Exodus 33:1–34:9 (17:8–40:38)

Bringing the sermon home:

In this final part of our 5-week mini-series through Exodus, we took a very brief look at the concluding 23.5 chapters of the book, focusing especially on the events of chapters 32 through 34.

After the stipulations of the covenant were given in chapters 20 through 23 and accepted by the people in chapter 24, the subsequent 7 chapters provided further instruction about the way the people were to worship God, all revolving around a transportable temple called a tabernacle that would reside at the center of their camp and in which God would visibly dwell with His people on the earth for the first time since Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden in Genesis 3.

Sadly, the people’s impatience with the difficulties of following their Savior led them to turn their backs on Him and to worship a god of their own making, showing that God had taken the people out of Egypt, but He hadn’t take Egypt out of the people. This is a picture of all of us, for we are all tempted to fashion a god of our own design: a god to whom we can relate on our terms, who will do our bidding, and who does not tell us how to live. But the god we sinfully crave is not the God we desperately need, for God designed us to dwell with Him face to face.

The Exodus was all about God beginning to reverse our curse of exile away from the dwelling presence of God. It shows us our desperate need, not only for liberation from oppressive forces of evil and for the forgiveness of our sins, but for God to change our hearts that we would delight in Him above all else. All of this is what the Christ of Christmas has brought us, and the day is coming when all those who have been made clean in Christ will dwell with Him face to face, forever.

Sermon outline:

• Exodus 17–32
  
  We are all tempted to fashion a god of our own design.
  
  
• Exodus 33–40
  
  God designed us to dwell with Him face to face.
  
  
• Revelation 21– 22
  
  All those made clean in Christ will dwell with Him forever.