A New Life Begins.
In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai... - Numbers 10:11-12 ESV
We’ve spent quite some time looking at the way that the Tabernacle foreshadows the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. From responding to God’s call and approaching Him for reconciliation, confronting and confessing our sin, trusting Him to wash us clean, being spiritually fed by Jesus, being directed by His light, knowing He is interceding for us, and living in ever closer communion with the Lord God in prayer. We’ve seen the magnificent sacrifice with which Jesus secured our eternal life and restored a loving relationship with the Father. In short we’ve looked at how the Lord has returned us to Paradise, and how God had Moses construct the Tabernacle so that we would know that He planned this return right from the beginning.
Then say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert… - Exodus 7:16 NIV
Today we’re going to look at the departure of Israel from Mount Sinai, the place they first put up the Tabernacle and met with God through His Priests. From there, they began their journey to the promised land. It’s amazing that Israel spent about a year at Mount Sinai, worshipping God before they began their journey in earnest. This was God’s design, He saved Israel from slavery primarily so that they would be free to worship, enjoy and ultimately glorify Him, just as He first told Pharaoh.
It’s only in Numbers 10, after all of Exodus and Leviticus, that the journey begins. It’s easy to think of the liberation of Israel into their own land as being the main objective, and to see the later arrival in the promised land as the end of it all. But that misses the point. God saved Israel to love and obey Him, and then to serve Him as His Priests, making Him known to the whole world. This is also a mistake we can make when we think of our being saved, by faith in Jesus, into a new and everlasting relationship with God, as the end. With both Israel’s journey and ours, a restored relationship with God is just the beginning.
In the same way, the resurrection of Jesus was not the end, but the beginning, of His Church. His death and resurrection freed us from the slavery of sin and death, and empowered us to worship Him and go out and serve as His priests, to bring a knowledge of Him to the whole world. The Tabernacle teaches us, that before we embark on this mission, we must be rooted in worship, and we must keep worshipping Him all the way, until He finally takes us home to the ultimate Promised Land - to be with Him - free from sin and suffering - for all eternity.
Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Thank You for saving us from the slavery of sin and the death it causes. Thank You for teaching us to love, worship, honour and obey You, by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in all the Scriptures. Thank You that we can celebrate the New Life which He secured for us, and so powerfully demonstrated with His resurrection from the dead. Please empower us to worship You and serve You, by bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world. In His Name we Pray. Amen.
God sent his son, They called him Jesus, He came to love, heal and forgive
He bled and died, To buy my pardon, An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives
Because he lives I can face tomorrow, Because he lives All fear is gone
Because I know he holds the future, My life is worth the living just because he lives
How sweet to hold A new born baby, And feel the pride And joy he gives
But better still The calm assurance, That child can face uncertain days because he lives
Because he lives I can face tomorrow, Because he lives All fear is gone
Because I know he holds the future, My life is worth the living just because he lives
And then one day I'll cross the river, I'll fight life's final war with pain
And then as death Gives way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know he lives
Because he lives I can face tomorrow, Because he lives All fear is gone
Because I know he holds the future, My life is worth the living just because he lives
Listen to Because He lives on Youtube
At some point, this lock down and period of isolation will end. When it does, things will probably not go back to normal, the world has changed and moved on from where it was. The lock down will not be the end of isolation, but the beginning of a new world, with new opportunities to love and worship God and make Him know. Let’s ask God to help us prepare for that, in worship and close relationship with Him while we have this time of isolation. Let’s ask Him to reveal to us, what wonderful work He has planned for us to do in the years to come, and to give us the power - by His Holy Spirit - to do that work joyfully and faithfully.