Exodus 40:34
“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

What the church needs today more than anything else, is a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit; like the one received on the day of Pentecost, and the day the Tabernacle was erected. For both, Israel and the church, divine power and direction were directly related to the presence of God. While we cannot manufacture a work of the Spirit of God, we can learn a valuable lesson from the events that transpired on the day the Tabernacle was first constructed.

Exodus 39:42
“According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work.”

God gave detailed instructions regarding how the Tabernacle would be built and operated. When Israel followed these instructions, it resulted in the outpouring of the presence of God. The same was…

Exodus 39:1
“Of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread they made garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

In order for the Old Testament priest to serve the Lord, He must be clothed in the proper attire. Moses referred to his clothing as the garments of ministry. These garments included an ephod, breastplate, robe, tunic and a turban. It was clear that those who were to do the work of the Lord, must be clothed in the garments of the Lord. Things have not changed. Just as the Old Testament priest must be clothed in the garments of ministry, so the New Testament saint must don the proper attire if he/she is going to serve Christ. Our garments include at least four things.

Matthew 22:12-13
“‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding…

Mark 16:15
“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel . . .”

Paul explained to the Corinthian church the simplicity of the Gospel message. He stated that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day; all according to the Scriptures. That was the message the first believers declared to their world. They went into their homes, streets, marketplaces, schools and places of business, declaring the Son of God died for our sins and rose from the dead.

Mary carries the honor of being the first to declare this wonderful news. Upon arriving at the empty tomb she was told,

“You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. HE IS RISEN!”

She responded by running to tell the other disciples. Since Jesus had declared He would rise again, it seems they would hear this wonderful news and rejoice together. Jesus is alive! Instead…

Exodus 38:22
“Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord had commanded Moses.”

Six times in Exodus we read of a man named Bezalel, and five times of Aholiab. These men are recipients of the highest of all honors; their names and accomplishments are recorded in the eternal Word of God. When heaven and earth have passed away, and all of this life is but a distant memory, the accomplishments of these two men will remain forever chronicled alongside Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel and Paul. They are honored even though there is no reference to them ever wielding a sword like Joshua, having a face to face encounter with God, like Moses, writing worship songs like David, or winning others to Christ, like Paul. These men are honored because they took the talents they had received from the Lord…

Exodus 37:16
“He made of pure gold the utensils which were on the table: its dishes, its cups, its bowls, and its pitchers for pouring.”

Here in the closing chapters of Exodus, the focus is upon building an elaborate tent designed as the focal point for Israel’s worship. This tent went by many names; it is called the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle, and the Holy Place. Each of the titles reveals something of the purpose of this structure. The term, Holy Place, helps us to understand what holiness actually means.

It seems holiness is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Bible. If we go back to the time of Jesus, we find holiness was defined by the clothes a person wore, the food they ate, and the time of day they chose to pray. The Pharisees became the embodiment of holiness, and all others in Israel were considered…

Mark 15:20
“And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.”

We have come to the most solemn and most important of all Biblical events. The entire life and ministry of Jesus, as well as the whole of human history, has been leading up to these events. Jesus declared, no one could take His life, but that He would lay it down (John 10:18). That day has finally arrived. Without a fight, Jesus, the creator and sustainer of heaven and earth was taken by the mob, condemned by the the courts, beaten by the soldiers, and nailed to the cross. There on a cross of wood, amidst the clamor of the mob, He would bear the penalty for the sins of all humanity. Louder than all the jeering of the mockers, the laughing of…

Exodus 36:30
“So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards.”

The Tabernacle was designed in Heaven, and serves as a picture of the work of salvation. Each article is pregnant with symbolism and serves to illustrate various aspects of salvation and sanctification. The roof of the Tabernacle was supported by wooden walls overlaid with gold, and the walls were held in place by silver sockets or foundation stones. Two interesting facts about these silver blocks are worth our attention.

First, it interests me how the blocks were obtained. Earlier in Exodus, we read of a tax of half a shekel placed upon every person. No matter what a person’s socio-economic condition, they were all required to bring the same amount. This redemption money, as it is often called, serves as a picture of what is required of us in the process of salvation…

Exodus 35:5

“Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze; . . .”

Moses had been instructed to build the Tabernacle. It was to be an elaborate facility with a solid silver foundation, golden walls, intricately woven tapestries and highly detailed furnishing. Every detail was given to Moses, including it’s size, shape, and purpose. However, two things had been left out; materials and labor.

At one time, Moses, as a prince of Egypt, had been an extremely wealthy man with all the resources of Egypt at his disposal. For a nation that had erected structures like the pyramids, building the Tabernacle would not be beyond their means, and Moses could have underwritten the entire project.

But those days were passed. Moses had forsaken all the riches of Egypt. In…

Mark 14:29
“Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.”

Mingled into the fabric of the betrayal, arrest, conviction and crucifixion of Christ, is the story of Peter’s denial. What happened to him? He went from confidently stating he would never deny Christ, to hiding his faith, denying his Lord, and bitterly weeping. While we never start out to fall, the path we walk will always determine our final destination. Peter’s path inevitably led to Peter’s fall. Let’s take a few minutes to notice the steps leading to his failure, that we might avoid these same pitfalls.

First, notice the pride of Peter, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” Pride will always cause us to put our guard down and open us up to failure.

Second, notice that while he should have been praying, he was sleeping. How often we…

Exodus 33:18

“And he said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’”

While most of Israel seemed satisfied with their present experience of God, Moses had a longing for more. His past experiences of being commissioned directly by God at the burning bush, seeing the miraculous hand of God work through the plagues, watching the Red Sea part, tasting Manna from heaven and water from a rock, hearing the voice of God from the mountain, and seeing the Shikinah glory abide in his own tent, were not enough to satisfy the longing in Moses’s heart for more of God.

He desired a deeper and fuller experience of God than he ever had. He is illustrating the words of Jesus when He declared, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Moses is not alone in his desire for more of God. We read…