One year into a great roller coaster of an adventure.

One year into a great adventure, a roller coaster of an adventure. That's what we're looking at here as we come to the end of the series in the book of Exodus. As we look at this passage, I want to invite you to examine your life in the light of what God's word teaches. At the end of this may you want to respond and pray. I want to attempt to illustrate what I'm trying to get at today. Perhaps you've been through circumstances where you've experienced dark days, difficulties and just when you think you can't go on any further, suddenly something changes. You realize that God has changed your circumstances, and He has come to your rescue. This happened to me when I was at my lowest point. Jesus found me in Hillbrow. He saved me and my life changed.

Where can you go once you have experienced that change? When you go through all the rollercoasters of life and now see some life-change, where do you go from there? That's what we'll be looking at today as we examine Exodus 40:34-38, God's word says: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.”

These verses conclude a very powerful book. We've learned so much from the book of Exodus. We were introduced to the Ten Commandments, as well as God rescuing His people out of Egypt. In these few verses we see how God is taking the people further. Here we find God being present with His people. God is present in a very powerful way. The cloud was there and showed God's presence when the people were being led out of Egypt. It was also there when it separated the Egyptians from the Israelites at the Red Sea. The cloud led them all the way to Mount Sinai. The cloud appeared on the top of Mount Sinai, as God met with Moses. The presence of God is constantly represented by His cloud. The cloud has gone ahead of His people and now they have built the Tabernacle. All of that is finished and they've even fallen into sin with the golden calf. God is now leading them on the next step through the adventure.

One year later, they have been on a great roller coaster of an adventure. The God of Exodus is still with His people. The God who led His people out of Egypt, is the same God who sent Jesus into this world for us. The same Lord Jesus, sent us His Holy Spirit when He ascended to the right hand of the Father. God by His Spirit is in us if we will open our lives to Him. He is able to lead us daily by His Holy Spirit. What can we learn from this passage?

First, let’s look at the meaning of these five short verses. We see that God is moving ahead with the plan He announced earlier. The plan is to lead His people out of Egypt. He set out with these people and He has travelled with these people. These last five verses prepare us for the dominant element that will come up, particularly in the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. The dominant element is the relentless push towards the Promised Land, the exodus towards Canaan. They're on a journey with God. These closing verses of Exodus explain how this will happen. This explains how God will change His people and make them ready to inhabit a land occupied by giants, as they will discover. Even with other fearsome enemies, God is at work. When God moves, His people move as well. When God stops moving, His people do so as well. This is all God's plan and God is working out His purposes through His people. These purposes are being fulfilled fully by God. Israel's adventure and arrival in the Promised Land will be completely by God's guidance and direction. It is God's will to work everything together for good and it will happen in God's time as well.

God's presence is shown now by the cloud above the Tabernacle, which the people have just finished constructing according to the plans that God gave to Moses. Since Exodus 25, this process of planning and building the Tabernacle has finally come to an end. The Tabernacle is now inhabited, by the presence of God and this cloud is over it. We are told in this passage that Moses was unable to enter because of the cloud. Moses is unable to see the glory of God in the very Tabernacle of which he had overseen the construction. God's presence is present now in His tabernacle and something very powerful is happening here in the midst of this community. It is a thing that should be as God has determined it to be.

The cloud reminds the people of God's holiness. The cloud reminds them that there are times when we cannot simply barge into His presence. Instead, we need an intermediary and a mediator, to enable us to come into the throne room of God. Not even Moses in this particular instance can come near. In Numbers and Deuteronomy, we notice that the people will be slow to learn about the holiness of God. Despite that, God is still present with His people. That cloud is also proof of a great truth that all is forgiven. The terrible sin of idolatry with the golden calf is a thing of the past. The people now experience God with them and ahead of them. God is not abandoning them but He is being present with them. The God of Exodus, the God who has led His people out of Egypt, first with a fire and a cloud is still at work in the same fire and cloud.

The first chapter is now over. The first stage of God’s mission has been completed. The plan is proceeding at full steam. Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt echoes creation of something new. The Exodus begins the fulfilment of the promise that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is one chapter of a grand story that is closing. God is now introducing a new chapter. This is somewhat of a bridging passage. The different circumstances such as: Egypt's might as the greatest civilization of that time, Israel's stubbornness and fear along the way and God's own anger, was not able to stop the plan that God had to bring His people out of Egypt, into the Promised Land. God had made the promise to Abraham and nothing will get in the way of Him fulfilling that plan. This is the story of Exodus and that's the background and meaning to this passage.

Secondly, I want us to see what we can learn from this passage. We can learn that we are dealing with a Holy God. God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt is the same Holy God that is not only holy and above all, but He is also near to them. In theological terms, God is transcendent and imminent. He is holy. Yet He is with His people, in the midst of them, above the Tabernacle and now inhabiting the Tabernacle with His cloud. That's, why verses 34 and 35, remind us of God's holiness. You see access to God even by Moses is something that is not automatic. God is so present in His Tabernacle that Moses cannot enter. This is a boundary that Moses himself cannot cross. This is not because there is any lingering wrath or residual anger on God's part because of the golden calf incident. God’s forgiveness is complete, and that sin is in the past. Forgiveness is possible because the Tabernacle has now been built. The reason Moses cannot enter is because the Tabernacle is the mobile Mount Sinai. The Tabernacle is the earthly representation of God's heavenly throne. The Tabernacle is a microcosm of creation. God the transcendent Creator, present in this world with His people, in this case in the Tabernacle. Approaching God in His Tabernacle is done on God's terms because God is holy. This cloud and the fire tell us that this Holy God is still near His people. He is with them. God is with them every step of the way and God is in charge of their journey.

Since God made the promise to Abraham, God has been fulfilling what He promised. God’s power was challenged by Pharaoh and all the gods of Egypt. It was God who brought the people of Israel to the mountain. God also gave His people His law by which they could know how to love practically. They were not freed from Egypt to do what they liked and go wild in a great idolatrous orgy. They are now free to live a redeemed life. To live the purpose for which God redeemed them from Egypt. They have been set apart by God to be His people, to serve Him as the living God. To be a priesthood, a holy nation, set apart for God. A Holy God directs and guides His people in His own time. He is here achieving His own purposes here. He is at work. This God is the same God who works all through the Old Testament and into the New Testament. He was revealed to us in Jesus Christ. God is not far off but God is right here to lead and to guide His people.

That's why when we come to the New Testament we look at Jesus Christ. We see that Jesus completed what Moses's ministry set out to do. Jesus achieved it in full and the New Testament even contrasts Moses with Christ Jesus. Jesus is not simply a new Moses or a greater prophet than Moses, for instance. Jesus does not just do the same thing better but, Jesus is far more than Moses. Jesus Christ does what Moses could not do. Jesus comes from the very presence of God and He dwelt among us. He came into this world at Christmas. Died for us at Easter and ascended to the right hand of the Father on Ascension Day. He is again in the very presence of our God and Creator, the Father in heaven. Moses was unable to enter the tabernacle but Jesus by contrast, is the fullness of the glory of God. We have beheld His glory. We have seen what God is like when He became human and dwelt among us. He is the final mediator. We don't need to offer sacrifices to God anymore or sacrifices to the ancestors. We have one final mediator and sacrifice, which is Jesus Christ who gave His life for us. Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant and Jesus now sends His Holy Spirit and Jesus is always in the Father's presence. Jesus and the Father dwell in us by His Spirit.

Since we have a Holy God dwelling in us by His Holy Spirit that means that God will lead us. One of the things that I asked when I went through the roller coaster of experience once I was saved was what do I do now? How do I live? The simple answer is: “God will lead you.” Here we see practically how God led and guided three million ex-Egyptian slaves. God also gave them His law. He directed them to build a Tabernacle and now is with them by this cloud. We see God leading, and He will lead you if you will let Him. That's why in Hebrews 3-4, we see a commentary on this book of Exodus. It likens the desert wonderings of the Israelites to our pilgrimage as Christians. When we come to know Jesus, we are on an Exodus from this life into the Promised Land of heaven, where we will finally find perfect rest. We are on a journey as well. We have also been delivered from our sins. We are waiting for a time to arrive when we will reach our destination. For some of us that could be very soon, for others in the distant future but we're on a journey with God. We are like the Israelites, who are poised to reach our rest. On this journey we follow a Holy Redeemer as He guides us to the Promised Land. Not a geographical piece of property in the Middle East but to a new heaven and a new earth.

There is no longer a cloud above us leading us, as a cloud during the day and as fire at night. We now have God by His Spirit in us, the Holy Spirit is directing us. We can walk in step with the Spirit of God. This brings us to a goal. A goal that God set for us to present us before His presence without spot or blemish. He is able to do this, since He is at work. Just as surely as the cloud guided the Israelites, likewise God's Holy Spirit in you, will guide you if you will follow Jesus.

May you take comfort in this, the God of Exodus is still guiding His people to a better country. To a heavenly land as Hebrews 11:16 puts it. The end of the story of Exodus is not just the end of a story but it's the beginning of a whole new adventure. This is true not only for the Israelites, but also for you and me. With all the roller coasters of life, God is taking us to life and life to the full as Jesus leads us. All is well, for God is in us by His Spirit. We have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Brought back out of the slavery of sin. We have been set free and we have had our feet of faith set on the road towards a new heaven and a new earth. We are journeying towards our goal. Our exodus is to bring us onward and upward.

C.S Lewis tells us at the end of his series in the Narnia books. Specifically, in the last book on the final page of the ‘The last battle’ as it's called. In the book, he says: “Now at last they were beginning chapter one of the great story which no one on earth has read which goes on forever and which every chapter is better than the one before.” Isn't it wonderful that Jesus is leading you to a new heaven with Him where every chapter is better than the one before? We're now on the roller coasters of suffering, joys and struggles but God is leading us forward. That's the great comfort of this passage.

We see here in this passage the high and Holy God who is near to you. He will lead you if you will follow Jesus, and fix your eyes on Him. He will lead you through these tumultuous days. As the economy struggles, as people around us are falling apart. Jesus calls you to courage and to a great hope. The end is not the end, even when this body dies. C.S Lewis puts it this way, “Heaven feels like: The term is over: the holidays have begun.” We will be into “holy days” with God. For that's what Jesus is inviting you to follow Him. He wants you to know that He is with you. Indeed, He is the transcendent God. The Holy God but He is also the imminent God. He is present in you, by His Holy Spirit leading you. Even better than a pillar of cloud by day and fire at night. God is in you always by His Spirit and He will not take His Spirit from you. He invites you to walk in step with the Spirit. To go further with Him.

The great question is: “Have you invited Jesus to save you… redeem you?” For him to come into your life by His Holy Spirit and to lead you? If you have, then take the next step. Follow Jesus towards the Promised Land. Jesus said in John 14:3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” He has gone to prepare something, and He has gone ahead of us and now He has left His Spirit in us. We are not orphans. God is with us always.

Let's pray together. O Lord Jesus, thank you very much for all that You've done for us, by dying for us. Thank you for revealing the Father to us and rising from the dead. Thank you for conquering sin and death. Thank you for giving us new life and a new hope. Thank you Lord Jesus. For all of this. Now, You call us to a great adventure. A roller coaster of an adventure. Sometimes there is much tribulation and suffering but you are always with us by Your Spirit, Lord Jesus. We as your people are thankful for this, we praise and adore You for this. Some people may be grappling with trusting You. You call us to turn from ourselves and to turn to You, the living God. We cry out to You Lord Jesus. “Jesus save me. Forgive me all my sin and not only forgive me but cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Fill me now with Your Holy Spirit. Now and always may I walk with You by grace. This not of my own efforts Lord, but all by Your work in me now and always. For this I pray perhaps for the very first time or many of us echo those words again. Lord save me, Lord Jesus, and help me to keep going till I cross the Jordan and then forever in a new Promised Land. A new heaven and a new earth. Lord Jesus I pray this in Your precious name, amen.”

May God bless you. If I can encourage you in your spiritual journey, please contact me. You can write in the comments below, or you can get hold of me through the church. If I can strengthen you, I would gladly do that. May you live your life to the glory of God who is worthy of all our praise and honour for He is all-powerful and yet in us. God bless you.