Isaiah 48:13.

'Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the

earth, and (margin) the palm of My right hand hath

spread out the heavens'.

So in Isaiah 51:13 and Zechariah 12:1.

When God challenged Job (Job 38:6) saying, 'Whereupon are the

foundations thereof fastened?' the word translated 'foundations' here is the

Hebrew word eden, which is translated 'socket' fifty-two times in Exodus and

Numbers.  The present world was brought into being with Redemption in view.

When the Redemptive purpose of the ages is attained, the heavens will depart

as a scroll, or be folded up as a tent.  We refer the reader to the chart

that has been prepared to accompany the subject entitled Pleroma3 so that

this feature can be more easily grasped.

We turn now to the New Testament to learn what it teaches and the usage

of the Tabernacle and the tent.  Only one word is employed in the New

Testament and that is the Greek skene and its derivatives.  Before we examine

this New Testament word let us acquaint ourselves with its usage.  And here

we stand at a parting of the ways.  Those who lean to the usage of secular

Greek have no hesitation in importing into the Scriptures the theatrical

associations that are linked with the word skene.  A neutral dictionary will

overwhelm us with evidence that skene is the Greek origin of the English word

'scene', 'a stage; the part of a theatre on which acting is done; the place

where dramatic and other shows are exhibited', and a consultation of Liddell

and Scott's Lexicon, will confirm the fact that skene means, among other

things, 'a wooden stage or scaffold for actors to perform on, and later the

stage, the part on which the actors performed'.

To many, such testimony is all-sufficient, and they will readily grant,

however difficult it may appear, that James, the Lord's brother, of all the

leaders the most Hebrew and conservative, when he spoke of the Tabernacle of

David (Acts 15:16) used the word skene in this pagan sense of a 'scene',

although the passage he quoted was from the prophet Amos, who most certainly

had not the remotest intention of using the Hebrew word sukkah with that

meaning.  We stand, as we have said, at a parting of the ways in this matter

of interpretation.  Either (1) We accept secular Greek as our guide, and

import the concept of stage and scene; or (2) We accept the Septuagint as our

guide, and rigorously leave such ideas alone.  Now there are evidences that

the translators of the LXX definitely avoided the secular usage of some

words, and the vexed question of how we shall translate Ephesians 1:4:

'Before the Foundation of the world' comes under this heading.  If secular

Greek which is strongly tinged with pagan mythology, is to be our criterion,

makes chaos, like modern science, precede creation, we shall uphold the A.V.

here.  If, however, we are guided by the LXX, we shall discover that that

translation avoids the use of kataballo for the laying of a foundation, but

consistently adheres to the meaning of overthrowing or battering down.  As we

are convinced that the LXX usage governs New Testament usage, we cannot help

but translate Ephesians 1:4, 'Before the Overthrow of the world', against all

the array of pagan mythology embedded in secular Greek.  In like manner, the

scope and the meaning of skene, is not settled for us by a pagan obsession

with the stage, but with the LXX usage of the word, for tent, booth or

tabernacle.  Skene is employed in the Greek Old Testament to translate: (1)

Ohel (Gen. 4:20; 12:8; 13:3; Exod. 26:9 etc.).  (2) Mishkan (Exod. 25:9;

26:1; Psa. 78:60 etc.), and other Hebrew words, but does not lend itself to

the concept of a mere 'scene'.  Skene is from the root ska 'to cover'

etc., see the Greek words skia English 'shade' (see Thayer).  Skene occurs