Transcription of the Video: Making Space for God

Ray Vander Laan: "I will bring my people out of Egypt," God said to Moses. "Remember how I led you in the desert," he would tell them later. God was present with his people. He was present with them when they were suffering in Egypt, and he was present with them during their time of training and testing in the desert. And he chose a way to remind them every day of his presence. 

"Build me a portable tabernacle, a portable tent," he said. "And I will come and live among you." Come. Let's go see the tabernacle that God instructed his people to build. Because he so much wants his people to know that, "I am with you."

Here at Timna, there's a life-size replica of the tabernacle as we call it. And it's really fascinating to walk into the actual size. It gives you a different feel than you have just looking at pictures. It was bigger than I thought. Some people react the opposite. But it's really quite an experience. It's a great way to learn the story. 

Now, let's unpackage, again, the answer to our question. Our question was, how would the fire of Sinai stay burning within them? How would God perpetuate that incredibly intimate time he had with his bride there on the holy mountain?

Well, part of his answer was this - the tabernacle. Now, I'd like to have you do something. Take out your Bibles a minute. Basically, in the Bible, there are about 50 chapters dealing with the tabernacle; whereas, the creation of the universe takes two. That tabernacle was incredibly important to God to take up this much Scripture space for just that story. 

It was built by the Israelites. But within the Israelite community, there were two in particular - Bezalel and Oholiab. Now, Bezalel comes from the tribe of Judah. And the Oholiab comes from the tribe of Dan. Just like we've been seeing. Judah takes the lead. Dan brings up the rear. Those two craftsmen came from those two tribes, and they represented the Israelites trained in Egypt. We saw the kind of work they did there. And now, they're going to use those same skills to create a sanctuary for God. 

It's not a large place. I'll give you just a little bit of an indication here. It's about 150 feet in length and about 50 feet in width - the outer fence - assuming that this is-- they debate a little bit how it all is assembled. But that's generally what's thought. This is a beautiful example. The sanctuary, itself, has two parts. The front part is 30 feet (about) x 15 feet. And the inner part is 15 feet x 15 feet. 

So, let's start here. This was the altar itself - the altar of burnt offering. It was made of bronze. There are two things about it. It had horns on the corner and they debate exactly what those looked like. But it's represented here. That could be used by someone accused of a crime who could come, fleeing from whoever was going to carry out justice, grab the horns of the altar, and be protected until the judges could sit and decide. And we see the horns on the altar. 

The other thing I would point out is notice there's an inner part where the fire was, and the parts of the animal would be put on there. I think I follow the scholars who believe the inside of that altar was filled with stones - not hollow and empty. Because that wouldn't last very long if you had a big fire in there. And I think the command in the book of Exodus is, "Make your altar of uncut stones." So, they put uncut stones inside. So, this actually probably became a frame for a stone altar. And it kept it together and so on. This is where the animal sacrifice happened. So, you start here. 

Okay. If you'll come with me, this is what's known as the bronze sea. And it represents water that was in it originally obviously. And that could be used ritually for the cleansing that went on before the sacrifice or because of the sacrifice, and it had that image of washing. Both washing in terms of coming to God clean, pure, because he's a Holy God and the image of the effect of the sacrifice - that it makes me ritually clean.

And they discuss and debate exactly how that was all done before and after and when. It's not our point here today, but I wanted you to see that it was here. Now, in front of us is the sanctuary itself. There would have been a curtain covering it. We've drawn it back so that we can study it today. But that would have been closed. You would not normally have looked in there unless the priest was actually going in and out. But that represents the inner sanctuary. Come. Let's see what was in there.

The first thing I would point out is what you don't see. You don't see any seats. All the ancient temples we've been visiting, if you had looked, you would have found places to sit or kneel. Not in God's. There are no chairs. You don't sit in the presence of God. You stand as Jesus would stand when the Bible was read - the Living Word of God. We mentioned that once.

Second, notice a small table. It's called the Bread of the Presence. We say shew (or show) bread, the Bread of the Presence. It's a commitment, a thank you for bread, and it's an offering of thanksgiving to God for bread. The one thing to notice that's different than the Egyptian systems if God is getting Egypt out. In Egypt, the bread was left there for the gods, you remember. Here, on the Sabbath day, the priests ate the bread from the week before. So, the idea is, "No. We're not feeding God. God is feeding us." And that's an important piece. 

Here is the representation of the menorah, a candlestick made out of a single piece of gold - originally of course. Think of how much such a piece would weigh if that was solid gold. This is a representative of its actual size. It was kept burning as light obviously, because this would be a dark place if the curtain was drawn. But more than that, it represented the light that is God - the eternal flame, in a sense, of God's presence. Notice how it looks like a bush. I have never realized that until I came to this tabernacle. And they've designed it so it has buds and blossoms as an almond tree, which is exactly what God commands. So, it's supposed to look like a tree. You could say Tree of Life. 

Now, here is the altar of incense. It's much smaller. It, too, is gold. Although, it's gold covered. And you can see the fire would have been here and the priest would come and pour incense with a small censer onto those hot coals. And the idea was it generates not only a smell as the prayers of God's people rise. You could call it the prayer altar - the sweet smell to God's nose, the New Testament will call prayer. But the idea also, as it creates a cloud that protects us from what's in here. Because you can't see God face to face. So, we've got a representation of that fact.

This represents what we call the veil in the temple/tabernacle. Tabernacle here; temple later. One of the most important parts of the Mishkan, of the sanctuary - because of what's beyond - the presence of God himself. 

Of course, in their world, very few would have gotten here. Only the priests. And almost no one ever beyond the curtain. That's the high priest once a year on Yom Kippur. Now, this is a model. And a very good one. So, I'm comfortable going beyond. And yet, when I stand here and think about what that meant in this place, I feel a little bit of the fear and the awe that they must have felt as they stood in the presence of the Creator of the universe. Now, I realize he's everywhere, so you have that interesting paradox of how can he be everywhere and still in here. But there was no doubt there was something present here that was absolutely profound to them.

So, let's see how that was arranged. And here is the representation of the Ark of the Covenant, Aron ha-Kodesh, the Holy Box. We say ark. It's a different word than Noah's Ark. 

It's made of two parts. There's the box itself that was made of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold in and out. The rabbis say that's to remind us of something. Inside of the box would have been the tablets of the Ten Commandments, representing, of course, the whole Torah. So, the rabbis say what this box represents is the person who takes in Torah. But remember, you must be gold on the outside. That is, your life must be pure and holy. You must be gold on the inside. That is, God must have cleansed your heart. But don't forget you're wood in between. You're human. I don't think that point is in the Bible. But I think that's a beautiful teaching point.

Another thing they noted is all the dimensions of this box are given in fractions. They say that's God's way of saying it was incomplete. When Torah - the Bible - becomes within you, you complete what starts here. Now again, I'm not saying that's a biblical point, but it's a beautiful picture. 

The third thing is the tabernacle was built by those craftsmen. But when it comes to the ark, it says, "they," meaning all Israel. Now, they couldn't have had hundreds of thousands of people building this little box. But God wanted them to realize that the place that's going to represent is presence is constructed by everyone. We all contribute to the space, the place where God is going to dwell.

So, that's the box itself. The cover is called the mercy seat in English. It was made of a block of pure gold, and the cherubs (cherubim in Hebrew) were carved or hammered out of it. So, you have to imagine this entire piece of gold, how heavy that would be. You understand where some of the weight of this thing comes from. 

And in the space created by those wings, the Glory of God lived. This is his marker, if you use the cultural word. This isn't God. God cannot be represented in an image. This is where God lived. So, God dwells between the cherubim, the Bible says. And God spoke to Moses - think of it - from right here.

Moses would come into the tent. We assume he stayed behind the veil and God would speak. "Thus says the Lord." The rest of the Torah, then, apparently was given to Moses here. God here, Moses here. So, it was stunning to think what happened from this exact spot. God is with us. 

Now, that's the basic outline of Mishkan, of the sanctuary or tabernacle. But I'd like to show you some of the things God pictured in all of this. Not the specifics anymore, about these pieces, as wonderful as they are to study. But rather, what's the big picture God is trying to say by this whole sanctuary? So come with me and let me show you.

Let me show you some examples of what I mean by the big picture. This sanctuary was not only intended to give specific pieces and ritual that showed them God's mercy and their need for forgiveness and cleansing, blood, water, their thankfulness bread. That's all true. But in the whole of the structure and the ritual are some amazing pictures. Let me start with a couple of small ones.

All year, the direction was in. So, you start by the altar and you take blood. You bring blood from the altar, and you go in and you sprinkle it in two places. You sprinkle it just in front of the incense altar, and then you sprinkle it on the horns or the top of the incense altar. Every day you bring it in. It's as if you're laying all your sins in front of God. 

And the picture is slowly but surely, that fills up with our sin. Now, one day a year, it's reversed. One day a year, we need to take our sins away. We've got to get rid of them. So, we tie a goat to the altar and we kill another goat. And we bring the blood and we start our sprinkling in. And we sprinkle first on the lid of the ark in the Holy of Holies, then in front of the ark, then on the horns of that altar, then in front of that altar. And then, we come back out here and we sprinkle it at the base of this altar and then, on the horns of this altar. As if the direction of sin is now this way.

The scape goat is here. We perform a ritual and we take the goat out to the desert to die. Now, the fear of course, is the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies to bring that blood with that incense cloud of course. Will he come out? What if God strikes him down? Because this is the day - Yom Kippur - that God is going to write our names in the Book of Life. Our sins will be removed as far as east from west. 

So, you stand out here with baited breath. And then, he re-appears. Remember, there's a curtain here. He re-appears. Yes! It worked. And you take the scape goat.

I think of the story of Jesus. All those sins had piled up all those years. This is just a picture. And Jesus came, entered the Holy of Holies, took all of those sins, and then, is brought where? Outside the city to die as the scape goat. And my sins go with him. So, you see that, yeah, that enormous picture of God saying, "For once and for all." 

And then, you wait with baited breath. What if God doesn't accept it? And three days later. He comes back. Yes! It worked. I think there's an image in that as well. And I think that's really a cool picture. 

Let me go in another direction with the same kind of idea. Come with me in your mind to Mount Sinai. God came down and said, "Moses, I want to take you (Israel) to be my wife. I want to be betrothed to you forever." Remember, there was a huppah, the canopy. There was a Ketubah, the marriage vows. There was the mikvah (or mikveh), the cleansing of the bride, the washing of Israel before it all happened.

But there was one piece missing. Where's our bridal chamber? Where are we going to live intimately together? Ahh! Here's the honeymoon suite. Our bridegroom meets us intimately here. And it's almost like, "Here's your living room." You invite guests, right? "Here is where just the family goes. And in there,"-- man, I remember the sacredness of my mom and dad's bedroom. You needed permission to go in there. There is the inner chamber where our husband waits.

God says, "Listen. Build a sanctuary and I will live,"-- I always would have expected that to say, "in it". It doesn't. He says, "Build a sanctuary and I will live among you." (Exodus 25)

In fact, I like this translation better. "If you build me a sanctuary, I will live within you." That's intimate.

How about this one? Go back with me in your mind to Sinai. Do you remember the fire, the cloud, the glory? How are we going to carry that with us? Do you know how hard it is when you get in desert all that time to feel the power of that moment. They forgot it almost instantly. God said, "I'll tell you what. Let's create a portable Sinai."

Look. At the foot of Sinai, they had built and altar. Before they could go up, they had to wash. When they got to Mount Sinai, there was a burning bush (the menorah). There's the burning bush. 

And then, we go in and guess what? There's a cloud. It's incense but a cloud. And when we get in, we discover God had come down like he came down at Mount Sinai. And he speaks to Moses as he did on Sinai. What you have here is a portable Sinai. And God said, "Wherever you go, whatever you guys experienced at Sinai, you can have here.

I think that's critical to a walk with God for the Hebrews then and for the Jesus follower today. We must be able to carry with us the reminder of that experience or we lose the fire. 

How about this one? By the way, after this was built, Moses never ascended Sinai again. He didn't need to. It was here. In fact, soon after, we don't even know what mountain it is anymore. Why would we need to know? This is where God lives.

But let me show you something about the way God framed the instructions that he gave to Moses. I'd like to have you recite a bit. You've studied some verses, and I'd like to have you just notice something. So let's hear from the Word of God. Let God speak for a moment in your voice, and let's start with Exodus 25:1. 

Male speaker 1: "The said Lord said to Moses." 

Ray Vander Laan: Exodus 30:11 

Female speaker 1: "Then the Lord said to Moses." 

Ray Vander Laan: Exodus 30:17 

Male speaker 2: "Then the Lord said to Moses." 

Ray Vander Laan: Exodus 30:22 

Female speaker 2: "Then the Lord said to Moses." 

Ray Vander Laan: Exodus 30:23 

Male speaker 3: "Then the Lord said to Moses." 

Ray Vander Laan: Exodus 31:1 

Female speaker 3: "Then the Lord said to Moses." 

Ray Vander Laan: And Exodus 31:12 

Male speaker 4: "Then the Lord said to Moses."

Ray Vander Laan: Did you catch how many there were? Seven. Can you think of another example where God did something in seven speakings? It's called Creation. In fact, listen to the rest of the seventh. (Exodus 31)

Male speaker 4: "Say to the Israelites, you are to observe my Sabbath. This will be a sign between me and you for generations to come, that I am the Lord who makes you holy."

Ray Vander Laan: The seventh "And God said to Moses" ends with the Sabbath. So, the instructions for the tabernacle are in seven "And God said". We're supposed to see a new creation here. In fact, if you look, it says in Genesis, "And God saw". Here, it says, "And Moses saw". 

In Genesis, it says, "And God saw it was good." Here, Moses saw it was good. In Genesis, it says, "And all the work of creating was complete." Here, it says, "And Moses completed the work."

In Genesis, it says, "And God blessed all that he made." And here, it says, "And Moses blessed all that they had built." 

So, you could look at it like this. God started the universe, and he said, "I'm going to make a space - the whole universe. You fill it." They messed up. They filled it all right. But with sin. 

So, it's as if God came down and said, "Let's try this again. You make the space, and I'll fill it."

Now, it's simple for God to make a universe with seven "Let there be," but to make a space for God takes 50 chapters and a whole year. But when they had finished creating this space, he filled it.

Now, what prevents God from filling the space they made for him? The golden calf? No. After some serious discussion and some discipline, punishment, he filled it anyway. 

Your sin and mine will not prevent God from filling you. There is forgiveness. But what, if you don't create space- what if you've not created the God space in your life? What if they had not built the tabernacle? 

You see, part of what it means to partner with God, he's going to do it all. Remember, you don't carry the ark. The ark carries you. But you and I are commissioned to create space for God. And if you have no space for God, don't expect him to fill your life.

So, let me ask you. In your family, is there space for God? Not just devotions and praying and Bible reading, praise God. Is there space every day in everything you do for God? Is there in your school, in your church, in your heart?

God wants to live with us, and he asks us to create a space. Because it doesn't work the other way for sinful people. 

When the time came, God filled this. Listen to the Book of Leviticus (9). "Moses and Aaron went out of the tent of meeting." I think that was this. "And the Glory of the Lord appeared. Fire came out from the presence of God and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar." 

Can you picture that? Here they stood, a few in here, thousands around up on the hills and suddenly, God's glory appeared and fire came. Their reaction? (Leviticus 9) "They fell on their faces and shouted with joy." 

When time passed, God replaced this. Some think this was put inside of a temple that Solomon built. Listen to what happened when he finished.

(2 Chronicles 7) "When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple because the Glory of the Lord filled it. When all of the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the Glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground and they worshipped, praising God and saying, 'He is good! His love endures forever.'" 

As awesome as he is, when the husband makes his appearance, it drives you to your face. The only thing you can think of is the awe of what he's doing. But your response is not one of screaming and fear. But he is God! Love endures forever. Just like Moses on Sinai. When he saw God, he saw mercy, compassion, and love. 

Now, there was a day that he was called at Shavuot. You call it Pentecost. God's fire lived in the temple in Jerusalem. A group of 120 Jesus followers gathered near that temple. And suddenly, out of that temple came fire. If you read, it came as one big ball. And that fire divided and began to rest on those 120. And once more, God chose a new place to be living. And so, Paul can write, "You are the temple of God's ruach [breath] if you've created the space." 

Now, my question for you is if the immediate reaction of coming face to face with the presence of God is to be in awe of what that means, but to be filled with joy because when you meet God, you discover that he is love. And you claim to be a Pentecost person, then what happens when someone meets you? 

The reaction of your world ought to be no different. It ought to be, "That God is amazing, and boy, is he loving." Is that what they say when they meet you? Is that what they say when they walk in your church? I that what they say when they visit your home? 

Because, you see, God wanted them to carry the fire of God, the fire of Sinai with them. So, he gave them this. This was only a step. Then Jesus came and became this. And the same love showed. And then Jesus said, "Let's take one more step. You're it."

And the heart of it all is can God-- can it be seen? It speaks. May he speak through us.