Thanksgiving Message
Thursday, November 26 @ 10:00 AM ET
2024 Advent Bible Study
Melodies of Faith: An Advent Devotional for African American Churches & Families is more than a devotional; it's a journey through the heart of the holiday seasons, designed to deepen your faith and bring your family closer together.
Daily reflections from distinguished contributors guide you through the sacred seasons, offering hope, peace, joy, and love.
Melodies of Faith – Advent Bible Study Schedule
Week One Thursday – December 5th – Found by the One Born to Give Us Life
Week Two Thursday – December 12th – Anticipation
Week Three Thursday -December 19th
– How Wonderful to Wonder and Wander
All studies will be on Zoom at 7:00 PM ET
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On Thursday, January 16th, 2025, at 7:00 PM ET only on Zoom Greater Bethel AME Athens will launch the Share the Dream®. Bible Study. Share the Dream is a six-session one hour video and live discussion Bible study based on the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Each session revolves around one of the biblical principles that shaped Dr. King's life and motivated him to speak on behalf of African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement.
Our One Hour Study Schedule
7:00 PM ET Thursday, January 16th – Session One “Love”
7:00 PM ET Thursday, January 23rd – Session Two “Conscience”
7:00 PM ET Thursday, January 30th – Session Three “Justice”
7:00 PM ET Thursday, February 6th – Session Four “Freedom” Break on February 13th for AME Founders Day Activities
7:00 PM ET Thursday, February 20th – Session Five “Perseverance”
7:00 PM ET Thursday, February 27th – Session Six “Hope”
The phrase tent of meeting is used in the Old Testament, specifically in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, as the name of a place where God would meet with His people, Israel. Usually, the “tent of meeting” was used as another name for the Tabernacle of Moses. However, before the tabernacle was constructed, God met with Moses in a temporary tent of meeting: “Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. . . . As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses” (Exodus 33:7, 9). The fact that Moses set up the tent of meeting outside of the camp underscored that the people had broken fellowship with God at Sinai when they had made the golden calf (see Exodus 33:3). After the tabernacle was built, Moses no longer needed his temporary tent, and the term tent of meeting began to be applied to the tabernacle.
In today’s study we will look at the erecting of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40 in three parts:
Part One: The Blueprint – Exodus 40:1-16
Part Two: Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him – Exodus 40:16-33
Part Three: The Cloud And The Glory
We will close out our time by looking at Numbers 20
Part One: The Blueprint – Exodus 40:1-16
Exodus 40:1-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Tabernacle Erected and Its Equipment Installed
40 The LORD spoke to Moses, 2 “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 You shall put in it the ark of the covenant, and you shall screen the ark with the curtain. 4 You shall bring in the table and arrange its setting, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 You shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the covenant and set up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle. 6 You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting 7 and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen for the gate of the court. 9 Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy. 10 You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy. 11 You shall also anoint the basin with its stand and
consecrate it. 12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water 13 and put on Aaron the sacred vestments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest. 14 You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them 15 and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests; their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all their generations.”
16 Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him.
Blueprint Of Time For Setting Up The Tabernacle
Exodus 40:1
One Instruction: On the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
Blueprint For The Things In The Tabernacle
Ten Instructions: Exodus 40:3-8
3 You shall put in it the ark of the covenant, and you shall screen the ark with the curtain. 4 You shall bring in the table and arrange its setting, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 You shall put the golden altar for incense
before the ark of the covenant and set up the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle. 6 You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting 7 and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.
Blueprint For Anointing And Consecrating The Things Of The Tabernacle – Exodus 40:9-11
Anointing
Ceremonial anointing in the Old Testament was a physical act involving the smearing, rubbing, or pouring of sacred oil on someone’s head (or on an object) as an outward symbol that God had chosen and set apart the person (or object) for a specific holy purpose.
The New Testament also associates anointing oil with healing and prayer. When Jesus sent out the disciples to preach the gospel, “they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil” (Mark 6:13, NLT). James instructs believers to “call the elders of the church to pray over them” when they are sick “and anoint them
with oil in the name of the Lord” for healing (James 5:14).
Before Exodus 40, God provides specific instructions to Moses in Exodus 30:22-33 on how to make the oil and how it was to be used.
Exodus 30:22-33
New International Version
Anointing Oil
22 Then the LORD said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels[a] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels[b] of fragrant calamus, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel and a hin[c] of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 26 Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.
30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. 32 Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. 33 Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.’”
Consecration
In the Bible the word consecration means “the separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God.” Consecration also carries the connotation of sanctification, holiness, or purity.
God gave instruction for consecrating in last week teaching in Exodus 19:10-15 as the people were to encounter God on the base of Mt. Sinai.
Exodus 19:10-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 10 the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and prepare for the third day,
because on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 You shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch them, but they shall be stoned or shot with arrows;[a] whether animal or human being, they shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said to the people, “Prepare for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
The importance of being consecrated or pure in our relationship with God is emphasized in an incident in the book of Joshua. After forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel were about to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land. They were then given a command and a promise: “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you’” (Joshua 3:5).
The people of God were commanded to bathe and change their clothes; the married couples were to devote themselves wholly to the Lord (1 Corinthians
7:1-6). The significance of this command was that in ancient times water was considered a luxury and wasn’t used often for personal hygiene. The bathing and changing clothes symbolized making a new beginning with the Lord. The picture here is that sin is defilement (Psalm 51:2, 7), and we have to be cleansed before we can truly follow God. As true believers in Christ, the act of consecration involves our lives being a living sacrifice to Him; we are totally separated from the defilement of the world. Each day, we are to live out our lives as a “holy” and “royal” priesthood to the glory of God, for we are now God’s people (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Four Instructions:
9 Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy. 10 You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy. 11 You shall also anoint the basin with its stand and consecrate it.
The Blueprint for Anointing The People Of The Tabernacle. - Exodus 40:12-15
Six Instructions
12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water 13 and put on Aaron the sacred vestments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may serve me as priest. 14 You shall bring his sons also and put tunics on them 15 and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests; their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout all their generations.”
Part Two: Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him – Exodus 40:16-33
40:16-33
16 Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him.
17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. 18 When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the LORD commanded him.
20 He took the tablets of the covenant law and placed them in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over
it. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the LORD commanded him.
22 Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain 23 and set out the bread on it before the LORD, as the LORD commanded him.
24 He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle 25 and set up the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD commanded him.
26 Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the LORD commanded him.
28 Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 29 He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the LORD commanded him.
30 He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, 31 and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. 32 They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses.
33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.
Questions
1. Count how many times in the passage Exodus 40:16-33 is the phase “as the Lord commanded” used? Why do you think the phase is used so often?
2. Why was it important for Moses to do everything just as the Lord commanded him? (Hint look at Exodus 40:15.)
3. Why is it important for us to everything just as the Lord commanded? What is it important for our families, our churches, and others?
4. Is there a purpose for anointing and consecration in our lives today? If so, how can you make it happen?
Part Three: The Cloud And The Glory
–
Exodus 40:34-38
The Glory of the Lord
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 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.
1. What similarities did you see between the Olympic flame and the cloud covered the tent of meeting?
2. What prevented Moses from entering the tent of meeting? (Hit look at verse 35) can you find similarities with Moses’s other encounters with God in Exodus?
Slightly less than half of the times in the Old Testament where God is recorded as having spoken to someone, that person was Moses (238 out of 494 occurrences, or 48.2%).
God’s first encounter with Moses
Exodus 3:1-6 (NIV), “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the
place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” What are the similarities of the first and the last encounters with God from Exodus?
3. What can we learn about our encounters with God from Moses’s encounters with God?
4. Is God’s cloud and glory with us today? If so how? Consider John 14:26 in your answer.
John 14:26 ESV
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Numbers 20
International Version Water From the Rock
20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with
his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
13 These were the waters of Meribah,[a] where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.
Questions
1. Specifically what did Moses do regarding the rock that was displeasing to God? Did Moses acted diffidently from other times with God?
2. What were the results of his actions?
3. Did God show mercy on Moses? If yes why and how, if not why and how?
4. Will God treat us the same as Moses when we fail to do as he commands?
5. Has God provided something to us that he did not have for Moses?