Moses on the Mountain with the Lord - Part 9
Exodus 27:1 - 30:21
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - August 18, 2010
*Tonight we get back to Mount Sinai with Moses as he met with the Lord God Jehovah, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. This is Moses’ 5th visit with the Lord, and it will last for 40 days. (1)
*We are still focusing on the things of the Tabernacle. And as we have seen, God uses earthly things to teach us eternal truth.
*Last time we looked at 4 spiritual pictures:
-The Ark taught us about God’s law and love, because it contained the Law, and its mercy seat was sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice.
-The showbread taught us about God’s life, because Jesus is the Bread of Life.
-The lampstand taught us about God’s light, because Jesus is the Light of the world
-And the Tabernacle taught us about God living with and in His New Testament saints, because in Exo 25:8, the Lord had told Moses: “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
*Tonight we will look at 4 more spiritual pictures.
1. The first spiritual picture is the price for our sins.
The price for our sins is represented by the bronze altar we read about in Exodus 27:1-8. Here the Lord told Moses:
1. "You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its height shall be three cubits.
2. You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze.
3. Also you shall make its pans to receive its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.
4. You shall make a grate for it, a network of bronze; and on the network you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.
5. You shall put it under the rim of the altar beneath, that the network may be midway up the altar.
6. And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.
7. The poles shall be put in the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar to bear it.
8. You shall make it hollow with boards; as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.
*This bronze altar was placed in the Court of the People near the entrance to the Tabernacle. And this altar was used to offer burnt offerings to God.
*In Exodus 29, the Lord gave great detail about how to cleanse and atone for the priests. Then the Lord explained the atonement for the altar.
*Look at Exodus 29:37-39:
37. "Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy.
38. Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually.
39. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.
*Then in vs. 42&43, the Lord said:
42. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.
43. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.
*There is no telling how many lambs were offered in sacrifice for the people’s sins. The Bible tells us that on the day King Solomon dedicated the first temple, on that day alone, Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep! (2 Chronicles 7:5)
*The price for our sins was death.
-Over and over, countless times, the Lord would remind His people that the wages of sin is death.
-But this was all a picture of the true price that Jesus would pay for our sins.
-And when Jesus began His ministry, John 1: 29 tells us: “The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”
-Then Hebrews 9:12 says: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
*God uses earthly things to teach us eternal truth, and the first spiritual picture tonight is the price for our sins.
2. The next spiritual picture is our priest.
*We see this picture in Exodus 28:1-4, where the Lord said:
1. "Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
2. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
3. So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest.
4. And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.”
*Over the next verses in Exodus 28, the Lord gave a detailed description of the priest’s garments, and I urge you to find a picture to study when you study these verses.
-Tonight I only have time to mention 3 aspects of the priest’s garments.
[1] In Exodus 28:17-21, the Lord commanded that the breastplate be set with 12 precious stones in 4 rows. Each stone was engraved with the name of one of the 12 sons of Israel.
-The Lord explained why in Exodus 28:29, where He said: "So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually.
*The priest always kept the names of God’s people close to his heart.
-And if you have trusted in Jesus, your name is close to His heart tonight.
[2] In Exodus 28, the Lord also told us about bells that were sewn into the hem of the priest’s robe. These bells remind us of God’s absolute holiness, and the reality that we must not trifle with God.
*First in vs. 33-35 the Lord said:
33. "And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34. a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around.
35. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die.
*The bells were a witness to the people that though the priest could not be seen, he was performing his duties before the Lord. The bells were a testimony to the Lord that the priest was properly dressed for his duties. Otherwise, the penalty was death. And if the bells stopped ringing, the people knew that the priest had somehow offended the Lord and was dead.
[3] The Priest’s garments had another clear reminder of the holiness of God.
*In Exodus 28:36-38, the Lord told Moses:
36. "You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
37. And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban.
38. So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
*John Gill explained that this is to remind us that we are never perfect in our own strength. Even in the best things we do, we are still sinners, who must depend on the mercy of God. (2)
*Next in Exodus 29 God went into great detail about how to make the priests holy. For example, in vs. 19-20 the Lord said:
19. “You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram.
20. Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.”
*Leon Morris gave this background information from the first century AD:
-“As [the high priest] laid his hands on the head of the animal, he would say, ‘O God, I have committed iniquity and transgressed and sinned before thee, I and my house and the children of Aaron, thy holy people. O God, forgive, I pray, the iniquities and transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before thee, I and my house.’ Only then was he able to minister on behalf of the people” (3)
*Of course Aaron and the priests who followed him were never perfect.
-At the best, they were a picture of the perfect Priest to come.
*We read about Him in Hebrews 4:14-16:
14. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
*Then Hebrews 5:1-9 says:
1. For every priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also beset by weakness.
3. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
4. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
5. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’’
6. As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’’;
7. who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8. though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
9. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
*And Hebrews 7:23-27 says:
23. And there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.
24. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
25. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.
26. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27. who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
*This is our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ! -- God uses earthly things to teach us eternal truth, and the second spiritual picture is our priest.
3. The next spiritual picture is a picture of our prayers.
*This is the spiritual picture we find in the Altar of Incense. It was located in the Holy Place, close to the Holy of Holies.
*This very small but very important altar is described to us in Exodus 30:1-10.
-Here the Lord said:
1. You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood.
2. A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width it shall be square and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.
3. And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around.
4. Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it.
5. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
6. And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
7. Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it.
8. And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
9. You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it.
10. And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.’’
*This sweet smoke rising up from the Incense Altar was a picture of the prayers of God’s people. The Book of Revelation confirms this truth to us twice.
-For example, Revelation 5:6-8 says:
6. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8. Now when He had taken the scroll, the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
-And Revelation 8:3-4 says:
3. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
*God wants us to know that the prayers of His people reach all the way to the Lord in Heaven.
-He uses earthly things to teach us eternal truth, and the Altar of Incense is the spiritual picture of our prayers.
4. The fourth spiritual picture is our purity.
*This is the spiritual picture represented by the bronze “laver” or large basin of water. This basin stood out it the courtyard of the Tabernacle. And the Lord tells us about it in Exodus 30:18-21:
18. You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it,
19. for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it.
20. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die.
21. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them to him and his descendants throughout their generations.’’
*Verse 20 says, “They shall wash with water, lest they die.”
-Do you think it’s important to be clean before the Lord? -- It is incredibly important. And Jesus Christ makes His people clean!
*One of the best places to see this is in Ephesians 5:25-27.
-Here the Lord used another picture: Husband and wife, another earthly thing to remind us of eternal things. And God’s Word says:
25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
26. that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27. that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
*Tonight let’s thank the Lord for four more great pictures of spiritual truth:
-The price for our sins. -- Thank God for the cross!
-Our priest. -- “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
-Our prayers -- God treasures the prayers of His people. They are like sweet incense to Him.
-And our purity -- Christians, we are washed by the water of God’s Word; washed in the Blood of the Lamb.
1. Good explanation of Moses’ time on the mountain: “Seven Ascents” by Richard Gamble - www.heraldmag.org/2006/06mj_3.htm
2. John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible - Exodus 28:38
3. Leon Morris, Hebrews. Vol. 12 of Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews-Revelation, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, et al. [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984], 47). Source:
www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2007/Jesus_Our_Perfect_High_Priest.html
