How close can we get to God?
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Introduction.
We’re moving on in our series on Moses, thankfully. We’ve looked at the law in detail, although I would like to go through the commandments one by one some time - but that’s for my next church.
So we’re moving on in the narrative. Moses has been given the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. He has then been given details of how they are to be played out in real life. God has grounded the commandments in everyday life, telling Moses and his people what to do in certain circumstances.
And that is in chapters 21-23.
And if you remember from last week, the law that Moses has been given is the terms and conditions of the covenant that God has made with his people...
They are for a specific group of people for a specific time and place…and the purpose of these conditions are to set this group of people apart - to make them holy…different from the other nations around them.
So now it’s time for Moses and some select others to confirm the covenant - to ratify it…in other words, to sign it.
And so Moses takes Aaron and a few others, plus 70 elders and heads up the mountain of the Lord - mount Sinai - to confirm this covenant. The spiritual equivalent of signing it.
And you’ve heard of someone signing a document in blood - well, that’s kinda what they do here in the ceremony. They build an altar, slaughter some oxen and sprinkle the blood on the people.
And then Moses read out the terms and conditions of the covenant - he read out the law and then they ate and drank - they had a meal…and this ratified the covenant between God and man. It was now signed and sealed in blood - the blood of an ox.
Pause
And then God says to Moses - I want you to come a little closer so you can get the stone tablets...
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
So up Moses went and stayed in the cloud on top of the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. Staying in the presence of God, which must have been incredible.
Pause
Now, straight after this, Moses is given details on how to build the tabernacle - God’s tent of dwelling. No longer is God going to be on this mountain…nope - he’s coming down to dwell with his people in the tabernacle…and that’s in the next few chapters, which details, quite specifically, how this tabernacle should be made.
Pause
But here’s what I want us to notice tonight...
Look at the first few verses of chapter 24...
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”
So here’s how God wanted things to play out in this mountain expedition...
The nation of Israel - the people…people like you and me…they are to stay at the foot of the mountain. They aren’t holy enough to even touch the foot of the mountain.
But there ARE some special people - some of the elite, so to speak…Moses, his friends and the 70 elders. They are allowed to go half way up the mountain in order to confirm the covenant with the blood and the meal and so on. So they’er allowed half way up. They are slightly holier than the rest of the people, so they can get a little closer to God.
And then you have Moses, who is himself allowed to go up to the top of the mountain where he meets God face-to-face so to speak…although nobody can see God face to face and live…but Moses gets to be in his immediate presence. He is God’s chosen person and he meets God on the top of the mountain.
And on the top of the mountain is where heaven and earth meet…it’s the highest point of the earth that meets the sky. So thats where heaven and earth overlap and that’s where God’s presence is in the this section of Exodus.
Pause
So you have the people at the bottom of the mountain…the elders half way up…and only Moses is allowed in the presence of God.
And like I said, straight after this Moses is given the blueprints for the tabernacle.
But the amazing thing is this --- the tabernacle is set out like the mountain. It’s a miniature version of Sinai.
[show picture of tabernacle]
Because in the tabernacle, there are different stages and different people are allowed in different places within the tabernacle.
Inside the outer wall is the outer courts. That’s where the people were allowed to go and bring their sacrifices. Every Israelite was allowed in there.
...then inside the tent there was the holy place. Only a select few were allowed to go in there - the priests. They had access to that after a load of ceremonial washing detailed in the terms and conditions of the covenant.
And inside the holy place was the holy of holies, which only one person was allowed to enter and once a year - and that is the high priest.
And the holy of holies is where God himself dwelt.
So you can see that the tabernacle was a miniature mount sinai with respect to who could go in and who could get close to God.
Pause
So the people couldn’t get THAT close to God…they had to have priests to intercede for them…and even they couldn’t get right into God’s presence…only the high priest could, and so it was the high priest who interceded for everyone in God’s presence - he was the representative before God, like Moses was, to bring the atoning sacrifice for sin on behalf of the people.
Pause
Now, it doesn’t take much to see how this all points to Jesus, does it?
All we need to do is read Hebrews 7. Let’s do that...
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
This whole Sinai model is replicated in the tabernacle…but it was imperfect. But it was pointing to something much better - something that IS perfect - Jesus Christ.
Because when Jesus came to earth, once again Heaven and Earth met.
And when Jesus died, his blood ratified a new covenant with us…an everlasting covenant that surpasses the old covenant.
And no longer do we need to bring animal sacrifices to God…but instead Jesus BECAME the sacrifice - a once and for all sacrifice to forgive our sins once and for all.
And no longer can we not get into the presence of God - Jesus tore the vail in two when he died. And he gives us access to the very throne of God through his shed blood on the cross and through our faith in him.
Because HE is our high priest forever.
And no longer do we need to worship in the temple, because God doesn’t dwell there anymore…instead God dwells with us…heaven and earth meet inside the body of Christ - the church.
So we can get as close to God as we possibly can, all thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our great high priest....
…who doesn’t say to us - ‘you can’t come up to worship me,’ but instead says, ‘I’ve come down to you...
…and I’m inviting you to have a meal - the meal that ratifies the new covenant - the meal that signs that new covenant, which is signed, not in the blood of a bull or a goat, but signed with my very own blood.
Come eat the meal, Jesus says. Come eat the bread, come drink the wine - come remember the new covenant I’m making with you that gives you direct access to God himself through your faith in me.’
God knew that we could never be holy enough to come up to him, so in Jesus, he came down to us. He came close to us...
The question is - How close are we to God?
Pause
In the Old covenant, the people were limited by God to how close they could approach him.
In the New covenant, we can get right into his presence…but instead we often exclude ourselves through our sin and our stubbornness.
Let’s ask our great high priest, Jesus Christ, to renew our love and devotion to him and let’s approach God with confidence that in Christ we are forgiven and we have access to the very throne of God.
And let’s remember that Jesus is living to intercede for us to the Father - to bring our pain and our sorrow, to bring our desires and our longings, to bring our hopes and dreams to him and to intercede for us on our behalf to God himself.
So whatever is on your heart right now - whatever is worrying you, whatever you’re feeling, bring it to Jesus because he will bring it to the Father FOR you, because he is our great high priest.
Let’s come before him now and worship him.
Let’s pray.