THROUGH THE BIBLE - Exodus 2..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. 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.

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. You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels, and basins, and forks, and firepans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. You shall also make for it a granting, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make your four bronze rings at its four corners.

And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar, so that the net extends halfway down the altar. And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 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. You shall make it hollow with boards. And as it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the core shall have hangings of fine twine linen, a hundred cubits long for one side. Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise, for its length on the north side, there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty, and their bases twenty of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillers shall be of silver. And for the breadth of the court on the west side, there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases.

Then the breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. The hangings for one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. You shall have four pillars, and with them four bases.

All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twine, linen, and bases of bronze. All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court shall be of bronze. Verse 20.

You shall commend the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for delight that a lamp might regularly be set up to burn. in the tent of meeting outside the veil that is set before the testimony. Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. He shall be a statue forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel. Amen.

This is the words of God. Now, brothers and sisters, the chapter that we have in front of us, as you can see probably in your Bibles with different titles is divided in three different sections. You can probably see it there, depending on the translation that you have. And the first section of this chapter goes from verse 1 through verse 8, and it speaks of this bronze altar, or the altar of burnt offerings is another name, and that's the name I'm going to be referring to it, the altar of burnt offerings. The second section of this chapter is that one that is found from verse 9 to verse 19 that speaks of the court of the tabernacle.

That is the outside of the tabernacle that our brother explained to us in the last couple of weeks. That is the outside of that area, which is within the walls, if you want to call it that way. That's the word that comes to my mind. And then the third section of this chapter, it is the oil and the carrying of the lamp that was inside of the tabernacle, which her brother also explained to us. So we are here continuing with the instructions that the Lord has given to Moses about the tabernacle that is going to be built or constructed.

These are the instructions. Actually, the construction of the tabernacle is going to take place further later in the Book of Exodus. But all of these are the different instructions that are given to Moses so that he and the people of Israel will follow these instructions and put together this very detailed tabernacle. Now, our brother has done an amazing job explaining to us all of the items of the tabernacle and the sections of the tabernacle. So we remember that that tabernacle that is about the size of this room, double height, It is divided into two places, one of them the Holy of Holies and the other one the Holy Place.

But this chapter here, the one that we have in front of us, deals with the outside part of the tabernacle, what is called, in verse 9, the court of the tabernacle. That would be an area that was outside of the tent of meeting that would have been probably 45 meters. times 45 this side and 22 meters this other side. So that is the area that was around the tabernacle. And we are instructed of a very important section of that outside part of the tabernacle in the first eight verses.

And that is the altar of burnt offerings. I said to you that the last section of this chapter speaks of the oil of the lampstand that was inside of the tabernacle, which our brother already explained to us, that was the only source of light that was inside of the tabernacle. And actually, because this tabernacle is going to be built in later chapters, we're going to be addressing again each one of those items that we have received instructions for the construction or the putting together. But what I want us to do, brothers and sisters, is to focus on the altar of burnt offering that is given to us and described from verses 1 through verse 8. Now, beloved of Christ, it is called the altar of burnt offerings because indeed the offerings that were offered or the sacrifices that were offered at this place were indeed burnt.

It was required fire to burn the offerings, which were animals that the priests of the Levites were going to offer on behalf of the people, either sin offerings or peace offerings. But fire was required. This is why this is called the altar of burnt offerings. Now, this fire is very important, brothers and sisters, because fire represents in the Levitical system, in the priestly system, the wrath of God against sin. Even when we have the institution of the tabernacle, the Lord is going to be the first one that is going to send fire from heaven to this altar of burnt offering to institute the whole system.

You can find that in Leviticus chapter 9. Fire is equal to the wrath of God, the displeasing wrath of God against unrighteousness. So every time that the Levites and the priests were offering these animals in the altar of offering and fire will be there, they will be reminded, my beloved brothers and sisters, of the wrath of God against the sin of the people. Now, this is very, very important. Because every time that the people of Israel would put their eyes and see inside of the tabernacle, they will see fire and they will be reminded of this reality.

But not only that, that the fire that they see, they continue to see, being reminded that the offering and the sacrifices that the Levites and the priests were offering in this altar of burnt offerings were not enough to appease the ongoing wrath of God because of the ongoing and continual unrighteousness of the people of Israel. So there are actually a couple of things that I want you to meditate upon and that I want you to have in your heart every time that we put in our minds or in our hearts this altar of burnt offerings as pointing, of course, to a greater reality who is the Lord Jesus Christ, we know that, that these sacrifices were pointed to a greater reality, and that reality is the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, all of these items and all of these particular details in the Old Testament dispensation were gospel proclaimers to the people of Israel, pointing to the Messiah that was going to come, the sacrifice that was going to be once for all given for the unrighteousness of the people. So people would have seen the wrath of God in the fire and the need of ongoing sacrifices to appease that so that the God who had entered into a covenant with them will remain among them. Brothers and sisters, even in the old dispensation of the Old Testament, there is a very important element that these burnt offering sacrifices meant to communicate and meant to produce in the life of the person that was offering the sacrifice.

And I want to point you to the very important and I will say vital element of the burnt sacrifices offered at this altar from the words of the prophet Isaiah. So if you go to the book of Isaiah, I want to point you to this important reality of these burnt offering sacrifices. Because, brothers and sisters, this is the religion, the God-given religion. These are the God-given traditions to the people of Israel. These are the God-given commandments so that the people of Israel will approach God in the religion of the Old Testament.

The wrath of God was manifested with fire, and also this necessary substitutionary atonement on behalf of the person that was continuous and ongoing. But we can see something very interesting in the book of Isaiah chapter 1. If you go to the book of Isaiah chapter 1, I want us to read a passage here, because now here we're going to see the heart of God towards... We're going to see the heart of God towards this system of sacrifices. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 10.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah. Unless you think that he's actually speaking about literal Sodom and literal Gomorrah, he's not. He's calling his people, Israel, Sodom and Gomorrah. He's using a very strong language against his people.

He is upset at his people. Verse 11. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord? I have had enough burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.

When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trembling of my cords? Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations I cannot endure. Inequity and solemn assembly.

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood. wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." And he will continue with his plate. But brothers and sisters, here we have the God who instituted this covenant at Mount Sinai. Here we have the God who gave his load to the people of Israel.

Here we have the God who was so careful in giving them so many details about the tabernacle and each one of the sections of the tabernacle. showing us that this was precious to Him, that every detail and every of the things that the people of Israel were going to do was so precious and important to God. Here we have the same God saying and calling all of those practices, all of those burnt offerings, all of the feasts, all of the things that they were doing as something that He hated. The question that we need to ask ourselves is then, how can God, who was so detailed in instructing His people to do all of these things in a tabernacle, so detailed in practices they are supposed to follow? Otherwise, they are not able to approach Him and they could die.

How come I got like this? Now he speaks of those things that he has instructed so carefully at something that he hates. Well, David gives us the answer. And this answer that David gives is an answer for the people of the Old Testament. And it's an answer for the people of the New Covenant, the New Testament.

So if you go to Psalm 51, you may remember after the sin of King David and after the true repentance of King David. He is going to give us the important truth of real Christian religion. Psalm 51, verse 16. Now, read with faith and careful attention to these words, beloved brothers and sisters. 16, for you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.

You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. and a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise." Brothers and sisters, God is saying, that even in the old dispensation, this is David, this is before the Lord Jesus Christ came, that in the old dispensation, what God cared was not about the external doing, was not about bringing the animals to the sacrifice or the altar.

was not about people approaching and following particular things what he cared about. It is what people seen in these things, the mercy of a God who had entered into a covenant that was pointing to a person that was to come. That is that God is always, always, He cares about the heart of the person and not about the things that that person does externally. And that should be fearful to us, brothers and sisters, because just as the people of the old covenant, could have fallen easily in the ongoing regular practice of religion, in which they would have been walking around the tabernacle and then just seeing fire one more time, and one more time, and one more time, and being reminded of the wrath of God against the unrighteousness of sin, and then seeing that Many animals were required continually and ongoingly and blood was all over the place and being reminded of the holiness and perfections of God and the need of all of these systems for us to approach God. They could have easily fallen into doing all of these things.

in a religious, human, worldly way, to the point that the same God that instituted all of these holy practices says that He hates all of them. He's not different under the new covenant, brothers and sisters. Because that's the power of God. That is the power of the gospel unto salvation. It is not a power that only transforms a person morally, so that person will continually and regularly do practices that are absent of a reality in the heart.

But rather, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who truly believes, so that the heart of that person is that which is connected with God truly and by faith. So that person, through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, can approach God, not with external deeds, not with religions of men, not with traditions of men, not with works, not trying to please a system or trying to please others. but being pleasers of God and that it is in the heart. So easily the people under the Old Covenant fell in the system of the flesh that they became pleasers of themselves and pleasers of traditions and rituals. But when a man is concerned or a woman is concerned with the things of God, then the heart of the person is ultimately concerned with pleasing not himself or others, but pleasing God.

And then God then is approached with a heart. And then that is the sacrifice that God accepts. Amen.