Verse for the Day, 30 September 2014.

Exodus 27:1-8, “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.  (2)  And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.  (3)  You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze.  (4)  You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.  (5)  And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar.  (6)  And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.  (7)  And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.  (8)  You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.”

The altar would become the central place of worship for the vast majority of Israel. They would come before this altar several times a year to bring offerings for sin, for cleansing and for thanksgiving. It would be a constant reminder to them of their sinfulness and God’s holiness, that their sin had to be dealt with first, before God could be approached. The altar and the need to bring these sacrifices continually would also teach them that these sacrifices where in fact insufficient and inadequate to effectively deal with their sin. As people they were constantly sinful, God was constantly holy, they therefore need to constantly seek after forgiveness and God needed to constantly extend forgiveness, but this required blood to be shed, a sacrifice to be offered. Therefore there would be the need to forever offer up these animal sacrifices, unless a better sacrifice could be found.

This then is the great point and purpose of the altar, to point to the need for a better sacrifice. No matter how many animal sacrifices an Israelite offered, the curtain remained in place, the need for mediators and further sacrifices remained, it did not remove the distance between them and God, nor did it remove the stain of sin. They remained sinful, God remained holy and therefore a personal relationship, acceptance before the presence of God remained impossible, a better sacrifice was required. The primary design and purpose of the altar and the sacrifices offered upon it, was to point to Jesus Christ, who would be that better sacrifice, sufficient and adequate to deal with sin and bring us into God’s presence as acceptable and justified.

Therefore we as believers in Jesus Christ should be filled today with immense gratitude. For Christ has come and has offered up His life as a perfect and completely sufficient sacrifice for sin, for our sin. Christ has opened the way, removed our sin, removed the need for countless sacrifices, and led us into God’s holy presence. Once Christ’s sacrifice has been applied to our lives, we never have to offer up another sacrifice. How incredible and comforting this truth should be to us! Our sin has been paid for by Christ, taken away by Christ, and we have been justified, declared as righteous, blameless and guiltless and therefore acceptable in God’s sight. How great our joy and privilege is as Christians! To God be all the glory and thanks for providing for us such a great salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ!

Merciful and most gracious Father how we adore You today for the love and grace that You have extended towards us through the sending of Your Son. Lord Jesus, how we worship You today, with hearts overflowing with thanksgiving, for Your obedience to the will of the Father in the offering up of Your life for our sin. Father, how we thank You, that You have accepted the sacrifice of Your Son’s life, placing upon Him the punishment that we deserved, and extending forgiveness and righteousness to us. Lord Jesus, thank You for opening the way to eternal salvation for us, through Your life, death and resurrection. To God, Father, Son and Spirit may all the glory be given. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 25 September 2014.

Exodus 25:1-9, “The LORD said to Moses,  (2)  "Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.  (3)  And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,  (4)  blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair,  (5)  tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood,  (6)  oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,  (7)  onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.  (8)  And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.  (9)  Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.”

Chapters 25-31 of Exodus record for us the very specific instructions for how the Ark of the Covenant, lampstands, altars, basins, tables, curtains, the tabernacle structure, the garments for the priests, and the manner in which the priests are to be set aside and how the Sabbath is to be observed, are all given to Moses by God. Moses is commanded to construct them exactly according to the pattern that God gives to him.

As we read through these chapters we will observe that none of the building materials used are cheap. Gold, silver, bronze, copper, precious stones, fine cloths, leathers and materials, and strong, beautiful timber. It all seems to be quite ornate and very expensive, especially when we consider that this is a nation of former slaves, who are in the midst of a great journey. Who then will provide all these building materials, will God miraculously provide them all? No!

We read that God tells Moses that the people of Israel are to supply all the materials from their own resources. Why does God want the people to provide the materials for this ornate tabernacle?

Firstly, the tabernacle is to be constructed out of the finest materials and is to be constructed in complete obedience to the pattern given to them by God, as it will serve as a reflection of who God is and how He is to be worshipped. God is perfect and holy in every way and in all that He does. The tabernacle needs to reflect the perfection and holiness of God. God is majestic, clothed in splendour and glory, there is no more beautiful than God. Again the tabernacle needs to reflect the worth of God, that we need to bring to God our best, our highest, because He is worthy of it. Furthermore, we should want to give of that which is of great value to God, because there should be nothing more valuable to us than God. He should be worth more to us than our gold or silver. The tabernacle would serve as a daily reminder to the people of Israel of who God is, how He is to be approached, regarded and worshipped. They were never to worship the tabernacle itself, even though it may have been more ornate and beautiful than the pagan shrines around them. Rather as the other nations observed the beauty and splendour of the tabernacle, the Israelites could say to these people, our God is even more glorious than this structure, He is worthy of our best and our greatest, and then not even that can compare with His beauty and worth.

Secondly, the people are to supply the materials for the tabernacle so that they might demonstrate their love for God and their faith and trust in God. To give sacrificially of your personal wealth, whilst on route to a new country, where you will have to start from scratch is a challenge. Yet as they shall learn, God will provide for them, for they will live in cities they did not build and reap crops they did not plant. The giving of their personal wealth and materials to God is also an act of worship, they are demonstrating that they want to give to God that which is valuable, beautiful and precious, because God is even more valuable, beautiful and precious to them. They are to give of their materials towards the construction of the tabernacle, because the tabernacle is a place of worship for all the people of Israel. Therefore they are all to contribute towards it, they are all to help with its construction and they are all to gather at the tabernacle to worship. It is human nature to respect and take a vested interest in something that we have personally invested in. Had God miraculously provide the tabernacle and all the objects in complete form, the people would have not learnt of the perfection, beauty, holiness and worth of God. It is also highly likely that the tabernacle would have become an idol to some and been completely disrespected by others.

The important point expressed by this chapter and the chapters to come, is that how we worship God is of critical importance. The manner in which we think of God, regard God, approach God is of great importance. Does our worship reflect the nature, person and character of God, and does our worship reflect the value, respect and love that we have for God? Worship is a highly revealing exercise, as it reveals to all around what we think about God, who we think He is and how valuable we believe Him to be to us. Therefore the challenging questions that comes to us today are; what does your worship of God, say about God, does it reflect who God truly is? What do those around you learn about God when they see you worship?

Our beautiful and majestic God, we declare that there is none more worthy of our worship, love and adoration than You. There is none more valuable, none more desirable than You and none more worthy of being exalted to the very highest place than You. We pray that You will help us to examine our hearts and lives today, looking and thinking about the manner in which we worship You and what that then shows the world around us. Help us to be able to worship You better, in a manner that truly reflects who You are, and therefore truly glorifies You. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 24 September 2014.

Exodus 24:1-11, “Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.  (2)  Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him."  (3)  Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do."  (4)  And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.  (5)  And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.  (6)  And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.  (7)  Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient."  (8)  And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."  (9)  Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up,  (10)  and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.  (11)  And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.”

Chapter 24 of Exodus is a point of great importance in the history of Israel, for it records the day on which they formally entered into a covenant with God. The process starts with the covenant being stated, Moses reading in the hearing of all the people, the words that had been given to him by God. The people of Israel respond with one voice, stating that they will abide by, obey all these words and commit themselves to the keeping of this covenant. After they voice their commitment, they approach the LORD to worship Him and to proclaim before God the covenant and their commitment to keeping the covenant with God. As a symbol of their commitment, an altar with twelve pillars, one for each tribe, is built and they offer up a number of sacrifices. The blood of these animals is the divided between the basins and the altar, half of the blood is offered up to God, and the other half thrown onto the people. Why all this blood? The blood is to symbolise a number of points. Firstly, that this covenant, is a covenant of blood, in other words it is not a covenant they should enter into lightly, they need to understand that God is not to be trifled with and the consequences for breaking this covenant with God are severe, even deadly, as this generation would discover.  Secondly, it is to demonstrate the holiness of God, and the sinfulness of the people. Their relationship with God will be one whereby it will always be necessary for them to approach God with sacrifices, sacrifices for their sin and sacrifices for worship. God will respond to their repentance and thanksgiving, to their obedience to the covenant, by remaining faithful to them and blessing them.

What follows after this is quite remarkable, God calls up Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel. Verse 10 states is very plainly, although it is far from plain or simple, “they saw the God of Israel.” How incredible! They saw the God of Israel! What a moment, what a sight this must have been, to see a glimpse of God and His glory. We know that it is only a glimpse, as the description we are given is that of His feet and the pavement below His feet. But what is the purpose of this? Why did God call them up, why are we told they ate and drank? This is all part of the covenant making process, the two parties of the covenant not only making a commitment to each other in word and by means of a symbol, but they also share a meal together, in an act of unity, of peace and again of their commitment to this covenant. God in His grace, mercy and love, permits these men to come into His presence, see a glimpse of His glory, and remain in His presence long enough to have a meal together, all without them being consumed by the splendour God’s glory and holiness. It is a truly beautiful picture, a perfect and holy God, meeting and eating with sinful men, all so that He might display His glory, holiness, love, mercy and favour to them, pledging His unfailing commitment and enduring faithfulness to them. What makes this all the more remarkable is the God enters into this covenant knowing what is to come. He knows that Aaron will in just a matter of days build the golden calf, and Nadab and Abihu will offer up strange incense. He knows that the seventy elders will conspire against Him, refusing to enter into the promise land. God knows they will break their covenant with Him, even after all that He has done for them and shown them. Why then does God enter into the covenant in them first place? God enters into this covenant so that His purposes might stand and His plan of redemption might come to pass. This is the way that God had sovereignly decreed and planned for it to take place. Therefore God’s favour, mercy, grace, love and faithfulness is not just for Israel’s benefit, it is for the benefit of all mankind. How grateful we should be towards God that He entered into this covenant with Israel, so that our salvation might come to pass.

We should rejoice in reading this passage, for it is a picture of our salvation. We enter into a covenant with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Christ offered up His blood to the Father as a sacrifice for sin, and He washed us with His blood so as to cleanse us from sin. The result is that we who believe in Jesus Christ have now entered into a covenant with God, Christ enters it on our behalf, with God the Father. Therefore this covenant is unbreakable, for it depends not on us, but on God the Son and God the Father, and is sealed by God the Spirit. What joy we have today knowing that we will one day see God, and not just His feet! We will see Him in all His glory and splendour, and we shall eat with Him. Furthermore, we will not have to then leave His presence, we shall remain in His presence, walking, talking and eating with God for all eternity.

All-glorious and majestic God, we give thanks to You today for the great favour that You have bestowed upon us, through the work of Your salvation. How we rejoice in the covenant we have through Christ, one that is steadfast and certain. Thank you that we have the blessed hope of knowing that one day our faith shall be sight and we shall see You as You are. May we walk and live in this joy today, so that others might see it, ask after it and receive it from Your gracious hand. Amen.