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The Tabernacle: Psalms 77:13 states that “God’s way” is in the sanctuary. The way of God is the portal through which one can be made aware of God’s intentions. (1) The tabernacle of Moses was one of the first places God made the nation of Israel aware of “the way” that they were to corporately worship Him. The Hebrews learned of His ways through Moses, and the Levitical priests, from tabernacle worship. The spirit of David also communed (2) in his own heart, making a diligent search to meditate on the ways of God. And in Psalms 77:19, God’s way (3) is in the sea. Here in Psalms 77, the heart of man, the sanctuary, and the sea are all tabernacles. The Lord God has made a promise to make His way known in the tabernacle, in the heart of man, and in the sea. The Spirit of God will reveal his way to individuals through all of these, just as He did for David, Moses, and his brother Aaron the high priest. If a Hebrew happens to be traveling through the sea, then that will do for a tabernacle! Believers should seek Him with all their heart while He may still be found. For nations, the message is that God will reveal his way to those kingdoms who acknowledge the Holy tabernacle of Jerusalem! God’s Ways: In Psalms 78, the life and times of Moses were used to demonstrate and to remember God’s ways. Psalms 78:1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. These Psalms are the very words that Jeremiah was clinging to as he prayed for Israel to be delivered from their impending judgment. He also interpreted the dark sayings from the days of Moses and relayed it to the Israelites before their judgment came. God had done a great deal for the Israeli people in their infancy as a nation. He brought to light that it was the Lord that divided the Red Sea to deliver them from Egypt. That miracle represents several things. (1) The physical birth of the nation of Israel. (2) It is a picture of one being born physically, taken from the water of the mother’s womb. (3) The spiritual birth of a believer who is cleansed by emersion. Man’s Ways: With this new-life miracle from God, one milestone is that believers should abstain from partaking of the flesh pots of Egypt. They must begin to eat bread from heaven and drink water from the Rock. Neither were they to fear the Egyptian taskmasters any longer. God would lead and protect them with a cloud by day and a fire by night. The Israelites had an ongoing dilemma whereby they struggled to believe and obey. Psalms 78:37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. 38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. 39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. God had to remember that they were still in the flesh. They had not received His promised Holy Spirit. Their faith was limited. Without spiritual faith, it is impossible to please God. That is why each believer must press in and “tabernacle with God” to seek His way. The Law of God was to be in their hearts and minds, at all times, that they might not sin against God. Their deliverer, Moses, taught them the Law of God. He also built the tabernacle in which they would worship. Every artifact of temple worship was specifically made for a unique purpose. Each step through the worship process brought the worshipper into a more holy place than the one before. The link to Thinking 7 is the best illustration of what each artifact represents. Wilderness Wanderings: Moses led the Hebrews away from slavery through the wilderness on the way to Canaan, the Promised Land. The small nomadic nation of Israel disobeyed God and murmured against Moses and had to tarry in the wilderness for 40 years because of their hearts’ rebellion. At the end of their wandering God brought them to their fourth sanctuary. Psalms 78:54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. Here, God reveals that the land of Canaan would be their new sanctuary. It would be called Israel! When one dies an early death, it is said that “they bought the farm”. After God showed Moses the Promised Land from the overlooking real estate nearby, “Moses purchased that mountain”. God took him! The people were sad because they loved Moses dearly. Joshua, Moses’ apprentice, was to lead the children of God into the Promised Land. It was necessary for God to use another man to make it clear that Israelites are to walk by the Spirit, not according to the Mosaic Law. For the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Law: The Law really makes hay when people are in the flesh like the Hebrew children were in the wilderness. The flesh causes one to err. Error hinders his or her ability to hear truth concerning the true condition of their heart. God has a higher calling for all who seek Him and obey Him with a pure heart fervently. That is to turn from things of the flesh and to walk according to the promises of God instead. First, one must repent to be cleansed by the washing of YHWH Himself. When a person confesses his sin and repents, Jesus comes into the heart of that individual to illuminate their whole life. Symbolically, Jesus is the Rock in the wilderness. He literally saved their lives with water in that desert place. One who will acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord of theirPeople that have not acknowledged that they cannot clean up their lives and be made whole are in error. Efforts to do so in one’s own strength are considered to be of the flesh. Our Tabernacle: Each must come to Jesus as they are. He will take care of the flesh. My prayer for you is that you will not only receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, but that you will also be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Temples of the Holy Spirit: Upon receiving Jesus, that one has come to the Rock of their salvation. The Rock is the foundation that is there for believers to build their tabernacle on. The Rock is Christ. As a new creature, God will build a temple not made with hands for His Spirit to dwell within them. That is how one’s tabernacle is formed. Each day thereafter one may then “tabernacle” with God on a regular basis. God inhabits the praises of His people! One’s faithfulness to praise Him will have great reward. To learn about Moses’ tabernacle artifacts as shown by Thinking 7, Click Here. |