Exodus Chapter 40 Verses 1 – 6
• God is completing the work of setting up the Tabernacle there in the wilderness, why? Because the rebellion of the people, God would not bring them into the land that was promised to them until that generation was complete. Deuteronomy 9:7 says, “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.”
• There is an entire sermon there or at least a powerful sermon illustration but that is not why I am bring this up, pointing this out. I believe that there is a powerful eschatological picture here in the setting up of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. As we read through these verses, “On the first day of the first month,” speaks of firsts…something new, something of change…that is when the meeting place of God and the people is to be completed.
• The rapture of the church, spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 which precedes the Great Tribulation as displayed in Revelation Chapter 4, (which comes before Chapter 6 (the beginning of the Great Tribulation), always has, always does, always will), …the rapture of the church is a picture of a portion of the Tabernacle. Which one? Verse 3…the first one. The Ark, the mercy seat, the place where God meets with man…communes with man…is separated. The word used there in verse 3 is, “partition.” I believe that this a picture of the partitioning off of the church, the communion of God and man…as God sets up the world once again as His Tabernacle.
• Then, the table of faces…this represents the people that are then before God, placed into a final season of testing upon this earth. His heart still for them, Him mind still on them…and yet they are outside of the presence of God, outside of the veil. Notice, it says here, it is a time where, “arrange the things that are to be set in order on it…” The people of the world are being prepared for the coming of the Lord…
• Then, the lampstand…the light. The presence of the Lord. During the Great Tribulation, the Holy Spirit will not be removed from this earth…He will simply step aside as it says there in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed…” The work of the Holy Spirit upon this earth is primarily through the church (not completely, but primarily), and with the church gone, behind the veil as it were, God will allow this world to be under the control of the Anti-Christ…but the Holy Spirit will yet be working…
• Then, the altar of incense…the book of Revelation speaks of those who are killed for their faith and their rejection of the Anti-Christ…these are people that have come to faith in the Great Tribulation…the book of Revelation says their prayers come up to the throne of God…here represented, as God sets up the world as His Tabernacle once again, in the altar of incense.
• Finally, verse 6, the altar of burnt offering… Genesis 9:11, God said, “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Yet 2 Peter 3:10 says, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” During the Great Tribulation, effectively the world will be that burnt offering, that sin offering…I see a powerful picture of the end of the church age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation period in the setting up of the Tabernacle of Meeting.
Exodus Chapter 40 Verses 7 – 15
• The Tabernacle, the utensils, the altar, the laver are all anointed by Moses with oil as they are holy unto God…and then also Aaron and his sons are to be anointed. But notice, before they are anointed for ministry unto God, they are to be first washed and clothed. I want to implore you today, allow the Lord to wash you. To clean you. How? By His correction. By His Word. By His will. In trusting God and deferring to His Word over even our own selves…this has a cleansing affect upon our hearts and minds.
• Allow God to clothe you with His grace, to clothe you with His protection and provision…clothes take away shame, they identify your person (in a way), God has a great plan, call and anointing upon your life…but first allow Him to wash you up…to clothe you…and then you will be ready for every good work He has prepared for you…
Exodus Chapter 40 Verse 16
• There is something here that I believe is important. Whenever you have repetition in the Hebrew, it’s not a reminder or poor sentence structure, repetition is used in this way for emphasis and here we have the same Hebrew word, “asah,” meaning, “Thus he did,” at the beginning of the sentence and then again at the end of the sentence…and right in the middle is God’s commands.
• Actually, in the Hebrew this sentence is, “Asah Mosheh Yehovah tsavah asah.” So, its Moses, God, commands, he did, he did. Super simple sentence but I believe it to be representative of an important truth.
• It says, “He did,” then we have the commands of God, then, “he did” again. What am I getting to? There is a time of preparation that is required before what I’ll call the opportunity for trusting God. Right now, tonight even, you are in a Bible study. I pray your heart is open to God…that you do have a heart to serve Him because every Bible study, whether private or corporate…every time of prayer, every worship set, every walk you take with the Lord…is preparation for something ahead. A test, perhaps a trial…and even sometimes a great opportunity. But before the command comes for you to trust Him, you must have already set your heart to trust Him without the test…or when it comes, perhaps you won’t find the repetition that Moses does…
• The establishment of the meeting place with God, the Tabernacle, is built with God’s plans, His designs, His Word and the willingness of the person. Both things have to be there or no Tabernacle. In the previous chapter we read seven times that they did, “as the Lord commanded.” Here as well in this chapter, that most important rule and critical element to the Tabernacle of God, closeness with God, nearness to the Most High, even protection, provision, direction at the person level and at the national level, seven times in this chapter as well, “So as they Lord commanded, so they did.”
Exodus Chapter 40 Verses 17 – 29
• Again, as mentioned before in previous studies, where did he get the grain? Where did he get the livestock? Did he stop by a Red Sea gift shop on the way out of Egypt? HA! No…they came from Egypt. People, your past need not be eradicated and untangled and resolved and settled before you come to the Lord…bring all of that to the Lord! Let Him wash you…you can’t do it for yourselves!
• Chuck Smith used to say that you cannot clean a fish until it has been caught…and so many believe that in order to come to God you have to have it all cleared up, all cleaned up…not at all! None of us would ever have come! You come to God…and as you walk with Him, He does the necessary work! How is it that we think we can clean up our past or our heart or our attitude when we don’t have the tools, the know-how and even the desire? God has all of that…we are to simply come to Him!
Exodus Chapter 40 Verses 30 – 33
• These are five words that define the legacy of a man that was loved by God. You may have expected me to say, “an obedient, faithful man.” Well look, I won’t be obedient and/or faithful until I understand how much I am loved…
• So, Moses finished the work. Whatever it is that God has given me to do…I do so pray that the same can be said of me when I come to the end of time.
• Moses has essentially done his part, all that the Lord has asked of him…and now he has a tent. With some shiny furniture. You see, that’s all it is if God isn’t there…but Moses has forsaken the tie-dye…not gone cheap on the silver rings…he has done what the Lord would have him to do and because of that, the place is a very picture of heaven, filled with wonder and the glory of God on earth! The same will be for me in this ministry, in my marriage, in my job, and on and on…and the same for you. How sad it is to see a life built outside of the will and the word of God and all that it is in the end is a cold tent with some shiny furniture…not here…look…
Exodus Chapter 40 Verses 34 – 38
• This is incredible…the Tabernacle has been built and it has been constructed every step of the way according to the Word of the Lord. Some set-backs for sure, but correction has come, and in the end, it is what God has asked of them. And because of that…look…direction is simple. They know when to go, when to stay…decisions, discernment, vision and understanding of what to do and when to do it is as easy as asking, “Has the cloud moved.”
• Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…that’s the first, “So he did.” In all your ways acknowledge Him…and He will direct your path!