Tent Dweller

[dave c]

A HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #120g Written 24NOV07 http://groups.msn.com/AHealingShelter/welcome.msnw

In The Footsteps Of Abraham: Part Nine—Tent Dweller

by dave c

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By 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. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Besides the literal, socio-cultural significance of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob having lived in tents, Paul and Peter make metaphoric reference to the temporary nature of tents (or tabernacles) as characteristic of our current material existence. In Second Corinthians 4:18 we begin to read: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal [also, He 11:1]. 5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent [tabernacle (#4636); from #4633; a hut or temporary residence] we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life (NIV). Peter wrote to his constituents: I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me (2Pe 1:13&14; NIV).

Even more significant than the short term lease we hold upon our vagrant flesh, throughout the New Testament we are told that we are not the only person who dwells in the tent of this body. As we come to the moment of salvation and rebirth, Jesus Christ sends the Holy Spirit to live within us (Jn 7:38). It is the Holy Spirit Who seals us (Ep 4:30), Who guides us into all knowledge and truth (Jn 16:7-15), and Who empowers us to live the life of a Christian (Ro 8:22-28). In this way, the tent of a Believer’s body becomes a tabernacle housing the very presence of God as we Providentially fulfill our journey through this world. We no longer need a priest to guide us, to absolve us of our sins, or to intercede for us before God the Father. We are priests—in need only of a high priest who exceeds our human frailties.

He 8:1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle [tabernacle (#4633); apparently akin to #4632 and #4639; a tent or cloth hut (literally or figuratively)] set up by the Lord, not by man. 3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (NIV).

Ac 7:44 "Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built the house for him (NIV).

As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1Pe 2:4&5; NIV). In this time, in this body, we are like the Tabernacle (the Tent of Meeting); but just as Paul, we long for our mortality to be swallowed up by life. We long to be built as living stones into the eternal temple of the City of God, Who is the architect and builder. Amen.