Exodus (Lesson 70)

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

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Delante, 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, and 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 happy that you've tuned into the program today.

Hope that you can stay with us for the next half an hour.

We've got a lot of ground to cover as we try to wrap up Exodus 34 and move on in Exodus chapter number 35.

This is broadcast number 770 in our study of the book of Exodus.

And God has certainly blessed us with an abundance of truth and practical application as we have enjoyed this Bible book together.

We are in Exodus 34.

We read last time about Moses on the mountain with God.

And the Bible said in verse number 29, and it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

So Moses is meeting with God, and he is altered physically by his long exposure to the glory of God.

That glory is shining in the face of Moses.

The children of Israel could behold it.

Verse 30, when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh him.

Now, the face of Moses is shining, and this is not the only time in the Bible we read of something like this.

In Matthew 17, Jesus was on the mount, which has come to be known as the Mount of Transfiguration, because on that mountain the Lord was transfigured.

His figure, his visage, his physical appearance was altered, so that men, Peter, James, and John, beheld him in his glory.

The Bible says in Matthew 17, one, and after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them.

And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.

So his face did shine as the sun.

Also we read about this in the case of Stephen, who was martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ, put to death by the leaders of the nation of Israel for proclaiming the truth of the gospel.

The Bible says in Acts 6 15, and all that sat in the council looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

And in chapter 7 and verse number 56, he said, And behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.

So when he spake, Stephen, he was accused of speaking against Moses.

And when he said that, God lit up his face like he had lit up the face of Moses.

Now the New Testament uses this phenomena of shining faces to illustrate the difference between the law and the gospel.

In 2 Corinthians 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 3, we are reading in that portion of Scripture how that the gospel, the New Testament gospel of Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection, is better than the Old Testament law.

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

And the Scripture says, well, let's see, starting at verse number, verse number, wow, it'd be so hard to read the whole chapter here.

Verse number 13, not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel cannot steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished, but their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away.

In the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ.

Verse number 18, but we all with open face, beholding, as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

So what's the idea there?

When Moses was in the presence of the Lord, his face did shine because of God's presence.

It wasn't anything from inside Moses, it came from the Lord.

When Moses came down with that shining face, the children of Israel said, We don't want to see that.

We don't want, that's too much for us.

And so he covered his face with a veil.

And while they received the law, they did not receive the Lord, and so the glory of the Lord was never manifest in them as it was in Moses.

Now, fast forward New Testament times.

We do not have the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ hidden from us, for Christ dwells within the believer.

And we don't just read the Old Testament law and learn God's commandments and ordinances and statutes, but we actually have an opportunity to commune with and fellowship with and walk with and live with and enjoy the companionship of our God.

And that should be, is intended to be reflected in our appearance and our countenance.

The glory of God should shine in us.

That's 2 Corinthians 3.

That's what that's all about.

It indicates that the inside of a Christian vessel has been, well, turned on, the lights on.

And it's the same light, 2 Corinthians 4.6, that lit up the face of Moses.

It's the light of God's presence.

Now the face of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 4.6, reflects God's glory.

And we behold the glory of God with open face.

The veil is there, there's nothing in between now.

There's nothing to keep us from God and from enjoying God and from fellowshipping with God.

The ministration of the Holy Spirit takes the believer from glory to glory.

Just one high point after another.

Rarely, rarely did Moses have a mountaintop experience.

Now we we've read about the uh the times.

He would go up, come back down, go up, come back down.

But out of out of 120 years of life, those are very rare occurrences.

As blessed as they were, as marvelous as they were, it was a very rare thing for Moses to meet with God on that mountain.

He's uh there a couple of times for 40 days.

Uh we're not sure on the others.

Let's suppose, let's suppose all seven times Moses went up on the mountain, he was there for 40 days.

That would be 280 days, less than one year out of a life of 120 years, that he was actually enjoying the presence of God.

Now, my brother, my sister, if you're saved, Christ lives in you.

You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

He said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee.

So every day of your life can be, should be, has the potential of being a mountaintop experience in the presence of the Lord.

How about that?

The Bible says in Psalm 34, verse 3, O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.

Psalms 34:3

I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked unto him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.

Let's walk in that light, as he is in the light.

Let's have fellowship one with another, the saved man with his God, the same woman with her God, and let us enjoy God's presence so fully and so completely that it changes our countenance, and that all with whom we come in contact can see and behold that we have indeed been in the presence of the Lord.

Now, when Moses came down off this mountain back to Exodus 34, the Bible says in verse 33, until Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.

The people couldn't, they couldn't handle this glory shining from Moses' face, so he covered it.

But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off until he came out.

And he came out and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone.

And Moses put the veil upon his face again until he went in to speak with him.

Now a veil, a veil, pictures a number of things.

It pictures the flesh, the human body of Jesus Christ.

Jesus never became God.

He was always God.

He became man.

And when he became man, he he surrounded the glory of God, which was his from the beginning.

He surrounded that with a body of flesh.

See, Moses, picture Moses' face.

See the light shining off Moses' face?

It's too much.

Man can't handle it.

So Moses puts a veil over his face.

It's still Moses, and the bright glory is still there, but man can't see it, man can't behold it.

That's the veil.

The Bible says in Hebrews 10, 20, talking about Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

So Jesus is still God in all his glory.

But that's hidden behind a body of human flesh, so that man could not see it, could not behold it.

Also in Hebrews 1, Hebrews 1, God's glory is veiled by his universe, by his creation.

You read down through Hebrews the first chapter, and you'll see that God, God has made the heavens and the earth a covering, if you will, so that his glorious creation is seen, but the full light of his wonder and splendor and power and majesty and might and all that is God that may be beheld with the eye is hidden, covered, clothed, if you will.

The heavens are called a vesture that God will fold up when he is through dealing with sinful fallen man.

And the Lord Jesus Christ will sit in that new Jerusalem, and the sun and the moon and the stars will never need to shine again, for the full light of God's glory will be seen and will light up all of his creation.

Now, when Jesus dies, the veil in the temple was rent.

You remember that?

From top to bottom, God tore that thing in two.

Mark 15, verse 38.

Mark 15:38

And all now have access to his glory.

For we no longer know him after the flesh, but now it's a spiritual relationship.

When the veil is removed and the glory of God is manifest to our hearts, we read about that in 2 Corinthians 3.

That pictures something else.

That one day the veil of the universe will be removed, and all God's glory will be revealed.

There's a couple of verses that speak of that ever so briefly.

In Job 26, speaking of God's creation, verse 7, He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them.

He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

You see that?

Verse 13 By his Spirit He hath garnished the heavens.

So the Lord, the Lord, has and I gotta oh, I gotta hold a thought there.

What he's done, he's hidden his glory behind the glory of his creation.

You see that?

As glorious and marvelous as that creation is, it's nothing compared to the God who made it.

Surely the creator is greater than the creation.

If the creation boggles the mind, if the creation inspires awe and wonder in all those who behold it, what will it be when we see the creator?

What a day that'll be.

What an eternity that will be.

Now, you remember a couple of uh programs ago, we talked about Moses being an eyewitness to the creation.

You remember that?

And we talked about the fact that he said, God, show me thy glory, and the heavens declare the glory of God.

And then we said that God, when Moses said, Let me see your glory, he said, Let me I'll show you my goodness.

And we went back to the creation account of Genesis 1, and Moses, an eyewitness, saw God create the heavens and the earth, and then said, It was good, it was good, it was good.

I saw the goodness of God and the glory of his creation.

And we saw in Exodus that God showed Moses his back parts, and I said that grammatically that had reference to a former time and a former condition of things.

Now watch this.

Look at Job 26.

Job 26, verse 7.

Job 26:7

Creation, he stretched out the north over the empty place, hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Verse 8, he bindeth the waters in thick clouds.

That's the firmament.

Creation, Genesis 1.

He holdeth back the face of his throne and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

That's that's that uh firmament, that empty place, Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

He hath compassed the waters with bounds until the day and night come to an end.

The pillars of heaven trembling are astonished at his reproof, he divided the sea with his power.

That's that's all Genesis 1.

By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens.

So every bit of this is a reference to God's creation.

Verse 14.

Lo, these are parts of his ways.

Now, what parts would they be?

Backparts, back parts, not future parts, back parts.

So we had it right.

We had it right.

Moses was an eyewitness to the creation.

Alright, as we move to chapter 35.

We move into chapter 35, we begin to read about the actual work upon the tabernacle.

We talked about the pattern, the instructions that God gave Moses for the building of the tabernacle.

Now we're about to read about the actual work itself.

Exodus 35, one, and Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded that ye should do them.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you in holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord.

Whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death, so nobody in your town keeps the Sabbath.

And ye know that because they don't execute the Sabbath breaker.

And that's that's the Sabbath law.

Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.

It's it's that's exact.

The rest is that complete.

And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord.

Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it.

An offering of the Lord, gold and silver and brass, and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair, and ramskins dyed red, and badger's skins and shitamwood, and oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, and onic stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

Now this offering.

To the Lord.

There's two things about it, and both match what the New Testament says.

It's to be brought by a willing heart, and it's not just money, it's anything that is needed for the worship of God, for the house of God, for the place where God's people congregate.

Bring what you will, and bring that which will help.

Now, let look, let me let me give you some examples.

The church building is not the church, we know that.

And the tabernacle is not the congregation, we know that.

God doesn't live in a church building and he doesn't live in a tent in the wilderness.

We know that.

Now, watch.

What did they need to build that tabernacle?

What'd they need for that place of worship?

They didn't just need gold and silver.

They needed some fabric and some materials, some building materials.

So if one man brought gold and one man brought building materials, they were both bringing a necessary offering to contribute to the construction and the maintenance of that tabernacle.

Now let's suppose a man comes to a church and the preacher says, you have to give X number of dollars, or God's going to curse you and kill your children and put you in the hospital and all that sort of thing.

Well, let me ask you something.

If I take a$50 offering and pay somebody fifty dollars to mow the grass at the church property, or if a man says, I will mow the grass on the church property, what difference does it make?

Both have made an offering to the Lord necessary for the maintenance and upkeep of the place where God's people congregate.

Why, if you don't bring X number of dollars and put it in this offering plate, God's gonna curse you and you're not fit.

Well, okay, okay.

And then so somebody puts in$75, and I take that$75 and pay somebody to clean the church building for a month.

Or, or someone steps forward and says, I will clean the church building for a month.

What difference does it make?

Come on, people, it's not all about money.

It's not all about money.

There's lots of ways to give to the Lord.

There's lots of ways to bring a willing offering unto the Lord.

There's much that can be done.

You know how to repair vehicles?

Does your church have vehicles?

Costs a lot of money to get vehicles repaired.

Look, I could give example after example after example.

We need to get off this idea that the only thing God cares about is silver and gold.

There are many ways to willingly offer sacrifice and offerings unto the Lord for the work of the Lord and for the place where God's people congregate.

All right, verse 10.

And every wise hearted among you shall come and make all that the Lord hath commanded.

The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his tatches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets, the ark and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat and the veil of the covering, the table, and his staves and all the vessels, and the showbread, the candlestick also for the light, and his furniture and his lamps, with the oil for the light, and the incense altar and the staves, his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle, the altar burnt offering, with his brazen grate, his staves and all his vessels, the labor and his foot, the hangings of the court, his pillars and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court, the pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court and their cords, the cloths of service to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron, the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest's office.

Now that's a lot to read.

It was a lot more to make and maintain.

And if there is a practical lesson here, we've already covered the fact that all this had to be done in perfect accord with God's word.

All this had to be done just as God said to do it.

We've covered that.

But here's what we need to gather and understand.

It takes a lot, a lot of work, a lot of attention to detail, a lot of dedication, a lot of effort to maintain a place of worship and a place of fellowship.

To all you listen to my voice right now, who understand and appreciate what it takes to build a building, to clean a building, to maintain a building, to provide a satisfactory and comfortable and beneficial meeting place.

Thank you, thank you for your understanding and for your dedication.

To those of you let your children draw pictures on the hymn books, tear up the pews and the seating, dirty the walls, defile the bathrooms, rip apart the plants and the flowers.

When are you gonna get with it?

When are you gonna catch on?

That everything you tear up, somebody else has to fix.

That everything you dirty up, somebody else has to clean.

That everything you destroy, somebody else paid for, and now they're gonna have to pay for it a second time.

You know, I I say it so often, I say it so often, but maybe if you say it often enough it'll sink in.

There are two types of people in every church, not saved and lost.

There are two types of people in every church, givers and moochers.

And the givers give and give and give, and the moochers take and take and take, and rarely, rarely do they cross from one side to the other.

But the moocher doesn't just take material things directly, like we show up for church whenever they're having food, and we're not there whenever they're not having food.

I'm not talking about that.

Our kids are there for every free youth activity, but we never contribute a dime to pay for their pizza or their outing or whatever.

Look, you under we understand all that.

But when you just tear things up and damage things and dirty things and then uh chuckle a little bit and go on your way, you show a complete lack of understanding.

The curtains, the touches, the ouches, the garments, the poles, the furniture, it all costs somebody something.

God bless those who understand and contribute.

And may God awaken those who just take and take and damage and harm and mooch and destroy and enough said, enough said.

A word to the wise is often unnecessary, and a word to the fool often just flies right on by, but there it is.

Alright, our time's nearly gone.

What a place to end, but we've got to.

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