Exodus 24 9, we'll just look
at three verses tonight. Then went up Moses and Aaron,
Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and
they saw the God of Israel. And there was under his feet,
as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were, the body
of heaven, in clearness. And upon the nobles of the children
of Israel he laid not his hand. Also they saw God and did eat
and drink. Three simple verses stating some
simple facts and we'll ask some simple questions tonight. Who
was it they saw? They saw God. Yes, but the text
is more specific than that. They saw the God of Israel. God reveals himself in his word
as the God of Israel 201 times. He's also often referred to in
the scripture by himself and others as the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. God's love for his elect defines
his very character. It's the very name by which he
identifies himself. He's the God of glory. He calls
himself that in the scripture too, the God of glory. He's the
God of all grace. He's the Holy God. What a blessed
name, what a beautiful truth that our Lord refers to Himself
so often, perhaps more often than any other way, I'm sure,
as the God of His people. There's a sense in which God
is the God of all creatures, there's no question about that.
He created all things and all people. He rules all things in
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can stay His hand or question Him. He controls all
things. The heart of the king is in His
hand. Heathen king, godly king, the heart of every king is in
His hand. And as the rivers of water, He turneth it whithersoever
He will. It's his sovereign right as God
of every creature to dispose of all of his creatures as it
pleases him. He'll do what he will with his
own. But there's a special sense in
which he is the God of his people, the God of Israel. They saw God,
yes, but they saw their God. There's a difference, isn't there?
Seeing God is not necessarily a desirable thing. If He's your God, though, if
He's my God, then there's nothing more desirable. If we think so, it's because
we don't know what it is to see God. There's a special sense in which
he is the God of his people. In the new covenant, he declared
this. This is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel, with my people. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind and write
them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God. This is not
redundant language. Of course he's their God. He's
everybody's God. He's the God of the universe
and every creature in it. Yes, but he's not being redundant
here. He's making a special revelation. I'll be to them a God in a whole
other sense. And they shall be to me a people. God's sheep are not just creatures
to him. Not just created beings or subjects
or even servants. Turn to John chapter 13. John chapter 13 in verse 30. This is such a comfort to me
and I know. To you, if you know the Lord. John 1330 we're talking about
who God is, the very name of God, expresses his love for his
elect. He's the God of Israel. He's
the God of his chosen people. In verse 30 of chapter 13 of
John, it says, he then having received the sop went immediately
out. That's Judas. The Lord said,
whoever I give the sop to, that's the one that'll betray me. And
he received it and went out immediately, and it was night. Therefore,
when he was gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified. The actions are set in motion
now, sure enough. This is the beginning of the end. Judas
is going out to betray him, and he'll be taken with wicked hands
and crucified. And he said, now, now, is the
son of man glorified? Crucified, yes, but that's his
glory. That's the glory of God, is that
he has mercy on sinners by the death of his son, by the sacrifice
of his son. And God is glorified in him.
All of the character of God is glorified in the son of man crucified. And if God be glorified in him,
God shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway
glorify him. And then look what he said. He's
talking to a group of grown men here. At least one of them was older
than he was. John is understood to be an older
fella, and maybe others where they're all grown men, and he
says, little children. This is who he is. He's, he has
a special, after Judas had gone, he's speaking to the 11 now,
and he says, little children. Yet a little while I'm with you.
You shall seek me, and as I said unto the Jews, whither I go,
you can't come. So now I say to you, a new commandment
I give unto you, that you love one another, as I've loved you,
that you also love one another. I'm gonna be leaving you. You're
gonna be needing one another now, more than ever. Little children, Why does he
call a group of grown men little children? Well, because he's
the one that Isaiah prophesied of in Isaiah 9, 6. Unto us a
child is born. Unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be on his shoulder. And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. This child is the father of his
people. And he calls us his little children.
He's the Prince of Peace too. Religion says we're all God's
children. But the Lord said to the Pharisees,
you're the children of the devil. And he spoke to his 11 chosen
disciples and said, you're my children. You're my children. All things were made by him.
He's the God of the universe and everybody and everything,
and without him was not anything made that was made. But he said,
these that do the will of my father, these same ones are my
mother and my brother and my sister. He is the God. This is what we're
saying through this whole introduction. He is the God of certain, specific,
chosen, beloved people. The God of Israel. Have you seen
the God of Israel? Why is he the God of Abraham?
He said, I'm the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob. I'm the God of Israel. Why was he the God of
Abraham? Let's just single him out as an example. Because Abraham
was exceptional in some way? Because Abraham attracted God?
He saw something in Abraham? No. God found Abraham in the
middle of nowhere worshiping idols. And said, I've chosen
you, and I'm going to bless you. Why is he the God of Israel?
You remember Jacob, the Lord changed Jacob's name to Israel.
Why is he the God of Israel? Because Jacob was such a worthy man? No, he was a scoundrel,
we know that. He was a liar and a cheat, just
like all of us by nature. But before he was ever born,
before he had done any good or evil, God said, I love Jacob.
He's the God of Israel, Jacob. Always has been. Before there was a Jacob, there
was the God of Jacob. Notice the description of God
in our text. Look at verse 10. Exodus 24, 10. They saw the God
of Israel. And just, you know, you read,
you're reading through this chapter and it's almost in passing. It
just, it says, they saw the God of Israel. Think about that.
They saw God. And there was under his feet
as it were a paved work of a Sapphire stone. and as it were the body
of heaven in his clearness. When they looked at him, they
saw a work. There was a body there because
he had feet. But there's no description of
his body, no description of his appearance. If there had been,
if they had seen something, then imagine the idols that would
have been produced as a result of that. But they saw work. A paved, E.D., finished, done
work. But the first thing that's mentioned
there is his feet. Under his feet. They saw God. What'd they see? Under his feet. Well, God doesn't have feet.
God is spirit. He don't have feet. He does in
the person of his son. He does now have feet. God has feet now because he was
born of a woman made under the law that he might redeem them
that were under the law. And those that are born of a
woman have feet. in the person of his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, God has feet. And this is a pre-incarnate vision
of him, the Lord Jesus. And we see his feet first here,
just considering the very idea that God has feet, feet that
walk this earth, feet that walk in the same dust that we walk
in feet that went about everywhere doing good according to the scripture
feet that walked on water we talked about sunday and gave
peter faith to do the impossible feet at which lay the very hope
of the hopeless at his feet Listen to this, Matthew 15, 30, and
great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were
lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down
at Jesus' feet. The very hope of the wretched
is at his feet, the feet of God. And it says, and he healed them.
It's not a vain hope. At the feet of Christ is the
hope of every sinner. Feet that were pierced. Feet, the heel of which was bruised
by Satan. It was prophesied in the very
beginning that Satan would bruise his heel. How is Satan going
to bruise his heel unless he has feet? He was born into this
world. The very Son of God. feet at which a sinner can truly
worship. The only place where true worship
can happen is at his feet. Listen to Matthew 28 now, as
they, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, if you read the context
of Matthew 28, as they went to tell his disciples They were
going to tell them that the Lord is risen. The angel appeared
and told them that. He's not here. He's risen. They
went to tell his disciples and behold, Jesus met them saying,
all hail. And they came and held him by
the feet and worshiped him. You're not going to worship anywhere
else. Except at the feet of God. And they saw This little group
of Hebrews here saw the feet of God. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they saw what was under his feet. But let's try to talk about
this first. There are two ways to see God. by sight, a physical manifestation
like the vision that was given to Isaiah that's described in
Isaiah chapter six. He said, in the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and his train filled
the temple. The angels flying and heard the
voice of God. There was a vision given to Isaiah
there in chapter six that he described in chapter six. And
like John saw on the Isle of Patmos, he described him in in
some ways, didn't he? And like here in our text, they
saw some kind of visible manifestation of God. But there's a better
way to see God. At least right now, it's better.
Paul said in Hebrews 11, 1, faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. Why is the word seen in
that text at all? the evidence of things not seen. Things seen with these eyes.
Your eyes take in evidence of what's taking place or of the
appearance of who you're looking at or what you're looking at.
And your mind calculates evidence based on what you see. But faith
is like that. It's evidence also. There's a
certainty involved. But you can't see it with these
physical eyes. It's a different kind of sight.
It's a different kind of understanding. It's to behold with the heart. It's to behold with this gift
that God gives that's not like anything else. We only see these
descriptions in the Word and we understand some. Peter said
in 2 Peter 1.19, We have also a more sure word of prophecy,
whereunto you do well that you take heed. as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place. How do you know if a light is
shining? You see it. You can't hear light, can't feel
it, but you can see it. That's what faith is like. It
sees, it beholds the very glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
if God shines his light for you and in you. He's talking there
about, as our brother recently taught in 2 Peter, that Peter,
James, and John had seen a manifestation of the Lord that few had seen,
no one else had seen. They saw his glory. They saw
his raiment change, his very glory shine in his face. I've never seen what Peter saw
on that mount, but I have. right here in my possession,
the same more sure word of prophecy that he was talking about. Exactly
the same prophecy. And it's more sure, isn't it?
It's a better vision. It's a better sight. It's better
evidence than what these eyes can give me of God and who he
is and who I am and how he saves sinners by his grace. Turn to Hebrews 2, verse 5. Hebrews 2, 5. We're talking about seeing God. Now,
Hebrews 2, 5, for unto the angels hath he not put in subjection
the world to come, wherever we speak? He's comparing the Lord
Jesus Christ to these great created beings that everyone makes such
a fuss over. Even people in the scripture,
John bowed down to worship one of them. He said, see thou do
it not. Angels aren't to be worshiped. God didn't put the whole world
in subjection to angels, but he put the world in subjection
to his son, Jesus Christ. verse six but one in a certain
place testified saying what is man that thou art mindful of
him or the son of man that thou visitest him thou madest him
a little lower than the angels thou crownest him with glory
and honor and did set him over the works of thy hands he's given
him dominion over all the world and everybody and everything
and All power is given unto me, he said, in heaven and earth. Verse eight, thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all
in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under
him. But we don't see that yet, do you? This world, we don't
see this world in subjection unto him. They're rebellious
and vile. We don't see all things put under
him yet, but we see him. You see verse 9, we see Jesus. Oh yes. He's not talking about
a physical sight there, is he? We see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels. for the suffering of death. It
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest, so that he might have
somewhat to offer as our high priest for the suffering of death,
because what he had to offer was his own precious blood. He
died on the cross to be our priest and to have that blood be an
offering for our sin. He was made a little lower than
the angels for that purpose, but crowned with glory and honor.
that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Now
look at Hebrews 11, just turn over a few pages to Hebrews chapter
11 verse 23 through 27. By faith Moses when he was born
was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper
child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment By
faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward, by faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured Why? Because he saw somebody. Not
something, not streets of gold and pearls made into gates as
seeing him. I'd rather have him and his reproach
than everything I can see with these eyes. And if you ever see him, you
make the same choice. Because that's not a choice of
free will. That's a choice made because
of free grace. When the Lord came and revealed
himself to Doubting Thomas, he said to him in John 20, 29, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they
that haven't seen with these eyes, yet have believed. They've seen
a different way, a better way, a more enduring way, a more sure
way. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence. Now listen, he just said, blessed
are they that have not seen me with these eyes and yet have
believed on me. They've seen me with the eye
of faith and laid hold of me. And then John said, many other
signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which
are not written in this book. He did him in our presence, John
said. We saw them, but we haven't written them down. But we've
written what we've written, what we saw with these eyes, we've
written it down, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing, you might have life. How many
people, sinners, saw him with these eyes as he walked this
earth, but have not life? But if you lay hold upon him
by faith, you'll have life. through his name. That's better
eyes, isn't it? That's a better way to see God.
Now look again at what they saw in our text when they saw God,
or just think about it. You remember the words or you
certainly turn back there. They saw him in the person of
his son, didn't they? They saw God's feet. So who's
that? That's Christ. That's our Lord
Jesus Christ. And they saw a work under his
feet. a paved work. And this is an interesting word,
this word paved, especially in the context that it's used here.
It can mean to pave with brick, but also has this meaning, just
like some English words have more than one meaning, depending
on what you're talking about. Well, we happen to know what
he's talking about. We see the context here in which
he uses this, so we know what he means by it. There's two meanings
to the word paved there. to pave with brick, and the other
one is this, to be white, to make white, to purify. And there might be some doubt
regarding the two meanings, except that there's one more phrase
in the description of this work. It's a paved work of a sapphire
stone and, as it were, the body of heaven. in clearness. The word his is not in the original
text, it's in italics there. He's still talking about the
paved work. It was like a paved work of a sapphire stone and
as it were the body of heaven in clearness. The word clearness
there has one definition, not two, one. It means this. to be clean, to be pure, to purify. So what does paved mean? White,
pure, clean. When they saw God, they saw his
feet and under them, a purified, again, past tense, done, finished,
accomplished work. It wasn't in the process of being
paved, It wasn't partially paved, it was paved. And this is the work that our
Lord came to do and did do. This is what he did. It's a purified
work. It's a work of purification.
It's a making clean. It's a making white. Listen to
Titus 2.11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Talking about the gospel. Who
gave himself, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. Why did
he do that? that he might redeem us from
all iniquity and, you know the next word, purify unto himself
a peculiar people, zealous of those good works he just talked
about. You see, our purification is not those good works. He gave
himself that he might redeem us and purify us. And because
he did, we're going to be zealous of good works. He's ordained
it, but he did it to pure. It's a,
it's a finished work of purification. That's what he came down here
to do. He gave himself to redeem us and to purify us. And so that's
what they saw. What did they understand about
that? I don't know. But that's the clear finished
work of Christ. It's under his feet. He is given
all authority, power, that he should give eternal life. You
see, that work is under his authority, under his feet, under his government.
It's his work to do, to accomplish. And he's given power and authority.
When you talk about something being under somebody's feet,
you're talking about them having dominion over that. And he was
given dominion for the express purpose of giving life to his
people. How did he do that? By purifying them with his precious
blood, redeeming them unto God. And notice here that in this
vision, the paved work is integral to the very sight of him. You
can't behold him without beholding the work that he did. You can't
separate God from that work of purification. We preach Christ. crucified. And this also explains
how they were able to see God at all and not die. Look at verse
11. It says he didn't lay his hand
on them. You know what that's talking
about? It goes on to say in that same verse again that they saw
God. He's stressing this now. God
didn't lay his hand upon them. They saw God and ate and drank
in his presence. And the unspoken implication
here is that instead of God pouring out His wrath upon them, instead
of Him putting His hand of judgment upon them and destroying them
as a sinner deserves by nature, they were able to eat and drink
in His presence. They were able to rest and to
enjoy a meal in the presence of God. How? That purification. You don't come in the presence
of God. Who shall go into his holy hill? Who shall appear before
the throne of God? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. That's who will see him and eat
and drink in his presence, rather than being destroyed. This explains
it, doesn't it? This is written strictly because
no man can see God and live. Strictly speaking, Manoah and
his wife saw God and Manoah said in Judges 13, 22, we shall surely
die because we've seen God. That's the only reason we're
going to die. Why? Because we saw God. That's
why. But Manoah's wife said in verse
23, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have
received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands. That's why God didn't kill them,
because there was an acceptable offering that he took at their
hands. You see, we have to offer up
Christ by faith. He got to be my lamb. He got
to be my sin offering. I can't just believe that He's
a sin offering. He got to be my Lamb. He got to receive the Lord Jesus
Christ at my hands. You see, that's what He's going
to do. That's what's going to happen. He's going to give me
faith in His Son. And I'm going to cry with that
publican, Lord, be merciful to me. Be propitious to me, the
sinner. I believe in the truth that God
has mercy on sinners. But here's what I need. I need
him to have mercy on me. God, be merciful to me. That's
the offering up of the Lord Jesus Christ as our propitiation, as
our sin offering. By faith, by faith. Now, if God does not receive
an offering for us, then Manoah is right. How does the acceptable received
offering make it so that we might see God and live? Well, Hebrews
9.22, almost all things are by the law purged with blood. That offering, it's a blood offering. And everything according to God's
law is purged with blood. What does purged mean? Make clean,
purify. That's still what we're talking
about here. And it happens by blood and without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. Hebrews 10, 19, having therefore
brethren boldness to enter into the holiest. We don't just see
God from afar. We enter into his very presence
to enter into the holiness. How by the blood of Jesus, you've
got to be purified before you can come into his presence. by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having in high priest over
the house of God, our Lord Jesus, that high priest, that heavenly,
eternal high priest that had somewhat to offer, like every
other priest, yet not the blood of bulls and goats like the others,
but his own precious blood. Having in high priest over the
house of God, let us draw near. with a true heart and full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled. Sprinkled with what? That blood
he just talked about, by the blood of Jesus we enter in. He has splashed our hearts with
that precious blood and our bodies washed with pure water. You got
to be clean if you don't come into his presence. Hmm so these in our text they
were able to see God and not die Because of that finished
work of purification that they saw themselves under his feet
by his authority He said I have what? power This is the work
under his feet now. I have power to lay down my life
And I have power to take it up again. I It's a work of purification
that is accomplished. It's paved. There's not a brick
missing. He's not waiting on us to do
anything. He's done it. It's finished. It's perfect without
you. And without me. Remember what our Lord said in
Matthew 5 8. Blessed are the pure in heart. Do you remember why they're blessed? because they'll see God. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God, just like these ones here did in our
text. You can't see him unless you're purified by his precious
blood. But if by faith you see his finished
work of purification, the purging of our sins by his blood, by
the preaching of the gospel. You see that work accomplished
because it's the gospel of Christ crucified. That's what happened
when he was crucified. It is a finished work of purification. He has obtained eternal redemption
for his people by that work. He's washed us clean by the preaching
of the gospel. You see that. You see Christ
crucified. You see the very glory of God
in his face. If that's true, then you can
like those ones in Revelation, that the angel said, these are
they which have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the lamb. And then, as we've mentioned
already, they ate and drank in his presence. What is this picture? Well, preeminently and most importantly,
we eat and drink his flesh and blood. That's what it is to see
him. It's to partake of him. By faith,
he that eateth the flesh of the Son of Man and drinketh his blood
hath life. And he that does not, does not have life. He said,
my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. It's
to see him by faith and partake of Him in His glory, in His righteousness,
in His grace, in His redemptive character to partake of Him,
to eat the whole lamb. That was the commandment, to
eat the whole lamb in all of His character as God and man,
the God-man. To see him is to be fed, to be
satisfied, to be fulfilled, to be nourished and happy. We were
talking about this just the other day, some of the men, after having
one of the best, I've had some good meals in my life. And it
ain't, I'm not talking about caviar and champagne, I'm talking
about good food. You know what I'm talking about.
It don't have to cost much to be good. But I enjoyed a meal
the other day that just, I couldn't even believe it. I couldn't believe
it. And I just sat there thinking,
I'm completely satisfied. I've never felt so damn good
in my life. It feels good, doesn't it? And
I got to thinking, that's why The word of God is compared to
our food, the bread, the banquet, the feast, to feed upon our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I have meat to
eat that you don't know anything about. I said a while ago that
right now, it's better to see God in Christ by faith. That's the best way you're going
to see him in this world. But the ultimate sight of Him
is yet to come. John said, Beloved, now are we
the sons of God. That's a pretty good thing to
be right now. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. But we know right now we're God's
sons. So, whatever we're going to be, We're
always going to be God's sons. But we know that when he shall
appear, we'll be like him. I don't know what he said. We
don't know what that is. It doesn't appear what we shall be. We're
going to be like him. I don't know what that is yet exactly,
because our knowledge is so limited. How do you know we're going to
be like him? For we shall see him, three words, as he is. There's a sense in which we see
him as he is as opposed to the way religion sees him, as he's
not. But I've never yet in my life
and never will in this world see him as he is. But I will. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
And He'll stand on this earth in the latter day, and I'll behold
Him with these eyes and not another, Job said. I will see my Redeemer. We see now through a glass darkly,
but then face to face. Let's bow in prayer.