| The tabernacle. How can any Christian
hear the word "tabernacle" without thinking of holy places, sacred acts,
and reverence? This is an article about two types of tabernacles. One is
described in the Old Testament, and the other is described in the New Testament.
Most Bible readers will immediately recognize the Old Testament tabernacle.
It is first mentioned by name in Exodus 25, when Moses was receiving commands
from God on Mount Sinai:
The LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to bring me an
offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart
prompts him to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them:
gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen;
goat hair; ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; olive
oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make
this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern
I will show you" (Exodus 25.1-9, NIV with my emphasis throughout, except
where noted).
This passage is followed by chapter after chapter of tabernacle specifications
dictated in great detail. Exodus 25.10-40 contains instructions regarding
the furnishings of the tabernacle. Measurements are exact; materials are
specific. Exodus 26.1 to 27.19 includes instructions for constructing the
tabernacle itself, as well as for the tent that is to cover it and the
curtain walls that are to surround it. Exodus 27.20 to 28.43 contains instructions
about who are to serve as God's priests within the tabernacle, and about
what they are to wear. God instructs Moses about how to consecrate His
priests in Exodus 29. More instructions about furnishings and worship follow
in Exodus 30. In Exodus 31.1-11, God even names the craftsmen that He wants
to make His tabernacle, its furnishings, and its sacred garments.
Exodus 35 explains how Moses gathered the Israelites together and delivered
God's instructions to them. Materials were collected through freewill offerings,
and craftsmen were appointed. The account of the actual construction of
the tabernacle begins in Exodus 36 and continues through Exodus 38. Exodus
39 relates how the priestly garments were made. Finally, in Exodus 40,
the tabernacle is erected for the first time.
Just imagine how God's tabernacle must have looked! The courtyard was
about 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. It was surrounded by curtains that
were suspended between posts with bronze bases. "The hooks and bands on
the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all
the posts of the courtyard had silver bands."
Within the courtyard was a huge altar for burnt offerings, made of acacia
wood overlaid in bronze. It was about 4½ feet high and 7½
feet square. The altar stood in front of the tent that covered the tabernacle.
This tent had "a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering
of hides of sea cows."
Then there was the tabernacle itself, surrounded by "ten curtains of
finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked
into them by a skilled craftsman." They had loops of blue material and
were joined together with gold clasps. The outer area of the tabernacle
was furnished with:
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A table for the showbread, overlaid with pure gold, complete with plates,
dishes and bowls, along with pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings,
all of pure gold;
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A lampstand with "seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays,
of pure gold";
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An altar of incense made of acacia wood covered in pure gold; and
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An altar for burnt offerings made from acacia wood and overlaid with bronze,
complete with "its utensils of bronze - its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls,
meat forks and firepans."
And finally, within the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle was the Ark of
the Covenant, gloriously overlaid in pure gold, with "two cherubim [made]
out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.... The cherubim had their
wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced
each other, looking toward the cover."
I wonder if any of us can truly appreciate how it all must have appeared?
Imagine the splendor! Imagine the majesty! "Have them make a sanctuary
for me," God commanded in Exodus 25.8, "and I will dwell among them." And
so He did.
It's now time to move on to a type of tabernacle described in the New
Testament. It is first mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5.1-4:
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life (KJV).
The tabernacle mentioned in this passage is, of course, the human body.
The Apostle Peter also talks about this human tabernacle:
Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle,
to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must
put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed
me (2 Peter 1.13-14 KJV).
Many modern versions of the New Testament render "tabernacle" in these
verses as "tent." I believe this rendering diminishes the image of sacredness
that the use of the word tabernacle was meant to convey. This idea of sacredness
is further reinforced by Bible passages that refer to the human body as
a "temple":
Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you
show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy
this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied,
"It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to
raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body
(John 2.18-21).
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that
God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy
him; for
God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple (1 Corinthians
3.16-17).
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you
were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Corinthians
6.19-20).
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we
are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with
them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my
people" (2 Corinthians 6.16).
Something that must not be overlooked in all of this is that these tabernacles
of flesh aren't made by human hands like the Old Testament tabernacle,
but instead are made by God Himself:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over
the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move
along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1.26-27).
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's
womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works
are wonderful, I know that full well (Psalms 139.13-16).
Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not
we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psalms 100.3
NASB).
Now then, remember the accounts of the Old Testament tabernacle described
above? Well, there's more to this story. The Israelites religiously followed
the instructions that God relayed to them through Moses. Only the finest
materials were used. Measurements were precisely followed. The workmanship
was flawless. When the task was completed, the tabernacle was erected.
"Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD
filled the tabernacle," just as promised (Exodus 40.34).
Then something truly shocking happened. Rather than being filled with
awe and respect at the sight of God's holy tabernacle, the Israelites found
that they were ashamed to look at it. In fact, they were so ashamed of
it that they decided to fashion coverings from ordinary cloth so that they
could conceal this temple of God from their sight. They even went so far
as to enact laws forbidding anyone from uncovering the tabernacle in order
to prevent others from catching so much as a momentary glimpse of it.
Many who are reading this right now are probably thinking, "Wait a Minute!
I've read about the Old Testament tabernacle, and that just never happened!"
You are quite right. That's not what happened at all. The very idea that
such acts of desecration could occur is almost unthinkable. And yet, I
believe this to be a fair characterization of how today's culture seems
to regard our sacred, Spirit-indwelled human "tabernacles." Sadly,
Christians have been caught up in this cultural practice of concealing
the sacred as well.
I find extraordinary irony in the idea of Christians praising God as
the glorious Creator of the universe and everything in it, piously acknowledging
God's personal involvement in our own creation as human beings, only to
then spare no effort in covering this very creation with fabric and shame.
This incongruity, I believe, betrays a profound lack of reverence,
something defined by dictionaries as a feeling of deep respect mixed with
wonder, awe and love. By their very nature, reverence and shame are mutually
exclusive.
When describing the Old Testament tabernacle earlier, I purposely included
an abundance of detail in order to make a point. Man has shown himself
capable of creating some magnificent things with his hands. This is especially
true when he does his creating according to God's explicit instructions.
But no matter how impressive the creations of man may be, nothing — nothing
— can compare with the awe-inspiring glory of that which God Himself creates,
and nothing is more deserving of our reverence.
I recall once reading a thought-provoking line in a book called The
Golden Cow. While illustrating a discussion about desecration and irreverence,
author John White wrote: "When one man calls another 'a son of a bitch,'
he never thinks of the mother he maligns but of the man he wishes to enrage."
How true. Similarly, when the human body in its God-created state is labeled
as "shameful and unfit to be seen," the question that must be asked is,
"How can anyone malign something so highly regarded by the Creator without
maligning the Creator Himself?" The answer, of course, is that you can't.
For the Christian, the ancient tabernacle of cloth and wood and precious
metals has been replaced with sacred tabernacles of flesh and blood and
bones. These human "temples" are eminently worthy of reverence for several
reasons: they are His personal workmanship; they are a reflection
of His image and likeness; and, perhaps most importantly, His
Spirit dwells within them.
To be sure, circumstances do not always allow the sacredness of God's
tabernacles to be visible. The Israelites had to dismantle and pack up
their tabernacle whenever they moved from place to place during their long
trek through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Its glory was
concealed from sight by necessity. As Christians, we too are strangers
and pilgrims, sojourning in this "foreign" land. We are subject to the
laws and social customs of a worldly culture that is often at odds with
manifestations of sacredness. For the most part, necessity requires us
to conceal the sacredness of our human tabernacles as we move about on
our way to the "promised land," our heavenly reward.
The Israelites were able to set up the tabernacle when they encamped
on their journey. Fortunately, we have opportunities to "encamp" as we
proceed on our Christian journey, too. Society's laws do not prevent us
from uncovering our "tabernacles" in the privacy of our own homes, or in
the friendly surroundings of nudist camps and resorts. These places should
be our encampments, where the sacredness of our God-given tabernacle need
not be hidden from view. It is here that a genuine reverence for
our Creator can be seen in the way we honor Him with reverent acceptance
of our God-created state — nakedness.
I once mused within these pages that rather than being ashamed of their
nakedness, Christians might more properly be ashamed of being ashamed of
their nakedness. For more and more of God's people, acceptance of their
nakedness has been the beginning of a true sense of reverence for Him as
their personal Creator. Christian nudists are showing the way.
This article is from Issue 17 of Fig Leaf Forum and was written by
the editor. |
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