THE TABERNACLE OF GOD
Since this study is contained in five studies that are quite long and full of many details, I felt I should prepare a short overview of the Tabernacle of God. The graphic, the type, the shadow and picture is presented to us as the Tabernacle of Moses. This Tabernacle is a copy of the true one that is in heaven. When Jesus ascended He entered into the Tabernacle of God.
HEB 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; [V24] For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
REV 13:6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
REV 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them,
God will dwell among His people within the “Tabernacle of God”. Some will dwell on the New Earth, some will dwell in the New Heaven and some will dwell in the New Jerusalem. All will dwell in “heaven”. However, ground zero of the Presence of God will be in the New Jerusalem on the throne of God.
This Tabernacle of God is in three parts just as the shadow of the Tabernacle of Moses shows. The earthly tabernacle had an (1) Outer Court (2) the Holy Place (3) the Most Holy Place. The Tabernacle of God also has three places. (1) The New Earth (2) the New Heaven (3) The New Jerusalem. This one truth should motivate the saints to press on into the :high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul was caught up to the third heaven and saw wonderful things that he wasn’t permitted to reveal. ( He saw the New Jerusalem by “a vision”). However, he did speak of some of these things in abstract terms. 1 COR 2:9] but just as it is written, "THINGS which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, AND which HAVE not entered the heart of man, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."
The Most Holy place ( The New Jerusalem) is the seat of government for the Kingdom of God. This is the location of the throne of God and the place of God’s immediate Presence. This is the place that has been designed for the overcomers.
REV 3:21] `He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. REV 21:7] "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. The Lord is speaking of the New Jerusalem and all that it contains as the inheritance of the overcomers. Those who dwell there will be called “the city of God”.
ISA 60:14] "And the sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
The New Jerusalem is reserved for the bride of Christ but we also learn that the city IS the bride. The bride will be called the “city of the Lord”.
REV 21:9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." [10] And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, [11] having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
The Angel showed John the bride but what he showed him was the “city” which IS the bride. Obviously this is a metaphor that contains secrets and mysteries. Bride is an offensive term to many men because it sounds “unnatural”. However, in Christ there is neither male or female. God IS Spirit so this speaks of a spiritual union. To come into unity with Christ in prayer, in relationship and in fellowship is not a matter of male or female but is in a realm of spirit. Some men have difficulty saying that they “love Jesus Christ” until they understand this is something of a spiritual dimension.
The “perfection of the bride” is only seen and understood by “the perfection of the city” because both are the same thing. REV 21:18] And the material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
REV 4:3] Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. [3] And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
The “city” is the same color as the One who was sitting on the throne which indicates “she” has matured into His likeness. This “city” or “bride” is transparent and the glory of God shines right through her to illuminate the nations of the New Earth.
REV 21:23] And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. [24] And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. Some translations say “ The nations of those who are saved”.
In addition to the New Jerusalem there will be “nations of those who are saved”. There will also be the 24 elders and the Old Testament saints and the multitudes of those who will stand before the throne of God in the New Heaven. The “temple” is seen in heaven, however, in the New Jerusalem there is NO temple. REV 21:22] And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
REV 7:13] And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?" [14] And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [15] "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. There is NO night in the New Jerusalem but these who are in the “temple of God” serve Him “both day and night”.
REV 21:25] And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; [26] and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
There has been the misconception that ALL believers will be in the New Jerusalem. This doctrine has done a great disservice to the church because it implies that what we believe is the determining factor rather than what we are in our character and development. This implies that after our sins are forgiven through faith in the blood of Jesus that was shed on our behalf, all we need to do is sit in the pew and wait for our eternal reward. These “believers” may inherit the New Earth and be “saved” from hell but they surely have fallen short of God’s eternal purpose.
There will be those who “overcome” and will rule over 10 cities or 5 cities. We must assume there will be “believers” in those cities.
LUKE 19:17] "And he said to him, `Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities.' [18] "And the second came, saying, `Your mina, master, has made five minas.' [19] "And he said to him also, `And you are to be over five cities.'
Another confusion is that some teach that when you are born again your name is written in “the Lambs book of Life”. REV 21:27] and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The New Jerusalem is reserved for only those who are fully given to the Lamb of God. Consecration is the first step of giving ourselves completely to Christ..
REV 20:12] And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; [15] And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The minimum requirement to escape the lake of fire is to have your name written in the book of life. The minimum requirement to dwell in the New Jerusalem is to have your name written in the “Lambs book of Life”.
Another witness to this truth of “full consecration” being the requirement of the New Jerusalem is found in Rev 22:1-5.
REV 22:1 And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, [2] in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. [3] And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; [4] and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. [5] And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever.
The K.J.V. of the Bible doesn’t differentiate between servant and bondservant. Diakonos is the Greek word from which we get “deacon”. It means “a servant”. It could mean a hired servant who works a few hours a week. Doulos { Strongs 1401}is the Greek word used here and means a “bondservant” or “a purchased slave”. However, there is a significance difference between a “servant and a bondservant” because of their commitment to their master. This difference is revealed in the law of the bondservant.
EX 21:1 "Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them. [2] "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. [3] "If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. [4] "If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone. [5] "But if the slave plainly says, `I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,' [6] then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently. (Or forever) The other witness is found in Deut 15.
DT 15:12 "If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. [13] "And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. [14] "You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. [15] "And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. [16] "And it shall come about if he says to you, `I will not go out from you,' because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; [17] then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maidservant. [18] "It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.
The application is this; Every person who has been purchased off the auction block by the Lord at Calvary must serve Him for 6 years. ( a metaphor) At the end of six years, with double the labor of a hired man, he could go out a free man with his hands full. However, if that “servant” said I will not take my freedom because I love the Master and His family he could become a “bondservant” (“a doulos”) FOREVER. After serving 6 years the servant would know the Master and not be afraid to commit the rest of his life to serving Him. The Master then took him to the doorpost and pierced (opened) the bondservants ear and the covenant was sealed.
PS 40:6 Sacrifice and meal offering Thou hast not desired; My ears Thou hast opened; Burnt offering and sin offering Thou hast not required. [7] Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me; [8] I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart.".
It should be clear that this next restoration of God, as it follows the pattern of the Tabernacle, will be the consecration offering. This is the transition from the Outer Court to the Holy Place life and ministry. God will certainly show us His will AFTER we consecrate ourselves (along with our body) to DO His will. Seeking to know His will out of curiosity, just to find out what He desires, is a waste of time. Make a covenant with God to do His will and He will surely show you what that is.
2 COR 11:2] For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. [3] But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
The first step is to get “engaged” by a full commitment and consecration to Christ and then keep yourself clean, pure and separated just to Him. Then the Holy Spirit will prepare the bride for Jesus!