A Long Journey Comes to an End
Today we come to the end of our study of Exodus. We’ve spent thirty-seven weeks with the Israelites as they began their journey from slavery to freedom. We’ve learned a lot about a lot! Here are some of the highpoints, or big takeaways, from our study of Exodus:
We’ve learned about God’s unique identity as the “I am who I am” (3:13), the self-existent and self-sustaining nature of God. We’ve learned that Israel is God’s firstborn son (4:22), how they fail their Father, and how God’s true Son Jesus Christ succeeds where they failed. We’ve learned about redemption through the blood of a spotless lamb, about how God’s judgment is averted through substitutionary sacrifice (12:12-13). We’ve learned about his love for his glory above all things (14:4, 30-31; “You shall know that I am the Lord” said fourteen times in first half of the book).
We’ve learned about God’s covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, where he gave them his law and said that they’d reflect him to the nations (19:4-6). We learned that Israel was redeemed before they were given the Law (20:1-3), and that the Ten Commandments, or “Ten Words,” are parallel to the ten words (“and God said”) of creation in Genesis 1, so that the Ten Commandments are more than rules but God creating a new nation. We learned that the law is given to reveal the character of God, to teach Israel how to image God, and to reveal our sin and need for a Savior. We learned that the law is about how God’s people relate to God and to each other, about worship and social justice, about loving God and loving neighbors. We learned that God cares for the vulnerable, for the poor, orphan, widow, and immigrant, that helping the vulnerable isn’t about charity but about justice or doing what’s right in God’s eyes (22:21-24).
We’ve learned that when Moses asks to see God’s glory, God proclaims his goodness (33:18-19) and that God’s deepest heart is love for people who don’t deserve it (34:6-7),
Love seen in that, after a serious failure on Israel’s part – when they made the golden calf, Moses intercedes for them, they repent, and the Lord spares them and renews his covenant with them. The Lord restores the relationship and tells them to proceed with building the Tabernacle.
This brings us to the end of the book, chapter 40. Most of this chapter describes God’s command to Moses to build the tabernacle and Moses obeying and building the tabernacle. Then at the very end of the chapter, the climax of the book, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (v. 34).
Why is this so important? Why is this simple sentence (v. 34) so climatic? To answer that we need to understand the storyline of the Bible. What I want to do this morning is to spend less time looking at the trees of this chapter and more time zooming out and looking at the forest of how Exodus fits into the storyline of the whole Bible.
As we come to the end of Exodus, I want us to address three questions: How did we get here? What happens here? And where do we go from here?
How Did We Get Here?
First, how did we get here? Let’s start in Genesis 1 where God created the cosmos as the house where he’d live with humanity. After his house was polluted with sin, he withdrew his presence and kept his distance, staying mostly in heaven. But sin didn’t ruin his plan. He would yet again live with his people on the earth.
He calls a man named Abraham and blesses him and tells him that his descendants will be his people and live in his place. But Abraham’s descendants end up in slavery in Egypt. They become a great people but they’re in the wrong place.
Enter Moses. God calls Moses to liberate his enslaved people and lead them to their promised land. After he leads them out of Egypt, they come to Mount Sinai where God gives them the law and the tabernacle – the place where God would live with his people again.
The tabernacle is massively important in Exodus, taking up thirteen of forty chapters. Why? Because, as Jared touched on last week, the tabernacle was a reconstruction of the Garden of Eden. It contained gold, precious jewels, and cherubim. It was where God would live with his people on the earth again.
The Lord made this clear in his instructions for building the tabernacle. He said, “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” (25:8). And, “I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God” (29:45-46). The Lord rescued Israel so that he could live with Israel. Redemption was for communion.
The presence of the Lord with his people is the issue that drives the people to Aaron (32:1). It’s not dissatisfaction with the Lord or with Moses but their need for someone to lead them into the Promised Land. They aren’t faulted for desiring a discernible presence to lead them. Their mistake was in seeking that presence apart from the Lord and in direct violation of his law.
The irony is that while they’re seeking the presence of the Lord in a way he hasn’t prescribed, the Lord is giving Moses instructions for the tabernacle. The Lord wanted his people to have his discernible presence in their midst. This is why he gave them the tabernacle. But in demanding that Aaron make them gods, they’re rejecting the Lord.
In response to their sin, the Lord threatens to destroy them, but Moses intercedes for them and the Lord spares them. The Lord says that, though he’s sparing their lives, he won’t be among them when they go to the Promised Land (33:3).
Israel’s response to this reveals how important the Lord’s presence is in their lives (33:4-6). The Lord tells Israel to take off what they used to betray him, so they did, thus renouncing their sin.
After they sinned, Moses interceded and they repented, and God renewed his covenant with them (34:10). One of the reason we know they repented is because of their lavish giving toward the construction of the tabernacle (36:3-6).
What the people once gave for the calf they now gave to the Lord. God’s grace had changed their hearts, and grace opened up their hands. As Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:21). Our money follows our hearts. Hearts changed by grace lead to hands opened to give.
In response to the Lord’s grace, Israel carefully obeys the Lord’s instructions for the tabernacle (chs. 35-39). The contrast with the calf incident is striking. Where there had been disobedience, now there’s obedience. Grace opens our hands and makes us want to obey.
So how did we get to chapter 40? We got here by grace. The Lord redeemed his people and yet they rejected him. After mediator Moses intercedes for them, the Lord spares them and they repent and the Lord renews the relationship.
What Happens Here?
We get to chapter 40 by grace, and as we see in verse 34, grace is followed by glory. What happens here is simple: the Lord moves in with his people.
Throughout Exodus, the “cloud” is a manifestation of the Lord’s presence (13:21-22; 14:19, 24; 16:10; 19:9, 16; 24:15-16, 18; 33:9; 34:4). The Lord’s presence coming into the tabernacle means that Israel is completely restored to the Lord, the practical evidence that he was restoring the covenant between them (34:10).
The Lord’s presence is everything for Israel. It’s what makes them distinct among the nations (33:16), and what enables them to fulfill their mission to be a priestly kingdom and holy nation (19:4-6). Without the Lord’s presence, Israel will be like every other nation and unable to extend God’s blessing to all nations. Without the Lord’s presence, Israel would be spiritually dead.
The Lord’s presence is also what will lead them on their journey (vv. 36-37). As Old Testament scholar Alec Motyer says, “Guidance was not something they ‘looked for’ but something they waited for.”[1] They didn’t have to anxiously wonder what to do next. All they had to do was wait and watch, keeping their eyes fixed on the Lord.
Is this how you approach guidance from the Lord? How do you approach decision-making? There are certainly times when we need to make a decision and do something rather than nothing. But there are also many other times when we simply need to wait and let the Lord work things out. Knowing when to do what often comes after seeking counsel from godly brothers or sisters.
The Lord’s presence comes back into his people’s lives to guide them but mostly to fulfill the purpose of creation. The Lord was coming to live with his people again. The cloud over Sinai was moving over to the tabernacle. On Sinai the Lord lived separate from his people, but through the tabernacle he would live in the middle of them.
A Crisis
But there’s a problem. One scholar says that “Exodus ends with a crisis.”[2] What’s the crisis? Verse 35 says that Moses can’t enter the tabernacle once the Lord’s presence fills it.
Israel has repented, the covenant is restored, the tabernacle is built, and the glory of the Lord comes into the midst of the people. But despite all that’s gone right, this verse hints that something’s still wrong.
On Sinai, Moses was able to go into the cloud of the Lord’s presence (24:15-18), but only after being invited (v. 12). This means that entering the glorious presence of the Lord is a privilege and only granted to those who’re called. Again Motyer says, “The Lord is sovereignly in charge of his own front door.”[3]
Why didn’t the Lord let Moses in at the end of chapter 40? He’s reintroducing the problem of sin, showing us that the Lord still can’t dwell directly among his people. The restoration of God and man in Exodus is real, but only partial, as a level of separation still exists.
Exodus shows us shadows of what’ll be fulfilled later. The Bible ends with God living with his people on the earth (Rev. 21:2-4). The imagery here of a bride and groom suggests a level of intimacy that we don’t see in Exodus. This imagery takes us back to the Garden, the original tabernacle, where the Lord lived with Adam and Eve.
But how do we get from Exodus 40 to Revelation 21, from Moses not being able to enter the Lord’s presence to all God’s people living in his intimate presence?
Where Do We Go From Here?
Another way to ask it is, “Where do we go from Exodus 40?” We go to Jesus. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John refers to the tabernacle, saying, “the Word tabernacled among his people,” revealing the glory of God.
Where do we most fully see the glory of God in Christ? In his death (Jn. 17:1). It’s through the death of Jesus that the barrier between God and humanity is removed. When Jesus dies, the veil in the temple is torn from top to bottom (Mt. 27:51). The barrier guarding the Holy of Holies is removed, restoring access to God that hasn’t been possible since Genesis 3.
We Go on Mission
From Exodus 40, we go to Jesus who brings us into the glory cloud through his death on the cross for our sins. But when we go to Jesus something else happens, we’re called to go with him on his mission in the world.
Anglican pastor and scholar Ross Blackburn wrote a great book on “The Missionary Heart of the Book of Exodus” where he argues that the main point of Exodus is that the Lord wants to be known among the nations. He closes his book by drawing out several implications for the church’s mission based on Exodus, and I want to close by giving them to you.
First, he says that Exodus shows us that “mission is tied to community.”[4] He says that the Great Commission is too often interpreted individualistically and apart from its Old Testament context. The way the Lord wanted Israel to carry out her mission was through their life together in his presence. This is why he gave them his law, which Jesus summarized as loving God and loving neighbor (Mt. 22:37-40).
Yes, Jesus commands us to make disciples (Mt. 28:19), but he also says that the way people will know that we’re his disciples is by our love for one another. John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Our mission is therefore collective and congregational. Are we living together in a way that makes the world take notice?
The second thing Blackburn points out is the cost of mission. Exodus shows us that the Lord brings his people through trials in order to make them the priestly kingdom and holy nation they’re called to be. This means we don’t view difficulties as a sign of God’s judgment, but rather as a way the Lord is strengthening us.
The American church struggles with this because one of the biggest idols in our country is comfort. In his biography of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce, John Piper says this:
“A typical emotional response to trouble in the church is to think, If that’s the way they feel about me, then I’ll just find another church. We see very few healthy, happy examples today whose lives spell out in flesh and blood the rugged words, ‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds’ (James 1:2). When historians list the character traits of America in the last third of the twentieth century, commitment, constancy, tenacity, endurance, patience, resolve, and perseverance will not be on the list. The list will begin with an all-consuming interest in self-esteem. It will be followed by the subheadings of self-assertiveness, self-enhancement, and self-realization. And if we think that we are not children of our times, let us simply test ourselves to see how we respond when people reject our ideas or spurn our good efforts or misconstrue our best intentions.”[5]
Exodus reminds us that the Lord forges character through trial, and that the Lord’s work takes time. We therefore take the long view, patiently waiting for what the Lord will do in our lives, our families, and our church over years, not weeks.
Finally, Blackburn reminds us that missions is fueled by knowing God’s glory in grace and judgement. The Lord reveals himself through judgment at the Red Sea and through grace at Mount Sinai. We have to keep both together or we end up making a god in our image rather than worshipping the God who made us in his image.
Blackburn says that Israel most fundamentally knew the Lord as Redeemer, the God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt. If they hadn’t known the Lord as Savior, they wouldn’t have known him at all.
When we forget this, the mission of the church is suffocated because only people who understand their need for a redeemer will love others. This is what we find in the Gospels. For example, in Matthew 9, it says, “As Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
As Blackburn says, “Self-righteousness and despising others go hand in hand. To the extent that the people of God forget that we are sinners saved by grace is the extent that we will fail to extend grace to others. Faithful mission becomes possible when God’s people embrace the Lord as redeemer.”[6]
Saved From Something and For Something
Exodus teaches us that we’re saved from something and for something. We’re called out of slavery and death and into a life of worship and mission. We’re given his word and a mission to extend his blessing to the world. Since Jesus rescued us, we have a desire to rescue others.
Those brought into the glory cloud by the blood of Christ are sent out to the neighborhoods and the nations with his word and Spirit. If you’ve tasted the goodness of the Lord, you’ll want others to taste it too.
Have you gone to Jesus? Are you on mission with Jesus? Are you pursuing the mission in community? Have you counted the cost? Are you aware of your need for a Redeemer?
[1]J. A. Motyer, The Message of Exodus, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2005), 325.
[2]L. Michael Morales, Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption, Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, ed. Benjamin L. Gladd (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020), 91.
[3]Motyer, 324.
[4]W. Ross Blackburn, The God Who Makes Himself Known: The Missionary Heart of the Book of Exodus, New Studies in Biblical Theology, ed. D. A. Carson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 210.
[5]Quoted in ibid., 211-2.
[6]Ibid., 213.