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SD Baptist Church
MESSAGE TITLE: The Tabernacle and its meaning
BIBLE REF.
DATE: 28.10.18
INTRO: One of the most amazing key truths of Scripture is the glorious fact that God wanted to dwell among humanity. Not only that He does dwell but that He wanted to!
In we read these wonderful words:
道成了肉身，住在我們中間，充充滿滿地有恩典有真理，我們也見過他的榮光，正是父獨一兒子的榮光。
(NIV)
(NIV)
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The expression ‘made his dwelling’ is translated from one word in the Greek (eskēnōsen), which, literally, means ‘pitched a tent’ or ‘tabernacled’. God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ made Himself to dwell among us; to ‘Tabernacle’ among His people. And the apostle John wanted the world to know that -
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
In Exodus chapters 25-27 we are introduced to the OT Tabernacle, its construction, regulations and furnishings and I would like to share with you this morning what some of these profound meanings of the Tabernacle are for you and me today.
Bible Commentator I.D Campbell firstly explained:
The Tabernacle was the single most important element of Israelite worship between Egypt and Canaan. It is also one of the dominant themes of the Pentateuch, (first five books of the Bible) since it is mentioned in eighteen chapters of Leviticus, thirteen of Numbers, and two of Deuteronomy.
So what did the presence of the Tabernacle mean to Israel back in Moses day and what does it mean to us today?
1 Firstly it meant God was willing to dwell among His people.
This concept is a very different picture of God to what the Israelites were exposed to at Mt Sinai, for example in:
眾百姓見雷轟、閃電、角聲、山上冒煙，百姓看見就都戰抖，遠遠站著。 他們對摩西說：「請你向我們說話，我們必聽；不要讓上帝向我們說話，免得我們死亡。」
(NIV)
(NIV)
18When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance
19and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
耶和華的榮耀在山頂上，在以色列人眼前，形狀如吞噬的火。
(NIV)
(NIV)
17To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
Had the people only seen God in such a frightening way and as a consuming fire on top of the mountain. They would never have dared to think that this same God could be knowable, relational and approachable, because in their minds He was frightening, distant and very unapproachable.
Sadly there are people who have this same view of God today. Or that the gods they worship are to be appeased and kept from becoming angry with them lest these gods cause great tribulation and fear among them. We saw this in Thailand where almost everyone had a “spirit house” in their front yard and this spirt had to be kept happy and content so he not disturb or be angry with the people in their home. They were in bondage to fear
However in this passage of God’s Word we now see God saying to Moses in reference to the Tabernacle:
他們要為我造聖所，使我住在他們中間。
(NIV)
(NIV)
8“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.
Again the Lord says in:
我要住在以色列人中，作他們的上帝。 他們必知道我是耶和華－他們的上帝，是將他們從埃及地領出來的，為要住在他們中間。我是耶和華－他們的上帝 。」
(NIV)
(NIV)
45Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
46They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
Two things I want us to note here:
1 God’s dwelling would be made externally of the same kind of material that theirs was made of namely goat hair and ram skins verses 4-5
This reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ who also came among us with the same appearance as we?
道成了肉身，住在我們中間，充充滿滿地有恩典有真理，我們也見過他的榮光，正是父獨一兒子的榮光。
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Also, speaking of Christ the apostle Paul says in:
反倒虛己，
取了奴僕的形像，
成為人的樣式；
既有人的樣子，
就謙卑自己，
存心順服，以至於死，
且死在十字架上。
(NIV)
(NIV)
7rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
My dear friends, are we not so glad, are we not so grateful that we have a God who chose to make His dwelling with mankind that ultimately He would give His life for by dying on the cross to save us from our sins.
2 The Tabernacle also symbolized that God would travel as they travelled and was willing to share their joys and hardships along the way. Being among His people God, though demanding their obedience, would nonetheless identify with them and be sympathetic for them.
This reminds me of the prophet Isaiah who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote:
他們在一切苦難當中，
他也同受苦難，
並且他面前的使者拯救他們。
他以慈愛和憐憫救贖他們，
在古時的日子時常抱他們，背他們。
(NIV)
(NIV)
9In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
The Psalmist also captured this wonderful truth of God’s abiding and sympathetic presence
我往哪裏去，躲避你的靈？
我往哪裏逃，躲避你的面？
我若升到天上，你在那裏；
我若躺在陰間，你也在那裏。
我若展開清晨的翅膀，
飛到海極居住，
就是在那裏，你的手必引導我，
你的右手也必扶持我。
(NIV)
(NIV)
7Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
The same is true of Christ who made His dwelling among us and who promised saying:
我要求父，父就賜給你們另外一位保惠師，使他永遠與你們同在。 他就是真理的靈，是世人不能接受的。因為他們既看不見他，也不認識他；你們卻認識他，因他常與你們同在，也要在你們裏面。
(NIV84)
(NIV84)
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
凡我所吩咐你們的，都教導他們遵守。看哪，我天天與你們同在，直到世代的終結。」
(NIV)
(NIV)
20 And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Can I ask you this morning my friend do you have the assurance of the abiding Christ dwelling within you today?
Do you have confidence that the Lord knows you that He cares and provides for your every need? Have you invited Jesus Christ into your life –if not you need to do that today
2 Secondly- The Tabernacle was a temporary dwelling with a reminder that something permanent was necessary
The Tabernacle was simply a large tent. In and other places in scripture it was referred to as the “Tent of Meeting”, where God would meet with His leaders and with His people. So it was a temporary dwelling that God had called His people to make for Him, designed to be moved about from place to place during the journeyings of the children of Israel.
It is also clear that the Tabernacle is meant to prefigure a more permeant structure such as the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. But was that temple the fulfillment of God’s purpose for something permeant?
Not according to the writer to the Hebrews who, speaking of Abraham who also lived in a tent says:
因著信，他就在所應許之地作客，好像在異鄉，居住在帳棚裏，與蒙同一個應許的以撒和雅各一樣。 因為他等候著那座有根基的城，就是上帝所設計和建造的。
(NIV)
9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Just before we look at verse 10 more closely:
Bible Scholar Warren Wiersbe reminds us as well:
“God’s people today are the temple of God, universally (), locally (), and individually
().
(NIV)
你們豈不知道你們的身體是聖靈的殿嗎？這聖靈是從上帝而來，住在你們裏面的。而且你們不是屬自己的人， 因為你們是重價買來的。所以，要在你們的身體上榮耀上帝。
(NIV)
19Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
As I mentioned earlier we have a God whose intention right from the start was to dwell with His people and to dwell within each of His people, so our body becomes the Temple of God the Holy Spirit and therefore we need to honour God with our body. However, even our earthly body is not a permanent dwelling, though in Christ we know one day we will be changed from being mortal to immorality
.
But in that permanent dwelling of God that Abraham by faith was looking forward to is what we see in:
我又看見一個新天新地，因為先前的天和先前的地已經過去了，海也不再有了。 我又看見聖城，新耶路撒冷由上帝那裏，從天而降，預備好了，就如新娘打扮整齊，等候丈夫。 我聽見有大聲音從寶座出來，說：
「看哪，上帝的帳幕在人間！
他要和他們同住，
他們要作他的子民。
上帝要親自與他們同在。
上帝要擦去他們一切的眼淚；
不再有死亡，
也不再有悲哀、哭號、痛苦，
因為先前的事都過去了。」
我沒有看見城內有殿，因主—全能者上帝和羔羊就是城的殿。
,
,
(NIV)
1Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
What a glorious hope there is for the believer in Christ – you cannot get much more permanent a dwelling than Eternity with God.
This then leads us to the final point or meaning of the Tabernacle, so:
3 Thirdly -The Key meaning of the Tabernacle is Jesus Christ.
Commentator Arthur Pink says:
As a whole and in each of its parts the Tabernacle foreshadowed the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Each detail in it typified some aspect of His ministry or some excellency in His person.
The God who said in:
他們要為我造聖所，使我住在他們中間。
(NIV)
(NIV)
8“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.
Became the same God of whom the Scriptures records in:
這整件事的發生，是要應驗主藉先知所說的話：
「必有童女懷孕生子；
人要稱他的名為以馬內利。」
（以馬內利翻出來就是「上帝與我們同在」。）
(NIV)
(NIV)
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
This is same God the Scriptures speak about in Hebrews where it says of Him: READ
I close with these words from Dr Walter Kaiser who said:
The Lord who dwelt in His visible Glory in His Tabernacle among His people in will one day come and dwell in all His Glory among His people forever.
Is that the day you are looking forward to? Amen!!