The Kingdom Wedding Pre-Echoed

[0:00] We arrived at the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant that the Lord mediated through Moses. This will be part one from an Old Testament text. Next week will be the Mosaic Covenant part two from a New Testament passage.

[0:15] You can turn today to Exodus, beginning in chapter six. Be ready to turn and follow along.

[0:27] We're going to be reading a lot of scripture and a lot of different chapters in Exodus. So I'll do my best to make sure you're following along with me. As I read this, I invite you to receive it as I do, as God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

[0:43] It's God's very own word for his people. When I'm done reading, I'll say this is the word of the Lord and you can respond, thanks be to God. All right, Isaiah, I'm sorry, Isaiah, Exodus, starting in chapter six and verse five.

[1:00] Exodus six, five.

[1:13] I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel. I'm sorry, I'm going to start at verse two.

[1:25] Would you look back at verse two with me? Here we go. Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name, the Lord.

[1:41] I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves.

[1:55] And I have remembered my covenant. Therefore, tell the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them.

[2:09] I will redeem you with an outstretched arm in great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people and I will be your God. And you will know that I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.

[2:23] I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord. Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

[2:40] Turn next to Exodus 19. Exodus 19, starting at verse 1.

[2:54] In the third month from the very day the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they came to the Sinai wilderness.

[3:07] They traveled from Rephidim, came to the Sinai wilderness and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Moses went up the mountain to God and the Lord called to him from the mountain.

[3:22] This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites. You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

[3:35] Now, if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession. Out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine. And you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.

[3:49] These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites. Now let's turn to Exodus 20. In Exodus 20, the Lord gives them the Ten Commandments, which He wrote with His own finger.

[4:13] In our reading, we'll start at verse 18 next. Exodus 20, 18. All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet in the mountains surrounded by smoke.

[4:27] When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. You speak to us and we will listen, they said to Moses. But don't let God speak to us or we will die. Moses responded to the people, Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you so that you will fear Him and will not sin.

[4:46] And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was. The last chapter I'll have you turn to for today is Exodus chapter 24.

[5:01] Exodus chapter 24. I'll start reading at verse 3. Exodus 24, 3.

[5:13] Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice. We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.

[5:27] And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain.

[5:38] Then all Israel at the base of the mountain, they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices, bowls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Verse 6.

[5:49] Moses took half the blood and set it in basins. And the other half of the blood he splattered on the altar. Then he took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people.

[6:01] And they responded, We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded. Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.

[6:17] Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of Israel's elders. And they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis azuli, as clear as the sky itself.

[6:36] God did not harm the Israelite nobles. They saw him, and they ate and drank. Verse 12. The Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain and stay there, so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.

[6:55] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

[7:08] Would you pray with me? Amen. Lord, you are the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything.

[7:26] You are eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in your power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through you and by your will.

[7:40] We praise you, Lord, for how you are not distant. We praise you for how you have acted in history, how you have revealed yourself, how you have come and redeemed a people for your son.

[7:51] Help us to see, Lord, your faithfulness, your holiness. Well, we've read some passages about the Mosaic Covenant.

[8:03] We've read powerful descriptions of how God revealed himself to these former slaves at the base of a mountain. What do we make of this covenant between God and people today as a church?

[8:15] I want to illustrate this with something Min Su taught me about. It's called a pre-echo.

[8:26] When a beautiful melody is captured digitally and then compressed, sometimes you'll hear the sound like an echo before the actual sound happens.

[8:37] And this is a limited analogy, but it made sense to me to think of the main melody line of all the Bible is salvation in Jesus Christ by faith alone.

[8:49] Amen? But that melody is so glorious that when the Lord has compressed it into time and space on the cross at Calvary, the defining moment of all human history, past and present, it's so glorious that it's going to reverberate.

[9:05] Now here's where the analogy is limited. What happens between God and every other person that we read about in the Bible, it's not an accident of compression.

[9:17] Instead, it's the exact opposite. It's by God's divine providence. He has providentially given us these glimmers and these refrains that echo that same glorious melody all the way throughout the Bible.

[9:30] So my prayer has been that as we look at the Mosaic covenant, this covenant between God and the people at the base of Mount Sinai, it's a covenant that the New Testament says it reveals death, you know, because it reveals our sin and it's trembling in fear of the mountain.

[9:48] My prayer is that you'll see the glory of God elevated and you'll see your need all the more for the Savior that will come by grace. So first I want to try to open this covenant up with seven unfoldings of the Mosaic covenant.

[10:04] Number one is this, the Lord prearranged His son's marriage. The Lord prearranged His son's marriage. We read in Exodus 6-5.

[10:17] You're welcome to turn back there if you like. Exodus 6-5. The people that come from the seed of Abraham, they're in slavery in Egypt. And in Exodus 6-5, God says, I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembered my covenant.

[10:40] I have remembered my covenant. God told Abraham, this will happen. Your seed will be in bondage in Egypt for 400 years, but I will bring them out and bring them to this land.

[10:53] Well, before that, outside of time and space and the covenant of redemption, do you remember in Psalm 110 and Psalm 2 and in John 17, the Father promises the Son a kingdom and the Father remembers this covenant.

[11:09] And the Son says, I want an army, a kingdom that will be willing, that will love me and want to follow me as their king. We read in Exodus 6-7 this glorious promise.

[11:22] God says, I will take you to myself for a people and I will be your God. Exodus 6-7.

[11:33] I will take you to myself for a people and I will be your God. This becomes the refrain of the people of God.

[11:45] Do you remember what Ruth said? She said, Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. When the Lord's covenant is brought up and we appeal to Him by grace, this is the promise.

[11:57] You will be my people. I will be your God. God. This is language that reminds me of a wedding vow. Except it's more than a wedding vow. This has legal sanctions.

[12:09] And it's not with two parties that are just individuals. This is between God Himself, the Creator, and an entire kingdom. An entire people group. But this is no accident.

[12:20] And it's no reaction. This was all predetermined, prearranged. It was part of God's design all along. So when I say the Lord prearranged His Son's marriage, I'm referring all the way back to the covenant of redemption.

[12:34] The Lord prearranged that God the Son would have a kingdom, a vast kingdom, that He would call His bride. He will be their God. They will be His people.

[12:48] Second thing I want to unfold is that the Lord shows the Son's bride. He is more than able to provide. What bride would want to go with a man who will fail, who can't provide in any way for her needs?

[13:02] Well, the Lord shows He is more than able to provide. Turn to Exodus 19. We read in Exodus 19, verse 4, You've seen what I did to Egypt.

[13:16] Egypt being the most powerful, dominant nation in the world. Every one of Egypt's idols was turned upside down and demolished. The Lord is way more powerful than anything the world can promise you or give you.

[13:31] The Lord says in Exodus 19, verse 4, I bore you on eagles' wings, and I brought you to Myself. I am more than able to provide for you.

[13:44] John Gill, 1700s Reformed Baptist pastor, he said, Yahweh was to Israel like an eagle. What a great picture. An eagle is affectionate to its eaglets.

[13:57] They don't have a bunch of eggs. They have one or two eaglets that are precious to them. They nourish them carefully. They can fly very swiftly. They have strong wings. And in that way, the Lord carried Israel.

[14:11] Could have carried Israel anywhere safely in a marvelous way. The Lord says, I am your deliverer. I am able to wrap around you and shelter you in my wings like a great eagle.

[14:26] I will provide because I am more than able to provide for the bride of my son. The third thing I would like to unfold here is that the Lord shows the son's bride that he will be a faithful and loving husband.

[14:43] The Lord shows I will be a faithful and loving husband to you. Exodus 19, 5. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from all other peoples, for the earth is mine.

[15:05] I will take you, Israel, who are nothing, and I will make you my own special possession. You will belong to me. The Lord shows the bride he will be loving and faithful.

[15:21] And more than that, the bride will be involved in his mission. This is the fourth unfolding. The Lord foretold how the son will even involve his bride in his mission.

[15:32] Exodus 19, verse 6. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. You'll be my possession. And you'll also be involved in what I'm doing in this world.

[15:45] Remember the promise, through Abraham's seed, all nations will be blessed. You, this kingdom, you will be part of this glorious mission. John Gill pointed out, a kingdom.

[15:56] It's referring to a free state. You're not slaves anymore. Your identity is belonging to me freely. It's a commonwealth governed by its own laws.

[16:08] And in this case, they would be governed by the laws that God himself made for his kingdom. He would be their king. They wouldn't just be a kingdom. They would also be priests.

[16:19] They would be priests that are forming a kingdom. Priests had access to God. They served God. They would be able to approach him in pleasing worship that the Lord would receive graciously.

[16:31] Priests were greatly esteemed and honored. And his entire nation, this entire kingdom, would be a kingdom of priests. The Lord foretold how the son will involve his bride in his mission.

[16:46] Number five, the Lord made it clear that this marriage must be exclusive. The Lord made it clear that the marriage to his son must be exclusive.

[16:57] See, the Lord requires his bride to make wedding vows as well. He promises, I will be your God. And I will take you for myself as my people.

[17:10] And then in Exodus 19, verse 7, we're told that Moses came and called for the elders of the people and sat before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. And all the people answered together.

[17:22] Here's their response. Their vows. They said, Exodus 19, verse 8, all that Yahweh has spoken, we will do. So in the Mosaic covenant, we see a difference with what we saw in the Abrahamic covenant.

[17:38] The covenant with Abraham, who would pass through? Who would pass through those pieces that were bloodied? Abraham didn't pass through. The Lord himself passed through. Now with this covenant of the law with Moses, there's a condition attached to their works.

[17:56] The Lord said, if you will obey everything I give you. And the people say, all you have commanded, we will do. The Lord made it clear that he will not tolerate infidelity.

[18:08] We read one of the Ten Commandments today. And we read that the Lord is a jealous God. In Exodus 34, 14, he gets even more specific.

[18:19] He says, you shall worship no other God for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. The name of God is God's revelation of who he is.

[18:30] It's his essence, his divine being put in front of us in a way that we can hold on to and receive. We read in Exodus 19, verse 9, Yahweh said, behold, I come to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe forever.

[18:53] The Lord had said that when he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they didn't know his name. It means that the Lord was revealing more now. There's more to come. This next covenant is going to open it up even more.

[19:06] And the Lord says he will use his own creation, this thick cloud, to show that God is mysterious and above all and unapproachable because he's holy.

[19:17] And his terms are very high. You must obey your side of the covenant to have fellowship with him if you're going to be with him by works. That's the conditions because the marriage to his son is exclusive.

[19:33] There's no room for being unfaithful to the son of God. Number six, the Lord's fleshly kingdom. This kingdom on earth that the New Testament calls of flesh, meaning from the physical line of Abraham, it understood the requirements of being God's bride.

[19:53] Look at Exodus chapter 20, verse 18. They understood these high stakes that the Lord had revealed.

[20:07] Exodus 20, 18. Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die.

[20:30] They understood the high stakes of a covenant with God the Creator. The Lord was calling them to behold his holiness and his unapproachable holiness.

[20:49] They cannot come close to the mountain. Anything that comes close must be put to death unless he provides a way to forgive your sin. In verse 20, Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, and that you may not sin.

[21:13] What is the Lord after? He's after the obedience of his kingdom. Those who belong to his kingdom understand they may not disobey this God.

[21:25] In Deuteronomy 6.25 we read, It shall be righteousness to us if we observe to do all these things that God has commanded.

[21:38] Then we will be righteous. So the people stood there and they said, We understand we must obey everything you've given us in order to be righteous, to be able to be in your presence and to be with you.

[21:49] If we disobey your commands, even one of them, we do not deserve any blessing from this holy God. That even this fleshly kingdom, this national Israel, they understood the requirements of being in covenant with God.

[22:06] The seventh thing I'll unfold here for us is that the Lord pre-echoed even a marriage ceremony. The Lord pre-echoed the marriage ceremony as well.

[22:22] Let's look at Exodus 24 to see what is this covenant-cutting ceremony that they go through. For a covenant to be cut or for a ceremony to be executed, put into effect, I'm going to point out four observations that we see in Exodus 24.

[22:42] The first one is Exodus 24, verse 5. The Lord required that blood be shed to cover the sins of his bride.

[22:56] Exodus 24, 5. The people offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

[23:13] They understood the terms, and now they're receiving in a ceremony a blood ritual. Number two, the Lord required that his son's bride understand what he loves.

[23:27] The Lord required that his son's bride understand what he loves. And that's this, to be with God, they must align themselves to his kingdom values. Look at Exodus 24, verse 7.

[23:42] He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of all the people. And they said again here now, we will do all that Yahweh has said.

[23:54] We will be obedient. We are accepting the terms of this covenant. We will be righteous if we keep obeying all that God has commanded. Number three, the Lord ratified this covenant ceremony.

[24:10] It goes into effect. He makes it actual. Now on, this is in effect. It's going. His legal will and testament was executed.

[24:21] Exodus 24, verse 8. Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people. And he said, look, this is the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.

[24:41] This is the maledictory ceremony. It's saying the blood of these dead animals that have been cut. May it be on us if we disobey the terms of this covenant.

[24:52] And it's sprinkled on the people representatives of this kingdom because it's pre-echoing a greater ceremony that will come.

[25:04] The fourth observation of this ceremony is that the Lord consummates the covenant by allowing His people to then commune with Him by grace.

[25:15] Look at verse 9. Representatives go up. In verse 10, they saw the God of Israel. The Lord allowed these sinners as a blessing, a part of this ceremony, to see God.

[25:36] These representatives on this mountain because God made a way involving a blood ceremony and an actual covenant and He's receiving them and revealing Himself to them even more fully.

[25:49] notice Moses' description. It's going to remind you of other parts of the Bible. Under the feet of God, it was like a paved work of sapphire stone.

[26:03] Verse 10, like the skies of clearness. Verse 11, He didn't lay His hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. God could have smitten them.

[26:16] He could have laid His hand on them. But God had said, approach me in this way. And as they approached God in the way He gave them, He kept His word. He didn't strike them down.

[26:28] They saw God, they ate, and they drank. The end of this covenant-cutting ceremony includes a meal, a sharing of food and of drink.

[26:44] And in these ways, the Lord pre-echoed the marriage ceremony. In Sunday school, we talked a little bit about a type. Hebrews uses the language of types and shadows.

[26:56] So a type is more than symbolism. A type, it's a real person or a real, in this case, a real event. This actually happened on the Mount Sinai.

[27:07] A real historical event. But it also has a further fulfillment that it's pointing to. That's what makes it a type. So in that sense, it's a real event. It's a real covenant in history. But it's also more.

[27:19] There's a greater substance attached to this shadow. So I'd like to use the rest of our time to point out three interpretations. I'm going to do my best to give you why I believe this was such an important pre-echo of the Lord's wedding for His kingdom for all eternity.

[27:39] So number one is this. Why do we call this Mosaic covenant a kingdom wedding pre-echoed? I got three reasons. Number one, because the Lord Himself uses language of marriage referring to this relationship between God and Israel.

[27:58] In this marriage between this fleshly kingdom and the Holy God, it did not go well in the Old Testament. Jeremiah 3, verses 6 through 8 says, in the words of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah to this rebellious people that are about to be carried off into exile, he says, have you seen the backsliding of Israel?

[28:19] That means they were walking with me, but they're sliding away from me. She has gone up on every high mountain under every green tree and played the harlot. I said, after she had done all these things, return to me, for I am married to you, but she did not return.

[28:37] The Lord said, Israel played the prostitute with many lovers. In verse 2 of Jeremiah chapter 3, he says, you Israel have polluted the land.

[28:49] Their obedience was attached to their presence in the land. This marriage did not go well between a fleshly kingdom and the holy God. Number two, this covenant through Moses exposed that a fleshly kingdom, a kingdom that's not united by the heart, it's incapable of loving faithfulness.

[29:12] Simply not capable of loving God in a way that a divine marriage needs. Hebrews 8, verse 7 says, the covenant God made when he led the people out of Egypt, that covenant found fault with them, with the people.

[29:28] It exposed their fault. National Israel was exposed under this covenant. They did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

[29:43] So this covenant exposed that this fleshly kingdom was incapable of loving faithfulness. the third reason I call this the kingdom wedding pre-echoed is because it pre-echoed the Lord's covenant with a different type of nation, a different type of kingdom.

[30:04] Hosea, chapter 2, verse 23. Hosea is the prophet the Lord used his own life as a sign act, having him marry a prostitute. And Hosea prophesied in the words of the Lord, I will call them one day.

[30:19] I will call them my people which were not my people and I will call her beloved who was not my beloved. Romans 9.25 quotes this interpretation and says this is referring to all the nations.

[30:34] That's why it was a type, a real covenant that exposed the inability of a flesh to fulfill what God needs and God requires of a holy people. And instead, all the nations, all the true bride will be in covenant with the Lord.

[30:51] Now Romans 9, verse 14, Paul anticipates a question and he gives a strong rebuttal. He says, does this mean that the Lord was unfaithful?

[31:02] He says, is there unrighteousness with God? Was it not right of God to do this? And the answer we get in Romans 9 is this. Paul says, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they are not all Israel that are of Israel.

[31:19] Well, then we have to ask the question, okay, who is true Israel? Who is the Son's true bride all along? That's the second question I want to try to interpret for us.

[31:33] True Israel, who is the true bride of the Son? Well, we know that true Israel or the true bride is not anyone who thinks they can approach the holiness of God and climb up that mountain where the cloud and the lightning and the blast of the trumpet knock everybody down on their seats.

[31:52] If you think you are holy enough to approach God on your own righteousness, that means you are not the bride. Romans 10 says, they were seeking to establish their own righteousness and they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

[32:09] Well, who is the true bride then? Romans 10 verse 4, he says, it's Jesus Christ's bride. Who is it? Anyone for whom Christ's righteousness was put on them.

[32:23] Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness for everyone who believes. The true bride is everyone who believes in Jesus and receives his righteousness as their own freely by grace and faith.

[32:40] Deuteronomy 18 verse 18, Jesus, I'm sorry, the Lord said, I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers like you, like Moses, and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

[32:59] And in Acts chapter 3, quoting this, affirming that greater prophet that would come and speak on behalf of the Lord, that was Jesus Christ. God raised up his servant and sent him first to the ethnic national Israelites, first to them to bless you with grace and turning every one of you away from your wickedness so that you will obey.

[33:22] You are incapable of obeying before Christ. That's why God sent him to you that you will receive him by faith and then obey because his spirit makes you able. Who is the true bride?

[33:36] Well, throughout all of the Bible, the true bride is those who are engrafted into the true vine. In John 15, verse 1, Jesus says, I am the true vine.

[33:49] The vineyard is the people of God. Anyone connected to Jesus, the true vine, is his bride. And this promise, it begins all the way back in the curse on Satan after they're kicked out of the garden.

[34:02] Your seed, Eve, will crush the serpent's head. Anyone who believes in that promised seed all along, they're connected to the vine, Jesus Christ. They are the true bride. And Jesus says, every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, the Father takes away.

[34:19] So who was the true bride connected to the true vine? Well, even Old Testament is giving us glimmers and little foreshadowings of the Gentiles believing and being grafted in.

[34:36] As soon as the people of God and the leadership of Joshua come into the land, we have this beautiful story that shows up in the genealogy of Jesus. Rahab, the prostitute, is part of the son's bride.

[34:51] Joshua 6, verse 25, we're told Rahab, the prostitute, Yeshua, saved alive. Ruth, the poor foreigner, she's part of the bride of Christ.

[35:05] And Ruth, we see this beautiful story of a foreigner from Moab and she becomes part of this covenant people. She's part of the true bride. It is all those elect from every people, nation, tribe, and tongue.

[35:20] And it begins with the Israelites, the ethnic nation. We see in Daniel and the Hebrew friends as they were carried off to Babylon, they were still part of this bride.

[35:31] They were still faithful. They were still united by faith to the living God. Remember in 1 Kings 19, verse 18, Elijah, he feels all alone. Where's your promise to your bride?

[35:44] You said you would be with your people. Where are they? And the Lord says, I have reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. The New Testament interprets this promise.

[35:55] The bride of Christ is the remnant. It's those who believe in every generation in Jesus Christ by faith. Romans 5, 1 says, there is still a remnant according to the election of grace.

[36:09] And Paul prays in Romans 10, he says, my heart's desire and my prayer to God is for Israel that they may be saved. And he says in Romans 11, verse 26, all Israel will be saved when they believe by faith in Jesus Christ.

[36:26] So true Israel is the true bride. It's the elect who believe when they hear the gospel. Well, the last interpretation I'll offer you here is this.

[36:39] How is this Mosaic covenant then a pre-echo of the kingdom wedding? There's so many beautiful parallels and imagery that we simply can't miss.

[36:54] I won't be able to summarize all that I believe is here, but I want to draw your attention to several. Could you turn back to Exodus chapter 19, verse 1? Exodus 19, 1.

[37:05] Exodus 19, 1. Exodus 19, 1. Exodus 19, 1. How does this point to the ceremony and the covenant of Jesus Christ?

[37:23] Exodus 19, 1. In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out from the land of Egypt. The timing on the calendar here is significant.

[37:37] Right before they go out from the land of slavery, they celebrate what God tells them. It's a Passover meal. And this third month would mark 50 days.

[37:49] 50 days after their deliverance, they are given the law. Do you see the parallels? The Lord Jesus became the Passover lamb.

[38:03] He celebrated the last supper and told his disciples, do this in remembrance of me. He died, he rose again, and 50 days later at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes and writes the law of God inside the true bride.

[38:20] When these 3,000 Jews are added to their number, the law of God that they knew from reading the Old Testament and hearing it, the Spirit put it on their hearts, and he wrote it in their minds.

[38:32] They can finally have inside of them what they need to fulfill what the Lord requires of his bride. I mentioned how this covenant was prearranged.

[38:45] It's a prearranged marriage. Jonathan Edwards, he's called the greatest intellect of American soil. His conclusion after reading all the Bible was this, God created the world in order to prepare a bride for his son.

[39:06] Read your Bible with that lens. God created this whole world. God acted throughout human history. Why? To prepare a bride, a true bride for his son.

[39:17] It's been prearranged all along. It's the most glorious prearranged wedding. In Exodus 6-7, remember that wonderful vow.

[39:27] The Lord says, I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God. Look to Jesus and see how he kept that promise. Here's another one, Leviticus 11-45, and think of how Jesus Christ alone fulfills this.

[39:44] He says, For I am Yahweh, who brought you up out of slavery to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Leviticus 26-12, I will walk among you.

[39:58] I will be your God, and you shall be my people. The Lord walks among his church. He ministers to us as our great high priest, because this has been God's design since before the foundation of the world.

[40:17] If you believe in Christ and you receive his forgiveness by faith, that means you are married to the Son of God. And it was prearranged. Ephesians 1-4, God chose us, church, in Christ before the foundation of the world.

[40:33] Why? That we would be holy and without defect before him in love. God has always designed for the bride to be holy before his Son.

[40:47] And in our flesh, we can't any better than the national Israelites. But God now makes a way by the power of his Spirit for us as a church to be his bride.

[40:58] Not with thunder and fear, but in love. We stand before him without defect because Christ became our righteousness for us.

[41:10] The Lord shows you that he is able to provide. Just like he carried Israel on Wigglezings. We read in Ephesians 3-20, the Lord is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.

[41:29] How is he your provider? It's the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer. He provides for you in every way you could possibly imagine. Everything that we need, the Lord provides.

[41:42] And the Lord gives you what you lacked on your own. See, the covenant through Moses, it exposed the lack of the people. It exposed they cannot be with God by their own hard work.

[41:56] Instead, the Lord promises to be what you lack. Isaiah 61-6, he says, you will be called Yahweh's priests.

[42:08] Men will call you the servants of God. After Israel failed, and as they're about to be taken over and carried off into exile, this promise lingers.

[42:19] You will be called Yahweh's priests. Men will call you servants of God. Well, how is that fulfilled in the new covenant under Christ's rule? 1 Peter 2-9, to the church, to people like you and me, who receive Christ by faith, he says, you are a chosen people.

[42:37] You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. You are God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

[42:56] We walk by faith as sojourners in this life, and one day, this kingly priest, Jesus Christ, will walk and rule among his people in the new heavens and the new earth.

[43:06] And he gave John a vision of this. Revelation 1-6, he has made us a kingdom and priests to serve God and the Father. prayer. Would you turn to one last passage from Exodus with me?

[43:22] Turn to Exodus 24. Exodus 24, verse 10.

[43:46] This Old Testament covenant through Moses, it's like the Lord couldn't wait to consummate it, to bring it to fulfillment, finally and fully.

[43:58] And he so graciously gave them even this glimpse, just to record the experience. Exodus 24, 10. They saw the God of Israel.

[44:10] Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone. sapphire is a blue stone and it's paved and laid in such a way that it's reflecting like a clear sky is how Moses describes it.

[44:25] In verse 11, we read that he didn't lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They approached the Lord in the way he had appointed and he received them.

[44:38] They saw God. They ate and drank. God has appointed a way for anyone, for many nation, people, tribe, and tongue to approach him.

[44:53] And if you approach him the way he has ordained, the way he's commanded you, you don't need to fear. He will not strike you down though that's what our sin deserves. And it also involved blood and the cutting of a covenant.

[45:08] We just read in Hebrews 10, that covenant was cut once for all. that blood was shed once for all by Jesus Christ, God the Son, in the flesh.

[45:23] And if you enter by the way he's provided, he invites you to this glorious throne room of heaven. You can have that blessing today.

[45:36] You can be in the presence of the Holy God by faith today. And one day fully, consummately, fulfilled as we read in Revelation 19, verse 7.

[45:48] Those who have approached God by the way he's provided in Christ, we rejoice, we are exceedingly glad, we give thanks to him, and all glory to him, for the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.

[46:06] it was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen. What is the clothing that adorns the bride of Christ?

[46:20] Revelation 19, 8 says, it is the righteousness given to the saints. We approach the Holy God by Jesus Christ, the blood of the new covenant.

[46:33] it. And when we come to the Lord's table today, it's simple, it's still, but it's real. This is a foretaste of that great wedding supper of the Lamb.

[46:49] Let's prepare ourselves to receive once again today, by grace, all the salvation that God has accomplished for us by the work of Christ. Let's pray.

[47:03] Lord, thank you for how you have come close to us.

[47:17] Thank you for teaching every true believer we could never presume and approach you on our own terms or with our own righteousness. We confess once again, Lord, that we need the salvation you have provided.

[47:31] Thank you for his shed blood on our behalf. Thank you for receiving us. Thank you for letting us to behold you, not by sight yet, but by faith. And we long for that day when we can see you, Lord, where we enjoy the kingdom with our groom, Jesus Christ.

[47:51] And the spirit and the bride say, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.