I.God S Zeal for the House of Prayer Reality

Tabernacle of David

Session 5: Prophesied Restoration of the Tabernacle of David

I.God’s Zeal for the House of Prayer Reality:

As much as the House of Prayer is a beautiful expression of man’s ministry to God it is primarily about God’s zeal to be worshiped night and day. He values His House and He has testified about it throughout the ages; making massive statements about it’s importance through some of His most influential leaders recorded in scripture.

Moses at the Burning Bush Before Egypt:
As far back as before the Exodus God was showing His zeal for the House of Prayer. Even before His people had been set apart, while they were still slaves and intermingled amongst Egypt with no nation of their own God was looking forward to the day when Israel would build Him the first corporate expression of the House of Prayer. God prophesied to Moses about making provision for it during their first encounter at the burning bush.

“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians (Ex. 3:21-22).”

Moses couldn’t have understood the implications, and at first glance we probably miss it as well. The Israelites were brought out of Egypt a short time later and wandered around in the dessert for 40 years. The Lord fed them, protected them and provided for them, but they had no economy, and no reason for it, even their clothes did not wear out. They were not permitted to settle down and they didn’t have any trade relations with the surrounding peoples. Because of all these factors they had little to no use for the silver and gold during the 40 years of their wanderings.
But God did. After establishing them in the dessert and settling into place some of the ground rules for how the new nation would operate He commanded that a tabernacle be made. And that it be constructed of gold, silver and costly fabric; the very things they had taken from the Egyptians.

“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering...These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen…“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. 25:1-9).”

David Even Before He was King:
David’s life project would be to build the House of Prayer; he spent the majority of his strength on this single initiative. It is unlikely that he understood that with much clarity as a boy, but it was during that stage of life that the all-knowing God gave the following commentary.

“After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do (Ac. 13:22).”

This reveals something powerful about God’s emotions; He desired forHis house to be built.

“For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it (Ps. 132:13-14).”

Jesus’ Statements about the Father’s House:
Jesus’ affection for and understanding of the House of Prayer were deep in His heart even at a young age.

“When (Jesus) was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it…When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this?…” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them (Lk. 2:42-50).”

Later in life Jesus emotionally declared that God’s House was to be a place of prayer.

“Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers (Mt. 21:12-13).”

In all of these cases Jesus was expressing the Father’s great zeal to see that reality, the Father’s house becoming a house of prayer for all the people of the Earth, to actually be birthed into existence.

“To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me (Jn. 2:16-17).”

It didn’t all of the sudden become a house of prayer however just because Jesus rearranged the furniture in the Temple or because He had a discussion with His mother about it at age twelve, or because He had zeal in His heart; these were all pointing to a later fulfillment. The desires of Jesus and the zeal of the Father will most assuredly be met and God’s House will become a house of prayer for all the peoples of the Earth.

II.The Kings of Judah that Revived the Tabernacle Worship:

As seen above the restoration of this worship order is really about God’s zeal for a house where He may be worshiped. It makes sense then that David wasn’t the last king to put into place the order on the Father’s heart. In fact several kings did, and several other leaders have resurrected it even after the time of Jesus.

What Should Have Happened:

The model that David put into place was ordered to be a permanent fixture for the nation. Night and day singers and musicians certainly requires a tremendous amount of work to sustain however, if the heart of the king was anything other than fully devoted to God he would have every reason in the world to come up with a different strategy for his government and administration. Many were not fully committed to the Lord, as a result the worship order did not continue perpetually.

The Mark of a Good King:
Most of Israel’s kings chose to pave their own way not following in the footsteps of their father David, who as stated in previous sessions forever became the standard of good kingship. The following statement was repeated again and again measuring up the successors of the throne of Israel.

“…Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah…He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been (1Ki. 15:1-3).”

The assessment is actually primarily referencing the Tabernacle of David, which was his heart and life work and the reason he was called a man after God’s heart:

“After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do (the Tabernacle Worship) (Ac. 13:22).”

Specific Leaders Who Reinstated David’s Worship Order:

The Tabernacle was later replaced by the Temple but the order that was set in place in the tent was to endure forever regardless of what structure it took place in. After David the order of worship was later embraced and reinstituted (or maintained; as in the case of Solomon and Asa) by subsequent leaders in the history of Israel and Judah. Each time this order of worship was reintroduced, spiritual breakthrough, deliverance and military victory followed. The specific dimensions of the priestly ministry that were set into place by King David were reestablished. This led to distinct periods of revival in Israel that looked very different from the majority of her history where the Tabernacle of David was not in operation.

In approximately 1050 B.C. (1Ch. 15-16) David pioneered the work with divine insight as to how things ought to look and function. He had a heavenly order in mind and took great pains to see it put into place with extravagance.
In approximately 1010 B.C. (2Ch. 5-7, 8:14-15) Solomon instructed that worship in the Temple should be in accordance with the Davidic Order and thus transferred the worship order into the new Temple.
From 913-910 B.C. (2Ch. 13:10-15, 14:1-3) Abijah ruled as king of Judah and it was said that the priests were in place observing the requirements of the Lord (2Ch. 13:11 reference 2Ch. 29:25-26).
In 910 B.C. (2Ch. 14:6; 15:19) Asa became king (son of Abijah) and continued on the practices of his father and so enjoyed peace. He subsequently instituted many other righteous reforms (2Ch. 15:1-19).
In 896 B.C. (2Ch. 20:20-22 & 28) Jehoshaphat defeats Moab and Ammon by setting singers up in accordance with Davidic Order: singers at the front of the army singing the Great Hallel. Jehoshaphat then reinstituted Davidic Worship in the Temple.
In approximately 835 B.C. (2Ch. 23-24) Joash again resurrected the order of worship according to the commands of his father David.
In 726 B.C. (2Ch. 29-30) Hezekiah cleansed, re-consecrated and reinstituted the Davidic Order of worship in the Temple.
In 622 B.C. (2Ki. 22-23, 2Ch. 35) Josiah reinstituted Davidic worship.
In 536 B.C. (Er. 3:10-13) Ezra the priest came from Babylon to put into place the Davidic Worship in the community of the returning exiles.
In 446 B.C. (Ne. 12: 28-47) Nehemiah returned from Babylon and reinstituted Davidic Worship.

III.The Ordinance of David’s Tabernacle:

What was it that caused these leaders to prioritize building night and day prayer with worship teams? Think about what a great cost this is, it takes a good deal of finances, administration, human resources, etc. to maintain night and day anything; especially something so specific as Levite worship led prayer meetings. They all discovered that David’s ancient worship order was actually commanded by God, not just for David’s time, it was to be an everlasting ordinance.

Renewed According to Ordinance:

“In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered (2Ch. 8:14).”

“At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes…They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God (Ne. 12:44-46).”

Hezekiah as an Example of what Restoration Looks Like:

It will be helpful for us to think about what is really happening here (and every other time the David’s worship order was reestablished).

“Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king…He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. In the first month of the first year of his reign…He brought in the priests and the Levites…and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD…Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD…They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place…Therefore, the anger of the LORD has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem…This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense (1Ch. 29:1-10).”

“He stationed the Levites in the temple of the LORD with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the LORD through his prophets. So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets…singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded…King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped…So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablish (2Ch. 25-35).”

In the case of Hezekiah we are talking about a few hundred years after King David’s time, we are also talking about a time period where there is no semblance of David’s former practices especially night & day prayer with musicians.
It is under these circumstances that a 25 year king discovers written in the Law that there is to be perpetual prayer and singing with musical instruments surrounding the Ark on Mt Zion. This was a new and radical idea every time!
The new king in his first month in office turns the whole nation upside down by instituting things that his generation had never experienced, and probably had never even heard of. He reorganizes the fallen tent of David and implements night and day prayer with full time musicians.
A new generation of people is now introduced to the ancient worship order, for them it was a completely new and foreign concept. Perhaps there may have been a few scattered people from the older generation who had seen David’s Tabernacle under a previous king but anyone paying attention would have thought the restoration of David’s order an impossibility just days before Hezekiah was crowned king.

IV.The Promise of a Restored Tabernacle:

“After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things (Ac. 15:16-17 NKJV).”

“On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old (Am. 9:11 NKJV).”

The Concept of Restoration is Not New:

The prophesied restoration of the Tabernacle of David is far more believable in light of biblical history. The restoration promised in the last days will be similar to the previous restorations; it will be restored in like manner to how it had been restored by others at other times.

All the biblical accounts the we looked at in the previous section are examples of leaders who were busied with other objectives and then suddenly the Lord broke in and an ancient worship order was back in it’s place.
As was the case in many of the biblical accounts the restoration will be given into the hands of a generation that has predominately never heard about David’s Tabernacle. In the scriptural restorations most of the population had never heard of it and probably only a select few had ever even read of it in the scriptures. To be sure putting it into practice was a completely new concept.
As in previous cases the order will be reestablished according to ordinance, meaning that leaders will find a deep heart connect with the ancient command of God through David and will see to it that God’s house of prayer is rebuilt with worship night and day.

Restored as it was Before; the Way David did it:

To restore means “to bring back a previous right, practice, custom or tradition, to return something to a former condition.” When we are talking about God restoring the fallen Tabernacle of David it is important that we understand this referring to far more than the rise of a little prayer ministry.
There are going to be many actual dynamics reinstated that David used such as it’s extravagance, that it will be perpetual, it will have full time musicians and singers and gatekeepers, that it will use specific aspects of the model David used, and perhaps many others that we can not yet see (we will go into detail in the next session about worship in the tabernacle).
It’s not enough that it would be night and day, and not enough that it would happen for a season, the prophecy is that it would be built as it used to be.

“In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be (Am. 9:11 NIV).”