Exodus 35-40 Is there any way to be right with God? Any way to get a FRESH START?

Link to MP3
Read 35:4-21, 36:1, then “ch36,37,38 record in exact detail the making of the Tabernacle”, 38:21-23

Or in more Biblical language: How can sinners approach a holy God? How can we get forgiveness? How can we receive mercy?

These were the questions faced by the Israelites.

First there was the question of whether God even existed. I mean, they’d all heard the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – but here they were, enslaved, beaten each day, working for the Egyptians. Didn’t really seem like God was there. Moses, an Israelite adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, was not a slave, but was so enraged by the suffering of his people that he decided to rescue his people…by murdering an Egyptian slave driver. This was discovered, and Moses had to flee to the wilderness. A failure.

Then much to Moses’ surprise God calls to him out of a burning bush, and tells him that he, Moses, is going to be God’s mouth and God’s Redeemer and will save and lead Israel. Whaaat? He was, needless to say, rather surprised. So were the Israelites. Suddenly Moses appears, terrifying plagues start to happen, and they are rescued. I bet even the most faithful Israelites were shocked when God suddenly moved in judgement on the Egyptians! When something you’ve been praying for suddenly happens. Like when my best friend suddenly decided to come with me to the church youth group. Like what. And then accepted Christ. Like whaat? After years!

So the Israelites were surprised to be rescued! Imagine that. Years of slavery. Your dad was a slave, you were a slave. Your son would be a slave. And then suddenly you are free. Terrifying plagues- but you are blessed. And then you arrive at the mountain of God. It’s thundering and lightening and very very scary. And God says “I will be your God and you will be my people” Wow!

And then Moses disappears for 40 days….and they decide to take matters into their own hands. They didn’t listen to revelation – to God’s word. No. They made God in their own image. Kinder. Smaller. More manageable. A God we can manipulate. A God who is not so holy and terrifying. A God you can bargain with. A God who will make us rich because “The laoord saauys thaaat we’re kids of Kiiiing, and Kiiings live in a palace, so I. I mean you should live in a palace too.”
Jesus will get me a BMW. I’ll take Jesus. It’s the modern version of the ancient “let’s make God a cuddly calf instead of this terrifying unapproachable God.

AS we saw last week, that went badly. A plague breaks out, the tablets – the covenant / contract between God and his people is broken – literally, Moses smashes them. 3000 Israelites die because of their rebellion, and now they are under God’s judgement and God refuses to go with them. Suddenly they are alone again. A lost bunch of slaves wandering around in the wilderness. Weak. Vulnerable. No home. No purpose.

Then Moses steps in and saves them. He pleads to God on their behalf, standing between God and them, appealing to God’s mercy, even offering his own life as sacrifice (which God did not accept). And joy of joys – God listens to Moses, and the Covenant is renewed in chapter 34.

Now what?

Because Moses is old. He’s pushing 80. He won’t be around to save them to be their representative, their mediator, much longer. How can they live with a holy God without being destroyed?

Because they, like us, were sinners. They got things wrong. They tried to do things their own way. God says “don’t make images of me” so they make an image. Ooops.

How often do we do same thing. We read in the Bible what we should do… and we do the opposite. Tell the truth. Na, easier just to lie. I might get into trouble if I tell the truth. Be sexually pure. Na, it’ll be ok for us to have sex even though we’re not married. We prayed about it! Love my spouse? Na, I’ll fight to get my own way. Show grace? Forgive? Na, Because it’s not like I’ve been forgiven…

So sinners have a problem. How do we get right with the holy God? Today’s passage tells us.

1. To be made right with God you need to make a beautiful holy tent!

2. The only way to be right with God is in the way that God says.

3. The only way to be right with God is to have a Moses

1. To be made right with God you need to make a beautiful holy tent!

There is a way for the Israelites to be made right with God again. A tent. A TENT WHERE GOD LIVES.

Turn to chapter 40 and the end of v33: So at last Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle. 35 Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle. 36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. 38 The cloud of the LORD hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.

This was no ordinary tent. It was made from finest materials with great skill. Like the Operahuset in Oslo. Or the Sydney Opera House. Something glorious, something eye catching, something that says “wow”. It was built with great skill by experts and with great devotion who worked hard to make it magnificent. This was built to glorify God. Like St Peters Basilikum in Rome. Or St. Pauls Chatehdral in London. Or the Notre Dame in Paris.

This tent is the Ancient version of that. Something incredibly beautiful. Detailed. Intricate.

But our cathedrals are open. This tent was built in layers. No-one could see the inner chamber. Because that was where the holy God “lived”. Go in there and you would die. The layers in the tent were to protect the people from God!
And it had an altar. Not a symbolic altar like some churches have – but a real altar, an altar on which animals were killed, blood was shed, continually. A constant reminder of our sinfulness and God’s holiness. God said to Adam “If you eat of the fruit I commanded not to eat, you will surely die”. And he wasn’t kidding. The wages of sin is death. So there was a reminder. Imagine the sounds, the smells, the amount of blood! The priests would be covered in blood!

When we think objectively about ourselves. When we turn off the inner lawyer who is always making excuses for our behaviour “I was tired, I deserved that, they deserved that, I was hungry, well 2 years ago they were mean, so…”
When we stop doing that we’re forced to acknowledge that we’re perhaps not as “good” as we think. In fact, I think that’s the worst thing about becoming a Christian – the Holy Spirit lifting the blinkers off so you start to see yourself as you truly are! Ouch.
But that means we have great compassion on others. Because, well, I do that. Or if I don’t do THAT, then I certainly do my own version of it. That’s why we in this church can say “come as you are” and mean it. Because you may be a messed-up sinner and so are we! And we want to introduce you to the one who can fix you! We are not here to pretend to be better people than everyone out there. We are here to point people to God.

So, how do we do that? Well, so far in Exodus we’ve discovered that in order for us to be right with a holy God you need: A holy tabernacle skilfully and beautifully made, with the bread of life on the table, the eternal light of the world on the lampstand, the altar with continual sacrifices, and priests washed clean, having made the right sacrifices, wearing their holy garments, ephod, turban, shoulder pieces, and even holy underpants. And if any of that is lacking, or done wrongly… it’s over.

That’s the way God says to be made right with him. The Israelites tried a different way – and 3000 died. And through the years the Israelites tried taking shortcuts, tried ignoring God’s word, changing his word, leaving bits out – none of it worked.

2. The only way to be right with God is in the way that God says.

Imagine that you were an Israelite living 3000 years ago. You couldn’t read and write – that was only specialists who could. So you wouldn’t be reading these chapters. You would gather each day at the synagogue and you would hear this being read. What kind of impact would it have on you as you listened first to chapters 25-31 about how you should build the Tabernacle. The excitement of God lives with US. Out of all the peoples on earth he chose us!
Then the horrifying sin of the Golden Calf. We’ve messed up. God will abandon us. And then, oh relief, Moses steps in and saves the day. Again. And then the actual building of the Tabernacle in chapters 35-40. God is still with his people! We are still his. He is still with us. The God of the universe who has chosen us to be his own, his very own. Not because we are special, or strong, or better, or more holy (that much is clear!), but because He is the Lord, the Lord, the gracious and compassionate God.

Last week it took us about 18 minutes to read three chapters. What impact would it make to listen to 6 chapters (about 36 minutes) of detailed instructions about building the tabernacle and then another equally detailed 5 chapters (another 30 minutes) on HOW they built the Tabernacle. Why is it here? Why so much detail? Is God just an accountant who likes boring details?

Well, no. Listening to over an hour of “this is exactly how you are to make it” followed by a thoroughly humbled people after the Golden Calf nonsense making it exactly as God said would make the point pretty clear. An hour of “here the curtain rods must go”, followed by “and, lo, they didst put the curtain rods here”.

They made the Tabernacle exactly as God said! And the people who made it where the people God said should make it. The ones who were specially gifted for it.

One hour of tabernacle. This is important! And these chapters about building it are almost word for word what God says in the earlier chapters.
What’s the point? we need to do exactly what God says in order to be made right with him. There is no other way to be made right with God except the way he has said, and only the way he has said, through his word, delivered by his redeemder, his prophet.

The Tabernacle was the way to be made right with God. But it would only work if it was built exactly as God had said. Any other way would lead to disaster.
The only way to be right with God is in the way that God says. And he says we need a Moses.

3. The only way to be right with God is to have a Moses

Look at 38:32,42,43 and the whole of chapter 40.

Ex 39:32 And so at last the Tabernacle was finished. The Israelites had done everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
He is the voice of the Lord.

Ex 39:42–43 So the people of Israel followed all of the LORD’s instructions to Moses. 43 Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the LORD had commanded him, he blessed them.
He is God’s representative. He blessed them because they had obeyed the Lord

Then in chapter 40 he actually builds the Tabernacle from what they had made.

Ex 40:16–21 Moses proceeded to do everything just as the LORD had commanded him. 17 So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year. 18 Moses erected the Tabernacle by setting down its bases, inserting the frames, attaching the crossbars, and setting up the posts. 19 Then he spread the coverings over the Tabernacle framework and put on the protective layers, just as the LORD had commanded him. 20 He took the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant and placed them inside the Ark. Then he attached the carrying poles to the Ark, and he set the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—on top of it. 21 Then he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Tabernacle and hung the inner curtain to shield it from view, just as the LORD had commanded him.
And on it goes v22 he places the table with v23 the bread, just as the LORD had commanded him. 24 He set the lampstand in the Tabernacle across from the table on the south side of the Holy Place. 25 Then he lit the lamps in the LORD’s presence, just as the LORD had commanded him. 26 He also placed the gold incense altar in the Tabernacle, in the Holy Place in front of the inner curtain. 27 On it he burned the fragrant incense, just as the LORD had commanded him. V29 just as the LORD had commanded him.
30 Next Moses placed the washbasin - and the priests wash end of v31, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses is the key. He is the voice of God. The people obey his words and build God’s tabernacle exactly as God had commanded. Everything has been done exactly as it should. And God’s chosen mediator, Moses, now has put everything together: the tent, the ark, the bread, the lampstand, the altar, basin, everything built according to plan. V33 So at last Moses finished the work.
So what happens? 34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle.

God comes down. He comes to live with his people. No longer far and distant on the mountain. But now with his people. It worked! We have God with us! Moses did it!

But Moses is just a player, an actor, a foreshadowing. He’s playing someone else’s role. Someone coming, greater than him, who would really be able to unite God and Man, and in whom God would truly live amongst us. Because look at v35 Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle. Even he is not holy enough to be in a glory cloud. Not even Moses. Is there anyone who could be holy enough to be in a glory cloud and not die…?

36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. 38 The cloud of the LORD hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.

God with his people.

But what about us. Should we now find a Moses, then find a Bezalel and Oholiab, and build a magnificent tent, and get a load of animals so that we can offer the right sacrifices, so that we too can be right with God? Because Moses himself did say that there will be a prophet like him who will come in the future.

The Muslims claim Muhammed is the prophet like Moses. Is he though? Did he speak to God face to face? No he spoke only to the angel Gabriel. Did Muhammed meet God on the mountain in the glory cloud? Did Muhammed plead for his people and get God to show mercy? No.

But you know what? Jesus spoke face to face with the Lord, not through an angel. He called God Father, something no Muslim could ever do. Jesus met God on the mountain in the glory cloud. The disciples with him were terrified when they saw Jesus in his glory, and heard the Father say “This is my son. Listen to Him”. Muhammed claimed to have heard the word through an angel. Jesus is the word. And Jesus pleaded for his people “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

There is none like him. No-one comes close. No-one. Not even Moses, probably the greatest in the Old Testament.

Jesus is the better Moses, the one Moses was foreshadowing. He was the actor playing the Jesus role. He was a sinner, a murderer, whom God called out of the wilderness to be his Redeemer. So that 1500 years later when Jesus appears on stage we know ah! Here is the real deal. This is the one Moses was pointing to. Moses freed the people from slavery in Egypt – Jesus frees us from slavery to sin. Moses brought them through the wilderness to the promised land of Israel. Jesus takes us through the wilderness of this life and the promised land of the New Creation. Moses tried to offer his life on behalf of his people – but God did not accept his sacrifice. Could not. Jesus cries out on the cross “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” as he sacrifices himself for his people.
Jesus is our Tabernacle – where we can meet God. He is our sacrifice, his blood shed on the cross. He is our high priest, perfectly representing us to God, so that we can be with God. Forgiven. Set free. A fresh start. A new life.

Tell me, do you know this Jesus? If you don’t – get to know him! Speak to him, cry out to him for mercy.

Jesus, I have ignored you until now. Forgive me. I don’t deserve it. You are holy. I am a sinner. But you died on the cross for me. Please accept me as your child. I want to put you first, to live for you. Be my Saviour, my Lord and my God. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, please talk to me afterward.

And if you know him, don’t you just love him? Our tabernacle, sacrifice, priest, our Moses. All find their fulfilment in Jesus. Isn’t he amazing. Isn’t he wonderful. Be filled with his wonder and follow him as Lord. Whatever you’re struggling with take it to him. Wherever you are disobeying, confess it now. Let’s deal with it now. Kill it. Kill the sin that is dragging you down. Come forward for prayer. We can pray together.

Let’s get right with God. Lord, fill us with wonder and adoration so that that temptations and trials of this life fade away in the brightness of your love and your magnificence.

Amen

Exodus 19 Be prepared to meet the Holy God!

Exodus 19:1-20:3

Why are you here?

Why do you come to church?

Because this is what you always do? Because you’re trying to impress God? Because your Dad told you to? Because you must? Because without God’s Word you will die? Because you are desperate to be with the Lord and his people? Because you fear the Lord, and want to avoid his anger?

Why are you here?

Today’s passage is about being ready to face the Lord. Are you prepared? Who is this LORD that Israel is about to meet? Unapproachable. Dangerous. Terrifying. Holy.

The first thing we learn from this passage is that
The Lord will destroy you because you are unclean
The Lord will destroy you unless you have a representative
The Lord will destroy you unless your representative is Jesus – so listen to Him!

1. The Lord will destroy you because you are unclean

Today the rescued people of God, chosen by Him, kept safe by Him, fed by Him, lead by Him, watched over and protected by Him - finally are gathered to hear from Him at His holy mountain. And yet they cannot approach Him. 12 Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death.

21 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the Lord, or they will die. 22 Even the priests who regularly come near to the Lord must purify themselves so that the Lord does not break out and destroy them.”

Why would the Lord warn his own people that he will destroy them? What’s up with that?

Well, as I mentioned at the start, God is a HOLY God. Holy. What does that actually mean? We talk about the Holy God, Holy Bible that kind of thing – but what does it mean? So I looked it up. And “holy” basically means who God is. It is his nature, his selfhood. These are some of the descriptions of holiness: power, glory, transcendence, uniqueness, exclusiveness, pureness, dangerousness. He is other. He is pure. He is power. He is perfectly good. But that goodness is not a kind of “oh, how nice” goodness – it is goodness like a blade of sharpened steel, goodness like a blazing fire – goodness that will cut through and burn up anything that is not equally good.

And that makes him unapproachable. But God’s holiness is also expressed in his saving work and being with his people. So how can unholy people (that is people who are not-God) meet with the Holy God. Can not-God and God meet?

Well, yes, but only because God has made it possible, and (and this is important) only in the way that he has made it possible. There is only one way to God – His Way. Any other approach will end up with you dead, destroyed by his holiness.

As all of you know, we’ve just got a dog. And she’s great. Dogs are great. They’re such cool animals. Because a dog exists to please its master. That’s what they live for. A dog’s role, a dog’s job description is to serve and obey his master.
But a dog who doesn’t do that, a dog who is disobedient and running wild – a wild dog – is a problem dog, a bad dog, we say. He’s not doing what he should be doing. Instead of a faithful companion the dog becomes a menace, a nuisance, even dangerous to those around him. A bad dog is bad for those around him – and bad for the dog himself. He is not happy, but angry. He is alone, isolated, friendless, snapping at the world around him. Living in fear, anger – ready to attack to defend what little he has.

We were created to please God. He is our master and we were made to please him, to serve him and to love serving him. It’s in our nature. But like wild dogs we have gone astray. Bad dog. Stop pretending to be God (Ex17) and let God be God.

As Christians, we should know better. In everything we are to please God – all of life belongs to him. And yet so often we are like bad dogs, disobedient dogs – running away from our master when he calls, eating rotten fruit or cat poo even when our master is saying no (true story). Weeing on the floor inside (true story). We march around demanding our rights, demanding that he, our master, does what WE want him to do.
Dear friends, I am not God. You are not God. Like Israel we march around demanding water and food and comfort – our rights – instead of trusting him to provide what we need. Dear brothers, we have no rights. We belong to Christ – twice! He made us and he bought us back. We are his. My life is his. Your life is his.

Are you still trying to approach God on your own? Sneak around the back of Mt Sinai. Hide under Moses’ coat as he goes up. Pretend to be a bush. Poof! That’s the end of you. We know what God does to bushes! (Burns them!)

You cannot approach God. You cannot manipulate God. You cannot demand of God. Who do you think you are? Who does your life belong to?

It’s worth us stopping and asking the question: when did I last give my career over to God? Or my marriage (or future marriage)? What if God calls me to give up my career? Or calls me to be single? The key is: it’s not your career. It’s not your future. It’s His. We belong to him.

Have I given up my family? For some of you this is a reality of following Jesus – rejection by your family.

We talk about choice, rights, disappointment with God. This is supremely arrogant. We were created to serve him. That is our job.

And so as the people gather before this unapproachable God, they are gathered to hear from him how they are to live as his people. The next chapters of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and on to Deuteronomy are filled with God’s Law – God’s commands to say “this is how you will live your life”. Because our lives are not ours – they are his. And that’s a good thing because he is a good master and gives us good gifts and looks after us, like we look after Eowyn, our dog, and feed her and keep her warm and give her lots of love and affection. And in return she obeys us. Most of the time.

You see, I am her Master. She is my Dog. God is our Master. We are his people. We are not the same. He is Other. He is Holy. Do not touch the mountain, for you will surely die.

16 On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. 17 Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.

The Lord will destroy us because we are unclean, like disobedient dogs.

But that’s not the whole story, is it.

2. The Lord will destroy you unless you have a representative

19 As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply. 20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain.

How is it possible for unholy people, sinful people, to get into contact with a holy God? We need a representative. We need someone to bring us the word of God. And we need someone to clean us – make us ready to meet with God.

10 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. 11 Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.

Moses could go to meet with God. Why? Because God chose him to be the representative. Remember way back in chapter 4, at the Burning Bush? God says to Moses “Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

Moses’ job was to be the mouthpiece of God. Not to add anything to it, but to simply repeat the words of God. What he heard his Heavenly Father say, he would say.

And Moses’ words, which were really God’s words, could make the people ready to meet with God.

14 So Moses went down to the people. He consecrated them for worship, and they washed their clothes. 15 He told them, “Get ready for the third day, and until then abstain from having sexual intercourse.”

Why sex? I don’t know. Perhaps, like fasting, to control your bodily desires simply to honour God? But they were washed, they were cleaned – and only then were they ready to hear the voice of God. 20:1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me.

Moses prepared the people to meet with God, and then they met with God.

What we’re doing today is not so different. We are God’s people, gathered together to hear God’s word. This, in Exodus 19 and 20, is the first church. The word “church” (ekklesia) simply means meeting or assembly or gathering. That’s what church is: the gathering of God’s people to hear God’s word. A gathering of Christians without God’s word is not a church. A Christian by himself reading the Word is not a church. But coming together, gathering together, to hear the word of God –that is a church.

This morning we are gathered together to hear God’s word. We are a church. But we did not wash our clothes or abstain from sex to come here this morning. Because we have been made clean not by Moses – but by the one who is greater than Moses: Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. As we saw last week He does not just bring the word of God – he IS the word of God. To know him is to know God. HE is the wisdom of God. He is the perfect representative of God to man – to see Jesus is to see God. And he is the perfect representative of man to God. And he can make us ready to meet God – cleanse us – so that we can be called the people of God.

He can make the unholy, holy.

3. The Lord will destroy you unless your representative is Jesus – so listen to Him!

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you. Then they will always trust you.” Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

Why did God do this? I mean the people already knew Moses spoke for God – after all they’d just had ten plagues when Moses said “God says this will happen!” and it happened. They had the Red Sea, when Moses raised his arms and the sea parted. They fought the Amalekites and Moses raised his arms and they won. It was quite clear that Moses brought God’s word. Duh! So why this extra thing now? Why a cloud on a mountaintop and a voice from Heaven that proves that Moses speaks for God so that the people will always trust him?

Well, those of you who know the gospels will know why! We did Mark last year in this church – and in Mark chapter Mk 9:2–8 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. 5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.”

God does this with Moses so that when he does this with Jesus, his Son, we know that HERE is the true representative of man to God. Here is our Moses, the perfect Moses, the greater Moses. (And if you noticed also the true Elijah, the greater Elijah, the perfect Prophet). Jesus is the one whom Moses foreshadowed. Moses was the image – Jesus is the reality.

And just like the Israelites with Moses, the way we need to respond is to LISTEN and then obey what is being said.

With Moses we need stay back from the mountain or we will die. We need to trust Moses to go and be our representative. We need to wash our clothes and abstain from sex for three days to get ourselves ready, trusting God’s word that that will make us acceptable to him.

Some may question “why would that make them acceptable – washing clothes doesn’t deal with sin”. No, it doesn’t. It’s a symbol. It’s saying to God we need you to wash us, we trust that by obeying you in the symbol, in the ritual, you will do the reality. It’s like communion – we just eat a bit of bread and drink some juice. That can’t save us. But we trust the reality behind the symbol, behind the ritual, that God will forgive our sins because of the body and blood of Jesus. We are saying to God we need you to wash us by the blood, we need you to rescue us, forgive us. It is a symbol or ritual of our need for God. It is an act of humility. The symbol cannot save. But the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection CAN save.

Heb 12:18 You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai.... 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering... 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
So...25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!

The Lord will destroy us unless our representative is Jesus – so listen to Him!

I started this morning by asking why you were here. Why have you come? Because if we are coming trusting in anything other than JESUS as our representative, we will be destroyed.

Why? Because we are not perfectly good. We are not holy. Particularly in our culture, raised on the idea of the grace of God, this idea that God will reject us is very culturally inappropriate. But who are we dealing with. Fluffy little God, the grandfather in the sky? The God of the Bible is HOLY. He who dewells in unapproachable light. He is vast and majestic. His voice thunders. The ground shakes. When Christ returns he will not return as the Suffering Servant, but as the King, huge and awesome, body like flaming fire, and a sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth. He will return to judge the living and the dead, and if you are not ready you will be destroyed,. Are you ready? Are you ready to face the Living God?

You know, when we talk about sin, we often think about the news stories. And they are a big evidence for that we, as the human race, have sinned against God. But we can often be fooled by the news into a false sense of security – well, I’m not as bad as them, I’m not a sinner like them. And the unspoken idea sneaks in that I’m better, surely God wouldn’t reject ME. I’m... holy. But are you? Am I?

Do I live every day consumed by the glory of God? Do I pursue holiness? Do I seek every day to know God better? Does my life belong to Him – or me? Do I think of MY future, MY reputation, MY career, MY money, MY time.

Well, I know myself. I know many of you. And I know that we don’t live for Christ every minute of every day. Too often we sin. Too often we don’t share the gospel. Too often we are not interested in even going to church or Bible study. We do it if there’s nothing better to do. Nothing better than meeting with God? Spending time with our Lord and Saviour? Yup, that’s how sinful we are. That’s why in the confession we confess as sinful the good things that we haven’t done as well as the bad things we have done.

Like Israel, we are all different people, with different pasts, some good, some bad – but ALL of us are on the outside, barred from God’s holy mountain. God’s holy fire has come down upon the mountain – but we cannot get close. We cannot see God. We are outside.

We need someone to go to God for us. We need a representative. We need someone to clean us, to make us ready to meet with the Living God. Praise God that our representative is Jesus.

Let us use this time now to confess our sins before the Lord. We’re going to have time now to kneel or stand before God in humble confession, and ask him to forgive us for being disobedient dogs. For running away from what he has called us to do. For keeping our career or our money or our friends or our family or our reputation out of his hands. Let us confess our sins to him, and ask him to be Lord of ALL of our life.

And then let us celebrate together the great joy of our perfect representative. The One who went through death and back again to buy us back, to win for us the right to go up on to the mountain, to meet with the Living God like Moses did, and to hear his voice, to know HIM. Our Lord and Master. Our Life.

Exodus 17:8-18:27 How will you respond to the God of Israel?

Exodus 17:8-18:27

I have a confession to make. I must confess that I have struggled with this passage for the past two weeks. I started preparation already last week, together with chapter 17, because I was pretty unsure about this one. It seems so random. Jethro suddenly appears again, out of the blue. He brings Moses’ family. He seems to be a priest of God offering sacrifices, but isn’t part of Israel. And then he sits Moses down and tells him how to lead the people and Moses listens to him. Huh?
This is not a passage I wanted to preach. Not at all! But we are convinced that 2 Timothy 16-17 is correct: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So chapter 18 is breathed out by God and profitable, useful to us, for teaching and correcting us. There’s another reason why we can’t just jump over chapter 18: God wrote Bible books as Bible books. They have a beginning, middle and end. They progress. And we need to respect the way God has written it. So we preach passages like this, trusting the Spirit to lead us and teach us. And knowing that we as men of God (and women of God) will be equipped for every good work, and we will not be lead astray by those who seek to twist Scripture to say what they want it to say – because we know the context of the verses they use, and know the themes of the books, and know that the focus of Scripture is Christ, Jesus, the Son of God, not you or me or politics or Israel or Jehovah or health and wealth or anything else people try to make it about! The man of God, complete, equipped for every good work.

So let’s dive in and see what we can learn from this passage. And we’ll start by putting it in context.

Last week’s lesson was for the Israelites: stop pretending to be God. Let God be God. Only God can be God. It’s the same lesson we struggle with. That’s why Paul writes in 1 Cor 10:11 These things happened to them (the Israelites during the Exodus and desert wanderings) as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

Because as we read these stories we see ourselves reflected there. We are quick to complain when things don’t go our way – just like them. We forget what God has done for us. We long to go back to our sinful lives – our pre-Christian lives, forgetting what it was actually like to be ruled by our desires, forgetting what a blessing it is to KNOW the Father, and to have His Spirit with us, in us, at all times.

So last week we looked at the attack of the Amalekites. It was a cowardly attack, attacking those lagging behind at the back of the camp. They attacked without warning, and for no reason. It was a new challenge for the Israelites, a new lesson to learn how to trust the Lord. Who fights for Israel? The Lord fights for Israel. Moses’ hands are raised to the Lord – they win. Moses’ hands are lowered, they lose. Your strength comes from Him. Trust the Lord.

But there is a second thing we learn from the Amalekites, and that is to contrast them with Jethro. Here we have two foreigners, non-Israelites, with two very different responses to God’s people and God’s blessing of his people. The Amalekites fight, they rebel, they seek to destroy the Lord’s people before they can become a threat. Jethro, however, praises the Lord, sacrifices to him, and blesses and helps the people of God.

1. Two responses

17:8 While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them.

18:10 “Praise the LORD,” Jethro said, “for he has rescued you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Yes, he has rescued Israel from the powerful hand of Egypt! 11 I know now that the LORD is greater than all other gods, because he rescued his people from the oppression of the proud Egyptians.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came out and joined him in a sacrificial meal in God’s presence.

Two responses to God’s people that couldn’t be more different. Both the Amalekites and Jethro were also descended from Abraham. Amalek was the son of Esau, brother of Jacob who God renamed Israel. But Amalek and his descendants had turned long ago from the Lord. They would have known the promise to Abraham. They would have known that Esau, their ancestor, gave up that promise. They would be afraid that Israel was coming to claim their birthright, their promised land – because guess where the Amalekites lived? That’s right, in Canaan, the promised land.

You know, I wonder what would have happened if they had responded like Jethro did? If they had come to offer sacrifices and praise to the Lord. To rejoice for the rescue of their relatives? Could they not have lived side-by-side with the Israelites? Perhaps they could have been grafted back in? For we know the Lord’s name is “the gracious and compassionate God” (Ex34:6). We certainly see that in the way he treats his people!

But, no. They stay on the path laid down by their ancestors. Their brutality and ferocity towards the Israelites tells you a great deal of how they feel towards the Lord. They hate Him, they do not want to bow the knee, they want to wipe Israel out. And so they march out of their own land, into the desert, and attack the defenceless Israelites.

But they forgot that they are not fighting the Israelites. They are fighting the Lord.

Jethro, however, praises the Lord. He rejoices at the rescue of his people. Jethro, too, is a descendent of Abraham. Jethro, too, is a son of Esau. But he and his descendants after him chose to obey the Lord instead of reject him. Later we find Jethro’s son, Hobab, has joined the Israelites. And the descendants of Jethro, known as the Kenites, we later find as part of the nation of Israel, living alongside Judah and sharing in all their blessings!

What a contrast! The Amalekites reject the Lord, and fight against his people. And their judgement is destruction.
The Kenites, Jethro’s people, embrace the Lord, rejoice at his blessing his people. And their reward is to join with his people in the Promised Land. Remarkable.

Be like Jethro, seems to be the obvious application. And it is. But there’s one more thing we need to notice before moving on. And it’s to do with the names of God. Have a look at v8. Moses tells of what the LORD has done – that small capital letters stands for YHWH (Yahweh) God’s personal name in the Old Testament. Jethro, too, in v9, 10 and 11 praises the LORD “YHWH”. But in v12, when he offers sacrifices as worship to God, he offers them to God – the Hebrew word Elohim, not the LORD, Yahweh. Why? Because Jethro is not part of the people of God. He is still an outsider. He can be part of the blessing of God, but he is still outside – and Moses cannot bring him in. Moses, for all his greatness, is a limited saviour.

2. A limited saviour

17:12 Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.

18:17 “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. 18 “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.

What do we make of this story? Well, I think there’s some truth in the application that leaders need help. We need to carry each other’s burdens, says Ephesians. I need you to keep my arms upraised towards God, as you pray for me and the other leaders in this church that we would remain God-focussed and God-dependent. In your prayers you are like Aaron and Hur, supporting my arms. It’s a bit like that famous picture of the soldiers together raising the flag on Iwo Jima. Working together. Or the rugby scrum. Working together as a team. Honouring the Lord. I think that’s a fair application. As Jethro says “You cannot do it alone”

I think another is certainly that wisdom comes from many areas, even outside the camp! And the wise man accepts good counsel, no matter where it comes from (Prov 19:20).

Those are probably good secondary applications - but I don’t think those are the main applications.

Because we need to let context drive our application – what has come before, AND what comes after. What has come before is Moses leading the people, rescuing them from slavery and taking them through the sea. Raising his arms and giving them victory in battle. Moses has been the voice of God.

And what comes after is the first church – the gathering of God’s people before God Almighty, hearing God’s word. The mountain shakes, there is smoke and fire and thunder and lightning. It is GOD who has rescued the people. It is God’s power, God’s word.

And in between a couple of stories which reminds us that Moses is weak. That Moses is not the saviour. That God is the saviour. 8 Moses told his father-in-law everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and Egypt on behalf of Israel. He also told about all the hardships they had experienced along the way and how the LORD had rescued his people from all their troubles. 9 Jethro was delighted when he heard about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel as he rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.

I think that the point the text is making must be that Moses is great, yes, but he is not the Messiah. His family’s sudden return – the last time they were mentioned was in chapter 4, before he approached Pharaoh - reminds us of his past. Moses who was Gershom, the foreigner, the outcast, is no longer. He is now Eliezer, the one rescued by God.
We are reminded, after all of Moses’ triumphs, of Moses’ failure before God met him at the burning bush, and like Israel, rescued him. Moses is not the rescuer, but the rescued.

Moses is one of the greatest leaders ever, because he was humble before the Lord. But he is just a man. In case we were putting our faith in Moses – perhaps thinking that “Here’s the serpent-crusher promised in Genesis 3:16, the one who will overturn evil - after all, he overturned the evil Pharaoh.” Here we are reminded that He is just a man. We’re still waiting for the Messiah, the serpent-crusher. We’re still waiting for Jesus. And I think that’s the main point of this whole chapter. Jethro’s arrival, Moses’ family suddenly back in the picture, Moses’ folly, Jethro’s wisdom – all points us towards the perfect leader, the perfect Messiah, the one who does need to be rescued.

3. Jesus is greater than Moses

You see, Jethro had to remind Moses of what his job was: 19 Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him. 20 Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives.

Moses was to be the people’s representative – the mediator between man and God. But Moses was limited. He couldn’t handle the pressure of a couple of million or so people.
But Jesus! Jesus is our mediator, our representative before the throne of God. The Son of Man is before the throne – we have a human representative in the court of Heaven. But because he is also fully GOD – he is the God-man, born of the Virgin Mary, by the Holy Spirit (as we’ve been reading in Luke’s gospel in the Bible study) – because he is fully man and fully GOD, he can be our perfect representative, and mere numbers are no problem for him. He does not need to divide us up into manageable groups and have a massive bureaucracy to handle our prayers!

Moses was the mediator between man and God – he stood between the people and God. Jesus brings us into the very throne room of heaven. Heb 9:24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.

Jesus is the greater mediator (representative).

In the same way, Moses brought the word of God (v20 Teach them God’s decrees): but Jesus is the word of God. John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus is the very Word of God.

Moses needed the wisdom of men. Jethro says in v19 Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. But Jesus is the very wisdom of God. 1 Co 1:24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus is the very wisdom of God.

And Jesus does what Moses could not. Jesus brings the nations in, so that people like Jethro can know God not just as God (Elohim) but in person (Yahweh). We who are Gentiles have been grafted in to Israel (made part of Israel), and so we can know Israel’s God personally. In fact, he comes to live in us by His Spirit. Praise God. That is what Jesus has accomplished.

Jesus is greater than Moses. He is the greater mediator. He is the very word of God. He is the very wisdom of God.

Heb 3:3 ... Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. 4 For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. 5 Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 6 But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.

So, if Jesus is greater than Moses, how are we to respond? Not like Amalek, but like Jethro.

Heb 3 continues 7 That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness..... 12 Be careful... , dear brothers. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

There are only two responses to the Lord and to his work. Amalek, or Jethro. Praise God that Jesus is the better Moses, so that if we like Jethro call out to him, he can save us, bring us in, make us one of his people. And if we belong to him, then we belong to him. Brothers and sisters, by His grace we are the people of God! Praise God. Amen.