FROM TENT TO TEMPLE
by George H. Warnock
First Printing: April,
1984
Second Printing: May,
1987
Third Printing:
November, 1988
Fourth Printing
(Revised): August, 1993 (Printed in the U.S.A.)
“And let them make me
a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8
“And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be
with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:3
C O N T E N T S
Chapter 1: The Tabernacle In The Wilderness
Chapter 2: The Tabernacle Of David
Chapter 3: The Temple
Of Solomon
Chapter 4: The Temple Of Ezekiel’s Vision
Chapter 5: The Temple Of Zerubbabel
Chapter 6: The Temple
Of Herod The Great
Chapter 7: The
Temple Which Is His Body
The purpose of this
study, and the title itself, are intended to show how God would progressively
move “from one tent to another” as He sought to lead His people into a higher
relationship with Himself; and would then consummate His purposes by moving
from the lowly “tent” to a glorious “Temple” as He took up His permanent
habitation in the hearts of men. This had always been God’s plan, and the only
reason He instituted and ordained previous temples was to provide for His
people a place where they could draw nigh to Him, so that this place would
become a “house of prayer” for all nations, and a means of grace whereby the
inhabitants of the earth could discover the pathway to God until the greatest
Temple of the ages would be revealed and manifested in the earth. And so it was
fulfilled in the Lord Jesus who declared Himself to be the Temple of God in the
earth. And then He showed us, through His holy apostles and prophets, how this
Temple would be expanded and enlarged to embrace those who are the redeemed of
the earth, and made to be “living stones” in that same Temple.
Because the original
tents and temples that God ordained were intended to be a means of grace, and a
revelation of His presence in the midst of His people, whenever the purpose of
the temple was perverted to mean something that man had built “for the glory of
God,” God did not hesitate to forsake it. Through Isaiah the prophet God saw
fit to thunder forth some very awesome indictments against His people: “Do you
think you have built Me a House? Do you really think I am hungry, and need to
drink the blood of bullocks and eat the flesh of goats and lambs? Your hearts
are perverted! Go cut off a dog’s neck.., it’s all the same to Me! Or offer
swine’s blood on My altar, if that is the thought of your rebellious hearts!
What I am really looking for is not sacrifice and offering and temple and
altar-I am really looking for the man who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
that trembleth at My Word!” (See Isa. 66:1-3.) How applicable is such a
denunciation to the religious world today! May God remove the scales from our
eyes that we might know and be assured that the only temple God ever desired is
now in the making, a holy Temple of the redeemed ones of the earth, a
“habitation of God in the Spirit.”
And
when God finds His home in the hearts of His redeemed, He is totally at rest.
-George H. Warnock
Truth runs deep in
its flow, and is complex in its structure; but it is by no means complicated.
Many would excuse themselves for not getting too deeply involved in Truth by
saying, “Well, it is just too deep for me...”
And so they just leave it alone. But neither knowledge nor intelligence
are prerequisites for an appreciation of the deeper things of God. A fish is
not considered to be highly intelligent, but it appreciates “depth” simply
because it has a nature that longs for it. And because it has a nature that
longs for it, God has given it the animal and physical capacity to enjoy it, as
well as the rivers and lakes and streams and oceans to fulfill this inherent
longing. And so the psalmist said, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy
waterspouts” (Ps. 42:7). There is something “deep” in the nature of the fish
that calls unto the “deep” in the oceans... because God put that longing there
when He created it.
Human wisdom and
understanding, far from being a prerequisite to a true knowledge of God, can be
very detrimental to us if that longing after Himself is not there. Jesus said
on one occasion, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Lk. 10:21). Unlike
an animal we have a spirit fashioned after God’s image, which is capable of
God-consciousness and divine fellowship. And though this image was defaced by
the Fall, it has been restored in Redemption; and we may grow into it as we
choose the pathway of obedience unto the will of God. As we simply walk in this
pathway, that longing and yearning after God will increase, and there will be
an ever-increasing unfolding of His will, and an ever-expanding revelation of
His glory.
Some would seek to
deny us this greater revelation by reminding us that God never changes, that
Jesus Christ is forever the same, and therefore we ought not to seek after an unfolding
revelation. But this argument overlooks the fact that WE are the ones who need
to be changed, not God; and if we truly seek to do His will there will grow
within us a cry and a yearning to be changed--even “from glory unto glory” by
the Spirit of the Lord. This is what we mean by unfolding revelation. It is the
sprouting of the Seed in the soil of our hearts until it springs forth as “the
blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mk. 4:28). It is
constant growth in the realm of the Spirit until we are able to “comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to
KNOW the love of Christ, which PASSETH KNOWLEDGE” until we are “filled with
[or, unto] ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD” (Eph. 3:18-19). It is entering into and
appropriating the inheritance which God has already given us, but which we have
never possessed in any degree of fullness. It is a laying hold upon and
apprehending that very thing for which God has laid hold upon and apprehended
us!
God has revealed
Himself in the scriptures as One Who is looking for a “home” in which He might
dwell. After reading and meditating upon the thoughts brought out in this
writing I trust we will understand more clearly why God needs a home. In the
scriptures we find Him moving with His people from one resting place to another
as He progressively reveals His purposes and seeks to bring into being the
ideal “home” that He has been waiting for. This progressive revelation of
Himself must continue until the eternal purpose is fully consummated in a
people whom He has created for His own glory.
In this writing we
cover seven phases of God’s dealings with His people as He moved with them From
Tent to Temple. I know that some would like for us to pinpoint just where we are
now in the cycle of His dealings with His people. But we could not do this, as
God’s people are to be found in many of these areas. Like pure Light itself,
how shall we know what is red and what is blue, except as the Lord by His
Spirit shines through the prism of our hearts and reveals it? And like the
wheels of the cherubim, we travel in many directions at one and the same time,
and how then could we pinpoint our present location?
We just pray that the
Truth of God may speak to our hearts in the following pages, regardless of the
particular phase of the Temple that we are examining. We will be speaking much
about apprehending what God has in mind for His people, without trying to
define too clearly the boundaries of our inheritance. How far does God want to
take us? This, of course, might seem to be a great problem to those who desire
to “apprehend” that for which God has apprehended us. How far can we go without
falling into error? Is there not a danger of presenting truth for today that
really pertains to another day--or another dispensation? How can we be sure
that what we know to be “truth” is really ours to appropriate here and now,
rather than leaving it for Heaven--or for the Resurrection?
Christendom has
always been divided on these issues. And no sooner have the boundaries been
theologically set and drawn out, when God moves again in His people, and they
move forward into areas of truth that they find are practical, experiential,
and vital; while others linger behind claiming that these things are definitely
NOT for today. But God does it anyway, without getting permission from the
theologians.
A born-again
experience is thought by many to be something far-out, and not for today: “You
can’t know for sure till the day of judgment.” Or healing is not for today.
“Yes, in the days of Jesus and the apostles… and perhaps in the Kingdom to
come,--but not for today.” The Baptism of the Holy Spirit? “Yes, they
experienced this at Pentecost... but that was a once-for-all baptism of the
whole Church, it’s not for us to experience as individuals.”
God Who is the Author
of Truth freely moves in all these areas, and men and women by the millions
have entered in and partaken of the provisions of His grace, while others hide
behind their theological positions and remain in their stagnant pools. God has
a very sure way for His people, and that Way is the Lord Jesus Himself. He is
always the one and only way, Who brings us into Truth and into Life. He knows
how far He desires to bring us in this life; and as we earnestly seek to follow
Him Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life--and stay close to Him--we will not
fall into deception, nor will we get bogged down in areas of presumption. As
God urges us on, we seek to follow. And if it is truly the Lord urging us on there
will be the provision of faith to follow as He leads. We must always search our
hearts--and ask God to search our hearts--that in all our pursuit after Him we
find ourselves walking in faith rather than in presumption. There is a vast
difference. If we are moving in faith, we are moving in the revealed will of
God, and a living Word from God’s heart will have within it a genuine seed of
faith. If it is presumption we are motivated by our own thoughts and desires,
based perhaps on our concept of truth, and finding “scripture” to support us;
but the living Christ is not the Author of what we are attempting to do. Peter
desired to step out of the boat and walk with Jesus; but he knew it would be
rash and presumptuous for him to try it unless the Lord said “Come.” But once
he heard the word “Come,” that was enough. In that living Word from the lips of
Jesus there was all the faith he needed to walk on the water. It is as simple
as that--and we might add, just as difficult. For there is only one provision that
God has given us to deliver us from theological concepts of doctrine on the one
hand and to keep us in the narrow pathway of the Word of God on the other, and
that is, to abide in Christ and to hear His Word. And this we must always prove
for ourselves, in every area of our walk with Him. For He alone is the Truth,
and the anointing we receive from Him is totally sufficient to keep us from
areas of deception and darkness. If we are caught up with the thought of
certain events that are about to happen in the Church, or with revelations we
feel we have had about God’s workings in the earth, it is always possible we
might be right in some of them, and wrong in others. But if our pursuit is
simply to know Him in fullness, we need fear no boundaries, for the Spirit of
God is here in the earth to lead God’s people into the fullness of Christ--here
and now. And I find it difficult to understand how we could desire anything
more than this, if we truly love Him with all of our hearts. Again, I must
quote Paul’s desire for His people:
That we might “be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith;
That ye, being rooted
and grounded in love,
May be able to
comprehend with all saints
What is the breadth,
And length,
And depth,
And height;
And to know the love
of Christ,
Which passeth
knowledge,
That ye might be
filled with [or, unto]
All the fulness of
God” (Eph. 3:16-19).
Now the apostle
earnestly prayed in the Spirit that the saints would apprehend this glorious
heritage of the fullness of God. And if the Spirit of God inspired the apostle
to pen this prayer, and then preserved it in the holy scriptures for the early
Church as well as for us living in the end-time, let us fear no barriers that
men may erect to discourage us from appropriating this glorious heritage.
The Life of the Ages
is abiding in us now, if we truly know the Lord of Life, and He seeks to bring
us into a far greater fullness than we have yet known. Our real fear should be
“lest we come short of it” and NOT to “beware lest you go too far.” We might go
too far in theological concepts, if our pursuit is in that area. But there is
no danger that we might go too far with our Lord Jesus, if He is indeed our one
and only pursuit in this life.
What we have now, and
what we have come to experience in realms of the Spirit, are really things that
pertain to the next age, and yet, God has seen fit to bring a people into it
now! Did not Paul clearly identify the life we have in the Holy Ghost, and the
good Word of God, with the powers of the next world?… and assure us that we are
now actually partaking of the “powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:4-5)? If
the Life of Christ becomes our one and only pursuit in our pilgrim journey here
on earth, then let us have confidence that God is pleased as we press toward
that mark. If we sincerely desire nothing more, and nothing less, than this
abiding life in Christ, dispensations can never become a barrier in our walk
with the Lord or with the measure of life that we may attain to in the Spirit.
It is the “theology” itself that so often becomes the barrier. Yes, our
theology ought to be right; but if it hinders our walk with Him Who is the
Theos-Logos Who was “made flesh and dwelt among us,” then l am afraid there is
something wrong with the theology. Martha said concerning her dead brother, “I
know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (Jn. 11:24).
Theologically correct! But the Lord Jesus was the Theos-Logos standing by her
side, and He said to her: “I am the Resurrection, and the Life” (vs. 25). This
is what makes the difference between theological truth and living truth. If the
Lord Jesus is speaking; if He is leading us on; if He is showing us the Way; we
must follow on to know Him. For surely the Author of the Book knows what He had
in mind when He inspired holy men to write the scriptures, and then preserved
them for us to read.
I felt to emphasize
these things, because in all that I am writing about I am aware that we are
speaking at times of another age, as well as the one we are in. I would like to
be able to draw the line more clearly, if in so doing it would help God’s
people in their pursuit of God. But I have not discovered a clear boundary line
between that portion of Truth that God has for us in this age and that which He
has reserved for the next. And as surely as we feel confident that we know
where the boundary lines are, God may well leave us on this side of the line,
and lead another people beyond it. But we can only go beyond the boundaries as
the Logos Himself, the Lord Jesus, leads us into those immeasurable realms that
God holds out to His people by a living and life-imparting Word from God. Our
pursuit of Truth must be very clear and precise. We desire only to know Him…
and the power of His resurrection... and the fellowship of His sufferings... We
desire only to apprehend the very thing for which He has apprehended us.
THE TABERNACLE IN
THE WILDERNESS (see the 2 Diagrams:)
TaberWild.JPG
tabwilderness.gif
THE TABERNACLE IN THE
WILDERNESS
The Sanctuary Is For
God
“And
let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8).
This, we believe, is
the key verse in this whole subject concerning the Temple of God. How it would
help us in all our Christian service and ministry, if we could recognize this
one important principle: the sanctuary is for God’s abiding place in the midst
of men. The whole message of the Gospel is off-center unless it is properly
centered in God. We are inclined to relate the Gospel primarily to ourselves,
from the standpoint of our need, our lost condition, and our approach toward
God. But actually it begins in God, centers about Himself, and reaches forth
toward man for the delight of His own heart. The greatest of all sins is our
failure to recognize His supreme Lordship in our lives. Before God all men are
equally estranged from Him, and therefore equally sinful. “There is no
difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom.
3:22-23). When the glory of God becomes the standard of our acceptance before Him,
then all men come equally short of that standard.
God begins from His
own heart, reaches out toward man, and draws him unto Himself, for His own
glory. I need God, that is true. But because I am so unlike God by nature, and
so lacking in His attributes of love and mercy and truth that long to flow
forth from His being, I fail to recognize that He needs me. Oh, yes, we would
quickly acknowledge that He needs us for service... because He has no hands but
my hands to serve Him… no feet but my feet to carry the gospel of peace... no
mouth but my mouth to speak forth His Word. We picture Him as being so helpless
as a Spirit--Being that He must have us to do His work! But that is far, far
from the truth. For He really does not need us so much for the service that we
can render. Ten thousand times ten thousand stand at His beck and call. And if
these were not sufficient, by the word of His mouth He could create ten million
more to “post o’er land and ocean without rest.” We have all heard that old
slogan of the Church: “We are saved to serve!” But this is far from the truth.
It is like a man saying concerning his bride, “I married her because I needed a
slave.”
God does need us. But
primarily for fellowship, to satisfy the eternal longing of His own heart for
companionship and friendship with one in His own image and likeness. He needs a
place where He might live, a place that He can call “Home.” When He lives
within us He will direct us in paths of service as the need arises, but this is
secondary. He really desires, and He will have, a true habitation for Himself
in the Spirit--a Home, with sons and daughters that are obedient unto Him as
they grow up in His family, from babes to maturity. Without such a home God
continues to be the lonesome God that He was before creation, with no one to
share His own heart of love and mercy and truth and long-suffering and
kindness.
Martha was surprised
that Jesus would spend so much time just talking to Mary, when He knew there
was so much work to be done; and Mary should have been helping her--helping her
to serve the Lord who had come to visit them. But Jesus told her plainly that
Mary had chosen the better part, and that no one was to take this portion from
her. Evidently He took greater delight in fellowshipping with Mary, than He did
in Martha’s efforts to prepare Him a good meal. Now the Marthas are beloved of
the Lord too. They are busily engaged in the work of the Lord, trying to get
the job done. Yet too often they do not recognize what God really desires, and
how He intends to accomplish the things that need to be done in the earth. For
truly God’s plan is not merely to “get the job done.” He is creating a people
that will be to the praise of His glory. And this can only come about as they
submit to His Word and Spirit, and become vitally one with Christ Himself; and
consequently one with His many brethren. What instruments and resources God may
use from time to time and from one generation to another in working out His
purposes in the earth are really quite incidental. Nor do we mean to criticize
any of the “means” that men are using today to evangelize the world, if God is
indeed giving direction. But we are rather amazed that men will continue to
ignore the one and only way that God has ordained for the world to see and hear
the Gospel, and know that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. For He has
shown us clearly that the world will know and believe only when God has a
people “sanctified” unto the will of the Father, and made one with the Lord
Jesus, as He is one with the Father. (See Jn. 17:17-21.) God’s people have
always been prone to turn from God’s way when they judge it to be impossible;
and then do it their way if it seems to be more practical. Men of faith are not
concerned as to how God may bring to pass what is impossible. They simply
believe what He has declared, embrace the promise, and wait expectantly (though
with much trial of faith) for the performance of that which God has decreed.
My Soul Wait Thou
Upon God!
The soul that waits
upon the Lord is not one that lacks vision. Rather he is one who is learning to
see things as God sees them, and who desires to become involved with Him not
only in His plan, but also in His Way; because they know His plan can only be
fulfilled by and through a people who walk in His Way. Let us not be disturbed
by slogans such as this: “Some people are waiting for God, but God is waiting
for them.” We hear this a lot, but it is not scriptural. Take your concordance
and check it out...
“My soul, wait thou
only upon God;
For my expectation is
from him” (Ps. 62:5).
“Our soul waiteth for
the LORD: He is our help and our shield” (Ps. 33:20).
“Praise waiteth for
thee, O God, in Sion” (Ps. 65:1).
(For even true
spiritual praise, like any other aspect of ministry, waits for the direction
and control of the Holy Spirit, as God’s people anticipate what He will do.)
“Blessed are all they
that wait for him” (Isa. 30:18).
“For the vision is
yet for an appointed time...Though it tarry, wait for it” (Hab. 2:3). (So often
when we fail to see the vision fulfilled we try to fulfill it ourselves, only
to mar the beautiful thing that God would do.)
“They
that wait upon the LORD Shall renew their strength” (Isa. 40:31).
These are just a few
examples; but there are many more. On the other hand God has much to say about
those who think God is waiting for them to get the job done:
“They soon forgat his
works;
They waited not for
his counsel” (Ps. 106:13).
We must attain to
complete victory over our own impatient spirit. The prophet said to Saul:
“Seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou
shalt do” (1 Sam. 10:8). Saul waited the seven days but the prophet did not
come. However, that did not release him to act on his own. Some get so
concerned about fulfilling a prophecy they have received or some vision that
God has given them rather than simply walking with God today. God alone can
fulfill the prophecy or the vision. And He will do it when He is ready, and
when we are ready--not when we think we are ready. Because of Saul’s act of
disobedience God cut his kingdom short. He “forced himself,” he told Samuel;
but in so doing he made the wrong decision, and took upon himself the role of a
priest, which a king in Israel had no right to do. God is always late by man’s
timetable. But He moves consistently onward and forward according to His own
eternal purpose. The frustrations that we experience as we seek Him and wait
for Him are a necessary part of His discipline in our lives as He seeks to
quiet our spirit and bring forth the fruit of patience. Few saints there are
who are “quieted” in spirit, and “behaved” as a weaned child (Ps. 131:2).
The Man Who Built The
Tabernacle
We have dealt
considerably with this matter of “waiting”, because we (like Moses) must come
to know God’s ways if we are to become involved with Him in the true Tabernacle
“not made with hands.” At the age of 40 Moses may well have argued with
himself: “What am I waiting for? I am Israel’s deliverer. I shall go forth and
do what I can.” We all know what disappointment and frustration he suffered.
Nevertheless in the wilderness of Midian Moses learned much of God’s ways. It
took him 40 years, but he learned the lesson well. He learned about his own
inadequacy and helplessness, his own unworthiness and his own deficiencies. A
learning course of this nature will usually require a lot longer period of time
than the three or four years one might spend in a Bible School or Seminary to
discover one’s abilities and potential!
But what was the
result of it all? Moses accomplished in one single night what he had longed to
accomplish as a powerful young prince in Egypt at the age of 40. God waited
till he was 80 years of age--alienated from the favor he once had with Pharaoh,
and stripped of all confidence in his own abilities--before God called him as a
helpless shepherd, with nothing but a stick in his hand, to go back to Egypt
and deliver a whole nation out of slavery. He had learned much of God’s ways as
he tended the sheep in Midian. He would learn much more, as he became the first
shepherd of Israel. He would talk with God “face to face,” as God gave him
living oracles, written with the finger of God on tables of stone. And to Moses
was given the pattern for the Tabernacle, which was to become God’s dwelling
place in the midst of His people.
Is God Really Late?
Yes, God is always
late by man’s standards; but He is right on time according to His own plan and
purpose. And this is what makes it all the more frustrating to those who
embrace His Word and promise. If only He would delay the promise until the time
drew near for Him to fulfill it! Then perhaps we could bear up under it, for we
would not have the Word of the promise to torment our impatient spirit.
But we have learned
that this is all part of the training course. It is in this “waiting period”
that we find time to do our best--to try, and fail, and try again. Or perhaps
to try again and succeed, or at least assure ourselves that we have succeeded,
only to come to still greater devastation when God comes on the scene and
rejects our vain efforts to build His Kingdom. May we learn this important
lesson once for all: that in our natural strength and wisdom we can do nothing,
and that what things we consider to be successful must be laid aside as mere
refuse, for the knowledge of Christ.
God gave Abraham the
promise early, but fulfilled it late. As Abraham waited (and no doubt
experienced much trial and frustration) he learned the ways of the Lord and
became the father of the faithful for all generations to come.
God gave Joseph the
promise early, and fulfilled it late. The “word” that Joseph embraced as a
promise became the “word” that tried him severely (Ps. 105:19). We need to
remember this: the vision the Lord gives us becomes our trial. But that same
“word” brought Joseph out of the dungeon to be a ruler and deliverer, and a
sustainer of life to surrounding nations.
God gave David the
promise early, and fulfilled it late. But the trials that he went through
wrought in him a heart “after the heart of God.” And the shepherd boy from
Bethlehem became a shepherd-king over all Israel.
God gave the whole
human race the promise early, and fulfilled it late. God promised that the
“seed of the woman” would “bruise the serpent’s head.” Men almost despaired of
the promise, but “in the fulness of time” He came forth: “Late in time behold
Him come...Offspring of a virgin’s womb.”
No! God is not really
late! Let us not submit to the pressure that is on God’s people these days “to
get the job done.” God is faithful to “watch over His Word to perform it.” He
is not trying His best to get a job done, He is bringing forth a New Creation.
We are His “workmanship,” the “masterpiece” that He is working on. “Wait, I
say, on the LORD” (Ps. 27:14). For “he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).
The Pattern Of The
Tent
“And look that thou
make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount” (Ex. 25:40).
As Moses dwelt in the midst of the celestial glory for 40 days and 40 nights,
talking with God face to face, God gave him very detailed instructions for the
building of the sanctuary. In this pattern we have a picture of the heavenly
realm which was to be made manifest in the fullness of time. Paul calls the
whole Levitical order “the example and shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5).
Notice this very carefully: it was not a perfect representation of the real,
but only a type, only a shadow. “For the law having a shadow of good things to
come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect”
(Heb. 10:1).
Of course most
Christians do not believe that “the very image” can bring perfection either.
And if this be so God may be charged with abolishing a faulty religious system
which could not bring perfection, and then replacing it with a new religious
system which was still “faulty,” if it too was not able to bring perfection to
those who embraced it. We might just as well continue on with the sacrifices of
bulls and goats, and the ashes of a red heifer, if the sacrifice of Christ can
do no better. Why should He have suffered so much in vain? (God forbid the very
suggestion! But it is not really mine. It is the suggestion of those who
ignorantly deny the full efficacy of the blood of Christ to take away all sin.)
For God has ordained that in the fullness of time the Substance of all Old
Testament offering and sacrifice would be revealed; and that He would bring
forth the perfection that the Old Testament pointed to in many of its types and
shadows, but was never able to fulfill. The shadow speaks of an outline, a
sketch. The “very image” speaks of that which is perfect, the real thing. So
Christ is said to be the “image of the invisible God” and “the express image of
His Person.” He is not just a resemblance of God, but the exact similitude and
expression of God in human form.
This is important for
us to remember. For in our study of the tabernacles and temples of God we are
going to discover that the pattern changes as one temple replaces another; and
the tabernacle or temple that has gone into ruin and later restored is vastly
different than the original structure. Why would God see fit to change the
pattern from time to time? For the simple reason that it was just a shadow of
the heavenly realm; and in changing it we have a different view of what God had
in mind, as He outlined the substance in a somewhat different light, perhaps in
a more brilliant light. Finally the heavenly Temple is revealed and manifested
in Christ Himself Who declared Himself to be the very Temple of God in the earth.
“Destroy this temple,” He said, “And in three days I will raise it up” (Jn.
2:19). He was not the shadow, but the “very image.” But there was to be a
further expression of the “very image” as the Lord Jesus was glorified; that
from the throne of Zion’s holy mountain He might rule and reign as “head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth
all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). His intention being to build the Church together
“for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). Yes, God needs His
people because He needs a permanent Home in which He might dwell--a Home that
is compatible with His own nature and character.
Try as Israel may,
therefore, to bring about a restoration of her glory to something that might equate
the glory she had in the days of David, or Solomon, she will not succeed. And
try as the Church may to bring about a restoration to something that might
resemble the glory of early apostolic days, she too is going to be greatly
frustrated and perplexed. Whether we speak of natural Israel or the Church, in
striving for something that is far below God’s intention, we fail to see and to
anticipate the greater glory that God has in mind. For He has promised “the
glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former” (Hag. 2:9).
Many good ministers are puzzled as they try their best to re-establish the
order and structure of the “New Testament Church.” But if God has something
“new” in mind, the Holy Spirit (Who is the Vicar of Christ on earth) will not
seek to accommodate those who are endeavoring to bring about this kind of
restoration. God has still greater things in mind. Certainly He will restore
that which was lost, and the years that the caterpillar, the cankerworm, the
palmerworm, and the locust have eaten. But when God has a new order in mind, in
vain do we try to restore the old one. Fundamental principles of truth remain
unchanged, for Jesus Christ is the Truth, and therefore eternal and
unchangeable. But until the fullness of Christ is formed within His people, God
will continue to do new things and bring about a new order wherein His people
shall walk. And all this will be in strict conformity to the revealed Word of
God, quickened and made alive to His people in the day when He arises to
perform the intentions of His heart. Invariably when God moves forward with His
people it is the quickening Word that leads them forth into new things. It is
always according to scripture. And God always confirms what He is doing in
many, many ways, so as to encourage His people to move on with Him. The trumpet
sound is certain and clear. His sheep know the Voice, and they seek to follow
in obedience.
The General Plan Of
The Tabernacle
The Tent was situated
in the very center of the camp of Israel, and over the Tent the cloud of His
glory rested, day and night: by day as a pillar of cloud, and by night as a
pillar of fire. It was God Himself dwelling in the midst of His people. The
Tent faced the east, and there in the front of the gate were the tents of Moses
and Aaron, who were responsible for the conduct of all who ministered in the
sanctuary. Facing the east, it would speak to us of the promise of a “new day.”
The Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem also faced the east. For the promise is,
“Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing
in his wings” (Mal. 4:2).
As one might look
down upon the Tabernacle from the hillsides, with thousands of little tents
surrounding it, and God’s glory covering the sanctuary like a canopy, one could
not help but be aware that here was a distinct people, a separate people, a
holy nation. Balaam the sorcerer wanted to curse them. He was going to be paid
well for doing it. But in the spirit of prophecy he was compelled to say:
“From the top of the
rocks I see him,
And from the hills I
behold him:
Lo, the people shall
dwell alone,
And shall not be
reckoned among the nations” (Num. 23:9).
And again,
“How goodly are thy
tents, O Jacob,
And thy tabernacles,
O Israel!” (Num. 24:5).
And yet, even at that
very moment the people were disheartened, discouraged, and disobedient. They
were filled with murmuring and complaining because of the bitterness of the
way, and the drought and barrenness of the wilderness journey. Oh, that we had eyes
to see, and ears to hear, and a heart to perceive, that we might behold
ourselves for a moment from God’s viewpoint, and from the viewpoint of angels
and principalities and powers of the heavenly realm! We may excuse Israel, for
theirs was a covenant of death, a covenant of fading glory. But how shall we
excuse ourselves who have been made partakers of a covenant of life, and a
covenant of ever-increasing glory, and dwell in a Tabernacle “which the Lord
pitched, and not man”?
The Tent itself had a
partition called the veil, which separated the holy place from the most holy.
Then surrounding the Tent, as well as the laver and the brazen altar which were
outside the Tent, was an enclosure composed of fine linen hanging on posts
which were placed in brazen sockets in the desert sand. This was called the
outer court; and the linen surrounding it was much like a fence, which the
priests entered from the east side in the course of their ministry. Altogether,
then, we have three areas: the outer court, the holy place, and the holy of
holies. There at the eastern gate the sinning Israelite would bring his
sacrifice to the priest. The priest and Levite would then take the sacrifice to
the brazen altar which was situated just inside the gate, sacrifice it unto the
Lord, and the sinning Israelite could go away free--until he sinned again. Nor
could he go into the sanctuary itself, for that was reserved for the priests.
This was no arbitrary arrangement on God’s part. His heart longed for a whole
nation of kings and priests, and in the fullness of time He would create such a
nation. God had promised them: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and
an holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). Because of their disobedience they could not attain
to it then, and the promise remained unfulfilled. When the true Sacrifice was
made, and an unchanging priesthood was established in Christ, the promise was
once again brought forward from God’s heart: “But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9). This too has
failed to materialize in fullness, but the promise is there, and it remains for
those who will go God’s way--all the way. Let there be no misunderstanding
here: what God declares concerning us is true. But He makes His declarations in
the New Covenant that we might embrace them by faith and appropriate them,
until the truth becomes practical and vital in our lives.
This truth we must
emphasize over and over again, for we are living in a day when so-called
positional truth, and dispensational truth have almost nullified the Word of
God, and robbed God’s people of the glory that He has for them. If men do not
like the truth they can readily relegate it to some dispensation other than the
one we are living in. Or if it is definitely truth for this dispensation, then
they have a way of relegating it to the heavens. “That’s positional truth. It’s
not something you experience today.” But the answer is clear from the Word of
God: It is ours and we must press toward the mark, “if that I may apprehend
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12). What God
has elected and chosen for me, to that end I must press on. I know I cannot go
beyond faith, or beyond the Word, nor do I desire to do so. But “faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
“Therefore, Oh Lord,
give us hearing ears that we may hear Your truth. Give us open eyes to behold
Your glory. Give us understanding hearts to perceive Your ways. There are no
limits in You, and You have erected no barriers to the man of faith. But there
are barriers that we often erect in our own hearts--hearts which are prone to
presumption and unbelief. But as You would possess our reins with the pure and
holy mind of Christ, then we shall truly walk with You in the pure light of
Your holiness and truth, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Truly You
are Light and Life in all Your Being, and if we abide under Your shadow we
shall walk, not in darkness, for Your shadow is one of pure light; and every
trace of sin and the carnal nature must vanish away in the pure Light of Your
presence.”
The Furnishings Of
The Tent
Inside the Tent, as
we mentioned, there were two compartments: the first called the holy place, and
the second (behind the veil) called the holy of holies. Entering the holy place
through the five pillars we would see the table of shewbread on our right (the
north), the candlestick on our left (the south), and the altar of incense
toward the west just in front of the veil. It really belonged inside the veil
(according to Hebrews 9:4) but was placed just outside the veil so the priests
would always have access to it. Then behind the veil, as one would enter, we
would find the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat.
Everything in the
Tent speaks of Christ, and of His people who are in union with Him. Nothing on
earth could adequately portray and symbolize that which pertains to His glory;
and that is why so many, many types are used, that in each type and symbol some
particular aspect of His glory may faintly be seen. The shittim wood (or
acacia) would speak of the weakness of Christ’s humanity, and the gold that
covered it, His divine Glory. The lamb or goat or turtledove that was slain
would speak of His sacrifice; the blood of His own incorruptible Blood. The
priest speaks of our great High Priest; and the veil he went behind to make
atonement for sins speaks of His flesh, that was torn asunder for us at the
Cross, that we might enter into His presence. The ark would speak of God’s
presence, the place where God’s glory dwelt. The hidden manna in the ark, of
that living bread which came down from Heaven. The linen curtains, of His own
righteousness, by which we are clothed, and in which we are enclosed. And so we
could go on and on. We will not touch on a lot of this detail, as we are
primarily concerned in this study with the broad outline of the Tent, and its
relationship with the other sanctuaries that would follow in the days to come.
And so here we will concentrate upon the holy of holies and the contents of
this area; for this was the particular dwelling place of the Most High.
The Ark Of The
Covenant
The ark of the
covenant (the covering of which was called the mercy seat) was hidden away
behind the veil in the holy of holies. It was there before the ark of the
covenant that the high priest would stand “once in the year” with the blood of
goats; and while there, clothed upon with holy garments, and with Urim and
Thummim in his breastplate, he would have a brief time of communication with
God. God said to Moses, “They shall make an ark of shittim wood... And thou
shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the
testimony that I shall give thee. And there will I meet with thee, and I will
commune with thee from above the mercy seat.” (See Ex. 25:10-22.) God begins
here with the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. We would be inclined to
begin with the outer court, the doorway into it, and the brazen altar, for this
is what we would see first as we drew near to God. But God’s order is
different: He begins from Himself and draws near to man. Jesus said, “No man
can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (Jn. 6:44). Our
life in Christ is the result rather than the cause of our salvation. We find it
difficult to reconcile the sovereign call of God with our responsibility to
that call; and no doubt this is the reason there has been so much argument in
this whole matter of election and free will. Usually we would emphasize one
aspect of truth to the neglect of the other, because it is difficult for us to
reconcile opposites of truth in our thinking. Perhaps it is for this reason
that God has seen fit to raise up different ministries from time to time and
anoint them to emphasize what others have neglected. Calvin was sent of God to
establish the truth of God’s sovereignty. But as men began to presume that they
were “elect” of God because they believed in the doctrine of election, God saw
fit to raise up others who would exhort men to make their “calling and election
sure.” In God’s portrayal of truth we have many opposites; and there is no way
we can reconcile them by human reasoning, or by diluting the truth with
compromise in order to make it appear acceptable and logical. Many speak of
man’s free will as if that were more important than God’s sovereign will. I
must be sufficiently sovereign to choose or reject God. But God must not be so
sovereign as to choose or reject me! The Potter must not really have any right
over the clay, but the clay in the final analysis must have the deciding vote!
The distinction that God made between Jacob and Esau was not because of
goodness in the one, or evil in the other. “(For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) it was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger” (Rom. 9:11-12). The apostle makes
it very clear that good or evil in the two boys was not to be considered as a motivating
factor in God’s choice of the one, and His rejection of the other. It was
simply that it was God’s choice “that the purpose of God according to election
might stand.”
Sometimes it is hard
to reconcile a truth like this with other aspects of God’s dealings with men,
as we hear Him crying out to his rebellious people to pay heed to His gracious
call, and to walk in His ways. Nor does believing in the doctrine of election
make me to be one of the elect. I cannot afford to presume. For my part, I must
be diligent to make my “calling and election sure,” and follow on to know Him.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them.” And this gives me great
courage and confidence, as it was intended to do. But it also goes on to say,
“My sheep... follow me.” And therefore I must not presume to be one of the
elect sheep of God’s pasture if I am not hearing His voice, and seeking to
follow Him. Those who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion are not only called and
chosen, they are also faithful. Why must I be able to reconcile the seeming
opposites in God in order to believe what He says in either case? I, who am but
dust and ashes? Must I dilute the clear declarations of God’s Word in order to
make them acceptable in the minds of the people, or understandable in my own
finite mind? Can we not simply recognize that as yet we “see through a glass
darkly” and find joy in believing where we cannot understand, simply because
the infinite God has declared it?
God begins with the
ark of the covenant because it is His dwelling place, and He must begin from
Himself because He is God. When I come on the scene I hear His creative call,
and I obey and begin to serve Him. I have the feeling that I am drawing near to
Him, that I am being obedient and faithful, and all this is true. But sooner or
later I must confess: “Lord, You caused me to approach unto You! You called
me, and I came forth because it was a creative Word, just as when You called
light to come forth out of darkness in the beginning.” (See 2 Cor. 4:6.) No
mere invitation that! It was a sovereign, commanding, creative Word that I
heard. I yielded to His love, and I submitted to His dealings in my life, that
is true. But then, shall the snowflake boast of yielding and melting when the
sun sends forth its torrid rays upon the earth? Or shall the sands of the
seashore that are overwhelmed with the oceans rise up and say, “Well, after
all, I surrendered to the rising of the tides”? Or the flimsy reed that bends
and breaks when the winds blow upon it, is it going to boast, “But don’t
forget, I submitted to the winds that blew”? Or is the apostle Paul, smitten
down on the Damascus Road by a mighty lightning stroke from Heaven going to
boast, “I did my part, when God shone forth from heaven and blinded my eyes, I
fell off my horse”?
We do not really need to
understand all about it now, nor yet be troubled with what appears to be
conflicting areas of truth. One day we will know and understand that everything
God ever did was consistent with His justice and righteousness--and at the same
time consistent with His heart of pure love!
God begins with the
ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, because He begins from Himself, works
His way out toward Man, and draws him unto Himself. God wants us to know that “It
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil.
2:13). Let us not draw back from the truth because we are not always able to
reconcile it with God’s justice or with His love. But let us embrace the truth
because He declared it... and because we know and are assured that He will do
the thing that is absolutely right. Let us embrace the truth He declares, not
to fortify ourselves with arguments, but that we might enter into true rest.
For indeed this is why He makes the truth known to our hearts and minds.
“For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30). Let us start
with God. We miss so much if we start with the word “justified.” God begins
from Himself.
Foreknowledge. God knew His people
long before they were born-even from the foundation of the world. This
knowledge does not merely concern things He knew about them, or things they
would do; for God certainly knows everything and everybody, and all that they
will do, whether they be good or bad. But here God speaks of certain ones “whom
he did foreknow.”
Predestination. This comes next...
and it is not a frightening word. It simply means “to mark out beforehand.”
When I seek God and live for Him and seek to walk in His ways, I am not framing
my own destiny. I am rather fulfilling a destiny that was predetermined from
the foundation of the world. That is why “there remaineth therefore a rest [a
sabbath] to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). I know and believe that the pathway
that He has marked out for me is one that is good, and that it is intended to
bring me into full conformity to the image of His Son. My sins and faults and
failures, and the fleshly strivings of my carnal mind, all these are
inevitable; and I must not blame God for that. But I also know that He does not
intend to change His plan because of my weakness. He knows what I am made of.
And by the wonder of His grace and power He takes each failure, each mistake,
transforms them one by one into steppingstones along the divinely chosen
pathway in which I walk, giving “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
and the garment of praise for the spirit heaviness.”
Called. Once we recognize
that He foreknew and predestinated us, then we know for sure that His call was a
creative Word, and not a mere invitation. There is a cause behind the call that
reaches back and beyond the foundations of the world. And the cause is hidden
in His own heart of Love--He doesn’t tell us why He loved us so.
Justified. This is something we
become aware of as we embrace Jesus Christ as our Savior; and therefore we
might be inclined to think it all started here. But it all started away back
from the foundations of the world, in the heart of God.
Glorified. This is yet to come.
But it is used in the Aorist tense in the Greek; and I am told this can
indicate a once-for-all action in the past, or an action in the future that is
sure to come to pass! God is speaking from the mercy seat, and He says He has
glorified us! For He is looking at the finished product as One speaking from
the viewpoint of eternity, as One Who is well able to declare the end from the
beginning, because He is able to bring it to pass.
Contents Of The Ark
Three
different things were placed in the ark of the covenant, at different
intervals.
The Pot Of Manna
When the manna fell
in the wilderness, the people did not know what it was, and they asked one
another, “What is it?... What is it?” And so that is what they named it; for
“manna” simply means, “What is it?” Nobody in Israel could answer that question
adequately. All they were to know was this: it was bread from heaven. Jesus
alone could give the real answer: “I am the living bread which came down from
heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Jn.
6:5 1). But the pot of manna was to be kept as a memorial. No one ate of this
bread. And unlike the rest of the manna that fell around the camp, this bread
did not go into corruption, or waste away. Laid away in the ark of the covenant
it was to be kept throughout their generations. Israel had the manna-bread
daily as it fell from heaven.
The priests had
sabbath-bread which they ate weekly: the shewbread that had been on the table
in the holy place throughout the previous six working days, but not eaten until
the sabbath day.
But here in the holy
of holies was “hidden manna.” It was not available even to the priests. It was
not seen by any mortal eye. It is a type of the Living Christ. It is bread that
has been reserved for the overcomer. For Jesus said, “To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17).
Aaron’s Rod That
Budded
A controversy had
arisen in Israel over the authority of God’s priests. Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram, along with certain others, rose up against Moses and Aaron and charged
that they were exalting themselves above the others by keeping the priesthood
to themselves. It is awesome how God vindicated His chosen ones; for the very
ground next to the Tabernacle opened up and swallowed the gainsayers alive into
the pit of Sheol. The next day the people went on murmuring, complaining that
Moses and Aaron had slain the Lord’s people. Then God sent a great plague,
which was removed only when Aaron ran into their midst with a burning censer,
and stood between the living and the dead.
God always vindicates
His own in one way or another. But they must not seek to vindicate themselves,
as they do so often. Not so in the case of Moses and Aaron. They fell on their
faces before God when they were challenged, and God came forth on their behalf.
Not only so, but when the plague fell on the murmurers they sought God on their
behalf, as true priests of God, and stood between the living and the dead with
the burning censer. In type they were saying, “Lord, if our life is unto You as
sweet incense, then hear our prayer, and lay not this sin to their charge.” God
gives authority to His servants who least desire it, and there is no need on their
part to try to maintain it. They did not seek it in the first place, then why
should they try to uphold it? Invariably, we have observed, when men try to
grasp authority or to maintain the authority they have, they lose it. If God
gives it, then it is His responsibility to stand behind His chosen ones.
To settle the whole
matter Moses ordained that each of the tribes present their “rod” before the
Lord. Each rod was a dead, dry stick. Their name was to be clearly marked on
the rod, and the rod of Aaron was placed among them. They were all laid
together before the ark of the covenant, and the next morning they were brought
out and presented to the people. All the rods were the same as before, except
Aaron’s. Overnight it had brought forth buds, blossoms, and almonds. (See Num.
17:7-10.) (And let this be a reminder to God’s people who seem to have the
notion that God must have years and years and years to bring forth this
glorious and fruitful Church that He has promised. He can do it overnight if He
chooses to do so!)
The word “almond”
means “awaker,” because it is one of the first trees to bud in the time of
spring. It speaks of Christ in resurrection life, the firstfruits unto God,
risen and glorified at God’s right hand. But it also speaks of resurrection
life revealed in the mortal flesh of His people--in such as are planted
together with Him in His death. You will recall how Aaron’s rod was used to
swallow up the rods of the magicians in Egypt, and then it became an ordinary
stick again in his hands. Death is to be swallowed up in life. Just overnight
it became a fruitful branch, and brought forth almonds!
“O death, where is
thy sting?
O grave, where is thy
victory?”
The Tables Of
Testimony
These likewise were
laid away in the ark of the covenant. Moses had been up on the mount with the
LORD for 40 days and 40 nights, receiving the oracles of God and the pattern of
the Tabernacle. The sight of the glory of the LORD was “like devouring fire” as
the children of Israel beheld it; but Moses went right into the midst of the
cloud and talked “face to face” with God. Before he returned to the camp God
gave him two tables of stone, “written with the finger of God” (Ex. 31:18). But
in the meantime the children of Israel were getting restless, and gathering together
before Aaron they requested that he should make them “gods” which would go
before them, as Moses seemed to have disappeared. Aaron yielded to them and
made the golden calf, which the children of Israel began to worship. Though a
redeemed people because of the passover lamb which had been sacrificed in
Egypt, the idolatrous spirit of Egypt still clung to them. They had been
delivered out of Egypt, but Egypt had not been taken out of them; and this is
what the wilderness story is all about. As Moses returned from the mount with
the two tables of testimony in his hand, and saw their rebellion and idolatry,
he shattered the tables at the foot of the mountain. It speaks to us of a
broken law, the law which no man could keep, the law which was later to be called
“the ministration of condemnation” and “the ministration of death.” God knew
that the law would become this kind of ministration before He gave it, but man
in his self-confidence would never believe it until he proved it for himself.
And God had to show him, through the ministration of the law, the exceeding
sinfulness of sin and the weakness of the flesh, and demonstrate man’s
inability to respond to God’s holy requirements. Therefore the law accomplished
nothing for man except this (and of course this is important): it paved the way
for the manifestation of the New Covenant by revealing man’s helplessness and
depravity, and acting like a “schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Gal.
3:24).
Moses, as a true
priest of the Lord, interceded on behalf of the people, and God spared them,
judged them, and instructed Moses to lead them forward to the Promised Land.
For the task before him Moses sought the Lord for added grace and added glory.
“Shew me now thy way,” he pleaded; and again, “Shew me thy glory” (Ex. 33:13,
18). Once again Moses is called up into the Mount of God; and once again God
writes His holy law upon the two tables of stone that Moses took up with him.
But for these two tables of the covenant God had a different purpose in mind.
God does not really
repeat Himself--at least not in exactly the same way. Never does He do anything
the second time, in like manner as He did it the first time. Let us always bear
this in mind as we anticipate the restorations of God which He has promised in
His Word. When He restores that which was lost, it is restored on a higher and
more glorious level than before. Failing to recognize this can only lead to
frustration, as we vainly seek to restore some religious structure of the past
which God had used and then laid aside. God does not make a “second try,” and
then a “third try.” He is doing exactly as He had planned. Therefore the second
tables of the covenant did not mean that God was trying again. God was doing
something new. This time God commanded Moses to put the tables inside the ark
of the covenant. The ark was covered over with the mercy seat, behind the veil,
in the holy of holies, entirely beyond the reach or the view of a disobedient
and erring people.
God would instruct us
that in giving the old covenant He knew that man could not keep it; and that in
giving the new covenant, He Himself would be responsible to see that it was
fulfilled. He Himself would write the new covenant upon the hearts and minds of
His people. He took away the old covenant which demanded righteousness, and
brought in the new covenant which provided it. He did not establish the new
covenant so that man could sin and still be free from condemnation; but rather
that man might be made free from both the sin and the guilt of it, and might love
Him and serve Him on a far higher plane than was ever possible under the law.
For the full intent of the law was that man should love the Lord God with all
his heart and mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. And when this has
been fulfilled in the hearts of men, God is completely satisfied. God is
Love... and therefore He cannot be satisfied until His own nature and character
is formed within His people, who were created in His image. “For what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:34).
Show Me Thy Glory!
This was Moses’ cry
unto the Lord, as he earnestly sought God for the great task that lay before
him. “There shall no man see me, and live,” saith God (Ex. 33:20). Then God put
Moses in the cleft of the rock, covering him with His hand as He passed by, and
Moses only saw the “backparts” of God. He only saw Him as He had gone by. I do
not think Moses was content with this revelation, glorious as it must have
been. Seeing God as He passed by? The way He used to work? What He had done in
a past day? Many are content with that--but not Moses. And from what follows I
am sure that God must have granted him a still greater revelation of Himself,
but still falling short of the Glory that God had reserved for the New Covenant
people.
God says, “There
shall no man see Me, and live.” “Then, oh Lord, show us Your face! Let the time
past of our lives be sufficient to have accomplished the will of the flesh! Let
us see You in all Your glory--that in seeing You we might die, that in dying we
might live again, to walk with You in newness of life. Let us see You as our
dying substitute, taking upon Yourself our sins, and becoming ‘sin for us, who
knew no sin.’ Let us see You as our very own corruptible flesh, crucified and
cursed of God, that we might come forth in newness of life, henceforth to live
and move in the power of Your resurrection.”
The Glory Of Moses’
Countenance
The more conscious we
are of the presence and glory of God, the less conscious are we going to be of
ourselves. “Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with
him” (Ex. 34:29). The clear implication is that the skin of his face shone
because he was talking with God. This was conversation with God, not merely a
prayer of asking. I think it would help us much if we realized this twofold
aspect of true prayer. Too often we know exactly what we want, and are quick to
tell God what we want, without listening to His voice in the matter. And until
we come to the place where we have an ear that is open to His Word, and a heart
intent upon doing His will, all our praying amounts to little more than the
wailing at the broken-down walls of Jerusalem. True prayer is conversation with
God. We talk to Him, yes. But more important than this, He talks to us. God says
through the prophet, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing
thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the
LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight
thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father” (Isa. 58:13-14). We
are talking about God’s true sabbath, and the apostle Paul tells us what this
means. It is a ceasing from our own works, as God did from His when creation
was finished.
It is resting in His
plan and purpose for our lives, ceasing from our own fleshly striving, as God
brings forth new creation life within us, enabling us to honor Him, going in
His ways, doing His good pleasure, and speaking His words. (See Heb. 4:3-11.)
Unconscious of
himself, but conscious only of the presence and glory of God, “Moses wist not
that the skin of his face shone.” Aaron and the children of Israel saw the
glory of his countenance and they were afraid to draw near. As Moses sensed the
reason for their fear he called them. First Aaron and the rulers took courage,
and came near. Then a little later the children of Israel gathered together
fearfully, and Moses passed on to them the commandments that God had given him
on the mount. He spoke to them with unveiled face, the glory of the Lord
radiating from his countenance like beams of light. The glory was so great that
the Israelites could not look directly at Moses’ face with fixed attention, but
had to keep looking away, just as you would if you tried to gaze upon the
reflection of the sun in a mirror. “The children of Israel could not stedfastly
behold the face of Moses” or, “They could not fix their eyes on the face of
Moses.” The brilliance of the light was too much for their weak and sensitive
eyes, but still Moses did not try to hide his face in order to accommodate
them. Oh that God’s ministers might so talk with God that when they speak to
the people there will be a shining forth of the very presence of God! Without
that radiance and that splendor his message will not be effective. Oh, how we
must hold fast to the vision of His purpose for His people. That we come to that
place in God where we abide in Him, and He abides in us, and we minister only
in virtue of His abiding presence! For “he that speaketh of [or, from] himself
seeketh his own glory” (Jn. 7:18). But speaking out from the heart of God we
seek only His glory. And so Moses ministered to the people the words that God
had given him, with unveiled face, till something rather tragic began to
happen. The glory of God began to fade away! Immediately Moses sensed the
departure of the glory, though he was not aware of his shining countenance when
he came down from the mount. Quickly he veiled his face, as he realized the
beams of light were fading away. He must not continue to minister without that
presence! Nor could he permit the children of Israel to behold the departure of
the glory. We read, “Till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on
his face” (Ex. 34:33). But the word “till” is in italics, indicating that it
was not in the original, but added by the translators to make the sense clear.
A better rendering would be, “When Moses had done speaking with them, he put a
vail on his face.” This is the way it is rendered in other versions, and this
is the way Paul understood it, where he says, “Not as Moses, which put a vail
over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end
of that which is abolished” (2 Cor. 3:13). Clearly, Moses did not want the
people to see the end of the fading glory. He had spoken out from the presence
of God’s glory, and he did not want the people to see it fading away. It was a
transitory brightness, like the covenant he was mediating to them. The old
covenant was given with the shining forth of God’s glory, but soon it would
fade away. Paul very clearly is telling us that in the new covenant we have something
better than Moses was able to bring to the people of God.
Fadeless Glory!
As the apostle Paul
compares the old covenant with the new he arrives at this ultimate conclusion:
the old covenant had no glory at all, “by reason of the glory that excelleth.”
The former covenant was ushered in with glory, but was doomed to pass away;
while the latter covenant was not only ushered in with great glory, it was
destined to remain or subsist in glory. Let us remember this: it was not God’s
intention that the New Covenant would begin in a burst of glory, and then
dissipate with the apostasy of the last days! The old covenant was a
ministration of death and of condemnation; the latter is a ministration of
righteousness and life--a covenant that continues on in Glory! This comparison
causes the apostle to declare with great boldness: “We use great plainness of
speech, and not as Moses!” Not as Moses, who put a veil over his face so the
Israelites could not see the departure of the glory!
Moses was faithful in
God’s house as a servant. Nevertheless he was identified with a murmuring,
disobedient people. Because of the veil on their hearts the glory of God could
not penetrate their innermost being. We mentioned before that they had weak,
sensitive eyes. But the apostle Paul explained that it was really a spiritual
blindness. They lacked obedience. They lacked faith. They lacked vision. They
could not see the glory into which God would bring them; and the veil that
Moses put on his face was really because of the veil that was already there on
their own hearts.
Therefore let us
understand fully what God is saying. God does not--will not--hide His glory to
accommodate the fear, the lack of vision, the hardness of heart, and the weak
eyes of His people. His glory will shine forth, doing one of two things. Either
the people will gaze upon Him till they die to self-to self-will,
self-opinions, self-exaltation, self-seeking, and to their own selfish and dead
works--or they will put a veil over their hearts, denying themselves the
visitation that God intended them to have. But as surely as they do this they
will open up the way for God to visit another people. He will not hide His
glory to accommodate the fearful ones. He moves on with His people, and reveals
His glory to those who are tired of endless religious activity, and who long
for the sovereign moving of the Spirit of God in their lives.
Paul sums up the
situation by saying, “Their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth
the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament.” Moses had put
a veil over his own face, but Paul interprets this as meaning that the minds of
the people “were blinded,” and the veil was still on their hearts.
But let us not be too
quick in judging them and excusing ourselves because we are New Testament
people. I am afraid the same thing can be said of vast numbers of people who
hear the New Testament read every time they come together for worship:
“Until this day
remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the New Testament.” For
we must understand that the New Testament is not simply the completed canon of
scripture nor yet a system of Church ritual and activity. It is intended to be
a ministration of life and of righteousness. And if we do not minister life and
righteousness by the Spirit of God, we are simply making an old covenant out of
the new by denying ourselves the glory that God intended it should bring.
“Nevertheless, when
it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” Again the reference
is to the veil on Moses face: “When Moses went in before the LORD to speak with
him, he took the vail off, until he came out.” Then coming forth from God’s
presence with a renewal of the glory, Moses was able to minister unto the
people again as God intended. But when he sensed the departing of the glory,
“Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him
[the LORD]” (Ex. 34:35). (See also 2 Cor. 3.)
Where Is The Glory?
If we as God’s people
would but examine ourselves with an honest heart, we would soon discover just
how far short we have come with regard to the glory of God. Do we measure up to
the outshining of God’s glory such as we find in the life of Moses? I am not
speaking so much about the visible light that shone from his face, but of that
inner light that God has for us in the New Covenant. I am sure we have all
envied that marvelous experience that Moses had with the God of Israel. But
hear what Paul says, “Not as Moses!... Not as Moses!... Not as Moses!” Clearly
there is a ministration of the glory of God for us in this day of the New
Covenant that far exceeds what Moses had, as far as the glory of the sun
exceeds the glory of the moon!
Now the moon reflects
the glory of the sun, and is likened to the Church which reflects the glory of
Christ. But hear what the prophet says about the moon: “Moreover the light of
the moon shall be as the light of the sun...
Beloved, can we not
see what God has in mind for His people? A people who shall walk in the full
glory and radiance of the Sun of Righteousness Himself, the Lord Jesus! And
does this in any way detract from the glory of the exalted Christ? Ah, no!
Rather it means that as God’s glory increases in His people, that glory
redounds again and again to the glory of the exalted Christ, for the prophet
continues:
“And the light of the
sun shall be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day that the LORD
bindeth up the breach of his people, And healeth the stroke of their wound”
(Isa. 30:26).
Oh, that God’s people
might comprehend this glorious fact, that it is only when the people of the
Lord are walking in total union with Christ, and the glory of Christ shines
forth through them, that Christ Himself is truly glorified. Jesus was charged
with blasphemy and for robbing God of His glory because He claimed to live in
total union with the Father, and did only what the Father was pleased to do
through Him. The fact that Jesus performed miracles was no problem. They would
crown Him King for that! But when He said, “It is not I, but the Father who
doeth these things,” He got into all kinds of trouble. As surely as God’s
people begin to walk in union with Him who is pure Light, there is going to be
a radiating of that glory to those about us. And this will mean a releasing of
the glory of God to those who sit in darkness, and who long for deliverance;
but at the same time we can expect to receive a lot of scorn and ridicule from
those who love darkness rather than light.
“Dear Lord, when You
were crucified on Calvary, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the
top to the bottom. And even as the veil was torn asunder, the high priest as he
stood at the altar of incense could look within and see for himself that the
glory of God was not there, for the Glory had long since departed. Nevertheless
the dying priesthood of an old order continued to carry on with a religion of
dead works, and patched up the old veil that was rent because their own hearts
were veiled in blindness. But give us, oh Lord, perceptive hearts and minds,
that as we behold Your flesh torn asunder for us, we might see Your glory
revealed in the Temple not made with hands. Let us not draw back from beholding
Your glory, like Israel of old; but give us more grace to come to the Light,
that all the works of darkness within us might be dispelled by the radiance of
Your presence, even as the shadows of night dissolve at the breaking of the
day. May our whole being be flooded with Light, as we come under Your shadow to
abide, that there might be a complete transformation within and without; and
that men might know that Christ has indeed visited His people once again.”
Changed Into His
Image
“But we all, with
open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor.
3:18).
Paul tells us that
because the veil has been removed from our face we now reflect, as in a mirror,
the glory of the Lord one to another; and it is this that changes us into His
own image.
The Greek word for
“changed” in this passage is “metamorphoo,” and signifies a complete changing
of form. It is used on three different occasions in the New Testament: in the
above passage; in the account concerning the transfiguration of Christ (Matt.
17:2; Mk. 9:2); and in Romans 12:2 where it is translated “transformed.” This
is the word that men chose from the Greek to signify the change that takes
place in certain creatures, known as “metamorphosis.” And because of the great
spiritual truth that we discover in this phenomena, we want to examine it
further.
Metamorphosis
Sometime in the
middle of this century we read of a young Harvard scientist who had spent many
hours making various experiments with the silkworm, in an attempt to discover
the secret of metamorphosis. After some ten years of tedious experiments he
discovered the secret. By dividing the worm into segments, and watching to see
which sections went into metamorphosis and which remained the same, he
discovered that there were two hormone-producing centers in the worm, one in
the brain and the other in the thorax; and that these hormone centers caused
the worm to change form. Neither could cause metamorphosis working by itself,
but together they did. Briefly this is how he made his discoveries. Removing
the brains from the caterpillars he found that they would live on, but only as
worms. No change would take place. Then after implanting a bit of the brain
containing the hormone, metamorphosis would begin to take place. But if after
implanting the hormone in the brain the worm was immediately tied off in the
center, no change would occur. This proved that the worm could derive no
benefit from the hormone in the head alone; it had to work in conjunction with
the thorax. So if he allowed a certain amount of time to elapse after
implanting some of the brain before he tied the worm in the center, the worm
would go into full metamorphosis on both sides of the knot. By these and
similar experiments he effectively proved that two hormone centers were
involved in the process, and that it was the brain hormone that triggered the
thoracic center into action.
What a beautiful
illustration from nature of the wonderful truth concerning transformation! We
believe we are going to discover many wonderful truths in the world about us as
we go on with the Lord. In the early part of the human race this was the only
Bible men had, and yet God said He was clearly revealed in the things that He
had made. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Rom. 1:20). The
reason men do not see Him there now is because of the apostasy and the
blindness that has overpowered the human race through sin and unbelief.
From Worm To
Butterfly
David said of himself,
“I am a worm, and no man.” Such we are by nature--helpless, foolish,
earthbound, purposeless. We cannot change ourselves. But the Lord from Heaven
came into our nature and our likeness in order that He might bring about a
transformation into His nature and likeness. He does not change us by a
sovereign act of His will alone; for then He would be working counter to His
plan whereby He would have willing and obedient sons, desiring to do His will.
And yet we know, “Apart from Him, we can do nothing.” From Him therefore who is
the Head, there comes to us as members of His Body, that Divine hormone--that
Divine influence of the Spirit--which reacts upon and works in conjunction with
our hearts and minds, thereby bringing about a spiritual metamorphosis, a complete
changing of our whole being: spirit, soul, and body. This is God’s order in
restoring Man to His image, just as it was the order in which Man fell from
that image. For Adam continued to live on in the natural long after his spirit
had “died” as far as his relationship with God was concerned. So in redemption
God restores first our spirit, then our soul, and ultimately our body.
Therefore we hear the apostle praying for God’s people; for the perfecting of
their “spirit, soul, and body,” in that order (1 Thess. 5:23). Knowing the
corruption of this human body many would teach that there is no hope of coming
into the image and likeness of Christ until our bodies put on immortality. But
this is not so. Christ walked in perfect union with the Father, though dwelling
in a mortal body. But He was sinless, we are reminded. True... and that’s what
redemption is all about. He fully dealt with our sin at the Cross, and it is
the work of the Spirit of God within us to render the body “dead indeed unto
sin” and to make it to be the very temple of God in the earth. And until we are
eventually glorified God has made provision for a “quickening” of our mortal
body, by His Spirit that dwells within (Rom. 8:11). And so the groaning
continues within us that we might be “clothed upon” with our new house from
Heaven, and enter into immortality. But it is not God’s intention that we
continue to groan in the bondage of sin. It is a groaning rather to be released
from the limitation and humiliation of our mortality, that we might know and
experience the new life for the body that we have experienced, and are
experiencing, for our soul and spirit. God purposed it this way, that now in
the midst of our weakness and mortality we might be the fragile vessels He
needs as vessels for His glory. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that
the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7).
Transfigured By
Divine Light
“Jesus... was
transfigured before them” (Matt. 17:1-2).
“And as he [Jesus]
prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white
and glistering” (Lk. 9:29).
This was on the Mount
of Transfiguration. Again the word used is “metamorphoo.” The Son of man
appeared in Glory, and the three disciples with Him had a preview of the
Kingdom of God as Jesus had promised (Matt. 16:28). His raiment was not merely
“glistening.” That would imply light reflected from another source. But He
Himself was the Light, and His garments were “glistering.” It was light shining
out from within, like flashes of lightning, such as had radiated from the
countenance of Moses on another mountain many centuries earlier. Once again
Moses is there, along with Elijah, and in the midst of that glory they are
talking with Jesus about His imminent death on the Cross. It was not the
fullness of the Kingdom, but all the ingredients of the Kingdom of God were
there on that mountain. It was a foretaste of the Glory that will be revealed
when Christ comes again “to be glorified in the saints.”
Transfigured By A
Renewed Mind
“And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2).
Again the word is
“metamorphoo.” With hearts and minds yielded to God, these bodies in which we
dwell though still mortal are no longer unholy or unclean. By the application
of the blood of Christ and the washing of the Spirit they become a fitting
habitation for the Spirit Who is holy--and He comes to make us holy. This body
in which we dwell must be so presented to God that God may accept it as “a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable [well-pleasing] unto God.” By His sacrifice
and indwelling Spirit, and according to His promises, we are to “cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Paul tells us that in doing this, it is our
“reasonable” service; but he is referring to a priestly service, a worship
service to God. I know we have fallen far short of this, but it is there in the
New Covenant, and we must believe and anticipate this kind of holy living. And
having done this we are to expect a “metamorphosis” experience in the mind--a
transfiguring, transforming renewal of the mind. We can’t make it happen, I
know. But our Mediator is there in the heavens to minister the grace and power
and life to make it happen… if we are willing to submit to His dealings...
The Cocoon Of His
Dealings
God deals with His
own in a very individual and specific way; and therefore we are not to
criticize anyone who is doing God’s will in the realm of his personal walk with
the Lord. But we can be assured of this, if we really mean to go on with the
Lord, all of us are going to experience some very drastic changes in our lives
as He leads us from one degree of glory to another. God is far more concerned
about His people coming to know Him than He is in our doing many good works.
And the reason should be self-evident: for if we do not truly know Him, we can
never perform His works. But if we are truly willing to be changed, and become
what He wants us to become, we cannot fail to do what He would have us do.
The cocoon,
therefore, (whatever it may be in your life and mine) is not to be considered
as some strange thing that has happened, to hinder us in our quest for true
fulfillment. Rather it is a sure token that we are walking in His ways, seeing
Him, and seeing ourselves for what we really are: helpless, needy, confined,
limited, and ineffective in all our ways. We look for a new life, a life beyond
the veil of our own flesh, a life in the heavenly realm where we are in vital
union with Christ, and reigning in life by Christ Jesus. As a boy I was greatly
fascinated with the process of metamorphosis long before I knew there was such
a word. Every spring I would look for a furry worm, put him in a ventilated jar
along with some green leaves, and watch the process. What a thrill to watch him
two or three weeks later coming forth as a beautiful butterfly... a one-time
crawling worm, and now flying in the atmosphere above! Little did I know then
that in the days to come I myself would find myself in a cocoon designed by my
Creator--a cocoon of His own dealings. There is a labor to enter into His rest.
There is a struggle. But it is the struggle of life, a struggle that God
ordained. You cannot snip the cocoon with a pair of scissors when you see the
butterfly struggling to emerge. No matter how careful you are he will not be
able to fly... because it takes the struggle within the insect to pump the life
into his wings that will enable him to fly. Let us not seek to remove the
impediments from our lives or from the lives of God’s people that God
deliberately put there for our transformation.
Something else we
must consider. What causes the releasing of the hormones in the worm to set in
motion the process of metamorphosis? The scientist we mentioned discovered that
it was caused by the warmth of the spring season! The timing of God is so
important. God has “seasons” for whatever He would do; and when the season
arrives He prepares His people for what He has in mind. So we must not compare
ourselves with other men, nor yet with men of other generations, and feel that
we have all that God has in mind if we measure up to them. When we speak of a
life in God and a revelation of His glory that was not given to previous
generations, it is not that we are better, or have more favor with God, or more
knowledge of the scriptures. They served God according to the provision of
grace that He supplied for their generation. But now in view of the tremendous
onslaught of evil and corruption about us, God knows we need more of His grace
and more of His glory… and He is causing us to know it, that we might seek
after Him and find it.
So in this hour the
rays of the Sun of Righteousness are beaming forth upon His people who have
grown weary of the worm-life, and long to explore their inheritance in heavenly
places. Oftentimes men of this world are “wiser than the children of light.” We
have witnessed in our generation a new thing in the earth. Men have been able
to escape the power of earth--gravity and orbit about a new center, and even
walk on the moon, completely free from the pull of the earth. Yet the children
of light find it difficult to believe that God has sufficient power and wisdom
to thrust us forth from realms of flesh-bondage into realms of spiritual
liberation, where we too may find a new center and source of life in God alone.
But there is a people in the earth who believe that God is willing to do this
very thing... and to these God would speak words of great encouragement.
“Fear not, thou worm
Jacob,
And ye men of Israel;
I will help thee,
saith the LORD,
And thy redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel.
Behold, I will make
thee
A new sharp threshing
instrument having teeth:
Thou shalt thresh the
mountains,
And beat them small,
And shalt make the
hill as chaff.
Thou shalt fan them,
And the wind shall
carry them away,
And the whirlwind
shall scatter them:
And thou shalt
rejoice in the LORD,
And shalt glory in
the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 41:14-16).
Just a worm! Just an
insect! But it becomes a threshing machine, a new one... “having teeth”! In
vain are we going to put any “teeth” into our efforts to reach the nations and
gather in the harvest, until we partake of the changing, transfiguring,
transforming work of the Spirit of God in our lives. Think of it! God is going
to use a worm to thresh the mountains, and crush the powers of evil into dust.
The kingdoms of this world are to become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His
Christ.” And God says “all nations shall come and worship before Him” when His
judgments are made manifest in the earth! (See Rev. 15:4.)
The Cloud Covers The
Tent
In this writing we
are emphasizing the Presence of God and the Glory of God. There is much that we
have left unsaid concerning the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, but we must hurry
on. But first we must consider the Rule of the Cloud, which is the Rule of His
Glory.
The Tabernacle was a
portable structure. It does not have the meaning of a solid, permanent
structure. It was but a Tent--easily taken down and reassembled. A permanent
temple would come later when the kingdom was established. But here God would
teach His people that they must move on “from glory unto glory” until they
would come to their true rest in God.
The presence and
glory of God was really the whole purpose and meaning of God’s temples... and
it must be so in our Church gatherings today. Without His presence there is no
purpose for a temple, no purpose for us gathering together. Therefore we must
learn to diligently follow the Rule of the Cloud. “As long as the cloud abode
upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents... whether it were two days, or
a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining
thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but
when it was taken up, they journeyed.” (See Num. 9:15-23.)
The Rule Of The Cloud
The walk in the
Spirit is entirely contrary to much of our present-day teaching concerning
ministry and service for the Lord. Everywhere we find that people are being
encouraged to move out for God, and if they do God will follow them and bless
their efforts. You take the initiative, and God will be there to establish and
confirm. But this is contrary to the Rule of the Cloud, and it is contrary to
the Law of the Spirit. God must give direction, He must go before. And as we
follow, we will discover His glory will also follow after...
“For ye shall not go
out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God
of Israel will be your rereward” (Isa. 52:12). In other words, you cannot rush
ahead of God-that would be “haste.” Nor can you run away from some job you do
not like, some disagreeable circumstance that you want to get rid of--that
would be “flight.” He must go on ahead and open up the way. He must also follow
after to confirm and establish. He gives clear direction, you follow Him, then
He gives positive confirmation.
The Rule of the Cloud
must have seemed quite ridiculous to surrounding tribes and peoples, but this
did not matter. We are inclined to become very sensitive to criticism if God’s
ways lead us contrary to reason and logic. Because of this many simply refuse
to move on with God once they have discovered a quiet resting place in their
religious wilderness--a nice little oasis, a beautiful Elim of God’s provision.
They know God led them there, so there they will remain. But when the Cloud
moves on we must pull up our stakes and move forward with Him.
It will not always be
quite that way. For when the ark of the covenant moved into Solomon’s Temple
the staves were withdrawn, and the long, tiring wilderness journeying came to
an end. Of course there is still a going on with God even in that realm, as we shall
discover. But the blight of the wilderness becomes a thing of the past, and the
experiences of life which were intended of the Lord to unsettle us, and shake
us, and cause us to move forward in God, have fulfilled their purpose that
henceforth we might abide in Him-joined unto the Son, as the Son is joined unto
the Father.
The Rule of the Cloud
is the rule of liberty. But it is a rule. Many would mistake the bondage of the
flesh for the liberty of the Spirit. They boast of their freedom in God--freedom
to move out in ministry, freedom to activate their ministry in any way they
want to--because God has enriched them with gifts and graces and talents of
various kinds. But we will never know true liberty in the Spirit until we come
under subjection to the Rule of the Cloud. For in Christ Jesus the only way
that is acceptable to God and liberating to our spirit is the rule of New
Creation Life: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision [neither religious tradition, or the lack of it], but a new
creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and
mercy, and upon the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:15-16).
THE TABERNACLE OF
DAVID
“And they brought in the
ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the Tabernacle that
David had pitched for it” (2 Sam. 6:17).
“In that day will I
raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches
thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of
old” (Amos 9:11).
Here we have the
account of the erection of the Tabernacle of David; and then the prophecy
concerning its restoration in the latter days, after God’s judgments upon the
apostate nation had brought her to desolation. But before we consider this, we
must briefly trace the events in Israel leading up to this apostasy and the
gradual deterioration of true worship in the Tabernacle which Moses had built.
The Glory Of Israel
Fades Away
When the children of
Israel had finally come into possession of Canaan, and subdued the land before
them, they set up the Tabernacle of the congregation at Shiloh. Here it
remained until the time of the prophet Samuel, a period of approximately 300
years. This was the period of the judges. Not for long did Israel enjoy the
liberty, and the freedom, and the fruitfulness of the Land of Promise. God had
warned them repeatedly that if they did not utterly destroy the heathen nations
of the land and annihilate their idolatrous altars, they would be as pricks in
their eyes and thorns in their sides, and their gods would become a snare to
them. This actually happened. For although the land was subdued before them;
God deliberately left pockets of resistance here and there to “prove” Israel,
whether or not they would hearken unto His voice and obey Him fully. (See Judg.
3:1.) They tried coexistence where God commanded utter destruction of their
enemies. Consequently their enemies, subdued but not destroyed, became their
masters. There is no neutral ground in this spiritual warfare against the
world, the flesh, and the Devil. We may argue that we cannot be completely
victorious as long as we are living in this flesh, and consider that the
subjugation of the old nature and the old life is all that God requires. But
this kind of coexistence gradually gives way to defeat; and the subdued becomes
the subduer. In allowing this struggle to continue within our nature God is not
seeking to deny us our heritage, but rather to bring forth a more earnest
longing for that abundant life in the Spirit that He longs to bring us into.
We do not know how
long the cloud of glory rested on the Tabernacle. But we have good reason to
believe that it gradually faded away, like the glory that faded away from the
countenance of Moses. The nation that God had called forth to be unto Himself
“a peculiar people” soon lost their “peculiarity,” and became very much like
the nations which they had displaced. The people and the priesthood alike had
become defiled. Eli was concerned; but he did not know what to do about it. At
least in his concern for God’s house he did not seem to be prepared to take any
drastic action that might have improved the situation. God had to reprove him
for his negligence: “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering,
which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to
make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my
people?” (1 Sam. 2:29). This fear of division, of disruption in the status quo,
of losing favor with the “sons” in the ministry, is something very real in the
Church today; and unless the situation is remedied, there will be eventual
disaster. But there is a “Samuel” people being prepared of the Lord in this
hour. And they know that when an old religious order is in the process of decay
and dissolution God always has a new order in the making... one that will arise
out of the dust and ashes of the old, but fresh and new from the hand of God.
A New Priesthood
Arises
When the priesthood
of Eli had come to ashes, God brought forth a new priest by the name of Samuel,
one who had ministered in the very presence of Eli and in subjection to him, In
the bitterness of her soul God’s chosen Hannah had “asked for” Samuel, and God granted
her request. His very name Samuel means “asked for.” “And the word of the LORD
was precious in those days; there was no open vision” (1 Sam. 3:1). In other
words, a clear Word, a real vision from the LORD, was a rare thing. But it was
the prelude to a new day when Samuel would arise as the oracle of God to His
people. There is a Hannah in the earth today. She cries out in the distress of
her spirit for a son... a “manchild” ...a people who will come forth in the
full image and likeness of Christ out of a dying religious order, and who will
be God’s oracle to a confused Church, and a world in need. They do not panic in
the hour of panic. They are a people with eternity in their hearts, and they
are prepared to wait for the Lord to do what He has purposed. Nor do they
stagger at the tremendous task that lies before them, as they see God’s plan
beginning to unfold. They know it is not their task, but the Lord’s. Not their
battle but the Lord’s. And they simply desire to move according to God’s time
and according to His ways.
As things continued
to get worse and worse in Israel, God’s plan and purpose was drawing closer and
closer to fulfillment. This is the way God always works; but only those who
understand God’s ways are able to recognize it. Israel was under constant
attack by the Philistines. God had delivered them many times, but the hour had
come for God to execute swift and certain punishment because of their iniquity
and the iniquity of the priesthood. A man of God had warned Eli that this would
happen; but along with the warning he also promised: “I will raise me up a
faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in
my mind: and I will build him a sure house” (1 Sam. 2:35). The immediate
promise was that Samuel would arise--a true and faithful priest. But there was
to be a far greater fulfillment when, in the fullness of time, Christ Himself
would come forth, a true and faithful Priest, as well as a righteous King.
As the Israelites
suffered defeat in battle against the Philistines, they took counsel and
decided to bring forth the ark of the covenant from the Tabernacle in Shiloh to
save them from their enemies. Was it not the ark of God that struck fear into
their enemies as Israel fought the Lord’s battles in times past? It was one
last, desperate attempt to save themselves from disaster. No greater calamity
could have befallen them. They were not only defeated, but the ark of God was
captured by the Philistines, and taken into the house of their fish-god Dagon.
Besides this, Hophni and Phinehas, who carried the ark into battle, were slain
by the Philistines. The heirs to the priesthood were cut off in one sudden
stroke. When Eli heard the fateful news he fell backwards and broke his neck
and died; while the wife of Phinehas, shocked at the death of her husband and
the capture of the ark, gave immediate birth to Ichabod, whose name was
destined to become a byword in Christendom throughout all her generations… for
his name means, “The Glory has departed” or, “Where is the Glory?”
But God plagued the
Philistines because of the ark in their midst, and they finally had to send it
back to the camp of Israel. It was finally brought to the house of Abinadab in
Kirjath-jearim, where it remained perhaps a hundred years, throughout Samuel’s
judgeship, Saul’s reign, and well into the reign of David. (The 20 years
mentioned in 1 Samuel 7:2 does not seem to refer to the ark, but to the period
of time that elapsed before Israel began to seek the Lord and to lament before
Him because of their waywardness.)
Give Us A King!
God was in the
process of judging the old order in preparation for the new. He had dealt with
the priesthood. God always deals with the priesthood before He deals with the
kingdom. What about the kingdom?
Israel, as we have mentioned,
had become like the heathen nations which they were to subdue. There seemed to
be just one thing lacking; and so they came to Samuel and cried, “Give us a
king, that we may be like the nations.” This greatly displeased Samuel, and it
greatly displeased the Lord. Had not God planned a king for them? True, His
original promise to them was that they were to be a “kingdom of priests.” But
they wanted a king so they could be “like the nations,” whereas the kingdom God
had in mind would make them very much unlike the nations.
It seems that God
will usually permit man to go his own way--to try and fail, and to learn the
hard way--that out of man’s failure God Himself may be glorified. And so the
Lord went along with their cries, picked for them a king that He knew would be
very much to their liking, but he was not a man after His own heart. Then why
did He not give them the kind of king that He knew they needed? Because they
had become an ordinary people like the nations about them--self-seeking,
self-centered, and wayward from God. And God had no alternative but to give
them a king that would be very much compatible with their own hearts. For
whether we have a democracy or not, God is still Sovereign over all, and He
continues to set in office the man He has chosen. Not because such a one is a
man after His heart, but because such a one is compatible with the heart of the
nation; and who therefore will not, or cannot, make and enforce laws that would
curtail the crime and the corruption that abounds in a sinful, rebellious
nation. (We need to be reminded, however, that a people walking with God can,
through prayers and intercessions, change the hearts and minds of rulers to do
His will). For “the king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of
water: he turneth it whithersoever he will” [Prov. 2 1:1].)
With the anointing of
Saul as king new hope was born in the hearts of the people; and of course for a
season all seemed to go reasonably well. But the facts are there in the
scripture for us to read: Saul walked down the pathway of disobedience. He
“spared Agag and the best of the sheep” when God required utter destruction. He
“forced himself” and yielded to the wishes of the people, when God had
commanded otherwise. (And this explains very clearly why a democratic society
and a democratic form of government cannot establish righteousness in the land,
when the inhabitants of the land are in sin and rebellion against God. In the
final analysis the leader must yield to the wishes of the people or he will be
thrown out of office. This is what democracy is all about.)
A New King In
Preparation
Again, let us observe
how wonderfully our God works to fulfill His purposes. Just as God had raised
up the prophet Samuel in the house of Eli to take Eli’s place when His
judgments were poured out on the priesthood, so now God would raise up David in
the house of Saul to take Saul’s place when God’s judgments fell on the
kingdom. And then the priesthood having been judged and purged, and the kingdom
judged and purged, David comes on the scene as a new “king-priest” to establish
a priestly kingdom in the land. This is what God had in mind from the
beginning, and He announced His intention to Moses. It was human failure that
prevented it from happening then. But in the hour of human failure God
continues to move in the earth to the eventual fulfillment of all that was
originally in His heart and mind.
Of course we are not
trying to say that the “royal priesthood” was established in any sense of
fullness in the life of David. But in type--and in a limited degree--David was
prophet, priest, and king in Israel. And in the fullness of time his greater
Son would sit and rule upon David’s throne, a King-Priest forever “after the
order of Melchizedek.”
We all know the story
concerning the anointing of David as king of Israel, how one by one the sons of
Jesse passed by the aging prophet, only to be rejected. Finally they had to
send to the fields to bring in the one that Jesse had not even considered
eligible for the office. And when the lad David came in, God said to Samuel,
“Arise, anoint him: for this is he” (1 Sam. 16:12). A new king for Israel!
Anointed by the prophet Samuel! And anointed by the Spirit of the LORD “from
that day forward”! Yes, but not in a position to rule and reign as yet. A man
like Saul can be chosen, anointed, acclaimed as king, and immediately begin to
do exploits for the nation. Not so with David. Yes, he had a very notable
victory over the Philistines, and served under Saul for a while with great success.
But he must go through many deep waters and dark valleys and suffer much
persecution, frustration, and perplexity, before he could be entrusted to rule
and reign over Israel.
Two anointed kings in
Israel--Saul and David! The contest is on, and it grows more and more bitter as
the days go by. But let us understand the nature of the contest. It was very
much one-sided. Saul out of envy and jealousy was out to trap David and slay
him. But David’s only concern was to wait for God, do God’s will, and save Saul’s
life. Let us learn from the spirit of David... for it would become his “key” to
the throne. He would not seek to uphold or vindicate his own office. He would
simply believe what God had promised, and let God bring it to pass in His own
way. He would show mercy to Saul, as Saul scoured the land to find him and try
to kill him. He would remember God’s past mercies, and His faithfulness,
thereby drawing strength for new battles. He would praise and glorify God in
all circumstances. He would wait on the Lord, and let God work everything out
in His own way, in His own time. God help us all to learn how to use this
wonderful “key.” We only keep what we give away. We only find what we lose. We
only save the life that we are prepared to lay down.
David In His
Rejection
In the book of Psalms
we have many that pertained to David in this period of his distress and
rejection. Anointed as king of Israel, but hunted and hounded by an angry Saul,
he finally fled to the cave of Adullam where he hoped to find a place of
refuge. There it was that he poured out his heart to the Lord, and cried for
mercy:
“I poured out my
complaint before him;
I shewed before him
my trouble.
When my spirit was
overwhelmed within me,
Then thou knewest my
path.
In the way wherein I
walked
Have they privily
laid a snare for me.
I looked on my right
hand, and beheld,
But there was no man
that would know me:
Refuge failed me; no
man cared for my soul” (Ps. 142:24).
Many other psalms
were written by him as he went through trial and sorrow, and deep
heart-searchings; and these songs were incorporated into the scripture and
became a part of Temple worship in all generations to come-not only in Israel,
but now in the Church. True ministry is always rejected before it is
recognized. It must be this way, because without rejection there can be no
channel for grace to flow forth, no room for the spirit of the dove and the
spirit of the lamb... which God always requires for the outflow of grace from
His own heart. True ministry is conceived in the womb of suffering, born in
travail and sorrow, and cradled in a cross.
But David would not
always be alone in his distress. It may seem that way at times, for indeed
there is the lonely walk for those who would seek to walk with God. But as we
go on with the Lord we are going to discover fellowship with others who
likewise have known rejection and suffering as they walked with God and learned
His ways. So now there is fellowship because of the Cross.
“And every one that
was in Distress,
And every one that
was in Debt,
And every one that
was Discontented,
Gathered themselves
unto him;
And he became a
captain over them:
And there were with
him about four hundred men” (1 Sam. 22:2).
These men were
genuinely sincere in their loyalty to David, and they had caught the vision of
the kingdom. But they needed to learn discipline; and they would learn it in
company with David. They had to learn God’s ways. They had to learn that an
open door was not necessarily a call for action. For when Saul was sleeping
soundly because of a heavy drowsiness that God had put him under, they
naturally assumed it was for the purpose that David might take the kingdom now.
They urged immediate action, and quickly volunteered to rid David of Saul if he
would let them. They did not know that with David’s key they could open doors
that no man could close, and close doors that no man could open. What about
this, people of God? Why do we get alarmed when a nation announces that no more
missionaries are to be allowed into their country? Can God not work in that
country, with doors closed to missionaries from abroad? Jesus still has the
“Key of David”! And it is still available to a people who will take His yoke
upon them, and learn of Him.
The Ark Brought Back
What we have said
thus far, of course, is to bring us to the place where we can appreciate what
God had in mind concerning His House. What about the ark of God? The place of
His Glory? The place of His Rest? Truly the Lord longs to return to His people;
but there must be that very needful preparation wrought within their hearts and
lives, or He cannot rest in their midst. God said on one occasion, “I will go
and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face:
in their affliction they will seek me early” (Hos. 5:15). He longs to return to
us far more than we long to return to Him. But He does not come unwanted,
undesired, unsought, unappreciated. For He would return to us that He might
dwell with His own in full communion and fellowship for the delight of His own
heart.
How then shall we
bring back the ark of God into our midst? The same question has been raised
time and time again in the history of God’s people. Revival! Restoration!
Renewal! Can we have it today? How? Where? When? All kinds of movements and
schemes have been devised. Or men will search out the records of Church
history, and try to duplicate a method that seemed to work back then, only to
discover that nothing will work except as we move with God, and seek to know
His way and His intention for His people in this present hour. We are not able
to initiate anything. Once we discover God’s intention then we must seek Him
earnestly that He might show us His way.
The Wrong Way
The natural thing to
do then, of course, was to make a new cart and bring back the ark. Invariably
when God begins to stir the hearts of His people we find men or women binding
themselves together in some kind of a structure to make a “new cart” to carry
the glory of God. A lot of excitement follows, and God’s people rejoice in the
knowledge that God is once again visiting His people. But suddenly something
goes wrong, and there is perplexity. “Just what happened anyway?... Where did
it go wrong?” The fact is that God never ordained the “cart” to begin with.
Certainly God will bless His people as they open their hearts to Him, but they
very often fail to realize that He blesses them in spite of the “cart,” in
spite of the new structure, in spite of the new movement, and not because of
it. The “new cart” is man s device to keep the move of the Spirit steady--free
from error, free from false doctrines--and to keep the ark of His presence and
glory from going on the rocks. “Uzzah and Ahio” who were the sons of Abinadab
“drave the new cart” (2 Sam. 6:3). They were quite knowledgeable about the ark.
After all it had lain in their father’s house for many, many years. “Uzzah”
means “Strength,” and “Ahio” means “His brother.” They could give the proper
watch-care and guidance that the ark required. They did not profess to be
bringing back the ark, the oxen were doing that. They were just strong, able,
qualified men of God who knew exactly what to do if things went wrong. And so
when the oxen stumbled near Nachon’s threshing floor the ark was shaken and the
strong man put forth his hand to steady it, and God smote him dead. Invariably
this happens when men invent new carts, new fellowships, new movements--or
whatever-to keep the move of the Spirit from falling on the rocks. Some strong
man is right there on hand to keep things steady when the way gets rough, and
this leads to disaster. God is very jealous for His own glory. And no man can
touch it, no matter how great he is, without bringing disaster into the midst
of God’s people. We may all point our fingers at some great man, some great
ministry, and give our version as to how he went wrong. But it is not always
his fault. It is often the fault of the people who idolize him. It is often the
fault of the religious system that men feel they must try to uphold. And it
happens over and over again because we are ignorant as to how exceedingly
jealous God is for His own glory.
God hasten the day
when God’s people will come to the solemn realization that the Spirit of God is
in the earth today as the Representative and Vicar of Christ in the Church, and
that He must have His due Lordship in the midst of His people. True He raises
up leaders from among the people; but we must know that their leadership is
only valid by virtue of the Anointing they carry, nothing more and nothing
less. “Uzzah” means “Strength.” It is invariably the strength of human
leadership, not their weakness, that extinguishes the spiritual flame that had
been kindled by the presence of the Lord. God’s power is made perfect in man’s
weakness--not in his strength. God does not require the strong, dynamic,
charismatic personality. He requires one who like Jacob of old has been robbed
of his natural strength by the touch of the hand of God, and who then arises
from his confrontation with the Lord a different man, bearing a different
name--“Israel.” Israel means “Power with God.” And from that day on he bears
about in his body the indelible mark of his confrontation with the Lord of
Glory. From that day forward Israel walks with God with faltering step because
of “the sinew that shrank,” a constant reminder to him of that day--or rather
that night--when Almighty God crippled him by the touch of His mighty hand.
David was afraid of
the LORD because of this sudden, drastic action on God’s part, and he left the
ark in the house of Obededom the Gittite. There it remained for three months.
But a strange thing happened. The LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all
that he had, because of the presence of the ark of the covenant. David had to
seek the LORD to discover just what went wrong… and why. Many of God’s people
have been discouraged and dismayed when they have witnessed some strange
calamity take place in the Church, where once they had witnessed God’s
blessing. (But seldom do they call a halt to it all, and seek God for answers;
they just make another new cart and carry on as if nothing happened.) Usually
we are going to discover that it is a case of human leadership who, because of
their great office and gifts, feel they have a mandate to supervise and control
and exercise lordship over the people of God because of that office.
After seeking God
David soon found out the reason for the calamity. He discovered that the ark
was to be carried upon the shoulders of the Levites, and in no other way. David
acknowledged, “The LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him
not after the due order” (1 Chron. 15:13). When are we going to learn that God
does not originate new carts, new movements, new fellowships, new
organizations, every time He would do a certain work in the earth? It is really
man’s attempt to keep things under control... to keep the revival from falling
apart... to keep the doctrines pure… to keep the people from getting scattered…
but in the long run it hinders what God is doing, and brings it to a halt.
The Credentials Of
True Ministry
The ark of God on the
shoulders of anointed men? A sturdy cart on wheels, and a well-organized
program, would seem to be much safer. Oxen are much stronger than men. And
Uzzah the strong man can keep things in order. Now the “shoulder” is the place
of strength. And the shoulders of the priests would speak of men who are strong
because of their priestly character--the priestly anointing they carry and
their priestly garments of righteousness. This is God’s way... God’s only way.
“Lord, bring us to the place where we learn to walk with You, and abide in Your
Anointing.” For we need no other credentials for ministry in the House of God,
apart from the Anointing... the Anointing that comes down upon us from the
garments of our High Priest in the heavens, Who has been “anointed with the oil
of gladness above His fellows.” There is no question about it, the ark of the
covenant was heavy. The mercy seat on the top of it was made of solid gold, one
of the heaviest of all metals. But God’s priests cannot delegate their burdens
to others. The real problem is simply this: God’s people, and the ministry in
particular, are inclined to take burdens upon themselves that God did not
authorize. God’s intention is that each member of the Body of Christ should
find their place of ministry in the Body, rather than delegating their task to
some strong man. We are “members in particular,” and each member must find his
or her place in the yoke of Christ. As we abide with the Lord Jesus in His
yoke, the burden will be one we can carry on our shoulders; for Jesus said, “My
yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
A Resting Place For
The Ark
Now we must notice
something very important. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness that Moses built was
certainly God’s order for a season. It was still functioning, it was not in
ruins. At this particular time it was “in the high place that was at Gibeon” (1
Chron. 16:39). Burnt offerings were still being offered upon the brazen altar,
and the priests of the LORD were still attending to its various functions. God
was not finished with it yet... nor would He be for many years to come. Zadok
the priest and his brethren, men chosen of God, were still ministering there
before the ark. But the ark of the covenant was not restored to the holy of
holies of the old Tabernacle. If we are going to be spared the frustration of
trying to restore something that has served its purpose and belongs to a dying
order, we must recognize that God has new things in mind. And that He moves
onward and forward and upward, enlightening the path of the just with the Light
of a new day--a light “that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” He
would bring us back to the old pathway, true, but that pathway leads on and on
to new things in God. He wants to bring us back to “first love,” when we have
drifted from the right course, true. But He is not in the least interested in
renewing some old religious structure that He may have seen fit to use in days
gone by. God has an entirely new order for His people.
A New Tent On Mount
Zion
Because this was a
new day, David pitched a new Tent on Mount Zion for the ark of God. Then the
ark was brought forth out of the house of Obededom with shouting and great
rejoicing. God was returning to His people, and this time the people were
prepared! They had discovered God’s way! David “danced before the LORD with all
his might” (not in an attempt to bring back the ark but because it was back;
and we have no record that David ever did this again). It wasn’t the dance or
the shout that brought back the ark... and in vain are we going to restore the
glory of God to His Temple with any of these methods. What David rejoiced in
was the presence and glory of God... and in the days to come there would be one
thing only that He desired, and that was to sit before the LORD in the Tent of
David, and inquire in His Temple.
David danced before
the LORD, clothed upon with the garments of a priest: a linen robe girded with
a linen ephod. Then the ark was brought into the Tent of David and set in the
place that David had prepared for it, there on Mount Zion. Never again did the
ark of God enter the courts of the old Tabernacle that Moses had built. God had
found for Himself a new Resting Place. He ever leadeth His people on from glory
unto glory.
But why Mount Zion?
Why not the hill of Gibeon where the Tabernacle had been pitched, and which had
been built by the great lawgiver according to the pattern that he had seen on
the Mount of God? This was no mere whim of David’s. David was a prophet, and God
had given him the direction to do this. He had presumed before, and made a cart
for the ark. And certainly it would have been utter presumption to put the ark
in a new Tent, rather than in the old one on Gibeon if God had not given him
clear direction for this. But this was to be God’s new order.
“For the LORD hath
chosen Zion;
He hath desired it
for his habitation.
This is my rest for
ever:
Here will I dwell;
for I have desired it.
I will abundantly
bless her provision:
I will satisfy her
poor with bread.
I will also clothe
her priests with salvation:
And her saints shall
shout aloud for joy” (Ps. 132:13-16).
From this time
forward, even to the consummation of God’s purposes in the book of Revelation,
Zion is established as the place of God’s throne, as well as the place of His
temple. The kingdom of David has become eternal in nature. David may die, but
his greater Son and His many brethren will rule and reign forever on His
throne. The natural Zion comes to desolation, and the natural Jerusalem goes into
“bondage with her children,” as Paul tells us (Gal. 4:25); but the real Zion of
God and the heavenly Jerusalem will forever be known as the “City of the Great
King.”
Just a
Tent (with the Ark of God’s Presence inside).
Why Mount Zion?
Because for the first
time in God’s dealings with His people He has succeeded in bringing into union
with Himself and into His Temple, a man who is both king and priest in Israel.
Not in any sense of fullness, that is true, but in seed-form we have in David a
man who is both king and priest; and in David’s Tent a structure that is both
Throne and Temple. This is what God is after, and therefore Zion takes on
eternal significance. He must have a people in whom He can dwell in the
fullness of priestly fellowship and communion, and through whom He can reveal
Himself to the nations in kingly authority and power. And so the original
kingdom of David becomes the seed-plot for the unfolding of the Messianic Royal
Priesthood. And in the days to come we will discover that Zion will take on
still further enlargement as God moves on and on with His people.
But before we get
into that we must consider the original meaning of Zion in greater detail, for
it is only then that we shall understand the ultimate meaning that God had in
mind. We do not do away with the real meaning of scripture when we seek to
understand its spiritual and heavenly counterpart. The exact opposite is the
truth: for God’s plan from the beginning was to bring us out of the earthly and
into the heavenly... out of the carnal and into the spiritual… out of old
creation life and into New Creation life. God’s order is first “that which is
natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Cor. 15:46). And His plan is
to lead us from the one into the other. In so doing the earthly is neither
neglected, or ignored, or destroyed. It is rather swallowed up by the heavenly,
made immortal by the new life, and made eternal because of its deliverance from
decay, death, and corruption.
What about the
earthly Zion, the earthly Jerusalem, the earthly Israel? God’s plan for them is
not a lesser glory than for us as Gentiles. He wants to bring them also into
the better things--the heavenly Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy nation.
There is “one hope, one faith, one baptism”--not two. At the Cross the “wall of
partition was broken down” forever, never to be rebuilt, so that natural Israel
along with natural Gentiles--redeemed by His grace--might together enjoy the
new and abundant life that there is in Christ. Will there ever come about true
peace in natural Israel? Yes, but only when they come into this new way, and
put on this “one new man” in Christ Jesus. The apostle tells us that this is
how God brought peace in the age-long conflict between Jew and Gentile, and
that it was through the blood of Christ that God would “make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace.” (See Eph. 2:13-19.)
The Original Meaning
Of Zion
Zion was a small
mountain ridge in the southern part of Jerusalem with valleys below on the east
and west, and therefore a natural fortress in itself, and in a strong
defensible position. And so when David and his men came against the city in the
early part of his reign, he was confronted with the scoffing of the Jebusites
who had taken control of this area. Now Jerusalem is believed to have been the
“Salem” over which Melchizedek ruled as king-priest many hundreds of years earlier,
in the days of Abraham. The word “Salem” means “peace,” but the land is now
occupied by the Jebusites. Jebus means “trodden down”--the City of Peace is now
“trodden down.” The city that was once ruled over by a king-priest under God is
now in the hands of one of the abominable nations of Canaan which Israel failed
to drive out. They had been subdued, but as we mentioned before, the “subdued”
became the “subduer.” And now David comes against the Jebusites with his band
of men, much to the contempt of the Jebusites. They considered themselves to be
very secure in their lofty heights, and they scoffed at David. “Even the blind
and the lame will drive you away” they scoffed (2 Sam. 5:6). But David and his
men ascended the difficult, rocky watercourse that came from Zion, and came
upon the Jebusites with a surprise attack and captured the hill for himself.
Here he set up his own fortress, and called it the City of David. From here on
his kingdom became continually greater. “And David perceived that the LORD had
established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his
people Israel’s sake” (2 Sam. 5:12).
A Royal Priesthood On
Mount Zion
Now when the Ark was
brought back to Jerusalem, David pitched a Tent for it here on Mount Zion and
prepared a place for the ark in the middle of the Tent (2 Sam. 6:17). This is
just about all we know about the structure of the Tabernacle of David... no dimensions...
no explanation as to how it was made... the kind of fabric that was used... no
mention of candlestick, altar of incense, brazen laver, brazen altar, cedar
boards or staves. God purposely ignored all this, for He was in the process of
establishing a “Home” in Man, and these things were quite insignificant. True,
when the Temple of Solomon was built, there was the utmost extravagance in
gold, and silver, and precious stones, and carvings, and tapestry, and the
like. But Zion in its original meaning has taken on eternal significance as the
place of a Royal Priesthood, where man comes into God’s presence in priestly
communion, and then has the ability to go forth unto the nations with royal
power and authority.
David was not really
a priest, not by birth and lineage. He was of the tribe of Judah, not from the
tribe of Levi. Yet as a forerunner of his greater Son who would reign as a
King-Priest on David’s throne, we find even David exercising many priestly
prerogatives, making him to be a fitting type of the Messiah Who is Prophet,
Priest, and King. Let us consider some of these priestly prerogatives.
He Partook Of
Priestly Bread And Weapons
When David was
fleeing from Saul he came to Ahimelech the priest, and asked for bread and a
sword. The priest was somewhat fearful, but reluctantly gave him “holy bread”
and the sword of Goliath, that somehow had been confiscated from David many
years before. The food was strictly “priestly bread,” yet David and his men ate
of it; and this act was cited by the Lord as something commendable, even though
it was admittedly “unlawful.” (See Matt. 12:34.) The sword of Goliath at that
time was “wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod”--and this was a priestly
garment. (See 1 Sam. 21:6-9.) The sword with which he had slain Goliath had
been preserved for him in the house of God. It wasn’t really lost, but perhaps
it often seemed that way to David. If we are walking with God, let us not fear
when we notice former aspects of power and authority slipping away from our
grasp. Be quick to let them go. Perhaps the Lord sees that we are not really
prepared to use them as we ought, and they will mean much more to us when the
time comes for God to restore them.
He Wore Priestly
Garments
We mentioned before
how David had laid aside his royal garments of power, and went forth dancing
before the Lord when the ark returned, clothed upon with the humble garments of
the priesthood. He wore a robe of linen and an ephod. This is what caused his
wife Michal to look upon him with disdain. He was a great king. What a
humiliating thing to see him dressed up like a humble priest, and dancing
before the Lord!
He Had Priestly
Access To God
This was most
astounding of all. The ark of God which for hundreds of years could only be
visited by the high priest--and that only once in the year--was now set up in a
“prepared place” in the middle of the Tent of David on Mount Zion, the place of
his citadel and kingdom. He was “afraid of God” when God smote Uzzah dead for
his error, but now he pitches a tent for the ark in his own backyard, that he
might dwell with God all the days of his life:
“One thing have I
desired of the LORD,
That will I seek
after;
That I may dwell in
the house of the LORD
All the days of my
life,
To behold the beauty
of the LORD,
And to inquire in his
temple” (Ps. 27:4).
We may wonder at this
when we consider how drastically God dealt with others for intruding into the
priesthood. In later years a certain king by the name of Uzziah (also a very
good king) went into the temple to offer up incense, and God smote him with
leprosy right there in the sight of the priests. But Uzziah was performing a
ritual out of the pride of his heart; whereas David was acting in faith, under
God’s guidance and direction, and God was pleased to dwell with David in the
same house.
The New Testament has
much to say concerning the priesthood of the believer and our heritage as
“kings and priests unto God.” But here on Mount Zion we have a foretaste of New
Testament priestly access into God’s presence. As we cultivate priestly
ministry we come into a place of communion with God. In kingly ministry we have
power with men. That is why we must concentrate on priestly ministry. And that
is why God always establishes a priesthood in the earth before He establishes a
kingdom. Man would always reverse this order, and in so doing he brings chaos
and devastation into the midst of God’s heritage. Oh, that God would eradicate
that inherent lust for power and authority from the hearts of His people... and
especially from the hearts of those in ministry!
God’s Open Door To
The Nations
Songs that are given
by the Spirit are always related to what God is doing in the earth at that
particular time, or is about to do. And on the day that the ark of God was
brought to Zion and placed in the Tent of David, Asaph and his brethren were
given a prophetic psalm to commemorate this “new day.” It was a song of
thanksgiving and praise for God’s great goodness to the house of Israel, in
confirming the covenant that He had made with Abraham, and watching over them
in their weakness and in their wanderings:
“He suffered no man
to do them wrong: Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, Saying, Touch not
mine anointed, And do my prophets no harm.”
But immediately after
saying this David was caught away in prophetic inspiration (for he was a
singing prophet), and he began to declare what God was going to do among the
nations. Israel had always been slow to comprehend that what God was doing for
them and in them, was not to be something confined to their little land, and
temple, and people... but to make of them a door of utterance to the nations,
that through them “all nations” might partake of the blessing of Abraham. David
therefore began to prophesy of the glory of God that would emanate from Mount
Zion and embrace all the nations of the earth. This occasion of triumph and
glory on Mount Zion was to be no mere nationalistic dream come true to the
chosen people of God. It was to be a new beginning for mankind, the springing
forth of a river that would eventually embrace the whole world and bring
deliverance to a groaning creation. So he went on:
“Sing unto the LORD,
all the earth;
Show forth from day
to day his salvation.
Declare his glory
among the heathen;
His marvelous works
among all nations.
Give unto the LORD,
ye kindreds of the people,
Give unto the LORD
glory and strength.
Give unto the LORD
the glory due unto his name,
Worship the LORD in
the beauty of holiness, Fear before him, all the earth:
The world also shall
be stable, that it be not moved.
Let the heavens be
glad,
And let the earth
rejoice:
And let men say among
the nations,
The
LORD reigneth.
Then shall the trees
of the wood sing out
At the presence of
the LORD,
Because he cometh to
judge the earth.
O give thanks unto
the LORD;
For he is good; for
his mercy endureth for ever.” (See 1 Chron. 16:8-36; Ps. 105:1-15; 96.)
This first prophetic
utterance concerning the glory of Zion has established the real meaning of Zion
not only for this occasion, but for all the prophecies that would follow after.
Both in David’s writings, and in all the prophets, and on into the New
Testament, the references to Zion go far beyond a little hill in Jerusalem to
embrace in a larger sense the people of God, the place of God’s throne, and the
place of His priesthood.
The Tabernacle Of
David To Be Rebuilt
Once we understand
God’s intended purpose in the original Zion, then we may understand more fully
what He means when He speaks of the restoration of Zion and the rebuilding of
the Tabernacle of David. Zion was intended to be that place of priestly
ministry and kingly authority from which God’s Word and His Glory might shine
forth into the uttermost parts of the earth. And so when Zion--the people of
God--had forsaken the true God of Israel and became encumbered with their own
ways, God was greatly grieved and He lamented through the prophet:
“For Zion’s sake will
I not hold my peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, And the salvation thereof as a
lamp that burneth” (Isa. 62:1).
For let us not
forget, when Isaiah or Jeremiah or the other prophets lamented over God’s
people, it was really the lamentation of the Spirit of God, and it was His
burden that He placed upon them. It was really “the burden of the LORD” that He
was sharing with His servants; and sometimes it was a burden that they found to
be very grievous. But as God’s plan has always been to join Himself to Man, God
must find willing men who will share His burden as well as His glory and power.
And so we hear the prophet Isaiah declaring:
“I have set watchmen
upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
Which shall never
hold their peace, day nor night:
Ye that make mention
of the LORD,
Keep not silence, and
give him no rest,
Till he establish, and
till he make
Jerusalem a praise in
the earth” (Isa. 62:6-7).
The prophet Ezekiel
was set as a “watchman” over the house of Israel, to warn the people of
impending judgment. But in the above passage Isaiah speaks of “watchmen” who
are appointed by God to arouse the Almighty Himself from His rest; and to cry
unto Him day and night that He might establish Jerusalem, and make her to be a
praise in the earth.
Beloved, let us not
imagine that God is displeased with our much crying out unto Him to arise in
the earth and to show forth His glory. For God Himself has “set watchmen” on
the walls of Jerusalem for this very purpose!
But it was not until
Christ came, and died, and rose again, and ascended, that the glory of Zion was
to have any real impact upon the nations of the world. And when this began to
happen, especially under the ministry of the apostle Paul, a new problem began
to arise in the minds of the Jewish teachers as to what they were to do with
the multitudes of Gentiles that were coming into the Church. A division had
arisen, because some of these teachers were saying that the new converts had to
become Jews according to the covenant of circumcision, as taught by Moses. Paul
and Barnabas were greatly concerned about this, because they knew that God was
doing a new thing in the earth. Not that it was unrelated to Old Testament
prophecy, but it was entirely unrelated to Levitical and Judaistic ritual and
forms of worship. All these were but types and shadows. What God was bringing
forth now was the real substance. Therefore Paul and Barnabas went up to
Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the apostles there. They had no thought of
compromising their stand, but they did fear that their efforts might well have
been in vain if the foundational apostles of the Church should oppose them. And
so we have the first Council of Jerusalem, which we must consider in some
detail.
The Jerusalem
Controversy
Now there was no
question in the minds of any of the apostles or of the Jewish teachers, as to
whether or not the Gentiles could be saved... and this was not the issue. Early
Judaism clearly recognized what so many Christian teachers have failed to
recognize: that a heathen Gentile who came into Israel and submitted to the
covenant ordinances became from that day forward a bona fide, valid Israelite.
Moses distinctly taught that there was to be one law for Israel, and for the
foreigner who dwelt in their midst. (See Ex. 12:48; Lev. 24:22.) Intermarriage
between the Israelites and other nations was often forbidden, or if allowed
there were certain rituals required of the incoming foreigner; but it was not
because God was erecting certain racial barriers. It was because of the heathen
gods they worshipped, and the effect this could have on the people who knew and
worshipped the one true God. At this Council, they all must have been aware
that on many occasions in their history some very prominent Israelites were
either outright Gentile heathens by birth, or had Gentile blood in their veins.
Rahab the harlot of Jericho was received into Israel, and become one of them.
And in fact we find her name in the ancestral line of the Lord Jesus! Ruth the
Gentile from Moab not only came into Israel, but she became the
great-grandmother of king David, from whose line Jesus was born. And Ruth’s
husband, Boaz, was descended from Rahab the Gentile harlot, and Boaz became
David’s great-grandfather. Again, when Mordecai became a governor under the
Persian king, in the time of Esther, such fear gripped the Gentiles of the 127
provinces of Persia, that “many of the people of the land became Jews” (Esth.
8:17). No Jew who was familiar with the Old Testament could argue that Gentiles
could not become Israelites by embracing the covenants and submitting to the
ordinances of the law. I think this alone should settle the argument that has
come forth in recent generations concerning the racial preeminence of certain
nations and peoples of the earth. Even a bona fide Israelite, born of the stock
of Israel, was cut off if he did not submit to the covenant of circumcision.
(See Gen. 17:14.) And as we have pointed out, a Gentile who came in and
submitted to the God of Israel--and their laws and rituals--was received as a
bona fide Israelite.
This, then, became
the real issue of the Council of Jerusalem. And this was the question: “Are we
to continue to receive Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel on the basis of
circumcision and the law, as we have in the past? Or shall we receive them as brethren
because of their faith in Christ, without subjecting them to these ordinances?”
And this was what Paul and Barnabas were so insistent upon; for they knew that
God had broken down this “wall of partition” between them because of the Cross.
The argument went on
and on. Peter showed how God had opened a door to the Gentiles, quite apart
from any Jewish rituals, giving them the Holy Ghost even as He did to the
believers in Jerusalem, and making “no difference” between Jew and Gentile.
Then Paul and Barnabas testified as to how God had opened an effectual door to
the Gentiles in their ministry, quite apart from any legal rituals and
ordinances. But it remained for James, respected highly by the Jewish
Christians, to bring forth an argument from the scriptures that would settle
the whole issue. James told the Council that they ought not try to make Jews
out of Gentiles according to the old law, because God promised even in the
scriptures that the Tabernacle of David would be rebuilt, and in that new order
God would receive the Gentiles as His very own, and place His Name upon them.
Some Christian teachers quote from James to confirm that at the end of the
Church age God would rebuild the Tabernacle of David. But James was clearly
saying that God was now rebuilding the Tabernacle of David, as Amos had
prophesied. James was not prophesying anything. He was rather quoting from the
prophet Amos so as to clearly show the Council that this age-old prophecy of
Amos was now in the process of fulfillment: “After this I will return, and will
build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build
again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might
seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith
the Lord, who doeth all these things” (Acts 15:16-17).
James was not
prophesying this. He was telling the Council that Amos had prophesied this, and
that now it was happening! The prophecy was there and then being fulfilled! God
had promised that when the Tabernacle of David was rebuilt, many Gentiles would
seek after the Lord, and come to know the God of Israel. Therefore on the basis
of this long unfulfilled prophecy James advised the Council to accept the fact
that “the residue of men [or, the rest of mankind]” were in God’s plan from the
beginning, and were now to be received as brethren in this hour of the
rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David.
Of course, James
could have quoted many scriptures from the prophets that spoke of the salvation
of the Gentiles, but as we have pointed out, this was no problem with the
Jewish teachers. The problem was much deeper than that: “Can we receive
Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel apart from the Law and the ritual of
circumcision?” Therefore God in His wisdom did not emphasize these other
prophecies on this occasion, but chose rather to relate the salvation of the
Gentiles to the Tabernacle of David... and in so doing there could be no
mistaking what God had in mind. For here in the Tabernacle of David we have an
institution that had no relation to temple, and temple ritual, and nothing to
do with brazen altars and lavers and altars of incense. And most important,
after the dedication of Mount Zion with the sacrifices of animals, never again
do we hear of sacrifices of blood being offered on Mount Zion. From the day of
the dedication of the Tabernacle of David and on, the sacrifices on this mount
were to be sacrifices of praise and worship unto God. The prophecy of Amos
could therefore in no way be construed to refer to a little flimsy goats’ hair
tent such as David might have had there at the first. To the apostle James it
was quite evident that the reference of Amos to the Tabernacle of David related
to the spiritual restoration of the glory of David’s kingdom. Have you ever
heard of any Jewish teacher, ancient or modern, or any Christian teacher,
proclaiming that glorious day when a literal Tent of David would once again
rise up on the top of old Mount Zion in Jerusalem? This would be unthinkable.
But we do hear a lot about a beautiful temple something like Solomon’s, that is
supposed to be built there in Jerusalem some day. And yet the only promise in
the New Testament that refers to the rebuilding of the house of David is the
one concerning the “Tent of David”--which every one recognizes as a spiritual
“Tent,” and not a flimsy piece of cloth like the one that David erected there
in the beginning.
So ended the first
Council at Jerusalem. But we cannot believe that all the teachers in the Church
at Jerusalem wholeheartedly embraced the decision of the Council. For a long
time afterward Paul had to contend with the “leaven” of Judaism in the churches
where he had ministered the pure Gospel of Christ. Today vast multitudes in the
Church are once again taking sides with those who opposed Paul and Peter and
Stephen, and other Christian teachers of the early Church. Peter tells us that
God made “no difference” between men. Stephen declared, “the most High dwelleth
not in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48), and was stoned for declaring it.
Paul said, “There is no difference...” It is about time that Christians
everywhere begin to take sides with the great apostles and teachers of the
early Church... rather than with modern-day theologians. Why do we find it
difficult to believe that the apostles and prophets of the New Testament knew
how to interpret Old Testament prophecy? If we can accept this premise, then we
must embrace the fact that God’s promises were made to Abraham’s Seed
(singular), and not to Abraham’s many seeds (plural), according to the flesh.
And that this Seed is Christ along with those who have come into Christ through
the faith of Abraham. (See Rom. 4:9-13; Gal. 3:16; 4:28.) Once we find grace to
accept the apostolic interpretation of the Old Testament as the revelation of
the Spirit of God, then we can safely lay aside the dispensational barriers
that men have erected, and recognize Old Testament prophecy, as interpreted by
the apostles, as the one and only valid interpretation concerning the true Israel.
And the Old Testament becomes more meaningful to us because both Peter and Paul
declared that what the prophets wrote, concerned those people who received the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (See Rom. 16:26; 1 Pet. 1:10-12.)
The Good Olive Tree
There is much that
could be said about God’s true Israel, but let us just look briefly at the good
Olive Tree as portrayed so beautifully by the apostle Paul. The prophet
Jeremiah had said: “The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of
goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it,
and the branches of it are broken” (Jer. 11:16). Now the apostle Paul goes into
great detail to describe the fall, and the rising again of Israel; and if we
can accept what he has to say about it, the relationship between the Church and
Israel becomes very clear. Here in Romans 11 he answers a question that he
himself raised: “Hath God cast away his people?”... and his immediate response
is “God forbid” (Rom. 11:1). To say that God had rejected Israel he would have
to say that he himself was rejected, “For I also am an Israelite” (vs. 1). Then
he goes on to explain. God always retained for himself a true Israel, even in
times of great apostasy. When Christ came as the total Sum and Substance of
Israel’s hope He was rejected, and God cast away the unfaithful branches of the
Olive Tree. But He did not cut the tree down, He just stripped off the dead
branches. Of course this left the Tree almost bare. But Paul explains: the
“root” was holy, and therefore the Tree would survive. And wonder of wonders,
it would not only survive, it would take on greater beauty and enlargement!
How? God would reach forth and take branches from a “wild olive tree” and graft
them into the Good Tree. What Tree? Clearly Paul is talking only of two trees:
the wild olive tree and the Good Olive Tree; and he tells us that God took
branches out of the wild tree and grafted them into the Good one. He took a
people in their wild, Gentile condition, and grafted them into the Good Tree of
Israel. The Good Tree was almost stripped of its branches, but God caused it to
be replenished with “wild” branches from the Gentiles, and the Good Tree
flourished once again. It not only flourished, it took on even greater beauty
and enlargement; for God had brought about, through the fall of Israel, “the
reconciling of the world” (vs. 15). Since then the Gospel of reconciliation has
gone forth to the ends of the earth.
But the “root” was
holy, and the “branches” were beloved “for the fathers’ sakes” (vs. 28). And as
the natural, rejected branches of Israel go through their time of desolation
and judgment, and God brings them to repentance, and salvation flows forth from
Zion, God performs a miracle in these dead branches that is even greater than
He performed when He brought “wild” Gentiles into the Good Olive Tree of
Israel. He literally gives life to these dead branches, and grafts them back
again into the same Good Olive Tree. And once again the Tree takes on beauty
and still greater enlargement. “For if the casting away of them be the
reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from
the dead” (vs. 15). Was the true Israel, then, ever rejected by God? Never was!
And never will be! “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written” (vs.
26). It couldn’t be more clear. Only the unbelieving branches of Israel were
rejected; only the believing branches from the wild olive tree were grafted
into Israel. Then the dead branches “if they abide not still in unbelief” (vs.
23) will be grafted back into their own Tree; and the branches of the Gentiles
will remain there with them in the same Tree, if they “continue in God’s
goodness,” otherwise they “also shall be cut off” (vs. 22). Paul’s conclusion
is: “And so all Israel shall be saved” (vs. 26). And in all that he has spoken
about in chapters 9, 10, and 11 he has made it very clear what God means by all
Israel. “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they
are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be
called” (9:6-7). And what does he mean by “in Isaac”? He explains this also,
very clearly: “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not
the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed”
(9:8). But God, in His love and faithfulness to the fathers, even though the
broken branches are dead in sin, because of “election” he brings them back into
the Good Tree... and the tree takes on still greater enlargement and beauty in
that great and mighty work of restoration for Israel that Paul simply describes
as “life from the dead.” “And so all Israel shall be saved,” whether they be
the wild branches that were grafted in or the dead branches restored to the
Tree. Paul very clearly speaks of one true Israel. There is but “one hope,” not
two; not one for the Church, and another for Israel. “There is no difference,”
for at the price of His Cross our Lord tore down “the middle wall of partition
between us”. For what purpose? To make “one new man, so making peace”. (See
Eph. 2:14-15; 4:4-6.) A restoration to temples, and altars, and candlesticks,
and the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a red heifer? No--this would
be the greatest of abominations! But this restoration must be something greater,
something grander, something far and beyond what we have yet known in the
Church and it will come about by the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus,
moving in this “one new man” that God made of Jew and Gentile when He tore down
the wall of partition. It is this wonderworking wisdom of God that causes the
apostle to cry out:
“O the depth of the
riches Both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his
judgments, And his ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33).
The Kingdom of Heaven
If this, then, is the
day of the rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David, as prophesied by Amos and as
confirmed by the apostle James, then it is the day of the Royal Priesthood,
when Christ Who is both King and Priest, is joined unto those in His Body who, by
virtue of this joining, become “kings and priests unto God.” When Jesus was
here He taught the mysteries of the Kingdom in the form of parables, because
the hearts of the people had become dull and blinded. The best He could do was
to implant as it were a seed of truth in the form of a parable, knowing that as
the seed was given a chance to germinate in the earth, eventually it would
spring forth in Kingdom-life. “The kingdom of heaven,” He said, “is like a seed
that is planted in the earth.” He warned us that the Kingdom of God “cometh not
with observation.” He reminded us that it was not something that would suddenly
burst forth upon the earth in a blaze of glory, but something that would grow,
and grow, and grow... “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn
in the ear” (Mk. 4:28). John the Baptist preached a message of repentance to
prepare the hearts of the people for this Kingdom. Wherever He went, Jesus
preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. Little by little the truth began to dawn
upon the hearts of the disciples: Jesus must die... He must rise again from the
dead... He must ascend into the heavenly Zion. God’s Kingdom was not to be
confined to one nation, but was to become universalized throughout the whole
earth by the preaching of the gospel. Israel, the true Israel, was to take on
enlargement in “one new man,” the Church. Henceforth the true Israel would be a
heavenly people. They would be called “The City of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem.” Christ was to reign at God’s right hand in Zion, this heavenly
Zion, till all His enemies “were subdued under His feet.” We have seen the
sprouting of the seed and the blade of the Kingdom in the early Church. We have
seen the ear coming forth in the centuries that followed. We are about to witness
the “full corn in the ear,” as God brings the Kingdom to fullness of fruition.
Notice: the full corn... the fruit of the Kingdom for which the Husbandman has
been waiting... the full corn must be formed in the ear. Not far off some where
in the heavens, but right here in the earth where the seed was planted and
grew--and there it comes to maturity. Jesus Himself was the good kernel of
wheat that fell into the ground and died. Therefore we can be sure that the
“full corn in the ear” can be nothing less than Jesus Himself enthroned and
embodied in the lives of a people who have come into being because Jesus was
faithful to the Father’s will... and fell into the ground and died.
Let us not forget the
Law of the Seed, which God established in both the Old Creation and in the New:
It is the inherent life in the seed that determines the ultimate form, and
expression, and character of the fruit! It cannot be inferior to the good seed,
or God is dishonored. It must be good fruit, perfect fruit, from good Seed, Perfect
Seed--the Seed that was planted in the earth. He must bear fruit after His
kind. It is the Law of the Seed. (See Gen. 1:12.)
From Genesis To
Revelation
Genesis is the book
of beginnings. Revelation is the book of the consummation. And in between we
have God’s dealings with His people whereby He leads them forward toward this
great fulfillment. He is the Alpha and He is the Omega. He changes not. But in
His character as Alpha and as Omega His desire is to change His people from
what they were in the beginning, to what He has planned they shall become in
the end.
We are always slow to
adjust, slow to respond to what He is doing, and are inclined to wander away
from the pathway. He is always at hand to bring us back and restore us to the
original pathway, but never to leave us there to crystallize or to stagnate. We
are a people of the Way, as we are called in the book of Acts. It is back to
the pathway, but onward to the Celestial City. If we understand this
fundamental principle of Restoration, and are prepared to submit to change, we
could apply ourselves more readily to the constant and sometimes very
distressing changes that He brings about in the structure and administration of
His Kingdom. There is therefore a very definite relationship between the former
and the latter, but it is a relationship such as exists between the egg and the
bird, the seed and the fruit, the worm and the butterfly. In other words, the
Divine intent is to be found in the former, but the finished product is always
vastly different than the original. The seed of the tomato is like a tomato...
but not until there has come about the dissolution and decay of the seed will
we discover the growing of the plant and the expression of the fruit. But the
potential is there, and God’s original intention is there, which is this: that
the seed must bear fruit “after its kind.” The egg is like the bird--not
actually, but potentially. And if the egg does not come forth as a bird, God’s
intention in the egg has not been realized. So we are like Christ. “As he is,
so are we...” And John elaborates, lest we should mistake his meaning, “So are
we in this world” (1 Jn. 4:17). We may be far from it now in actual likeness.
But this is God’s intention, and the potential is now within us! And as we
submit to the law of the seed, and the law of the egg, and the law of the
cocoon, we shall see--and those about us shall see--the living Christ walking
once again in the midst of men, in the corporate Body of Christ in the earth.
We must keep these
principles in mind. For if we fail to see what God has in mind in the various
temples, and structures, and
institutions that we find in the scriptures, His Book will continue to
be just that--a history book. And we will never leave the shell of the egg, or
emerge from the cocoon, but will remain like Israel of old, “in bondage,” with
the veil remaining, untaken away, in the reading of the scriptures.
In concluding this
chapter on the Tent of David we want to mention just a few characteristics of
the City of David, the City of God, with a brief comment on same.
1. Zion, The City Of
God
“There is a river,
The streams whereof shall make glad The city of God...” (Ps. 46:4; See Ps.
87:2-3).
Cain is the first man
mentioned as having built a “city.” God’s men were not builders of cities, but
continued to look for “a better country.” The cities of fallen men invariably
lead to visions of greatness, to merchandising and profit-making, and
eventually to corruption and chaos. God’s men, like Abraham, continue to look
“for a City which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb.
11:10). Therefore the true Israel, having caught the true vision, are quite
prepared to forget the whole land of their former heritage, that they might
possess the City that God has prepared. (See Heb. 11:15-16.) The true Israel
understands what God meant when He said, “I... will do better unto you than at
your beginnings” (Ezek. 36:11). Let us use an illustration.
As my sons grow older
I promise them a piece of land on the old homestead. Through disobedience they
leave home, and the promise remains unfulfilled, and seems to come to nought.
They are scattered far and wide and the homestead goes into ruin. But in the
meantime I acquire a vast inheritance… too great to even measure... a land
filled with rivers and lakes and fruitful plains and meadows and forests and
treasures unspeakable. When my estranged sons return home I show them the new
land, and tell them it is all theirs to own and possess. But in dullness of
heart they reply: “I can’t believe that fable... I just want the two acres you
promised me when I was a boy...” Will I give them what they want? I suppose I
would, but I would be grieved that they would doubt my word and generosity, and
settle for the two acres. Will God give natural Israel the little parcel of
land they are striving to hold on to? Well, it’s part of the world--and the
whole world is Abraham’s inheritance (Rom. 4:13). But once they catch a glimpse
of the New Jerusalem, such as Abraham did, they like their father will consider
themselves to be but foreigners in a strange land (Heb. 11:9-10), After the
Captivity, they might have returned to their land, and occupied it in peace and
safety, had they walked in obedience. But now, with hearts turned to God, they
are no longer excited about a few acres of real estate... for they have caught
a vision of something better, much better: “Now they desire a better country,
that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for
he hath prepared for them a city” (Heb. 11:16). Now they have come to the true
Zion, “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22). Their
Lord and Master is “heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2), and as they suffer with Him
and bear His reproach, they too become “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ” (Rom. 8:17). This is no small inheritance, for all things have been
given to the Son, and they as “kings and priests unto God” are joint-heirs with
Him!
2. Zion, The Throne
Of God
“The LORD said unto
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool”
(Ps. 110:1).
This passage is
referred to by the writers of the New Testament possibly more than any other
Old Testament Messianic prophecy. It is quoted or referred to at least 17 times
as relating to the throne of the Messiah, from which He now rules and reigns
over the earth. And it is stated that He will remain there until all His
enemies are subdued under His feet. We find it difficult to realize that Christ
is truly King over all the earth now, with the fullness of power and authority,
because we look about and see so many “enemies” of God at loose in the earth.
But the mandate He has from the heavenly Father is to rule and reign “in the
midst” of them, restraining or subduing them as the Father sees fit and
according to God’s own time schedule. Christ will never have any more kingly
authority and power than He has right now; because He has it all “now” (Matt.
28:18). And while He reigns in the midst of His enemies, He is preparing His
many brethren for a place of authority and power also; but it must be in His
throne. They must not think that they will ever be able to rule and govern
apart from Him. For even Christ Himself does not have, and never will have, a
throne that is independent of the Father’s throne. He tells us that He overcame
and sat down “with my Father in his throne”... and the same throne is reserved
for the overcomers who come into union with Him (Rev. 3:21).
3. Zion, God’s
Habitation
“Arise,
O LORD, into thy rest;
Thou, and the ark of
thy strength.
Let thy priests be
clothed with righteousness;
And let thy saints
shout for joy... (See Ps. 132:8-14.)
Zion is not only the
place of God’s throne, it is the place of His temple, and therefore the
habitation of His priesthood. For when men come into fellowship with Christ and
into union with Him, there is an effectual priesthood. Many of the psalms of
David therefore speak of the throne of God and the priesthood in the same
breath. (See Ps. 110:2, 4.) The Son who now reigns in Zion is a King-Priest on
a throne which knows nothing of heredity, racial distinctions, temple rituals,
and sacrifices. And those who anticipate sharing a place on the throne with Him
in the Melchizedek order had better forget about their racial heritage. The
Melchizedek order knows nothing about that. (See Heb. 7:3.)
4. Zion, The Place Of
Power
“The LORD hear thee
in the day of trouble; The name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help
from the sanctuary, And strengthen thee out of Zion” (Ps. 20:1-2).
The fortress of Zion
which was once occupied by the Jebusites became the fortress of David--the
place of his kingdom, and the place where he set up the Tent of David. But
first David and his men had to scale the craggy heights of Zion and drive out
the enemy. So it was that our Lord Jesus Christ wrestled with principalities
and powers, and “made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them” in His Cross
(Col. 2:15). Notice this beautiful characteristic of Zion: the place of
weakness, the place of our battle, the place of our struggle... God intends
that this shall become the place of our strength. Let us take courage in this,
for as we come into the victory of the Cross, those very areas of our weakness
and humiliation become a place where we can rejoice:
“Thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).
“When a strong man
armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he
shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (Lk. 11:21-22).
God would teach us
that Zion, that formidable obstacle that once scoffed us and put us to shame,
can become our fortress and our strong tower as we walk in the victory of the
Cross. We are enabled to rob Satan of “all his armour” (Gr. panoplia), as we
put on “the whole armour of God” (Eph. 6:11, Gr. panoplia). We must discover
that these weapons are not “carnal,” but totally a spiritual battle-dress, and
effectual to the casting down of the strongholds of the enemy.
5. Zion, The Joy Of
The Whole Earth
“Beautiful for
situation, The joy of the whole earth, Is mount Zion, on the sides of the
north, The city of the great King” (Ps. 48:2).
The joy of the whole
earth! Not now, but it is going to be. At present we have to bear the reproach
of Jeremiah, as he beheld the heathen conquerors of Zion wagging their heads
and saying, “Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy
of the whole earth?” (Lam. 2:15). Zion soon lost her reputation as the joy of
the whole earth as her citizens became alienated from God and walked in
disobedience. But David foresaw the day when all creation would rejoice in
Mount Zion:
“Let the heavens be
glad, And let the earth rejoice: And let men say among the nations, The LORD
reigneth” (1 Chron. 16:31-33).
6. Zion, The Mountain
Of Holiness
“Great is the LORD,
and greatly to be praised
In the city of our
God,
In
the mountain of His holiness” (Ps. 48:1).
“But upon mount Zion
shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness” (Obad. 17).
The holiness doctrine
has been around for a long time. Once it was a living, cleansing, purging Word
that went forth to God’s people. Now it remains as a doctrine of the Church
with very little life in it, a legal document of do’s and don’ts. But God will
yet cleanse and purge His people from all defilement. May He hasten the day
when “holiness” will no longer be just a doctrine of the Church, but a
“highway” on which His people will travel to the City of God.
7. Zion, The
Perfection Of Beauty
“Out of Zion, the
perfection of beauty, God hath shined” (Ps. 50:2).
The Perfection of
Beauty! This is God’s work, beloved! Let us not excuse ourselves from
appropriating God’s desire by saying, “Of course if you are talking about
perfection, just leave me out... I can’t be perfect...” We are not talking
about any kind of perfection that you and I can bring forth. We are talking
about the New Covenant that Christ is mediating for His people... by which He
shall bring us into His own perfection. We are talking about the creative
masterpiece that God is bringing forth out of the clay fields of fallen
humanity. He the great Master Workman knows how to bring forth vessels unto
honor and glory. And He bids His watchmen on the walls to continue in their
intercessions, day and night, until this happens:
“Keep not silence,
and give Him no rest, Till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in
the earth.” (See Isa. 62:1-7.)
8. Zion, The Mountain
Of Praise
“Sing praises to the
LORD, Which dwelleth in Zion: Declare among the people his doings” (Ps. 9:11).
Throughout the
history of Israel there had been the occasional song of victory in the camp;
but here in the Tent of David the song of praise is introduced into temple
worship for the first time. Not only was the ark placed in the Tent in the
midst of great rejoicing and praise, but Asaph and his brethren were appointed
to minister before the ark. But something else very noteworthy happened. David
even appointed singers to minister in the old Tabernacle that Moses built,
which was now on the hill of Gibeon. No doubt it was very beautiful, and
blessed the hearts of the people who ministered in that old structure. But the
ark of God’s presence was not there, nor would it ever return to that old
structure. In vain will any of God’s ministers ever restore the ark of God’s
glory and presence to the old structures that have had their day, and which God
lays aside when He brings forth the new. But God will always be faithful to
minister to those whose hearts are open, wherever they are. And He was faithful
to send Levites to Gibeon, with songs of praise, that they might hear through
music and song the wonderful thing that God was doing in Zion.
And yet it is
important that God’s people who have caught the vision of Zion do not look down
upon those who seemingly do not have that vision. There are people all over the
earth singing about the glory of Zion, and many of them do not have the
slightest understanding of what they are singing about. But God often works
that way! Who knows? Perhaps many of these will be more ready for the next
phase of God’s temple, than some of those who have come out of the old order,
and into the new. God just will not allow His people to glory over the
knowledge they have, the understanding they have, or in the fact that they have
come out of Babylon. As one minister said, “I used to tell people to come out
of Babylon... but one day He told me that He wanted to get Babylon out of me!”
There is a solemn
lesson for us all in what happened on Mount Gibeon and on Mount Zion. Abiathar
the priest who clung to David in his rejection, and ministered on Zion, failed
to qualify for ministry in Solomon’s Temple. And Zadok the priest, who was sent
by David to minister in the old Tabernacle on Gibeon, became the high priest of
that new and glorious temple that Solomon would build. Selah! Let us meditate
on these things.
After the dedicatory
burnt offerings and peace offerings that were offered on Mount Zion there is no
record that blood-sacrifices were ever again offered here in this place. The
old rituals would continue in the Tabernacle of Moses on Gibeon; but Zion was
to become an institution that was new and distinct... and was based on a
completed and finished Sacrifice, the Sacrifice that was perfect, and could
never be repeated. Zion would therefore take on eternal significance; and when
we come to Zion, “the city of the living God,” we also come to the “blood of
sprinkling,” which is the once-for-all Sacrifice of Christ (Heb. 12:24). David
recognized this new order, as he sang:
“I will praise the
name of God with a song,
And will magnify him
with thanksgiving.
This also shall
please the LORD better
Than an ox or bullock
that hath horns and hoofs.
The humble shall see
this, and be glad” (Ps. 69:30-32).
Before we leave this
subject, let us be sure we understand what true praise really is. It is not
just a big noise that we make to try to make an impression on God. Yes, there
is the shout of victory in the camp of the saints, but true praise involves
much more than that. Read the book of Psalms carefully and you will discover
that in every line, in every sentence, in every praise that is uttered: there
is wisdom, there is knowledge, there is exaltation, there is teaching, there is
instruction, there is exhortation, there is repentance, there is a yearning
after holiness and purity, there is a longing after God, there is a desire
toward God’s people, there is lamentation for the desolation of Zion, there is
prayer for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, there is perplexity in trial, there is
rejoicing in triumph, there is condemnation of sin, there is a pressing forward
unto righteousness, there is expectation of His glory, there is proclamation of
His Kingdom. The soul of the psalmist is made bare before the LORD as he searches
his heart--as God searches his heart--as he shows forth the praises of the LORD
and extols His excellencies, in all of His doings toward the children of men.
Lord, teach us to
praise You as we ought... lest it be said of us as was said of a disobedient
people of old:
“This
people... honoureth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me” (Matt.
15:8).
But may our
sacrifices of praise be tempered with the oil of a broken and a contrite heart,
as David prayed:
“O LORD, open thou my
lips;
And my mouth shall
shew forth thy praise.
For thou desirest not
sacrifice;
Else would I give it:
Thou delightest not
in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit:
A broken and a
contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not
despise.
Do good in thy good
pleasure unto Zion:
Build thou the walls
of Jerusalem (Ps. 51:15-18).”
One day as David sat
in his beautiful cedar home talking to Nathan the prophet, and glanced across
the yard at the flimsy Tent that he had erected for the Ark of God, the thought
occurred to him that he had a more comfortable and more beautiful residence
than God did, and it bothered him. Turning to the prophet he said, “Lo, I dwell
in an house of cedars, but the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD remaineth under
curtains” (1 Chron. 17:1). Nathan understood what he meant and he encouraged
David to go ahead and build a suitable dwelling place for the LORD.
However, that same
night the word of the LORD came to Nathan with a message for the king, which he
immediately took to David. God reminded David that He had always walked with
His people and moved in their midst in a simple tent-like structure, going
“from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.” He made it clear to
David that He really did not need a house of cedars to dwell in, and concluded
by telling him that His purpose was really to build David a house; and that He
would settle David’s son in His house and in His Kingdom forever. (See 1 Chron.
17:13-14.) The immediate promise was to Solomon, who would build the temple
that David wanted to build; but the promise looks far beyond Solomon and
embraces the Day of Christ, David’s greater Son, who would inherit “the sure
mercies of David” and would build a Temple “not made with hands.”
David was quite
overwhelmed with this revelation. He came and “sat before the LORD,” and in his
reply to the LORD there was really nothing he could say but extol God’s great
and glorious Name. He simply concluded his prayer by saying, “LORD, do as thou
hast said.”
The Transitional Tent
Of David
In the previous
chapter we talked about the Tabernacle, or the Tent of David. When the ark was
on its way back to Jerusalem no doubt it was just taken for granted by the
priests in Israel that it would be restored to the old tabernacle that Moses
built, which was then on the hill of Gibeon. The Tent of David must have come
as quite a shock to them. How could they continue to worship in the old
tabernacle without the ark of the Covenant? Without the Glory? Without His
Presence? But they were going to have to understand from David’s action that
this was no mere “renewal” of a former institution. This was restoration to a
higher order. This was something new. They were moving out of one order and
into another; and the Tent of David was to be the connecting link between the
old and the new, between the Tent in the Wilderness and the Temple of Solomon.
It was to be preparatory to the Temple.
Transitional
Difficulties
Transitional times
are always difficult times for God’s people. It is so in the natural realm, and
it is so in the spiritual. Jesus reminded us, “No man also having drunk old
wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Lk. 5:39).
Only those with the adventurous, pioneer spirit will step forward into the
unknown. As usual, men of the world are often “wiser in their generation” than
the children of light. They will continue to reach forth into the realms of
space, and are constantly developing new methods and new inventions to meet the
challenge of the unreachable. But men in the Church sit back and feel they have
everything there is to be had in the realm of the Spirit. Satan himself, with
all his principalities and powers in the world of darkness, is daily bringing
forth new, diabolical weapons of destruction, and using them to destroy the
spirits and souls and bodies of men. But God’s people can envision nothing
better than a restoration of something we had in the Church many years ago, or
many centuries ago. They think it is right and scriptural for the wheat of
God’s harvest fields to remain forever in a state just a little short of
maturity... because, after all, no one can be perfect. Satan does not hesitate
to exercise complete lordship in the lives of his subjects; but it is thought
to be incredible that our Lord should exercise anything like total Lordship in
the lives of those whom He has purchased with His own blood!
But I think the real
reason we do not want to venture forth in response to the new vision is because
we do not want to become involved with the unsettling and disturbing changes
that the new vision demands. The changing of the order requires a new
beginning, and a relinquishing of the old titles and deeds. And this demands a
price that seems to be just too high for most people to pay. Yet real
Christianity knows of no life, and no spiritual progress, except as we are
prepared to lay down the life we have, and to relinquish the things we have come
to prize as our very own. It is the truth of the Cross as it is enacted and
reenacted in our lives, from the moment of our spiritual birth until the moment
of glorification.
Where do we go from
here? It might seem a lot safer if we could see the pathway clearly laid out
before us... but God’s Way is the Rule of the Cloud, which we have already
talked about. We must move forward when the Cloud of God’s Glory moves forward.
We may not see the pathway ahead of us clearly, but we hear Him calling, and we
must have confidence that “the path of the just is as a shining light, that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
Where are we today in
God’s unfolding plan and purpose for the Church? To pinpoint our present
spiritual location might be difficult; but preeminently this is a day of
preparation. God is seeking to lead us in a new way. If we are assured of this,
then we can rest in the midst of all the disturbing and perplexing things that
we see transpiring in us and about us. Preparation was the key word in the
message of John the Baptist for his day; and we believe once again it is the
key word for this hour. Let us observe some of the preparatory things that had
to be done for the temple that Solomon was to build.
Preparations For The
Temple
“And David said,
Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the
LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all
countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it” (1 Chron. 22:5).
There are living
trees in the earth estimated to be as old as four thousand years or more. There
they stand in stately glory, defying the changes of the seasons and of the
weather today as they have done throughout the centuries. But a mushroom will
grow up overnight, and perish in the heat of the sun the next day. What we are
saying is that the greater the magnificence and the glory that attends God’s
workmanship, the greater will be the care that He will exercise in its
creation, and the more prolonged will be the time of its preparation. God will
not permit His people to pressure Him into a premature and imperfect execution
of His plans and purposes; because what He is doing is for His own Glory, and
not for ours. In the outworking of the maturing process in our lives we must not
yield to the persistent temptation to hasten forward the work of God by our own
device and planning. At the same time, let us be spiritually alert to see God’s
timing in our lives, lest we fail to grasp the opportunity that God affords in
the fullness of His times. There is no substitute for the simple procedure of
“walking with God.” We might be very active and energetic in ministry and still
not learn God’s ways. But if we walk with God, we will not miss out in any area
of ministry that God has planned for our lives. Simeon did not just casually
walk into the temple that day when the baby Jesus was presented there for
dedication. Simeon was led there, because he had been walking with God. He must
go to the temple that day... and he must go now. The promise of perhaps many,
many years duration was to be fulfilled today! Tomorrow he may die... but today
he must see the Messiah! He could not miss it! God would not let him miss it!
The Preparation Of
The Site
“Then David said,
This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering
for Israel” (1 Chron. 22:1).
It was the threshing
floor of Oman the Jebusite, where David had offered up burnt offerings and
peace offerings to eliminate the plague that had come upon Israel through
David’s folly. We do not know how Satan had gained this foothold in David. At
any rate the ransom money had not been collected from the people when David
took the census, and God had already warned that a plague might fall if this
was not done. (See Ex. 30:12-16.) But God in mercy revealed to David his sin,
and also the solution. David obeyed and set up an altar on the threshing floor
of Ornan the Jebusite which he purchased from Ornan for 600 shekels of gold.
Now it was this plot of ground that was to become the site of the exceedingly
magnificent Temple of Solomon. David said, “This is the house of the LORD God,
and this is the altar of burnt offering.” It was a proclamation of faith--God
had declared this to be His plan, and therefore it was so. It had yet to become
manifest. The preparation of the site was extremely important. It was the place
of the burnt offering. It is believed to have been the very spot upon which
Abraham had offered up Isaac as a burnt offering many centuries earlier. But
now in David’s time it had become a threshing floor. The Temple of Solomon was
to be erected on a harvest floor. It would also be dedicated on the occasion of
the Feast of Tabernacles, when the nation had gathered in their wines and oils,
and had reaped their harvest. The early Church was really the seed Church. True
it was inaugurated at Pentecost, which was the Feast of Harvest, but it was
really a “firstfruits” harvest. The final harvest would be in the seventh month
on the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was the Feast of
Ingathering. The “glorious Church”--not having spot, or wrinkle, or blemish, or
any such thing--is the harvest Church. The great winnowing fan of the Harvester
is in the hands of the Husbandman, Who has patiently waited for “the precious
fruit of the earth.” The fire has been kindled to destroy the chaff of the
threshing floor. Then He will gather the grain into His garner--grain that has
come to full maturity and perfection, just like the good seed that was planted
in the earth almost 2,000 years ago, when our Lord Jesus was faithful as the
“corn of wheat” to “fall into the ground and die.”
Preparation Of The
Man
“And David said to
Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name
of the LORD my God; but the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed
blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto
my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold,
a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him
rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I
will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house
for my name” (1 Chron. 22:7-10).
Great conflicts have
raged through the centuries as God sent forth His truth in the earth and the
haters of truth resisted it. This is inevitable, as light has no communion with
darkness. However, it is most regrettable that God’s messengers of truth should
so often have yielded to the temptation to propagate their message by carnal
warfare. We realize that God did ordain Israel to fight His battles on many
occasions in the Old Testament, for they were God’s own weapons to execute His
judgments upon corrupt and idolatrous nations. But it must not be so with you
and me in this day of the New Covenant, when the people of God have been given
a mandate, and spiritual weapons, to wage warfare in the realm of the Spirit...
and in that realm only. He who builds in the Temple of God must be a man of
peace.
Man has always sought
to perpetuate the old order for his own glory, but sooner or later it will come
to nought; and we do not have to attempt to tear it down. Now Solomon’s brother
Adonijah exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” He was David’s son too, and
he is described as being “a very goodly man.” He had Joab on his side, who was
the general of David’s army. He also had Abiathar with him, who was David’s
high priest. Surely with such great men behind him Adonijah would succeed in
his efforts to perpetuate the Davidic era. “Behold, Adonijah reigneth” they
shouted. His name means, “JAH is my Lord.” He, too, would honor the true God of
Israel. We are told that they slew oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance,
and all the king’s sons were invited to the feast. (All except Solomon, of
course--the builders of religion always reject the chief corner stone.) And
what did Solomon do about it? Nothing!
David was notified of
the conspiracy and before he died he proclaimed Solomon to be king of Israel
with the blessing of Zadok the priest, and of Nathan the prophet. No need for
Solomon to stand up for his rights. When he became king he would judge
righteously, and with power, authority and wisdom. But he would not seek to
establish himself in that position. He, as his name means, would simply rest in
the plan and purpose of God. And he, the man of peace, would build a temple
which was to become God’s place of rest... but of course it was only a type and
shadow of the true Temple yet to come, a Temple not made with hands.
Preparation Of The
Materials
“Now, behold, in my
trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of
gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without
weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou
mayest add thereto” (1 Chron. 22:14).
In this time of
transition God’s people everywhere are in a state of trouble and unrest; and
oftentimes in the midst of their trouble, they do not understand that God is
shaking the old systems in preparation for His new order. Like David in his
trouble, we would like to get away from it all...
“And I said, Oh that
I had wings like a dove!
For then would I fly
away, and be at rest.
Lo, then would I
wander far off,
And remain in the
wilderness. Selah” (Ps. 55:6-7).
But David soon
discovered that running away from it all accomplished nothing either, it simply
brought him into still greater dangers:
“How say ye to my
soul,
Flee as a bird to
your mountain?
For lo, the wicked
bend their bow,
They make ready their
arrow upon the string,
That they may privily
shoot
At the upright in
heart” (Ps. 11:1-2).
God help us to see
that in our trouble we can prepare spiritual gold and silver and timber for a
dwelling place for the Most High! God help us to see that a change of
environment cannot change the situation, And that no matter where we go, or
what we do, the archer is there with his bow to shoot us down and to molest. We
must know and understand that we have “the shield of faith” whereby we can
“quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.”
Preparation Of Priest
And Levite
“For David said, The
LORD God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in
Jerusalem for ever: and also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the
tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof” (1 Chron. 23:25-26).
God has a rest for
His people. Solomon was to be a man of rest. The priesthood was to be a
priesthood of rest. Some fear that this could make for ease and carelessness.
The truth is, when we enter into God’s rest we will become more active in the
Spirit, even as we are ceasing “from our own works.” No longer will we be
moving from one desert oasis to another, always looking for something beyond
our grasp. For God has promised...
“Thou shalt bring
them in,
And plant them in the
mountain of thine inheritance,
In the place, O LORD,
Which thou hast made
for thee to dwell in,
In the Sanctuary, O
Lord,
Which thy hands have
established” (Ex. 15:17).
In this realm there
is constant abiding in Him. The springs which once blessed our soul for a
season and then wasted away in the desert sands, flow eternally from the heart
of God because on the mountain of His inheritance we have come to the source of
the springs. In God’s Zion we can say, “All my springs are found in thee.” No
longer is the Tabernacle a “burden” to carry, and the vessels are no longer
“burdens” of ministration in God’s house. Rather we become those vessels in
whom He dwells, and through whom He flows forth in blessing to others.
Preparation Of The
Officers
The officers of
Solomon’s kingdom had served faithfully in the kingdom of Saul, but it only
brought them to disillusionment and distress. Their real training was in
company with David as they wandered about the hillsides of Judaea, unrecognized
by the realm of Saul, the offscouring of the earth. Jesus said, “Every one that
hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife,
or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and
shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt. 19:29). You will not learn the principles
of discipleship in seminars and institutions of learning. You will only learn
true discipleship as you take His yoke upon you, and walk with Him in His
rejection. Let us consider some of the qualifying degrees of the officers of
the kingdom. (See 1 Chron. 27.)
Jashobeam. How did he
qualify for a place in Solomon’s kingdom? He suffered rejection with David, and
became one of David’s mighty men. Single-handedly he slew 300 men with a spear.
We know little more than this about the man. But he became the officer over the
first course, for the first month, in Solomon’s kingdom; and he had 24,000 men
under his command.
Dodai. How did he
qualify? He suffered with David in his rejection, and on one occasion, he
“saved a parcel of ground full of barley” as the Philistines tried to take it.
How tremendous! He saved a barley field! The things which seem insignificant in
our eyes are often of great importance in the sight of God. And so Dodai the
Ahohite, David’s mighty man that saved a barley field, became the officer over
the second course, in the kingdom of Solomon; and he had 24,000 men under his
command.
Benaiah. What did he
do? He followed David in his rejection, and on one occasion, he slew a lion in
the midst of a pit. On another occasion he slew an imposing looking Egyptian,
and his only weapon was a stick in his hand. Oh, how God yearns over His people
that they might discover His ways! When are we going to get away from the
notion that every time the Enemy challenges the people of God, we have got to
come forth and meet the challenge with equal kinds of weapons and with equal
strategy? In obedience to God, and with nothing but the dry stick that we are,
the devices of the Enemy become his own destruction.
What is that in your
hand, Moses? Just a staff... just a stick. But as he walked in obedience before
the LORD, he would take that stick, and in his hand it would become the very
rod of God to deliver a nation from her bondage, to smite Egypt with all manner
of judgments, and to open up the Red Sea that the people of God might march
over.
What is that in your
hand, Shamgar? Just an ox-goad... just a stick! I work with oxen, and I use the
ox-goad as I go about my daily, menial tasks. But as he walked in obedience,
and moved in faith, the ox-goad became the rod of God in his hand, by which he
slew the enemies of God and delivered His people.
What is that in your
hand, Benaiah? Just a stick! But prompted by the Spirit of God the stick in his
hand became the rod of God, by which he would strike the Egyptian, rob him of
his spear, and then slay the Egyptian with the Egyptian’s own spear.
All these men had was
a stick. And by nature that is all we have--it is all we are. But in the
boldness of faith and confidence in God we shall learn, as we continue to walk
in fellowship with our David, that once again God is going to use the foolish
things to confound the wisdom of the wise and to bring to nought the things
that are. It is the secret of the Cross that we must learn. It was “through
death” that Christ destroyed “him that had the power of death,” and brought the
kingdom of Satan to nought.
David’s mighty men
are not striving for a place of leadership, or trying to produce for themselves
a great ministry. They are simply weary of the old ways of Saul, and they
follow David out of love for him. They are not opportunists. They are not out
to save their own lives. They are not looking for an office or a position in
the Church. They are willing to risk their lives in order to bring a cup of
cool, refreshing water from the fountain of Bethlehem to their thirsty king...
and then stand by and watch their king waste it, by pouring it on the ground.
“Why this waste?” the disciples said, as they watched Mary of Bethany break the
alabaster box, and pour its contents on the Lord Jesus. But God wants us to
know that nothing is wasted that is done out of love for Him… foolish as it may
seem in the eyes of men.
Preparation Of The
Plan Of The Temple
“Then David gave to
Solomon his son
The pattern of the
porch,
And of the houses
thereof,
And of the treasuries
thereof,
And of the upper
chambers thereof,
And of the inner
parlours thereof,
And of the place of
the mercy seat,
And the pattern of
all that he had by the Spirit,
Of the courts of the
house of the LORD,
And of all the
chambers round about,
Of the treasuries of
the house of God,
And of the treasuries
of the dedicated things” (1 Chron. 28:11-12).
As Moses was taken up
into the mountain and given the pattern of the Tabernacle, so David was given
the pattern of the new Temple by the Spirit--no doubt as he sat before the LORD
in the Tabernacle of David. But though the pattern of the new Temple was given
to him, he was not permitted to build it, nor did he attempt to do so. We need
to learn this lesson well. All over the earth Christian leaders are eagerly
trying to rebuild the Church in a vain attempt to bring it back to New
Testament pattern and order, and it is all in vain. God has something better in
mind than the Tabernacle of David, something better in mind than the early
Church. God’s plan is a Church that has come to perfect fruit--”a glorious
Church”--not having spot or wrinkle or blemish, or any such thing. Admittedly
there are eternal principles in the early Temple which must be incorporated
into the latter Temple. But its structure will be different-far different. Let
us be content to do just what we know God wants us to do in this hour. Let us
just walk in the Spirit, and allow the Master Builder to build His own Church.
We have gone into
considerable detail concerning the preparation that David made for the new era,
and rightly so. Preparation we believe is the key word for this hour. Those who
have the vision of what God is doing, and are pursuing it... they know and
understand, at least in part, the solemn implications of the word preparation.
Many others, who feel they are already prepared, are zealously trying to build
something that eventually God will have to tear down.
Now let us consider
the order of the Solomon era, with particular reference to:
1. The Order Of The Temple.
2. The Order Of The Kingdom.
1. The Order Of The
Temple
The Gathering Of The
Leaders
I am always
suspicious of these leadership and shepherding conferences that abound in the
land today... concerned that in many cases it may be another Adonijah coup...
and wondering if perhaps God may have hidden away his chosen ones whom He is
grooming for this hour, and they are not even known or recognized as yet. But
of course we know God’s plan will not fail, and that He is doing a secret work
in the earth which will not be manifest until God’s appointed hour. David
numbered the Levites from the age of 30 years and upward (1 Chron. 23:3), in
preparation for service in the new temple. And we believe that God is numbering
a people in this hour for His new order. There were both Levites and princes of
the sanctuary. The Levites were the helpers of the priests, a sort of deacon
ministry in the Old Testament order. “Their office was to wait on the sons of
Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD” (1 Chron. 23:28). The deacon
ministry is great in God’s eyes, because if one accepts it gracefully and uses it
well, God gives them a degree. Paul says they may “purchase to themselves a
good degree” (1 Tim. 3:13). But they cannot purchase this degree with money, or
by political wire-pulling. It is a degree for faithfulness. The word “degree”
means “a step upward.” Philip the deacon took the lower, menial task, and God
enlarged his ministry into one of evangelism and miracles. Likewise Stephen,
one of the seven deacons in the Church at Jerusalem, became a teacher of great
wisdom, and the first martyr mentioned by name, in the early Church. But even
as God’s deacons come to enlargement in ministry, they are still deacons at
heart. It ought to be a characteristic of all God’s people, including all
ministers; for Jesus Himself “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister”....
and the word used is the same as “deacon.”
The “chief men” of
the priesthood were called “governors [or princes] of the sanctuary” (1 Chron.
24:5). There were 24 such princes, 16 from the line of Eleazar, and eight from
the line of Ithamar. They were not elected by the people. God has never
authorized a democratic order for His people in any age, and certainly not for
His Church. These princes or governors were designated for their course of duty
by “lot.” But this does not mean it was a case of “chance.” The secret ballot
is intended to assure that the will of man be done--in the church, and in the
world. The lot, as directed by the Lord, is to assure that God’s will be done.
Because,
“The lot is cast into
the lap;
But the whole
disposing thereof is of the LORD” (Prov. 16:33).
We are not suggesting
that we go back to the use of the lot that was used in Old Testament times. God
has something better than that for us… and that is that the Holy Spirit be
given His Lordship in the midst of His people, and when He is Lord He will be
faithful to clearly reveal God’s will for the government of the House of God.
“Government” is as clearly a gift and ministration of the Spirit, as are
miracles, healings, tongues, prophecies, and so forth (1 Cor. 12:28). And God
will yet displace this democratic system that we have in the Church, as well as
in the world.
Notice in this new
order that there were 24 priestly princes of the sanctuary. These correspond
with the 24 elders in the book of Revelation, where we have the Revelation of
Jesus Christ in His Church. (See Rev. 4:4.) John saw them clothed in white
raiment (in priestly garments); but they had on their heads crowns of gold
(denoting a royal office). And so we have 12 times two; and we are going to
come across these numbers often in Solomon’s Temple, as well as in the book of
Revelation. The number 12 is related to government and rulership; and the
number two is related to the corporate relationship in the Body of Christ. And
so we hear the 24 elders singing a new song:
“[Thou] hast made us
unto our God Kings and priests:
And we shall reign on
the earth” (Rev. 5:10).
And though some
versions read, “Thou hast made them kings and priests,” they were nevertheless
singing on behalf of redeemed men in their representative office as kings and
priests.
The Musicians Of The
Temple
Asaph, Heman, and
Jeduthun were ordained as the leaders in song and praise; and those under their
leadership were set apart unto the priestly ministry of song. They were to
“prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals” (1 Chron. 25:1). These
musicians were not performers or entertainers, they were singing prophets. They
did not stand up to entertain and do a number to the acclaim and applause of
the congregation. They “prophesied according to the order of the king.” Now
Asaph means “gatherer,” and God’s Asaphs have a ministry in the Spirit to
gather the people of God together in harmony and in union with the King. Heman
means “faithful,” for that is all that God requires of any man, or any
musician; not natural talent... not greatness... not success... not
achievement… but faithfulness. Jeduthun means “Choir of Praise.” For God’s
people were given names at birth that pointed to some characteristic or aspect
of their future life and calling. This Levite would lead a Choir of Praise in
prophetic song, in the house of the LORD. They were not chosen because they had
special talent. They were born into the families of these men; and whether they
were great or small, teacher or scholar, they must submit to the lot that set
them apart for this service. It was God who set them in their course. Again we
are told there were 24 courses with 12 in each course, for a total of 288 who
ministered in prophetic song and music in the house of the LORD.
In the New Testament
Church, the “psalm” finds its place in spiritual ministry, along with “a
doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation...” (1 Cor. 14:26). And so
in this way it is the Lord Himself who sings praises unto God “in the midst of
the Church” (Heb. 2:12). Zephaniah said that God would rejoice over His people
“with singing” (Zeph. 3:17; see also Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).
Paul speaks of
“spiritual songs.” They are not spiritual songs because they happen to mention
God or Heaven or the Bible. They are songs that are born of the Spirit, And the
time must come when songs that are born of the Spirit will be freely used by
the people of God when they come together. If God gave these songs, they are
His, and do not belong to that particular person who happened to receive them.
They are really prophetic songs designed of the Lord to bring forth thoughtful
meditation in the minds of the people; not designed to activate their feet but
to penetrate their hearts, to melt them in His presence, to humble them before
the majesty of the King, and to enlarge their vision concerning God’s purpose
for His people. That is why all through the Psalms we find that little word
“Selah” so often; for the songs are designed to produce thoughtful meditation.
As if to say, “Just pause a moment... and think this over...” One wonders where
you might insert a “Selah” in many of our “spiritual songs” today. The book of
Psalms means the book of Praises. It was the hymnal of Solomon’s Temple, and
also of the restored temple after the Captivity. By this time many other psalms
were added to the original 72 that were ascribed to David, covering the period
following the destruction of Jerusalem. They were psalms that were born of the
Spirit as men of God poured out their hearts before the Lord, and sang of the
trials and tribulations and triumphs of a life lived in fellowship with God.
God’s people have
always been fraught with many perplexities and many questions, and the book of
Psalms is therefore filled with many questions. The answer that God gives may
not always satisfy the disobedient or the proud... but it always satisfies the
one whose trust and confidence is in God. Perhaps as the Temple Choir sang
forth these prophetic utterances, part of the choir would sing the question,
while another part would sing forth the answer. And then together in unison
they would exalt the LORD in great anthems of praise and worship. The book of
Psalms is therefore once again coming forth as the hymnal of the Church, which
is the true Temple of God in the earth. And this hymnal is quite up to date:
“Why do the heathen rage? Why do the people imagine vain things? My soul is
sore vexed, but thou, O LORD, how long? Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? Why
hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? How long shall mine enemy be exalted
over me? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me? My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God... when shall I come
and appear before God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou
disquieted in me?”
But in each case God
has a satisfying answer to those who love Him, and whose hearts are open to
Him...
The Divisions Of The
Porters
1 Chronicles 26
The porters were the
doorkeepers of the house of God. Theirs was a very simple ministry, but very
important. They were to guard the doors of God’s house, to keep out and to let
in. They must guard the various treasure rooms of the temple as well as open
the doors for the priest and Levite who must enter certain rooms in the course
of their ministry. Their place of appointment was likewise determined by “lot.”
It was God who set them in their place. (Here again we have 12 times two: 24
porters.) We do not know the significance of all these doors, but here the
Levites stood at the threshold to open and to close the doors as necessary. The
priests must go in to minister unto the Lord, and they must come out to
minister unto the people. God has purposely designed His Temple so that we are
not able to minister effectively as an individualist. That is why the strong,
individualistic type of minister is going to find it increasingly difficult to
flow together with God’s anointed people in this hour, when God sends forth the
river of life from the threshold of the Temple. There must come a melting if we
are going to flow in the River of God.
As we learn to
minister in the Spirit we recognize how important the ministry of the
doorkeeper really is. We come to recognize that we cannot minister effectively
unless the door has been opened into one of God’s treasure rooms. And very
often it is one of these doorkeepers who has opened the door and enabled us to
see some of God’s treasures, and bring them forth to His people. Or we may seek
to peer through the crack in the door, dimly catching a glimpse of something;
then a doorkeeper turns the key, and for the first time we see it more clearly,
The Levite who opens the door may not get any particular credit for this, but
he is only seeking the welfare of the Body of Christ, and this becomes his
reward. He cannot boast of having done very much, compared to some of the
laborers in the fields. Evidently his task was considered to be rather menial,
prompting the psalmist to say:
“I had rather be a
doorkeeper In the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness”
(Ps. 84:10).
Therefore let the
doorkeepers in the house of the LORD rejoice in that God is using them: to
bring forth His presence in the midst of the congregation, to open doors that
lead to true worship and praise, to make way for the choir of praise to flow
forth in spiritual songs to the LORD, or to open the door for one of His
priests to go in and explore the “spoils of battle” or some treasure of truth
that may lie concealed in the inner parlors. And so let the doorkeepers “lift
up the gates” that the King of Glory may come in:
“Lift up your heads,
O ye gates;
And be ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors;
And the King of glory
shall come in.
Who is this King of
glory?
The
LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in
battle” (Ps. 24:7-8).
The Treasure Rooms
The Temple was made
with storehouses to guard the treasures of the house of God and of the
dedicated things. The spoils of battle, won in many wars against the enemies of
the LORD from the days of Samuel and afterward, were stored away in the various
buildings connected with the Temple compound, and guarded by the doorkeepers.
Jesus is going to “divide the spoil with the strong.” Canaan was God’s land,
intended for God’s people, but it was inhabited by seven mighty nations. It was
God’s plan for His people to subdue the mighty, and take the spoil of the land
for themselves. We stand amazed sometimes at the knowledge and wisdom and power
that evil principalities exercise over the minds and souls and bodies of
people. It is a usurped authority, and a perverted wisdom and knowledge. And
when God’s people “take the kingdom,” Satan is thereby robbed of his power and
wisdom, and his kingdom is spoiled in the lives of the people he held in
bondage. Let us cherish the treasures of truth that have been won on the
battlefields of the past. God is doing a new thing, I know. But the faithful
scribe will continue to bring forth out of his treasures, “things new and old.”
In the days of
Nehemiah, the priest had become so tolerant with the enemy that he actually
prepared a housekeeping apartment for Tobiah in the very place that was
intended for the treasures of oil and wine and frankincense, and the meal
offerings. This made Nehemiah so angry that he went into the Temple and dumped
all of Tobiah’s furniture outdoors, and brought in again the vessels of the
house of God, and the meal offerings, and the frankincense (Neh. 13:8).
The “mystery of
iniquity” was at work in Paul’s day in the Temple of God, in the very midst of
God’s people. God hasten the day when His people stop looking over to old
Jerusalem for a temple, and for the man of sin sitting in it. You will find the
man of sin where God’s people are. You will find him in the Temple, in the
place of God’s habitation. You will find him wherever and whenever there is a
moving of the Spirit of God toward the restoration and refurnishing of God’s
true Temple, not made with hands. He is right there, ready to set up
housekeeping. Not because he wants to worship God, but because he wants to
hinder and frustrate true worship... the worship that ascends as frankincense
from God’s people... the worship that comes forth in Spirit and in Truth.
Let us cast out all
this household stuff of Tobiah. His name means, “God is good.” But don’t let
slogans like this fool you. We must get to know the spirit behind the words
that are spoken, and the front that is presented; for he professes to love God,
but he wants to take God’s place in the Temple. The ultimate Antichrist will
rise up in the Temple, which is the Church of the Living God. The spirit of
Antichrist has been in the Church from the beginning. John the apostle
recognized him, and Paul recognized him, and in the latter day Church God wants
us to recognize him (2 Thess. 2:7; l Jn. 2:18-19). The anointed people of the
last days will recognize him, and drive him out. But the apostate Church will
be deceived by his flatteries, and allow him to “sit in the Temple of God.”
Antichrist means
against Christ... but it also means instead of Christ. Our only safeguard is in
the anointing--the anointing which is Truth--Who alone can keep us free from
the seductions of the Enemy. (See l Jn. 2:27.) It is not enough that God’s
people receive certain charismatic gifts and blessings. We must become an anointed
people, born of the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, led of the Spirit, baptized
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, walking in the sevenfold Spirit of God. And
as we assemble in the Name of the Lord, the Holy Spirit will be in charge to
take the things of Christ and make them known to us. We must begin very
earnestly to make way for the Lordship of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and in
our gatherings. If there is singing, let it be the song of the Lord, born of
the Spirit, and flowing forth by God’s Spirit to admonish and teach God’s
people, and not to entertain them. If there is ministry in the Word, let it be
“the oracle of God”--that living Word that God has for His people in this
hour--and not something that has been studied out intellectually and given
forth with the art of rhetoric. If there is to be a healing, may there be the
love and compassion of Christ Who is there to administer the healing, and not a
display of the power of a charismatic man of God. If there is teaching, let it
be “meat in due season” to feed the hungry, and to enlighten the eyes of the
blind with the eyesalve of illumination and insight into the mysteries of God.
Let us cast forth all
this household stuff of Tobiah out of the chambers of the House of God! And
while we know and expect that there will be an ultimate Antichrist taking a
firm hold on an apostate Church, let us recognize that his spirit is there
now... the mystery is already at work... and we can only resist him by the
power and anointing and presence of the Lord Jesus in our hearts and lives, and
in our gatherings in His Name.
2. The Order Of The
Kingdom
1 Chronicles 27
The Officers Of The
Kingdom
We have already
mentioned the names of three of these officers, the men who had followed David
in his rejection and who had come to a place of rulership in the new order. But
there were 12 such officers, each having 24,000 men under their charge. We are
told that these served the king “in any matter” as they came in and went out
month by month, according to the 12 courses. There were therefore 12 times
24,000, or 288,000 officers; and again we have their spiritual counterpart in
the book of Revelation:
“And I heard the
number of them Which were sealed:
And there were sealed
an 144,000
Of all the tribes of
the children of Israel”(Rev. 7:4).
“And I looked, And,
lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, And with him a 144,000,
Having his Father’s
name
Written in their
foreheads” (Rev. 14:1).
And so adding these
two companies together, we have 288,000, which corresponds to the 288,000
officers in the kingdom of Solomon. Whether these numbers are literal numbers,
or symbolic, we do not need to speculate. But they are the overcomers. They
have gone beyond gift and ministry as such, and now they minister out from
their relationship with the Lamb. In union with Christ they can do anything He
wants them to do, simply because in themselves they can do nothing. They are
utterly dependent upon their Lord, even as He was utterly dependent upon the
Father when He walked this earth.
We must remember that
the angel made known the Revelation to John in “signs.” He used “sign” language
as he spoke to John-the message was “SIGN-ified” unto him. We do not have to
conclude, therefore, that the numbers mentioned are necessarily literal
numbers. But either way, they are significant numbers. They speak of
governmental authority and rulership (12 times 12); and they minister out from
the holy of holies, which in the Tabernacle measured ten times ten times ten
cubits, which equals 1,000. (Half the linen tent covered the holiest of all,
and so being 20 cubits wide it would have covered ten cubits over the top, and
ten cubits down the back, and the other half of the tent would have covered the
holy place, with the golden clasps holding the sections together over the four
pillars. See Ex. 36:9-13.) We have shown previously how the number “two” speaks
of a corporate relationship; so we have 144 times 1,000 times two, which equals
288,000. For the Body of Christ, the true Israel, is a new entity composed of both
the natural Israel and the wild olive branches, brought together in the one
good olive tree. The middle wall of partition which once separated them has
been broken down by the Cross, and Christ has made “in himself of twain, one
new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:11-15). This is the true Israel, yet still
comprised of the twelve tribes on a higher plane. It is not our purpose in this
study to pursue the meanings of the names of the tribes. But let us take note
that when John gives the list of the tribes, the tribe of Dan is excluded, and
in his place we have the tribe of Manasseh. Are we to suppose that there is no
room for Dan in the true Israel? And why is Manasseh mentioned as well as
Joseph? For the line of Joseph includes both Ephraim and Manasseh. I can only
conclude that God is showing us that in this new overcoming Israel, the
“serpent” nature has finally been eradicated; for of Dan it was said, “Dan
shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path” (Gen. 49:17). And by
inserting Manasseh God is showing how there has come into the midst of His
people total deliverance from the serpent in the sin-conscience, for Manasseh
means “Cause to Forget.” This new Israel has the fruitfulness of Joseph through
Ephraim his son, which means “double-fruitfulness.” But to come to this, there
has to be a Manasseh: a forgetting of those things which are behind. We cannot
come into the place of total victory in Christ until there has been a cleansing
and a purging; not only of the serpent of Dan, but from the very remembrance of
it all. The serpent of our fallen nature, with all its shame, its frustrations,
its failures, is completely swallowed up by the Rod of Aaron (which became a
serpent even as Christ was made sin for us). There is no condemnation to them
which are “in Christ Jesus,” not only because of the blood of Jesus which was
shed on the Cross, but because of the cleansing and purging ministration of the
Spirit in our hearts, Who is faithful to apply the cleansing of the Blood to
our hearts. We cannot emphasize enough that the Holy Spirit witnesses to the
perfect cleansing that is available in the Blood; and that the reason there is
so much uncleanness in our hearts and minds is because the Holy Spirit is not
given His due Lordship in our lives and in our gatherings together in His Name.
And when we as God’s people, through the workings of God’s grace in our midst,
return to the Fountain of Life and the Spirit of God flows once again in the
midst of His people, there will be a perfect cleansing from all sin for the
heart and mind and conscience of God’s people. This cleansing is there for us
in the Precious Blood of Christ, and the Spirit of God will bear witness to it,
as we give Him His Lordship.
The Overcomers
Let us consider
briefly the character of these overcoming ones. Sealed with the seal of God in
their foreheads. It’s about time we lift our foreheads to God to receive His
seal, instead of talking so much about the mark of the Beast! The mark of the
Lamb of God will make us totally immune to the mark of the Dragon!
The mark and seal of
the Lamb of God is the mind of Christ. They are preserved in the hour of
judgment on the earth and the sea.
The serpent is now
under their feet, even as was promised to those who are in Christ (Rom. 16:20).
The past is under the
Blood, and the Spirit of God in their lives has purged them not only from the
serpent, but from the very remembrance of his curse.
They have followed
the Lamb, even into their heritage in the heavenlies, and stand with Him on
Mount Zion... yet even as they find their place there, they walk in the midst
of men, without blemish, without fault, as virgins in His sight.
It is a high and holy
calling… but to these overcomers it is more. They are “called, and chosen, and
faithful” (Rev. 17:14). In union with the Son they have partaken of the
Father’s nature. Therefore the Father’s Name is in their foreheads... not
blasphemously spelled out in some earthly language, nor visible to the eyes of
men among whom they walk... but spelled out in the language of the Spirit, by
the imprint of the Father’s nature and character in their lives. Jesus said, “I
have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it [will make it known]:
that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn.
17:26).
They are not only
born of God, they are thoroughly disciplined as His sons, and conformed to the
image of the Only Begotten. Therefore they have His very nature and character.
“And they sung as it
were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders:
and no man could learn that song but the 144,000, which were redeemed from the
earth” (Rev. 14:3).
They are
“firstfruits” unto God and to the Lamb. Christ is the “firstfruits” (1 Cor.
15:23). But these are in union with Him, and are therefore a class of
“firstfruits”—“a kind of firstfruits” (Jas. 1:18).
They are a people
that are totally victorious over the beast, and over his image, and over his
mark, and over the number of his name. They were not caught away from the
battle. They have fought a good fight and have kept the faith in the midst of
the battle. They are not escapees or deserters. They confronted these evil
hosts head-on, and overcame... not in their own strength, but by “the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.”
They are true
witnesses (Gr. “martus,” from which we get our word “martyr”). “They loved not
their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:11). At times they may have walked away
from death, if that was God’s will, as Jesus did (Jn. 7:1). But they gladly
returned to the place of death, in obedience to the Father, as Jesus did (Jn.
11:7-8). In either case they walked in God’s will, and did not hesitate to
choose death, if they knew this was pleasing to the Father (Heb. 11:35). They
were not looking for an easy escape from tribulation, because they knew they
were “appointed” to tribulation (1 Thess. 3:4); and because they desired to be
companions with the heirs of the Kingdom, they desired also to be companions in
tribulation (Rev. 1:9). These are the ones who stand on the sea of glass,
having the harps of God, and singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb--the
Song of Victory.
The Rulers Of The
Tribes
Here again there are
12 rulers over the 12 tribes. The names of the 12 tribes are inscribed on the
gates of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, which is said to be “the bride, the
Lamb’s wife.” (See Rev. 2 1:2, 9, 12.) And the names of the 12 apostles of the
Lamb are inscribed on the 12 foundations of the wall of the City. (See Rev.
21:14.) And so there is a very close identity between the Holy City (which is
the Bride of Christ), and the heads of the 12 tribes, and the 12 apostles of
the Lamb. Jesus promised his apostles, “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of
his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel” (Matt. 19:28). Jesus calls this new phase of the Kingdom of God (after
the resurrection) “the regeneration.” But the spirit of that new day is
something we partake of now, in the “washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5), the
same word that Jesus used in Matthew 19:28. It is the same energy and power
working in His people now, the resurrection life of our Lord Jesus, that will
“make all things new” in the “regeneration” that Jesus spoke about. (See also
Rev. 2 1:5.) The same power that “worketh in us” that will eventually change us
from mortality to immortality, and subdue all God’s enemies under the feet of
Christ (Eph. 3:20; Phil. 3:21). For the powers available to us now, really are
the “the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5).
Then just where do we
draw the line, between God’s provision for us in this life and what is
available for us in the next? All I can say is, the line is far, far beyond our
most hopeful prayers and desires, as the apostle said (Eph. 3:20). Going beyond
God’s provision for us has never been God’s problem, but ours. God’s earnest
longing for His people is not: “Beware, lest you try to go farther than I want
to lead you,” but rather, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us
of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb.
4:1). This is God’s great concern! Don’t fall short of God’s desire! There is
no danger you might appropriate more than He has in mind for you. But let there
be no presumption here, For the promises of God are not appropriated by carnal,
presumptuous faith. You can only go on with God into the realms and depths of
His love and truth, as you walk with Him in the pathway of total commitment and
discipleship, loving not your life, even unto death. Like Abraham, we just keep
“looking for the City...” And as we “look for it,” the vision of it and the
longing for it gives us new perspective, and new hope. The things of this world
lose their lustre in the light of the City of God, the New Jerusalem, which
will yet come down from God out of Heaven. For “we look for new heavens, and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
The Stewards Of The
King’s Property
The king’s property
was divided into 12 categories, with one steward in charge of each class of
labor or industry. (See 1 Chron. 27:25-31.) These were:
1. The King’s Treasures.
2. The Storehouses.
3. The Cultivators.
4. The Vineyards.
5. The Wine Cellars.
6. The Orchards.
7. The Oil Cellars.
8. The Herds Of Sharon.
9. The Herds Of The Valleys.
10. The Camels.
11. The Asses.
12. The Flocks Of
Sheep.
We
will only briefly touch on these.
1. The King’s
Treasures. Paul called himself a steward of “the mysteries of God.” God wants His
treasures to be distributed. Not at random, of course, but the steward will
distribute the treasures according to the direction of the King. The truths of
the Kingdom of God are called “mysteries,” which simply means that they are
“secrets.” And these secrets are to be made known only to those whose hearts
have been prepared to receive them. So what can we do but meditate upon them,
write about them, talk about them, and trust God to open up the hearts of His
people to receive the Word that God wants them to hear. Jesus Himself spoke in
parables to the people; but He could only speak to them “as they were able to
hear it” (Mk. 4:33).
2. The Storehouses. These were scattered
throughout the land: in the fields, cities, villages, and towers. God has
stewards for these also--to dispense these treasures to His people. Jehonathan
was in charge of this, and we suspect that he was quite a popular man. He had
riches to give to the people in their time of need. Asmaveth was just in charge
of the King’s Treasures. Perhaps there was not too many who knew what riches he
had in his trust. And what difference did it make? It was only for the King
anyway--or so they thought. They were not interested in those far-out things!
(At least this is the response we get sometimes, as we seek to relate to God’s
people those things which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,” the things that “God
hath prepared for them that love him.”)
3. The Cultivators. Ezri was over the
cultivators. Not too glorious a task, but at least everyone in Israel
recognized that it was a very important task. That is more than can be said for
God’s cultivators in the Church. Plowing the ground? Why waste your time on
that? Get out into the fields where you can reap without any plowing!
Invariably the evangelist gets the credit for what is harvested--and many times
no one knows anything about the plowmen that went before and dug up the soil.
Invariably the cultivator is considered to be wasting his time--and he too
weeps over his futile efforts.
But in the end we can
be assured that...
“The tears of the
sower, And the song of the reaper, Will mingle together, in joy bye and bye...”
4. The Vineyards; 5. The Wine Cellars;
6. The Orchards; 7. The Oil Cellars. We will speak about these together,
because they are somewhat related. God has in His Kingdom those who are
qualified to bring forth the wine and the oil in the midst of His people.
“Wine that maketh
glad the heart of man,
And oil to make his
face to shine” (Ps. 104:15).
There are those who
shine with the glory of God’s presence, and who bring the “glad tidings” of the
Gospel to those in prison-houses of sin and darkness; those who can bring a
spirit of rejoicing in the place of heaviness. The plowman may not be able to
do that, nor is he to come under condemnation for his failure to do so.
Then there is the man
in the wine cellar. His job is to pour the wines from one vessel to another, to
drain off the dregs that the purest wine might come forth. He is entirely out
of sight of the people. But he is very necessary if the people of God are going
to remain fresh and full of life. Moab’s problem was that he “hath not been
emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore
his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed” (Jer. 48:11). And so
God said He would send pourers into their midst. I believe this must speak of
true fellowship in the Spirit. To remain tightly sealed and preserved in our
own little bottle makes for stagnation and sickliness. There must be a pouring
forth unto others, a sharing one with another. Not just so much talk, but
opening up the heart to one another as God may lead: in confession, in
exhortation, in an acknowledgment of some aspect of God’s goodness or of His
dealings. This in turn will bring forth a pouring from others. And so we give
and receive, and give again. We are not talking about idle talk one with
another, not everyone giving their little sermon. But an open, face-to-face,
heart-to-heart ministration of the Spirit. We will not leave such gatherings
the way we came, with the same taste, the same scent.
We cannot manufacture
this type of fellowship, but we need to recognize our need for it, and ask the
Lord to pour us from vessel to vessel that there might be the joy of the Lord
in our midst, and the oil of His anointing.
8. The Herds Of
Sharon; 9. The Herds Of The Valleys; 10. The Camels; 11. The Asses; 12. The Flocks Of
Sheep. Here again we will speak of these together, so as to compare or
contrast the one with the other.
The camels and the
asses were the burden-bearers. Both were important: the asses for the smaller,
local trips; and the camels for the long desert journeys to lands afar off.
Their burdens may have been heavy and their trials very severe, but they were
suited and equipped for the task. The keepers of the flocks and herds had a
different task, and they could not take the place of the others. They must feed
the cattle and the sheep to provide the food and clothing for the king’s
household. Sharon was famous for its rich pasture lands, and the name has taken
on prophetic significance for God’s people:
“And Sharon shall be
a fold of flocks, And the valley of Achor a place For the herds to lie down in,
For my people that have sought me” (Isa. 65:10).
Herds of Sharon, and
Herds of the Valley! God has His herds in both. Not only does He feed His own
in the rich pasture lands of Sharon, but also in the valley of Achor. Now
Sharon means “plain.” And we might be inclined at times to envy that one whose
life seems to be unruffled, always on an even keel, always blessed with the
sunshine of the open plains. But there are pasture lands in the valley of Achor
also. Achor means “trouble.” Admittedly we bring a lot of trouble on ourselves,
as Israel did in the time of Joshua when Achan sinned against the LORD and was punished
in the valley of Achor. But whether our troubles are self-inflicted, or
designed of the Lord for the refinement of our nature, God wants us to know
that as we return to Him in weeping and mourning, we are going to find rich
pasture lands in those areas of our lives which once caused us so much grief.
Let us not take sides with Job’s comforters and condemn those who are in
trouble and distress, when it might well be that God’s plan is to make a
perfect man still more perfect, and to reveal Himself in a manner He has done
before.
On the other hand, if
it is because of judgment, then we can rejoice in the fact that God deals with
us as with sons, and that His dealings are a token of His love for us. “For
whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.” Therefore let the troubled ones in our
midst search their hearts and draw closer to God; for that is the purpose for
which He allowed, or ordained, their troubles. And as they do, they will
discover that God may have ordained greater glory and rest for them than He has
for the herds who bask in the sun on the beautiful plains of Sharon.
“A place for the
herds to lie down in, For my people that have sought me” (Isa. 65:10).
“And I will give her
her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for a door of hope:
And she shall sing
there, As in the days of her youth” (Hos. 2:15).
Therefore God says,
“That no man should
be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed
thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should
suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know” (1 Thess. 3:3-4).
These officers
recognized the task that lay before them, and they performed their duty without
any thought of competing one with the other. The circumstances and trials as
well as the joys of life have had much to do by way of preparing each one for
that particular ministry and calling that God has in mind. For God has a
purpose for each one, and only the unwise in our midst will judge who is doing
the King’s business and who is wasting his time. As if the keeper of the herds
would say, “After all, you must admit that I have the most important task of
all!” Who would deny that his job was important? The king needed the cattle to
provide meat for his table, and sacrifices for the priesthood. But he also
needs the burden-bearers, the cultivators, and the guardians of the
storehouses. Or can you imagine Jaziz who looked after the sheep taunting
Joash, “Well, Joash my friend, how many sheep were added to your flock this
year?” Of course Joash would have to reply: “Not one, I’m sorry to say... you
see my job is to work in the cellars of oil.” Of course we cannot imagine that
these men exalted themselves one over the other, but it is a true parable of
what goes on in the Church. God hasten the day when He will take away that
competitive spirit from His people, and especially from the ministry, and cause
them to know that each person has a ministry and a place in the Body of Christ,
as a “member in particular,” for the welfare of the whole Body. Obil the
Ishmaelite was over the camels. He did not have a shepherd’s heart. He did not
expect to be placed in charge of the sheep, or of the herds. But he did have
the ability to look after the camels, to equip and prepare them for their
journeys to distant lands, and to care for the ones that returned home,
footsore and weary because of their long missionary activities.
“Now ye are the body
of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12:27).
The Five Royal
Ministries
Little is said of
these ministries, but their position speaks for itself. They were especially
close to the king and his household, and led his armies to victory over the
enemy. (See 1 Chron. 27:32-34.)
1. Counselor.
2. Companion Of The King’s Sons.
3. King’s Counselor.
4. King’s Companion.
5.
King’s General.
6.
These were special
ministries requiring much wisdom, knowledge and understanding. But let us be
assured that it is only a spiritual wisdom and understanding that God requires
in the Body of Christ, and this enablement proceeds only from Him. We are not
speaking about men who are able to give good counsel or good advice because of
their learning; but men who by reason of Urim and Thummim which God has placed
in the Body of Christ, shall be able to give that direction and guidance that
God’s people must have in times of need and perplexity. Solomon tells us about
a certain city that was delivered by the wisdom of a “poor wise man,” but whose
wisdom was soon forgotten by those who dwelt in the city.
“Then said I, Wisdom
is better than strength:
Nevertheless the poor
man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not
heard.
The words of wise men
are heard in quiet
More than the cry of
him that ruleth among fools.
Wisdom is better than
weapons of war” (Eccl. 9:16-18).
It is the same way in
the Church. Good wisdom and counsel comes forth from the meek and the humble
who know God and walk with Him. And instead of receiving it, men turn to those
who have studied the art of “counselling.” The Church of Christ will never come
to fullness and perfection without a ministration of spiritual wisdom and
understanding. The gifts of the Spirit, known as a word of wisdom and a word of
knowledge, are not sufficient in themselves. We must come to that place where
the “spirit of wisdom and understanding” come to abide in God’s people in
abundant fullness. It is not enough that a person can give a word of wisdom one
moment, and the next moment continue to walk in his own ways. There must yet
come forth in the Church a people who, like Jesus, are endued with the
sevenfold Spirit of God and walk in the light of those “seven eyes of the
Lamb”--a people who live, and move, and abide in the fullness of Christ.
The five royal
ministries are very close to the heart of the king. These men had been with
David in his rejection, and had known David’s many wars. But their greatness
required of them greater dedication and greater responsibility for the new era
of Solomon that was about to be ushered in, and not all of these men qualified.
Ahithophel had great wisdom; but when he went against David, God turned his
wisdom into foolishness. Abiathar was a priest in the Davidic era, and Joab was
the general of David’s army. But both of these men took sides with treachery
and rebellion. These are solemn warnings to God’s people everywhere, and
especially to those who have gained a reputation for greatness in the Body of
Christ. In the new order we must understand that spiritual achievements of the
past will not, and cannot, guarantee an easy, automatic transition from the old
into the new. It is much more likely that success will lead to pride of heart,
than to a lowly and a contrite spirit. And when the heart is lifted up in
pride, though it be in Lucifer son of the morning, very quickly is he brought
down to the ground. Rudyard Kipling’s strong warning to Great Britain in the
height of her glory is something we all need to be reminded of... lest we
forget...
“The tumult and the
shouting dies,
The captains and the
kings depart;
Still stands Thine
ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a
contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts be
with us yet!
Lest we forget! Lest
we forget!”
But why does our King
need counselors? Not for His sake, but for the sake of His people. Our King
needs those who share His counsels that they might in turn share His wisdom
with the people. Can I not go to God for myself? True, and we must always have
that open line of communication with the King. But in this hour of the
tempering of the Body of Christ, God is revealing areas of great weakness in
all of us, causing us to draw closer to Him and to one another. God is bringing
forth a corporate Man in the earth. The great ones of the past must be brought
low. The low and the despised He will exalt… yet in their exaltation they must
still remain lowly and of a contrite heart. And this blending of the Body of
Christ is designed of the Lord “that there should be no schism in the body; but
that the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Cor. 12:25). God
wants to bring us individually into a clear, open line of communication with
Himself and we would encourage the Lord’s people to know this heritage is for
them. But we have observed many who would go their own stubborn way and refuse
the admonition of one who had a clear Word from the Lord, and end up in
shipwreck. There are times when God cannot cause us to hear as we ought, and He
may give a word through another, to turn our feet back to the paths of
righteousness. And there are times when He wants to give us further
confirmation concerning the way He is leading us.
May God lead us in
pathways of obedience, and create a right spirit within us, that we might know
the Voice of the Shepherd, whether He speaks to our heart in the quietude of
our personal fellowship with Him or through the words of another member of the
Body of Christ.
Only the ignorant
would criticize Jonathan as he drove past the fields, riding in the king’s
chariot. Or Jehiel as he strolled along, in communion with the king’s sons. Why
were they not doing something profitable, like cultivating the fields or
helping reap the harvests? Why were they wasting their time in idleness, while
others were working feverishly with the sheep, or the camels, or the asses? But
the king’s sons need companions for fellowship, and these men were doing what
the king had appointed them to do.
He is not wasting his
time, who waits for God’s hour to come to pass in his life. He is not standing
idly by, who stands ready to do God’s will. He is not an unprofitable servant,
who mingles with the King’s sons for fellowship and companionship.
These men may have
been open to criticism by the hard workers in the orchards and vineyards, and
by those who herded the cattle in the fields of Sharon. But they did not choose
their lot. (Again, we are just speaking a parable. They knew what was going
on... but God’s people in this hour are slow to comprehend.) Many a time they
may have longed to do something that would seem profitable in their own eyes,
and in the eyes of men. But now they have learned that they can do nothing,
except as God does it through them. Because they have come to understand the
heart of the King, and His desire for His sons, the King has seen fit to bring
them into royal fellowship, that they might impart wisdom and understanding to
His other sons. ...But not only do the King’s sons need fellowship, so does the
King Himself. Jesus called twelve disciples that they might go forth and preach
the gospel. But this was secondary; first of all we are told that He chose them
“that they should be with him” (Mk. 3:14). We lose sight of this so often. Abraham
became God’s “friend,” and that is how he learned many of God’s secrets. Jesus
wanted the friendship of those with whom He could share God’s secrets. God has
never had any problem getting servants to work for Him. But He has very few
friends. What is the difference? The servant does not know what the King’s plan
and purpose is, and often times cares less. He is just too busy working for
God. But the friend is different. He is introduced into the counsels of God. He
is not there to “advise” the Almighty. He is there to learn His secrets; and we
need to know His secrets if we are to walk in peace and confidence before Him.
There is therefore no frustration in the hour of apparent futility, and no
panic in the hour of universal distress. He knows what God is doing. He knows
that God’s plan cannot fail, and he can rest in that. Jesus said, “Henceforth I
call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I
have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made
known unto you” (Jn. 15:15).
But there is more to
friendship with God than an understanding of His purposes. For in intimate
fellowship with God we partake of His very image and likeness, and are vitally
joined unto Him. His own nature and character is imprinted upon our lives, and
God Himself makes His abiding place within. “If a man love me, he will keep my
words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him” (Jn. 14:23). “We will come unto him,” Jesus said. He is not
speaking about two different persons coming in to abide. We lose much if we
start looking within and trying to discern that which is the voice of the
Father, and that which is the voice of the Son. And Jesus was not implying
anything like that. But because the Father and Son abide within, there begins
to come forth in the hearts of His people the heart and mind of the Father: the
One Who ever existed, Who knows and purposed the end from the beginning, the
eternal One, the Origin of all things, and the One Who has a large family of
sons and is greatly concerned about them. And yet at one and the same time
there is the recognition that we are begotten of God: that like His Only
Begotten we must learn obedience by the things that we are called upon to suffer...
that we must like the Son live in utter dependence upon the Father... that in
ourselves we “can do nothing.” In union with the Father we partake of His
power, the outflow of His love, and a father-like concern and compassion for
mankind, enabling us to flow forth unto them in mercy, in truth, in healing and
delivering grace. But in and through it all we have the heart of the Son...
living and moving in total helplessness, in total dependence upon Another,
drawing from His heart, and walking in obedience and in the fear of God.
“Dear Lord! Make us
to be Your friends! Draw us and we will run after You. We long to come into the
fullness of Your presence, there to abide continually under Your shadow. Often
we would despair of entering that holy realm because of the obstacles that lie
in our pathway. And therefore we would pray, ‘Cause us to approach unto You...
cause Your face to shine upon us... make us to know Your way.’ Looking at
ourselves we know we shall never attain to that fullness of glory. But we turn
our eyes heavenward, and embrace Your promise... ‘Him that overcometh will I
make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is
new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write
upon him my new name’ (Rev. 3:12).”
David’s Charge To The
Priests And Officers
In all that we are
saying, our hope is that God’s people will be nurtured of the Lord, that we
might be prepared for what God has in mind in this great hour. They said to
Jesus just before His ascension, “Lord wilt thou at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel?” The important thing for them was to do what Jesus said: go
to Jerusalem and wait upon God. Like the disciples, we want to get involved in
His Kingdom... and we think it would help us if we knew when it was going to
happen. Even if we knew the precise times and seasons of the Father, this would
not prepare our hearts for what He would do. The most important thing for us
right now is that God should prepare our hearts and cause us to know and
recognize our real need--and that our need is not a case of getting more and
more knowledge about future aspects of the Kingdom, but to come to meekness and
poverty of spirit, which alone can qualify us for a place in that Kingdom.
And so as the kingdom
of Solomon was about to emerge, David charged the people to proceed with the
task that lay before them, and to walk in obedience to the LORD. To Solomon he
gave this charge,
“And thou, Solomon my
son, Know thou the God of thy father, And serve him with a perfect heart And
with a willing mind” (1 Chron. 28:9).
Then David handed
over to Solomon the complete plan of the Temple as he himself had received it
from the LORD. Nothing was left to man’s imagination. Everything was set forth
in clear and precise detail.
I think our greatest
problem today is the fact that we are living in the last stages of the “Davidic
Era” of the Church, and God is saying, “Just wait before Me in the Tent and
know My Presence...” But many are out
there on Mount Moriah (as it were) trying to lay foundations and establish
structures something like they had in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, not
realizing that God has a glorious Temple in mind. God is certainly laying
foundations of Truth in the hearts of His people; but let us not forget the
bedrock foundation of the new Temple is in the place of the Burnt Offering, and
it is on a Threshing Floor. It is there where men and women are totally
dedicated to God, through sacrifice, to do His will; and who, in consequence of
this dedication, are being subjected to the flaying of the grain that the wheat
might be separated from the chaff, gathered into the garner, and later
subjected to the mills of God. If we recognized this, we would be far more
zealous to see God’s people come to the threshing floor where they give their
all to Him, than to promote our schemes and visions and plans for the building
of “temples” made of wood, and glass, and stone.
Solomon’s Kingdom
Established
2 Chronicles 1 and 1
Kings 1-4
Solomon’s first act
upon coming to the throne was to seek the LORD his God. Together with the
officers of Israel he went up to the high place at Gibeon where the brazen
altar was situated, before the Tabernacle of Moses. There must be a total
commitment unto God at the altar of burnt offering. The way of the burnt
offering is the only sure and safe way of knowing God’s will--His perfect will.
There God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask what I shall give thee?” God knew
what Solomon needed. He knows what we need. But often times He will leave the
choice with us... hoping we will make the right choice. When God promises, “Ask
what ye will, and it shall be done,” I wonder if we realize that God is not
only offering to supply every need, but He is also subjecting us to a very
severe test! How we need God to search our hearts, for when He searches there
is no escape from His all-seeing eye:
“Search me, O God,
and know my heart:
Try me, and know my
thoughts:
And see if there be
any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way
everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24).
Solomon said, “Give
me now wisdom and knowledge... for who can judge this thy people, that is so
great?”
I wonder sometimes
how many have fasted and prayed earnestly for power--and got it--often times to
their own destruction? The wisdom and knowledge Solomon prayed for was not to
build up his ego, but that he might know how to rule over God’s people.
Solomon’s request pleased the LORD, and God gave him his request, and added
much more than he asked for. It was this divinely imparted wisdom that
thoroughly established Solomon’s kingdom. It was through wisdom and knowledge
that God established the heavens and the earth in their courses (Prov. 3:19)...
and when He arises to establish the true wisdom and knowledge of God in the
Church, we are going to see God’s intention realized far beyond our
expectations.
We really do not need
to know too much about His intention for the future phase of His Kingdom. What
is His intention right now? It is... “For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ... [Before we go
on, let us notice this: the purpose of ministry is to bring the saints as a
Body into the work of ministry that the whole Body might be edified. But let us
go on.].... till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13). “Perfection” is a scary word in the Church.
Because we all know... nobody can be perfect. So there are all kinds of
plausible definitions of the word, to cushion the stumbling block. But God
tells us what the standard is, for the perfection, the maturity, the character
that He has in mind. It is the measure of the stature of the fullness (the
completeness) of Christ Himself, For the incredulous, I would just say: read
this passage in any version you have; and for the faint-hearted I would remind
you: this is not your work, it is the working of your High Priest in the
Heavens, Who rules from the throne of glory, and Who has all power in heaven
and earth to mediate the New Covenant--even this portion of it--to His people
in the earth.
The Construction Of
The Temple Begins
As we consider the
temple structure, of course, we are only concerned about the Temple “not made
with hands,” for this is the only Temple that has eternal significance.
“Thus saith the LORD,
The heaven is my throne,
And the earth is my
footstool:
Where is the house
that ye build unto me?
And where is the
place of my rest?
For all those things
hath mine hand made,
And all those things
have been, saith the LORD:
But to this man will
I look,
Even to him that is
poor,
And of a contrite
spirit,
And trembleth at my
word” (Isa. 66:1-2).
Solomon himself fully
recognized that it was just a place for God’s glorious and awesome Name. And in
this day when there is so much excitement about the possibility of Israel
rebuilding a temple of wood and stone, an excitement that is equally shared by
both natural Israel and the Church, we must remind God’s people over and over
again that God’s Name has been called upon a people in the earth destined to
come forth in His image and likeness, And that we, in union with a redeemed and
regenerated Israel, “are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). This is the only habitation that is compatible with the
heart of God anywhere in the Universe. And when God finds His place there, He
is totally at rest, and desires no other temple.
Zion Takes On
Enlargement
As we pointed out
earlier, when God established Zion as the place of His “rest” in the time of
David, Zion became something eternal in the heart of God. It was to be
eternally “The City of the Great King.” When the Ark moves from Zion to Mount
Moriah where the temple of Solomon was built, it was still Zion. When Israel
went into captivity, it was Zion that went into captivity. When they came out
of captivity, it was because “the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion.” God
had said, “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it”
(Ps. 132:14). Later through the prophet God said, “O my people that dwellest in
Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian” (Isa. 10:24). Of course there were not too
many people living up there on the slopes of Zion where David had pitched his
tent. But now it means “the people of God.” Finally, when Jesus came on the
scene, and suffered the anguish of the Cross, God laid in Zion “a chief corner
stone, elect, precious” (1 Pet. 2:6), even as Isaiah had prophesied. (See Isa.
28:16.) Even the Old Testament prophets recognized this enlarged concept of
Zion, as it related to them. But a greater problem arose in the New Testament
when the apostles and teachers began to speak of a still greater concept of
Zion, and a greatly enlarged sphere of activity in the new “mount... the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22). Men loathe to
relinquish their hopes and dreams into heavenly realms, because this would seem
to be too ethereal, too unreal. And this can only be because we cannot believe
that the real things are the things we cannot see, and the real life is the
life we cannot see. It is this life, this earth, this Jerusalem that is in
bondage with her children... these are the things that are unreal. The throne
of Zion is real, eternal, actual, immoveable, and Israel’s Messiah is ruling
and reigning on that throne now, on the eternal throne of David. (See Acts
2:29-35; Ps. 110:1-7; 1 Cor. 15:25.) This is the clear teaching and consensus
of God’s holy apostles who wrote the New Testament scriptures. Or are we going
to accuse the apostles, as they do us, for just spiritualizing Zion to prove a
doctrinal issue? As one searches the writings of the apostles, in vain will we
discover, after the resurrection of Christ, any other Zion but the heavenly,
spiritual Zion, the New Jerusalem, the City of the living God. And not only so,
but as the apostles with the spiritual revelation they had looked back into the
Old Testament, they recognized that Abraham himself looked for that same City,
that the prophets “foretold of these days” (Acts 3:24), and that “these days”
are the days in which we live (1 Pet. 1:11-12).
The Surpassing Beauty
Of The Temple
We recognize at once
from the plans of the Temple that it was built with a very fundamental likeness
to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. But the Temple was to be a permanent
structure, greatly enlarged and beautified, exceedingly magnificent to behold,
and of glory and fame throughout all nations. In the former tent there was
really no beauty to behold from without; just a rough exterior covering like a
tent, and the whole area surrounded with a linen fence hanging on posts. But it
did have a cloud of glory hovering over it by day, which became a pillar of
fire by night. The Temple on the other hand was glorious to behold, without as
well as within. We have emphasized much that by nature we are as
“nothing”...just “vessels,” just “channels,” through whom God would work. And
this is true. But God wants His own life and His own glory to shine forth. He
is creating a people in the image of His Son... that when people behold
Christ’s many brethren, they will see the Christ. He has promised there would
be a day when the nations would see His salvation, and not only read about it,
or hear about it. He is crying aloud with creative voice: “Arise, shine; for
thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee” (Isa. 60:1).
He “will not rest” till the righteousness of Zion goes forth “as brightness, and
the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth” (Isa. 62:1).
The beauty of God’s
Temple is not the beauty of human achievement, it is “the beauty of the LORD.”
The stones from the quarry, even in their finished condition, were probably not
too breathtaking in appearance. The brazen wheel of the laver, taken from the
clay where the brass was poured, may not have been too exciting to behold. The
cedar timbers, peeled and squared and shaped, really had no great beauty in
themselves. To look upon this mass of material around the Temple area, it must
have seemed like total confusion. But when Solomon and the master-workmen in
their wisdom took the various members of the Temple and fitted them together,
the building was so glorious it caused kings and nations to stand in awe and
admiration. The time is past when any individual, in virtue of his great gifts
and wisdom, is going to flaunt his glory in the eyes of men. But when God is
finished hewing the rocks and squaring the wooden timbers, and joins them
together in His own wisdom and skill,
then adorns the
building with the precious glittering stones of His own grace and glory, and
applies the golden lining of His nature and character within... the nations of
the world are going to stand in awe and fear before Him. For it is God’s wisdom
that shall be revealed, and His own glory that shall shine forth. Therefore God
says,
“And the Gentiles
shall see thy righteousness,
And all kings thy
glory:
And thou shalt be
called by a new name,
Which the mouth of
the LORD shall name.
Thou shalt also be a
crown of glory
In the hand of the
LORD,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of thy
God” (Isa. 62:2-3).
It must always have
been a great thrill to the weary pilgrims as they approached the holy city, and
saw the beautiful Temple glittering in the sun. And perhaps they would sing,
“I was glad when they
said unto me,
Let us go into the house
of the LORD.
Our feet shall stand
within thy gates,
O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is builded
as a city
That is compact
together:
Whither the tribes go
up,
The tribes of the
LORD” (Ps. 122:14).
The Temple had
everything in principle that existed in the old Tabernacle; but there was much
more. Everything was on an enlarged and more magnificent scale: walls of wood
and stone rather than curtains… a magnificent brazen altar... a beautiful
brazen sea resting on 12 oxen rather than a laver... and ten smaller lavers
resting on ten wagons. The cherubim in the holy of holies spread their wings in
a flying position, reaching from wall to center, and center to the other wall.
(We must speak of these later.) There were ten candlesticks instead of one...
ten tables of shewbread instead of one... And then there were chambers about
the Temple, three stories high: with the first, second, and third floors
connected with winding staircases. Also above the holy of holies there was an
area known as “the upper chambers” which were overlaid with gold, and of which
we know practically nothing.
The whole interior of
the sanctuary was lined with cedar wood and overlaid with plates of gold, and
beautifully garnished with precious stones. Even the floors, which were of
cypress wood, were overlaid with plates of gold. From the outside, as you
approached the Temple, there were two large pillars of brass, almost four feet
in diameter, one on each side of the entrance. These were beautifully wrought
with ornamental brass, or bronze, resembling lily petals, and adorned with
chains of brass and pomegranates.
It would be doubtful
if it would be possible to build such a structure today, when one considers the
amount of gold and silver and precious stones that would be required. It would
have to cost several billion dollars, even if the materials were available.
Herod the Great may have tried to duplicate it when he built the temple for the
Jews, which took 46 years to complete. And Justinian boasted, “Solomon, I have
outdone thee” when he exulted in the building of Hagia Sophia, once the Church
of the Holy Wisdom, but now a Moslem Shrine.
How sad that the
Church of Jesus Christ has never been able to see beyond the gold and the
silver and the costly stones, and the beautiful works of their own hands... and
to recognize that the true riches are eternal, spiritual, heavenly. True, God
ordained it for Solomon’s Temple... but only as a type and shadow of the things
that are real-the heavenly things. It is all symbolic of a far greater,
spiritual Temple that God is erecting, “the Church which is His Body, the
fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” And God help us as we consider some of
these types and shadows, that our real quest may be for the “true riches”—“the
knowledge of Him”--and not merely to attain to some kind of knowledge that does
not edify. May we receive that instruction and revelation that will enable us
to see Christ in a greater way, that we might show forth the beauty of the Lord
in our lives.
Ascending Realms In
The Temple
The Tabernacle in the
Wilderness was laid out on a horizontal plane. There were no steps involved
from one area to another, but the priests proceeded from the outer court, into
the holy places and from there into the holy of holies, on one horizontal
plane.
The Temple on the
other hand was built on a mountain, called Moriah. And therefore the prophet
Isaiah, speaking of the new Temple not made with hands, declares:
“And it shall come to
pass in the last days,
That the mountain of
the LORD’S house
Shall be established
in the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted
above the hills;
And all nations shall
flow unto it” (Isa. 2:2).
Also, we find that
the priests’ court was higher than the great court. (See Jer. 36:10.) We do not
know how much higher; but in the vision Ezekiel had, he mentions seven steps
leading up to the great court, and then eight steps from there to the priests
court. The Temple itself was built on a large foundation that would elevate it
a few steps higher.
This “ascending”
principle is taught in many places in the Word. The 15 psalms from Psalm 120 to
134 are called “Songs of Degrees” or “Songs of Ascending.” They have been
called Pilgrim Songs, and were believed to have been sung by the pilgrims as
they made their way “upward” toward Jerusalem for worship and sacrifice, and to
keep the feasts of the LORD in their season. In the old order of the Tabernacle
there was no “going up.” But God is preparing a people who are going to
experience the life of the heavenlies. As they learn to put on and use the
whole armor of God they are going to be able to penetrate the walls that
principalities and powers have erected to hinder the conquest of our heavenly
heritage. Not only will they ascend the mountain, but as we enter into priestly
ministry and service, there is an ascending from one realm to another, on the
15 steps of our approach to God.
Let us not think it
strange, therefore, that the first step in the “Songs of Ascending” begins with
this matter of “distress.” “It my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard
me” (Ps. 120:1) This is one thing that is common in this day and hour
concerning the people who have caught a vision of the Holy City, and who have
heard the call to “Come up higher...” And when we hear that call, let us be
prepared to “go lower”... for this is God’s way of bringing us higher. God’s
people are knowing all manner of distress, frustration, perplexity, sickness,
and calamity of one kind or another--strange dealings of the Lord. Be
encouraged! This is but the first step. There are 14 steps more, And the weary
pilgrim must know and experience many strange things before he eventually
stands in the house of the LORD in Psalm 134. He must experience peace in the
midst of war... come to know the LORD as his helper and keeper... experience
the joy of fellowship with others who are travelling the same pathway... have
his vision enlarged concerning the City that is “compact together,” as member
is joined to member in the Body of Christ... learn much waiting upon the LORD,
as he seeks to know His ways and walk with Him... experience Divine protection
against the waters that would overwhelm him, and come to know the strength that
there is on Mount Zion... rejoice in the turning again of his captivity...
recognize that he can do nothing, absolutely nothing, by way of building with
God, “except the LORD build the house”... learn to walk in His ways and come
forth triumphant over affliction and testing... and in and through it all, come
to know the comfort of God’s promise, and the hope that cannot fail.
For if we are to go
forward in this day and hour of the new Temple, we must also go upward with God
into higher realms of the Spirit, And the only way to ascend is to first of all
know how to descend... like the Son of God Himself. It is a realm in God that
few have known... but God wants to bring a people into it. There are breadths
and lengths in the expanses of God’s love that we have heard about. But what do
we know about the “depth and the height” that Paul speaks about? (See Eph.
3:18.) It is still another realm that we must explore, though we know little
about it now.
God said to Abraham,
“Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it”
(Gen. 13:17). That was in the early part of his experience with God. But in the
fullness of God’s dealings with him, God would take him higher and higher, even
to the top of Mount Moriah (and even as he climbed the mountain he was going
lower and lower in realms of selflessness and abasement). There he began to see
somewhat of the “depth and height” of God’s love for him, and of His purposes;
but he would explore this realm only in the place of “sacrifice”--a very
grievous kind of “sacrifice”--here on the top of Mount Moriah. We are talking
about ascending steps unto “the mountain of the LORD’s house.”
“Lord, may our
exploration into realms of truth, and our desire for increased revelation, be
tempered with the realization that as we enter the outer court of this new
realm in God, on Mount Moriah, the first place we take our stand is on the
threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, the very spot where Abraham had offered
his son Isaac on the altar many centuries before. But rather than frightening
us, may this revelation encourage us to know that it is only as we give You our
all, that we too shall see Your Day, and be glad!”
Abiding Places In The
Temple
We speak of climbing
the steps one by one into the various areas of the Temple. But as we do, God
would incorporate us into that Temple that we might abide there forever with
Him:
“Him that overcometh
will I make A pillar in the temple of my God, And he shall go no more out”
(Rev. 3:12).
Paul
tells us that we are to grow “unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:2 1).
The Temple faced the
east, like the Tabernacle of old, for God wants us to be constantly
anticipating the dawn of the new day, and the rising of the Sun of
Righteousness. Surrounding the Temple on the north, west, and south, there were
chambers attached to the Temple walls, and linked together with a system of
galleries and staircases. These chambers were in three stories, which one
entered on the south, and then went up by a winding stairway into the second
floor, and from the second floor into the third floor.
Jesus said, “In my
Father’s house are many mansions [or literally, ‘abiding-places’]: if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:2). The
word mansion in Verse two is the same as the word abode in verse 23. These
chambers were in three stories because the true Temple above, and yet to be
manifested in the earth, is also in three stories. Paul on one occasion was
caught up “into the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2). There are first, second, and
third realms in God, the number three speaking of full growth and development.
Therefore in the manifestation of truth there is a threefold unfolding: “first
the blade, then the ear, and afterward the full corn in the ear.” It is the
yearning of God’s Spirit that we do not come short of full development, the
third phase; because that is the whole purpose for which God has saved us and
brought us where we are now: redeemed and justified and enriched with spiritual
graces and gifts... but not yet fully matured. It is only in the third realm
that God finds in us the full intention of His heart. Because it is only in the
“full corn in the ear” that the original Seed (which is Christ) that was
planted in our hearts, has come forth in full reproduction. It is only then
that Man has come back to the image of God. It is only then that God has a
family of many sons, each one fashioned after the image of His Only Begotten.
Holy Of Holies And
The Upper Chambers
We spoke of the holy
of holies, the place of God’s glorious presence, earlier in this writing. Here
again we have the holy of holies in this enlarged and beautified Temple. But
something else is mentioned here, simply described as “the upper chambers.”
This is about all we know about this area.
How we would like to
know more about some of these secrets that are hidden in the Word! There is a
“secret place of the Most High” that God has made available to His own (Ps.
91:1). There is a life that is “hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). David also
said, “He shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall
he hide me” (Ps. 27:5).
We may never know too
much about some of these obscure patterns of the Temple of Solomon. But it is
far more important that we come to experience those secret places in God where
He would bring His friends. “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him”
(Ps. 25:14). Jesus said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes” (Lk. 10:2 1). And the Lord says of His Bride:
“O my dove,
That art in the
clefts of the rock,
In the secret places
of the stairs,
Let me see thy
countenance,
Let me hear thy
voice” (Song 2:14).
We may get
discouraged as we seek to enter this glorious realm. Where is the stairway? If
we only knew where the stairway is, we could begin our ascent. But we must
learn what Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” We will only
discover the stairway as we follow closely in His footsteps. There is no other
way.
Jacob saw the
stairway in the distress of his heart, as he slept on the open fields in the
darkness of the night at Bethel. Upon awakening he knew instinctively that he
had received a revelation of “God’s House”; and so he called the place
“Bethel.” He also saw God Himself; but He was still beyond his reach, at the
top of the staircase. Jacob must know the weariness and frustration of many
years of labor before he would come to Peniel and see the face of God. And that
night at Peniel, when Jacob was left alone, and when he had surrendered all
that he had acquired and accumulated through many years of hard toil, God
Himself came down from that staircase and met with Jacob in a face-to-face
confrontation that lasted till the breaking of the day. It is going to take
this, beloved, for our name and nature to be changed to “Israel,” which means
“Prince of God,” or “Power with God.”
The Cherubim Of Glory
Towering above the
mercy seat in the holy of holies were two large cherubim made of an olive tree,
overlaid with pure gold. They were not in a state of inactivity, like the
cherubim in the old Tabernacle. But they were standing on their feet, with
wings outstretched as if in readiness to fly. The former ark of the covenant
that rested in Moses’ tabernacle was also there in the holy of holies in
Solomon’s Temple, underneath the extended and outstretched wings of the
cherubim made of olive wood. But the staves were drawn out. The ark had found
her final resting place. Nevertheless, God had given David a plan of a chariot
for the cherubim rather than staves. (See 1 Chron. 28:18.)
Idleness...
inactivity… ease and contentment... waiting around doing nothing? This is the
concept that many have of God’s people who have caught the vision of the
“glorious Church,” the new Temple. But no! It’s time for the butterfly to
emerge from the cocoon. Let the other worms continue to crawl around the ground
doing their own thing. Perhaps they are going as fast as they can, and
travelling as far as they can in as little time as possible. But God continues
to shut others up in the cocoon of His dealings, that they might know and
experience--in the fullness of His workings--the life of the heavenlies and the
activity of the spiritual world. God has a chariot for the cherubim! As in
Solomon’s Temple, the wings of the cherubim are spread wide, ready for flight.
Not to fly away from it all, in order to find security from the storms of life
in some hidden recess of Heaven! But to engage in true spiritual warfare in
“heavenly places” that will eventuate in total victory for the people of God
over principalities and powers in the heavenlies. And having waged a good
warfare, they “stand” in triumph with the conquering Lamb on Mount Zion! (We
will pursue this study of the cherubim further in Chapter 4.)
The Two Brazen
Pillars
2 Chronicles 3:15-17
Standing on either
end of the porch that formed the vestibule of the Temple there were two large
pillars made of bronze, to which Solomon gave the names of Jachin and Boaz.
Now the right and the
left sides of the Temple are determined by the Lord’s position, as He sits
enthroned between the mercy seat. It is not right and left from our viewpoint
from the outside looking in, but from God’s viewpoint, and that of the priests,
from the inside looking out. (The brazen sea was on the right side of the east
end, over against the south. Quite evidently if we were on the outside of the
gate looking in, and the sea was on the east end toward the south, we would be
viewing it as on our left. See 2 Chron. 4:10.) We simply emphasize this because
God wants us to see the Tabernacle and all the Temples from His viewpoint, and
not from ours. It is His Temple, not ours. We are bought with a price, we are
not our own. We are His workmanship. He is the Master Workman, and it is He who
is masterminding all the intricacies of His glorious Temple. We are but
“workers together with Him.” And our redemption is for His glory, and not for
ours.
And so we want to
emphasize that Boaz is the name of the pillar that stood on the left side of
the entrance to the porch of the Temple, and Jachin on the right side (left and
right from God’s viewpoint, looking out). God’s emphasis is on Jachin. But before we consider the meaning of the
pillars, let us describe them briefly.
The pillars were
cylindrical in shape, of hollow structure, and on the top of each pillar was a
capital, ornamented with lily petals. Then on top of the capital a “pommel”
covered with chains, from which were suspended two rows of pomegranates, with a
hundred in each row, making 200 pomegranates on each pillar.
The word “pommel” is
translated “bowl” by some translators, as in Zechariah 4:2 where the prophet
had the vision of the bowl of oil. So these “pommels” may have been large
bowl-shaped vessels containing oil; and the pillars themselves huge fire-altars
or cressets, with the flames kept alive by huge wicks that were placed in the
bowls. If this were so, the faint glow of the flames would have illuminated the
stone facade of the porch; and the smoke of the incense in the oil would drift
lazily over the columns, and perhaps hang suspended at times over the Temple,
reminding the Israelites of the pillar of the cloud and fire that hovered over
the old Tabernacle in the days of their wanderings.
The pomegranates
hanging from the chains would remind Israel of God’s faithfulness to His
promise. The pomegranate is a fruit that is full of seeds, with each seed a
little fruit in itself, and yet together but one fruit. It takes multitudes of
them in corporate unity to form the fruit. God’s promise was: “I will multiply
thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore”
(Gen. 22:17); a promise that was fulfilled in the days of Moses and Joshua.
(See Deut. 1:10; 10:22; 28:62.) Not that God has two Israels--an earthly and a
heavenly--but within the one Israel there has always been a mixture of the
earthly and the heavenly; and God’s desire has been to bring them out of the
natural and carnal, and into heavenly realities. The pomegranates hanging from
the chains of bronze at the top would give constant reminder to the people of
God that their God was a covenant keeping Jehovah Who had brought them into the
land of promise (a land of milk and honey and grapes and pomegranates), and Who
had increased their numbers as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is
upon the seashore. But it is in the names of these two pillars that we discover
their real significance. Looking at them from inside the Temple, we have BOAZ
on the Left, and JACHIN on the Right:
BOAZ
-- “In Him is Strength” JACHIN -- “He will Establish”
God wants us to know
that He is able and that He will do it. Many will read the scriptures and begin
to question what God said, or openly deny that it can happen. They consider it
to be their democratic right to choose for themselves. But God says that to
doubt Him is to speak against Him... and to limit God is to tempt Him... and to
tempt Him is to provoke Him. (See Ps. 78:19, 41, 56.) We need to thoroughly
embrace these two pillars. We need to know that He is able and that He is
faithful to do what He said. We need to know that He is, and that He is the
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Man has always found a problem with
either the one or the other pillar--or both. The man with the epileptic son
doubted His ability: “If thou canst do any thing...” But Jesus immediately
replied, “If thou canst believe...” (Mk. 9:22-23). The real problem was not if
Jesus was able to heal the boy, but was the man able to believe.
The whole substance
of God’s Covenant is bound up in who He is and what He will perform. And they
form a perfect pair because in the revelation of the Name of the Most High God,
it is God’s plan and purpose to reveal and to bring into being in His people,
that which He is inherently in Himself. All that He is in Himself, He desires
to become that in His people. This is the fullness of the inheritance, when God
Himself becomes our reward and He writes His own Name upon the foreheads of His
people. This is why He has revealed Himself as having many names; and yet in
the final analysis all the various titles and names of God are contained and
are inherent in that one great Name, whom we call JEHOVAH. But He has added
certain appendages to that Name from time to time that His people might have
greater confidence, and that they might know that their particular need is not
beyond His ability to satisfy.
BOAZ JACHIN
His Name
His Promise
Jehovah-Hoseenu LORD our Maker Ps. 95:6
Jehovah-Jireh LORD will Provide Gen. 22:14
Jehovah-Ropheca LORD that Healeth Ex. 15:26
Jehovah-Nissi LORD my Banner Ex. 17:15
Jehovah-Mekaddishken LORD doth Sanctify Ex. 31:13
Jehovah-Elohay LORD my God Zech. 14:5
Jehovah-Shalom LORD send Peace Judg. 6:24
Jehovah-Rohi LORD my Shepherd Ps. 23:1
Jehovah-Tsidkeenu LORD our Righteousness Jer. 23:6
Jehovah-Shahmmah LORD is There Ezek. 48:35
There may be other
such combinations. But in all of these covenant Names of Jehovah He would have
us to know that what HE IS He desires to BECOME that very thing to, and in, His
people.
Now the Lord Jesus
came to earth in the fullness of time to make known Jehovah’s Name, the
Father’s Name, to His people. In the above list we have spelled out Jehovah’s
Name in the various titles He gave Himself in the Old Testament. This is
faulty, but how else can we humans spell out God’s Name in our language, in a
way we could pronounce it, and in faint measure understand it? In fact we are
told that the Hebrew scribes did not even attempt to spell out the Name of God
in a pronounceable word, but left it without any vowels: “YHWH”; and that when
they came across that awesome Name in the scriptures they would just say
“Adonai” which corresponds to our word “Lord.” (Note: in our Authorized Version
of the Bible, when the name Lord is capitalized as “LORD,” it is to indicate
that the writer used the word “Jehovah,” or “Yahweh.”) The ancient scribes and
teachers in Israel considered it an unutterable, unspeakable Name! And so Jesus
came to reveal that glorious and awesome Name, and do what learned scribes and
prophets and sages were unable to do. Jesus came to reveal the Father’s Name!
If space would permit we could fill many pages showing how every one of the
Jehovah-Titles enumerated above were clearly written out by our Lord Jesus; not
in the Hebrew, or Greek, or Aramaic symbols, but in His life, and ministry, and
death, and resurrection, and ascension.
Jesus said, “O
righteous Father... I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it”
(Jn. 17:25-26).
His earthly ministry
alone did not bring forth the fullness of this revelation, and so He added, “I
will declare it.” How did He do it? In everything He said, in everything He
did, in everything He was, He was declaring unto men the covenant Name of
Jehovah God.
“Wherein God, willing
more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his
counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was
impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation” (Heb. 6:18). The
two immutable things are: the oath and the promise. The oath is based upon His
own Name, His very character. And because of WHO HE IS... He gives THE PROMISE.
He is saying, “This is Who I am, and therefore this is what I will do.”
This may help us
understand that strange scripture in Psalm 138:2: “For thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy name.” A word is the expression of the thought, the
intention of the mind. And therefore Jesus, God’s Word made flesh, is the full
expression of the heart and mind of God. In this declaration of the psalmist we
are told that God has magnified His Word above His Name. God is clearly
teaching us that He is more to be glorified in revealing Himself and making
Himself known to His creation, than He is in standing alone and apart in
solitary isolation! And this explains the whole mystery of the Fall and of
Redemption! God must reveal Himself His heart cries out for a way in which He
can show Himself forth unto His creatures in the full expression of all that He
is in Himself, And in MAN alone, of all His created beings, was He able to find
that vehicle of expression... I mean in the Second Man, the Last Adam Who is
the very Logos of God... the full expression of God in human form.