Exodus 40:1–33

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every weekday morning, I keep saying every morning. We don't do this every morning. Typically Monday through Friday. Every weekday morning, you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee.
We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you. We have a larger chunk to get through. It's a very important chunk of Exodus. We are so close.
This is the last, let me double check here. Yeah, this is the last, this is the last page and a little bit, right? There's, boom, that's the end of Exodus. We're here, boom. We're so close. We're getting there. Exodus chapter 40, and we'll read one through 33. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray.
Father, thank you so much for your word. It is a joy and a blessing to get to hear from you. Lord, and not just hear a fanciful tale, but historical account of how you redeemed your people and how you worked in their midst, how you made them come together. how you worked in history. And we pray that you would please teach us this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, Exodus chapter 40. I'm so excited. We're getting into kind of like the highlights of the book of Exodus. So Exodus chapter 40, here we go.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. Right? This has all just been, they've made this stuff, they've done the things, but they haven't actually gone into it. They haven't even set up this gigantic tent yet. So, on the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall put in it the ark of the testimony and portion off the ark with the veil.
You shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it, and you shall bring the lampstand and the light, and light its lamps." Right? It's telling him, you're going to put this up for the first time? You're going to put up the lampstand and you're going to light it for the first time?
You shall also set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. Then you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and you shall set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and put water in it.
You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen at the court gate. You shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and you shall hallow it and all its utensils, and it shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils and consecrate the altar. The altar shall be most holy. And you shall anoint the laver and its base, and consecrate it.
You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him, and consecrate him, that he may minister to me as a priest. And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. You shall anoint them as they anointed their father, that they may minister to me as priests. and their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. Thus, here's a cool part, verse 16, thus Moses did according to all that Jehovah had commanded him. So he did.
And it came to pass in the first month of the second year on the first day of the month that the tabernacle was raised. So Moses raised up the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. He spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, as Yehovah commanded Moses. So he took the testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of the testimony as Jehovah commanded Moses.
He put the table in the tabernacle of meeting. On the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, he set the bread in order before Jehovah as Jehovah commanded Moses. He put the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting. Across from the table on the south side of the tabernacle, he lit the lampstands before the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses. He put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil and he burned sweet incense on it as the Lord commanded Moses. He hung up the screen at the, sorry, he hung up the screen at the door of the tabernacle and he put the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting and he offered upon it the burnt offering and the green offering as the Lord commanded Moses.
He set up the laver. between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and he put water there for washing. And Moses and Aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet with water from it. Whenever they went into the tabernacle of meeting and when they came near the altar they washed as the Lord commanded Moses. He raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar and hung up the screen of the court gate.
So Moses finished the work. What is this about? The tabernacle is erected. It's built up. It's actually pitched. The tent is there, step after step after step after step after step, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. I actually have to grab a pin here. I've got to find it because I missed a few places. I'm going to underline a few places where I missed this. It's said so many times here that, as he's saying this, it needs to happen. They set up the tabernacle in the exact way that God had commanded because the Lord had commanded Moses.
He was the king. He was the covenant sovereign over his people. He was the one who redeemed them. He was the one who made them his people. He was the one who was to be worshipped and followed. It's his kingdom. They're his people. This is his royal abode. This is his place where he will dwell in the midst of his people.
Tomorrow we'll get there. But today, again, in Hebrew literature, the repetition of a phrase, a name, or something like that, always points to what this is getting at. And what is this getting at? This was done as the Lord commanded Moses. The Lord was the one who was in charge here. And the people were expected to obey, and here they do. Here in their heartfelt obedience, in their spirit-led devotion to the Lord, they keep His command. They do just as He said. And in front of their eyes, The tabernacle is pitched.
The ark goes in. The veil is set. The altar goes in. The lampstand goes in. The table goes in. The utensils go in. The screen is put up. The laver is there. The altar is there. Then the courtyard goes up with its gates. They see this happening. They see the anointing. They see what's going on.
This is obedience from the leadership. as the Lord had commanded Moses. So what are you gonna underline in your Bible? Well, good luck, because I have all those different places where according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, I have every single one of those underlined. I even missed two of them in the underlining of my Bible. I think that's what this is getting at, right? The tabernacle is erected as the Lord had commanded Moses. So he did. They did all these things.
So what's the best verse? What's the covenant truth? How does this point us to Christ? Well, He's their covenant God. He's the one who had come into covenant with them way back in the book of Genesis. And in His graciousness all throughout Sinai, the covenant of grace continues. He didn't abandon them. When they sinned against Him with the golden calf, But He showed mercy. And they're given new opportunities for obedience, for repentance. And here they show it, and it is a highlight. It is a beautiful thing that they do exactly as He has commanded for His glory.
Jesus Christ did that in His life in the fullest sense. doing the will of His Father who sent Him. And when they brought that mercy seat and set it upon the ark, the book of Hebrews tells us that it is Jesus Christ who sits on that mercy seat now. It is Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior, who ascended up into heaven, and He has entered into the Holy of Holies, and there He sits down. as Yahweh in the flesh, the icon of God, the exact image and representation of His being. He is our hope. And He has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Jesus Christ, who is our perfect covenant king and who has pitched his tent in heaven and has done it exactly as you have commanded. Lord, we pray that you would teach us to walk in his ways, that we would keep his command. that we would love you, and that we would love one another. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ, and I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.