Key Verse for 2025, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” 1 Timothy 4:16
Intro: What guides us through life? We need something more than our heart or our feelings. We can learn from experiences, both good and bad. We are to actively make choices to believe and trust God and believe and live by his word, when we fail to do this, things go tragically wrong, as we’ve seen in our reading. Exodus is about God’s passionate desire for intimate relationship with people. And here in Sinai, God invites the people to enter into covenant relationship with him. God wants his presence to dwell with them, he wants them to have direct access to his presence, he wants relationship restored. God has told us, specifically, in his word who he is, and how to have a relationship with him. The Tabernacle (tent of meeting) is where God would dwell among his people and make himself known, and is ultimately fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
In Exodus chapter 32, while Moses is away on the mountain for 40 days receiving instructions from God, we witness what happens to the people when they quickly turn away and follow their own hearts and feelings instead of trusting in the Lord. As you read chapter 32, pay attention to how swiftly the people utilize what God has provided them—their resources and abilities—not to honor God but to turn away from Him and create idols.
Discussion Chapter 32:
Q1: Read 32:1-4. What do you see going on here? Was Moses delayed? Where did all the gold come from? Do you see yourself in this story?
Q2: Read 32:5-6. We may not say we have idols, but an idol is something people trust, and other than God. What are the idols around us today? In what way do we make gods out of them?
Q3: Read 32:7-14. Do you notice the tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility? This is a tension; it’s not a contradiction.
Note: Terry explained in his sermon: Specifically, we see how God uses prayer for His purposes. Moses’ prayers were part of His plan. Moses couldn’t say, “God, do what You are going to do; I can’t stop You.” He cried out to God, and God heard his prayer, impacting how things actually unfolded. You can try to figure this all out, or you can trust God and pray. It is important to note how Moses prayed. He prayed to God in line with what God Himself had already said: “God, You said this…” This was more about God training Moses to believe than about Moses changing God’s mind.
Q4 Read 32:15-23. This illustrates how not to lead. In what ways does it reflect cowardly leadership, and how should we address it?
Note: If you are a leader…small group, family, work, community…God expects you to live with faith and faithfulness. To have courage.
Q3: Read 32:25-29. What does this passage tell us about sin?
Note: Sin is no joke or game—it’s trivialized in movies, songs, and blogs, but in real life, it’s horrific, deadly, and terrible.
Q4: Read 32:30-35. How is Jesus foreshadowed in this passage? Can you see Moses pointing to the greater Moses, Jesus, who made the final atonement for our sins?
Q5: In chapters 35 to 40, the Tabernacle is constructed according to God’s specifications, and His glory filled it. However, the Israelites would soon forget both the Tabernacle and God’s presence among them.
Our foundational hope is the gospel: Jesus is the one to whom all of Exodus and all of human history point. How are you building your hopes on Him? Hebrews 6:19 states, “We have this hope (the gospel) as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure.” Do you believe this? How are you living out this truth?
Main Takeaway: Jesus is our foundational hope. Jesus “tabernacles” with us today through the Holy Spirit, meaning that He dwells within the hearts of believers, providing a constant presence and access to God, just as the ancient tabernacle allowed God to be physically near His people in the Old Testament. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice and resurrection God now lives within us, making our bodies the “temple of the Holy Spirit.” We must actively choose to keep reading, understanding, obeying, and showing up. We obey Him, we experience Him, and we represent Him in the world.
John 14:21, says “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Hebrews 10:19-25, “19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Reflective questions for application:
Do you desire to actively experience God’s presence with you today?
How can you and your small group members thoughtfully prepare for worship each day during your personal time with the Lord and each week at your worship service?
What price are you willing to pay to have focused, meaningful time in meeting God face-to-face?
Application: After reflecting on this passage and the sermon, is there anything in your life that needs to change? How can we help?