SDA Sabbath School Lesson 10- 3rd Quarter 2025-The Covenant and the Blueprint

[Richard Myers]

3rd Quarter        Lesson 10                                                                                                                                           Aug 30-Sept. 5
                                                                                                                               

 
The Covenant and the Blueprint

 

Commentary in Navy                  Inspiration in Maroon

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Exod. 24:1-18; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; Lev. 10:1-2; Ezek. 36:26-28; Exod. 25:1-9; Exod. 31:1-18

Memory Text: "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do." Exodus 24:3

As their God, Creator, and Redeemer, the Lord desired to be with His people and to dwell in their midst. He created us to be in close fellowship with Him. Yet, if meaningful relationships with other people can be built only with time and effort, the same is true with our vertical relationship with God. It can be an uplifting and growth-filled experience, but only if we spend time with Him. In practical terms, this means studying His Word (God speaking to us), praying (opening our hearts to God), and witnessing to others about Christ’s death, resurrection, and return (engaging in God’s mission). As God blesses us, we will be a channel of blessings to others.

Amen!!  But, we need to add one important matter in regards to what we are to witness. It is not good enough to talk about His death. We must understand and share that Jesus had to not only die, but He had to suffer for the sins of the whole world before He died. All who reject God's love will be resurrected that they pay the price for all of their sins. Sins that Jesus already paid the price in suffering for each and every sin.

The focus should be on God, not on ourselves (Heb. 12:1-2). By our connecting with Him, God can empower us to follow His teachings, which means obedience to His Word. No wonder the end-time generation of Christ’s followers are described as people "who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12).

Why say it is just the "end-time" generation? Is it not true that all who enter heaven are they "who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus"? Was it not Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, David, Daniel Joseph, etc, etc, that kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?  It seems that there is a false teaching on the "last generation."  It teaches that they are the ones whose character reflects the character of God, not all who enter heaven.  All who enter heaven will have kept the commandments of God and had the faith of Jesus. All of the false gospels being taught in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the last of the seven churches, teach that we are saved in sin. All understand there are false gospels being taught in His church today. As it was in 1888, so it is today. The church remains in a Laodicean condition which means that most are not converted, just as it was in 1888. "The new birth is a rare experience in this age of the world. This is the reason why there are so many perplexities in the churches. Many, so many, who assume the name of Christ are unsanctified and unholy. They have been baptized, but they were buried alive. Self did not die, and therefore they did not rise to newness of life in Christ.  Vol. 6, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary; pg 1075.

It's simple, really: we love God, and, out of that love, we obey Him.

Amen! All who are truly converted will keep His  commandments and have the faith of Jesus, from Adam to the last generation because they are partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 6.

[Richard Myers]

Sunday         August 31
The Book and the Blood

Read Exodus 24:1-8.

1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

What roles do the reading of the Word of God and the sprinkling of blood play in the ratification of the covenant between God and His people?

The everlasting covenant promised that the sinner could obtain everlasting life because Jesus was going to suffer for our sins. After suffering for every sin, His blood would be shed. Thus, the law revealed their sins and the blood revealed His grace to transform sinners into saints.

The living God of the Bible is the God of relationships. The important element for our Lord is not a thing or an agenda but the person. Thus, God pays close attention to people, and the primary purpose of His activities is to build a personal relationship with humans. After all, a God who "is love" would have to be a God who did care about relationships, for how can there be love without relationships?

God loves us when there is no relationship. Jesus suffered and died while we were yet sinners. Such love!!! It is the highest form of love.

Jesus said: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." John 12:32. God is interested not only in our ethical behavior, right doctrine, or in a set of proper actions, but, above all, in a personal, intimate relationship with us. Both creation institutions (Genesis 1-2) are about relationship: the first about the vertical relationship with God (the Sabbath) and the second about the horizontal relationship between humans (marriage).

The ratification of the covenant at Sinai was to reinforce the special relationship that God wanted to have with His people. In the ceremony, the people twice shouted that they would obey God in everything that He required. "All that the Lord has said we will do," they proclaimed. They meant it, too, but they did not know their brokenness, fragility, and lack of power. The blood of the covenant was sprinkled on the people, indicating that only by Christ’s merits was Israel able to follow God’s instructions.

Amen.  They did not know they were evil and could not do any good thing until they were born again of the Spirit. They did not agree to keep the law because of love for God or the law. They feared God when they said they would do all. God gave them the law that they would learn that they needed a Savior. First they had to know they were condemned. We see this truth clearly revealed in Romans seven when a Pharisee came to understand he was condemned because the keeping of the law reaches to the intent of the heart. He then saw he was spiritually dead and not matter how hard he tried to keep the law of God, he could not. He understood he was captive to the law of sin and death. Thus, Israel of Old when given the law, did not understand they could not keep it any more than Saul could....until they learned of their Savior who would shed His blood that we all might live.

We do not want to accept that our human nature is fragile, weak, and thoroughly sinful. We have an inherent tendency toward evil. To be able to do good, we must have help from outside ourselves. This help comes only from above, from the power of God’s grace, from His Word, and from the Holy Spirit. And even with all this at our disposal, evil still comes so easily to us, does it not?

Evil (sin) still comes because we either do not know or forget our continual need to be fully surrendered to Christ to do any good thing. Sadly many do not know this, and believe they are saved when they sin. Thus the prophecy found in Rev 3:14-22 is fulfilled today in His church. So very many believe they are rich and increased with goods, but know not they are miserable, wretched, poor, blind, and naked. Jesus says "repent."

That’s why a close personal relationship with God was as essential to the people then, at Sinai, as it is to us today.

"Everything the LORD hath said we will do" (Exod. 24:3). How many times have you said the same thing, only to fail? What is the only solution?

We must continue to watch and pray. We must cling to Jesus, for when we take our eyes off of Him, we fall just as did Peter when he took his eyes off of Jesus and fell into the water. He did not know he needed to cling to Jesus. False gospels have deceived most professing Christians. They do not understand that the lie Satan told Eve is still believed. If you disobey God, you will surely not die. And for all who are truly converted, they must not forget Jesus. If we allow our minds to wander away from Jesus, we will sin.

Love, joy, and peace is ours if we will surrender our will to the will of God. Then we need to not forget God.

      As Jesus rested by faith in the Father's care, so we are to rest in the care of our Saviour. If the disciples had trusted in Him, they would have been kept in peace. Their fear in the time of danger revealed their unbelief. In their efforts to save themselves, they forgot Jesus; and it was only when, in despair of self-dependence, they turned to Him that He could give them help.
     How often the disciples' experience is ours! When the tempests of temptation gather, and the fierce lightnings flash, and the waves sweep over us, we battle with the storm alone, forgetting that there is One who can help us. We trust to our own strength till our hope is lost, and we are ready to perish. Then we remember Jesus, and if we call upon Him to save us, we shall not cry in vain. Though He sorrowfully reproves our unbelief and self-confidence, He never fails to give us the help we need. Whether on the land or on the sea, if we have the Saviour in our hearts, there is no need of fear. Living faith in the Redeemer will smooth the sea of life, and will deliver us from danger in the way that He knows to be best.


How could the disciples forget Jesus?  We are a forgetful people. We forget that when we let our minds wander away from Jesus, we have no power to resist the smallest temptation. 

In our association with one another, we should take heed lest we forget Jesus, and pass along unmindful that He is not with us. When we become absorbed in worldly things so that we have no thought for Him in whom our hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus and from the heavenly angels. These holy beings cannot remain where the Saviour’s presence is not desired, and His absence is not marked. This is why discouragement so often exists among the professed followers of Christ. { DA 83.2}

[Richard Myers]

Monday         September 1
Seeing God

Read Exodus 24:9-18.

9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

What amazing experience were the children of Israel given here?

After the firm reestablishment of the covenant with God, Moses again climbed Sinai. In the beginning of this climb, Moses was not alone. He had the excellent company of 73 Israelite leaders. For the leaders, this was the pinnacle experience: they saw God (theophany), and twice the text underlines this amazing reality. It was also a time for the leaders, by eating together, to seal the covenant with God. This was a banquet, and the God of Israel was their Host. These leaders were deeply honored by God.

In the Middle East during biblical times (and to a certain extent today), eating together was a high experience, great honor, and privilege. It offered forgiveness and formed a bond of friendship. It implied being there for each other and staying together in times of crisis and problems. By eating together, they promised each other, without words, that if something should happen to one party, the other would be obliged to come and help. To be invited to a meal was a special treat that was not extended to everyone.

Meanwhile, to refuse an invitation was one of the worst kinds of insults. This insight helps us to understand the stories in the New Testament where Jesus Christ was heavily criticized for eating with sinners (Luke 5:30). When believers celebrate the Lord’s Supper, they also establish this close bond with other believers who are sinners like themselves. During this meal, we celebrate the forgiveness and salvation that we have in Jesus (see Matt. 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-25, 1 Cor. 11:23-29).

Tragically, some of the men who had gone up with Moses later fell into sin and lost their lives (see Lev. 10:1-2, 9). Even though they had such a deep experience with God there, they were not transformed or converted by that experience. What a powerful lesson about how possession of truth and sacred privileges does not automatically mean conversion. Having experienced what they did, these men should have been the last ones to have done what they would later tragically do.

Dwell more on the story of these very privileged men, even sons of Aaron. What warning should this give to us, as Adventists, who, with the light we have been entrusted with, are indeed privileged?

As Seventh-day Adventists we ought to know by now that the Laodicean message is the warning message coming directly from the True Witness, Jesus Christ. We have indeed been privileged to be entrusted with the sacred oracles of God as was Israel. We ought to have learned from the experience of Israel. They are an ensample  for those whom the end of the world is come, us. The last of the seven churches in chapter three of Revelation is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is a strong rebuke and at the same time we are given encouragement as to what we must do in order to be saved (transformed into saints). It is of such importance that we will share it and additional light as to its importance.

 3:14   And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 
 3:15   I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 
 3:16   So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 
 3:17   Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 
 3:18   I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 
 3:19   As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 
 3:20   Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 
 3:21   To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 
 3:22   He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 

Anyone with spiritual discernment can understand the message even though many have been busy perverting the meaning of the message. A Laodicean not only is not converted, but is blind to that truth. Jesus makes it abundantly clear that a Laodicean is not only not converted, but is blind to that fact.  "thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

Not all Seventh-day Adventists are in a Laodicean condition. Some are truly converted and others are not converted and are not blind to that fact. They know they are not converted, thus they are not blind to the message that fact as are the Laodiceans who believe they are in need of nothing. When the Laodican message is preached and taught in the Seventh-day Adventist Church there will be a shaking in the church. Many will rise up against the message and this is cause the shaking. Upon this message hangs the destiny of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God’s people.
The testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance, and all that truly receive it will obey it and be purified. Vol 1, Testimonies For the Church, pg 181.

[Richard Myers]

Tuesday         September 2
Power to Obey

Read Ezekiel 36:26-28.

 36:26   A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 
 36:27   And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them]. 
 36:28   And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 

How does obedience take place in our lives?

Only those who love the Lord our God with all of the heart will have power to obey His commandments. When we surrender the whole heart and trust God with all we are and all we have the Holy Spirit will take possession of the heart. He cleanses it whiter than fresh fallen snow and brings with Him all of the fruits of the Spirit, not one is missing. Thus is the verse in 2 Peter 1:4 fulfilled. The repentant sinners becomes a partaker of God's divine nature. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."  The third person of the godhead empowers the converted Christian to keep all of the commandments to the degree they are understood. 

On three occasions, the Israelites fervently declared that they would obey God (Exod. 19:8; Exod. 24:3-7). Obedience is important, even if the Bible teaches that we humans are weak, broken, fragile, and sinful. This sad truth has been revealed not only through the history of ancient Israel, but through the history of all His people.

Why did Israel say they would obey and did not? Why did God give them His law written and tables of stone? He gave them the law that they would come to understand as did the Apostle Paul  that they had not power to keep the commandments. All must first see their need  of a Savior before they go looking for one. God knew they would not be able to keep the law. This is why He gave them the sanctuary and its services. It is here where they were to learn how to keep His commandments. Many Seventh-day Adventists do not understand this and thus they teach that the problem with Israel when they did not keep the Old Covenant they had agreed to, was that they broke the covenant. But, the Old Covenant was never meant for them to keep the commandments. The law does not empower anyone to keep them. God made the covenant with them so they would see they could not keep it. And, that covenant included all of the law, both moral and ceremonial.

Paul (Saul) as written in Rom. seven understood what Israel did not understand. He recognized that the law which was ordained to life, to him was death. Not that he died to self as many have been taught, but he saw himself spiritually dead because he was not keeping the commandments which he loved and called "holy, just, and good." Unlike Israel who did not know they were captive to the  law of sin and death, Saul did and said so. "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." 7:23.

Many Seventh-day Adventists in an attempt to protect the law of God fail to understand that the law can save none. We are saved by grace and grace alone. The covenant did not fail at all. Yes, the covenant was broken by Israel, but the Old Covenant succeeded in it purpose in teaching that they needed help from outside of themselves. The Old Covenant was not as was the Everlasting Covenant, nor the New Covenant. It did not promise a new heart. It revealed the need of a new heart. The  message in the Old Covenant as Paul called it, was obey and live. The Everlasting and New Covenant says "look and live."  It is by allowing grace into the heart that man is empowered to keep His commandments. It would be well to spend a thoughtful  hour a day contemplating the life of Christ. By beholding His glory we will be changed into His image (character). 2. Cor. 3:18.

How, then, are we enabled to follow God faithfully?

The good news is that what God commands, He empowers us to do. The help that is not inside of us comes from outside, enabling us to do what God requires. It is His work. In the core of his theological summary in Ezekiel 36:26-27, the prophet Ezekiel makes this point very clear. Only God can perform a heart transplant, and He does so by removing our heart of stone and replacing it with a sensitive heart of flesh. As Joshua reminded his audience: "You are not able to serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:19, NIV).

We can decide to follow God; that is our role. We have to make the choice, the moment-by-moment choice to surrender to Him. And that is because we do not have the power to fulfill even our conscious choice to serve Him. But when we give our weakness to God, He will make us strong. Paul says: "When I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10, NKJV).

Notice the divine "I" in Ezekiel 36:24-30: God gathers, cleanses, removes, gives, puts, and moves you to carefully keep His law. What He is doing, you will do. He identifies with you, and if you associate closely with Him, His doing will be your doing. The unity between God and you will be dynamic, powerful, and lively.

Again, the emphasis in this passage is on God’s doing. The King James Version reads: "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Ezek. 36:27. God commands people to obey and then gives the power to obey. What God requires of His people, He always helps them to do. Obedience is God’s gift (not just our performance or achievement), just as justification and salvation are His gifts, too (Phil. 2:13).

If we have been promised the power to obey, why do we find it so easy to fall into sin anyway?

It would really be a blessing to have the lesson tell us why we sin after we are converted, and before we are converted since the church remains in a Laodicean condition. We sin after being converted because we do not continue to abide in Christ. We take our eyes off of Jesus just as did Peter when walking on water, and we end up in the water just as Peter fell into the water when he took His eyes off of Jesus. We have no power to keep the commandments when we are not vitally connected to Christ. And when we sin, we bring reproach upon Christ, His Word, and His church. When we sin we support Satan's charges that God is unfair in requiring us to keep His commandments when we can't.

[Richard Myers]

Wednesday         September 3
In the Midst of His People

God was teaching His people through various means, and one of them was through the sanctuary. All its services pointed to Jesus; they were object lessons in the plan of salvation, which would be wrought out through Jesus many centuries later.

Amen!!

Read Exodus 25:1-9.

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

What crucial, practical, and theological truths are seen in these verses?

God wanted to dwell among us that we might know Him and the Everlasting Covenant that promises a hatred of sin at the expense and risk of His innocent Son. It was revealed that in heaven was a sanctuary where God was dealing with the sins of man and where His Son was our High Priest, our Savior, and our Redeemer. He would pay the price for our redemption. In the sanctuary was the daily and the yearly service that reveals the grace of God whereby we are saved (transformed from sinner to saint).

Even though God was leading the Israelites and already was close to them, He instructed Moses to build a sanctuary: "let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exod. 25:. God wanted to show them tangibly that He indeed was with them. Even though they had done wrong many times, He had not forsaken them, and "after they were again taken into favor with Heaven" (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 343), they were given the divine command, and the process of building the sanctuary began.

The Bible assures us that God does not live in human-made temples and buildings (Acts 7:47-50) because He is bigger than the heaven of heavens, and heaven cannot contain Him. Paul at Areopagus in Athens states: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands" (Acts 17:24, NIV). Also, King Solomon states: "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27, ESV). The sanctuary was to be where God would manifest His presence to them.

The Israelites were to bring a voluntary offering for the building of the sanctuary. They were to give precious and expensive gifts, including gold, silver, bronze, acacia wood, various kinds of fine cloth, olive oil, and spices.

In Exodus 25:10-27:21, we are given many details about the tabernacle and its services. God provided Moses with a blueprint containing specific instructions on how to build and furnish the tabernacle, including the ark of the covenant, the shewbread table, the lampstand, the altars, the curtains, the colors, and the measurements.

Moses had to build the tabernacle according to the pattern God showed him (Exod. 25:9-40; Exod. 26:30), which was a reflection of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:1-2; Heb. 9:11). The earthly sanctuary had served a crucial function until the death of Jesus and His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, which rendered the earthly sanctuary null and void, a truth symbolized by the rending of the curtain before the Most Holy Place at Christ’s death (Matt. 27:51, Mark 15:38).

While the services in the earthly sanctuary came to an end, the work done in the sanctuary reveals what is being done today in the heavenly sanctuary. Thus the services in the sanctuary teach us what Christ is doing today. It is critical that we study the services of the earthly sanctuary today that we know what our Savior is doing. Thus the work done in the earthly sanctuary is not null and void. The work done then tells us what Jesus is doing today. And it tells us what is about to happen in the world and in heaven tomorrow.

[Richard Myers]

Thursday        September 4
Filled With the Spirit of God

God instructed Moses on every detail in preparation for the tabernacle’s services. Priests were to have priestly garments, but the high priest wore a special ephod, which contained the names of the sons of Israel. He also wore a breastplate, which contained the Urim and Thummim and was to be on his heart (Exodus 28). All priests were to be consecrated (Exodus 29). Other items to be carefully prepared were the altar of incense, the basin for washing, the anointing oil, and the incense (Exodus 30).

Read Exodus 31:1-18.



1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
7 The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,
8 And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,
9 And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,
10 And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,
11 And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.


What special assistance did God give so that all the tabernacle’s details and related services would be prepared and built in a beautiful and proper way?

For the first time in the Scriptures, one reads that God would fill a person with the Spirit of God. What does that mean? Bezalel was empowered to work artistically on the tabernacle. He was filled, i.e., equipped with new skills, understanding, and knowledge on the needed craftsmanship. Additionally, God gave Aholiab and many other craftsmen the same Spirit to assist in this work.

It is true that it is the first time the Bible says a man was filled with the Spirit, but that does not mean it was the first time man was filled with the Spirit of God. God has promised He will give man a new heart and a new Spirit. All including Adam and Abel who loved the Lord our God were filled with the Holy Spirit. And when God breathed into Adam it was the Spirit of God which Adam was filled with. All who are partakers of God's divine nature are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit is the third Person of the godhead. He is Christ's Representative since Jesus cannot be everywhere any longer. He is bound by His humanity.

In the midst of all this creativity, God’s Sabbath is presented as a sign between God and His people that the Lord makes them holy. It means that the observance of the fourth commandment is associated with sanctification. Ezekiel later observed: "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them" (Ezek. 20:12).

The Sabbath is a reminder that the Lord is not only our Creator (Gen. 2:2-3), Redeemer, and God (Deut. 5:15; Mark 2:27-28) but also the Holy One. He transforms people by His presence; through His Spirit and Word they grow to reflect a loving, kind, unselfish, and forgiving character.

When fully surrendered to God, the Holy Spirit takes possession of the heart and brings with Him all of the fruits of the Spirit, not one is missing. Thus when one is filled with the Spirit, he then reflects the character of God. There are no other fruits. The grown is seen in the increase in the abundance of the fruit. Man become more patient, more loving, more gentle.

The culminating present that God gave to Moses was the Decalogue (Exod. 31:18). God Himself wrote and gave the two stone tablets with the ten precepts (Exod. 31:18, Deut. 9:9-11). These tablets were to be placed in the Most Holy Place and inside the ark of the covenant, which was under the mercy seat (Exod. 25:21).

The phrase "mercy seat" comes from one Hebrew word, whose root meaning is "to atone." Why, then, would this "mercy seat" be set right over God’s law? What hope should we see in this fact?

It is through God's grace that we can keep the law. When Adam sinned, he was given a second chance to obtain eternal life. It was the mercy of God that promised Adam and all of humanity that they could be aligned with God and have a hate for Satan and sin. Man comes into the world aligned with Satan and at enmity with God. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, suffering for the sins of the whole world, we have the opportunity to be transformed into the image of God. It is by beholding the glory of God that we are recreated into  His image (2 cor. 3:18). It indeed would be good to spend a thoughtful hour a day contemplating the life  of Jesus. Why are there so few who will take time  to do this?

[Richard Myers]

Friday         September 5

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, "The Tabernacle and Its Services," pp. 343-353, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

The tabernacle was a special place where atonement was accomplished for the confessed sins of God’s people. It was the place where, indeed, the entire plan of salvation had been revealed, and in some detail, too, to the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness. Justification, sanctification, and judgment were all taught there. Every animal sacrifice pointed to the death of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, and, eventually, the blotting out of sins. And, too, along with the sacrifices was the presence of God’s law, the standard of righteousness.

Most importantly it revealed how man's heart is changed. Israel perverted the truths revealed in the sanctuary so that all of Israel did not know the Lamb had to suffer and die. They thought that Jesus was going to rule from an earthly throne.

"The law of God, enshrined within the ark, was the great rule of righteousness and judgment. That law pronounced death upon the transgressor; but above the law was the mercy seat, upon which the presence of God was revealed, and from which, by virtue of the atonement, pardon was granted to the repentant sinner. Thus in the work of Christ for our redemption, symbolized by the sanctuary service, ‘mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’ Psalm 85:10."—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 349.

Amen!! The foundation of God's government is love and justice, the met at the cross. Many refuse to believe that God will render justice when the wicked are raised from their graves. They will suffer for every sin they ever did.  "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:10.

Discussion Questions:

    How many times have you said, "All that the Lord tells me to do, I will do"? How successful were you in your efforts?

It took some time, but when we understand that we must be united with Jesus continually in order to not sin, we then can be successful at not crucifying Jesus. Israel did not know that they needed a Savior in order to not sin. Poor Saul of Tarsus spent many years trying to keep the law before He discovered Jesus as His Savior. How many today suffer from not knowing they need to be continually surrendered to Christ in order to not sin?

    At the end of Moses’ 40-day stay with the Lord on Mount Sinai, God emphasized that the Israelites must observe His Sabbath, because it would be a sign between God and them that it was the Lord who would make them holy. What role do holiness and sanctification play in keeping the Sabbath?

Keeping the Sabbath and being holy and sanctified require the same thing. We cannot keep the Sabbath, be holy, or sanctified until we love the Lord our God with the whole heart. How can we love God supremely?  We must spend time with Him so we know Him intimately. By beholding His glory which is His character we will be changed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18).  Why do so few choose to behold Him daily?

    The Lord wanted them to make a sanctuary so that "I may dwell among them." How fascinating that this place was the center of salvation for Israel. It was here—in this sanctuary, where God dwelt among His people—that the plan of salvation was wrought out in types and shadows. What does this tell us about our total dependence upon God for salvation?

    What does it mean that through the blood all their sins were brought to the sanctuary, God’s house? How does this amazing truth reflect, even if dimly, what Jesus did on the cross for us and what He is doing for us now in the heavenly sanctuary?

We know what He did for us on the cross. But, what is He doing for us in the Sanctuary today? Two things. He is busy with the judgment of all who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Some have fallen away and in the judgment when the books are opened this is revealed. Then their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life. All who are seen by the open books that they keep His commandments will have their sins blotted out. In addition to the judgment Jesus is preparing a people to go through a time of trouble such as never was. He cannot leave the Sanctuary until He has a people who have ceased sinning. Every time one of them sin, He has to cleanse the Sanctuary. Not until all who can be saved cease sinning, then He continues His work in preparing a people who have ceased sinning.