Dr. Manny Arango (0:00)

Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. To all my fellow pastors, I've got a question for you. Does your city know that your church exists? Listen, I get it. You're preaching, you're leading, you're discipling, you're doing ministry. We are in the same boat. And let's be honest, social media and marketing, not your strong suit. Not mine either. And that's probably the last thing on your mind. And that's why we chose to partner with Church Candy Marketing for our church Plant the garden. We out here, y'all. They help churches get more actual guests walking through the doors on Sunday without your eye having to stress over ads or algorithms or trying to crack the social media code. Right now, Church Candy is helping nearly 400 churches reach their communities with simple invite ads. And it works. It's super effective. I can tell you from firsthand experience. So if you're tired of being your city's best kept secret, how about you do this? Go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a free consultation book a discovery call. Their team will break it all down and show you how to start seeing new faces at your church this Sunday. I'm in the trenches with you trying to grow the church. And how about we just start a whole campaign? No more empty churches. So let's partner with Church Candy and get our churches full. The glory of Jesus. Let's go. We're continuing our trek through the book of Exodus. We got a couple more laws that we need to look at, and then by the time we get to the end of today's reading, we're actually going to start the instructions for building the tabernacle. Okay? Tabernacle is super, super important in the life of the Jewish community. This is going to be the place that houses the manifest presence of God. Okay? So big, big deal. And tabernacle can be kind of compared to, like a nuclear reactor. Okay, really powerful, really valuable. But if you don't handle it with care, it'll kill you. All right? So because God is holy and humans are sinful, his holiness kills sin. And so it's not that his holiness kills humans, it's that his holiness kills sin. And we'll deal with that in a little bit. If you have not done today's reading. Pause the video, pause the audio. Go do the reading for the day. Chapter 23, 24, 25, quick reading. Not, not very long at all. It's not narrative based reading, so it's not the most, like, exciting reading. But if you just focus and get through it, I promise this video or audio content is going to be way more helpful if you actually have context for what we're talking about. Okay, so let's kind of define holiness, okay? It's gonna be really important, especially as we study books like Leviticus where holiness is a massive theme. Okay? Holiness is not the lack of sin. Because if that were the case, God would've only been holy starting at Genesis 3, because that's the moment that sin enters into the world. But he's been holy, okay? Holy doesn't mean the opposite of holy is not sinful. The opposite of holy is common. So the opposite of holy, it's common. Things that are holy, set apart. Things that are common, not set apart. And so when we think about God's holiness, God, we're going to see this really clear in books like Leviticus, he's going to see an issue with things that are, that are reflective of our humanity. So he is wholly different than humans. Okay? So things like menstrual blood, things like seminal, seminal discharges, these things aren't sinful, but they make us human. Okay? They are proof that we are finite. And he's infinite, so he's holy. And we are in terms of our nature. We are not like him in these ways. Okay? So in terms of the holiness of God, I want you to think about cancer and chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is designed to kill cancer cells. That's what it's designed to do. But if somebody's not strong enough to withhold the power of chemotherapy, chemo will also kill the person. So chemo will kill cancer cells and healthy cells. Okay? But it wants to kill the cancer. The goal is to kill the cancer, but in the process of killing the cancer, chemo could actually kill the individual. So I want you to think about holiness in that way. So holiness is after sin. So holiness wants to kill sin. But because sin lives in us, because sin is intertwined with our human nature, with who we are as people, then God actually has to put restraints in place so that his holiness doesn't kill us by wanting to kill the sin that's living on the inside of us. So there's going to be all these rules surrounding the tabernacle. Now, the good news is that the People get the presence of God. The bad news. I don't think it's bad news. But the flip side of that news is that you don't get the presence of God without risk. Okay. When you're dealing with God, God is powerful. God is the most powerful being on the planet. And so nobody gets to approach God flippantly. No one gets to approach God casually. You have to be very mindful that I'm actually approaching God in the right way. Okay. So it's kind of like big context clue for what we're gonna study in today's reading. I'll give you one more context clue when it comes to the tabernacle. Chapter 25 is when the tabernacle instructions start. I'm Gonna read verse 8 and 9, chapter 25, verse 8 says this. Have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern. I will show you. Keyword. There is pattern. Okay. Hebrews is going to tell us that actually the tabernacle that they're building is just a type. It's just a shadow, just a copy of a perfect temple that actually exists in heaven. Same chapter, chapter 25. We're going to go to verse 40. And it says this. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. So no one gets to freestyle on how they're making the tabernacle. Okay. You gotta make God's house to the exact specific dimensions, fabrics, everything that God is saying is the way that it should be built, or else you're actually putting human life at risk. Because the presence of God can't be handled flippantly. The presence of God is a massive tool and resource that the people need and that we should want. But I don't get to dishonor his presence or disrespect his presence. And I have to put all the energy that I put into making sure that we house his presence the right way is actually worth it. Like, I as a human, have to believe. Oh, yeah, it's worth it. Okay. It's funny. One of the guys on our team had to recently drive from Dallas to Austin to get me from the airport. And in a group chat with the guys who were coming to grab me, I said, man, I'm so sorry for, like, inconveniencing you guys and. Cause they had a drive. Like, literally. They were a bunch of the ministry guys that work with me and served with me. We're all hanging out. And because flights got canceled, our flight Got diverted to Austin, Texas, when we needed to fly into Dallas, Texas. And so four guys from our team drove from Dallas to Austin to pick me up. And I said in the group chat, I'm so sorry for inconveniencing you guys. I felt. I really did. I felt bad because, like, they were with their wives and their kids and their families, and I was. And I just was communicating. I'm so sorry for inconveniencing you guys. And one of the guys, his name is Jesse, he immediately text back and said, you've convenienced my life way more than you've ever inconvenienced my life. That, yeah, it requires something of me to come get you from the airport, but it's worth it, man. The value that you bring into my life is worth it. So, yeah. Is finding blue yarn out in the desert pretty difficult? Yeah, but it's worth it because we're talking about God is finding pure gold for the ark. Like, is that easy to do out in the desert? Nah, that's not easy to do, but it's worth it because it's God. And when you think about the construction of the tabernacle, I want you to think to yourself, man, all I gotta do on Sundays is drive to a church, check my kids into a children's ministry. I gotta get them dressed, I gotta get them ready, gotta get everybody out of the house. But I just gotta drive 30 minutes to a church building, check my kids into a children's ministry. And you know what? In comparison to what these jokers are out here in the desert doing, like, ah, man, they're really building God a house, like, out there in the middle of nowhere. And if they can build God a house, we can build God a house. Okay? And we can look at our physical bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and build these houses as places that are worthy of the presence of God. So the presence of God comes with power, comes with deliverance. The presence of God comes with all of these amazing things. But the presence of God isn't convenient. The presence of God is accessible, but the presence of God isn't cheap. The presence of God is available, but the presence of God can't be treated as if it's not valuable. This is. This not contradiction, but it's a tension that we have to maintain. Bible department, family. It's Dr. Manny Arango. And first thing I want to say is that I'm proud of you for completing the New Testament. You did it. And now that we're in the Old Testament, I hope that Looking at Genesis and Exodus from an ancient perspective and worldview has kind of like opened your eyes. Well, I got news for you. If you've enjoyed some of the interpretations that I've brought to the table from Genesis, then that's just the tip of the iceberg. This entire book, crushing chaos with, was written from an ancient hermeneutic. I'm looking at stories like the Flood, Adam and Eve from the perspective of an ancient person. And we've got an event coming up on April 26th where I'll take a lot of the content from this book and I'll turn that content into live lectures. You don't wanna miss it. You can actually register for that event right now. The link is in the description. And more than content. I think what you'll find as we gather together in Nashville are like minded believers and friends in a community of people that you don't just watch content with online that you can get to know in person. I'd love to see you in Nashville. I'd love to hug you, high five you, and I'd love to nerd out together for one day as we come together in Nashville to learn about how to crush chaos. I'll see you in Nashville. Peace. Some key things that I want you to see. The construction of the tabernacle is going to mirror and echo in language and symbolism the creation of Genesis, chapter one and two. So we're going to get three connections to the creation that we'll talk about. And we'll probably talk about three more connections to the creation tomorrow, since in tomorrow's reading we're also gonna be going to the tabernacle. So let's talk about three connections to the creation. The first one is that we're gonna get seven speech acts, okay? From God to Moses. I'll actually tell you exactly where they're found. They're found in Exodus, chapter 25 through 30:10. And then we're gonna find another one in Exodus, chapter 30, verses 11 through 16. And then we're gonna find another one in Exodus chapter 30, 17 through 21. Then we're going to find another one in Exodus, chapter 30, verses 22 to 33. Then we're going to find another one in Exodus, chapter 30, verse 34 to 38. And then we'll find our sixth one in Exodus chapter 31, verses 1 through 12. And then we're going to find our seventh speech act. This is God speaking to Moses in Exodus, chapter 31, verses 13 to 17. Now, when you think about God and speaking, what do you automatically think about and the word, the number seven. So God speaking and the number seven. You throw all those in a blender, you get creation that in a seven day format. God spoke and he said, let there be light. God spoke and creation began to take form. And creation moved from chaos to order as God spoke things into existence. So in the same way that God spoke creation into existence, he's going to speak to Moses and instruct him on how to build a tabernacle. Okay, so the tabernacle is the product of the words of Yahweh in the same way that the creation is the product of the words of Yahweh. Number two, we're going to get a lampstand in chapter 25. Okay? Now this lampstand is what we would call a menorah. And guess what it looks like. Looks like a tree. When's the last time we saw a really important tree? You guessed it. The Garden of Eden. You get the tree of Life. And so the people of Israel are going to believe, man, this tabernacle, the presence of God is how we enter back into union with God. And what did Adam and Eve have in the Garden of Eden with God? They had union with God. They walked with God in the cool of the day. And number three, this is chapter 2518. Okay? And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the end of the COVID Make one cherub on one end, second cherubim on the other. Make the cherubim of one piece, the COVID two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the COVID with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the COVID Okay, we get cherubim. Why do we have cherubim? When's the last time we saw cherubim? Oh, yeah, guarding the entrance to the Garden of Eden. So the Adam and Eve couldn't enter into the Garden of Eden and take from the tree of Life. So why do we get all this creation language and creation symbolism as we see the construction of the tabernacle? Well, it's because here's what the Bible is actually trying to say, that the presence of God makes it so that Genesis 3 never happened. Now, what you have in the tabernacle is you get Eden, you get access to God as if the sin of Adam and Eve has never taken place. This is God bestowing grace in the Old Testament. God saying, I know your sins. Made you get Ekballo is the word in Greek. Made you get driven out of the garden. You got expelled from the garden because of your sin. But now I'm creating a way for you to come back into a microcosm of the garden. I'm creating a garden for you in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the wilderness. I'm creating a garden for you in the middle of chaos. Cause the desert of the wilderness is a chaos theme. There's a chaos symbol in the middle of the chaos of the desert, in the middle of the chaos of the wilderness. I'm gonna create an ordered space for you so that you can order your nation. Okay, this is the context for the building of the tabernacle. I'll give you a nerdy nugget. Exodus chapter 23, verse 3. In Exodus 23:6, we're going to get some laws. And I just think both of these laws are really important. Exodus 23:3. And do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. So, hey, don't think that just because a person is poor that they deserve favoritism. Somebody could be poor and be totally dead wrong. And so you need to punish people even if they're poor. Don't be so compassionate. Then you start making laws that aren't just. All right, so don't show favoritism to a poor person in the lawsuit. That's Exodus 23:3. But then listen to Exodus chapter 23, verse 6. Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge. And do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Now, on one hand, God is saying, hey, don't show favoritism to the poor. And on the other hand, God is saying, don't deny justice to the poor. He's actually trying to get them to handle life with tension, with balance. And that's the secret to life refusing the culture's sway that moves from pendulum extreme to pendulum extreme. But to actually walk down the narrow path, full of tension, full of balance, that's my nerdy nugget for the day. And then let's get to a timeless truth also coming to us from Exodus, chapter 23. Exodus chapter 23, verse 30 says this. This is now a promise for going into the land of Canaan. Here's what the Bible says. Little by little, I will drive them out. These are the nations that are living in Canaan. Little by little, I will drive them out before you until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. And then verse 33 says this. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. Because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you. So both of these verses are talking about what God is going to do, what God's plan is for the people who live in the land of Canaan. The first thing he says is this. I'm not going to give you overnight success. I'm not going to give you overnight victory. Because if I do, you won't be able to sustain what you obtain. You won't be able to keep what you win. He says, I'll do it little by little. I'll do it step by step. Oh, man. In that same God. That's how he works today. Little by little. So often we want to win everything right now. And God says, little by little, little by little, little by little, I'll drive them out. I'll drive out the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites, all these Canaanite groups. I drive them out before you until you have increased enough that God's not going to give you something or bless you with something that you can't sustain, that you can't actually handle for the long term, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. And he says this in verse 29. But I will not drive them out in a single year because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. So he says, I'm not going to give you immediate victory. I'm going to give you a process. It's funny, you know, My dad struggled with a drug addiction for a long time, and we wanted my dad to do an inpatient program so bad, we wanted him to do a program like Teen Challenge. But my dad kept saying, nope, I just want God to deliver me from it at the altar. And I remember saying to God, I mean, I remember saying to my father, God is not going to drive this out in a single year. What if he does it little by little? What if the altar call isn't the thing that God's going to do this time? What if he's going to do it little by little? Little by little? Maybe you're frustrated that you're not growing spiritually at the rate that you want to grow. But guess what? You're probably growing little by little. Maybe you're not as biblically literate as you want to be. I bet you you're growing little by little. And you want to know what's crazy? When you grow little by little by little by little by little, then all Those incremental increases, they begin to add up in the big life transformations. So little by little is okay. That's our timeless truth for the day. Not only is little by little okay, but then in 2333, it says, hey, be wise. Don't allow sinful people to influence you, because if they're worshiping their gods around you, it's going to be a snare. And this is the timeless truth. Don't fight sin that you should actually be avoiding. There's some sin you don't even need to get in the ring with. Just avoid it. And God says, hey, don't even allow this to be a snare to you. If you let these people live amongst you, you're gonna sin against me. Just do the wise thing. It's better to be wise than to actually regret my decisions because I didn't respect my own limits and boundaries. All right, guys, that's day 103. Tomorrow. We got day 104. We got Exodus, chapter 26, 27, 28, 29. Got four chapters tomorrow. Like I always say, if you're on a streak, keep it going. If you're not on the street, today's a good day to start one. I'm so proud of you. You're reading the Bible with us this year. You got this. We're making our trek to the book of Exodus, and you're doing great. I love you, and I'll see you right here tomorrow for day 104. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.