Jesus As Our Dwelling
Exodus 25-27/ John 1:14
The main character of the movie, The Karate Kid, had a problem. Daniel was getting beaten up
by a group of high school thugs who all went to the same karate school. He desperately needed
help and found it from the apartment manager where Daniel lived. If you remember the movie,
the apartment manager just happened to be a Japanese expert in martial arts. He agreed to teach
karate to Daniel in order to defend himself. Daniel arrived for the first day of training by his new
mentor, Mr. Miagi. Instead of learning how to kick and punch, Mr. Miagi assigned Daniel the
awful task of sanding an enormous wooden deck around his house. He was given very strict
instructions about how to sand. He had to sand with his left hand in a counter clockwise
movement and sand with his right hand in a clockwise movement. After several days of grueling
work, Daniel reported that the job was finished. But Mr. Miagi wasn’t done. Next he had Daniel
wash and wax about 20 old cars. Once again, the exact same hand motions were to be used. Left
hand counter clockwise movement and right hand clockwise movement. If you have seen the
movie, it was wax on (hand counter clockwise movement), wax off (right hand clockwise
movement).
Daniel was becoming very frustrated with his mentor. It seemed he would never learn karate and
was instead being used as slave labor. Without understanding the reason, he decided to trust his
new friend. After several more days of muscle aching labor, Daniel finished waxing the cars.
Finally it was time for his first lesson. Mr. Miagi threw a punch at Daniel while giving him the
command, wax on. Then he threw another punch while giving him the command, wax-off.
Finally Daniel understood. All of his hard physical labor was preparation for learning how to
block a punch. Though he did not understand it at the time, all of his sanding and waxing had a
greater, more important purpose. Daniel had learned karate without even knowing it.
In many ways the progression of understanding experienced by this young karate student is
similar to the progression in understanding surrounding the building of the tabernacle. God gave
the Israelites very detailed descriptions about how to build the tabernacle. Let’s read the first
section in Ex 25.
1The LORD said to Moses, 2"Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from
each man whose heart prompts him to give. 3These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and
bronze; 4blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows ; acacia
wood; 6olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7and onyx stones and other
gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 8"Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell
among them. 9Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. 10"Have them
make a chest of acacia wood--two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
11Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. 12Cast four gold rings for it and
fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13Then make poles of acacia
wood and overlay them with gold. 14Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. 15The poles
are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. 16Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will
give you. 17"Make an atonement cover of pure gold--two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18And
make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19Make one cherub on one end and the second
cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20The cherubim are to have
their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward
the cover. 21Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. 22There,
above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you
all my commands for the Israelites.
Should I continue for a few more chapters or should I stop? On and on these precise directions
are given. The table, the lampstand, the tent, the altar. Each item and piece of the tabernacle was
to be crafted following the Lord’s directions. They were told what materials to use, what size and
shape, what colors, the placement of the objects–everything down to the finest detail. Do you
know a good way to summarize this entire section of Scripture? Wax on and wax off. Now don’t
get me wrong. I am not putting a silly Hollywood movie on par with God-breathed, authoritative
Scripture. What I am saying is that the tabernacle is part of a progression of understanding on the
part of the Israelites. There is a theological term called progressive revelation. Sin came into the
world in Genesis chapter three but the Savior did not come into the world until Matthew chapter
one. What happened between Genesis three and Matthew one? God progressively revealed
himself over several thousand years.
Do you see, that’s what this Jesus journey is all about–seeing how God revealed his master plan
of salvation one piece at a time. Just before they were cast from the garden, and in the middle of
the pronouncement of thier curse, God told Adam and Eve that one of their descendants would
crush the head of Satan. A curse bearer would come to take away their curse. The ark revealed
that there will be a time of final judgement, but that a way of escape would be provided as well.
The promise revealed another piece of the puzzle. Through the promise to Abraham, God chose
one nation out of many so that he could save all nations. In Exodus another piece is revealed. The
chosen people of God could only be saved through the blood of a spotless lamb. That’s another
picture of Christ. But the Israelites and every man woman and child need to know just how badly
they need this spotless lamb, so God gave us the law, (remember last week), as a disciplinarian to
lead us to Christ. Wax on, wax off. Do you see the progression? It is not fully complete, but leads
us in the right direction.
Let’s take a walk through the tabernacle in order
to understand the next steps in this progression.
The first thing you would see as you approached
the tabernacle s the large gate. As an ordinary
Israelite you would not be allowed into the
courtyard of the tabernacle. Only priests could
enter. That would tell you that you need a
mediator to get to God. You can’t get to him
yourself, but you must rely on someone to go on
your behalf.
Next you would pass by the altar of burnt
offering where on a daily basis animals were
slaughtered and burned. Blood, animal parts and
ashes would be on the ground before you,
reminding you, like the passover lamb, that the shedding of blood was necessary to be with God.
Next you would come to the wash basin, yet another reminder
of the need for cleansing. As you pulled back the curtain and
entered the Holy Place you would see three things. The
lampstand which reminds us that only God can shine light into
darkness; the table of bread and the incense altar. As Christian
we understand that Jesus is the bread of life and the light of the
world.
Directly in front of you is the
veil, the curtain separating you
from the Most Holy Place. If
you value your life, don’t go in
there. That is, unless you are the high priest for the entire nation
and it happens to be the day of atonement, and you have
sacrificed goats and bulls and you are wearing the proper
clothes. That enormous veil is the ultimate separation between
the people and God. We know that the moment Christ died, the
veil in the Temple was torn in
half, opening the way to God
through Christ. Hebrews tells us
that the veil represented his body which was broken. If you could
pass through the curtain and live, you would enter the Most Holy
Place where the ark of the covenant rested. The atonement cover,
also called the mercy seat is where the glory of the Lord dwelt.
After the tabernacle was completed in Exodus 40, the glory of the
Lord filled this area so that Moses could not see or stay there
because the cloud of glory was so overwhelming
So why was all of this built according to such intricate detail? What was the ultimate purpose of
the tabernacle. Look back to what we already read in v.8, "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and
I will dwell among them. The tabernacle was built so that the Creator of the universe could dwell and
personally live with his people. Let’s assume for a moment that you wanted to build a house with
many rooms so that homeless people could live there for free. You build a large, brand new
house and then advertise in the community and with social services. Do you think anyone would
be interested in living there? You bet they would. You would be constantly turning people away
who wanted to live there. Now assume you built the exact same house, but this time you invited
only presidents and kings of the nations. You sent out nice invitations to President Bush, Prime
Minister Blair, King Abdullah of Jordan, and many others. Now do you think anyone would be
interested in living there? This time your invitations would get thrown in the garbage. Kings and
presidents are far too important to live with common people, their safety too vital to just live
anywhere. Kings and presidents don’t live with common people. Ah, but the Mighty King of the
universe chose to live with common people. “Build this exactly as I show you and I will live with
you,” is what he said.
This is the ultimate goal of our salvation, to be with and live with God. What did Adam and Eve
lose when they were cast from the garden? They were no longer living and dwelling with God.
They were excluded and separated from his presence. Now, through the tabernacle, God would
again dwell with his people. We understand the various parts of the tabernacle to represent our
salvation, but the ultimate goal of our salvation is to live with God. We must remember that we
are not just saved from something, we are saved to something. We are not just saved from eternal
punishment, but we are saved from eternal punishment in order to live with God forever.
Let me ask you, in and through the tabernacle, was our salvation and God’s dwelling complete?
No, it was not at all complete. God dwelling in a cloud of near unapproachable glory. This was
not a complete dwelling, but it was part of the process of God revealing his master plan. Now let
me bring in the most important distinction of all, as this is the key to applying this to our lives.
We said the salvation and dwelling of God was not complete, but was it sufficient for the
Israelites? It was not complete, but it was sufficient. God would not leave them without a way of
salvation. He would not leave them without a way of coming to him. The tabernacle and the
sacrifices were the sufficient way to God. Even though they had precise rituals to attend to, it was
still a matter of faith. They obeyed God’s commands out of faith and received salvation and his
presence.
Now jump ahead to the New Testament and we read in John 1:14, The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. The ultimate example of God living or dwelling with us was through the
person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only with us, but in order to be fully with us, became one of
us. Now let me ask the same question. With the coming of Christ, was our salvation and his
dwelling complete? Once again the answer is the same, it is not complete, but it is sufficient.
Now don’t get me wrong, the death and resurrection of Christ is complete. That was a once for
all event with nothing else required. But is our dwelling and living with God complete? Do any
of us have an unhindered, perfect, visible companionship with the living God? Of course we
don’t, that awaits us at the completion of our salvation in heaven. Our current relationship with
God is much less hindered than it was for the average Israelite in the desert, but it is not
complete.
I am not satisfied with my fellowship with God. No matter what I do, the power and presence of
sin in this world is still too great. To be a Christian is to hunger and thirst for something even
greater than our present circumstances. Even though something greater awaits us, what we have
now is sufficient for us. Just as what Adam and Eve had was sufficient, just as what Abraham
had was sufficient and just as what Moses and the Israelites had was sufficient.
What do we mean when we say it is sufficient? It simply means that if all we had was Christ, that
would be sufficient. You mean Christ is sufficient for Christians who starve to death in Ethiopia?
Yes, that is what we mean. You mean Christ is sufficient for imprisoned and martyred Christians
in Iraq, Iran, Saudia Arabia and China? Yes, that is what we mean. You mean that Christ us
sufficient for little Christian girls sold into prostitution in Thailand? Yes, that is what we mean.
You mean that Christ is sufficient for people like Dwight Pulsfus, the new associate pastor in
Sauk Prairie, who has lived more than two-thirds of his life in a wheelchair? Yes, that is what we
mean. You mean Christ is sufficient for people like Pastor John Swanson whose son Jared was
sent into a vegetative state last year following a ski accident. Yes, that is what we mean, as a
matter of fact, John told me that very thing three days ago. You mean that Christ is sufficient for
Christians whose husbands are not believers or are not living as Christian leaders in the home?
Yes, that is what we mean. You mean that Christ is sufficient for Christians whose wives are
critical, contentious and very short on love? Yes, that is what we mean. You mean Christ is
sufficient for the Hornby family who lost their sixteen year old daughter in a car accident this
week? You mean it is sufficient for Evelyn Husband, wife of Rick Husband, the commander of
shuttle Columbia? A friend of Karen’s is the chief officer for spacewalks for NASA. He went on
a missions trip to Russia with Rick a few years ago and can testify to his faith in Christ.
Apparently Rick was also a good friend of Christian singer Steve Green. Yes, Christ is sufficient
for Evelyn and her two young children. You mean Christ is sufficient for people with chronic
illnesses and pain, for people who are laid off from work, for people who are depressed or who
have mental illness, for people who are disabled, disfigured, diseased, discarded, dishonored,
disenchanted, discriminated against, discouraged, disgraced, displaced and disregarded. Yes, that
is what we mean!
You may not always feel like Christ alone is sufficient for all these things. Part of the reason you
feel that way is because we are not yet complete. Some of that feeling will always be with us
until we are complete in eternity. Another reason that Christ alone does not feel sufficient is
because you have not learned to trust him as such. You surround yourself with other things which
can never be sufficient. Our health will fail, our wealth will flee, our families will disappoint us,
our friends will desert us. These are all false sufficiencies. Christ alone is our dwelling and next
week we will see how Christ, as out great High Priest, waits for us to constantly come to him for
grace and mercy.
Rich Maurer
February 9, 2003
