Types Shadows and Analogies

FOR A BRIEF PERIOD STUCK BETWEEN MOSES’S TABERNACLE AND THE TEMPLE WAS THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID

“In the Old Testament, God had a hard time getting the children of Israel away from the idolatry of Egypt. So, He used the Mosaic Law as their schoolmaster to teach simple truths through object lessons and rituals: the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and animal sacrifices. These were types and shadows, analogies, mere pictures of the spiritual realities and eternal truths that He was trying to lead them into, almost like you would do with little children (Galatians 3:24-25).

He had to take what they understood–the forms and ceremonies with which they were familiar in the religions of Egypt and other heathen nations around them–in a fatherly attempt to audio-visualize the genuine spiritual truths of the true, mature worship of God Himself. As the apostle Paul says, these were all types of the true (Romans 5:14), mere visual likenesses or illustrations of the unseen realities of the spirit world.

Paul says, “When that which is perfect has come [Jesus’ Second Coming], then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:10-12).

Paul was saying that even the gifts of the Holy Spirit of this New Testament era are almost like toys, gifts from a loving Father to His simple little children, to help communicate understanding of Himself and His will.

How much more then, were the material object lessons of the temple worship of the Old Testament childish toys for even tinier children spiritually, to help them understand their heavenly Father’s love? But “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

When Jesus came, He told the Samaritan woman at the well, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). This is the spiritual era in which we are now living.

Excerpt taken from “Flesh or Spirit (PDF)”  by Moses David

PODCAST FROM MB:  David’s Tabernacle (Audio)

“I’ve often said most churchy Christians are like retarded children!–They’re still on the floor playing with toys, & haven’t learned much & are even undernourished because they haven’t been fed much!–They don’t even know they’re supposed to grow up & have a job to do! ”  (Be Not Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers! [#2535])

PART TWO: Types Shadows And Analogies 

David’s Tabernacle—A look at 2 Samuel 7:1-16…by Jon W. Quinn

It seemed like a good idea to everyone. David, the king of Israel, decided a change needed to be made. Nathan, the prophet, thought it sounded good. Certainly David’s motive was good. Ever since before entering the promised land and establishing a new nation, for about five hundred years, the worship of God centered around the tabernacle. This was a movable tent like structure which had been built my Moses about five centuries before. It was needful that such a structure be portable because the Israelite’s were on their way from where they had been liberated from slavery in Egypt to the land God had promised them as Abraham’s descendants. (Editors note: Never ever lose the Gypsy spirit. All thing change but Jesus never, remember, we are always God’s gypsies. Hebrews 11:13-15)

Those wilderness travels were now a part of the distant past. David decided to build a more permanent structure for the worship of Jehovah at Jerusalem. He would build God’s house, or temple. Who could doubt that David was the one to do it? He was described as “a man after God’s own heart.” And God had blessed the nation with victory over its enemies and prosperity. It seemed the least that a righteous king could do for God. 

Note: Not only had the Children of Israel lost the spirit of a stranger, but they had also demanded to be like the tribes around and have a king. Governments (Video) are the by-product of this move away from God.

David’s Desire

“Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.’ And Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.'” (2 Samuel 7:1-3).

Now, it seemed to both David, the king, and Nathan, the prophet that David’s idea was something to go with. In fact, Nathan does not even consult the Lord (PDF) about it. At David’s suggestion, Nathan, apart from inspiration, assures David that the Lord is with him in this endeavor. He was not speaking from God. He was not being “moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20,21). He was simply following his impulse that such a plan must be a good thing.

God’s Answer

“But it came about in the same night that the Word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ‘Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord,” Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle.

“Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'”‘ (2 Samuel 7:4-7)

Though David was sincere and genuine, and though it seems that he probably had a good and commendable idea, the Lord quickly let both Nathan and David know that such was not the case. The first mistake David made was thinking that God needed him, or at least needed a house in which He could dwell. The Lord says He does not really need one (see Acts 17:24,25). But secondly, and more seriously, David presumed what God wanted. He assumed that he should be the one to build God a house.

Often people today presume what God wants rather than seek out the answers (PDF) in His Word, the Scriptures. There is lesson after lesson in the Bible illustrating the need to stay with the Lord’s word and not to presume beyond that (1 Samuel 15:22,23; Matthew 15:9). ( Note from editor: Does God need a third temple, or have the Jews once again fallen into presumptuous sin? (Psalm19:13) I wonder if the “great transgression” in this verse may also be pointing to Revelation 3:10 and the “hour of temptation”)

God’s Promise

“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. “And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”‘ ” (2 Samuel 7:12-16).

This a a very touching passage. In it, to comfort David in what must be a very big disappointment, God gives certain assurances. It was not that God did not approve of David any longer, or that He was displeased with David. He gives David magnificent promises concerning his descendant and kingdom. But who is the fulfillment of these promises? Is it Solomon, David’s immediate son, or Jesus, David’s future descendant? The answer: They both do! The Lord God will use Solomon and his building of the physical temple to be a pattern of what David’s future Descendant will do when He builds a spiritual temple, the church (See Matthew 1:1; Acts 2:29-33; Hebrews 1:8). In these promises, some are fulfilled by Solomon, some by Jesus, and some by both. Solomon would reign as King in Israel, Jesus would reign as king over his spiritual kingdom (Colossians 1:13). Solomon would build a temple in Jerusalem, Jesus would build His out of living stones from all over the world (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5).

But Why Not David?

“Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. “But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood, and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me. ‘Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. ‘He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ (1 Chronicles 22:6-10).

David had fought wars, and God did not want a man who had shed so much blood to build His house. David had done what had been necessary for him to do, and this ought not to be though of as a punishment, but rather as a clear message of the peace God desires among men. But that age is past. Jesus has built an even better house for God.

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PART THREE: Types Shadows And Analogies 

David’s Tabernacle

In his sermon that ultimately led to his martyrdom, Stephen knew he was speaking to a hostile crowd, and just before his death he called into question the construction of the temple:

 46 David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says: (Acts 7:46-48 NASV)

Stephen said the Temple was made of human hands and it was not where God dwells.

Was Stephen referring to the fact that the Temple in Jesus’s day was paid for and constructed by the reprobate King Herod? Or was Stephen talking about the fact the Ark of the Covenant on which the presence of God dwelt had disappeared centuries earlier and the Holy of Holies in Herod’s temple was empty?

Or was he talking about something else?

There were three religious structures that ancient Israel built to house the Ark of the Covenant. The two main structures involved the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon. But for a brief period stuck between Moses’s Tabernacle and the Temple was the Tabernacle of David.

It was created when King David moved the Ark of the Covenant from the Tabernacle of Moses to a tent he set up in Jerusalem. Though it doesn’t receive a lot of Biblical press, it was probably the most significant of the three structures as the prophets began talking of a future day when the Tabernacle of David would be restored (Amos 9:11-12). They also spoke of the day when the Messiah would rule from David’s tent, a reference to the Tabernacle of David (Isaiah 16:5).

David’s tabernacle differed from the other two structures in that it provided access for everyone to the presence of God. There were no divisions, as there were in the Temple, separating the men and the women and gentiles.  There also were no restrictions due to disabilities or illegitimacy .

There were no animal sacrifices at the Tabernacle of David other than sacrifices of praise. It generated a new form of praise and worship involving instruments, singing and dancing (Psalm 150 ).

People were also free to enter the tent and stand before the Ark of the Covenant and offer “sacrifices” of praise to God.

 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. (Psalm 27:6 NASV)

In both the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was hidden from sight and then only after he made sacrifices.

Of course the most imposing of the structures was the Temple constructed by King David’s son, Solomon. Though David wanted to build a Temple for God, there are serious questions about whether God wanted a temple.

The idea for the Temple started when David compared his massive palace with the simple, little tent that he had set up to house the Ark of the Covenant. Playing in the background of all this were the elaborate temples that kings of other nations built to worship their pagan gods. 

Written by Dean Smith

MB: And here we stand at the end of time, it would seem, no closer to the truth than King Solomon in spite of all his wisdom. David had it in his hand but yielded to pride. David and Nathan didn’t consult with God as to whether David should build a temple, and I’m quite sure the religionists of today don’t either. Because if they did, God would say—NO! He would point them to John Chapter 4 and say—READ and commune with Me in spirit!

The beautiful thing about the “holy of holies” being the human heart is that, to get in there, you have to consult with God. You can petition Him all you want from outside the holy of holies, but to truly consult with Him—what we call intimate fellowship—you have to lay before Him the sacrifice of a humble, submissive will. You have to be willing to listen and yield to His will.

One thing I give Satan: he understands the heart of man, for he too is a fallen creature. “He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.” Man played right into the very first card Satan dealt: “And ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

The story of man’s great falling away—from intimate fellowship with Jesus in the garden to the worship of self and Satan—was inevitable. If man had remained humble and in intimate consultation with God, the fake heaven on earth we live in now, which funnily enough, everyone thinks is normal and natural, would not exist.

So what have we in our hands at the end of the day? Nothing but earthen treasures, from dust it came and to dust it will return. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.”

The hour Jesus gave up the ghost was the hour it all went into the spirit. We worship in spirit, we come for consultation in the spirit, we live by faith, we are strangers and pilgrims, and in this last hour we have fled as eagles into the wilderness of the spirit, never to return to the ways of material man and his material god.