May 15, 2013
ALL THIS BECAUSE OF SIN?
Exodus 27
Bart Roberson
Central Truth
Sin has created a cosmic chasm between God and man. In order to bridge this gap, sacrifice is required. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for sin. In light of this, we should continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God -- the fruit of lips that give thanks to Him.
Key Verse | Exodus 27:1
"And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits." (Exodus 27:1)
Exodus 27
The Bronze Altar
1 You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits 1 27:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. 2 And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. 6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8 You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.
The Court of the Tabernacle
9 You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side. 10 Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 11 And likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases. 13 The breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. 14 The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15 On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 16 For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases. 17 All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.
Oil for the Lamp
20 You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.
Dive Deeper | Exodus 27
What's your view of sin? When you shared that one little morsel of gossip, or when you cut a corner at work to get a deal done, how did you view it? Was it cute? Clever? A good business decision? Maybe even brushed aside as no big deal? After all, people do things every day that are far worse.
I think views of sin like these are common among believers. To a perfect God, however, all sin is offensive. In fact, sin is so offensive that death is required as a payment for it (Genesis 2:17).
In this passage of Exodus, God instructs Moses how to make the bronze altar and the court of the tabernacle. The bronze altar is where the Israelites brought their animal sacrifices for the priests to offer to God. The Israelites, who had sinned and therefore deserved to die, could only be forgiven through sacrifice. The court of the tabernacle is where the Israelites worshiped, prayed, and had their sins forgiven. It was there that the common Israelite could be near to God.
This passage doesn't leave me the option of shrugging off sin. As seen in this passage, the Israelites had to go to great lengths to be near to God and receive forgiveness of sin. But then God went to infinitely greater lengths to be near to man as Jesus came to earth.
Through Jesus' death on the cross, the bronze altar and courtyard are no longer required. Jesus is our sacrifice for sin and our Great High Priest (Hebrews 2:17, John 1:29), so we no longer need to bring animals to an altar so a priest can offer sacrifices on our behalf. We no longer have to go to a courtyard to be near to God because we have access to God through Jesus. What an amazing gift!
In light of all that Jesus did to pay for our sin, how could I do anything but give thanks to Him? Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15).
Discussion Questions
1. How does this passage about an altar and tabernacle court foreshadow the sacrificial work of Jesus?
2. Read Hebrews 10:4-10. How does Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice compare to the sacrifices presented in the time of Moses?
3. How should we respond to Christ's once-for-all sacrifice? (Hebrews 13:15)