An Eternal Kingdom

King David had a tumultuous journey from the pasture to the palace. His ascension to the throne was an unorthodox one, because although he was not by blood in line to be a ruler, he was chosen by God to succeed Saul as king of Israel.

For 20 years, he fought for his life, and the Lord protected him the entire way. When he was finally at rest, and all of his enemies defeated, he surveyed all that God had done for him, and felt inspired to show his gratitude by building God a temple to dwell in. 

2 Samuel 7 shows us God’s response to David’s gesture. While he revealed to David that he would not be the one to build him a temple, he did promise him that his bloodline would reign over Israel forever. 

“...Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” 

2 Kings 25 lets us know that this earthly temple was not meant to last forever. Over 400 years later, after a Babylonian invasion, the temple was destroyed and the kingdom dispersed. Because we know God is a God who keeps His word, His promise of a “forever kingdom” was always meant for more. 

While Solomon was a fulfillment of God’s promise to David, he was only a shadow of the fullness of the promise God was making to mankind through David. 

The word “house” used in 2 Samuel was not a house of cedar, but posterity–descendants, a lineage that would continue and provide an eternal King. 

A king, who after 42 generations, would miraculously leave Heaven to be birthed into the world to dwell among his people, and free them from the bondage of sin, once and for all. 

A feat that he felt was worth leaving perfection, putting on flesh, and living out a human life as our perfect example. Many of us would be hard pressed to put on filthy clothes to live among those less fortunate on the street, but when compared to glory– Jesus’ sacrifice of living out his 33 years on earth is far from a comparable equivalent. 

What Jesus accomplished is the greatest gift any of us will ever receive in this lifetime and the next. Even still, we know that until we see Heaven, this life is promised to be full of trials. 

But like the people of God before us, we have a hope in the coming of our Messiah. Revelation 22:12-16 promises us that Jesus will fulfill his promise to return, just as he came before. 

That promise is our greatest hope in this life. There is nothing that we could look to on this earth that could hold us, satisfy us, or keep us the way that our eternal hope will. 

So while the excitement of Christmas buzzes around us, we know that we don’t have to wait for the 25th to experience joy. Our joy is ever-present, and available right now! 

We have the privilege of carrying the hope represented in this season with us through every season of life, and the opportunity to share that with whoever we come into contact with. 

An Eternal Covenant

As much joy and beauty and wonder that this season can bring, an equal amount of loneliness, stress and anxiousness seem to loom towards this side of the calendar year. 

On Sunday we heard how the “Dangers of Advent,” are the result of the worldly expectations that flood the Christmas season. The temptation of greed, envy and desire for material things, is birthed from the bombardment of advertisements designed to make us feel like we are less than, unless we buy more. 

The tendency to feel more lonely than other parts of the year is the effect of pressure that we may feel from family, friends or what we see on social media to show up in ways that feel performative and obligatory instead of life-giving. 

The pressure to hurry - to meet goals, to buy all the gifts, to lose the weight, to check off those resolutions that we made at the beginning of the year, so they don’t end up on the list for another year running, can strip us from the joy and celebration that the Hallmark movies we’re trying to emulate, promise us. 

As followers of Christ, we should have different expectations. We should have more than a greeting card hope, because the joy in our celebration comes from an eternal promise fulfilled. 

As we saw on week one, the promise of Jesus coming was God’s plan from the beginning. This week, we see the next chapter of this promise unfold, as God promised Abraham to make him the father of many nations. Abraham’s belief in God’s ability to keep that promise was credited to him as righteousness. 

His belief in God was so unshakable, that he was willing to give up his promised son on the strength that God had the ability to, and would raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep His word. Like Abraham, we need to trust in the unchanging nature of God’s character this Advent season. 

The miraculous birth of Christ is the confirmation of the covenants made with God’s people in Genesis and all throughout the Bible. His coming confirms that God’s promises are true then, now and forevermore. 

In response, we should lean in to His presence and hold on to these truths, believing that they are the answer to every cultural pressure barreling down on us.

We should trust Him in a way that we can walk down any street and by any shop window and be unmoved by covetousness. We can be free of our feelings of loneliness and sadness because we rest in the truth that God has saved us into a family, and we can take a deep breath, and relax amidst the frenzy of activity. 

We serve a God who is a promise keeper. That truth should free us to walk in the freedom that He calls us to in this season and every season.

The Sin Solution

As we enter into another holiday season, the temptation to lose focus on the intended purpose of this celebratory time is wrapped up in every Christmas party, sale, decoration and more. 

This season has become synonymous with expectation. It’s important for us as followers of Christ to remember the expectation and fulfillment of the promised Messiah, as we await with the same expectation for his return. 

We studied in Genesis 3, how the first mention of God’s promise to send Jesus, was the result of a fractured relationship between God and His creation. 

Adam and Eve were without want, as they freely communed with God in the garden of Eden. One conversation with the serpent caused Eve to question that fulfillment, and birthed a desire in her for something other than relationship with God. 

That desire led Eve to distrust God, and is what led her to convince her husband to do the same, altering their lives forever. 

Once sin entered the picture, shame and separation did too, and a solution was needed to repair that once free access to the presence of God. 

This season is to remember the miraculous ways that God kept His promise across generations of people who followed him imperfectly. Through impossible circumstances, He made good on His word to restore communion with His people. 

Jesus came to the world as a gift to all mankind. We freely accept this gift when we come to salvation through Him. Now that communion with God is restored, we must be sure that we don’t allow the desires of this world to convince us that there is anything more important than living for Jesus. 

We, as God’s people today, should have a greater hope and expectation for a coming Messiah, because we know that the same God who sent His son into the world as a gift to us, will surely send Him again to make right all that is wrong. 

Remember & Respond

One misconception about God that you may have heard is that His character was somehow different in the Old Testament than it is in the New. 

You may have heard that the Old Testament God was full of wrath and rules, and with the coming of Jesus, the New Testament shows us  a new, gracious, lenient God.

One important thing to take away from Exodus chapter 30, is that while the systems were different, God’s heart for reconciliation and relationship goes unchanged. 

In Moses’ final days of his mountain-top conversation with the Creator, we see God detailing instructions for the altar on which regular offerings and sacrifices were to be brought before him. 

The routine for the incense offering, the burnt offering and the dressing of the lamp, each served as a reminder to the people of God.  As they practiced these rituals, they were to remember the fellowship that they have with their Creator, that His presence was with them continually, and that he is worthy of worship. 

Along with these daily offerings, they were to make an annual sacrifice of atonement (Leviticus 16:11-28) cleansing them of their sins so that they could remain in a right standing relationship with the Father. 

It is important to note that these commands by God were not to earn a relationship, but an expression of the relationship that they already had with him. Because God is holy, he is unable to commune with sin. Because he is sovereign, he knows the frame of his people, and graciously provided a pathway for them to remain in his presence, despite their sinful nature. 

Before the construction of the tabernacle could begin, the Lord required that each person counted among God’s people, was to bring a half shekel to  “pay the Lord a ransom for his life…” (Exodus 30:12) 

The silver was to be melted down and used to construct the foundation for the tent of meeting, and the pillars that were to hold up the veil, separating the holy place from the most holy place, detailed in previous chapters. 

God, in his perfect wisdom, required a ransom from the resources that he provided to his people, to be used for a meeting place where they could commune with him. 

Because he is the same God in the New Testament, we see this picture again in Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill Old Testament law by standing in as our ransom, our atonement payment - once for all that choose to come to him. 

Those who make that choice, have freedom in Christ. Freedom from the law, and security in eternal salvation. 

We have that freedom because Jesus paid a price that we could never pay ourselves. In exchange, he asks that we present our lives as a living sacrifice to him. 

In Luke, Jesus tells his disciples just how great the cost of following him will be. In Chapter 14:26-27 he tells them that if they’re not willing to hate their “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, even their own life,” they cannot call themselves a disciple of Jesus. 

He uses strong language here to describe the love and devotion required to follow Jesus in this life. He’s asking for all of us. He’s asking for his followers to love nothing else, and no one else above him. 

Because he is still the same loving God who knows our frame, he knows what a tall order this can be for us, but being the holy, sovereign, Creator that he is - he knows what he offers in return for our lives, far exceeds anything the world could offer us. 

 He’s given us his Spirit as a helper to challenge and convict, and to comfort and guide us into eternity if we are willing to continually submit to his leading. 

Come To The Lord

Chapters 28 and 29 of Exodus, the garments and duties of the high priests were recorded for God’s people. 

The High Priest was consecrated, holy and set apart for service. 

Our peace is in a person. 

In chapters 28 and 29 of Exodus, we find Moses is still in the mountain, receiving instructions directly from God. God has transitioned  from giving instructions for the sanctuary and temple, to laying out the instructions for the servants that will be serving within it. 

This conversation set a precedent for the Israelite people, letting them know that the priesthood belonged to God.  It wasn’t Moses’ or Aaron’s idea, and because God established the role, he was the one who got to define the responsibilities, and requirements for the one who will serve in that role. 

Along with the roles and responsibilities of the priest, God also details to Moses the garments that are to be made for the priest. These garments were to serve as a symbol of the weight and responsibility that the priest would carry before God for the people. 

Not everyone and anyone was allowed into the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. Only Aaron and his sons could go into the holy place, and only Aaron could go into the most holy place. 

The priest would wear an ephod, a sleeveless garment that went over their robes, and on the shoulders there would rest two stones. The stones were stones of remembrance, representing the names of the sons of Israel that Aaron would carry with him into the presence of God bearing their names on his shoulders. 

The breast piece that would be positioned across the chest of the priest, close to his heart, representing the judgment of the people as he goes before the Lord. 

The turban, holding a gold plate resting on the forehead of the priest, would represent the guilt of the people, that they may be accepted before the Lord. 

Before Aaron and his sons could dress themselves in these garments, they had to go through a consecration ceremony, symbolically cleansing him before he was able to serve the people in this way. 

One challenge with Aaron serving as high priest, he could not continually serve in this way. Aaron as a human was an “imperfect priest,” due to the fact that his service would inevitably come to an end at the end of his life on earth. The Israelite people would continuously have to appoint, and consecrate new priests to continue making atonement for their sins before the Lord. 

Our heavenly father knew that this method of atonement would need a replacement, long before that conversation with Moses on the mountain, and in his grace and mercy he had already set into motion his plan for a permanent priesthood in his son Jesus. 

Jesus was appointed by God alone to save his people to the “uttermost,” (Hebrews 7:25) and lives to represent all those who come to him before his father, forever. 

Jesus has the same roles as an earthly priest, but in complete perfection. He bears the name, and the guilt of the people, and is always making intercession before God for us. Because of this truth, we are now cleansed from our sins. This gift is a game changer for our lives. 

We were brought near to the Father, and are no longer strangers, but children and co-heirs with Christ. This acceptance is a solid foundation to live from in a world that is constantly pulling for us to strive to be acceptable or successful in the world’s eyes. 

When we lock in to this truth of God’s word, our definition of success changes. When our minds are focused on our guaranteed seat in glory, the worries of the world are put in their rightful perspective. Because our adoption is eternal, everything else is temporary.

Holy Habitation

In Exodus 26, God continues His instruction to the children of Israel by laying out the blueprint for his dwelling place. He leaves nothing up for interpretation for the tabernacle that he required his people to build. 

He wasn’t looking for them to build a shrine to worship, but rather a replica of His heavenly home that would point his people to His holy character. The tabernacle and the contents within it,  would serve as a sacred place where the children of God would worship and come to better know their King. 

Hebrews 9:9-13 tells us that the copies were not to be a replacement, but to point us to the greater and better tent whose builder is God. The consecration of these items by the sprinkling of blood, set them apart for a holy purpose, with specific instructions on how they should be handled. 

Numbers 4 details the instructions for transporting the tent of meeting and its contents, and the consequences for not following those instructions.  

15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die…

Because they were consecrated and set apart for God’s use, these items, man made from materials varying in earthly value, now held infinite heavenly value, with the power to end someone’s life if looked at or touched. 

There could be many things that God was looking to communicate about Himself through these replicas, but one thing we can see for sure was that he wanted his children to know that he was holy. He was God almighty, and there were no other gods in heaven or on earth. 

Being only a few months removed from Egyptian captivity, the Israelite people would still have vivid memories of living under a king. Pharaoh was Egyptian royalty who likened himself to a god and commanded worship, and the people of Israel would have reverenced him out of fear for their lives. 

But Pharaoh was harsh. He was sinful. He was self-serving and unloving. The best-interest of his subjects was far from his mind. They were commanded to worship Him, but he wasn’t worth their worship. God was showing his people that he was different. He was worthy of worship. 

His holiness gave him righteous authority over their lives, but it also gave him a perfect ability to love them, and care for them fully. 

He is still looking to be known by His people today. He longs to show us that he is wholly other than and completely different from anything else in the world that we look to for security, affection and worth. 

An understanding of God’s holiness should change the way that we think, act and behave in His presence. It should give us reverence, knowing that he is an all-powerful being, who holds our lives, and the world in his hands. It should also give us immense peace, knowing that this all-powerful being is all-together lovely and good to us, and desires to know, and be known by his creation. 

Questions to Consider: 

How does the knowledge of God’s holiness impact your daily life?

The Bread of the Presence and The Light of the World

We’ve seen in the last few chapters of Exodus that the Lord’s instructions for His people are intentional, and do not lack purpose and meaning. 

The instructions in the latter half of Chapter 25, for the table and the lampstand that were to be placed in the sanctuary within the tabernacle, were no different.

The table, made from acacia wood, and complete with gold furnishings, was to hold the bread of the Presence, an offering to the Lord that was to be present at all times. 

Twelve loaves were to be present, representing the tribes of Israel, as a way to remind the children of Israel that God has provided, and will continue to provide for their every need. 

This character trait of God as a provider who gives us all that we need, and nothing that we don't, is what makes Him a good Father, worthy of our trust today. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to look with expectation in faith in God to give us this day our daily bread. 

Later in that chapter, He affirms this promise from God by reminding God’s people not to worry about their daily provisions, because they have a Father who knows how to take care of all of His creation. And he demonstrated that by taking care of man’s greatest need. 

With the entrance of sin into God’s creation, the world fell into a darkness that humanity was unable to reconcile. We don’t have to look far to see the effects of that darkness in our world this very day. 

One beautiful part about studying the Old Testament is that we can see that God was always pursuing his people. Thousands of years before His children knew the name ‘Jesus’, God was pointing them to the Savior that they desperately needed through the building of the tabernacle, furniture, and the sacrificial system. Because of Jesus, the sacrificial requirements that were needed to enter into the dwelling place of God are no longer necessary. We can now enter into the presence of a loving God through the sacrifice of God the Son. 

We see through Jesus’ teachings that His coming fulfilled a greater need than satisfying our physical hunger. Jesus, as the “bread of life,” was God’s provision for the fulfillment of the hunger in our souls. 

The lampstand, made from pure gold and filled with ornately beautiful detail, was to represent the only light strong enough to extinguish the darkness in the world. In the presence of God, there is light and life, and the people of God who draw near to Him, are promised peace in the midst of a dark and broken world. 

The light of God is best represented in the face of Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Belief in Him, guarantees us a deposit of that light within us through the spirit, that we might be ambassadors for His goodness and mercy, and His saving grace to shine His great light to those around us. To the glory of our father. 

Questions to Consider: 

1. What are some natural things that we as humans have a tendency to try and use to fill our supernatural desire for God? 

2. How can you make space in your day to fill yourself with the truth of God?

The Relational Redeemer

At the creation of the world, God walked in the garden in the cool of the day and communed with man. It was always his desire to be in relationship with his people.

Ever since that relationship was severed by the introduction of sin into the world, God has been setting things in place, to initiate the reconciliation of man’s ability to commune with Him. 

God’s purpose for choosing the Israelites as His people was always to create a pathway that would allow all people to be in relationship with Himself. In the Old Testament, He had to be intentional about how he interacted with His people, because man was unable to personally experience His glory, which was like a “devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.” But He always desired nearness. 

We know this was His desire, because we see Him inviting the people to create a space where He could dwell with them in Exodus 25:1-2. God asks them to bring a contribution according to their desire, and He instructs Moses to use their contributions to create a sacred place for Him to settle down with them. 

He gives instructions for building a sanctuary, which included the tabernacle and all its furniture. This diving dwelling place would include the Ark of the Covenant, which would be the appointed place where God would speak with Moses as a man speaks with a friend.

Israel was learning that their God was holy, and there was none like him in heaven and earth. His glory and majesty were far too great for their finite minds to fully understand, and even still - this God, desired a space to meet with them, to speak with them, to walk with them in life. 

This is the same God that we serve today. This same God outfitted His one and only Son in flesh, with the sole purpose of making a way to be with us, abide with us, speak with us, be near to us as well. 

He invites us into a relationship by asking us to bring our own contribution. But this time, not of silver and gold - but our lives. He asks for our heart, our faith and our trust in His Son, Jesus. 

Because of Jesus we don’t have to look to man to be our access into the presence of God. We don’t have to wait for the high priest to enter the holy of holies once a year to atone for our sins. 

Once we place our faith in Jesus, we can approach the Father freely, whether that is in our own quiet time with Him, while we are gathered together with other believers, in line at the grocery store, while we’re on a run - if you call yourself a child of God - the Holy Spirit is within you and His presence is closer than ever before. 

Questions to Consider: 

1. How does it make you feel to know that the Creator desires to dwell with you?

2. What do you need to do to be intentional to create a space in your day to dwell with God?

The Book, The Blood, The Bread

Throughout the past few chapters in Exodus, we have seen the Lord instruct the children of Israel on how they should live as representatives of the one true God. 

In Chapter 24, the Lord calls them to confirm this relationship, after Moses relays to them all of the words of the Lord spoken thus far, with a verbal commitment to obey, and a demonstration of that commitment through sacrifice, they enter into a covenant with God. 

In this chapter, we see three components of the covenant that help us, and the children of Israel understand the commitment that they are entering into; the Book, the Blood and the Bond. 

The Book of the Covenant speaks to the expectations within the relationship– of the people, and also what they can expect of God. He tells them that if they follow His rules, blessing, provision and protection would be waiting for them. (Exodus 20-23)

God does all of this, because he desires to be close to His people. Because He is holy and set apart (and completely worthy of worship) there has to be clear expectations of the people and God to the people. 

The Blood of the Covenant, only comes after the people agree to enter into this relationship, much like a marriage ceremony happens after an accepted proposal of marriage. The blood solidifies the covenant, after both parties agree to the expectations. 

As a result of both of these things, a beautiful, deep and lasting Bond develops between God and His people as they enter into the abundant life that He has promised them. 

Because our God never changes, He is still seeking to bond, and engage in a deep and meaningful relationship with His children today. Just like the children of Israel, as a body of believers, we have to commit ourselves to trust and obey everything that He says, and believe that He is faithful to keep His promises. 

We have His Word to lay out the expectations of a child of God and we have the opportunity to respond. 

Questions to Consider: 

1. Take a moment to think about how you have seen the faithfulness of God throughout your life. Journal them out, write your story to have and recall in moments of worry or doubt that He will be the same God in your life in the future. 

2. What are some distractions in your life that cause you to lose focus on God’s faithfulness? What in your life do you find yourself worrying about the most? Take time in prayer over those specific things, asking God to show you in His word why His character is trustworthy in your life as well.

Pathway To The Presence

In Hebrew culture, someone’s name was much more than a marker of identity. It spoke to one’s character, attributes and reputation without them having to speak a word. We see this in the Old Testament whenever the Israelites ascribed a name to God after He revealed an aspect of His character to them. Abraham called Him “Jehovah Jireh,” after He provided a ram in the bush. Most importantly, God himself introduced himself to Moses as the “I Am.” God’s name was synonymous with his title. It held weight and spoke to His character and authority. 

In the second half of Exodus 23, we see God telling the children of Israel that He is sending an angel before them, to lead them into the promised land. In verse 21, He calls them to obey this angel for ‘he will not pardon’ their transgression, because His ‘name is in Him.’ The angel, which we know as the pre-incarnate Jesus, was to be obeyed fully, because He carried the very name of God, including all aspects of his character, and all of his attributes. 

In verses 23-25, God reiterates that complete obedience starts in the heart. He calls them again not to give their worship to any other false god, and promises blessing and protection as a result of being in relationship with Him (v 25-28). He promises them Himself. In His good nature, God protects, covers and blesses. Like we have seen in previous chapters, God is making it abundantly clear that life in relationship with Him, was the better way. 

In verse 29, we see that God’s better way, often requires a process. He promised to drive the Canaanites and Hittites and all other people groups from the promised land, but not immediately. His process had a purpose. In order for the people to be ready to inhabit the land - God’s process required their patience. 

As followers of Jesus, we can be all too familiar with God’s timing requiring our patience. It can be challenging at times to trust God’s process when what we’re seeing in our lives doesn’t always line up with what He has said.

But God in His infinite wisdom, knows that there is beauty in the process. There is a refinement that happens in the process, that will point us to a God that we can trust, that we know at the end of the process will be there to deliver on His promise. 

Through faith, we line our sight up with His word, trusting that He sees more than we ever could. 

In response, we follow Jesus with total obedience. And the same God who promised blessing to His children and delivered, promises to bless us to be in his presence for all eternity. And he will make good on his promise. It's in his name!

Questions

1. How has impatience impacted the way you experienced the peace and joy that God has promised you?

2. How does the character of Christ inform the way you wait on the fulfillment of his word? What practices do you need to start to wait well?