24-0804a - Transcript

1^st Reader: John Nousek

Psalm 61, first four verses. Psalm 61 verses 1 through 4. Hear my cry, O God. Attend to my prayer.

End the earth, I will cry to you. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in your tabernacle forever.

I will trust in the shelter of your wings. Selah.

2^nd Reader: Roger Raines

Good morning. We are going to say in the book of Psalms, chapter 31, verses 16 through 21. Psalm 31, 16 through 21. May your face to shine upon your servant.

Save me in your loving kindness. Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon you. Let the wicked be put to shame.

Let them be silent and showered. Let them lie in lips, be mute, which speaks arrogantly against the righteous, which with pride and contempt. How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you have locked for those who are taking refuge in you.

You hide them in the secret place of your presence from the conspiracies of man. You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for he has made marvelous his loving kindness to me in a besieged city.

This concludes this reading.

Preacher: Jim Lokenbauer

Good morning, everybody. Happy to be here. Nice to see everyone. Nice to see Tasha. I hope Charles is okay.

This morning I have the opportunity to bring you another lesson. It’s going to be a continuation in my series of lessons about our great God and Savior, Yahweh, who is Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead. Excuse me if my voice is a little weak, had a minor illness.

We’ll explore some of his interactions with his people from the Old Testament and the relevance they have for us today in the New Testament era. These lessons fall under the Hebrew writers' elementary teaching category of faith in God. To have faith in God, one must first repent.

Both God and the Father and the Holy Spirit working through the Word of Christ are the change agent that causes us to repent. And to repent is to think differently about something that you have heard or seen or read it or hear it. The word repent comes from the Greek compound word meta and noia, which means to think differently afterwards.

Repentance and true obedient faith are created almost simultaneously by the Word of God. The whole Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit are involved in our conversion process, also our salvation process. But in the conversion process, the faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.

When we hear the Word of Christ and our heart responds to the drawing power of the Father, Jesus said in John 6, 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And likewise, our hearts respond to the Holy Spirit’s power to convict the guilty sinner’s heart. In John 16, 8, Jesus said when Holy Spirit has come, he will convict the world about sin.

That is when I think that we think differently. When we hear the Word of God and God draws us to him, God touches our heart and Spirit touches our heart and convicts us about what it is we’re hearing. And what do we hear when we hear the gospel? Well, John’s message was repent.

Jesus' message was repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. And what do his disciples say? Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of sins. So we process the gospel information and make a new conclusion that we either didn’t consider before or perhaps that we had rejected before that causes us now to take action, to respond in some positive way in our lives.

And that, my friend, is true repentance. It’s the moment when you’re thinking about, man, I gotta change. But the change isn’t repentance.

You decide that if you’re stealing, you stop stealing. If you were lying all the time, you start telling the truth. If you were coveting everything you saw, you stop desiring after everything everybody else has and be satisfied with what you have.

These actions are the fruit of repentance, the fruit that our lives have actually changed. When you think differently about what you have heard is also when faith is created. These two responses, repentance and faith in the hearer, are the fruit of the gospel.

Christ’s words are powerful, and he expects his words to accomplish his will. When we become doers of the word by actively responding to what we’ve been told or what we have seen by reading, or in their day, witnessing miracles, we have an obedient faith. And that’s the whole objective, is obedient faith.

Paul, how many times in Romans, he starts his letter out saying that’s his goal, to create an obedient faith in the believers. At the end of his letter he concludes with the fact that his aim is to create in us an obedient faith. Not just the faith that ascends to the idea, yeah, I believe in Jesus, his story is great, I’ll try to live like him.

That’s not faith. Faith is proved by obedience, doing, being a factual doer of the word, as James says in James chapter 1. Christ’s disciples commanded repent and be baptized. By doing so is what proves our repentance and our faith.

A change in the thought process has to happen first. John the Baptist said produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Answering the command to be baptized would be one such fruit, proving our repentance and our faith.

Repentance and faith are the most important of Christ’s elementary teachings. They’re the foundation. For without them, none of the other teachings of the elementary teachings, there are six, Hebrews 6, 1 and 2, without faith and repentance, none of the other teachings could be understood or accepted.

It’s my aim to present my materials so both the young in Christ and the mature Christian can gain some knowledge and increase their faith in God. So today’s lesson is titled Yahweh, Our Tabernacle. And if you heard from the readings this morning, you notice that those readings talked about sheltering under God’s wings, being secure with God, and I’m going to develop that.

In many of my past lessons, Yahweh, Our God, I reference passages of Scripture in which Moses was leading Israel out of Egyptian bondage through the wilderness into the promised land, and on the way, Moses, who had relatively a new faith, wanted to know God better. And that’s a natural desire of faith and a believer, to want to know God better. So Moses asked to know God and to be taught of him and that God would be with him as he leads God’s people to the promised land.

And to our delight, or to my delight, I’m sure to your delight too, God Yahweh reveals to us something about himself that will help us know our Creator better, at least to know him as much as what he has revealed through Scripture. So listen to the conversation found in Exodus, chapter 33, verses 12-14. This is between Yahweh, and in your Bibles it will say LORD in capital letters.

That’s actually his name, Yahweh. Translators spelled it important just to call him LORD. Anyhow, Moses said to Yahweh, Behold, you tell me, bring up this people, and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me.

Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your way that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight, and consider that this nation is your people. Yahweh said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

It’s amazing to know that the same holy being here, talking with Moses, said in the Gospel era to the Jews, Come unto me all you who labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. He’s willing to teach.

For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. You know what? That is the same holy being that was with Moses, and was with the Jews in the Gospel era. Jesus.

Yahweh said to Moses, My presence will go with you. And to truly get a handle on God’s answer to Moses, we have to look at what the Hebrew word for presence means. That’s what our translators translated it to.

The Hebrew word for presence is panim, which is a plural word, but always used in the singular sense, and it means face. It’s very similar to the word Elohim. Elohim, when you see the word God in your Old Testament, that’s actually the name Elohim.

It’s singular, God, but it’s plural masculine, meaning Father, Son, and Spirit. So every time you see God, it’s referring to the Godhead. So it’s like when Moses and God were talking, God told Moses, I will go with you in the form of one of my many faces.

And what were some of those faces? We know that one of Yahweh’s faces was the pillar of fire at night, and the cloud of smoke by day. And that’s how the angel of the Lord appeared to Israel. So the angel of the Lord is another face of Yahweh.

So we got two faces going on here with Moses. In that form, he led them like a shepherd through the desert. Yahweh provided them protection from their enemies.

He provided them clothes and sandals that didn’t wear out. He cared for their feet so that after long marches through the wilderness, their feet didn’t swell up. And he provided them with food, manna from heaven.

One of his other forms, or faces, that went along with them was the spiritual rock that followed them in the wilderness, that gave them water. It was Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 who reveals to us that that rock is Jesus Christ. So there’s our authority to say what’s being said.

It’s Jesus who was with them in the desert, leading them out of Egypt. More on that scripture later, probably this evening. The face of Yahweh I wanted us to see today is also a type.

And you’re going to see through this lesson there’s lots of foreshadows, types and anti-types. So keep your ears open and see if you can find some of these. So the type I want us to look at, or the face I want us to look at, is the idea of the tabernacle.

Christ in the tabernacle. And bear with me, we’re going to be reading lots of scripture. So first, what is a tabernacle? There are three words in Hebrew used in the Bible for tabernacle.

The first is ohel. It’s a tent as clearly conspicuous from a distance. A dwelling, a tabernacle, or a home.

And that is why Moses chose to use this word to describe the tent of meeting that was used as a temporary place to commune with God. In Exodus 33, 7-10, it says, now Moses used to take the tent, ohel, and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp. And he called it the tent of meeting.

So there’s the aspect of the definition of the word ohel, being a tent clearly and conspicuously seen. It’s something standing outside all the other little tents that Israel was staying in as they traveled through the desert. It’s conspicuous, it’s obvious.

Ah, there’s the tent of meeting. So, the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp, when Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose up and stood, everyone at their tent door to watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered into the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tent and spoke with Moses.

All the people saw the pillar of cloud, and remember who that pillar of cloud is? That’s the Christ, or the angel of the Lord back then. Same being, different face, standing at the door talking with Moses. And so the people would rise up and worship everyone at their tent door.

Another Hebrew word for tabernacle is nishkan. Its definition is very much like ohel. It means a tabernacle, a tent, a booth, shepherd’s hut, a dwelling, a temple, or a grave.

So it’s got a broader sense of what it can be. And the tabernacle would replace the tent of meeting where Yahweh would be with his people. In Exodus 25, 8 through 9, it says, and have them make me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them in accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle.

It means tent, and all of its furniture, you shall make it. The tabernacle would in essence be a tent within a tent. And the interior tent would be what was known as the most holy place, where the sanctuary was, where the ark of testimony was, and where the mercy seat would be.

They were a type of heaven, because that’s where God would dwell when he entered into the tabernacle. He would be in the sanctuary. And nobody could enter into the most holy except the high priest.

And he, only once a year, could enter in on the Day of Atonement. The third Hebrew word for tabernacle used in the Bible is sukkah. This is the most common one used for a tabernacle.

It can mean hut, lair, booth, cottage, covert, pavilion, tabernacle, or tent. This word has a special usage in Israel’s history because it is the name of one of the three major festivals. The tent plays an important role with the Israelites.

The festival of booths, it was known as, or the festival of tabernacles. The national festivals of Israel occurred in chronological order, the way their history unfolded in Exodus. And the first of these national festivals is Pesach.

I’m saying that right, I’m no expert in Hebrew. But it’s also known as Passover, which includes the festival of unleavened bread. And it’s one of the major festivals.

Every male in Israel was required to be there, even if they had to travel great distance. It was required. It occurred in their first month of the year, Paldavid.

The second major festival is Shavuot, which is the festival of weeks, also known as the festival of first fruits. And in the New Testament times, we know it as Pentecost. Sorry for popping my peas.

I’ll back up. And several festivals happened in Tishri, which usually occurs in our month of September. And the first came the festival of trumpets, or the blowing of the shofar, which was a ram’s horn.

It was a day of rest and contemplation of one’s life in view of the law. It was made to make people realize that they had sin in their life. And it was a time to change, to repent.

Because that holiday was to get them ready for what happened on the 10th of Tishri, which was Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement, that special day when only once a year the high priest enters into the most holy place with the blood of lamb to atone for the sin of the nation. And then came on the 15th, the last great festival of the year. And it was a major festival.

And it goes by the name of Sukkah, which means tent or tabernacle. But it’s most often called festival of booths or festival of tabernacles. And the festival of tabernacles is described in Leviticus 23.

And I’ll read you some of the passages from that. Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel and say, on the fifth day of the month is the feast of tents. For seven days to Yahweh, this was a festival to Yahweh, on the first day shall be a holy convocation.

That’s a special holy meeting of the people. They would all gather together. You shall do no work, which makes it a Sabbath.

So on the 15th day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh. Seven days. You see the change of names there, the feast of Yahweh, the festival of tabernacles.

God is equating himself with being there. What do you use a tent for? It’s shelter, as the gentleman read for us this morning. Shelter under the Lord’s wings.

So on the 15th day of the seventh month, this is a feast of Yahweh for seven days. On the first day shall be solemn rest. And on the eighth day, so it’s actually seven days.

On the eighth day, another day of solemn rest. In the New Testament, in John chapter 7, you see Jesus during this festival. And what he reveals to us, the significance of that is the day coming when the Spirit would be poured out on the people.

He’ll take on the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palms, boughs of thick trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice in your God. You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days. So their tents were known as shelters.

God is their shelter. They were sheltered by God. You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days.

All who are in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters that your generations may know that I need the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters. Tuka is the word. When I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I am Yahweh, your God.

This joyful festival was eight days, and it was a festival to God. For seven of those days, they were connected to God. They were to be happy.

Why? Why did God expect them to be happy? What did God give them a reason to be happy about? It’s very much like the apostolic command that Paul gave the church, the whole church, in the Philippian letter. In verse 4, Paul said, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again.

Rejoice. Oh, why are you telling the Philippians who are going through persecution and hardship to rejoice? It’s the same reason Israel was to rejoice. Yes, the road is hard.

Yes, the road is filled with peril. Yes, you will be tempted every step of the way, but you are sheltered with God, a God who cares, a God who gives you everything you need for life and godliness, a God who will see you through the turbulent times. He doesn’t make you go around the turbulent times.

He’ll see you through the turbulent times, because it’s the tribulations of life that prove the quality of our faith. God will be there for us, and that’s why Israel was to command them to rejoice for seven days. They had a seven-day party where they would build these little ramshackle chefs, and they’d whoop it up to the Lord.

They would praise God all day long in songs, singing, and just praising his name, because God took care of them all through the desert. He provided them clothes and shoes that didn’t wear out. He gave them spiritual food and spiritual drink.

God sheltered his people. Later, the whole community of Israel was to celebrate how God removed their sins on the Day of Atonement. So in the lives of Israel, long after they’d come out of Egypt and had been established in the Promised Land, this national festival was to remind them of that.

And so as they go through the Festival of Trumpets at the start of the month, Tishrei was a very religious and solemn month for them. Trumpets was to get them to contemplate their lives and reflect to see if they’d been measuring up to the law. And if they haven’t, they were to repent, get themselves ready for what happened on the 10th, the Day of Atonement, a great day in which a lamb would be offered.

A year-old lamb without spot or blemish would die, and its blood would be sprinkled on the altar. Another type, anti-type, another foreshadow of what was going to happen with Jesus Christ. And then on the 15th, because of the redemption of sins, they were to rejoice for seven days, a complete week.

Completeness shows the completeness that we have in our forgiveness of sins. You are completely forgiven of sin, no matter what you’ve done. Remember the horror of Jeffrey Dahmer.

Who could top his sin? The brothers in Christ went to the prison and converted Jeffrey Dahmer. God’s ability to forgive sin and cleanse the sinner, to be spotless, is so complete, even the worst of it. Paul says, I am the chief sinner.

God forgave even me. He went around putting people in prison, stoning them to death. He had a load of guilt.

But that’s what forgiveness does for us. It removes sin and removes the guilt that sin can cause in our lives. Are you tortured by sin? Are you tortured by the guilt of that sin? Friends, you’ve got to unload that burden.

Cast it off. Ask the church to pray for you. Infest your sin to God in your closet.

Repent of it. Think differently after the realization, wow, I am going to hell if I don’t change. So that’s why Israel rejoiced knowing that they’ve been set free from sin.

And we’ve all come out of our own personal Egypt, haven’t we? Egypt represented the land of sin. And Moses led them out the same way that Christ leads us to the promised land. So we see that Israel was under the canopy of the angel of the Lord.

We see that they had shelter by Jesus Christ himself. They didn’t know him then as Jesus. Only we know that in the New Testament.

That’s one of his faces. One of the faces of Yahweh. Jesus is one of his faces.

The holy being who came and tabernacled with man. John 1 14. Jesus Christ’s word came and tabernacled among us.

We have shelter in Jesus Christ. We have forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. Peter tells us Jesus gives us everything we need for life and godliness.

So we enjoy peace and comfort even through our tribulations. He won’t save us from it. He wants us to push through it no matter what comes our way.

Look around you. The Lord is being attacked. Did anybody catch even a tiny glimpse of the utter filth France gave to the world in the opening ceremony of the Olympics? Shameful.

Disgusting. Sinful. Mockery of God.

Mockery of the Lord’s Supper. If you feel dirty from sin, now is the time to come and get cleansed. We’ll pray for you if you’re a brother or sister who have strayed away.

You can unload that burden of sin and seek relief and shelter in Jesus. If you haven’t yet been baptized, we will help you put on Christ. Come now.

This is the time for the invitation.