From the Midst of the Cloud

And Moses led the people out to meet the deity from the camp, and they stationed themselves at the lowest part of the mountain.

And the mountain of Sinai was all smoke from the face of Yahweh, who came down upon it in fire, and smoke went up like the smoke of the kiln, and all the mountain trembled greatly.

Good evening.

What I just read to you is the scene in Exodus 19, when Moses and the Israelites arrive at the mountain of Sinai.

And this occurs at the hinge point in Exodus.

Until this point, the Book of Exodus has been about some of those stories that many of us will be familiar with.

The battle between God and Pharaoh, the plagues, the burning bush, Moses and the slavery of Hebrews, and of course, the Exodus from Egypt itself.

But when we come to Sinai in Exodus 19, all of that's already happened.

And yet if you look at your Bibles, the Book of Exodus has 40 chapters.

So we're halfway through the Book of Exodus, and the actual Exodus itself is done and dusted.

So what's happening in those last 20 chapters?

Well, I put it to you that there's another journey taking place.

It's not Israel journeying this time, although they've got plenty of journeying to do.

But instead in the latter half of Exodus, it is Yahweh himself who journeys from that scene that I read to you in Exodus 19, where he comes down in fire and lightening and cloud to a place where his people and we can know and reach him.

Just FYI, when I use the word Yahweh, this is the Hebrew name of God, if you're not familiar.

But we're going to start by doing something a little bit different here today.

We're going to zoom out and we're going to look at these sort of 20 chapters and this journey as a whole.

And by doing that, we're actually going to be able to see some more of the intentionality of scripture that Abby talked a little bit about, particularly in the way the chapter and the text is arranged.

And we'll have some visuals on the screen that will guide us through that when the time comes.

But to start with, this journey begins in a place of danger.

Recall the reading I started with, Exodus 19.

God's presence is terrifying.

It's actually dangerous.

In Exodus 20, the people respond to this appearance with absolute terror and fear.

But this fear can actually be a healthy thing.

Moses says this to the people, don't be afraid, God has come to test you so that the fear of God will keep you from sinning.

In Exodus chapters 20 to 23, God lays out sort of the 10 Commandments and the Torah, sort of the law or instruction.

And the terrifying nature of God's presence on the mountain is supposed to emphasize how important it is to obey his Torah.

Because his presence is legitimately dangerous to sinners.

He's showing you how hot the stove is so that you don't actually accidentally touch it and get burnt.

And the danger of God's presence is really a key element of this journey that unfolds.

Because this danger needs to be overcome if God wants to journey to his destination.

And the giving of the Torah, the instruction, the law, in Exodus 20 to 23, is part of reducing that danger.

As is the finalizing of the covenant, this agreement between God and Israel in Exodus 24.

The Torah is supposed to show you how you can live rightly in God's sight.

And so when you are sinning less, it is less dangerous for you to be in God's presence.

So the danger is reducing.

So in Exodus 24, with the covenant now confirmed and the Torah received, the journey can start.

Now when we look at this journey from Exodus 24 to Exodus 40, what we have is a chiasm, which is something that Ben's talked about in the past.

Basically a chiasm is a way of writing where the key themes and elements are arranged more or less symmetrically.

Sometimes there's a little bit of variation, but you should see on the screen here, it's sort of a little pattern of how that works.

It's sort of broadly symmetrical in its themes.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna quickly walk through each of the elements.

And I particularly wanna look at this through the lens of a journey, as I said, of God's journey.

So the first thing we need for a journey is a starting point and a destination.

Now a starting point, as I said, Exodus 24.

And here we find this phrase, the glory of Yahweh dwelling on the mountain.

Now the glory of Yahweh is the accessible form of Yahweh's presence.

It's a buzzword that kind of indicates a safe appearance of Yahweh before his people.

And it's this aspect of God that's actually going to make this journey.

And in Exodus 24, it begins by dwelling on the mountain.

That's how Exodus 24 ends.

Its destination is Exodus 40.

And in Exodus 40, the glory of Yahweh dwells above the tabernacle, this tent in the middle of the Israelite camp.

So the goal, the aim, the destination of this journey is for God to dwell in the midst of his people, to move from the mountain to his people.

Now these two chapters, 24 and 40, mirror each other in their vocabulary, particularly in that phrase, the glory of Yahweh, as I said, and also in the words to dwell, shakan in Hebrew.

And both of these chapters, the glory of Yahweh dwells.

So in 24, it dwells on the mountain, but in 40, it dwells in the tabernacle.

Same Hebrew vocabulary that's used.

So there's an intentional mirroring between these two chapters.

But the point is, is that the destination, Yahweh wishes his presence to dwell with his people and be accessible to them.

God wants to be accessible to his people.

And this brings us to our next step.

Because if God is gonna dwell amidst his people, he's gonna need some accommodation.

If we think about it, if you were going on a journey, you'd need some accommodation.

Enter the Tabernacle, which I mentioned earlier.

And you can probably see this takes up two huge chunks of Exodus on the screen there.

And these go into tiny details about how long the curtains are supposed to be, and what material to make the ark out of, and where the altar is supposed to be.

It's actually quite tedious to read, if you've ever tried to read through the whole Book of Exodus.

But the first Tabernacle description comes in Exodus 25 to 31.

And in those chapters, it's simply God giving Moses the instructions for how to build the Tabernacle.

He's just telling them how to do it.

And then the second chunk in Exodus 35 to 39, a bit into 40 as well, describes how the Israelites carry out those instructions.

And each detail is mirrored in each side of the text.

So if God mentions an altar in the first half of the text, in the second half of the text, it says they built the altar.

If he says the curtains are to be such and such a length in the first part, in the second part, it says, and they built them to such a such a length.

It goes into meticulous detail, not only because this is going to be God's accommodation, as it were, but because this is gonna be the place where God's people meet him.

It's the place they look to as they pray to him.

This tabernacle is the hub of God's relationship with his people.

The whole system, the covenantal system of priests and sacrifice and worship, which has been established in chapters 20 to 23, is intended to take place in and around the tabernacle.

And this system and this tent are where people can safely access God's presence.

So if Israel can only adhere to the covenant, to these instructions, they could come here to God, cleanse through the ceremonies of the tabernacle, and experience the glory of Yahweh safely.

This is a way, yet again, to reduce the danger.

But there's a problem.

Because the Israelites are human, and they just can't help but sin.

Exodus 32.

Whilst Moses is up on the mountains, receiving the very instructions which will bring God into their midst, the Israelites create an idol, the infamous golden calf, if you've ever heard that story.

They forget how dangerous God's presence is.

As so often happens, when we forget to fear, they do something stupid.

They touch the hot stove and get burnt.

The danger comes right back.

And it's only because of Moses' pleading that Israel isn't destroyed on the spot.

In chapter 33, Yahweh, who, remember, the goal is to dwell in his people, instead he moves and settles down well away from the camp.

And the text specifies this.

And he basically says, like, I only just gave you these commandments and you immediately disobeyed me, like I'm done with you.

In 33 verse 3, he says, Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you along the way.

So the danger is back.

And we realize that there's this great distance between God and his people, which we call sin.

And even when God has told us to avoid it, he gave them to roar.

He said, this is what you do to not sin.

He said, first or second commandment, don't make idols.

They immediately make an idol.

The distance between God's glory and us is apparently too great for us to walk.

We need a vehicle.

We need something to bridge that gap in the story.

That's where Moses comes in.

Humbly and repentantly, he steps forward to mediate and plead with Yahweh.

Please don't abandon us.

We're not your people if you're not with us.

In fact, he says, do it for my sake at least.

You know me and you say you're pleased with me.

How will anyone know that if you're not present with me and my people?

And despite the fact that Israel was not able to follow the covenant through their own actions, God in response to this mediation, responds with grace.

And this is where the vehicle is revealed.

In Exodus 34, Yahweh reveals who he is, what he's like, and he is merciful and compassionate.

So in Exodus 34, he reaches out again.

He reestablishes the covenant.

He says, all right, well, let's pick up where we left off.

Because even though you're sinful, and I am dangerous to you, I'm going to keep drawing near, and keep trying to make this work.

I'm going to give you another chance, and another, and another, for the sake of our relationship, and for the sake of my relationship with my servant Moses.

God's grace makes up for Israel's shortcomings.

Yahweh himself bridges the gap in the story with mercy.

And that grace is the vehicle.

It fills the gap in the story, so that we can eventually reach Exodus 40.

This is the very end of Exodus, the destination we were trying to get to.

It says this, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Moses could not enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And in all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, they would set out.

But if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out until the day it lifted.

So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

Now many of you will see the pattern that's just unfolded, because God didn't stop at the tabernacle.

That's not close enough for him.

He wants to be right with you, by your side.

And so the vehicle of grace had to be expanded.

Instead of dwelling above the tabernacle, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

In Jesus, God was truly in our midst.

His body became God's accommodation on earth.

And he also became the vehicle of grace through his death.

What's more, if God pardoned the Israelites because of Moses' mediation and intercession, what will he do now that we have Jesus to mediate and intercede for us?

How much greater the grace that Jesus has brought forth through his death and mediation.

He who is one with the Father.

And so, the really amazing thing, actually even more amazing than this, is that even with Jesus, God wanted to get even closer.

And so he poured out his Holy Spirit, so that now that you are God's dwelling place, you as the church, you as the individual believer.

The very God who shook Sinai with fire in Exodus 19 has chosen the cells and fibers of your body as a temple for his Holy Spirit.

And remarkably, in Revelation and the Prophets, we have the promise of him coming closer still in a way that is kind of mind-boggling.

In both the full terror of his presence and for us, a yet greater access to his glory and his person.

We have this one chance, this one hope to dwell with God in safety.

So we must seek two things.

Firstly, obedience.

The fear of the Lord should drive us to it.

God's presence is dangerous, legitimately dangerous.

And we will face his presence, that presence, that glorious presence, in the end, under judgment.

And then it will be too late to fear.

So let the fear of the Lord guide your actions now and motivate you to obey his instruction, his law, as interpreted through Jesus.

Let it motivate you to love others and love God.

But just as importantly, because we are human and prone to error, we must humbly and repentantly come before our mediator, the vehicle of God's grace, the living tabernacle, Jesus, our Savior, our sacrificial lamb, in whose favor the dangers of God's presence subside.

Let me pray to finish.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your grace.

We thank you for that marvelous love, Lord, that is not moved by our sin, but that continues to pursue us and draw near to us.

We pray that as we seek your presence in prayer and worship and in everyday life, Lord, that we would seek to be obedient to you, that we would be conscious of the magnitude of what it is to be in your presence.

And we pray, Lord Jesus, that you would mediate for us and that your grace would make up for our shortcomings.

Yeah, we give the rest of this night to you, Lord.

In Jesus' name, amen.

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