• 4 months ago
Transcript
00:00The Undeflected God We should read through Exodus 37 just to revel
00:06in the sheer beauty of the Lord's tent.
00:10Gold is everywhere in sight, with beautifully crafted artifacts, and the table and incense
00:15altar are bathed in the shimmering light of the seven-branched lampstand.
00:19Of course, in the days when the tabernacle stood, only the high priest entered to trim
00:24the lamps and burn the incense.
00:27And when, once a year, he went beyond the second veil, to offer his own sin-offering,
00:32all was shrouded in the incense cloud.
00:35Yet when, in his character as representing the ideal priest, he offered the people sin-offering,
00:41there was no incense cloud and doubtless he saw the golden mercy seat and the cherubim.
00:47But Scripture allows us to fill our eyes with the beauty of it all and to marvel at it.
00:51This is part of our privilege, so let us read and enjoy it.
00:56Our memories, however, will be telling us that chapter 37 is identical with chapter
01:0125, so we may begin to wonder why it is necessary to repeat all the same details in this second
01:07list.
01:08But just pause for a moment.
01:11What has happened between the two lists?
01:14The Great Sin of the Golden Calf Israel's continuance before God has been brought
01:19into jeopardy.
01:20They have become aware of themselves as a sinful nation, and Moses has entertained doubt
01:25if the Lord could continue to be with them.
01:28This is precisely the point and a most important one.
01:32So much has changed, so much has been made uncertain, but the Lord continues, undeterred,
01:38on his way.
01:40What he plans remains the same.
01:42Word for word he proceeds to do exactly what he said he was going to do.
01:47It is not that the Israelite's sin does not matter, or that it is not serious, or that
01:52he is simply prepared to look the other way.
01:55It is much more marvelous.
01:58He is God, and his forward planning takes account of their sin and need before him.
02:03Indeed, far from needing to revise his plans for the tabernacle, those very plans come
02:08into their own as God's intended way of handling Israel's sin and admitting them, those sinners,
02:15safe into his presence.
02:17So the tabernacle details are repeated, word for word, article for article, and duty for
02:22duty.
02:24We change, he does not change.
02:27Reflection
02:28Ponder the unchanging nature of God.