The Fulfillment of God's Purposes in the Tabernacle of David

The Tabernacle of David is such a gigantic departure from the pattern that God showed Moses on the Mountain as the order by which God and man may fellowship that it speaks volumes to us about the end of what God is doing in our lives. God’s Eternal Purpose is for God and man to become one.

In the Old Covenant this was not possible and God has prepared individual dwelling places [K J V, mansions] for those who had come to “perfection” under the Old Covenant. However, God has prepared something much more grand for the New Testament saint that comes to perfection. Their dwelling place will be God, Himself.

JOHN 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. [2] "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for [or but]I go to prepare a place for you. [3] "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

The “mansions” that God has already prepared are already full and represent “The Father’s House”and His family from the Old Covenant. Now the SON is preparing a house for His Bride and His family from the New Covenant. However, under the New Covenant the Bride and the Bridegroom will become one. He will dwell in her and she will dwell in Him. While there is a temple in the Father’s house there is no temple in the Son’s house because the Lord God and the Lamb are it’s temple. The Son’s household [ the New Jerusalem] will be the center of His throne and the center of His government and those who overcome will rule with Him.

Now this is where the problem is revealed! The secular governments of this world are a testimony and example of what the eternal Kingdom would be like if governed by fallen man with his lust for power, authority, graft and dominion over others. Since God’s eternal Kingdom will be totally different from the kingdoms of this world and a Kingdom of righteousness He must deal nearly violently with us to prepare us for that time. If we don’t permit Him free access into our heart and lives so that He can transform us from what we are to what we must be for His eternal purpose, we will not qualify for the New Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God.

The root cause of our being disqualified will be the self-life and it’s demand for self-satisfaction out of self-will. Many, many ministers will be disqualified from the Kingdom because of failure to permit God to eradicate the self-life. Flesh trying to cast out flesh is a big disappointment. Only the Spirit can deal successfully with the flesh and self is the stronghold of flesh.

When we finally surrender our will and our life to God in total consecration He is free to begin a work in us so that we will both will and do His good pleasure [or the things pleasing to Him]. Even though we have our sins forgiven, put off the old manner of life, been baptized into His death, put on the garments of righteousness, been baptized in the Holy Spirit many of the original barriers in our life are still there. These “barriers” are those things still in our lives that hinder us from dwelling in Him and in His Presence.

One of these barriers is the self-life and all it’s various strongholds. These “strongholds” are seen in type of the seven nations and thirty one kings of Canaan. Each one had to be completely annihilated with none spared. Each king had to be killed and each nation they ruled had to be conquered. This is a picture of how God prepares us for His Eternal Kingdom.

Do we actually believe that we have 31 kings within us ruling over 7 areas of our lives that must be totally destroyed? If we review the conquering of Canaan we will see that the Hivites who lived in Gibeon deceived Joshua into making covenant with them and sparing their lives. While they became bearers of water for Israel and served them they became a source of backsliding for Israel. In that same way some of the areas of the self-life and flesh seem to serve us well but will someday cause us to stumble and may ultimately keep us from the Kingdom. This is why God commanded Joshua to deal violently with these kings. Sooner or later they will rise up and begin to rule again because they are kings.

We refer to “king-self” but there are most likely 31 “king-selfs” within us that create barriers between us and God’s manifest Presence. If our fervent desire is to dwell in God and He in us [the Kingdom] we must deal ruthlessly and violently with these kings. Each of these “kings” represent a challenge for God to permanently remove from our lives and He will continue until we say “stop, no more”. Each “king-self” presents a barrier that must be removed. If there are 7 nations and 31 kings it means that each area of our life has at least 4 kings and some have 5 kings ruling.

Each one of us who have desired to live in the Kingdom of God have discovered that being “converted” from KING-SELF to KING-JESUS is a painful process and one that we cannot accomplish by ourselves. The scriptures say that Israel made covenant with the Hivites without inquiring of God. [ Joshua 9:14-15] We can certainly do the same thing with the flesh. Israel felt sorry for the Hivites and spared them and made covenant with them. This is exactly the same thing we do when we feel sorry and pity for our self [self-life] and spare it from destruction or crucifixion.

If we understood that each one of these “kings” build a barrier between us and the manifest Presence of God we would immediately put them to death or ask God to do it. The suicide of “self” has never been very effective. “Self” gets a reprieve at the last minute.

Lets see if we can identify some of these barriers that prevent us from enjoying God’s manifest Presence. (1) sin (2) unforgiveness (3) resentment (4) bitterness (5) complaining (6) lying (7) cheating (8) faithlessness (9) slothfulness (10) lack of discipline (11) lack of devotion (12) hypocrisy Etc, Etc. However, it is “our will” that protects these barriers and strengthens them. Our will then is the last stronghold of the self-life even though it is the first part of our consecration. In other words, we make the consecration and then it is developed through the death of the self-life.

Since when we first come to Christ we are basically self-centered and self-life motivated our experience is very shallow. We approach the cross by assuming that whatever Christ has done on Calvary is for my benefit and enhances my well being, my blessing and my eternal security. I am the focus of what Jesus has accomplished. It was all for me! God wants ME to prosper and to have every desire of MY heart. God is a “good God” who want to continually bless ME. The world revolves around ME. Salvation is centered in me and my advantage.

Those who have glimpsed into the Kingdom of God will recognize that “ME” needs to be converted from “ME to HIM”. For that reason the church must be in a continual state of being converted. Being converted means that these barriers are continually being torn down and the light of God is increasing in our life and understanding. As the light increases more barriers are revealed and we are permitted to ask God to tear these down also.

To make a life application of these trues is very important. The Tabernacle of David is the revelation of all barriers removed and the New Covenant believer standing in the very Presence of God. The “delivered”and “freed” New Testament saint is ministering to “THE AUDIENCE OF ONE”. However, he is not alone! All the Levites who have been delivered and freed from these barriers are standing together as one body ministering to that same “AUDIENCE OF ONE”. Now, at last, He has come to have first place in everything and He is the focus of all life and worship and ministry.

When this is reality the restoration of the Tabernacle of David is complete. God has raised it up as in the days of old and the type has become a reality. Now all the Gentiles and the rest of mankind may seek the Lord for this open heaven and open relationship with all barriers removed by God’s grace and mercy. Open heavens means open veil or no veil. The revelation of MT. ZION is seen in open, no barrier, worship. Mt. Zion remains a mystery until the barriers are removed. “True worship” can only be experienced in spirit and truth when the barriers are torn down and we can stand in God’s Presence in the “open heaven”.

“Open heaven” may seem like a cliche because it is used in conjunction with “heavens as of brass”. “Heavens of brass” refers to closed heavens that are impenetrable in prayer while “open heavens” refer to free and open access to the Presence of God in prayer. The Tabernacle of David is a picture for us of “the open heavens”. No veil = open heaven = open access to God.

Those who bring a long list of personal desires, needs and wants to God in prayer and seek self-satisfaction from the Lord are amazed when God doesn’t respond immediately. To associate your personal happiness to the strength of your will demanding answers in prayer may set you in opposition to God’s overall plan for your life. The parable of the unjust judge seems to say that we must stand firmly against the will of the judge until he finally gives in to our will. If we interpret Jesus’ message that way, then endurance and strength of our will is the determining factor in receiving answers to prayer. Otherwise the heavens are as brass. We open heaven by our endurance against the reluctance of the judge and refuse to give up until our will is satisfied. Just knowing a little of the Kingdom of God will reveal that is not the message intended.

For months I have had an insatiable desire to experience the manifest Presence of God and to live in that “open heaven”. What was my motive? That is what I wanted to satisfy myself and to be in that great advantage. I wanted to be known as the person of His Presence and I wanted our assembly to be known as the people of His Presence. I wanted His Presence for me.

Is that a valid desire? Yes! Is that God’s ultimate purpose for us to be in Him and He in us and to dwell in His Presence? Yes! Then what is wrong? The motive is self-satisfaction and self-exaltation. Until the self-life is put to death on our cross the motive will generally be perverted. “First love” puts God first. “Self-love” puts self first [for the glory of God we think]. One of the problems of the psychology of “self-esteem” is that it puts self first.

Jesus indicated that if we insist on living in the “self-life” we will lose out in the end. Only those who are willing to lose the self-life will find the Zoe [eternal] life. When we love God alone for Himself alone we will desire God alone and not just what He will give. This is how we may identify “first love”. To be weaned from self to God alone is the whole process of growing up to maturity into Christ.

There is a popular saying now going around. We must seek the face of God and not just the hand of God. That means to seek God for Himself alone and not just for what we can receive from His hand. Seeking God’s face enables Him to supply all that we need. Seeking His hand may just be self-satisfaction for what we receive.

I can testify that much of my “love for God” was within the realm of self and my needs. It was seeking gratification for myself out of the joy of His Presence. I feel good when I feel love for the Lord and can express it in worship. Even my worship ultimately satisfies myself. So much of my “Christian life” has been a self-seeking and when self was not satisfied I lost much of my interest in seeking God. We freely love God in spiritual abundance but not in spiritual dry spells. Spiritual dry spells then reveal our defects that are hidden in times of spiritual abundance. Spiritual abundance provides a gratification of self and self finds no glory in spiritual dry spells and becomes depressed.

Now we will miss much if we don’t recognize that God has put these desires for Him in our hearts and have great eternal benefits. It is in trying to fulfill these God given desires that our motives and intentions of the heart are revealed. Therefore, God’s word is like a sharp two edged machaira that is able to divide between the soul and the spirit and the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

HEB 4:12] For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword [machaira] , and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. [13] And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. [The machaira was the strong two-edged skinning knife the priests used to separate the sacrifice into pieces for the altar.]

something going on in the depths of the inner man that was unknown. These may be the very things that create barriers to the Presence of God in an open heaven. In other words there may have to be a laying open and exposing of these contrary and hidden things in our lives before we experience the “open heaven”.

Most of us have not yet come to the place where God’s pure satisfaction is the motive and goal of our lives. Still that desire has been put in us by God and becomes the desire of our heart that God is more than willing to fulfill. How much different this desire is today than in the day we sat in the seat or throne of pure selfishness and expressed our demands upon God.

First if God submitted to our self-centered desires He would be doing us an eternal injustice. Our will is still not purified to only want God’s will. Then how can we discern our true spiritual state and the extent of our progress and whether our desires are inspired of God or just desires of our self life ?

We may not be able to always discern the perfect will of God but that doesn’t prohibit us from always trusting in His sovereign judgement and knowing that He is always working everything for our good. It is our response in the time of trial that is very illuminating and gives us understanding of our true spiritual state.

A believer who has been misused, hurt and wounded by another and becomes withdrawn and bitter reveals his true spiritual state. A believer who has been disappointed and “hurt” by God and becomes resentful because they know what God should have done but He didn’t, are in a depressed spiritual state. Anyone that becomes lukewarm because they believe that God has treated them unfairly has departed from a true spiritual state. That Christian who demonstrates these emotional characteristics is not in a state of pure grace but in a state of “self-centeredness”.

These emotional characteristics of the self-will shows that the believer is NOT seeking to bring joy to God’s heart but to his own heart. While this may be permitted by God for a season He cannot permit it for those whose heart is to ascend into God and His eternal Glory. The ascending life must be God centered.

It is clear then that all these things provide difficult barriers between us and the open heaven of God. The praise and worship of God in the restored Tabernacle of David must be wholly God centered and not just another attempt of man centered praise for what man can get out of it. If the praise and worship is designed to make man feel good or feel good about himself it is far too shallow for the Tabernacle of David. Trying to convince people that God is worthy of worship is far too shallow for the Tabernacle of David. Those who are standing in the open heaven don’t need to be told Who He is. Any mixture between serving self and serving God destroys the inner life and creates another barrier between us and the open heaven.

Sometimes it seems that after finally one barrier falls we create another barrier to replace the one that has fallen. This is a real source of discouragement because we lose the assurance that we are ascending at all. Our confidence has to be that we are totally and completely given into the hands of God and He knows what He is doing and will complete it for the day of Christ. If our desire is for Him, He will create desires within us that will motivate us toward His eternal purpose. Our fear of the displeasure of God should far outweigh our fear of the displeasure of man. Whether we are happy or not must become totally irrelevant when we are seeking only God, for Himself. If we are truly abandoned to God then outward things become unimportant to daily life. It is then that we know that God knows our needs before we ask. Seeking first the Kingdom becomes the priority.

MATH 6:31] "Do not be anxious then, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `With what shall we clothe ourselves?' [32] "For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. [33] "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

While we may think that we understand what it means to seek first His Kingdom I’m not sure I understand what it means to seek His righteousness. To seek the righteousness of God, Himself seems to be in a realm far beyond possibility. If our goal is to be like God in His righteousness, the way of achievement escapes us. It seems that we “seek after the things” simply because we don’t understand either His Kingdom or His righteousness. To seek for His righteousness is at best confusing and frustrating. What could all that possibly mean and why is this linked to His Kingdom? Is this just speaking of the righteousness of the Kingdom or is it referring to His own righteousness? Does this really sum up the present pursuit of the Christian life that was detailed in the preceding verses. Being consumed with personal needs and anxiety over our wants and desires is exactly opposite of “seeking first the Kingdom and His righteousness”. The Kingdom and His righteous are presented as the ultimate pursuit of the Christian life and the highest goal of God’s purpose for man. Our “seeking” of these two destinations FIRST and foremost before and above all else is the means of obtaining all the things that the Father already knows we need for successful Christian life.

2 CHRON 1:11] And God said to Solomon, "Because you had this in mind, and did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge, that you may rule My people, over whom I have made you king, [12] wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor those who will come after you."

To stand in the manifest Presence of God reveals Who He is and His supreme characteristics, His righteousness. This will certainly reveal our own wretchedness, unworthiness and strip us of all “self-righteousness”. There can be nothing left of our own righteousness to support us in His Presence. This is just basic and primary to seeking for His own righteousness.

Self righteousness assumes that the characteristics of God are also our characteristics. God is merciful and we are merciful also. God is love and we also love with His same love. God is righteous and we also are righteousness. God is longsuffering and patient and we also are longsuffering and patient. We readily [but unknowingly] compare ourselves with God and His attributes. To come to the realization that there are NO attributes in us that can even compare with the righteousness of God is devastating to our “self-righteousness”. Each of us must come to the place that we know without a shadow of doubt that ALL righteousness belongs to God alone and outside of Him there is NO righteousness.

To fall as a dead man in His Presence means that we have become so weak and so unstable in our own righteousness and our own view of our self that there is no ground left for us to stand. There is no recourse left for us but to recognize and trust ONLY in the righteousness of God, Himself. Standing in God’s Presence clearly reveals that man is just a vapor or dust in the wind without God in His life. If we recognize God’s omnipotence we must recognize our own weakness by comparison.

JOHN 4:13] Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

Water is a large theme in scripture and has many applications to the Christian life. Water itself is very uncomplicated. It is H2O. Pure water is one part hydrogen and 2 parts oxygen. The purer an element is the simpler the structure is. All we need to do is examine the labels on packages of food to see a very complicated mixture of chemicals and additives.

easily be changed with all kinds of additives. It can be red or green or brown or hot or cold. It may be defiled and poisoned and can give life or death. Water doesn’t complain no matter what is done with it. Water may take on a multitude of different flavors but have no flavor of its own.

The Holy Spirit is like that Pure Water that desires to flow out of us to benefit the society around us. What flows out of us can be a mixture of very complicated additives so that even if the water was pure it is hardly recognizable when it flows out of us. The odor and flavor and whether it brings life or death depends upon the qualities that are added to it by the vessel from which it flows.

For that reason God desires pure vessels to deliver the pure benefits of the Holy Spirit to a lost society. The purer the vessel the simpler the life and the purer the ministry of the Holy Spirit through that vessel. If the Holy Spirit appears complicated and extreme it simply means that He has not found a pure vessel with no additives.

The open veil and unrestricted relationship with God’s Glory and Presence in the restoration of David’s Tabernacle purifies the vessel with the fire of His Presence. If our heart desire is to manifest the pure power, grace, mercy, loving-kindness, and gifts of the Holy Spirit then God’s manifest Presence is what we need. A defiled self-life is what is commonly mixed with the gifts of the Spirit and makes them unrecognizable. The pure gifts of the Spirit are rejected simply because they have been polluted by the vessel and seem to smell bad.

Trying to satisfy the self-life with spiritual ministry and gifts of the Spirit will always produce a mixture. Still, we have to begin somewhere and the amazing thing is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t complain. God will still do His work of purifying the vessel even after many mistakes. However, to resist the Gifts and moving of the Spirit because we are not what we want to be or should be will just slow down the work of God purifying our lives. The water of life needs to flow out of us even if it picks up our own flavor in the process. After drilling a well they may have to pump it many days until the water becomes clear and pure. To refuse to pump the well because the water is not pure defeats the purpose.

To reject getting involved in the ministry of the Holy Spirit for fear of making a mistake or suffering shame is just another form of self-gratification. That is taking the comfortable and safe way of protecting “self”. If I don’t get involved I can avoid suffering , pain and rejection and be content to criticize others who make mistakes. It is easy to settle into this fixed state of doing nothing “spiritual” because I’m not yet ready. Getting ready demands that we move into the grace that was given us to function.

One of the blessing of the restored Tabernacle of David in our lives within is that when we get a glimpse of His glory we lose confidence in ourselves. We cannot preserve our reputation because it has been shattered by our recognition of who we are and Who He is. Our reputation cannot survive that revelation. We are undone and recognize that we have uncleanness and live among a people who are also unclean. The closer we get to God the farther we get from “self”. By seeing something of God’s glory turns “our self glory” into an abomination in our eyes.

When we try to measure our maturity without taking into account the power of our self-life we will assume that we are farther along that we actually are. If we still have “self” in the seat of authority in our life we are still babes and far from the Kingdom. “Self” will manifest itself as flesh.

GAL 5:19] Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, [21] envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The first basic revelation of the Tabernacle of David is that God has removed ALL barriers to His Presence. He has never wanted veils or barriers between His creation and Himself. The many barriers that exist are what man has built up himself and has refused to root up tear down and destroy. Since God has already removed all barriers to Himself in Christ, the initiative must be with man. To preserve any barrier will result in eternal loss.

The next revelation of the Tabernacle of David is that we may stand with unveiled face in the manifest Presence of God and in the circle of His sovereignty and be transformed into His image and be trained to rule with Him in eternity. It may be interpreted as “Transformed from self to God”.