in the book, so I'll just begin in verse 1. 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 goat's 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, and 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. And they shall make an arc of acacia wood. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold. Inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners. Two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I will give you. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold. Of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. 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 will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. Amen. As I said, this is the third major division in the book I think when I introduced the book, I gave a pretty simple outline. I'm pretty sure I got it from Dale Ralph Davis. Basically, the book of Exodus can be summarized with three Ds. You have deliverance in chapters 1 to 18. You have demand in chapters 19 to 24. And then you have dwelling in chapters 25 to 30, 25 to 40. So God delivers the children of Israel out of the bondage that they're in in Egypt, brings them then to the foot of Sinai, and there he commands them or makes demands of them in terms of his covenant. We see the ratification of the last time we were here in Exodus, we saw the ratification of the covenant in chapter 24. And then this third division now shows God's intent to dwell with his people. So it's not just deliverance as an end, though that's certainly a wonderful thing. It's not just demand as an end, though that is a blessed thing as well. But it's God's dwelling in the midst of his people. He saves his people so that he can commune with his people. That's one of the chief promises and benefits of covenant. God says, I will be your God and you shall be my people. And you see that emphasis here specifically in chapters 25 to 40. So that's the outline, a most simple one, deliverance, demand, and dwelling. The ratification of the covenant, as I said, takes place in chapter 24. It leaves off at the end of chapter 24 with Moses on the mountain. If you notice in verse 18, Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. And there he receives this detailed legislation concerning the construction of the tabernacle. He comes down later in chapter 32 to see Israel dancing around the golden calf, engaged in covenant breaking, engaged in transgression, and completely reneging what they promised in chapter 24. They said, all that Yahweh commands we will do. And yet we get to chapter 32, we see them already reneging, we see them break that covenant, and we see Moses chide and chastise them under the blessing or under the leadership of God. So back to chapter 25. I want to again quote from Dale Ralph Davis. I think he makes a good observation. So in that beginning section of deliverance, God communicates to Moses through the burning bush. In the next section concerning demand, God communicates through Moses from the mountain. Now we see that he's not just the God of the bush or the mountain, but he's also the God of the tent. Davis says the God of 3-5 and 19-21 is also the God of 25-8. That is, the God of the bush, who will rescue his people from slavery, and the God of the hill, who declares to his people his law, is also the God of the tent who dwells in the midst of his people, with his tent among their tents. Indeed, the climax of the book of Exodus is not at the sea, chapter 14, nor on the mountain, chapter 19, but in the tent, chapters 25 and following. The pinnacle of Exodus is 25.8. That says, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. So what was forfeit in the garden as a result of Adam and Eve's transgression against God is being recovered in God's mercy and grace. Remember, God communed with Adam and Eve in that garden sanctuary. The Garden of Eden was a sanctuary where God met with his people That was forfeit by their sin and their transgression. On the heels of that is the promise of the covenant, the new covenant, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman that would crush the serpent. But now we have the institution of this old covenant that typologically points forward to that new covenant and the redemption that would come by our Lord Jesus Christ. So as we move through this particular section, it's a lengthy section, 25 to 40. You're not going to get a detailed explanation of all the furnishings in the tabernacle. There are guys that are more equipped to do that. There are guys that do that in great detail. That's probably not what I'm going to do, so I'm not sure how I'm going to cover the rest of the material. I do have 25.1 to 22 prepared for tonight, but essentially what you have is the instructions given for the construction of the tabernacle in chapter 25 to 31, and then you have sort of that parentheses where Israel sins and God chastised them and then remakes the covenant, or remakes the two tablets of stone, and then you see the construction of the tabernacle take place in chapters 35 to the end of the book. The book ends with the tabernacle having been completed with the Shekinah glory of God dwelling amongst the people of Israel, but it ends with a tension. Even Moses himself can't enter into the presence of God, though God is there. It's a dwelling place for God, but it's not yet a meeting place. And that then brings, of necessity, the book of Leviticus. The book of Leviticus deals with the question, how does sinful man enter into the presence of a holy God? That's why there is detailed legislation concerning sacrifice. How do we gain access to this God who is now dwelling in the tent among us? We can't just wander in because we're sinful and he's holy. So Leviticus takes up that particular issue and prescribes the remedy, which is sacrifice, in order to approach a holy God. So tonight we'll look at the offerings for the tabernacle in verses 1 to 7. Secondly, the purpose for the tabernacle in verses 8 and 9. And then finally, the ark in the tabernacle in verses 10 to 22. So look first with me at verses 1 to 7, you see a divine command. Verse 1, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering. So the meeting took place on Mount Sinai, where God was, where Moses met Him, according to 2418. He's up there for 40 days and 40 nights. He comes down, as I said, in chapter 32 to deal with the idolatry, the covenant breaking on behalf of the people of Israel. But notice specifically that God commands here. God doesn't leave it up to the Israelites how they're going to worship. God doesn't say, you know, I want you to find your best guys, your best musicians, your best sort of fellows that are good with the young people, and just go to the table and figure out how it is you're going to approach me. No, the Lord had delivered them, the Lord had demanded from them, and now the Lord intends to dwell with them, but the Lord will dwell with them on His terms. It is not on our terms, it is not according to our particular will, it is not according to our particular intention. When we look to the Word of God, God demands and God commands and God regulates how we are to worship Him. And that emphasis on worship, again, from chapters 25 to 40, and on and through the rest of the Pentateuch, emphasizes that worship is, in fact, a central theme in the Bible. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question, what is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And the Bible definitely teaches that. One man, Stuart, the commentator, makes this observation concerning worship. Now, immediately after the conclusion of the presentation of the Covenant Code and Israel's response to it, God again required His people to pay attention to proper worship. We've already seen hints of that in the law code itself, going back to chapter 20, specifically verses 22 to 26. There was the law concerning the altar. So it's not that there's not been any instruction thus far, but here that's going to be the main emphasis. So Stuart goes on to say, worship, where it is done, how it is done, by whom it is done, with whom it is done, with what it is done, would dominate the rest of the Sinai covenant, that is, the law through the rest of Exodus, through all of Leviticus and up to Numbers 10.10. Not all of these materials are strictly legal in genre. Some are narrative. Some provide fulfillment descriptions relative to what had been commanded. And some partake of other genres and purposes. But the overwhelming emphasis of the rest of the covenant is worship. I think this is something that we as New Covenant believers can learn from. Because when we get to the New Covenant, you don't have as detailed legislation applicable to the church at worship. In fact, when you get to the New Testament, it's a lot simpler. Basically, the emphasis is that you sing the word, that you preach the word, that you read the word, that you see the word in the sacraments, and that you pray the word. It's word-based, it's word-central, to be sure. But you don't find a section in Paul's epistles, like Exodus 25-40, that gets into detailed legislation concerning the building in which we meet, the regulations and the manner in which we approach God. So I think in the New Covenant, at least what seems to be the case that can happen to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that we don't take worship as seriously as we ought. We were made to worship God. We were made to glorify and enjoy Him forever. We were made to commune with Him. He has purchased us. He has bought us with a price, namely the shed blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. When He redeems us, when He saves us by His grace, it is so that we may serve Him, so that we may glorify Him, so that we may worship him and adore him." So we ought to appreciate this emphasis on worship that we find here in the Old Testament. Now again, I'm not suggesting there's no emphasis in the New Testament, there most certainly is, but you don't find the same sort of legislation regulating New Covenant worship that you do with reference to the Old Covenant. Now, notice specifically what we have in terms of law as well. When we consider the reformed view of the law, we've often noted that there is a threefold division. You've got the moral law, which is the Ten Commandments. You've got the judicial law, which was those laws based on the Ten Commandments, which would regulate the life of Israel in the land that they were going to inherit. And then you have ceremonial law, which regulated their worship. Note the progression in this section of Exodus. Chapter 20, moral law. Chapters 21 to 23, we've got the judicial law of Moses, ratification in chapter 24, and now this heavy emphasis on ceremonial law, the things that were necessary in terms of the worship of our great God. The Geneva Bible says, after the moral and judicial law, he giveth them the ceremonial law, that nothing should be left to man's invention. Now I touched on that just a little bit earlier, but that is an absolutely crucial emphasis that we need to maintain, not just in Exodus 25 to 40, but all throughout the New Testament. In fact, if you turn for a moment to 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3, just to show that this principle abides. While there are differences in terms of ceremonial law or what we might call positive law that governs Old Covenant and New Covenant worship, there are some differences. We don't sacrifice. We don't have incense. We don't have the same sorts of instruments. that they were called upon to utilize in Old Covenant worship. There is a discontinuity in terms of Old Covenant and New Covenant with reference to our approach to God. The basic fundamental principle remains. We are not to be inventive. We are not to make up the worship process. We are not to be innovative or creative when it comes to worshiping God. We're to be obedient. we are to be responsive to His will. So notice in 1 Timothy 3.14, These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write, so that you may know how you ought. Now that how you ought isn't suggestive, it's kind of the thought in my heart, Timothy, that perhaps you might follow this. This is a divine necessity. I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." So you see, Timothy was not supposed to be innovative or creative. Timothy was supposed to be obedient. He was supposed to worship in the manner prescribed by God. Turn over to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. Hopefully you're saying, wow, these are familiar passages. You've shown us these many times. Well, I hope that's the response. Notice in Hebrews chapter 12, specifically at verse 28. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Now, if we ask the question, what's acceptable worship? We're supposed to ask that to God. We're not supposed to ask that to ourselves, because ourselves might say, you know, I like a 10-minute sermonette so I can get home and watch football. I like a lot of good peppy music so I can feel good about myself. I only like positivity when I come to church, because I don't like that negative stuff. Well, if we ask what is acceptable to man, we're going to get a whole host of different answers. The acceptability here is to God. What is it that pleases God? That should be the question that the worshiper asks, not, what is it that pleases me? And then notice how he underscores this in verse 29. For our God is a consuming fire. Again, that principle carries over from the Old Testament. That's right out of Deuteronomy 4, verse 24. So the our God is a consuming fire reality undergirded Old Covenant worship, it undergirds New Covenant worship as well. So we're not supposed to enter into the presence of God in any old way we so choose. We enter in in the manner in which God has commanded us in Holy Scripture. I think our confession does very well in defining this in chapter 22 at paragraph 1. It says, the light of nature, that's a reference to general revelation. Man is created in the image of God. When man looks at the created order, he learns certain truths about God. Paul highlights this in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1. We learn something about the cause from the effect. When we see the effect in the created order, it leads us to the cause. The light of nature, or general revelation, is one of the books of God. It reveals to us true knowledge. It's not saving knowledge. It's limited in terms of its usefulness or profitability to us, but it nevertheless reveals true things about God and about ourselves. So that's what the confession means by the light of nature. It shows that there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is just, good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might. So the confession and the Reformed tradition, this isn't unique to the Baptists, this isn't the Westminster, Savoy, it's pretty universal in terms of the Reformed confessions. They recognize that general revelation, the light of nature, teaches us true things. But it doesn't prescribe the manner by which we enter into the presence of God. You don't learn about blood atonement through a nice sunset. You don't learn about the necessity of an approach to a holy God through sacrifice through the world around you. So the confession goes on to say, but the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself. And again, this should be a no-brainer. I mean, we mess up everything. Do you think we're going to somehow fall into the proper way to worship the God of heaven and earth? I don't think so, brethren. We've got issues and problems galore. Not to mention sin. So we're not going to intuit the way to worship God. We need to learn from God on the approach to God. So it says, the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and so limited by his own revealed will. that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures." So basically what the Confession is saying is that you approach God the way that God demands, in the manner that is consistent with who he is, as he's revealed himself in Holy Scripture. So that's what we're seeing here in Exodus chapter 25 to 40. Now in terms of the specific instructions in 2B to 7, notice that it's a command to bring me, God, an offering. The offering was not for the tabernacle, but it was for God himself. And again, Stuart makes the observation, the tabernacle was symbolically God's house, intrinsically his property, and not merely a place he and the Israelites would conveniently use. It was known by his name. And so when he says, bring an offering to me, it is very specific that what they are doing is not first and foremost decorating or furnishing the tabernacle, but they are giving of their substance to God Most High. And that's why the emphasis is upon the free will of man, the free will nature of this offering. Notice, 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." So again, a principle there that carries over obviously to the New Covenant. When we come to the house of God to worship God, it's not simply an external exercise. It's not just that we've checked off the box, we're in the right place, we're there at the right time, so we've satisfied the requirement for worship. No, we need to bring the heart. Remember the days of the temple during Malachi. Malachi prophesies and he rips into the people of God. And they deserve to be ripped into because they had engaged in a simply external, formalistic approach to the worship of God. They would bring the worst from their flock. They would steal animals on the way to the temple on the Sabbath day to present those to God. Imagine that. stealing an animal to offer up as your sacrifice. You've hit rock bottom if that's your religion. You're in a bad space if that is your religion. And so Malachi upgrades the people and calls them to repentance and faith. They were never, it was never the case that you could just show up, satisfy the requirement, and you have fulfilled the mandate with reference to worship. No, you need to bring the heart. The New Covenant sees that cheerfulness of heart in offerings and givings there as well. 2 Corinthians 9, 7, So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. Which underscores that in the Old Covenant, though there was a difference in terms of the positive law governing worship, in terms of the particular realities involved, the sacrificial system, the bloodshed, the incense, the instruments, all those things unique to Old Covenant worship, there was still the demand by God to bring the heart. to worship Him in truth and spirit. Don't just fall into some empty formalism. So that when Jesus comes on the scene and He's reproving the nation of Israel, He's doing so in concert with that old covenant emphasis. When you trace through the prophets, they don't ever come along and say, you know, you're in the right place at the right time, so you've satisfied the requirements for worship. No, they upbraid them. They indict them for the sorts of offenses that we're outlining here. So they would bring these things to God. Now this would have been plunder, this would have been stuff they'd taken out of Egypt. This probably, not everybody would have had all of these items. You'd need the collected, you know, body politic of the children of Israel to pony up these various items. Now these items are going to come out later. in the actual construction or in the actual description of what they'll be used for, but they are grouped together according to type. Notice you've got the metals in verse 3, the fabrics in verse 4, the skins and the wood in verse 5, the lamp oil along with the spices for the anointing oil and for the incense in verse 6, and then the gemstones to be used on the high priest's breastplate in verse 7. Now, the high priest is going to be dealt with later. office is going to be dealt with later in chapter 28. It's going to describe the ephod and the purpose of those gems and that sort of a thing. So basically this is a call by God through Moses to the children of Israel to bring these materials. Bring them with a whole heart. Bring them with a willing heart. and bring them to me as we build this house together. Now in terms of the actual tabernacle itself, the Apostle Paul, I believe Paul wrote Hebrews, he deals with the old covenant tabernacle in Hebrews chapter 9 verses 1 to 12. He says that it was a copy of the heavenly original. Now, I'm not sure that he means that exactly what you find in terms of this square box with the holy of holies, and the holy place, and the laver, and the bronze incense offering place, and then the laver, and then the outer court. I don't think he means that specifically. But it's set up in such a way as to evoke the concept of fellowship. When you look at this structure, it is sort of a house. It is a place for God and his people to meet together. There's a place where there's intimate communion in the Holy of Holies. There's a place for sort of gathering in the living room. There's the table of showbread we saw in the ratification of the covenant in Exodus 24. Verse 11, on the nobles of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand, so they saw God and they ate and drank. Eating and drinking was commonplace in religious observance. You see that. set up in such a way that this sanctuary, this mobile sanctuary, this tabernacle that is being constructed evokes the concept of intimacy and communion and fellowship, the children of Israel with their God. He's going to dwell in their midst. So this is his house, this is his place, this is where they will come to meet with their God. And then notice, secondly, the purpose for the tabernacle in verses 8 and 9. It is, in fact, the dwelling place of God. So verse 8, let them make me a sanctuary. Now, it's not the dwelling place of God by virtue of his essence. His essence fills all. God is omnipresent. It's not as if he's locally present only in the tabernacle. Remember at the dedication of the temple. The temple is the permanent structure. So the tabernacle is mobile. It corresponds to the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel. They are transient people at the time of the Pentateuch. They are traveling to the promised land. And so this tabernacle is not a permanent structure. It is something, as you'll notice later with reference to the Ark of the Tabernacle, there's rings so they can put the poles in it so that they can carry it. There needs to be portability about this tabernacle because Israel is transient. So God is going to accompany them on their march to the Promised Land. Now when they get to the Promised Land, And when David consolidates the kingdom, and David centralizes Jerusalem as both political and religious capital of the nation, it's on the heels of that that the temple is built under David's son, Solomon. That's the permanent structure. But it's primarily the same emphasis. It's the place where God meets with his covenant people. You approach through sacrifice. You approach by the means that he has ordained. So there is this command to build a sanctuary. Now when you consider the theme of sanctuary or dwelling from Genesis to Revelation, there is a heavy emphasis. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of people think Adam's job in the garden was that he was a farmer. Adam's job in the garden was that he was a priest. He was a priest serving God Most High. That was a sanctuary. He was given the task to extend that garden sanctuary to encompass the entirety of the earth. Certainly he farmed and certainly he cared for the ground and all that sort of thing. But Adam's activity was primarily priestly to meet with his God. You see that emphasis here, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. As you move on through redemptive history, the temple, same emphasis. You see it in the incarnation of the Son of God. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. He dwelt among us. What's the final sort of act in all of redemptive history? It's the book of Revelation, where the new Jerusalem descends out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. It's no accident that it's described as a temple. It's no accident that it's described in that manner, with all of that biblical data and revelation behind it, to show that this is ultimately the pinnacle of redemptive history. God and his people dwelling together in a redeemed earth. A new heavens and a new earth. It is a glorious thing. It is a wonderful thing. For the blood-bought child of God, there is nothing better than communion with God. And we have that communion in and through our Lord Jesus Christ in this new covenant era, We get it corporately in the church. We get it as well in our private worship and family worship. We get to commune with God Almighty. But corporately, it is the church of the Lord Jesus. We've seen that heavy emphasis in Ephesians chapters 2 and 3, where we come to the Father through the Son in the Spirit on the Lord's Day when we're in the house of God. So this idea of God dwelling with his people is most excellent. So the gift of deliverance was not the end. The gift of law was not the end. It is dwelling. It is the fact that God will be with his people that is emphasized in this particular section. So let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. If you haven't reflected upon this, I encourage you to do so. God dwells with us. Christ is in the midst of the lampstands according to Revelation chapter 1. That's where he's at on the Lord's Day. John is in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and he's given this vision of these seven lampstands. Revelation 1.20 tells us the seven lampstands are the seven churches of Asia Minor. Well, where's Jesus? He's in the midst of that. That should encourage us to not miss public worship. It should encourage us to bring hearts with expectation to public worship. It should encourage us that this is, in fact, the purpose for which God made us and redeemed us. And then in terms of the typology, as I mentioned, we see the teaching of the Apostle Paul in Hebrews chapter 9. It says this was a time of reformation until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the pedagogue, this was the covenant that was typological, did point forward, but it served a very important function for its time in Old Covenant religion. Again, Stuart says, the tabernacle was a symbolic representation of the realities of heaven, a relatively simple earthly reflection of God's actual dwelling place, designed to point to the greater and more eternal opportunity to live with God. So as we move through this particular section, as I said, the various furnishings of the tabernacle are designed to evoke communion or fellowship. The table with bread, mention that. The light of the gold lampstand. The ark which contained the covenant law that bound the parties together. And intriguingly, that's where this presentation of the tabernacle begins. So look at the ark in the tabernacle. Well, verse 9, let's not pass through that too quick because it reinforces what I've already tried to enforce. 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. Again, notice that God doesn't say, you know, Moses, I want you to just take creative liberties. I want you to, you know, express yourself. No. Moses could express himself in Moses' house. I don't know of a chapter in Exodus where God says, okay, Moses, in your house, you got to put the fridge over here, you got to put the stove there, put, you know, the kids over in that corner, and you and the missus can have, you know, he doesn't do that. Why? because he gives us liberty to decorate and furnish our houses the way that we want. He doesn't give us liberty to decorate and furnish his house the way that we want. He calls us to obey and to do with his house as he demands, and that's the emphasis. 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. Now you might think I'm making a big deal out of this. Well brethren, in light of what we see in terms of church worship today, I'd suggest there needs to be a big deal made out of it when you see the sorts of things that pass for Christian worship in the professing church today. It's shameful. Later on in the book of Leviticus, chapter 10, after the detailed legislation concerning sacrifices in chapters 1 to 9, with them even giving a proper sacrifice and God sending fire down to accept that sacrifice, and all the people shout with joy. Well, then Nadab and Abihu take it up to be innovative and creative, and they offer up strange fire to the Lord. What does the Lord do? The Lord sends fire, but this time not upon the sacrifice, but upon Nadab and Abihu, and He consumes them. What's the take-home message? God is holy. By those who come to me, I must be regarded as holy. So in New Covenant worship, just because we don't have an Exodus 25 to 40, there is a better than excellent case to be made that New Covenant worship is as regulated, it is as clearly defined, it is as clearly specified, just not in as much detail, and I think there's reasons for that. But the New Covenant Church is duty-bound to obey God, not to add to His Word, not to take away from His Word, but rather to obey His Word. This principle is called the Regulative Principle of Worship. Albert N. Martin said it well. He says, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else than what God has commanded for New Covenant worship. Terry Johnson, in his very helpful little book called Reformed Worship, says what I said earlier. We pray the Bible, we read the Bible, we preach the Bible, we sing the Bible, and we see the Bible in the sacraments. That's what New Covenant worship is all about. And so God, in the Old Covenant, says they need to obey, and you need to make it in the manner in which I tell you. Now, as we move to verses 10 to 22, you see the ark in the tabernacle. Probably if it were us, we'd describe first the tabernacle, you know, get the outer structure in place, the materials that you're going to need, and then we'll sort of hone in on to that holy of holies and what goes in there. But God starts with the holy of holies and what goes in there. Again, I think Stuart's right. He says, although it might seem more systematic to begin with a description of the design of the tabernacle and then to address the particular furnishings that fit within it, the importance of the ark as the item that would symbolize God's presence among his people far outweighs such considerations. And its design, therefore, was described first, even before that of the tabernacle that would house it. So he goes right to that arc of the testimony. He deals with the construction of it and then the function of it. the construction. We've got the dimensions. Essentially, you've got 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, 27 inches high. So that's verse 10. And then you've got the gold plating on the ark. And again, the commentators will get spiritual here, and they'll say the gold represents Jesus and the divine nature and the spotlessness of his humanity. I don't doubt they're right. I don't doubt for a moment that that's good stuff. It's just there are time limitations that I have and am not able to quite get into all of those particular details. But I would commend John Gill. Matthew Poole's a lot briefer. Gill gets more into that sort of thing in terms of seeing the particular correspondence or seeing the typology that's involved in each part of the furnishings and that stuff. That's very helpful. It's very edifying. It's very encouraging. So we've got the gold plating on the ark, and then notice the portability of the ark in verses 12 to 15. As I mentioned, there will be detailed regulations as to who can carry the ark. Remember Uzzah? Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark when he thought that it was going to fall into the mud, and God killed Uzzah. Now, we might think that's a bit strict or a bit harsh. Nope, God said us it wasn't supposed to. He wasn't in the class of priests that was enabled to touch it. The take-home lesson there is that the mud, had it fallen into it, wouldn't contaminate it the way a sinner would. Ma does what Ma does. Sinners are the rebels against a holy and glorious God. So there were detailed specifications and regulations in terms of carrying these pieces of furniture. And again, we'll see that as that stuff is divvied up among the priests. But it was a portable thing. And if you look, well I don't want to get too far afield here, but this whole idea of portability. This is something that you see during the exile and post-exilic. You'll see that God comes to the people of Israel that are in Babylon to show that he's not confined to Judah. that wherever his true faithful people are, wherever his remnant is, he will come to them and dwell in the midst of them. So the idea here is on portability. Turn to 2 Samuel 7. 2 Samuel 7. We looked at this just before Christmas, sort of as a lead up to Christmas. It's the Davidic covenant. But we saw that very thing in terms of the transient nature of Israel and the stability of Israel once they come to the promised land. So God, or rather David, wants to build a house for God. He wants to build a temple for God. Nathan says, go do all that is in your heart, verse 3, and then verse 4. It happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, would you build a house for me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. See, it's a portable structure. It's a mobile structure. It corresponds to the transient nature of Israel as they are wandering in the wilderness prior to their arrival in the promised land. Wherever have I moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from following the sheep to be ruler over my people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more. Nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them any more as previously. Since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies, also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house. So you see what God is essentially saying. I'm going to make sure you're planted firmly in the land before I'm planted firmly in the land. I am content to be in the tabernacle, to dwell alongside of the people in tents. Once they come and get stabilized in the nation, or the land of Canaan, they develop this nation, they've got Jerusalem as that central place, then God says, under Solomon, to build that temple. So it needed to be portable, and thus the rings on the side of the ark. And then notice the contents of the ark according to verse 16. You shall put into the ark the testimony which I will give you. There's other items in there according to Hebrews chapter 9 and other places in the Pentateuch, but the emphasis here is on the testimony. The testimony according to Exodus 31 18 are the two tablets of the law of God. Now, this is consistent with the ancient Near Eastern world. Robert Alter says, the stone tablets of the law are the document of the eternal contract between God and Israel. And their placement here reflects a common ancient Near Eastern practice of placing documents of solemn contracts within sacred precincts. So basically, I think it's pretty typical, we talk about two tables of the law and that's legit. You've got the first table that deals with our duty toward God and then the second table which deals with our duty toward man. Now we typically visualize the first four on one tablet and the last six on the other tablet. Probably better to see all of them on both tablets. One's God's copy, one's Israel's copy. Remember, they just swore covenant before God in Exodus chapter 24. These are covenant documents, and so as Alter says, they're put in sacred precincts. They're put in this Ark of the Testament, or this Ark of the Covenant. It holds these documents as a sort of a statement concerning God's part to the covenant and the people of Israel's part to the covenant. So the testimony concerning the covenant between God and Israel is deposited in the Ark of the Covenant. And then notice the function. We see this emphasis on the mercy seat in verses 17 and following. The concept here is atonement, propitiation. The concept is covering, you'll see later in Leviticus specifically with reference to the Day of Atonement, the one day out of the year where the high priest went into the Holy of Holies. So the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was, wasn't accessed or accessible by the garden variety Israelite, not even by the garden variety priest. It was only the high priest that one time of the year, according to Leviticus 16, he would take off all his priestly robes and just have on a linen garment. And he would go into that place and there he would do the sacrifice of atonement. He would take blood and pour it on that mercy seat. And the concept or the imagery was on propitiation. It was on expiation. It was on sacrifice or atonement for the removal of sin such that the children of Israel would have cleansed consciences to enter into the presence of God. So the mercy seat was made of pure gold. Again, the spotlessness of Jesus Christ certainly is evoked as we consider that. The cherubim were set on either side of the seat. Now, cherubim are a class of angels. We see them before this in Genesis 3.24. It's the cherubim that wields the sword such that the man can't come to that tree of life. And so it's the cherubim that we see sort of imaged here on the mercy seat. Later on in the book of Ezekiel, you'll see more description given of these cherubim. So the mercy seat is then placed on top of the ark with the testimony inside. So you've got the Ten Commandments inside the box. You've got this mercy seat on top of the box. And if you remember, you may not, probably because you didn't look at this book, but I did. We went through a book by Sinclair Ferguson. I actually have it written in my margin. That's why I have a wide margin Bible here. It's good for note taking. But when we went through the whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson, I thought he had a very helpful comment, and it's relative to the Ark of the Testimony. He says, the Decalogue's location in the Ark and under the mercy seat or covering is surely expressive of the way in which the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat symbolically atones for the breach of the commandments underneath it. So there is great symbolism involved here, and especially when you've got a sort of New Covenant mind full of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of atonement, and you look at these sorts of things and you can see, oh, wow, now I get it and how it points forward to what Christ does. Here's what John Gill says, he says over it as a covering for it, talking about the mercy seat. This situation, the mercy seat above the ark where the law was, signifies that there is no mercy but in a way of righteousness or of satisfaction to the law of God and in a consistence with the honor of it. And the cherubim over the mercy seat, making a throne for the majesty of God, in which he sat, and the ark below is kind of a footstool for him, shows that Christ, the mercy seat and propitiatory, stands between God and His law, and is the mediator between God and men, the transgressors of that law, and by fulfilling it has covered the sins of His people, which are violations of it. and being above it, and having magnified and made it honorable, is able to suppress its charges and accusations and secure from its curse and condemnation." Again, some very good and suggestive thoughts in terms of the typology involved relative to this ark and relative to the mercy seat on top. And then notice the emphasis in verse 22, again, is on God's presence. And there I will meet with you. The you there is singular, so it refers specifically to Moses, but it would certainly hold subsequent to Moses, the high priest when he entered in to the Holy of Holies. 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 will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. So the Lord will meet and the Lord will speak to the children of Israel through ultimately the mediation of Moses in this particular instance. But it shows us God dwelling with his people, God speaking with his people, God directing his people, God leading his people, God governing his people. All of these themes are emphasized throughout the book of Exodus. So it's a great book in terms of God's relation to his people. So, in conclusion, three-fold division of the law. Don't miss that. That's, you know, it's not a sort of reformed construct that's been imposed on the Bible. See, that's a reformed emphasis, but there are those outside of the reformed community that say, oh, there's no three-fold division of the law. That was, you know, Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. He's the first to come up with that. Well, historically, in the history of the church, it goes back before Thomas Aquinas, but we see it all throughout scripture. When, you know, Jesus says, or points the Pharisees back to Hosea, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. He's showing the priority of moral law over ceremonial law. Not that ceremonial law is not important. What does Paul say concerning circumcision in 1 Corinthians? It's not important, but what is important is keeping the law of God. So you've got the moral law, chapter 20, you've got the judicial law, 21 to 23, and you've got ceremonial law, 25 to 40. As well, the regulative principle of worship. Let us learn from Exodus that we're not to be creative or innovative, but obedient to our God. And then, please, let us understand the dwelling place of God, that I shall dwell among them, and let us be or count ourselves blessed and privileged that we get to enjoy these things each Sunday when we gather together, and each day when we commune with our God in private or with family, when we fellowship with the Lord, this is what He intended for us. When He made Adam and Eve, He communed with them in the cool of the day. It was our sin, our rebellion in Adam that drove us away, but in and through our Lord Jesus Christ, we now have access to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. So let us pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for these themes that we find in the book of Exodus. We thank you for the typology that's involved here, pointing forward to the new covenant and the reality that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ as that great high priest, that one in whom we have forgiveness and a righteousness that avails with you. We ask now that you would go with us. We pray that you would watch over all the brothers and sisters in our local church and help us to glorify and honor you. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Any questions or comments? Good hymn choice by the way, Arise My Soul Arise, that fit well. 275. No? No? Alright.