 |  |
prepared to make known to those around us this glorious message of life eternal in Christ
Jesus.
No.7.
Chapter 7:
pp. 37 - 40
"Now the Jew's feast of the tabernacles was at hand" (7: 2).
It is not generally realized what an extensive place the word "Tabernacle" has in the
Word of God. Israel was used by God to show in terms for human understanding His
gracious desire to dwell with men and eventually to take those, who have responded, to
Himself.
The Tabernacle was a temporary dwelling place for God whilst His people Israel were
pilgrims in the wilderness. Every detail of its construction and contents were designed by
God, and Moses was warned to adhere strictly to the instructions God passed to him for
the building and furnishing of the Tabernacle. All these details were symbol of how God
had dealt with Israel (for example the pot of manna) and set forth in type God's plans for
the future redemption and restoration of mankind.
Heb. 9: confirms the place this erection had in God's purposes:
"The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing" (Heb. 9: 8).
The description of the Tabernacle occupies 15 chapters of Exodus (25:-40:) and this
underlines the importance it must have had in the mind of God. In these days when faith
is so dim, and evident revelation seems so long ago, it is good to reflect that the great
God of the universe came and dwelt with His chosen people, identified to the
congregation by the visible fire by night and the cloud by day. These historical facts
should be our comfort and strength that He Who is ever the same has us also firmly in
His eternal purpose and love.
The Day of the Lord when Christ will return to the Mount of Olives still includes an
aspect of the Tabernacle:
"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh . . . . . For I will gather all nations against
Jerusalem to battle . . . . . Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations . . .
And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of olives . . . . . And it shall come to
pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even
go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of
Tabernacles" (Zech. 14: 1-4, 16).
Finally the prophecy of Rev. 21::