Thursday Night Mens Bible Study at Jeff Bodey's House 3-10-2020
This is our notes from Pastor Jacob on Chapter 40 in Exodus so read the chapter and the notes and comment on our text group if you have questions or just a comment.
Thursday Night Bible Study: Exodus 40
As we look to finish the final chapter of Exodus in our study, we get the privilege of reading the final touches of the tabernacle. We see in the first section (40:1-8) the placement of the objects that go inside of the tabernacle. The second section (vv. 9-15) we are privy to the holy anointing of both the objects in the tabernacle as well as the priests who will be serving the Lord. The third section (vv. 16-33) we see Moses doing as he is commanded in the setting up of the tabernacle. We finish with a final section (vv. 34-38) in which we see the cloud descend on the tabernacle, which was the glory and presence of God.
The first section of this chapter does not have anything that really grabs my attention. The second section, however, is very interesting. I love the imagery that the author gives you that everything in the tabernacle is anointed and consecrated to the Lord. That includes the people who are going to be entering into that place for service to the Lord. This is interesting to us today because we no longer go to earthly buildings to experience the presence of God. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit resides in us. If we truly are to be that temple, then we truly must have ourselves anointed by God. I do believe there is a space for having anointing and prayers of blessing over our physical body (when’s the last time we prayed blessing over something like our colon LOL), but the anointing I am talking about is the spiritual self. The anointing of God is the revelation of him, giving us knowledge of God and a relationship with Him through a born-again experience (1 John 2:18-29). Christ’s prayer for us is that through his work on the cross and resurrection from the dead that we may be sanctified (consecrated) in truth, the truth being the Gospel of Christ (John 17:19). How seriously do we take this idea of us needing to be consecrated? It’s we do, it shows in our desire to read His Word, pray, and to tell others of the truth.
The third section shows the setting up of the tabernacle. At the end of the section, we see Moses and Aaron and the sons of Aaron wash themselves as they enter the tent of meeting. This is something that we have discussed before, but seems important we mention again. In our walk, when we go to meet with the Lord, are we going into his presence washed? By that I mean to say; are you praying out of humility, with an interest in listening as much as speaking? And when we read Scripture, do we go with the desire to hear God? And in our church meetings, do we come to experience God or man-made entertainment? I pray the Lord cleanses our hearts and we are able to experience him with less focus on ourselves.
In the final section, we see the cloud of the presence of God descend on the tent of meeting. This cloud provided guidance on how long to stay in an area. When the cloud was down, they stayed. And when the cloud lifted, the Israelites new it was time to move. I wonder what would happen if we were attentive to the Holy Spirit in that way? I know there are times in worship services that I want to just sit in the presence of God in that moment. But we are so structured that we need to move onto the next portion of the service, or the roast is in the oven so the preacher better get us out in time. But what if we allowed God to keep us in those moments? Maybe we shouldn’t set a time limit to our personal prayers or Scripture reading. And maybe we need to not fill our schedules so much so we can listen when the Spirit calls us to god somewhere or speak to someone. If the Holy Spirit will guide us, why do we choose to guide ourselves?
Blessings,
Jacob Hayward