Christ in the Tabernacle by Frank H. White. Available at wordsearchbible.com

"Great Job!" If you have ever had someone say this to you it feels pretty good. You feel as if you delivered something great and met expectations. What if Moses was the one inspecting your work and you were following guidelines passed down from God? How would you be feeling as the inspection began? This is where the final session from Exodus in LifeWay's Explore the Bible Study: His Presence begins.

Below are some questions and expanded Scripture passages that you might want to add to your teaching plan. More details are provided with the downloadable teaching plans.

Exodus 39:32-43 (Expanded beyond ETB’s suggested passage)

• How do you suppose the people felt when Moses blessed them? What words would you have included in the blessing had you been Moses?
• Twice these passages state, “The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the LORD had commanded Moses” (vss. 32 & 42). Do believers today view obedience to leaders and God the same way the Israelites did?
• How would a leader affirming your obedience affect your walk with the Lord?
• How would you feel today if a church leader inspected your work to determine if you had fully obeyed God?

Exodus 40:1-16 (Expanded beyond ETB’s suggested passage)

• Who has helped someone arrange furniture in a room? What was your experience? Did you  question how the person wanted the furniture arranged?
• Why was it so important for the instructions to be followed? For what was God preparing the Israelites and all mankind?
• Every item and its placement in the tabernacle illustrated something about God’s unfolding plan for redemption of man through Jesus Christ.

Repeatedly, God tells Moses to “anoint” and “consecrate” items, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons.

• What does this communicate regarding how the tabernacle should be treated and viewed?
• How can we apply this to our lives as God’s dwelling places? 
• How can we apply this to our time together worshipping as a church?

Exodus 40:34-38

• What did you notice regarding the Israelites' response to God’s presence? 
• Who could see or know that God was present?
• Was there ever a time when God was not present during their journey?
• How does this compare with the way God leads His people today?
• How does knowing that God is present give someone the confidence to follow God and join Him in His work?
• As a believer, do you live your life in a constant awareness of the presence of God?

If you do live in a constant awareness of God’s presence, how should that change:

• The way you worship?
• The way you serve?
• The way you talk about your faith?
• The way you obey?
• The way you live from day-to-day?

At this point, the Israelites were at the best point in their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. They had obeyed God and experienced His pleasure and His presence! We should strive to live with this goal in mind as well. When we are obeying, we get to enjoy the pleasure and presence of God without regret. What a gift and opportunity God gives us! Seek to remove anything that would take away from enjoying God’s presence and experiencing His pleasure.

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Word Version

Recently our family was on vacation. We all left at different times. Becky and I made it to our destination in good time. However, our oldest son and daughter-in-law, sat on the interstate for 5 hours, turning an 8 hour trip into a 13 hour trip with two small children. When we are in situations like this, we are all tempted to react in ways that might demonstrate to others our lack of trust in God. Fortunately, for our son and his family, this wasn't the case. But, this wasn't true for the Israelites in LifeWays Explore the Bible Study: Rebellion based upon Exodus 32.

The people of God quickly forgot, "God their Savior who did great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea" (Psalm 106:21-22). It took them approximately 100 days to forget! As you lead your group to examine Exodus 32, help them evaluate how they respond to God when they face life's delays.

Background Helps:

• Avoiding the Pitfall of Syncretism - Ed Stetzer
• 3 Contributors to Rebellion - Dwayne McCrary
• The Sin of Idolatry - Gene Getz

Video Option for LOOK UP



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Our community is experiencing a building boom. There is new construction taking place everywhere, and as with any construction project, detailed building blueprints need to be followed completely and exactly. In Exodus 25, God tells Moses about a construction project that He is inviting the people of God to join Him in building - The Tabernacle. He gives detailed instructions that lay out the complete project from start to finish. As your group studies the LifeWay Explore the Bible Study: Equipped, consider how God's instructions point to an even greater construction project - the building of new hearts for those in which the Spirit of God may reside and the role each believer should play in bringing this project to completion.


The Tabernacle
Consider using the following image to supplement your overview of the items needed to build the Tabernacle, Exodus 25:1-7.


Caution - Most videos and images found when doing an internet search for the Tabernacle are created by the Later Day Saints (LDS, Mormons) and are not acceptable for use. Be sure to verify the source of any video before using.

Word Pronunciations
Click on each word to listen

• Bezalel
• Oholiab
• Ahisamach

Application
You have an opportunity during this session to help your group understand how God has equipped them to be a part of His work today of rebuilding the hearts of men into a "Holy Sanctuary" in which His Spirit resides. Consider incorporating into your study 1 Corinthians 3:5-17 in order to make this emphasis.

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If you were a construction site supervisor, you would always be watching to make sure that every part of the project was meeting specific standards from the ground up. You would be giving commands or instructions to your workers regarding the standards that were needed. These standards would be crucial if you were to successfully complete the project. LifeWay's Explore the Bible study: Commanded, focuses on Exodus 20:1-17 this week. God is giving instructions to the Israelites so that they might successfully live as the people of God. They were already God's chosen people that had been taken out of Egypt, but now Egypt (the lifestyle, views, beliefs, etc.) needed to be taken out of them!

Caution: This could turn in to a very detailed and lengthy discussion with many rabbit trails. The group could zero in on the politics of removing the Ten Commandment monuments, the current moral deprivation of our society, and everything in between. While all these paths could obviously be worthy of discussion, remain focused on the TARGET: God gives clear standards for holy living.

Supporting Materials
The following resources could be used to help you with background study and personal study. Some of the materials are referenced in the teaching ideas.

• Life's Top 10 Do's and Don'ts - Explore the Bible Blog Post
• How Christ Fulfilled and Ended the Old Testament Regime - Desiring God Blog Post
• Understanding the Law - Exegesis of Galatians 3:19-25, Bible Gateway

Audio Sermon - Who Takes 1st Place? by Alistair Begg