Sunday Night, January 20, 2019 PM

Yes, Norm. What we have here is an intent of meeting. Dwight's a resident Exodus expert having talked through it just recently so I'll hit him up with this. Dwight. When you talk to Exodus, what do you understand about the tent of meeting?

This is the same thing as the tabernacle or is this a different place for them to meet? Yeah, that's that's what I'm when I'm reading. What I'm reading through it. When I'm when I'm reading through it as soon as we hear about how where the tabernacle was pitched and all of this kind of thing.

It verse seven now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp a good distance from the camp. And he called it the tent of meeting and everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

This is.

You know as far as I understand when you read when you read the When you read the book of Numbers and everything else the structure of the key of the encampment centered around the tabernacle and.

And.

There was the Holy of Holies which was inside the holy place and the holy place was inside the courts of the tabernacle and around the tabernacle and camp the Levites and around the Levites and camp the tribes and this and this was the.

This was the size of the camp and the only reason why you would be outside The camp is if you were unclean if you had. There was something that had happened and you were unclean for so much for so long of a time.

You were outside the camp in this particular passage. God is Angry with the people because they were they're obstinate there as he says the first few verses. He says you are an obstinate people so he says he's gonna stay out of he's going to put the camp he's going to Commune with Moses outside the camp because he's so disgusted with the people.

So as far as I understand this is not necessarily the tabernacle proper. Okay, but this is a tent of meeting where Moses because he is Essentially God's mouth to his people. He's meeting with God in order to lead the people.

So he's meeting with the Lord in this tent Away from the people because the holiness of God and the sinfulness of Israel just do not mix and Joshua is there with him. So I don't think it's about a high priest in the Holy of Holies.

That would be Aaron in any case. Now now who are they meeting with after all you note in verse 20 That after Moses Prays to him says I pray show me your glory. Okay. He responds you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live.

So it's a remarkable thing that Moses the man who? On the one hand sees and meets with the Lord. Face-to-face just as a man speaks to his friend wants to see more. What does Moses understand? There's more of God to see.

He understands that the God in some way is Limiting what Moses sees for Moses his own good and so Moses is conscious of that. And he wants to see more. This might be the best Old Testament parallel passage to Philip saying to Jesus Christ show us the father and Jesus says have you been so long with me Philip and you do not know.

Right if you've seen me you have seen the father. So Christ the second person of the Trinity is the one who is revealed who is face-to-face as the mediator. There's only one mediator between God and man and Christ the second person of the Trinity is meeting with Moses and Joshua.

Just as every other time we have in the Old Testament a man meeting with God face-to-face and not dying. It's because the the holiness and the glory of God was mediated in a way that they would survive the presence of God.

So in that sense God still is true. No one can see God and live he dwells in unapproachable light. But the only way we may Be in the presence of God is through the mediator Christ and that's what was happening here.

And Joshua, of course is the Appointed successor of Moses. He's he's there getting trained even when Moses leaves the tent. Joshua is still there. Because he needs to Know how to lead the people to.

That help right so.

It if we're taking into account when was the tabernacle built this tent of meeting.

Preceded it. There we go. So that's what this is. This is the precursor. It's a good note. Okay anything else?

The Tent of Meeting Outside the Camp and the Mediator Moses

All right. Let's take a look at Genesis chapter 24. We talked about last week some premarital advice. Always marry within the family. This is this is from Genesis 24. Remember that Moses is writing this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

He's writing the story down. The original audience is Israel. They're about to Cross the Jordan and conquer the land of Canaan and one of the clearest restrictions about Their entry into Canaan was they were not allowed to intermarry with the Canaanites.

They were not supposed to do that. It was this is one of the primary things one of the primary laws rules. They broke and you can read about the disaster in the book of Judges.

So this.

Foreshadows that restriction as Abraham is Old advanced in age verse 1. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way Abraham said to his servant the oldest of this household who had charge of all that he owned Please place your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord the God of heaven and the God of earth That you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live.

But you will go to my country and to my relatives and take a wife for my son Isaac. And the application Ultimately is that to not be unequally yoked. And further application of this is that I think the The further we go in the kind of world in which we live parents need to take a very active role in their children finding godly spouses to marry.

I.

Think that's a good application. It's you know to whatever degree but I think there could be some help in that now why is. Why is Abraham so concerned that Isaac not marry someone from the land of Canaan.

Well, not so very long ago Noah had three sons Ham Sham Japheth and Ham dishonored his father and a curse fell upon him one of Ham's sons not him in particular. But one of his sons named Canaan a curse fell upon Canaan and the prophecy was That the the sentence of Shem would Would dominate the descendants of the descendant of Ham Canaan.

This is in the background of what's happening here. Here is Abraham descendant of Eber a descendant of Shem and He's in the land of Canaan a people group that are cursed and he does not want To get a cursed wife for his son.

So he says we've got to go back to my my family back of the descendants of Eber. From which we get the word Hebrew. We're going to go find a wife for for my son back there. So in that sense Abraham is doing the will of God.

In fact, he's thinking he's thinking Theologically, he's thinking about what God has already said what God has already revealed in his word he's thinking about The promise of the seed of the great descendants and so he says to his servant.

You've got to go back. So they make a plan they make a plan. They know what God's will is. All right. It's no secrets. No great mystery. So they make a plan. The servant said to him suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land.

Should I take your son back to the land from which you came and Abraham said beware you do not take my son back there. Abraham's hard to please. First I'd knew he's not marrying anyone from here and you're not bringing him back there.

Why that because again the will of God is clear. This is the land that God gave to Abraham and to his descendants. So no, we're not moving back home. We're not going back to the land of Ur the will of God is clear and Therefore we know how to make our plan.

The Lord of he says verse 7 the Lord the God of heaven who took me from my father's house and from the land of My birth and who spoke to me and swore to me saying to your descendants I will give this land.

He will send his angel before you and you will take a wife for my son from there. That's a godly plan. I know what the will of God is. God's gonna make it work. We're gonna be obedient. I don't know how it's all gonna work, but God will make that work.

We just obey and he'll and he'll fix the details. This is a great plan He says but if the woman is not willing to follow you then you should be free from my from this my oath. Only do not take my son back there.

So, you know, he's can. Abraham's conceding his limitations. He he's very confident. This is what God wills now I may be completely off. But hey, this is as far as I understand. This is everything that God has said.

This is his will this is our plan. This is what we're going to do. So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. So they've made their plan.

They are committed to the plan and That's when the servant follows through. The first in the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master and set out with a variety of good things of his Masters in his hand and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nehor.

He made the camels kneel down outside about the city by the well of water at the evening time the time when women come out to draw water. Okay. Now just just notice everything that they've done so far is you know, everything you got to do to make this plan work.

He's brought the dowry with him right or he's brought the the bride price with him. He's got all these fine things from from Abraham. He's got and he knows exactly where to show up to To to see the eligible young women of the town.

He's where he's supposed to be. He's maximizing the opportunity for this plan to work now. He's he's they've made the plan. He's he's following through on the plan and he now prays.

Why does he pray. Because any plan to obey God.

Means that we have to depend on God for the plan to work. There's there's no hope of. We make a plan. I make a plan. I'm gonna obey God and we do it in our own strength. We fail. All right, every time we plan to obey God we have to pray and depend on his his strength his blessing his grace.

So verse 12, he said Oh Lord the God of my master Abraham. Please grant me success today and show loving-kindness to my master Abraham. Behold I am standing by the spring and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

Now may it be that the girl to whom I say, please let down your jars that I may drink and who answers drink. And I will water your camels. Also May she be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac.

And by this I will know that you have shown loving-kindness to my master. This is the sign that the servant asks for It it's it's a good sign in the sense that Most young women would not even offer to water the camels.

Unbidden always asking for is a drink of water right. Jesus asking this Kind of a drink of water. That would be a common request. She may be too too shy and standoffish to even do that. But if there is a young woman who is willing to do that and also water the camels.

Which is no easy quick task. It's a very laborious task. Someone with that kind of desire for hospitality someone willing to Not only give water to a complete stranger, but then water all of his camels.

Hey, she's a go-getter. I mean that's you know, she's she's like I gotta get home, you know, you know, she's. This is a signal of her maybe not only her character But maybe even her personality that this would be the kind of woman who would be willing to you know Travel across the world to go marry someone who she's never met before.

Okay, so he's asking for a sign that is fairly in line with What he's there to do. So he's definitely not asking for something ridiculous, you know, it's like, you know, Oh God, please turn the sky red when she appears.

It's just something that is that is you know in line with his his goal to obey God. So he's praying for this verse 15. Before he had finished speaking. That's not the best part of the story, right? Before he finished speaking before he finished praying God's answer to the prayer had already is already in motion.

Behold Rebecca who was born to Bethuel the son of Milka the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. Came out with her jar on her shoulder. So this means all she meets all the requirements she's she's of this family group.

The girl was very beautiful a virgin and no man had had relations with her and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said please let me drink a little water from your jar.

She said drink my lord, and she quickly lowered her jar into her hand and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink she said I will I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking so she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and Ran back to the well to draw and she drew for all his camels.

Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. Yeah, was he still wandering? See we would at some point like as soon as she offers her like you're the one know.

He waits to see if she finishes the job. Right. Is she gonna follow all the way through? This is no easy thing. This is a laborious task. Was it just Being polite. Did she just give enough for the first camel and say I gotta go.

Is she gonna follow all the way through so he he waits. This is the sign he asked for whether or not she would water all the camels. And so he doesn't just give up on the sign halfway through he watches all the way through.

When the camels had finished drinking now the man.

Proceeds.

With the plan he's there's the plan Abraham and he had made the plan. He's trying to follow through in that obedience, but he does so with prayer because he knows this is not gonna work unless God brings it about and.

Then and then once he has prayed about the plan he proceeds.

With it.

When the camels have finished drinking the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold and.

Said.

Whose daughter are you? Please tell me is there room for us to lodge in your father's house? She said to him. I Am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milka whom she bore to Nehor. Again, she said to him.

We have plenty of both straw and feed and room to lodge in. This is and so he finds out who she is this is. This is okay. So here is the plan. We know it was the will of the Lord. Try to follow through in obedience prayer praying the whole way and Then it looks like this is the will of the Lord.

We're gonna continue on and there's confirmation. Yes, indeed. This is the will of the Lord. And so the so if you're following along plan pray proceed and the fourth is praise verse 26 and the man bowed low and Worshipped the Lord.

He's the one who brought it about right, he's the one who brought it about for all the obedience of the servant for all of the You know wisdom that he employed in this whole process. He didn't pat himself on the back when when it all came to pass he bowed low and he praised the Lord.

He worshipped the Lord said blessed be the Lord the God of my master Abraham. Who has not forsaken his love and kindness and his truth toward my master as for me. The Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers.

So often in our life, that's that's the way it is, right? Just this experience of The servant everything about what the servant is doing is centered around the hope of the seed of the woman Might send it around.

There's a seed who's gonna crush the head of the serpent we know it comes through the line of Noah and Shem and Eber and Abraham so we're not gonna get away from the cursed Canaanites we've got to go back and do this but we're not gonna send Isaac back because that's not the land that God gave and Everything centered around the promise the gospel promises of God.

We know what the truth is. So we know how to make that plan. And so we try to live our lives accordingly. In obedience we got to pray God make this work for the glory of your son for the glory of your good news.

Please let this work Show us how we're to do this and then we've got it. We've got to follow through got to follow through and when it's all said and done We don't get the glory. When it's all said and done we should bow low and worship God who's brought it all to pass.

So this is this is a simple story of just the life of a believer and in this in this pattern And I'm so glad that we have it here at the beginning of Genesis 24. Well any questions or thoughts before we close?

Yes, he is.

Well, certainly I think that very often.

We'll find ourselves praying what God wants us to pray.

As he is the one who is informing us of his with his wisdom. So it is interesting that we see that the servant.

The servant speaking of the Lord the God of my master and then at the end the Lord has guided me so. Sometimes the story is read as he wasn't a believer at the beginning But he was at the end. I'm not I'm not certain.

I think that because he had taken an oath To serve his master in this way. We find that his obedience ultimately in it throughout his obedience he was doing it for somebody else and Interceding for that person the whole way through.

Oh God, please bless my master.

And how often our obedience is not just for ourselves. It's for others. Yes norm.

53.

Gallons of water in three minutes, huh? Five hundred thirty gallons if they were yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a good thing. She had strong arms, you know, she's gonna be carrying around that gold so well thank you for looking that up. That was a vital portion of All. Right, well let's go ahead and close.

By singing the doxology Praise God.