WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:08.320 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:13.359 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.399 Lord, we're not the first of your people to say to you that we need you. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:21.600 Long before us, your people declared that they need you. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.320 They cried out in the Bible from a place of authenticity and said, How long, O Lord? 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.760 So we want to add our voice to theirs and confess that we need you. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.520 But yet you want to respond back to us by saying, I'm here. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:34.880 I'm the God that's here. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:36.880 That's what the tabernacle is all about. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:41.759 You we looked last week in Exodus and you said, Build for me a sanctuary. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:47.439 Not because you need a building, but your people need to be reminded that you're not the God who's far away. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.920 You're the God that tabernacled among them. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:01:02.079 So when in the New Testament, when it says in John 1 that the word became flesh and dwelt, literally tabernacled among us, what you did back then got us ready to understand Jesus right now. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:10.319 And so we we confess, God, that we lost our job and we've gone to interviews and we hadn't got a nibble that you're the God that says, I'm still here. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:11.760 I'm still here. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.959 I'm in charge of the universe and I'm good. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.359 So if you need me, I'm available. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.120 So it's a great collision that could happen today in this room. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:24.799 So, Holy Spirit, that's our desire, that's our need. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:27.840 We said back to you, we said to you that we need you. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:29.040 We want to meet with you. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.519 You're the God that tabernacles with his people. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.799 We don't make sacrifices and offerings up to you. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:42.319 You came down and was the offering that ended all the offerings, all the sacrifices, because Jesus, your perfect life, was sufficient. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.040 So we're gonna love you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength today. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:51.120 So, Holy Spirit, turn the light on and cause the Bible to make sense. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.040 We ask all this in Jesus' name. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:54.959 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:55.680 You can have a seat. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.120 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Exodus chapter 25. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:01.519 If you're a guest, we're going through the book of Exodus. 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:03.439 Uh we started in chapter 1, verse 1. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:04.959 We're kind of going episodically. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.240 We're up to the part in the Bible where they build the tabernacle. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.240 Last week, God said, Build for me a sanctuary. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:11.280 We talked about that. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:16.000 And so, just to kind of, now by the way, I said I alluded to this in an email I sent you yesterday. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:22.319 Uh, there's going to be parts in the Bible that when you get to them, they seem kind of hard to understand and kind of like, what is this all about? 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:31.360 Uh, and let me just say it to you: it's in those parts of the Bible, if you'll seek to understand what God is saying, God kind of hides some revelation and stuff in there. 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:37.919 If you're a man and you watch Sports Center, when they give hockey highlights and the guy shoots the, he shoots the puck and he goes top shelf. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:44.960 If he shoots something high in the goal, the announcer always says, Oh, he put it up top shelf where grandma hides the thin mints. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:47.840 Y'all don't watch Sports Center? 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:49.360 What's wrong with you men? 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.400 Anyway, basically, this is what God does. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.360 God kind of, he, they're not hidden, they're kind of there. 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:56.960 Uh and you say, What do you mean? 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:08.080 Let me say this: the tabernacle is the most tangible explanation uh and demonstration of Jesus Christ, his life and his ministry and everything. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:09.759 And it happened a long time ago. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:11.120 You say, What is a tabernacle? 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:12.639 I brought you a couple visual aids. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:16.560 By the way, anybody that has a red centra of that license plate, they want you to come to the lobby. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:17.280 Everything's fine. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:18.639 You have a flat tire. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:26.800 And we have men in our church that want to change, get your keys and change your tire, and you come back in the air-conditioned building and just enjoy church. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:28.639 Especially if you're a woman. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.560 If you're a dude, you're on your own. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:37.360 But if you're a woman, you have a red Nissan Sintra, we have men that will change your tire and take care of it. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:39.120 We don't want you to get off sweaty. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:40.319 That's why God put us here. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:40.879 Amen? 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.479 Yes, there you go. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:43.680 Now, I brought you a picture. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:45.599 We're going to talk about uh the tabernacle. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:48.479 That's what we got said, built me a sanctuary/slash tabernacle. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:49.599 That's what he's talking about. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:50.560 That's what it looked like. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:51.919 I stayed up all night last night. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.319 It's a map color, so I hope you can read my writing. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.800 Uh now, basically, this is what it looked like. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.840 It was a the the that little brown roof on the inside. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.039 God's very detailed. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.599 By the way, everything God does, God does for a reason. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:05.360 We're a microwave society. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:06.639 We're a microwave people. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:13.120 And so we come against, we bump up against a text like this, and we just skip and go to John 3.16, for God so loved the world. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:14.080 I get that part. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:20.480 Uh, if you want to, if you want to understand the big picture of the Bible, you need to understand parts like we're gonna read today. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.160 Because basically, this is uh a mobile church, a portable church. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:30.480 Before people start meeting in schools and setting up and tearing down, God said, Hey, I'm gonna get, I'm I'm gonna pitch my tent among you. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:31.759 That's what a tabernacle is. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.720 And so that outside part, it's made out of sea cow hides. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:37.120 It's not like a fence that you would get at Home Depot. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.879 Uh, there's a group of people in Numbers chapter 4 talks about the Gershonites. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.839 Their job was just to set up the tabernacle. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:47.839 They never went in themselves, but they facilitated people meeting with God. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.959 And so it's a you for scale at the very top up there, that rectangle, that's an American football field. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.959 So you get a kind of a scope of how big it was. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.040 It was probably a little over 10,000 feet. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:59.279 And so God says, build for me a sanctuary. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.879 And then he starts where we're gonna start today, and he he he he says and starts talking about the Ark of the Covenant. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:05.839 You see the numbers there. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:06.959 This is the Ark of the Covenant. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:08.720 Go back to the other slide for a second, guys. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:10.319 You see the numbers 1 through 12. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.240 Number one, that on that end of the tabernacle, that's the Holy of Holies. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:15.439 That's a there was a curtain. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.639 All that was in there was the Ark of the Covenant and an altar of incense. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:25.839 The high priest went in there once a year, and he had to burn incense and basically fill the room with smoke so that he wouldn't look directly upon God. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.040 But you couldn't look directly upon God and live. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:30.800 So there's a sense of separation. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:34.000 God said, check yourself before you wreck yourself. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.759 Long before the rapper said it. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:36.480 Amen? 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:44.079 And so we're gonna read about this, and you want a deeper, fuller understanding of Jesus, just listen this morning, okay? 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:46.160 And so uh that's the tabernacle. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.160 Now the next slide is what we're gonna talk about. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:49.839 It's called the Ark of the Covenant. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:56.800 Uh basically, God, when you build a house nowadays, like there's a house being built right around the corner from me, first thing you do is lay the foundation. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:03.680 The reason God says, build for me a sanctuary, and then he starts talking about the Ark of the Covenant, is because for God, this is the foundation. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:05.519 This is the most important thing. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:17.439 This is the thing you start here and then build out because God says do this, and he talks about these other elements, and then in about three or four weeks we'll get to the actual tabernacle, or God gives them instructions how to do that. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.279 Why does God say build a sanctuary? 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.120 Then he starts with this, because this is what God deems most important. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:24.560 You say, I don't know why. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:26.000 You will this morning, okay? 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:27.120 Let me read from the Bible. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.639 Exodus chapter 25, verse, starting in verse 9. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:36.160 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and all its furniture, so you shall make it. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:43.680 Verse 10, they shall make an ark of Achaea wood, two cubits and a half to be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:45.279 Now, if you say, What is a cubit? 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.759 The cubit was a uh uh a form of measurement. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.720 It was from a man's elbow to the tip of his middle finger. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.279 They didn't have Home Depot back then. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:54.720 And so they would just measure stuff. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.319 It was kind of a general accepted thing. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:02.639 And so the Ark of the Covenant wasn't this huge thing like you see in Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom or whatever. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:08.720 Uh it was basically a little under four feet by a little under two feet, a little under about 18 inches tall. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:14.079 But he says, Hey, you shall overlay it, verse 11, with pure gold inside and outside, shall you overlay it? 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:16.319 You shall make on it a molding of gold around it. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:22.560 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side of it, two rings on the other side of it. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.759 You shall make poles of a cave of wood and overlay them with gold. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:30.560 You shall put the poles in the rings on the side of the ark to carry the ark by them. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.800 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:34.240 They shall not be taken from it. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:37.199 You shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.279 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:48.639 Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and you shall take two cherubim of gold, of hammered work, shall you make them, and on the two ends of the mercy seat. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:51.920 Make one cherub on the one end, and the one cherub on the other end. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.639 Of one piece with uh with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:06.000 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another, toward the mercy seat, and the faces of the cherubim be. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.560 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:11.439 In the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:14.959 Verse 22, there I will meet with you. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.800 Not there there aren't more powerful words spoken in the Bible. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.000 God says, There, this is the place that I will meet you. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:32.639 And from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, and that are on the ark of the testimony, I shall speak with you about all that I give you and the commandment for the people of Israel. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:38.320 Now you say, Now I why I want to talk this morning about because God seems to be saying, start here. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.320 I want to talk to you about start here. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:46.480 God says, I'm gonna build, I want you to build for me a sanctuary, a tabernacle, and but I want you to start here. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.639 Why why does God say start here? 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:50.000 There's basically four reasons. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.039 Number one, the ark symbolizes the presence of God. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.360 The ark symbolizes the presence of God. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:56.639 Now you say, what do you mean? 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:00.720 That gold, that that that that picture we have, then that's an artist rendering, obviously. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:05.840 But it's not like this is like a don't think like a genie in a lamp or a genie in a bottle, okay? 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.639 That's a bad Christine Aguilera song, all right? 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:10.799 It's not that God could fit in this box. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:11.919 That's not what it was about. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:13.519 God accommodates himself. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:22.159 This vessel couldn't contain God, it served as a reminder to the people that this is where God was going to accommodate himself because God said, Hey, build me a sanctuary. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:28.000 Not because God needs a building, because the Bible clearly says God doesn't live in temples built by human hands. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.759 He cannot be contained like that. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.240 But stop me if you know anybody that's this way. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:34.720 Every once in a while, life got so stressful. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:45.519 Bills got piled up, kids got off the reservation, your husband got on your last nerve, and every once in a while, women back then stood at the kitchen sink and just thought, is this gonna be my life for the rest of my life? 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:47.519 Because I don't know if I can take this, God. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:48.720 Where are you? 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.679 Not that any of y'all have ever thought that. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:10:10.799 Not that any of y'all have been woken up by your snoring husband and propped yourself up in bed and just stared at him for five minutes and thought to yourself, would the insurance pay off if long before you got here, women back in the Bible thought that. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:13.519 And so they would just say, Man, where is God? 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:18.159 And God came down and tabernacled, so they could kind of look and go, hey, God's among us. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.320 God hadn't forgotten about us, God's here, okay, we're gonna be fine. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:27.120 Well, it it's it's hard right now because the ark symbolizes the presence of God. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:35.440 See, God says, Hey, I'm gonna accommodate myself, and this is where above these angels we notice that the two cherubim, let me do this is free, okay? 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:38.559 Uh we talk about cherubim, it says it's a certain kind of angel. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:39.679 It's not a messenger. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.200 Like some angels were messenger. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:42.399 We talk about cherubim. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:46.000 If you go to the Hallmark store, it's this fat little angels with little wings on clouds. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:47.440 No, look, it's a cherubim. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:48.879 That's not what they were in the Bible. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.159 It's really not what they are. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.559 They were protectors of God's presence. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.440 They kept anything unholy out of God's presence. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.159 God was so holy, they didn't even look up at God. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:03.919 They looked down at the ark and they put their wings out to say, check yourself before you wreck yourself. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.279 This could get bad, okay? 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:06.639 You say, What do you mean? 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:12.159 First reference of a cherubim in the Bible is in the book of Genesis, chapter three. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:19.840 God expels Adam and Eve out of the garden because they sinned, and he puts a cherubim, an angel with a flaming sword to guard the entrance back to the garden. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:20.320 Why? 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:25.440 Because their sole responsibility was to not let anything unholy into the presence of God. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:26.879 And it's the same thing here. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:34.720 And so there's an ornate detail and clear, clear, obvious reason for everything that God does. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.200 And so God says, this is where I will meet with you. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.759 This is where I'm gonna accommodate my presence. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.240 I'm gonna come down to remind you that I'm here. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.519 So the ark symbolizes uh the presence of God. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:50.720 And God believes that he has the right to tell us how he's to be worshipped, thought about, and approached. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:56.480 So we have to think soberly about the presence of God because he thinks soberly about himself. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:12:04.399 This is not, there's not, let me say this: there's not a more important reality in the life of the church and the life of a Christian than the presence of God. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:10.000 Because the moment you lose track of the fact that God is here, and so I referenced it, I think, in my prayer. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:14.639 In John chapter 1, the Bible's talking about Jesus says the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.120 That word in the Greek dwelt as tabernacle. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:18.480 He pitched his tent. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:26.240 As Eugene Peterson says in the message, God put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood and invited me over for dinner on Tuesday. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.399 God is that personal, he's that real, and he's that available, okay? 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:35.200 And so the ark was a symbol that reminded people of the presence of God. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.399 Let me ask you a question and think about while you're driving to work tomorrow. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:43.039 How often in the warp and woof of your day do you think about the presence of God? 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.039 How often do you are you just kind of stop and think, you know what? 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.200 I'm not alone in this world. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:50.480 God's here. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.720 He lives inside of me by his spirit. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.279 He's not left me to just figure it out. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.440 Second thing the ark tells us is the ark reminds us of God's holiness. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.200 It reminds us of God's holiness. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:08.639 If you look in the Bible, if you've got one, Exodus chapter 25, I'll start reading about verse 12, where God put the picture of the ark back up there, guys. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:15.360 He says, You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on his four feet, two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:22.240 You shall make poles of a K of wood and overlay them with gold, and you shall put the poles into the rings on the side of the ark to carry them. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:28.320 Now, if you're a thinking person, especially if you're an engineer, you're thinking, is that the most efficient way to do that? 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.480 Because I mean, you think if you're God, I mean, you can make that thing float, couldn't you? 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:33.600 That would be awesome. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.039 That thing, just big golden hope chest, comes coming out of the back room. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:42.159 You're like, woo! But God said this, hey, I want to put these rings on here. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.159 I don't want to put you these poles in here. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.960 Remember, I told you a few minutes ago, everything God does, sometimes it's gonna sound crazy. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:52.879 Sometimes God's gonna tell you to do things and you're like, say what? 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:59.120 Like, for example, I was standing in a Dillard's in Pensacola, Florida one time buying a tie. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:04.000 And on the other side of the tie case, they got the ties in this glass case, like they're diamonds or something. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:11.360 And there's a lady standing there, she's in her mid-50s, and clear Isabel, the Holy Spirit said, I want you to go over there and tell that woman she's worth loving. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:13.840 That's creepy. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:16.159 I don't know her. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.679 And then it dawned on me, because I let me be clear. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:24.720 I didn't hear God laughing, but I just kind of figure God like, who you think you're talking to? 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.720 Get yourself over and do what I said. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:30.000 And so I just like getting a poll, like, okay, here we go. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:34.879 So I walk around there and say, excuse me, ma'am, I just want to tell you you're worth loving. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.200 She explodes into tears. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.279 Goes right to the ugly cry. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:40.480 I mean sucking women. 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.600 Oh my God, oh my God. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.080 The lady behind the counter, thank you, Jesus. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:47.039 Word of knowledge. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:48.960 And I'm like, oh Lord, no. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:53.120 Just security comes over and she's like, Why do you think that? 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.120 Long story short, her husband had divorced her eight years earlier. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.480 She didn't have she didn't have anything, had two kids in college. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.919 She went back to school, became a paralegal, kind of finally started. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:05.840 Her husband used to tell her, You're so fat and ugly. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:07.759 You gotta be you gotta be glad I married you. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:09.360 No man's gonna ever want you. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:16.080 And she's telling me all this, and snots coming out, and I'm like, get some Kleenex. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.720 And she's there, she'll talk a little bit. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:22.960 Oh, you say that. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.039 And I said, I don't even live here, ma'am. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.399 I don't know you or anybody. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.159 I I why'd you say that? 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.159 I said, because God told me to. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.720 Oh, then the lady behind the counter, thank you, Jesus. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:35.759 I was like, stop. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.240 The whole time I'm doing, what is going on, God? 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:41.200 Clue me in. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:44.240 And the woman says, starts telling me my husband divorced me. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.799 He used to tell me I was fat and ugly, and I'd be glad that he put up with me this long and blah, blah, blah. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:56.080 And she says, I met a man and we're kind of getting serious, and I'm flying to New York tomorrow to see him for the holidays, and I couldn't get him a tie. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:03.519 And I was walking into the store, I got in my car, and I was walking in, I heard my husband's voice going, You're so fat and ugly, you gotta be glad I even put up with you this long. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.200 And she said, I thought, what am I doing? 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.399 Let me just break my plans and tell the guy I'm not coming. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:11.039 And then you come up and say I'm worth loving. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:20.879 Sometimes, beloved, God's gonna tell you to do things that you're just kind of like, God told them, Hey, you take poles. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:25.039 Poles are a tangible reminder of the sense of separation. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:25.519 Why? 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.799 Because the ark reminds us of God's holiness. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.159 There's a sense of separation between God and man. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.639 You don't touch me, you don't come in, put your hands on my presence, basically. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:37.600 God's holy. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.159 And at its core, beloved, that means other than. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:40.879 What do you mean? 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:47.919 There are things about God that are not me, never will be me, cannot be fully comprehended by me or approached by me. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:52.000 And so I need to grasp that at the expense of my life. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:17:01.120 Otherwise, I'm gonna have thoughts about God that are gonna influence my posture towards God and my and the way I relate to God that are far from biblical. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:02.399 Let me give you a great example. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:14.160 I think modern worship has lost its sense of God, of the holiness of God, because we sing about wanting to see God, touch God, be with God, be wrapped in his embrace. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:19.440 I'm like anything Taylor Swift can write about, we've come to believe we can do with God. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:25.759 And I just want to say, be careful, because whenever I hear that, I hear an insufficient theology of the holiness of God. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:34.480 What's happened, beloved, is we've disconnected the grace of God from the nature of God, and in so doing, we've made God approachable in the worst of ways. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:35.680 Let me say that again. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.519 We've disconnected the grace of God. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:39.039 Is God a God of grace? 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.160 Absolutely. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.720 I wouldn't be standing here if he wasn't. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:49.279 But God, there's a fullness to God's nature that cannot just be summed up by grace or love. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.519 Well, my God's a God of love. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.440 That's a descriptive statement, not a summary statement. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:18:04.160 And what we've done is we've separated the grace of God from the nature of God, and we've started approaching God in ways that I don't know that God would approve of. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.240 It's this chummy familiarity. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:08.720 It's kind of like God's rad, he's my dad. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.000 Go, God, go. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:12.000 You're like, well, I don't know. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:13.839 Let me give you an example from the Bible. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:19.839 Don't turn there, but in 2 Samuel chapter 6, the ark, that God said, Hey, I'm holy other than you. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:30.720 You're gonna handle my presence, you're gonna approach me a certain way, and you're gonna take these poles uh made out of wood, covered in gold, you're gonna slide them in these rings, and you're and the priests are only gonna bear my presence. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.640 I don't want those rascals just running in here because they want to be around me. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.319 And so the 2 Samuel, they were transferring the ark of God. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.839 David was trying to get it to Jerusalem and they put it on an ox cart. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:49.119 He's like they went down to the U-Haul store down here, got a U-Haul, slammed it in the back of it, and said, This will be efficient, we'll get there a lot quicker. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:54.880 God said, Hey, you put these poles in here, and the Bible's so subtle, and you never take them out. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:00.160 Because there's never a day I want you to stop thinking with sobriety about the way you approach me. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:03.839 And he says, You the priests are to bear my presence. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:09.359 So they put on an ox cart, and it's going along there, and one of the oxen stumbles, and a man named Uzzah. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:11.920 Did you go to school with anybody named Uzzah? 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.200 No, because your mama was smart. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:23.279 The Ark of the Covenant kind of it kind of rocked a little bit like it was gonna fall off, and Uzzah reached out to catch it, and God struck him dead and killed him. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:26.000 Why? 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:27.200 Why? 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:34.240 Because the ark reminds us of the presence of God, the holiness, the presence of God number one, the holiness of God number two. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.799 God is saying to man, I don't need your help. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:38.400 Don't put your hands on me. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:41.279 Even if you think it's going bad, don't put your hands on me. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:48.720 When you begin to start trying to manipulate the presence of God, which the children of Israel tried to do, you're not in a good way. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:55.519 And so God kills this man dead right there, and King David goes up to the, he sees a house, walks up there, and knocks on the door. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.319 A man named Obed Edom, the Get out, answers the door. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:07.519 And King David, this is in the Bible, 2 Samuel 6, says to the man, hey, we got the presence of God out here in the ark, and he just killed the man at the end of your driveway. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:08.079 Sorry about that. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.039 You got a power washer? 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:10.640 I think it'll come right up. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.279 Uh we're all kind of freaked out. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.799 You got an extra bedroom we can store this in till we get our act together? 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:17.920 We'll come back. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.160 And the guy said, Yes. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:27.200 And the Bible says that the ark was at the house of Obed Edom the Gittite, and God blessed him and his entire household. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:33.599 For three months, the presence of God was in the spare bedroom of a man named Obed Edom the Gittite. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.480 And then they heard, David heard, and he went and got it, and he went and got poles. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.359 They went and read back in the Bible, and God said, Dad, don't put your hands on me. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:42.240 Don't touch me. 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:42.640 Why? 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.039 Because there's a sense of separateness between me and you. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:51.119 I'm available to you, I love you, I'm a God of grace to you, but I will bring the thunder. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.000 I will lay the wood to you if you don't follow what I say. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:56.160 That's just who God is. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:59.039 He's not harsh, he's God. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.440 And as God, who gets to define God but God? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:05.359 God is a self. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:09.519 Any attempt to define God that doesn't come from God is idolatry. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.880 It's us making uh some graven image that we find tolerable. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:17.839 The ark is a reminder of the holiness of God. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.480 Thirdly, the ark reminds us of God's faithfulness. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:22.640 The ark reminds us of God's faithfulness. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:23.599 You say, What do you mean? 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:25.359 God said, put three things in there. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:35.839 Now you should have noticed, or maybe you didn't, it's okay, that a couple times God used this phrase, like in verse 16, and you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.599 You shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:48.400 See, what's in the ark, the three things that are in the ark, God is gonna like call as evidence later in life to kind of say, Hey, I'm gonna testify. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:50.880 Here's a here you're gonna put this in here. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.559 And I'm on record as this. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.160 So these three things, let me just tell you what they are and what they say to us today. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.400 The first thing is called an omer of manna. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.839 Basically, it's a jar of manna. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.240 Manna. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.720 Remember, manna was that sweet, kind of tasted like honeybread-like substance from there in the wilderness. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.000 They're like, we don't have any food. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:09.119 Would you bring us out here in the wilderness just to let us starve to death? 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.799 We'd rather go back to Egypt. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.240 And God, the next morning they woke up and there's like frost on the ground. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:14.880 It's like bread. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:15.680 It's called manna. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:16.960 Manna means what is it? 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:19.359 And that's what they ate the whole time they're in the wilderness. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:24.000 See, the omer of manna basically tells us that reminds us that God will provide. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:25.279 God will provide. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:36.319 You need, mom, if you want to do a craft with your kids, get a mason jar and write on the lid the omer of manna and put a bunch of little strips of paper beside and just write down different ways God's provided for your kids. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.000 When our kids were little, their favorite stories weren't things we'd read out of a book. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.759 They would say, Dad, tell us about the time that God, blah, blah, blah. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:46.720 Or tell me that story about blah, blah, blah. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.039 And we go, oh yeah, yeah, this is what God did. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.359 And so that was our omer of manna. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:55.440 We could just pull strips of paper out of there and kind of go, oh yeah, this is what happened. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:58.480 Oh yeah, and this is what happened when it happened to our air conditioner. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.480 Oh, and this is what happened when it came to a car. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.880 And oh, this is what happened, blah, blah, blah. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:05.119 Now my women have conspired against me. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:08.880 We've had the same refrigerator since 1999. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:12.240 They're conspiring against me because they need a new one. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:15.039 The water doesn't work on the door anymore. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.079 And I'm like, the faucet right there works. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.559 You and your first world problems. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:25.680 But dad, but dad, we've had this refrigerator since 1999. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.720 And I open it up and go, ooh, it's still cold. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:30.319 Close it back. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.200 Now, my kids are smart. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:36.400 They're like, hey, dad, hadn't God provided in the past? 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:40.799 So you gotta watch them little rascals. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:43.440 They'll work, they'll they'll they'll run it on you, okay? 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.480 But but the omer of manna reminds us, hey, God will provide. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:49.279 The Bible says it like this, Exodus 16, verse 32. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:58.960 Moses says, This is what the Lord has commanded, let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:05.599 Moses said to Aaron, Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.680 Now, why does God twice say, This is gonna be kept throughout your generations? 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:10.640