Exodus (Lesson 52)

Welcome to the Preaching 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.

Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today.

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, the Lamb of God.

That's Jesus Christ, the sacrificial payment for everyone's sin.

Sin of the world.

You know, the world doesn't like that word sin.

It's become very, very controversial.

It's become very, very unpopular.

With all this self-love, self-promotion, self-worth, self-adoration, and compromising Bible-rejecting preachers are feeding that beast of infidelity by preaching humanism rather than the Bible, and philosophy and psychology rather than the word of God.

But you'll not hear that the next 30 minutes, not on this radio broadcast.

We believe that God's word is right.

We believe that God's ways are right.

And we believe that all men everywhere need to repent.

You say, I've never killed anybody, I've never never mind all that.

The first commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy might.

And no one keeps that commandment.

So everyone needs to repent of coming short of the glory of God.

And everyone needs to trust the grace and the mercy of God as set forth in and found in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thought on the last broadcast we were going to get beyond Exodus 26.

In fact, I believe when we started the program, I said we're going to be in Exodus 27 today, but we never quite got there.

In the 26th chapter of Exodus, dealing with the tabernacle is the material with regard to the curtains, and we talked some about them.

And then in 25 and 26, the candlestick of pure gold, and we have not been able to mine out all the material information that's available to us about that candlestick.

And we have talked about the fact that it's of uh of beaten gold and that it's all one and and uh what a marvelous thing that is.

And so we really got uh sort of held up there uh talking about that, but uh we're gonna move forward today, move forward today and head toward this 27th chapter.

Now, keep in mind, if you've not been with us, this tabernacle, while it may not seem as exciting or thrilling to us as some parts of the Bible, it's obviously very, very important to God because there are just so many chapters in his word that deal with this place where God met with man and where man met with God.

You see, that's the key thing, that's the main thing.

The Lord desires fellowship with his people.

And so as this place was established for God and man to meet together, it certainly occupies a great deal of time and space in the Holy Bible.

Now, in Exodus 27, verse 1, thou shalt make an altar, should a wood five cubits long and five cubits broad, the altar shall be four square, and the height thereof shall be three cubits, and thou shalt make the horns of it, uh projecting uh little uh items uh on uh each of the four corners, his horns shall be of the same, and thou shalt overlay it, the entire altar, with brass, and thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his flesh hooks, and his fire pans.

Exodus 27:1

All the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass, and thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass, and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof, and thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shit and wood, and overlay them with brass, and the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves should be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it.

Hollow with boards shalt thou make it, as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

Alright.

This large brazen altar, altar of brass, is called the altar of burnt offerings, because on this altar were sacrificed all the offerings made by fire.

In Psalm 43, four it's called the altar of God.

In Malachi 2.13, it's called the altar of the Lord.

The priests were required to wear certain clothes while ministering around the altar, according to 2843.

They were supposed to be sober when they performed their sacred duties.

Of course, they're supposed to be sober all the time, Leviticus 10, 1-10.

And they were to obey to the letter all that was commanded, or they would bear their sin, according to Exodus 30, verses 18 to 21.

Exodus 30:18–21

Now, all who touched the altar were considered holy because of their proximity to this place of sacrifice.

That's chapter 29, verse 37.

It was sanctified and anointed before use.

29, 36 to 44, 30, 26 to 28, chapter 40, verse 10.

And a perpetual, ongoing, never dying fire was kept on the altar, so that any time anyone sinned, he could have immediate access to God.

That's Leviticus 6, 13.

Now, as we tried to mention there, the horns were projections pointing upward.

The sacrifices would be tied to them, Psalm 118, verse 27.

Psalms 118:27

And to take hold of one of these horns of the altar meant the individual was claiming protection from God.

That's chapter 21, verse 14, and you see a case of this with Joab in 1 Kings chapter 1, verse 50.

1 Kings 1:50

Now, all of that sounds interesting enough, I suppose, if you have an interest in all things biblical.

But this altar, this altar, and the sacrifices thereon, of course, point to our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now think about it.

Think about it.

It's the altar of God.

Jesus Christ was sacrificed not by the will of man, but by the will of God.

His offering, his sacrifice of himself was to God, not to man.

It's called the altar of the Lord.

The altar of the Lord, for there the Lord did make sacrifice in the person of Jesus Christ.

There the Lord did receive sacrifice.

That's God the Father.

Now, the priests who offered, as we said, were required to wear certain clothes.

They were supposed to be sober and to obey to the letter, all that was commanded, or they would be sinners.

And so as God the Father offered up God the Son, that's Isaiah 53, it pleased the Lord to bruise him when thou, God the Father, shalt make his soul, God the Son, an offering for sin.

So as the Father offers this sacrifice or presides at the altar where the sacrifice is made, he is clothed with his glory, with his majesty, with his holiness, with his perfect perfection.

He is certainly sober, he's in his right mind, he knows what he's doing, he is providing salvation for sinners, because no one else can provide it, and he is certainly obeying, fulfilling, carrying out all of the scripted prophecies regarding the sacrifice of his son.

There's no question about that.

Now, Jesus Christ, the altar touch that altar considered holy.

When Jesus Christ died on that cross, though he bear in his body, get that right, though he bear in his body, a body hast thou prepared me.

Hebrews 8, bear in his body, 1 Peter 2.

So the body of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, is now residing in a body of human flesh.

In that body, he, the Lord of glory, bare our sins.

But when he went to that cross, though our sins were on his body, he never ceased to be holy.

He never ceased to be sinless.

That's why, as we quoted Isaiah 53, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.

Yes, his body was broken for us, his blood was shed for us, but his sinless soul was the acceptable offering made unto God the Father.

Or he'd have just been one more guilty sinner dying, but he was not.

Sanctified and anointed.

Perpetual fire kept on the altar, so that anytime anyone sinned, they can have immediate access to God.

That's our Lord Jesus Christ.

No, he's suffering no more, he'll never suffer again.

He's made full payment.

There's no payment left to be made.

But he didn't vanish from the scene, he didn't abandon the earth and its inhabitants once he finished making that payment on the cross.

He ever lives to make intercession for us.

To this day, any sinner may come to this Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord, and find grace, mercy, help, hope, forgiveness, salvation, sanctification, and all that a soul needs is found in Jesus Christ.

Verse 9.

And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle, for the south side southward, there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side, and the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty sockets shall be of brass, and the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets shall be of silver.

And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver, and for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten, and the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

The hangings of the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three, and on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.

And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen wrought with needlework, and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver, their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

The length of the court should be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of fine twine linen and their sockets of brass, all the vessels of the tabernacle and the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court shall be of brass.

And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring the pure oil olive beaten for the light to cause the lamp to burn always in the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony.

Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord.

It shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

So again, we have this place where God and man do meet.

We have this place where man may enjoy fellowship with God, but it must be on God's terms.

What are God's terms?

There will be a high priest to minister before God on behalf of the people, and there shall be a light burning forever, and everything shall be done according to the due order.

And so God has his great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the light of Scripture illuminates and orders all that takes place as man worships God, and as well, and as well we see that everything must be done God's way.

Now, let's let's go back and talk for a minute about this brazen altar.

There's a very worth uh worthwhile question, I don't know if that's the right way to say it.

There's a very legitimate question that's been asked with regard to this brazen altar.

Now keep in mind, keep in mind, these are supposed by the critics of the Bible to be very primitive and simple people.

They are supposed to be working their way through the process of evolution and uh trying their best to work their way out of uh caveman status and up to National Basketball Association status.

You know, they're trying to advance.

And so the question has been asked: how could these men have built an altar that would burn bone to ash, that could consume these great quantities of animal sacrifices when this altar was made of wood.

Surely this wooden altar would have been consumed and destroyed by the fiery flames and the intense heat of the ashes collected in the offering of these sacrifices.

And yet the critics of the Bible hope that you'll just accept their criticism and never do any investigation and certainly never do any thinking.

Now it's obvious the fire of the altar would be very hot, very hot.

Could this shit wood, which was sheathed in brass, would it be able to survive the constant heat?

Even wood as incorruptible as that from this particular tree does burn.

And it is possible, not probable, it is possible that the brass covering hid the charred and blackened remains of the wood.

But a man by the name of Raven went to a great deal of effort to show that this was not so.

And let's consider his conclusions.

He states that brass has a greater coefficient heat transfer than almost any metal.

It is a great conductor of heat.

That's why there are copper kettles and copper bottomed pans used by modern man with all his supposed wisdom.

The center of the fire might possibly exceed this temperature, because the heat would rise and the fire pan would tend to dissipate the heat very quickly.

In like manner, the heat on the grate might occasionally exceed the optimum temperature because the wet carcass and the heat dissipation of the grate would help.

If the center of the fire had to be kept to this limit, then the outer portion of the grate would be well below this.

And because brass is such a good conductor of heat, it would mean that the walls of the altar would be cooler still.

In fact, the altar would act as one gigantic heat sink, dissipating the heat as fast as it was generated.

And the wood in the boards would remain absolutely untouched.

In fact, experiments have been conducted on a structure like this brazen altar.

And as a blowtorch, a blowtorch with temperatures well in excess of one thousand degrees Fahrenheit were applied to as close as six inches.

Okay, so a blowtorch, a thousand degrees Fahrenheit, as close as six inches to the corner of the altar, left the internal wood absolutely untouched.

Therefore, the heat dissipating quality of the metal in short.

That the wood never had to bear temperatures high enough as to cause it to char.

You see, here's what these men never keep in mind.

Here's what they never think about.

God, okay?

God really did give his words to man.

God really did direct these people and show them, tell them what to do and how to do it.

And when these people did what God said, it always worked just right.

This is not a book of myth and fairy tale.

And people say, well, the Bible's not a book of science, but well, you can say that if you want to, but it never misses the marks scientifically.

And science has never, has never been called upon to correct one verse of the Holy Bible.

Not one time, ever.

Not one time.

So you stick with the Word of God and you'll be just fine.

Now, the brazen altar served the following purposes.

It was the place where the sweet savor offerings were given.

The burnt offerings, the meal offerings, and the peace offerings, that's Leviticus 1 through 3.

The non-sweet savor offerings, sin offering, trespass offerings, Leviticus 4 and 5.

After the birth of a child, a mother brought an offering of a lamb or a young pigeon or a turtle dove.

Leviticus 12, verse 6 to 8.

Leviticus 12:6–8

When a leper was declared by the priest to be cleansed from his leprosy, a number of actions were carried out with regard as making use of this brazen altar.

Let's Leviticus 14.

After the cleansing of running issues out of the flesh, an offering was made here, Leviticus 15.

The slaying of oxen, lambs, or goats was to be carried out.

The door of the tabernacle, Leviticus 17.

The construction, as we've mentioned, as wood overlaid with brass, and pans to receive the ashes, shovels, necessary equipment for handling the ashes and keeping that altar working, basins to catch the blood of the sacrifices, flesh hooks for handling the carcasses of the offerings, and fire pans for dealing with the fire of the altar.

The grate or network of brass was made on the four corners, which rings were formed, and we we read all about that.

So one thing that is unmistakable.

God's people brought sacrifice.

Something else that is quite apparent, the people were every one of them individually, and every one of them corporately as a body, in need of sacrifice.

No one sufficiently holy to enter the presence of God, no one sufficiently righteous to stand in the presence of God, no one deserving by their merits an audience with or fellowship with the holy Lord God.

And so sacrifice had to be made.

Now this earthly tabernacle, as we have seen on prior broadcasts, pictures for us.

It is built after the pattern of heavenly things.

Now, if it is evident in the earthly tabernacle that man cannot approach God without sacrifice, that picture must speak to us and must reveal to us that no man may enter the presence, the genuine, actual, real presence of God Almighty in the genuine, actual, real sanctuary of heaven, unless he comes by sacrifice.

Now what sacrifice could you offer that would earn you a place in heaven?

A bullock, a lamb, a ram, a turtle dove, not sufficient.

Grain, meal, not sufficient.

You see, the Bible says in Hebrews 10 that the blood of bulls and of goats could never take away sin.

That's why these Hebrew people, though they had this altar and had that priesthood and had those sacrifices, they had to keep bringing those offerings and those sacrifices year after year after year because those things never took away their sins.

Now there is one sacrifice, my friend.

There is one sacrifice that not only takes away sin, but by which one can enter into the presence of God in heaven forever.

Jesus said, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

That's the sacrifice by which one may enter God's presence, the sacrifice of God's dear Son Jesus Christ, by his offering, once for all, finally and forever, on the cross at Calvary, those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, God's acceptable sacrifice for man's sin, through faith in Jesus Christ we may draw nigh to God.

No other way, no other salvation, no other hope, no other means of access.

Only through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now you say, I've done so many terrible things, I don't know if God would accept me, I don't know so and so.

Look, you say all that.

But Jesus not only said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me, he also said, And him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.

My friend, stop trusting your religion, stop trusting your good works, and put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ the Lord.

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