before the end of the study on
the tabernacle. And as I begin this message,
I want to have three things understood by you. So let me set forth these
three things. The first is that God has purposed
this tabernacle. Understand this. When we get
to chapter 31, nothing has been built yet. There is no tabernacle yet. This
has been the purpose of God set forth as pertaining to the tabernacle. It was the Lord who told Moses,
this is what is to be done. Nothing is left out. All was
designed by God. Moses was a brilliant man, we
know that, and he was skilled in many areas, having grown up
in Egypt and educated in the, I'm sure, the very finest schools
of Egypt, and he understood architecture, and I'm sure he had some understanding
of engineering and building and things of that nature, but nothing,
about the tabernacle is left to the ingenuity or the wisdom
or the excellence or the skillfulness of Moses. Nothing. He has no input on this. This is our God from Exodus chapter
25 through Exodus chapter 31, this very chapter. The Lord has been
instructing Moses, this is the way it will be done. You'll get
these materials, this will be built, that will be built, everything
regarding the fencing of the tabernacle, the gate, the door
of the tabernacle, the veil of the tabernacle, all seven pieces
of furniture of the tabernacle, every bit of it is according
to the purpose of God. Now nothing, as I say, nothing
has been built yet. God has made known to Moses that
which he intends to bring about." This is actually very much like
salvation. And of course, the tabernacle
pictures our Lord Jesus, who is our salvation, and who is
our Savior. Back in old eternity, God purposed
that there would be a meeting place between Himself and sinful
people. So that's what this tabernacle
is all about. It's not man's idea. This is
not man's wisdom at work, that he desired a meeting place where
he could gather together and God would meet with him and they
would meet with God. This is not of man whatsoever. This is absolutely all of God. That's the way salvation is.
There's no input from us. There's nothing that we add.
The Lord didn't, as He gave these instructions to Moses, as to
how the tabernacle was to be built and erected, the Lord didn't
say, now Moses, you go ahead and add any extras that you want
to. No! There was nothing that Moses
would do. Because Moses is not going to
be the builder of the tabernacle. He is merely that man whom God
made known unto Him His eternal purpose. God said, build me a
sanctuary. Make me a place where I can meet
with Israel and Israel can meet with me. This is all the purpose
of God. Man had no contribution to this. That's the way it is with salvation.
You see, all of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, it
was all concocted, if I could put it that way, all purposed
in the mind of God before the world was made. The Savior is said to be the
Lamb who was killed, slaughtered before the foundation of the
world. And God in His infinite wisdom and in His purpose, He
designed this way of salvation. And no human hand will lift a
finger, lift a hand toward making this salvation or adding to this
salvation. It's all of God. This is Jonah's
theology. This is Jonah's doctrine in Jonah
chapter 2 and verse 9. He said salvation is of the Lord. He's in the pit. He's in the
belly of the great fish. And he couldn't get out. He vowed
to God he couldn't get out. I'll do this. I'll do that. He
couldn't get out. And therefore, God impressed
upon him to say this, Salvation is of the Lord. Oh, now he's
coming out. Now he understands. that if he
was to get out of that predicament, it would have to be of God, all
of God, totally of God, and he wouldn't lift a finger. He would
add nothing to it. So this is what I want you to
grasp right at the beginning of the message. It's the first
thing. Here's the purpose of God to have a tabernacle. This is what God did. Now, that covers chapters 25
through 31. And then we get to chapters 32
and 33. And that involves the idolatry
of Israel. They just showed themselves to
be spiritual fools. And as we shall see, and perhaps
next Lord's Day, hadn't made up my mind yet what day I'm gonna
bring this message, but they'll make a golden calf as they no
doubt saw in Egypt. They're gonna dance around that
golden calf. They're gonna show themselves
to be needy sinners. And I would liken that, that's
in chapters 32 and 33. I would liken that to the fall
of Adam. You see, God purposed the tabernacle. And if there was ever any doubt
as to whether they needed a tabernacle, that was made evident in chapters
32 and chapter 33. They're sinful people. They need God to show mercy to
them. They need God to meet with them.
They're a bunch of rebels. And as we shall see when we get
to that portion of Scripture, as this tabernacle was all of
God, this fall of Israel was all of them. They fell. And if there was ever any doubt
as to whether they needed a Savior, that they needed a blood sacrifice,
that they needed a meeting place between them and God, a mediator,
a Savior, if there was ever any doubt, Exodus chapter 32 and
33 settles that forever. They go dance around that calf.
And they're going to say, these be thy gods, O Israel, that brought
you out of Egyptian bondage. Now hear me. Way back in eternity,
God purposed salvation. That was before the fall. Before
there was ever a sinful person, there's already a Savior. before
there was ever a sheep that went astray. There's a shepherd who's
gonna come seeking and to save the lost sheep. So first of all,
here's the purpose of God, to have a tabernacle, chapter 25
through 31. And then there's the evidence
of the need of the tabernacle in chapters 32 and 33. And then here's the third thing
I want to show you. In chapter 34 through 40, that
tabernacle is actually built. And what does that say to us?
Our Lord Jesus in the fullness of time, He came into this world.
He came due to the purpose of God. God Himself had determined
He would rescue men. He would save. He would save
a people to the praise of the glory of His grace. These people
chosen in eternal election. That's the purpose of God. And
then, as we know, Adam fell into sin and that made it obvious
we need this salvation. We need this salvation that God
formulated. We need this salvation that God
Himself purposed. And then we read in Galatians
4, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his son. made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. That is salvation, the salvation
of sinners through a substitute, through His bloody death upon
the cross of Calvary. It becomes obvious that He is
the One, He is the Savior. It's obvious to those to whom
God opens up their eyes. There's the purpose of God. There's
the fall of Israel, typical of the fall of Adam. Then there's
the actual building of the tabernacle. And that's a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the tabernacle of God. Now, Ron read to us here
from Exodus chapter 31. I want you to turn over to Exodus
chapter... Look at chapter 35. Exodus chapter 35. And look at verse 30. Now remember
what Ron read to us back in chapter 31, that was before Israel sinned. That's all under the purpose
of God. No tabernacle had been built
then. Then in chapter 32 and 33, we have the fall of Israel.
Now, now comes the building of the tabernacle. And so, verse
30, chapter 35, and Moses said unto the children of Israel,
See, the Lord hath called by name, Bezalel, the son of Uriah,
the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he hath filled
him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, and understanding, and
in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, and to devise
curious works to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
and in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of
wood, to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put in his
heart that he may teach both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahissamoth,
of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom
of heart to work all manner of work of the engraver, and of
the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer in blue, and in purple,
and scarlet, and in fine linen of the weaver, even of them that
do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. Now, here
they are, the same men The builders of the tabernacle, that's the
title of the message. The builders of the tabernacle,
God said, these men whom He had already indicated to Moses back
in chapter 31, they're my choice. I called them. I called them. Now those men that He had told
Moses earlier that He had called to actually make the tabernacle,
these are the guys who are in charge. Now they begin to build
the tabernacle, and it will be built according to the purpose
of God. So let me give you two or three
points here real quick. Number one, the workman chosen.
The workman chosen. We'll just go back to that passage
Ron read, but you can see the parallel there. Go back to that
chapter, chapter 31, and the Lord's speaking to Moses. He's
giving all the instructions to one man. And God said, see, listen up
Moses, I want you to see something. I want you to understand something.
I want you to perceive something. I have called. I have called
by name. And you know, both of these men,
Bezalel, as well as a holy ab, both of them are pictures of
our Lord Jesus. That's the reason I entitled
the message, Builders of the Tabernacle. But as far as the
builder of the tabernacle of God, the one who is himself the
tabernacle of God, there's only one. You say, well, why did God
choose two builders? Let me tell you something. No
one man in the scriptures is ever sufficient to fully set
forth our Savior. In fact, you take all the men
who are types of our Savior, and all of the things, all of
the animals, all of the ark, the brazen serpent, and so many
other things, all of these set forth our Savior because no one
person or one thing could ever fully set forth Christ Jesus.
That would be impossible. So both of these men, they picture
our Lord Jesus. The workmen are chosen. You know
what God said about Christ Jesus? He's my servant whom I've chosen.
You know, before God chose a people unto salvation, He chose the
one who would save these people? And He chose us in Him. God chose the Savior. And you'll
notice here that he says in verse 2, see, I have called by name,
by name. Our Lord Jesus, he was indeed
called by name. Thou art my son, he said. The angel said to Mary and the
angel said to Jesus, you call, said to Joseph, brother, call
His name Jesus. I have called Him by name. Before
our Lord ever came into this world to do the work, when it
was announced to Mary, that holy thing shall be born by you, He
had already been called by God and given a name. A name which
is above every name, the name of Jesus. He shall save His people. I've given Him a people, and
He's going to save them from their sins. God said, I have
called Him. Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 10
says, He was called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. God called Him. And then there's
the, notice this first workman. Bezalel. His name means under
the shadow of the Almighty. Under the shadow of the Almighty
or under the protection of the Almighty. And there are lots
of things I can say about this, but I would say this to begin
with, our Lord Jesus, He is our shadow, or He's the shadow under
which we find shelter from the storm of God's wrath. Look with
me over in Isaiah. Hold your place here. Look in
Isaiah, if you would, chapter 32. Isaiah chapter 32. Let me read you a couple of verses
over here. Isaiah chapter 32. And verse 1. Isaiah 32. I'll read verse 1. He says, Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a
man Literally, that man. He's speaking of one man. One
particular special man. And that man shall be as a hiding
place from the wind, that is the wrath of God. And as a covert,
as a shelter from the tempest. As rivers of water in a dry place. And he says, as the shadow of
a great rock. The shadow of a massive rock
in a weary land. That's our Savior. Where do we
find refuge from the storm of God's wrath? Under the shadow
of Christ Jesus. It's like the hen gathers her
chicks and they find shelter under her wings. So our Lord
gathers us together by His sovereign, free, effectual grace, and we
find protection beneath His wings. We find shelter. We there hide
in the shadow of the wings of our Savior. You see this wonderful
work of salvation? The salvation of a people. It
was purposed by God and finished by that One whom God sent into
the world to save His people from their sins. And not only
is He our shadow under which we hide, but He Himself is hidden
beneath the shadow of God. Go back to Isaiah again. Maybe
you're still there. Isaiah 49. Let me show you this. Look at Isaiah chapter 49. Not
only is he the shadow under which we hide and find refreshment,
we find protection, we find the tenderness of God, There's no
danger can ever come to us under the shadow of the wings of our
Savior. But notice here in chapter 49
of Isaiah, look at verses 1 through 3. Listen, O Isles unto me. Listen, he says, and hearken
ye people from far. The Lord hath called me. See
there, this is Christ. Just like he called Bezalel. See, I've called Bezalel. Now he says, listen, old people,
I've called someone. And the writer speaks as though
he were the Lord Jesus Himself. The Lord has called me from the
womb. From the bowels of my mother
hath He made mention of my name. He hath made my mouth like a
sharp sword. Scripture in Isaiah talks about
His tongue being like a sharp two-edged sword. Watch this,
in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me. What does that mean? I thought
Jesus of Nazareth is equal with God. He is the Son of God. but
he joined himself to our nature to be a man. He's the man. And he found blessed protection
and shelter under the hand, the very shadow of the father. The
father protected him. When the Jews took him up on
a hill and would cast him down and kill him, he found protection
from the father. When they picked up rocks that
were going to stone Him to death, He found protection under the
shadow of the Father. In the shadow of His hand hath
He hid Me. No man can lay a hand on Him
till God willed His death, the death of the Savior. He said,
He's made Me as a polished shaft. And in His quiver hath He hid
Me. And He said unto me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, in
whom I will be glorified. Our Lord Jesus is glorified. He glorified the Father. He said
in His high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, Glorify Thou
me with the glory I had before. And the Father said, I've already
glorified you. I've already glorified you. This is God's workman. This is
the one God chose. This is the one God called. This
is the one He dwells in the shadow of the Almighty, and we dwell
in the shadow of our Savior. And then go back then to our
text in Exodus chapter 31, and watch this. He says first, I see I have called
by name, Bezalel, the son of Uri. Uri means in the light of
Jehovah. In the light of Jehovah. The Lord Jesus is Himself the
light. The light of the world is Jesus.
In Hebrews we read, He's the brightness of the Father's glory.
All the fullness of God dwells in Him. He revealed that brilliance,
that illumination under His three favored disciples on the Mount
of Transfiguration. And if we're ever to understand
the Word of God, if we're ever to understand how God in justice
saves sinners, this One who is the light must illuminate our
darkened hearts. In His light, we see light. And then, says of this man, Bezalel,
he's the son of Uriah, the son of Hur. Hur means liberty or
freedom. Our Lord Jesus, He's free of
sin. And He freed us from sin. How
did He free us from sin? By having our sin imputed to
Him. Charged to His record. Reckoned
to Him. Then He put it away by the sacrifice
of Himself. He has no sin, and in the eyes
of God, we have no sin. It doesn't exist in the mind
and purpose of God, in the justice of God. We have no sin. And you'll notice this about
Bezalel. The Scripture says he was of
the tribe of Judah. Judah's name means praise. I
said to you, Moses wasn't the builder of the tabernacle. Wrong
tribe. He's of the tribe of Levi. Oh, he was a wonderful prophet. And you might even consider him
in some cases to be like the king of Israel. He certainly
did head up the children of Israel and he led them. But he's not of the tribe of
Judah. The one who is the tabernacle of God, the one who is going
to build the tabernacle of God, he's got to be from the right
tribe, the tribe of Judah. And that's our Lord Jesus Christ.
You go into the lineage in Matthew chapter 1, Luke chapter 3. His lineage, the lineage of our
Savior traced all the way back to Judah. And then further back
than that, of course. Bezalel. He will construct the
meeting place. He'll make the meeting place
between God and men. And our Lord Jesus, that One
who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He Himself is the meeting
place between us and God. Would you meet with God? Would
you worship God? Would you honor God? Would you
come to God? You've got to come to the tabernacle.
God's tabernacle is the Lord Jesus Christ. And then here's the second thing
I want to show you, the workman prepared. Look at verse 3. God says, I have filled him.
I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding
and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. to devise cunning
works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in
the cutting of stones, to set them, to set them on the brass
plate that Aaron wore, to set them upon the shoulders that
he had, the garment for the shoulders, to set them, and in carving of
timber, and to work in all manner of workmanship. The workman is prepared. Number
one, God filled him with the Spirit of the Lord. The Scripture
says, go over to Isaiah 11 again. I think we've got time to look
at this. We need to look at it anyway. Isaiah chapter 11 of
our Lord Jesus. He's filled with the Spirit of
God. Isaiah chapter 11. It's very obvious right from
the beginning of this chapter that He's speaking of our Lord
Jesus. Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1, and
there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
a branch, capital B, that's our Savior, shall grow out of his
roots. Here's the ascent of Messiah. Verse 2, and the Spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him. He doesn't have the Spirit by
measure, but he has all the fullness of the Spirit of God. shall rest upon him." Here's
the anointing of our Savior. Watch this, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, I shall make of
him one of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and
he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness shall
he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth, and he shall himself smite the earth with the rod of his
mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of His reins. Here is our great Savior. Well equipped. Everything He
needs. As this man Christ Jesus, God
has gifted Him with the spirit of wisdom and knowledge and grace. Just like Bezalel was well equipped
for the work He was about to embark upon. Our Lord Jesus came
into this world and there he is, just a little infant, and
he's gonna grow in wisdom. Can you comprehend that? The
Son of God, the Lord Jesus, had to grow in wisdom and in stature. He had knowledge given to him
by the Spirit of God to do all the things that he needed to
do. wisdom and understanding and
knowledge and all manner of workmanship. For you see, we are his workmanship. That's what it says in Ephesians
chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. For by grace ye are saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship."
Our Lord Jesus is gifted in workmanship. What is this work? What is this
work that He is doing? Saving His people. Redeeming
His people. Reconciling His people to God. Removing our sins. Bringing in
everlasting righteousness. God gifted Him to do these things. This Jesus of Nazareth, he did
all of these things by the power of the Spirit of God, that perfect
man that God used. And as we go back here to our
text in Exodus chapter 31, it says he was gifted, watch this,
to work in gold, that's his deity. Who is that? Who is that man
who did what he did by the power of the Spirit of God? That's
what the scripture says. Well, who is he? He's God. He's the God-man. And to work
in silver. What's silver tell us? Redemption. He redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. And to work in brass. What does
that speak of? Judgment. He'll be judged for
our sins. God will deal with His only begotten
Son in judgment. And our Lord Jesus will settle
the issue by His death upon the cross of Calvary. And He'll be
gifted to cut stone. Upon the breastplate and upon
the shoulders of the high priest, twelve stones represent the twelve
tribes of Israel. And here is Bezalel. He cuts
his stones. And I tell you, our Lord, He
has cut us out of the vast quarry of mankind. And He has put us
all together, a glorious church, a living temple to God. We're His precious jewels. And
He was gifted to carve out timber He makes us trophies of His grace. When we get to glory, you know
who's going to get the trophies? The Lord will. Don't be looking
for Him yourself. You're not going to get the trophies.
He gets the trophies and the trophies are us! Washed in His
blood, robed in His righteousness. Well then, here's the third thing
quickly. Another workman chosen. A holy man. Aholiet. His name means, this
is the tent of my Father. I tell you, Christ, He is the
tent of His Father. He is that one who dwells in
God, and God dwells in Him. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
Father, full of grace and truth. And then it says, he's the son
of Ahissamach. That means one who supports his
brethren. And isn't that what Christ does
for us? He supports us. He holds us up. Listen, you would have fallen
a long time ago if the Lord didn't hold you up. He's your everlasting
support. He's a supporter of His brethren.
And the Scripture says in Hebrews 2, He's not ashamed to call us
brethren either. And then this, He's of the tribe
of Dan. He's of the tribe of Dan. As
Judah led the way, you know what? The tribe of Dan, they brought
up the rear. And so here we are, fully enclosed,
the people of God, by our Lord Jesus Christ. Once again, here's the pattern
first. Here's the purpose first. That's
25 to 31. God's purpose to save. God's
purpose to have a tabernacle. God's purpose to have somewhere
where He can meet with us in righteousness and in justice.
And we can meet with Him and find mercy and grace. Where is
that? Just one place. Christ Jesus. That Lamb of God. And then in
chapter 33, or 32 and 33, we failed. And it makes it obvious
that choice of God, of a people under salvation, it was necessary.
It had to be that. The appointment of a Savior is
necessary because of our fall. You see, Adam's fall didn't catch
God off guard. He was ready for that. In fact,
that worked in his purpose. And then our Lord actually came,
that one who is the tabernacle of God. And He accomplished everything
the Father sent Him to do. He is our hope. He is our Savior. He is our all in all, and may
God the Spirit impress upon everybody's heart here and everybody's heart
out there to come to our Lord Jesus Christ. To be found in
Him. Not having your own righteousness,
but His righteousness. That One who is the Savior of
sinners. Let's sing a closing.