Pastor's Message (from the bulletin)

Pastor's Message (from the bulletin) 
This morning our text is from Exodus 19, where God invites Moses to come up and visit with him on Mount Sinai. It was there that God would give Moses the “Torah.”

We often think of the “Torah” as being the “10 Commandments.” The Torah was much more than that. God gave Moses instructions for building the Tabernacle.

Those of you who have been doing your “Bible in a Year” reading have spent the last four days reading God’s instructions of how to build the tabernacle. From the type of linen used in the curtains, to the measurements of the Most Holy Place, God gave specific instructions for the Tabernacle and all that came with it.

About three days into reading about the Tabernacle, you might have thought to yourself: “It took Moses one chapter to describe how everything in the world came to be, but he spends almost half of the book of Exodus describing a tent? Why?”

The Tabernacle did more than provide a place where the Israelites could come and offer sacrifices; it provided more than a place for God to place his presence. The Tabernacle and the regulations of the Law that governed the practices concerning the Tabernacle served to teach the Israelites one life-long lesson: God is holy, you are not and there is nothing you can do to bridge the gap between you and God. He will always be behind the curtain, in the Most Holy Place; a place where you can never go. God has to bridge the gap that exists between you and him.

The Tabernacle and all that came with it pointed forwarded to the need for God to send a savior to break down the barrier between God and man. The Tabernacle and all that came with it (all that you’ve been reading this last week) pointed forward to the need for Jesus. In Christ, the barrier between God and man has been broken down. In Christ, we have access to the presence of God. In Christ, God lives in us. In Christ, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God.

-Pastor Duncan