stated. in which the tabernacle foreshadows Christ. Now, I'm going to go through them. I'm not going to go into any detail. I'm just going to kind of give you a one-liner on each one, and then we'll unpack them as we go forward. But just to give you an idea of exactly how tremendous this piece of the Word of God is, the tabernacle was a temporary appointment. Much like Christ was only in this earth with man through the mediator of Moses. Christ, the one mediator between God and man, spans the gulf between deity and humanity. The tabernacle was in the center of the camp of Israel. Christ is to be at the center of the life of his people. The tabernacle was a place where the law was preserved. Jesus said, I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. The tabernacle was a place where sacrifice was made. Christ was the sacrifice. The tabernacle was a place where the priestly family was fed. And now Christ is the food, the bread of life, the feast, the royal priesthood, As Peter describes it, 1 Peter 2, 5. The tabernacle was a place of worship. It is by Christ and Christ alone that we can come together and worship. It is by Him and Him alone that we have access to the throne of grace. The tabernacle had one door. Christ said, I am the way. And all of the earthly things that go into the building of the top of that, we're reminded as in 2 Nathan, silver is mine, the gold is mine, Psalm 50 verse 10, much as Christ was ministered through the loving devotion of those women mentioned in the Gospels who ministered to the Christ of their substance. We have an exciting journey ahead of us as we walk through this record of the building of the Tavern As we do so, the journey from the tabernacle in the wilderness to Christ's incarnation to ultimately the New Jerusalem will unveil resurrection, but this progression does not end with Christ's earthly ministry. It culminates in the promise of a new eternal dwelling. Listen to the words found in Revelation chapter 21, verse 1 through 3. Then I saw a new heaven, a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any seed. I saw the holy city near Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a The tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. New Jerusalem, the temporary and shattered forms of the past are transformed into a perfect, everlasting communion where God's presence fills all things, and we will gather and worship Him, over the next few weeks at the tabernacle of significance. Hold tightly to this promise. To worship our lives, our giving, our buddy Forte's offering of the fullness we will experience in New Jerusalem where we will forever dwell with the one who first gave himself. perfection by which you plan out everything. The promise that we see all the way back as Israel is brought by your hand out of the land of Egypt is redeemed at your people. So that by faith in Him, we may live eternally. Oh my god.