The Angel, the Blood, and the Glory (Exodus 23:20-24:18)

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Good morning church. Go ahead. Grab your Bibles, open up to Exodus 23. Exodus 23. We’ll be starting in verse 20, this morning, Exodus 23:20. As you’re turning there, on wintry days like today, I find myself dreaming about the beach. Perhaps some of you do as well. Sun sounds amazing, surf smiles, all of that. For us, the beach is really a once a year thing. For us, we go blueberry picking, kind of along the Michigan border, and then hit Indiana Dunes beach. There great time. Every time we go, you know, the sun, the surf smiles, it’s all real. But every time we go, we recognize the danger as well, and so we first thing we do before we get in the water, I go back with the girls, at least, because they’re the ones who are actually swimming to kind of, what do you do if there’s a riptide, and what do you do if you start to get pulled out? We just go over that, you know, emergency situation, kind of every time, I think the same danger that’s at the beach is true for us spiritually as well. Like As believers, we can’t just go with the flow cultural currents and our own sinful tendencies will drag us away, and we’re very quickly find ourselves, you know, lost at sea. We need to be intentionally committed, in other words, uncompromising when it comes to following Jesus. And that’s the lesson we’re going to learn as we look at our passage this morning. What’s happening here, in our in our story, is we actually get the ratification of the covenant. So we’ve been reading the covenant the last few chapters, the book of the covenant, and now we’re ready for everyone to kind of agree to it. And so we get some new promises and the reminder that it is all of grace. Yes, everything that happens is happens because God’s grace is at work. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t effort required on our part as well. And so my hope for us as we go through the passage this morning is that all of us who are wishing that we were different done with this sin or that sin, or whatever, which I assume is all of us, so that all of us who are wishing we were different would understand the promise and process of change, but the requirements of change as well. So that’s where we’re going. As we’ve got these three scenes this morning, the angel, the blood and the glory, sounds like a spaghetti western. It is not, but here we go. So let’s start with the angel, his victory, our obedience in chapter 23 beginning in verse 20 through the end of the chapter, they read it for us. See I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him. He will not forgive your rebellion, since my name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full lifespan. I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the Hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land will become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you, little by little, I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you. So the first question I think we have as we read this is, who exactly is this angel that’s being sent before them? Now the word angel here in Hebrew can just mean messenger, so maybe it’s a messenger, maybe it’s an angel, whatever else it is, though, we’re pretty sure it’s not just any angel, because this angel speaks for God, and actually God’s name is in him, and then the Israelites are actually to obey and follow Him. And then, maybe most tellingly. See this angel can actually forgive or not forgive sins. We saw this in our series this summer. Matthew, chapter nine, who can forgive, but God alone. So it seems to be some manifestation of God Himself. We’ve seen this before at the burning bush. It was the same thing. It was the angel of the Lord in the burning bush, and yet it was the Lord who was speaking. So we’re dealing with some special manifestation of God’s presence, but mediated in such a way that he can interact with people, which is difficult, as we’ll see even later in this text. So could be the pre Incarnate Christ. I think that’s a good bet. Actually says, Be the second member of the Trinity God’s Son, before he comes to earth and takes on human flesh, what we celebrate at this time of year. But even if it’s not Jesus, specifically, it would still point to Jesus, because Jesus, we know, is the one who can forgive sins, who reveals God and speaks for him, who doesn’t just go with us on the way, but who is himself the way, who doesn’t just reveal truth, but is himself truth. But more important than the precise identification of the angel is what this angel does. He goes before Israel to guard them as they enter the promised land. And you think of what a source of comfort that would be. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried anything new, it’s always really helpful when you’ve got somebody who’s done it before they’re with you, like an expert who’s got the wisdom or whatnot, like if you’re doing a, you know, plumbing project, first time ever YouTube tutorial. Okay, that’s something. It’s a little different to have a master plumber there next to you going, No, you’re gonna want to do the you’re gonna want to shut off the water before you disconnect the pipe. It’s gonna be helpful. So that’s the comfort that Israel would have with the presence of the Lord there with them, and then they’re given these tremendous promises, if they obey God, will give them the victory. Now it is true that Israel is going to be the one doing the fighting. Think of Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho, for example. We’re no longer at that Exodus 14 moment of the Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still like now there is this effort that will be required of them. But even though Israel fights, look at verse 23 It is God who will wipe them out. So we are talking about God’s victory from beginning to end, and he even sends his terror or a few verses later, it’s called his Hornet ahead of them. What exactly does that mean? Well, you know what happens you ever been around like a group of kids eating outside, and a hornet shows up the kids, and usually most of the adults as well start to kind of run around, right, like frantically and whatnot. That’s what will happen when Israel gets into Canaan. The people of Canaan will be scared and confused and, as a result, scattered, but all of this is contingent on Israel’s obedience. In fact, if you were to add up the verses here, I think there’s as much emphasis on obedience as there is on the promised blessings that will follow obedience. They’re actually linked even there’s this little pun that’s there in the Hebrew, but obscured in the English in verse 20 when it says he’s going to send his angel to guard them. And then verse 21 it says, pay attention to him. Those are actually the same word. Think the only way it would work in English is if we went with keep for example. So I’m sending an angel to keep you like keep you safe, if you keep my commands. So they go together, but if they keep his commands, God promises great blessing. He’s going to bring them into the Promised Land, and he’s going to give them what they need in order to flourish there. What would you need if you were in a new land? Well, food and water would be a good start. Ideally, some good health, because you’re going to need to do things, you’re going to need to build, you’re going to need to plant all that kind of stuff and growing families to actually fill the land. That’s everything that is promised in verses 25 and 26 these specific promises given to this specific people in this specific place and time. Now it’s not mentioned here, although it is elsewhere in Exodus and Deuteronomy, the second giving the Covenant as well, that disobedience, of course, would bring the opposite instead of coming into God’s land, they will be kicked out of God’s land. They will be sent into exile like Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eden. You can’t live in God’s place if you’re not willing to act like God’s people. In other words, which is important because obedience. Is not a prerequisite for entering into relationship with God. We talk about that a lot. It’s by grace alone, through faith alone, you don’t obey in order to get into the relationship. You get into the relationship by grace, and then you start obeying, but you do actually need to start obeying. Obedience is not a prerequisite for entering into relationship with God, but it is an essential requirement for maintaining that relationship with God. It’s an imperfect analogy, for sure, all analogies are but this one especially so, but it would be a little bit like rescuing a dog from an animal shelter. Imagine some of you have even done and you do not get the dog, because this dog is lovely. My sister actually volunteers in animal shelter. She put some pictures up on Facebook just this week of a dog that had come into the shelter, not a lovely dog, like needed a lot of help, for sure, and yet, somebody’s going to take this dog home, right, choosing to love the dog before the dog is lovely, but there is an expectation for how the dog behaves, still, like, there’s allowances, there’s grace, we know isn’t dogs probably need to be trained. What not? If that dog just keeps biting your kids every day, a month, two months, six months a year, at a certain point that dogs not in the family anymore, back, that dog is probably not around anymore, right? And so that’s the similar sort of idea here. We’re chosen by grace, but there is the expectation of obedience. So if obedience is this important, then what exactly is God asking us to do? And the clear focus in our passage here is on our exclusive commitment to God, which is why marriage is so often used as an illustration of this covenant relationship, and what is part of the vow that we make in a wedding ceremony, forsaking all others, I will be husband to you, forsaking all others. That’s it. On a marriage ceremony, you’re saying no more women in my life. I got one and one only for the rest of my life. That’s what God expects of us as well. Forsaking all other gods, I belong to God and God alone. It is a single minded, whole hearted devotion. You shall have no other gods before me. But that means they can’t just go with the flow in their new land, because there are lots of gods in this land already, lots of idols, a lot of places for idol worship already there, and they’re told they must demolish them. What an important word for us today, by the way, because we live in a land of many gods, and we also live in a culture that tempts us to a sort of do it yourself. Spirituality, like, just choose what you want. Like, you’re ordering a combo meal at Arby’s or something. Like, I want the roast beef, sure, but you know what I’m going with the curly fries instead of the regular bike. So I yeah, I want grace, absolutely. But don’t give me any of this law nonsense. Is there’s something else I could do, like potato wedges. Like that’s what I want here, especially when we consider that our culture is a culture of expressive individualism, the sovereign self I get to decide for my life, which means I get to decide what sort of God I’m going to worship and what sort of obedience I will offer him. Except that that’s not true, and that’s the point that’s being said here. There’s one God and one God only. This is a danger. Even in the church, a lot of that just felt like, right? You’re talking about the people out there, but I’m talking about us also, because if we just go with the flow culturally, a lot of us are going to end up adopting a Jesus plus mentality like Jesus Absolutely you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t at least interested in Jesus. But I would like to worship Jesus and Jesus plus money and the comfort that it provides, the security that it offers Jesus plus power or achievement or approval Jesus plus pleasure. That’s why God says, Here, look, you can’t make treaties with foreign gods, with false gods. God calls us to a hard but loving exclusivity, because God, the One True God, the God who is there, knows that these false gods are false lovers who will destroy us. No one ever got saved worshiping money. That’s why he’s jealous. He’s jealous like a husband ought to be jealous for his marriage, but he’s jealous for our sake, because what’s best for us is that we would be wholeheartedly devoted to him. So like, take a moment open the door of your heart right now. Take a peek inside what idols are sitting on your heart’s mantle, and then get out the hammer and smash them. Like, take a hammer to the idols and if. You’re wondering what idols there are inside of you. Maybe the first place to look is when I asked you to open that door and you saw the idol on the mantle, which is the one that you grabbed really quickly, put on the floor and kicked under the sofa in the hopes that nobody would notice it there. Like, what’s the one that you’re unwilling to give up? There’s anything that you’re going I will worship you, Lord, I will give you anything except for this. That’s the first one that needs the hammer. Now notice that verses 29 and 30. So we’ve talked about the fact that God is promising total victory. He’s going to bring them into the land. He’s going to bless them in all these ways. So God promises total victory, but it is going to be a slow victory. God says he’s going to drive out the foreign nations little by little, so that the land doesn’t become desolate. They’re not ready to take over the whole country, and so they’re not going to take over the country all at once. Again, there is a lesson for us here. I mean, think about where Israel is. God has brought them out of slavery in Egypt, but he’s not yet brought them into the Promised Land. So they’re between Egypt and the promised land. That’s a parable for our spiritual lives, because God has brought us, if we belong to Christ, God has brought us out of our slavery to sin and death, but he has not yet brought us into glory. And so we live in that between time like we are the wilderness generation, which is why Paul especially keeps directing our attention back to the wilderness generation, First Corinthians, 10. I’ve quoted a number of times in this series already, because Paul’s looking at what happened in this time, and he’s saying, this is about you. This is about you. Remember, they were in the wilderness generation. They’re supposed to get rid of their idols. They didn’t. They fell. They all died in the wilderness because they didn’t do what God asked them to do. Now, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things, as they did. So this text is for us because it gives us what we need to know for our sanctification, that process where God transforms us into Christ likeness, the people we are meant to be. What do we learn about our sanctification? I think three key truths in this passage. First of all, it is all of grace, like we remember that. So it is total victory, but it is total victory by grace alone. The victory is God’s and his alone, and that is important for our sanctification. Because I think a lot of us have this thought, like the gospel is how I get into relationship with Jesus. So you hear the gospel, the good news that Jesus died for your sins, and you think, okay, now my slate is wiped clean, and the rest is up to me. And so this passage is important for us to go, No, the rest is still all of grace, grace plus effort, absolutely, but grace. So it is total victory, but total gracious victory. Second truth we see here is that God rarely transforms us as quickly as we would like. How many of you feel that one so ready to be done with our sin? I remember reading a book somebody had overheard John Piper may make a comment, and, you know, back room of a conference at some point where he said, and this he was like, 75 at the time. I just thought I’d be more sanctified by now. This is a godly man saying this. So how many of the rest of us are like, yeah, no, no, I really thought I’d be more sanctified by now. I know I think that about eight times every day. I mean you, every one of you could right now, think of that sin struggle that you are so tired of, whether it’s something you’re doing that you wish you’d stop doing, or something you wish you’d start doing. I know I need to be better about this, and yet I’m not doing it. And here’s the thing, God could change you right now like that in an instant, and he chooses not to. Why have you asked yourself that most of us just blame ourselves, right? It’s on us. I get that. But no, the Lord chooses not to sanctify us instantly, for good practical reasons, just like we see here, well, the land will be desolate. Okay, there’s a practical reason. What about for us? One I see in myself. I think there are other reasons, but one I see in myself is that my ongoing struggle with sin reminds me that I need to depend on God daily, like I have a tendency towards self sufficiency, except I can’t do it here, and so I’m constantly having to plead for grace. I’m desperate for grace. That’s why God gives us total victory. Slowly. Me little by little, and then the third truth is kind of what do we do in the meantime? It’s all grace is going to be slow. What do we do? Then do we just go with the flow? No, no way. The third truth is no compromise. Right? No compromise. You take the hammer to your idols and put the knife to your sin. Now, what Paul says right? Put your sin to death by the Spirit. It is violent imagery. We wage war on our sin. We take great care lest we get entangled with the world and pulled out by that sinful Rip Tide. It’s like Psalm one verse one, right. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step step with wicked stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. Right? Blessed is the one who goes, I am not getting dragged in that Riptide. Blessed is the one who doesn’t just go with the flow, but who has no compromise? Now, here’s the good news for us, we can have total confidence in God’s total victory over sin in our lives, total assurance because of Jesus, because of Jesus, because Jesus is the better than Moses leading us in a better Exodus. I mean, how does Mark introduce Jesus in the second verse of his gospel, he says this, I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way, a voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. It’s interesting. This is a quote from two Old Testament passages. Actually, one of them is from Malachi, one from Isaiah. But the quote from Malachi, I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. That quote from Malachi is quoting Exodus 23 verse 20. Remember angel means messenger, same word, right? So he’s just quoting Exodus. So here we’re talking about that same angel and then in Isaiah, so we’re already in an exodus kind of mentality. Here the quote in Isaiah, when it says, Prepare the way, make straight paths for him, those straight paths are actually across the sea, except we’ll walk on dry land. What does that make you think of is it the Exodus? Probably the Exodus, right? The Red Sea, all that kind of stuff. So you see what we’re talking about. Jesus led us out, and Jesus will lead us in. We’ve been brought out of slavery to sin and death. He’s not going to fail us. He’s never failed. He will bring us into the promised glory. In fact, the resurrection is the guarantee, right? It’s the deposit, it’s the down payment. What God did for Jesus, He will do for all of us who trust in Jesus. And the best of it is that, just like the promise that we get here, Jesus goes with us. I will be with you even to the end of the age. He tells his disciples, and He puts His Spirit within us so that he always accompanies us. That’s all we need, and all we need to know to have assurance, confidence and absolute devotion, no compromise, his victory, our obedience. Second scene, the blood, his sacrifice, our atonement. Chapter 24 verses one to eight, I will read for us. And the Lord said to Moses, come up to the Lord you and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and 70 the elders of Israel, you are to worship at a distance. But Moses alone is to approach the Lord. The others must not come near, and the people may not come up with him. When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, everything the Lord has said, we will do. Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. Set up 12 stone pillars representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bowls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls. The other half He splashed against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it to the people. They responded, We will do everything the Lord has said. We will obey. Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. So we are now ready to confirm the covenant everything that we’ve gotten in chapters 20 to 23 so what we’ve done the last few weeks, in fact, we’re all of a sudden, brought back to where we left off the story way back in 2022 that was the last time we read the phrase The Lord said to Moses. So everything we’ve gotten between then and now is the Lord saying to Moses, well now all of a sudden, we actually get the story again. It resumes. Remember, God spoke the 10 Commandments to everyone. The cloud is there, right? It’s like a volcano, kind of feel happening, and the people are terrified, and they say, Moses, why didn’t you go up and get the rest of it? And that’s what happens. Moses gets the detailed instructions from chapter 21 to 23 now Moses shares those with the people they agree to obey in verse three. Then Moses writes it all down. Obviously, we just read it. And he reads it to the people again. So he tells them, writes it down, reads it, so he tells them again. And then they obey, or they agree to obey again. And you think to yourself, why twice? Why twice? And I think the first time was kind of, they’re like understanding, almost like a declaration of intent. And then the second time was the real ratification, like the vow. It’s actually exactly what we do in wedding ceremonies, again, because you have the declaration of intent. First of all, do you take this woman to be your wife? And you go, I do. And then the pastor comes back around and you say, repeat after me. I take you to be my wife. So we go through it two times, the declaration of intent and then the actual vow. And that’s what the people have done here as well. They have total understanding of what they are agreeing to, and it’s this beautiful scene only we know they don’t really mean it, do they? Because we’re going to get some detailed instructions here again, and then the next story we get, they’re going to be worshiping a golden calf. So yeah, maybe didn’t agree to everything, or at least didn’t mean it when they agreed to everything. They just fall headlong into idolatry. And so that makes what happens next all the more poignant, knowing what we know about what’s about to happen, because they offer a sacrifice. And so there is this shedding and sprinkling of blood. We actually get two offerings. There’s the burnt offering and the fellowship offering. The burnt offering, you put the whole animal on the altar, and it is burned up entirely Leviticus. One tells us that that burnt offering is to make atonement. The word there in Hebrew means to to wipe clean or to cover over. So we have dealt with the problem of our sin and God’s wrath, his righteous anger at our sin and rebellion. They also offer a fellowship offering a fellowship offering not everything is burned. That’s actually why there’s blood, because they slit the throat, drain the blood out, and then offer part of the animal on the altar, and the rest of it, they actually roast and eat together to have fellowship at that point. But so There’s blood here, and what happens with that blood? Half of it is splashed on the altar. Again, that’s the the symbol of our atonement. But the other half is half is kept in bowls, and then is sprinkled on the people, maybe on the 70 elders that will meet in the next scene, maybe on the 12 pillars, which clearly represent the people. But it is somehow sprinkled, at least representatively on the entire nation. Why? Why do they get sprinkled with blood? I mean, cleansing, no doubt, is part of it, like I’ve been washed in the blood. That’s the kind of thing Christians say. That confuses the world, for sure, but that idea, but it’s not just cleansing, it’s also consecration. Consecration, because where we really see people getting sprinkled with blood in Exodus, we’ll see it in a couple of weeks, is with the priests, and they get blood like put on all different parts of themselves. Why? Because they’re being set apart for special service. And so here the whole nation has been set apart to be holy. It’s been set apart for special service, and has been set apart, of course, for obedience. Now, you’ve been here for a while. I don’t need to tell you that this is all about Jesus, right? But I’m going to tell you anyway, because we can’t hear it too many times. I mean, we talked about this even just last week, right when I read from Hebrews chapter nine, as we were looking at the sacrifice Jesus’s blood, the blood of the spotless sacrifice, is actually splashed on the heavenly altar, not the earthly copy, to deal with our first and primary need, which is to propitiate God’s wrath, propitiation, not a word We use in common discourse and stuff, but it means to appease or satisfy someone’s anger, you break somebody’s something or whatever, you know you’re going to have to buy a new one for them, and then they’ll stop being mad at you like that’s propitiation in a nutshell. So this propitiates God’s wrath, and therefore makes a way for us to be in fellowship with Him. Elsewhere in Hebrews, it says, without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness. So if blood isn’t shed, there’s no hope of forgiveness. So we are so grateful then that Jesus said, Matthew 26 verse 28 This is my blood of. A covenant which is poured out, splashed, shed for many, for the forgiveness of sin. But do we get sprinkled? Do we get consecrated? Yes, of course, we do. Isaiah even talks about this. Isaiah, 5215, says messiah will sprinkle many nations. Now it doesn’t say blood specifically. Maybe it’s water. That certainly happens. That’s what baptism is, absolutely but we are not just cleansed. We are consecrated. We’ve been talking about in the last few weeks. We are set apart for service. Remember, in Exodus 19, it said that the whole nation was to be a kingdom of priests. And then Peter says, By the way, that’s the church. We are to be a kingdom of priests. If you’re in Journey group, you’ve been memorizing Ephesians four in the last couple of weeks. Ephesians 412 right? God Christ Himself gave the leaders of the church, like the elders that we’re going to see in the next section. He gave the leaders of the church. Why? To equip God’s people for works of service. You have been set apart for service, which is why we’ve been talking recently about the need to own the mission. For you personally, to own the mission, it’s not something the church does for you. Just volunteer and it no you get up and go, God has sent you into the world to be his priest, to speak for God to the people. So what does that look like for you? I mean, this Christmas season is a great time to think about, how am I reaching the people around me? Is there an invitation I can make? Is there some part of my story that I can share her better still, some part of God’s story that I can share? We just offer a final word before we get to that last scene, to those who are still considering Christ, maybe even come in for a little bit. You’ve heard this maybe a couple of times. You understand at least what the Bible teaches about your sin and rebellion and the sacrifice that Jesus has offered for your sake. If that’s you, let me encourage you to be like Moses. Do you notice in the second half of verse four, it says he got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, like as soon as soon as God gives him the instructions, like he wakes up, he does not delay. And that’s the whole point. Don’t wait. Don’t delay. Like today, right now is a great moment to enter into fellowship with God, because your sin has been wiped away when you put your trust in Jesus, His sacrifice, his your atonement. You got any questions about that? You can come talk to me after the service. You could also just scan that QR code, go to the connection card. You can put down. I want to talk to a pastor. I want to know what it means to become a Christian. We’ll be happy to follow up with you. But third scene then the glory. The Glory his presence, our invitation. Let me read the rest of chapter 24 starting in verse nine, Moses and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and the 70 elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites. They saw God, and they ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain and stay here and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction. Then Moses set out with Joshua his aid, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and her are with you and anyone involved in a dispute and go to them. When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai for six days. The cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day, the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud, to the Israelites, the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, the experience that we see here really prepares us for the tabernacle, which is where we’re going next week. Let me just say this now so I don’t forget too we tell you what the passage is for next week so you can read it in advance. Please make sure you do that for next week, because we were covering like eight chapters. I’m not gonna read all of it. You can thank me later. Okay, but so you read all of it so that I can refer to it, and you’ll go, Yes, I know what you’re talking about. So we’re going to the tabernacle next week, but we already get this picture of the tabernacle, because we get these three groups, and they’re in kind of three different levels of the mountain. So you get the people, the whole nation, they’re there at the base of the mountain. And then you get the elders. They go halfway up the mountain, and then Moses and Joshua, but Moses in particular goes all the way to the top of the mountain. So these three levels are almost three levels of holiness, or closeness to God. It looks like the tabernacle the people. Are kind of in the courtyard, and then the elders go into the holy place, and it’s only Moses, who’s kind of functioning like the high priest, who goes into the most holy place, the Holy of Holies. But even the elders who are going into this holy place, they’re going to have a meal with God. I mean, they’re going to experience table fellowship with God Almighty. Think how they would feel like can you put yourself in their shoes for a moment? You ever had a meal with somebody famous? So I did recently, and it was awkward. Okay? So I sat down at a breakfast at the gospel coalition conference, and didn’t realize there were going to be famous people at the table. And so two very famous people sat down next to me, along with a couple other people, kind of on the other side of the table, not exactly near to us, but these two authors probably between the two of them. I read maybe 10 or 12 books by them, and so I’m thinking, well, this makes sense. You know, I’m their peer. I think there’s a good chance by the end of this meal, we’ll be best friends forever. Very much, my hope at that time. But I’m awkward, as you know, socially and leaned into the awkwardness here, just kind of sat doing nothing the whole time they were engaged in this very deep and philosophical conversation, and I thought, I am not their peer. This is good to know. Okay, so they’re talking all the time. I’m kind of waiting for them at some point to go and what’s your name? Never happened, by the way, until one of them sneezed, and I thought, here’s my chance. This is my opening, all right? And so I say, bless you and smile broadly. Not my strength, not my strength, right? Well, he didn’t hear me say, bless you, so instead, he just looks over and I’m grinning at him like an idiot. That’s what it’s like to have a meal with somebody who is better than you. So like, multiply that by infinite. And that’s got to be what it feels like for these people to eat with God Almighty, and yet, there they are, and we’ll talk about how significant that is as we go. But why are they having this meal? They’re having it to celebrate the ratification of the covenant. So this would be like two Prime Ministers sitting down after they signed the treaty for dinner like that’s what’s happening. In fact, they’re most likely eating the fellowship offering that just happened. So they’re having this meal with God. And most shocking of all, they actually see God, or at least see the soles of his feet and the heavenly pavement on which he stands, which is like lapis lazuli, like blue, like sky. It’s very similar to what Ezekiel and Amos see, and, of course, John and revelation, which we talked about this spring. So it’s God’s radiant glory, but like muted, mediated and ineffable. Because notice, it isn’t lapis lazuli. It’s just like it that’s kind of what Ezekiel says. He sees this vision of God, and he’s like it was something like the appearance of the glory of God. I’m four stages removed from being able to tell you exactly what it was like. It’s so ineffable, and they don’t dare raise their eyes, which is why they’re describing his feet. After all, they know you can’t see God and live. By the way, you know what book says that Exodus. So they’re nervous at this point. I’m guessing you can’t see God and live. And that’s why verse 11 is key. It says God did not raise his hand against them as he should have. I mean, these are unholy sinners. Just www, sterile bubble that we talked about a few weeks ago. Like, of course, His Holiness is going to break out against them, attack it like white blood cells and infection, except grace. And so they’re there by invitation and by invitation only. So apparently they stopped halfway up the mountain because God calls Moses to keep climbing again into the most holy place, and there the glory of the Lord settles on the top of the mountain. That’s a really important word we’ll talk more about next week. This is not a brief appearance. The way that word is often translated is, dwells the glory of the Lord dwelt on the top of the mountain with Moses, with his people again, getting us ready for what’s coming when we build the dwelling place for the Lord. So it gets us ready for what’s coming. Really, all of this is get us getting us ready for what’s coming, not just in the next few chapters, but in the rest of redemptive history. Because as exciting as all of this is, and this is an exciting moment. It’s just a preview of what’s coming later. It is all pointing forward to Jesus. Of course, it is God’s glory dwelling with his people. You mean like John 114 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Yes, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Or what about John 118 just a few verses later, no one has ever seen God but the one and only son, who is Himself God, and who is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. Right? There’s the manifestation of God’s glory, so that we can actually see God and live, which is why John later, Jesus says to the disciples, John 14, verse nine, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. But how can we see God and live? And the answer is only by grace. Like I actually skipped over the tension in this text. Some of you have been bothered by this this whole time. I know the questions which been there in the back of your mind, Exodus. 2321 pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him. He will not forgive your rebellion. And you’re all sitting there going, No, but he did forgive their rebellion, and he does forgive our rebellion. The prophets were just enraptured by this truth. I mean, here’s Micah seven, who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance. You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins under foot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. How is that possible? How is it that God doesn’t raise his hand against us? It’s because he raised his hand against Jesus. Instead, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we’re healed. Was his blood splashed on the heavenly altar. And did you notice the difference between Moses and Jesus? Moses, 24 Verse eight says, this is the blood of the covenant. Jesus, Matthew 2628 says, This is my blood of the covenant, not just the blood, but his blood. And when does Jesus say that when he’s having a meal with his people at the Last Supper, when he’s celebrating the Passover, the deliverance out of slavery, but then also celebrating the ratification of the New Covenant, he’s celebrating what will be his death in the morning, and Yet he’s celebrating it. That’s what we remember each week when we gather. I mean, think about it, Exodus 24 is basically just a worship service, isn’t it? You get a call to worship in verse one. Then there’s the reading of the word, a profession of faith and a commitment to obedience. And then there’s a covenant meal, what we would call communion, the Lord’s Supper only. It’s better what we do each week than Sinai, because it’s not just the elders and Moses that get to go in. We all get to go in together to see God in the face of Jesus Christ by His blood. But remember, this is by invitation only. Yeah, exactly. How does the Bible end the Spirit and the bride? That’s the church that says, proclaiming the Spirit and the bride say, Come. Well, let the one who hears say, Come. Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes to take the free gift of the water of life. There it is. There’s your invitation. Come to me. All you who are weary and burdened, I will give you rest all who enter under the blood are welcome. Everyone is invited. Come and see come and live better still. Come and live with God, because that’s the end of the story. Jesus, God’s Messenger, leads us, guides us, guards us all the way home to the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth, where we all dwell at the top of a better than Sinai in the presence of the glory of God, forever, his victory, his blood, His glory, our invitation, our atonement, our faith manifesting in obedience, God has made a way for us to dwell with Him forever. So come on in. Let’s pray. Lord, we worship you because we know we shouldn’t be here and shouldn’t be allowed to worship you because we know that you should have raised your hand against us because of our sin and rebellion, and instead, you have made a way for us to dwell with you by the blood of your son who was struck down for our sins. Lord, may that reminder strengthen and encourage us, may it strengthen our faith and encourage us to go on obeying that there would be no compromise, as we see your total victory worked out little by little in our lives. May we be committed to seeing that happen, Lord, to make every effort to become. Christ, because we know that that is what you are working in us for the glory of your name. Amen.