His Holy Presence Exodus 37

Okay, well good morning everyone. Welcome to Faith Bible this morning, and it's a good day, it's the

Lord's Day. Every Lord's Day is a good day, and we're thankful for all of you.

We were really blessed last week with the 75th anniversary and Thanksgiving celebration.

What a joy that was to see some old pastor and folks that attended here and some family members, and it was a real joy, and you were all participated in that.

We thank you for all the wonderful food that was brought out too. There was plenty of food, you know, sometimes you come up a little, it was, there was lots of food, so thank you everyone that contributed to that.

The biggest announcement is, don't forget, it's Thanksgiving this week. I think we can't hardly forget that. May we acknowledge that.

Take Thanksgiving as an opportunity to share your faith, share a word of encouragement.

As believers, this is a really significant day. I know we can look at it from a nationalistic position, but let's remember our faith, the roots of this country, but the source of our joy and the fountain that it comes from, and that's in through His Word and through Jesus.

So let's remember that and be a light to those that come, sometimes families come together that don't know the

Lord. It's a great time to evangelize and to be a testimony, to be a witness.

So let's try to do that. Yesterday I was listening to the radio, and they were talking about the galaxies and the billions of light years and all that.

The vastness of our, the universe, the galaxies, the stars, everything that we live in, you know, they talk about billions of light years and that, you know, how long it takes for light to travel in a year and multiply that times, you know,

I mean, it's just immense. And it really, not just that we can get caught up in the ooh of it, but in the ah, but it's

God is in all of it, is all of it, and we don't know. It's infinite.

Even to secular scientists, it's infinite to them. They can't see. Every little dot is more billions of stars, that kind of thing.

But it really kind of reminded me of bringing back to Romans chapter 11, and I'll read it to you.

Oh, 33, verse 33, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor, or who has given to him, and it shall be repaid to him.

For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever.

And everyone said, amen. And so that's what we do. That's why what we are, as followers of Christ, we are to be reflections of the

Father. We are to bring him glory. That's why God created us and put us on this earth, is to give him glory.

That's it. It's not to satisfy our flesh. It's not. We have the joy of going through life, being his servant, being his follower.

You can't take that away. We're giving God glory as we go about the affairs of our days, if we have our focus on him.

So that's why we're here, and let us rejoice together. But please join with me in prayer.

Lord God, we thank you that you have brought us together, Father, to worship you, to give you praise,

Father, with our voices in song, as we open your word and hear the scripture read to us,

Lord, and we just reflect on our own lives, Father. Are we walking with you uprightly?

Are we being a light to a dark world, Father? God, give us strength to be bold evangelists, to be bold in our faith and testimony of the gift you've given us through your

Son, Jesus Christ. God, we ask that you would bless folks that aren't here today. We know some are sick and maybe out of town.

Lord, may you bless them and be on their hearts and minds, Father, as they contemplate and reflect upon your goodness and your majesty.

You are such a mighty God and a great God and worthy of our praise today. So Lord, go before us.

We pray that we would worship in spirit and in truth, that we would allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us,

Father, and we pray for those that are hurting, that are having difficult challenges and trials,

Lord. We know that you are in their midst and that you can help them, Father. You can give them rest, give them peace and hope,

Father. So God, bless each one today. Thank you for this time now. We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Victor. Morning, everyone. Good morning. Scripture reading today will take place from Hebrews 9 verses 1 through 14.

Hebrews 9 verses 1 through 14. Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.

For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.

And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna,

Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.

Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priest always went into the first part of the tabernacle performing the services.

But into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance.

The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed into the time of reformation.

But Christ came as a high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God cleanse your conscience from the dead works to serve the living

God? May God bless the hearing and the reading of his word. We will be picking up from our

Exodus series, Exodus 37, and I would really like to thank all of you for the

Thanksgiving and 75th anniversary dinner last Sunday. It was so special and really thank

God for bringing all of you here at the right time and how much of a blessing this church is and has been for the past 75 years.

We thank all of you who also coordinated all of this too.

Thank you for doing that, preparing the food decoration and planning all of this.

It was very enjoyable and delightful. Also, remember this week is

Thanksgiving. Lauren and I will be in Sacramento, so if you have nothing or nowhere to go, we will be around.

So please come visit. Let us know if you would like to do that. Please turn to Exodus 37,

Exodus 37. I will be reading the whole chapter. Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside and made a molding of gold all around it, and he cast for its four rings of gold to be set in its four corners, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side of it.

He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, and he put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark to bear the ark.

He also made the mercy seed of pure gold, two and a half cubits was its length and a cubit and a half its width.

He made two cherubim of beaten gold. He made them of the piece of the two ends of the mercy seed, one cherub at the one end on this side and the other cherub at the other end on that side.

He made the cherubim at the two ends of one piece with the mercy seed. The cherubim spread out their wings above and covered the mercy seed with their wings.

They faced one another. The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seed. He made the table of acacia wood, two cubits was its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height, and he overlaid it with pure gold and made a molding of gold all around it.

Also he made a frame of a handbreadth all around it and made a molding of gold for the frame all around it, and he cast for it four rings of gold and put the rings on the four corners that were at its four legs.

The rings were close to the frame as holders for the poles to bear the table, and he made the poles of acacia wood to bear the table and overlaid them with gold.

He made of pure gold the utensils which were on the table, its dishes, its cups, its bowls, and its pitchers for pouring.

He also made the lampstand of pure gold of hammered work. He made the lampstand, its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and its flowers were of the same piece, and six branches came out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side.

There were three bowls made like almond blossoms on one branch and an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch with an ornamental knob and a flower, and so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand.

And on the lampstand itself were four bowls made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower.

There was a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same according to the six branches extending from it.

Their knobs and their branches were of one piece. All of it was one hammered piece of pure gold, and he made its seven lamps, its wick trimmers, and its tray of pure gold.

Of a talent of pure gold he made it, and with all its utensils. He made the incense altar of acacia wood.

Its length was a cubit, and its width a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height.

Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around, and its horns.

He also made for it a molding of gold all around it. He made two rings of gold for it under its molding by its two corners on both sides as holders for the poles with which to bear it, and he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices according to the work of the perfumer.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that we have a

God who delights to dwell with us, and not only that, at such a high cost that you've redeemed us, saved us, showed mercy to us so that we could dwell with you, the holy

God. Father, we pray that we would experience and delight in your presence this morning so much more than what the

Israelites could have experienced. Father, we pray that we would always know that you are here.

In Jesus' name, amen. Now, we are nearing the end of this section of the construction of the tabernacle, and we're also nearing the end of the whole book of Exodus, and this is an important part of the construction because it is the holiest part of the construction.

So, what was built first was the tabernacle proper, the tent itself, the coverings related to that.

Now, we're dealing with the furnishing inside the tabernacle which allow and symbolize

God's presence among God's people, and this is really important because all throughout human history after the rebellion in the

Garden of Eden, God's presence wasn't something that could be assumed. We're just so used to assuming that God is present with us everywhere, but really, ever since the fall,

God did not show up to most people, and even if God showed up to a certain few people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it was not regular.

There would be years without Abraham knowing that God's promise would come through, and the construction of the tabernacle was one way in which that God's people would experience

His presence. It was the first remedy for God to dwell among His people again, something that they've lost ever since the

Garden of Eden, and the furnishing that we will cover today represent what it looks like for God to be present among His people.

The order of furnishing today represents the gradation of holiness inside the tabernacle.

It goes from the most important to the less important, and today's text is divided into two sections, the most holy place, verses one through nine, and then the holy place, verses 10 through 29, and there are two components that connect these furnishing together.

First, they are all found inside the tabernacle, the tent, which means most

Israelites would not have access to these furnishing.

Second, they are made out of or overlaid with pure gold, no other metals.

Pure gold represents how precious and important all of these furnishing are because pure gold, even compared to just normal gold, pure gold went through extra steps of purification so that it was even more precious than normal gold, and all of the furnishing inside the tabernacle were overlaid or made out of the pure gold.

It just represented how precious it is for God's presence to dwell among the

Israelites, and this is really important because not only now but back in the day for the divine to dwell among His own people was unthinkable.

If you consider the Mesopotamian creation myth, the gods of Mesopotamia, they created humans not because they wanted to dwell with them, not because they delighted in them.

They needed slaves to work the earth that's been created on accident. From a tremendous battle, there was a lot of bloodshed, and the flesh made up the earth, and people came about, and in order to keep the earth from falling apart, according to the

Mesopotamian myth, the gods created humans. Humans were just slaves.

The thought of gods wanting to dwell with the humans was just that was absurd, just unthinkable, but here we have the true

God who created humans because He loves them and delights in them, but not only that, even after the humans rebelled, they sinned against God, and especially in this context after the golden calf idolatry debacle,

God still wants to dwell with His people. So, the main point of this text is the

Lord shows mercy towards His people so that He may personally relate to them.

The Lord shows mercy toward His people so that He may personally relate to them.

At the core of God's presence is His mercy toward His sinful people.

The first point is at the core of God's presence is His mercy toward His sinful people.

Verses 1 and 2 start with the dimensions and the material that make up the Ark of the

Covenant. It is a box made out of the acacia wood with the dimensions of 3 .75

feet in length, 2 .25 feet in width and height. After verse 1, verse 2 describes the surface material of the box.

He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and the molding of the gold all around it.

The use of pure gold again expresses the significance of the value of this box.

It is completely covered with the most precious metal ever known to man, and this is important because the preciousness of the box expresses the more precious treasure that will be inside the box, which is the testimony, the stone tablets that Moses received.

Again, I've said it before, this may be the only instance in which stones are more precious than gold, and that's because God's Word was on it, right?

Verses 3 to 5 show the spiritual significance of this box. Unlike the normal boxes, any normal boxes, the

Ark of the Covenant must not be carried by human hands. Verse 3 describes the golden rings found at the corners of the

Ark, and verses 4 to 5 describe the gold overlaid poles that went through the rings to carry the

Ark. Now, this is spiritually significant because it represents

God's dwelling presence must not be handled by sinners.

It must not be handled in any way they want, and we see that specifically through the degrees of separation to externally show

God's holiness. The first degree of separation is that only the tribe of Levi dealt with the holy objects found in the tabernacle.

Not only that, it was a specific family in the Levites, the Kohathites, who specifically carried the

Ark on their shoulders with their poles, and that's from number seven. Now, this taught

Israel that dealing with the holy God meant that they did not get to choose how they approach

Him. The holy God was set apart.

The holy God was unlike them. The holy God was unlike them in His purity,

His goodness, His strength, His omniscience, and His faithfulness.

The holy God was unlike them in every way possible, and how

He must be approached was His jurisdiction. Only He had a say how

He could be approached, and this is a far different method from the

Western culture today. The Western culture says, I get to decide how

I worship God, how I approach God. I get to meditate whatever I want.

I get to pick the rituals I choose. I get to choose the songs that I like.

That's never been correct. It's always been

God who chose how He ought to be worshiped and presented, and furthermore, the object representing

God's presence, the Ark of the Covenant, could not be carried around like an idol but carried like a king on the poles, on the shoulders of His subjects.

Remember, the idols were statues or images that could be just carried everywhere you go. You have to move somewhere?

Yeah, just pack it up. Not so with the Ark of the Covenant. It was treated as a sovereign.

Now, what is the significance of the Ark? On top of the Ark of the Covenant was a solid, pure, gold mercy seat that Victor mentioned a couple of times during our songs of worship.

Verse six describes the dimensions and material of the mercy seat. In our modern measurement, it's 3 .75

feet in length and 2 .25 feet in width. It is a rectangular top and yet not overlaid but completely made out of pure gold, the same substance that covers the rest of the

Ark. Now, verses seven to nine focus on the cherubim that are placed on the both ends of the mercy seat.

Verse eight, one cherub at one end of the side and the other cherub at the other end of that side.

He made the cherubim at the two ends of one piece with a mercy seat. The cherubim are angelic creatures that look like a mixture of different animals and they carried the throne of the

Lord. And on top of the Ark were positioned specifically on each end of the mercy seat.

The cherubim were the vehicle of choice for the Lord. Earthly rulers right now, they prefer limos or private jets, but the

Lord rides on the cherubim much greater. And verse nine tells us that the placement of the cherubim accentuated the center of the mercy seat, the very location in which

God would show mercy toward his people when the blood is sprinkled on top of it.

The cherubim spread out their wings above and cover the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another.

The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat. In the end, the focus of it all is the mercy seat.

What represented God's dwelling presence among Israel was not some statue or image of himself, but a golden seat on which the sin of God's people would be atoned for.

The golden seat on which the sin of God's people would be covered by the sprinkled blood of an innocent sacrifice.

And in ancient times, the Lord showed mercy to Israel every year from the mercy seat.

When the blood of the animal sacrifice was sprinkled on it by one man, the high priest.

And the holy God who was distinctly separate from the sinful people covered the sin of his people so that they may not face

God's wrath, so that they may live with God.

And this is important for us today because at the core of God's presence among his people is his compassionate mercy toward his sinful people.

And this is reassuring because at the core of God's presence is not the seat of omnipotence.

At the core of God's presence is not the seat of omniscience.

But at the core of God's dwelling place is his mercy toward his sinful people.

In fact, without this characteristic of God, we are all doomed.

He may be the best God. He may be the most perfect God. He may be the strongest

God. But without God's mercy, we have every reason to fear this being.

However, this text tells us that the most significant part of God's dwelling presence among his people is in fact the mercy seat.

His heart toward his people is that of mercy.

Mercy from above when the sacrificial blood is shed on our behalf.

And ultimately, the most perfect mercy seat was not found in the first tabernacle, as Hebrews 9 tells us, but on the cross.

In the Old Testament, the blood of the bulls and the goats temporarily covered

Israel's sin. But they were still inwardly evil and their conscience corrupt.

However, Jesus approaches the perfect, the ultimate mercy seat with his blood as the high priest, more precious than any other blood.

And he redeems our perfect pardon once and for all. And this is important because there is no need for anyone to show up before the mercy seat every year.

In fact, that mercy seat from the first tabernacle is gone. We don't know where it is.

If we depend on that mercy seat, we're all doomed.

There's no guarantee. There hasn't been that sacrifice made for almost 2 ,000 years.

But for Christians, we look to the greater mercy seat. If you ever feel unforgivable, if you ever feel unforgiven, and you're carrying a burden of guilt for your past sins and decisions, we have to look at the ultimate mercy seat of Christ.

There's been a better blood sprinkled on top of that mercy seat. There's permanent blood sprinkled on that mercy seat so that you would not have to return to it with your own sacrifice.

It's been done. It is finished. There's nothing else you can do to earn

God's mercy because it's been purchased for you once and for all. So if you feel unforgiven, if you see yourself as unforgivable, that's not how

God sees you. That's just you. And hopefully, you can renew your mind to see yourself as how

God sees you, not as some unforgivable person but a forgiven child of God because the better blood has been sprinkled on top of that mercy seat.

Second, when God shows mercy to his people, he personally connects with them.

When God shows mercy to his people, he personally connects with them. From the most holy place in which there was the ark of the covenant, we move out to the holy place of the tabernacle.

And this is outside the veil that separated the two. The first item is the table.

Remember, the tabernacle was a portable palace for the king. At this point in God's redemptive history, the

Lord was Israel's only king. In verses 10 to 16, deal with the table.

Verses 10 to 11 first give us the dimensions and the materials used to make the table.

It's a table of acacia wood with the dimensions of three feet by 1 .5 feet and 2 .5

feet in height. And just like the ark, it is overlaid with pure gold.

And remember, pure gold is significant because it's extra precious. It is extra pure.

This physical purity would signify the spiritual purity, right?

For the holy deity to dwell with Israel in the tabernacle, even his table had to be free of all impurities.

How much more do God's people need to remain pure before his own presence then?

That was the teaching lesson. And then verse 12 shows a frame surrounding the table so the item on the table, the pure gold items on the table, would not fall down.

Also, he made a frame of hen breath all around it and made a molding of gold for the frame all around it.

And just like the ark, the table also must not be carried directly with hands.

It is also transported through the golden overlaid acacia wood going through four golden rings described in verses 13 through 15.

Again, the physical phenomena taught Israel the spiritual truth regarding the holiness of God.

This God was utterly other. His holiness required even his table to be separated from his people as a whole, right?

We're not even talking about the ark here. We're talking about the table. Even his dining room table could not be touched by bare hands.

And verse 16 lists various items that will be on top of the table. He made of pure gold the utensils which were on the table, its dishes, its cups, its bowls, and its pitchers for pouring.

In the ancient cultures, and especially in Middle Eastern culture now, dining and food were an important factor in any relationship.

It is a symbol of companionship and intimacy. And you may know this if you have some

Middle Eastern friends or people from around that region. When they invite you to a meal, it won't be just a sandwich.

It's gonna be a feast. And you better know how special that is that you were specifically invited to that meal.

And this symbolic table signified that the

Lord who dwelt among Israel also dined among them. It was a symbol of companionship and intimacy.

The Lord did not require a separate dining hall outside the camp of Israel, right?

He didn't have to dine, quote -unquote dine, not that God would have to eat. But that symbol did not stay outside the camp away from the sinful people.

But He dined inside the camp. And the construction of this table would send the message that He would want to commune even with the sinful

Israelites. The table inside the palace among God's people showed that God communed with them intimately.

Then the second, the lampstand. The lampstand was a symbol to show

Israelites that God watched over them. The lampstand was the symbol for God's watchful care.

Verses 17 to 24 describe the golden lampstand found in the holy place.

Verse 17 describes all the components of the lampstand. He also made the lampstand a pure gold of hammered work.

He made the lampstand, its shaft, its branches, its bowls, and its ornamental knobs, and its flowers were on the same piece.

This is the only item in the tabernacle that's made out of just solid gold, right?

And this is the only item in the tabernacle that doesn't have the dimensions. It's hard to know how tall the lampstand was.

Verses 19 to 24 show the structure of the lampstand. So the lampstand,

I keep saying it lampstand, but we might be more familiar with the term menorah. If you can picture the menorah on a coin, right?

One of those chocolate gold, gold chocolate coin you get, there's often menorah, right?

Or any symbol of Hanukkah, right? It's the menorah. So verse 19, there were three bowls made like almond blossoms on one branch with an ornamental knob and a flower, and the three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch with an ornamental knob and a flower.

And so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand, and on the lampstand itself were four bowls made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower.

Now all of this intricate lampstand was made out of 75 pounds of gold.

75 pounds of pure gold. That's about two million and six hundred thousand dollars in our inflated currency.

And who knows, it's probably going to be way more than that in a couple years, right? I would have to change this up if I ever preach through this again.

The knobs are the meeting points between the branches. The branches all pair up and at the center of it there are knobs, ornamental knobs.

And the branches would lead up to the lamp itself.

Think like a candle -like structure where the olive oil is being burned. Pure olive oil.

And the almond design is significant because almond blossoms symbolize watchfulness.

The word for almond and the verb to watch have the same three -letter consonants in the same order.

So for a Hebrew person knowing that there's almonds, it would be almost of a pun.

As the lampstand is burning, God is watching, right?

God is almonding would be how they would think of it. But almonding was the same as watching.

The almond blossoms, that design showed that God was always watching over his people.

Now why is this important? Remember as they're journeying through the wilderness,

Israelites here, these defenseless Israelites who were just slaves, they don't know how to fight.

They don't know how to really defend themselves. And they're not staying inside walled cities, right?

Their stopping points are not, okay, where's the next biggest city? That's how we would go about it when we're doing a road trip that's long and covers many miles.

Let's go to the next biggest city because we can depend on the gas station being there and a nice hotel or motel or Airbnb.

It's safe. Not for the Israelites.

They were camping outside in the wilderness every night. And as they're setting up camp, the tabernacle would be at the center of the encampment.

And all the tribes would camp around the tabernacle in concentric circles.

And the wilderness, remember, is a scary and dark place. And at night, you start to hear the howling of the wild animals.

At night, bandits come active, right? At night, foreign armies can ambush.

And at night, darkness rules. And there's something inherently scary about darkness.

It's hard to just be settled down. It's inherently frightening. And of course, after the cooking fire goes out, what remained was just darkness.

However, what would the tribes, what would each person of the tribe see in the middle of the camp when they walked outside of their tent?

Light from this lampstand, burning brightly all night. In the darkest hour of the night, the lampstand, a giant lampstand, right, made out of 75 pounds of gold, will be the only source of light inside the camp.

And not only that, the design of the lampstand would remind them, the Lord is awake and is watching over you,

O Israel. Third, the altar of incense,

His people can devote themselves to God. The altar of incense symbolized that His people can devote themselves to God.

Unlike the blueprint for the tabernacle, which spanned from chapters 25 to 31, the altar of incense is actually introduced with the rest of the furnishing of the holy place.

From 25 through 31, the altar of incense was not introduced after the lampstand, but rather in chapter 30, all the way out right next to the bronze altar.

And that is because the blueprint was ordered thematically, right?

Around chapter 30, the theme is that of atonement, atonement sacrifice.

So that's why the altar of incense was right after the bronze altar.

Now, the altar of incense is described from verses 25 through 29, and it's also found in the holy place.

This also is made out of acacia wood, a durable yet light wood.

And the dimensions are a cubit by cubit by two cubits, which is 1 .5

by 1 .5 feet squared and three feet in height. The altar of incense has horns.

Its horns were of one piece with it. The importance of horns in the ancient culture is that it represents power.

In the Bible, raised horns illustrated a powerful animal raising up its horns to the sky, which was a symbol of strength.

And remember, one of the most powerful domesticated animals were bulls, and they had horns.

And you would be scared if it starts raising the horn to the sky. So that's what horns represent in the

Bible. It's that powerful imagery. And that powerful imagery is constructed into the altar of incense, which would be used to devote things to God, devote the incense to God, devote—it's a means by which

Israel would devote themselves to God. And again, just like the other furnishing, this altar is also too holy to be carried by hands, right?

He made two rings of gold for it under its molding by its two corners on both sides as holders for the poles with which to bear it.

And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. And verse 29 lists out what must be offered up on the altar and other items found in the holy place, right?

The incense made out of the pure spices and the holy anointing oil for the priests.

Now, these three items are important because moving from the most holy place to the holy place, we see that God showed mercy to his people for a purpose.

One thing this culture struggles to understand is that there is a personal

God who desires to have a relationship with them.

A lot of people nowadays—it's actually more rare to see atheists—but you'll actually meet people who have some sort of theism, as in belief in some sort of God.

But what they hold on to is this moral therapeutic deism. Moral therapeutic deism means you got to be good in whatever good they define, of course, right?

Therapeutic means this deity wants you to be happy, right?

So this deity is for you. This God is on your side. But the last part is deism, but from far apart.

He doesn't really hold you accountable for all these little things that you do in life. He doesn't really care about what you do here and there.

It's all right. He's far apart. A good God who wants to comfort you, but from far apart.

That's the type of God that this culture holds on to, right?

A type of God who's so distant. Yeah, he loves you in whatever way that means from far apart.

Yeah, he saves you. They might even believe that this God saved them. But he's far away.

He's distant. You live your life how you would follow your heart. However, that is not the type of God we see here, nor anywhere else in the

Bible. Worshipping the true God is not deistic.

God did not show mercy so that you could live on your own as if you're some wild animal that has been captured, but he freed you from the cage and you go on, run away, live your life.

I won't see you again. But God showed mercy to you so that you would have a personal relationship with him.

After all, God does not need a table to eat. He is fully sufficient without taking a single bite.

He does not need a lampstand to see. He's fully omniscient without any single man -made light.

And he is light himself. And he does not need incense from humans.

The aura and the music, the pleasantries of heavens is fully sufficient.

More than enough than what we can ever offer. All these items built in this chapter teach us that God makes himself personally relatable with us when he didn't have to.

And that's because he desired to have a deep relationship with his people.

You're not just nobody in the cosmic universe accidentally formed. You're not just a collection of atoms that are freely vibrating.

You are a being made in God's image whom he showed mercy to you to save you from sin so that you could actually have a deep, lasting, rich relationship with the

God of the universe and Jesus Christ. And of course, the extent to which we can have this deep relationship with God is shown through the

New Testament. In the New Testament, this personal

God in the Old Testament becomes even more concrete. God becomes flesh and dwelt among us.

When God became flesh and dwelt among us, he dined with the sinners.

When God became flesh and dwelt among us, he touched the sick and the disheartened.

When God became flesh and dwelt among us, he was anointed by a former prostitute who was shown mercy.

Jesus personally loved his people and he was personally loved by his people.

When God shows mercy to redeem his people from our sin, it's for a purpose of a deep, intimate relationship.

And that can only be accessed through Jesus Christ. Let us pray.

Father, we are thankful that you have sent Jesus so that we would not only experience mercy, but that we would have an intimate relationship with the

God of the universe, that we would be adopted as your family members, as sons and daughters, bought by the blood of Christ on the cross.

Father, we pray that we would cherish this, treasure this fact, and that daily, hourly, we would pour all of ourselves to you so that our goal in life would be to know you better, to know you personally, to know you intimately.