Let us turn to God's Word in
Exodus chapter 40 that portion that we read here at the end
of the book of Exodus and directing you for a while this morning
to the words that we have in verses 34 and 35 Exodus 40 34
and 35 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation, because a cloud abode thereon,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Considering then
something of God's glory in the tabernacle. Then a cloud covered
the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter into
the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Previously we're told there at
the end of verse 33 how Moses finished all the work. He'd been there in the mount
of course forty days, 14 nights, receiving all that instruction
with regards to the furnishings of the tabernacle, all that was
required for the worship of God. In Exodus chapter 20 we have
the record of how God had descended upon the Mount Sinai and given
to the people the commandments, the Ten Commandments. He'd entered
into covenant with the children of Israel and they were fearful
and they desired that Moses might be their mediator and that God
would not come and speak to them in such a direct manner as they
had experienced there when he descended on the mountain. So
Moses had gone into the mountain, there God had given all those
directions with regards to the furnishings and all the work
was done and we read this chapter where we have the account of
how the tabernacle was set up and how God was pleased and God
owns and acknowledges the tabernacle by coming to dwell there in the
midst of it. and we read a paraphrase earlier
or sang i should say a paraphrase of the 132nd psalm and now that
psalm speaks to us concerning god's delight in this tabernacle
in psalm 132 at verse 8 Arise, O Lord, into thy rest,
thou and the ark of thy strength. Verse 13 For the Lord hath chosen
Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest
forever. Here will I dwell, for I have
desired it. So God comes and dwells there
in the midst of his people. As I said, we have the setting
up of the tabernacle recorded in this particular chapter and
how everything is solemnly sanctified and set apart. We have the anointing
of all those furnishings that Chapter 9, following, Thou shalt
take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that
is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof,
and it shall be holy. And then the detail that follows,
verse 10, following, Moses was one who was obedient to all these
instructions that the Lord God had given to him. very specific commandments are
there in the opening 8 verses how the Lord spoke unto Moses
the first day of that first month with regards to how the furnishings
were to be laid out in the tabernacle and then we see at verse 17 following
how Moses is obedient in all those details Verse 17, He came
to pass in the first month, in the second year, on the first
day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. And Moses reared
up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards
thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars,
and he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put
the covering of the tent above upon it, as the Lord commanded
Moses. And then, in what follows, the
various pieces of furniture set in their particular places. And
time and again we have that expression, seven times in all, as the Lord
commanded Moses. Of course, all these things were
to be manufactured and made according to the pattern that had been
shown unto him in the mount, back in chapter 25. And then
at the end of that chapter it must be according to the pattern
that was being shown by God whilst Moses was with him in the mount. It's God's worship. God is the
one who will regulate the manner in which his people are to worship
his great name. And Moses is one who is obedient. He heeds the voice of God and
He does the very thing that God commands Him. Verse 23, He set
the bread in order upon it that is upon the table before the
Lord as the Lord had commanded Him. And then with regards to
the lamps, verse 25, He lighted the lamps before the Lord as
the Lord commanded Moses. the altar of incense. There at
verse 27, he burns sweet incense thereon as the Lord commanded
Moses. Moses then is one who is careful
to do the very thing that God commands. His very action is
indicative of his his delight, his love for the Lord, his willingness
to do all the commandments of his God. And it's interesting
when we come to the New Testament, where in Matthew 23, remember,
the Lord speaks to his disciples concerning those who sit in the
seat of Moses. He's speaking of the scribes
and the Pharisees, who should be those who are teaching the
words of the law that was given by Moses. the beginning of Matthew
23. The Lord speaks to the multitude
and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not ye after their
works, for they say, And do not. Oh, that was not Moses. He did
it himself of any things that God commanded. in his very life
then, is a pattern of obedience. And so those scribes and Pharisees,
they were really false teachers, so they presumed to sit in the
seat of Moses. But how different with those
who were the lords, apostles. Paul can say to the Philippians
those things which he had both learned and received and heard
and seen in Medo. The Apostle did those things
that he would exhort others to do. He didn't just instruct them
into the great doctrines of the Gospel, but he understood the
practical implication. He did the very things that he
would exhort and command others to do. And so here with Moses,
as we read through this particular chapter, how he was obedient
time and again to that commandment of the Lord. And the Lord's delight
in all these things as He comes now and makes His special dwelling
place there in the midst of the tabernacle. Turning then to these
words in verses 34 and 35, God's glory in the tabernacle. And three things I want to say
this morning. First of all, here we have God's
glory revealed, as it says at the end of verse 34, and the
glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle. Lord, the tabernacle is filled
with this God, this God who himself is spoken of as a consuming fire,
this God who is very much the Holy One of Israel and remember
that the tabernacle is covered over with curtains not only curtains
but also with goats hair and ram skins we're told previously
and God's glory, this consuming fire comes and dwells in the
midst of the tabernacle and yet these curtains and coverings
are in no way singed. They're not consumed by God's
presence. Does it not remind us of how
God had previously appeared unto Moses back in chapter 3 of the
burning bush? That remarkable sight that he
witnessed there in the wilderness of Horeb where he was caring
for the sheep of his father-in-law and he sees a bush aflame and
yet though a burning bush it is not consumed. It was the very
presence of God that was there in that bush of course. It's
the same presence that is here now in the midst of the tabernacle. And there in chapter 3, what
does the Lord God do when He appears in the bush? He declares Himself, He proclaims
His own name. In chapter 3 and verse 6 we read
these words. Moreover He said, I am the God
of my Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. God declares himself to be the
God of his father. He was of the tribe of Levi,
the son of Jacob. I am the God of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And then
he goes on to declare His name. God said unto Moses, verse 14,
I am that I am. And He said, Thou shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses,
Thou shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name
forever. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. It's the same Lord God who was
there at the burning bush, who is now coming and manifesting
something of his glory, revealing himself here in the tabernacle. Jehovah, the I am that I am. I am the Lord, he says. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. If God is a consuming fire, what
hope have sinners in the presence of such a God as this? One of eyes too pure to behold
iniquity. You cannot look upon sin. But here is the grace of God
as He reveals Himself as the Great I Am that I Am. It's the covenant name. And it's
interesting because Moses is more favoured really than the
fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If we go back to those earlier
chapters, subsequent to that third chapter where Moses is
receiving his call and his commission, in the sixth chapter, there at
verse 3, As the Lord speaks unto Moses,
he says, I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by
the name of God Almighty. But by my name Jehovah was I
not known to them. That's an interesting statement.
Because the name Jehovah is there previously when the Lord God
does appear to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. He appears
to Abraham in chapter 15, verses 6 and 7. He appears to Isaac
in the opening verses of chapter 26 of Genesis. And then in chapter
28 of Genesis, in verses 11, 12 and 13, He appears to Jacob. And He appears on those three
occasions by the name Jehovah, or Lord. Well, what then are
we to make of that statement we just read here in Exodus 6-3? It simply indicates that with
Moses there is the fullness of that revelation, more glorious
than was ever experienced by the fathers. How the Lord was
pleased to come and to reveal himself, to make himself known.
All remember the request that Moses had made previously to
the Lord God how that he would come and show Moses something
of his glory in chapter 33 and the 18th verse I beseech thee
show me thy glory was his prayer and the Lord answers I will make
all my goodness pass before them and I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before them and will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Moses requests he wants to see
God's glory but God says I will make my goodness that is the
glory of God this is where Moses is so singularly favored of God
and the Lord does come and reveal Himself as we see in that succeeding
34th chapter. In verse 6, the Lord passed by
before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilt of visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's
children unto the third and to the fourth generation. Moses
made haste, bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. It is the same Lord God, it's
the same Jehovah that is revealing himself here. That same Lord
God who is in the clouds as we see at verse 6 the clouds taken
up and the children of Israel moving forward as they follow
the cloud and when the cloud does not remove but remains how
they are to abide wherever the cloud is and the one who is in
the cloud of course is none other than the angel of the Lord, it's
the Lord Jesus Christ, it's God the Son who is there, revealing
himself. In a previous chapter, in chapter
23, what do we see there? Verses 20 and 21, the promise
of God with regards to all these leadings. Behold, he says, verse 20, I
send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring
thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him and obey
his voice, provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions,
for my name is in him. Who is this one who Jehovah says
my name is in him? It's the Father, speaking of
the Son. And that Son is one who can pardon
sins. He will not pardon your transgressions.
says the Lord God. Beware of him. Obey his voice,
provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions. Who can forgive sins but God
only? This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one then who is to
be discerned in the glory that is being revealed here in the
tabernacle. But then, as there is a revealing of God yet strangely
at the same time there is a certain concealing of God here because
there is a cloud that covers the tabernacle and there was a cloud even when
God proclaimed his name to Moses there in that 34th chapter that
we just referred to because the Lord descended in a cloud it
says and William stood with Moses and proclaimed the name of the
Lord there's a revealing and yet also at the same time a certain
concealing with regards to the experience of Moses how strange
that the Lord should descend in the cloud and the cloud here
covering the tent of the congregation, even as the glory of the Lord
fills the tabernacle. The psalmist speaks of God as
that one who does, in many respects, conceal himself. Psalm 1811,
he made darkness his secret place. His pavilion round about him
were dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies well this is that
God you see who so often hides himself even though he also reveals
himself and is he not a truth in the experiences of the people
of God at times they find themselves as it were walking in darkness
on Thursday we referred to those two characters spoken of at the
end of Isaiah chapter 15 the child of heaven who is walking
in darkness and the child of hell who is
walking in light there in Isaiah 50 and verse 10 who is among
you that feareth the Lord says the Prophet, who is among you
that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servants, and
walketh in darkness, and hath no light. What he should do is
to trust in the name of the Lord, his God. Then he goes on to speak
of that man who makes his own light, his own sparks as it were. The one's the true child of God,
and yet he's walking in darkness. The other He's not the child
of God but really the child of darkness and yet he appears to
have light. We can read those words there at the end of that
50th chapter. Or that one who fears the Lord,
who buries the void of his servant, walking in darkness, having no
light, yet is to trust in the name of the Lord. And isn't this
so often the light of God's people? Oh, it's a comfort to the child
of God that he can know the fact that God is to be found, even
when clouds and darkness are round about him. Isaiah again
speaks of that God who hides himself. Isaiah 45, 15, Verily,
truly, thou art a God that hideth thyself, O God of Israel, the
Saviour. Strange, the Savior God's concealing
himself. But remember, again, how the
psalmist also speaks somewhat of the Lord's dealings with his
people in that 107th psalm. Men in the various circumstances
and situations of life are spoken of throughout that psalm. And
there at verse 10, We read of such as sit in darkness,
and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
because they rebelled against the word of God, and contemned
the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He brought down their
hearts with labour. They fell down, and there was
none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death, and
break their bands in sunder. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men, even those who are walking in darkness. There's a God to
be sought after, there's a God to be found even in the midst
of that darkness. And not surprisingly here, where
we read of Moses and the erecting of the tabernacle and the glory
of God, all of this of course is very much associated with
law. The darkness, the thick cloud,
clearly associated with law. When it's referred to at the
end of chapter 24, what do we read? 2416 the glory of the Lord it says
bowed upon Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days and
the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the
cloud and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring
fire on top of the mounts in the eyes of the children of Israel
and Moses went into the midst of the clouds and got him up
into the mount. And Moses was in the mount forty
days and forty nights. The glory of the Lord, this devouring
fire, clearly associated with the cloud that's covering the
mount. And of course, we see it previously
when God actually descended upon the mount. In chapter 20 now
the scene is set there in the previous 19th chapter. Bounds are put all around the
mount and the people must not venture near that, they have
to keep their distance, they have to hold back. All of these
things are associated with God's law. And so even Moses himself
now is unable to enter into the tent of the congregation because
the cloud abode thereon. Or there is that ministry of
the law. What is the ministry of the law?
It's God's law, it's a holy law, it's God's commandment and the
commandment is holy and just and good. But what is that law
to the sinner? It's a ministration. There's
a ministry of the law. It brings condemnation. It brings
death. Isn't that what the Apostle says
there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3? That's the ministry of the
law to make the sinner understand where he stands before the Holy
God. There's no salvation there. There's only condemnation. And
again, writing to Timothy, remember how Paul speaks of the law again,
and the lawful use of the law. The law is good, he says, if
a man uses it lawfully. It's not made for a righteous
man, he says. It's not made for the justified
sinner. That's the righteous man that
he is speaking of there. not the self-righteous man. The
law will find out the self-righteous man. He's not made for that one
who is brought to the end of himself, that man who is looking
only to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord is righteousness.
He's not made for the justified sinner. No, says the Apostle,
he's made for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly,
for sinners. That's the ministry of the law. And so no wonder it's associated
in a sense with the cloud, the covering, the concealing of God. And in contrast there, in that
third chapter of 2nd Corinthians, doesn't Paul go on to speak of
the ministration of the gospel? There's a ministry of the gospel.
And what is the ministry of the gospel? It's the ministration
of the spirits and of righteousness. Oh, the Gospel is that that reveals
God in all His mercy and all His grace. In the Gospel we see
Him who is the Saviour, even the Lord, our righteousness. It is the Spirit who must reveal
the things of the Gospel of the grace of God. And so there in
that chapter of 2 Corinthians we see Paul again drawing the
contrast. between law and gospel, law and
grace. And so here with regards to this
tabernacle is certainly a revealing of God and something of the glory
of God but there's also that solemn withholding, that concealing
And ultimately, of course, the revelation comes to its climax
only in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or
that contrast between Moses and Christ's law and gospel. The
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And we have to always mark that
difference runs right throughout the Word of God Old Testament
and New Testament the distinction that is to be made between law
on the one hand gospel on the other hand in the law God does
conceal himself in a cloud but in the gospel oh what a revelation
again 2nd Corinthians 3.18 Paul says 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. Oh God who commands the light
to shine out of darkness He says shines in our heart to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face or as
the margin says in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not
a cloud you see but the glory of God has in a glass and that
changing from glory to glory it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ
himself Christ is that one who is the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not
man that we read of in the epistles of the Hebrews Now, that epistle
is so much a key really to our understanding of all that pertained
to tabernacle worship in the Old Testament. There we have the figure of that
that was to come. There we have a tabernacle that
was made by man and pitched by man. But Christ himself is the
great antitype of that tabernacle, the one that the Lord himself
has pitched. In Christ then we have the fullness
of that gracious revelation of God in him. Paul says to the
Colossians, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Oh, what a revealing we see then
in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what
has Christ done, having fulfilled all righteousness by his obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross, having made that great
sin atoning sacrifice, the fulfillment of all the sacrifices that were
ever offered there upon the brazen altar in the tabernacle, he has
now entered heaven itself. Paul says it there in Hebrews
again, Hebrews 6.20, whether the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek
or Christ has gone before and Christ has gone as that one who
is the the forerunner and so the believer today is able to
approach God with confidence and even enter into the very
presence of God there's such a contrast when we think of of
law and gospel as we said there in in chapter 19 where the scene
is set and the mounts all are flying as God is descending and
the people having to stand back kept away but now how different
it is as Paul says there in Hebrews 4 we are to come boldly to the
throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in every time of need, we're to come. And we're to come boldly,
we're to come with words, taking with us words and approaching
unto the Lord and speaking with the Lord. There's the Gospel,
it's not a concealing, it's altogether the glorious revealing of all
that God is. And when we come to the very
end of the Scriptures, the very last book, there in Revelation
chapter 22 we have those glorious words the Spirit and the Bride
say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is
athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of
life freely. There is no concealing when it
comes to all that we have in Christ Jesus, the antitype of
all these things. And yet we're to come not presumptuously,
we're not to approach irreverently, we're to recognize that our privileges
are so much greater even than those that the children of Israel
enjoyed, even that that Moses is experiencing here in our text
this morning. In chapter 12 of Hebrews, doesn't
the Apostle make the contrast again between the two mounts?
Between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. As I said, it's a book,
Hebrews, that really is the key whereby we can unlock and rightly
interpret all that we have in the books of Moses, in that law
that was given by Moses. Hebrews 12 verse 18, Paul says,
"...Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched,
and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness,
and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words,
which voice, they that heard, entreated that the word should
not be spoken of them any more. That's why they wanted Moses
to be the mediator. They could not endure that which
was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible the sight of
Moses. Moses himself exceedingly afraid,
quaking, he says, But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto
the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge
of all, and to the Spirit of just men made perfect, and to
Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant. Oh, what a glorious
Privilege, then, belongs to those who would come to Mount Zion. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escape not to refuse
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if
we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. All Christ has entered
into heaven itself. And we are to heed, then, all
that the Lord would say to us and we are to come to Him and
as we worship Him we are to pray and as we pray we are to be encouraged
that He will receive us because His very word is ever to us a
word of grace and of comfort and encouragement and yet we
are not to approach in any presumptuous fashion or we must keep our feet
when we come then to the place where God is to be worshipped. We see here then something of
the glories that were there even in that worldly tabernacle. And yet, though there is the
glory of God, yet there's also so much of the concealing of
God, there's that dread Moses himself trembling, Moses unable
to enter in because the cloud is abiding upon the tabernacle
whereas we can approach so freely we can come with boldness all
words even before God and pour out our souls into his bosom
and he will hear us and answer us and receive us because we
have so much more in Christ than ever they had here with the giving
of the commandments and the establishment of tabernacle worship. Oh, the
Lord help us in and cause us to see what a privileged people
we are but remembering always that to whom much is given of
the same shall much be required. Oh, we have so much to be thankful
for, so much to bless God for, and how are we to respond? We're
to believe these things and we're to trust in Christ, we're to
rest in Him. Then a cloud covered the tent
of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle
and Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation
because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled
the Tabernacle. Oh the Lord be pleased then to
bless His Word to us. Amen. Let us conclude our worship this morning
as we sing the hymn 973, the tune is Holy Warfare 471. Not
to Sinai's dreadful blaze, But the Zion's throne of grace,
by a way marked out with blood, sinners now approach to God. 973, tune 471.