Exodus (Lesson 73)

Welcome to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W.

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Delant, Florida.

Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs will bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior.

Now here's your host, Pastor James W.

Knox.

I'm Brother James.

I greet you one more time in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This is the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

We're on for a half hour on this station, most every day of the week, on many stations, Monday through Friday, some just once a week, others seven days a week with uh replays.

But we're thankful that you've tuned into the program today.

We appreciate your prayers and your help to enable us to continue on this station.

We've been studying the Bible book of Exodus.

We are all the way into chapter number 38.

We've really been uh zipping right through these latter chapters as they retell the material or recover the material on the tabernacle.

It's interesting.

The book of Genesis, the first part, chapter 1 and 2, occupied with the account of creation, takes up two chapters.

But the making of the tabernacle requires 13 chapters of Exodus.

The creation of the stars occupies one phrase.

Genesis 1.16, he made the stars also.

But the tabernacle takes up almost 33% of the book of Exodus.

It's a wonder to behold creation and see in it his eternal power in Godhead, Romans 1.20.

But the Lord's more taken up with the work of redemption, a work that should cause us even greater wonder than observing the magnificent beauty of the heavens and the earth.

Think of it.

God, God, so concerned with bringing man back into right fellowship with himself.

Now we left off at verse number 28 of Exodus 38.

We're talking about all the necessary work of putting this tabernacle together.

And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shequals, he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their chapters and filleted them, and the brass of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shequals, and therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brazen altar, and the brazen grape for it, and all the vessels of the altar, and the sockets of the court roundabout, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Now the pins were not prominent.

In fact, they were never seen once the work was done, and yet they were just as necessary as those prominent parts and those visible parts.

That's the great lesson of 1 Corinthians 12 with regard to every member of the body of Christ, being necessary and important, no matter what size job God has given us, or what place God has given us in his work, it's all valuable.

Chapter 39, verse 1.

And a blue and purple and scarlet they made cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twin linen, and they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires to work it in the blue and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

They made shoulder pieces for it to couple it together.

By the two edges was it coupled together, and the curious girdle of his ephod that was upon it was of the same, according to the work thereof, of gold, blue, and purple and scarlet, and fine twine linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.

And they wrought onyx stones, enclosed in ouches of gold, graven as signets are graven with the names of the children of Israel.

And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod that they should be stones from memorial to the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

So the priest, the high priest, he stood in the presence of God, bearing the names of God's people, and he stood in the presence of the people, bearing the name of God, as we saw in earlier lessons, a great picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and man.

He stands in the presence of God for man, as he stood in the presence of man for God, bringing the two together in his person through his sacrifice.

Verse 8.

It made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod, of gold, purple, scarlet, fine twine linen.

It was four square.

They made the breastplate double.

A span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.

Interesting.

That whole armor of God, sword of the spirit, helmet of salvation, feet shod preparation of the gospel of truth, loins girt about with uh gospel of peace, loins girt about with truth, and then the breastplate of righteousness.

Isn't it interesting that the breastplate here is doubled?

Is doubled.

Now it could be in type, in picture, that righteousness is twice as important, doubly important as all those other matters, or it could be that there are two righteousnesses.

There's the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ given to the believer by God when he puts his faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and the righteousness of the believer as he follows the Lord in obedience to his word.

But it's interesting that the breastplate is doubled.

And the New Testament, Ephesians 6, speaks of our wearing all of God's priests.

Revelation 1, 6, we're all priests.

Every saved man, woman, boy, girl is a priest unto God, and we wear the breastplate of righteousness, and that should be doubled, doubled.

Verse 10.

And they said in it four rows of stones.

The first row was a Sardis, a topaz, a carbuncle.

This was the first row.

The second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

The third row a Liger, an agate, and an amethyst, and the fourth row a burl, an onyx, and a jasper.

And they were enclosed in ouches of gold in their enclosings.

That's the setting that what holds the gemstone is the ouch.

And the stones were accorded the names of the children of Israel, twelve accorded their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name according to the twelve tribes, and they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.

And they made two ouches of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.

And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate, and the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened to the two ouches and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it.

So it's a beautiful thing, all these twelve different colors, each bearing a different name, and yet on one breastplate, showing, showing, the tribes are different, but they're one.

The tribes are not identical, yet they're all precious.

The tribes uh vary in their appearance, conduct, character, and yet they are all near to the heart of the high priest as he enters into the presence of God.

And so, and so with a New Testament Christian, we're not all the same.

We don't all look the same, act the same, we don't all do the same thing, we don't all have the same duty or responsibility, and yet to the Lord we're all precious gemstones, and we're also very near to the heart of our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, as he sits for us at the right hand of God the Father.

Verse 20.

And they made two other golden rings and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath toward the forepart of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.

And they did bind the breastplate by his rings under the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work all of blue.

That's tough to say repeated times, woven work, it's hard enough to say it once.

And there was a hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of a habirgen, with a band round about the hole that it should not rend, and they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet and twined linen, just one opening for the head to slide through, and then it fits down over the shoulders and covers the body.

And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet and twined linen, and they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates, a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in as the Lord commanded Moses.

So beautiful in appearance, intricate in detail, and then uh like no other garment, really, really like no other garment that anyone has ever worn.

I've seen all the different uh cultures of our present world, uh, seen them uh either in person or uh uh in uh uh picture form or uh moving picture form.

I've studied the ancients and their civilizations and their cultures and their religions.

I've even lived through some of the curious days of uh uh rock and roll music with all of those bizarre costumes and get ups, but you've never seen anything like this with bells round about the hem of the long flowing garments.

You've got to admit that's an unusual circumstance, but everyone would know.

Everyone would know, even if they couldn't see the high priest at work, they could hear the joyful sound and know that he was ministering on their behalf in the presence of God.

And so, and so we hear the songs of praise and the testimonies of thanksgiving and the uplifted notes of gratitude on the part of God's people, and we know that their great high priest is at work, ringing the bells, the bells of joy and salvation in our hearts.

27, and made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons, and a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen, and a girdle of fine twin linen, and blue and purple and scarlet of needlework as the Lord commanded Moses.

Notice all these things they're doing to obey the word of God.

They're getting this man all dressed up and all fancied up to do what?

Offer sacrifices, blood, heat, fire, smoke, death, and yet, and yet, that sacrifice testifying to man's need of God's grace, man's dependence upon God's mercy, whatever task the uh high priest may be engaged in, he needs to look his best.

Needs to be uh understanding in his heart and in his mind.

This is special service, high privilege, great responsibility.

And so the Bible says in verse thirty, and they made a plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet, and in block capital letters.

These don't show up often in the Bible, but when they do, they're always significant.

Holiness to the Lord.

Holiness to the Lord.

What would you see when you looked at that high priest?

Clothing, bells, colors, labor.

But what would stand out above it all?

What was capitalized?

What was designed to draw the attention more so than anything else?

Holiness unto the Lord.

You know there's coming a day when Jesus Christ will return to this earth, put down his enemies, establish his throne, rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of Lords, for a thousand years peace, peace will stand upon this old earth.

And when he does, the Bible says this in Zechariah 14, verse 20 in that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, block, capital, letters, holiness unto the Lord.

Zechariah 14:20

Holiness unto the Lord.

You have a holy Bible to tell you about a holy God who sent his holy son so that people could be saved and receive the Holy Spirit.

And all of that is written in Holy Scripture.

Who are these people telling you that holiness doesn't matter?

Who are these people telling you that holiness is not important?

Why, it's the it's the outstanding feature of the garments of the high priest as he stands to minister on behalf of God's people.

It's the watchword in the coming kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

And your Savior, my Savior, the Savior of all sinners, Jesus Christ, was holy in every way, in every way, holiness to the Lord.

And they tied it into a lace of blue to fasten it on high upon the mitre, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tenth of the congregation finished, and the children of Israel did, according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

After all we've read the murmurings, the complainings, the idolatry, the golden calf, so many disappointments.

Yet here we read, they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

So did they.

Wonderful, wonderful.

That's what God wants.

That's what he asks, that's what he deserves.

Our obedience.

Verse thirty three.

And they brought the tabernacle of the Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his tatches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars and his sockets, and the covering of ram's skins dyed red, and the covering of badger's skins, and the veil of the covering, the ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat, and the table, and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread, the pure candlestick with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light, and the golden altar and the anointing oil and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door, the brazen altar and his grate of brass, his staves and all his vessels, the labor and his foot, the hangings of the court, his pillars and his sockets, and the hanging of the court gate, his cords and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle for the tent of the congregation, the cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his son's garments to minister in the priest's office.

Now, to whom do you suppose those finished items held the greatest value?

To whom do you suppose those completed tasks brought the most joy?

Here's what I would say to you, and I I believe I'm right.

I believe the people who labored to make those claws were tremendously excited and greatly blessed as they were presented to Moses for service in the tabernacle.

Who do you suppose was the most thrilled?

Who do you suppose got the greatest joy out of seeing that table of showbread and the furniture for the tabernacle presented to Moses?

I believe it'd be those that had a part in making those items.

Don't you don't you imagine, and I'm just asking you to use a bit of imagination based upon reality.

Don't you suppose that the people who had labored in these particular areas felt a certain satisfaction and joy and gladness that spilled over into worship as they beheld the fact that their labor was not in vain, as they realized that they had indeed contributed what they could to this place of worship?

I'm sure of it.

There's no doubt in my mind.

My friend, do you want to know how to stay excited about your church?

Do you want to know how to stay enthused about the place where you worship God?

Do you want to know how to how to find joy in every gathering of the saints in that place you call home?

I'll tell you how.

Contribute your strength, your effort, your talents, your Labors, to the cleaning, to the maintaining, to the activities, to the bill paying.

Listen, if you are contributing your time, your energy, your monies, your abilities to that place of worship, there will be joys and blessings for you in that place above and beyond what could ever be experienced by those who do not contribute to its well-being, to its maintenance, and to its activities.

Listen, I can tell you this, this is the honest truth.

If you're putting nothing into a church, it's so easy to walk away from it.

If you're investing nothing in the people who assemble there, it's so easy to walk away from them.

If you have made no contribution to that place and its ministry, there's, you say, Well, I don't get anything out of it.

You know why you don't get anything out of it?

You put nothing into it.

Well, I'd say I go down there and doesn't do anything for me.

That's because you do nothing for it.

It's just a fact.

As the people brought these things that they had wrought with their hands, as these people presented to God, the service of God and the work of God, that in which they had put so much time, so much energy, so much skill, so much talent, I guarantee you it was a blessing to their heart to see that tabernacle coming together and to know that they had done something for God, to know that they had played a part in the work of that place where God and man would meet.

I'm sure of it.

There's no doubt in my mind.

There's no doubt in my mind.

Come on, people, come on.

Give your heart to the work, give your time to the work, give your talent to the work, and you'll find yourself blessed in ways you never thought possible.

Well, the Bible says in verse 42, according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work, and Moses did look upon all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded.

Even so had they done it.

And Moses blessed them.

Ah, hear me.

Hear me.

They didn't just work for God.

They worked for God in the way that God told them to work.

They didn't just labor for the Lord, they labored in accord with his desires.

And who got blessed?

They all did.

They all did.

There is a blessing to be had in serving the Lord.

Now, when this book of Exodus began, a long, long time ago, thirty-nine chapters ago, when this book began, the people were servants to Pharaoh.

They were his slaves.

They served against their will, because they were forced to do so.

And it was hard bondage, cruel bondage, rigor.

He murdered their children, he whipped their backs, he treated them as subhuman, and God delivered them out of that bondage.

But as we made our way through the book of Exodus, we saw that they they began to view or seemed to view God as just another slave driver.

Oh, they would do what he told them to do if he forced them to do it.

They would do what he told them to do if they were threatened with some sort of harm or death.

But you don't ever get the impression or the idea that they consider themselves any more than just slaves to a different master.

But when you get to the end of this book, we read now about voluntary service, voluntary sacrifice, willing hands, willing labor.

And when God's people in freedom, in liberty, not just physically, but in their hearts, when freely from their hearts they give to God of their resources, of their time, and of their ability.

When we get to the close of this book, we find the people blessed.

We don't read about strife, we don't read about conflict, we don't read about swords and tears and judgments and punishments and rebukes.

It's blessed, it's happy.

My brother, my sister, hear me.

The devil would deceive you into thinking that God is just one more slave driver and that serving the Lord and obeying his words is just one more form of bondage.

It's not so.

It's not so.

Never have we seen these people blessed and happy until we have seen them willingly and voluntarily serving the Lord with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind.

And then we see them at peace, at rest, blessed, enjoying life, then and only then in all this book of Exodus, do we see people living a life that well that we would want to live?

I don't want to live that life they lived in Egypt.

I don't even want to live that life of doubt and fear and murmuring and complaining that they lived on the on the way out or shortly after they left.

I sure don't want to live that golden calf life and and and the post-golden calf time of judgment.

That doesn't look too appealing to me either.

But by the time we get to the end of this book, when they are serving God from their heart, they're blessed, they're joyful, they're happy, they're at peace, they're content.

Hear me, my friend.

The best thing you could ever do with your life is serve the Lord in accordance with his word.

Amen and amen.

Well, this is the preaching of the cross radio broadcast.

By God's grace and through your help, we have never taken time on the radio to solicit funds.

Oh, we're not wealthy.

Our church is not wealthy.

We pray.

God touches hearts, and the work keeps going.

Thank you for your help.

When you write to us and send your letter of testimony, which is such a joy to our hearts, we will send you in return a catalog listing all of our available sermons and Bible study materials, books and tracks and pamphlets and just anything you can think of just about that'll be helpful to you in your Christian life.

The mailing address is 872 Glenwood Road.

872 Glenwood Road.

That's in D-Land, D-E-L-A-N-D, D-Land, Florida.

The zip code number 32720-32720.

You may also visit us online.

The web address, you can type in the preaching of the cross or jamesnox.com.

Jamesnox.com.

Either one or get you to the website.

All right, this program is heard at many different times over many different radio stations.

We trust the announcer will be on in just a moment to let you know when this program will be again over this particular station.

We hope you'll join us then for the preaching of the cross radio broadcast.

Until that time, I'm Brother James.

May the Lord richly bless you and good day.

For hundreds of hours of in-depth expository Bible teaching, please visit our YouTube channel, James W.

Knox Sermons, our sermon audio page, Bible Baptistoland, or our website, Bible BaptistTeland.com.

Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.