Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1
“Shh. Quiet now. Please, Jerusha. I know you are excited, but come on, settle down. Right, that’s better. As you know, this is Priest Elnathan’s last home-visit with us before you go to the Tabernacle for the first time. Although he finished the background history of Israel and the Tabernacle last week, he wants to do one last revision before visiting. So try and calm down and listen carefully,” pleaded Jerusha’s Father, Baruch.
“OK, Father. I’ll try,” Jerusha promised.
“Thanks Baruch,” said Priest Elnathan. “And don’t worry if Jerusha is a bit lively. That’s normal at this stage. By the end of the background lessons, most children are just desperate to get to the Tabernacle and see it for themselves. But as you say, I have found it best to do a quick review of the two most important lessons I want the children to remember as they visit. The first is that the Tabernacle is a residence of God. And the second is that the Tabernacle is a revelation of God. Have you got that, Jerusha? Let me just say a few words about these two ‘R’s,’ then it’s to bed for a good night’s rest before the BIG DAY!
The Tabernacle is a Residence of God
“Remember, Jerusha, how, before the first sin, God was present everywhere and met with Adam and Eve anywhere. Everywhere and anywhere were sacred. There were no special places or times for communion with God. God was accessible at any time and in any place. But sin alienated our first parents from God and banished them from God’s friendly presence. That’s such a sad story isn’t it? But you don’t need to stay sad, my dear child, for God, in His grace, made a way back for sinners like us.
“The book of Genesis tells us that the way back into God’s gracious presence was through individuals, usually heads of families, sacrificing on altars at special places. An altar was built of either stone or earth, and there God met with sinners through sacrifice. And that went on for many years – God meeting with individual families through sacrifice. Now, Jerusha, you mustn’t ever think that the sacrifices saved any of our Fathers. No, they were only saved by seeing the sacrifices as pictures of the ultimate sacrifice that our future Messiah would offer for sin.
“You know the Exodus story so well, that I’m going to skip on to Israel at Mt Sinai. By then our people had grown into a great nation. So God instructed Moses to build one large tent, the Tabernacle, in which Israel could approach Him in a united and organized manner. Instead of multiple altars, there would be one altar where God would meet with His people.[i] This is why the Tabernacle (literally, ‘Dwelling Place’) is frequently called ‘the Tent of Meeting.’[ii] It was God’s way of living in the midst of Israel and meeting with Israel. Because we live in tents, God lives in a tent. Like ours, His tent has a couple of rooms and a fireplace. He lives with us, and He lives like us. The Tabernacle of God is with men, and He dwells with them![iii]
“Jerusha, I never tire of telling this story. I look at this sin-stained world and ask, ‘Will God indeed dwell with men on the earth?’[iv] The Tabernacle answers, ‘Yes! He lives with us and He lives like us!’ I often walk about the Tabernacle and praise God for giving us such a graphic picture of that truth. And I find myself asking, ‘If this is only a shadow of good things to come, and not the reality, what must the reality be like?’[v] I believe it must mean that God will live with us and like us in an even more astounding manner. He will be Immanuel, God with us, in an unparalleled and unsurpassable way.[vi] Oh, how I long for that day! May I live to see it, Oh my condescending God! Come and tabernacle among us, full of grace and truth![vii] Oh that you would rend the heavens! That you would come down, that the mountains might shake at your presence… to make your name known to your enemies, that the nations may tremble at your presence![viii]
“Sorry, Jerusha, I’m getting a bit carried away here. Forgive me. Sometimes I can hardly contain my hopes and longings for Messiah. Where were we?
“We were at the first ‘R’ for ‘Residence of God’” Jerusha replied helpfully.
Oh, yes, the Tabernacle is a residence of God. And what is the next ‘R?”
“The next ‘R’ is revelation,” answered Jerusha.
“Well done, Jerusha. Yes, I want you to remember that the Tabernacle is a revelation of God.”
The Tabernacle is a Revelation of God
“The Tabernacle reveals the character of God. It is Israel’s ‘catechism,’ our ‘Sunday school.’ It teaches, first, that God is King. Through the Exodus redemption from Egypt and the giving of the Law at Sinai, God said to our Fathers, ‘I am your King and you are My kingdom.’[ix] But a King must have a palace. The Tabernacle is God’s portable royal residence. As the always-visible earthly palace of the heavenly King, it reminds Israel that God is its ultimate Governor, who is to be served and obeyed.
“Second, it teaches that God is Holy. The location, design, and building materials of the Tabernacle all emphasize that a holy God dwells in our midst. For example, there are circles of holiness of decreasing size and increasing holiness as the worshipper moves through the camp towards the central Tabernacle. The outer circle of the Gentiles and the unclean is outside the camp. The next circle is inside the camp. Only those who are in covenant with God and who are ritually clean are permitted to enter. On the inside rim of this large circle are my tribe, the Levites — the tribe specially consecrated to the service of the Lord — who buffer the Tabernacle from the rest of the camp. Inside the Tabernacle courtyard are many priests performing various rituals, but also some ordinary Israelites with their sacrifices. Then there are two smaller tents within this larger Tent. The first is called the Holy Place, with access strictly limited to the priests. Inside this is another tent, the Most Holy Place, and this can be accessed only by the High Priest — and that only once a year. It is in the Most Holy Place that God specially resides. Why these circles of ever-decreasing size, and ever-increasing restriction? Because God is holy, and the nearer to God we get the holier we must become.
“This message is reinforced by the materials used in the construction of the Tabernacle. A common metal, brass, was used for everything connected with the outer court and its furnishings. As we get nearer to the Most Holy Place, the materials change to silver, then to gold, then to the fine gold. These graded distinctions again emphasize the immaculate holiness of God. The closer we get to God’s dwelling, the more precious the metal.
“Thirdly, we learn that God is Savior. The Tabernacle demonstrates how sinners may approach a holy God — through a divinely appointed priesthood offering divinely appointed sacrifices. Wherever you look in the Tabernacle tomorrow, you will see blood: the blood of bulls, the blood of goats, and the blood of lambs; blood poured, blood sprinkled, and blood spattered; blood on the altar, blood on the priests, and blood on the floor. Whatever else we Israelites know, Jerusha, we know that God can only be approached via blood.
“Fourthly, God is beautiful is proclaimed by the Tabernacle’s impressive artistry and symmetrical design. The gold, silver and brass, the fine linen curtains, the elaborately embroidered veils, make the sanctuary a place of glory and of beauty. In the Holy Place, the air is fragrant with the sweet aroma of burning incense from a golden altar. A golden lamp casts soft light upon an ornate golden table. There are gold-plated wooden supports from which hang deep blue curtains exquisitely embroidered with heavenly cherubim. Then, a step away, the heartbeat of it all, the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place, from which shines a mysterious, other-worldly cloudy light. Everything says, ‘God is so, so beautiful!’ doesn’t it Jerusha.
“So, there are the two lessons I want you to remember, precious child. The Tabernacle is a residence and a revelation of God. Got it? Well that’s it for today….”
“Priest Elnathan?” interrupted Baruch.
“Yes, my brother?” Elnathan replied
“I’d like to tell Jerusha my own Tabernacle testimony before she goes to bed. I think it would help seal these lessons in her mind.”
“Good idea, Baruch. It’s been a while since I heard it myself.”
“Well, Jerusha, as a young man, I wanted to run away from God. However, because of the Tabernacle, I could never escape. No matter where I went in the camp, I could see it, smell it, or hear it. Some evenings I would go out with other young people on the far side of the camp. But I always dreaded passing the Tabernacle on the way back. It preached against my lawless and unholy lifestyle. It speared my conscience as it declared, ‘God is King and God is holy.’
“Then one day — what a blessed day! — I felt irresistibly drawn to the Tabernacle. The nearer I got to God’s holy and royal residence, the more I seemed to hear, ‘God is King and God is holy.’ Trembling, I entered the outer court, found a kind-looking priest, and poured out my heart to him. He gently led me over to the brass altar and sacrificed a lamb for me, while whispering in my ear, ‘God is Savior. Look to the Savior.’ As I saw the blood poured out and the lamb in flames, I saw a picture of how God saves sinners like me — through a divinely appointed priest offering a divinely appointed sacrifice. Now I love the Tabernacle and its prophetic pictures of the Savior. Every sight, every sound, and every smell says, ‘God is so beautiful, God is so beautiful.’ Yes, He is altogether lovely!”
Tomorrow: Part 3 - God’s Fireplace.
