Tabernacle of David

Session 2: The House of Prayer before King David

  1. Intro:

Certainly David did unprecedented things for the House of Prayer, but his tent was by no means the first expression of it. In this session we will look at the historical steps of progress that had begun long before the time of King David. This history lesson will help us understand the foundations that were laid and so better grasp the reality of what David established in his day.

  1. The Principle of Transference:

Beginning with Moses’ Tabernacle a principle was being laid out into human history regarding God’s House: transference; that is that God would implement something and then later implement something new while carrying over the earlier element into His next stage. God was going to build His House of Prayer but rather than do it all in one installment we see an evolution and an upgrade process of the House of Prayer reality throughout God’s history of redemption. The end, which has yet to come to pass, was in God’s heart from the very beginning and He used many expressions and examples over the course of time to demonstrate these different aspects of His heart. He had every intention of bringing each into fulfillment in his perfect timing, throughout history however man was only aware of whatever current and past expressions had been realized up to that point. Each step of the establishing of the House of Prayer was an important statement from Him about Him. Let’s take a look at some of those major steps in order to see the greater picture:

  1. Moses’ Tent (this was a small tent for Moses to seek God).
  1. Tent of Meeting - Tabernacle of Moses (this was the 1st corporate expression of the House of Prayer).
  1. Priesthood transferred from Eli’s line to Samuel (this was a massive statement about the blessings of the House of Prayer being a place for the faithful).
  1. Samuel lived and loved behind the veil, which previously would have killed a man (important step regarding the increase of intimacy in the House of Prayer).
  1. David took that idea and ran with it with a new Tabernacle: He put singers in front of the ark, and also opened up the presence worship to members from other tribes which was previously reserved for the line of Levi, he himself was from the tribe of Judah (this was an extension of the intimate presence worship beyond the narrow boundaries of a single family line or tribe).
  1. Solomon then built a permanent structure, which was an outward display of the glorious reality in the building and dedication of the first Temple (this was to paint the picture of the Glorious Nature of God).
  1. Jesus came and extended the promises of the covenant to include the Gentile peoples (which ultimately this is all about God being worshiped by all mankind, salvation is a prerequisite for the heart in order to generate genuine praise to the Father).
  1. The prophets Isaiah and Amos and then James in the New Testament prophesied that the Tabernacle of David would become a house of prayer for the Gentiles (the boundary lines are now broadened beyond what could have been imagined - now Gentiles could be priests in God’s House of Prayer).
  1. Yet another transfer will occur when Jesus returns and the House of Prayer in Heaven touches the earth at which point the worship that transpires before the Throne in Heaven will actually come to Earth (this was always God’s mysterious plan for mankind, to be a House of Prayer in His presence with the dimensions of both the natural and the heavenly realms in complete operation before Him).
  1. The Tabernacle of Moses:
  1. Moses’ Tent:

Before the corporate tabernacle was built Moses had a small tent where he used to meet with the Lord.

“Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent (Ex. 33:7-11).”

  1. The Corporate Tabernacle:

God then instructed Moses to build a structure for all the Israelites to come and partake in worship.

“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them (Ex. 25:8).”

“Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman (Ex. 26:1).”

  1. The Role of all 12 Tribes:

Everyone was able to contribute either by offerings or by craft to this most important cause and so all the tribes had part in the Tabernacle of Moses. This was the first sign of unity and inclusion, and it was an important statement from God that all the people were to take ownership in His House.

“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 (Ex. 25:1-2).”

“All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle with its tent and its covering…(Ex. 35:10-11)”

  1. The Purpose of the Tabernacle:
  1. For God to have a dwelling place among the people.

“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 (Ex. 25:8-9).”

“Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35).”

  1. For the people to have a place to inquire of God.

“Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting…(Ex. 33:7).”

  1. For Israel to recognize they had certain responsibilities and privileges as God’s chosen people and as a major phase in her recognition of the importance of holiness and the weight of sin.

“Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death. The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each man in his own camp under his own standard. The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the Israelite community (Nu. 1:51-53).”

  1. For Israel to understand the dynamic role that the place of His Presence has in giving them leadership from the place of encounter.

“In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels (Ex. 40:36-38).”

  1. The Glory that rested on the Tabernacle was a powerful visual witness to the nations that God was with this people. Just think about what this must have looked like to a passer by foreign nation approaching Israel.

“How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel! "Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters (Nu. 24:25-26).”

  1. In the time of the conquest of the Land God wanted to show His people that military victory was gained through His people abiding in His presence (the Tabernacle).

“The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control (Js. 18:1),”

“These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel assigned by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. And so they finished dividing the land (Js. 19:51).”

  1. Day to Day Operations of the Tabernacle:

The Tabernacle of Moses was a picture of what would later come in David’s Tabernacle and it laid the foundations of which King David would later build upon.

  1. The Sacrificial System was put into place as a means to make offerings before the Lord as an expression of worship and to restore the broken relationship between God and man.
  1. The Burnt Offering (Le. 1:1-17; 6:8-13, 8:18-21, 16:24): Voluntary act of worship; atonement for general unintentional sins; expression of devotion; commitment and complete surrender to God.
  2. Grain Offering (Le. 2:1-16, 6:14-23): Voluntary act of worship; recognition of God’s goodness and provisions; devotion to God.
  3. Fellowship Offering (Le. 3:1-17, 7:11-34): Voluntary act of worship; thanksgiving and fellowship (it included a communal meal).
  4. Sin Offering (Le. 4:1-5:13, 6:24-30, 8:14-17, 16:3-22): Mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sin; confession of sin, forgiveness of sin, cleansing from defilement.
  5. Guilt Offering (Le. 5:14-6:7, 7:1-6): Mandatory atonement for unintentional sin that required restitution; it provided cleansing from defilement.
  1. There was a distinct night and day dimension to this worship that was to be unbroken. Unbroken attendance to the priestly duties meant a lifestyle shift for the priests and became an unparalleled act of extravagant worship.

“Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come (Ex. 27:20-21).”

“The LORD said to Moses: "…The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar… The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out (Le. 6:8-13).”

  1. God was always about having a people set apart for Himself as holy worshipers. Throughout history man has fought Him on this point but God always retained a remnant who sought Him wholeheartedly according to His standard of wholeheartedness, which is really all God has ever desired from mankind.
  1. Samuel Behind the Curtain:
  1. Eli the Priest & his Sons:

The ministry of the sanctuary (the tabernacle of Moses) was entrusted to the Levites. In the time of Samuel Eli was the priest that oversaw the ministry of the Lord for the nation. His sons Hophni and Phinehas however, who where to be the ones to inherit the responsibility and privileges of the temple worship, were wicked men and because of them and Eli’s leadership over them the worship order was about to undergo a transfer in family line and heart.

“Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD (1Sa. 2:12).”

“This sin of the young men (Eli’s sons) was very great in the LORD's sight, for they were treating the LORD's offering with contempt (1Sa. 2:17).”

“No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD's people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death (1Sa. 2:24-25).”

“…'I promised that your house and your father's house would minister before me forever.' But now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained…"'And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day (1Sa. 2:30).”

  1. Samuel’s Early Days:

Samuel however had been birthed in prayer and been dedicated to the service of the Lord from the time he was weaned. He had a very different heart from that of Eli and his sons, for Samuel grew in an intimate relationship with the Lord and served Him wholeheartedly out of love not duty. This was to be God’s new picture of what the priestly role should look like.

“Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always (1Sa. 1:22).”

“I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there (1Sa. 1:27-28).”

“But Samuel was ministering before the LORD -a boy wearing a linen ephod (1Sa. 2:18).”

“And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men (1Sa. 2:26).”

“I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always (1Sa. 2:35).”

“The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions…The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am (1Sa. 3:1-4).”

“The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word (1Sa. 3:19-21).”

  1. Samuel’s Prophetic Community:

Over the years Samuel formed a community of like-minded disciples who operated out of the same heart of devotion and love that he himself had (1Sa. 10:5, 10-12, 19:18-24). These men were a true priesthood (1Sa. 2:35) and they operated in a measure of power that attested to that reality. When King Saul, with ill intentions, went in pursuit of David, he encountered one of these communities of Samuel and this reality was made clear.

“When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. Word came to Saul: "David is in Naioth at Ramah"; so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied. “Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?" "Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said. So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night (1Sa. 18:19-24).”

  1. This community of prophets, as they were called, operated in a powerful anointing that flowed from the presence worship that had been handed down by Samuel.
  1. Saul’s men came to capture David but they came under the power of God.
  2. Saul sent more men, the same thing happened.
  3. Saul sent a third group and the same thing happened to them.
  4. Saul himself went and when he approached the power of God on them caused him also to burst into prophetic utterance.
  5. He couldn’t even get up off the ground for 24 hours.
  1. Samuel Without the Ark:

Samuel and this band of prophets weren’t new to the presence of God; this was something they had cultivated over time. Samuel as he grew up before the Ark of the Covenant (1Sa. 3:1-4) had developed an intimate friendship with the God of Israel. After Israel, under Hophni and Phinehas’ leadership, had allowed the Ark to be captured by the Philistines (1Sa. 4:11) Samuel no longer had the Ark as a means to encounter God but such an intimate foundation had already been laid in his heart. He then began to teach others how to fellowship with the intimate God in a spirit of prophecy during his frequent curcuit travels (1Sa. 7:15-16) across the land. There began to arise communites of these disciples scattered about the country of Israel.