Zion, David, the Ark of the Lord, worship and praise are all interconnected in reflecting God’s heart and His longing to tabernacle among us.

Before I get too far into this let me share this sentiment.  Some of you may remember the “Outside the Camp” blog I posted here in Feb. 07.  As a preface to this blog about Zion and David’s tabernacle I would like to quote this once more: Foremost in this is: for each of us to come away with an enlarged and elucidated vision of God’s heart and plan and allow His Spirit to touch us and draw us closer to Him and to one another.  Our oneness is not in what we believe but in Who we believe.  So we already have some common ground. <winkani>

This verse in  Acts 15:16 puzzled me for many years: James says, “ After this I will return and rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up…”  This is a quote from Amos 9:11-12.  God has always longed to tabernacle with His people.  Jesus was sent to do the same (the word, “dwelt” can also mean “tabernacled” – verb in Jn. 1:14).  At the end of the Bible this word comes up again..  In Rev. 21:3 the same word “dwell” can also be translated “tabernacle.”  So both the Old and New Testament promote the idea of God TABERNACLING as something very close to His heart.  {SIDE NOTE} Studying the tent/tabernacle mentionings through out the entire Bible can be a very revealing study.  A tent denotes something temporary or portable (we are sojourners).  Check out II Sam. 7:2-7 and II Chron. 17:6ff, 17:5ff. sometime and see how God never complained about journeying with His people in a tent/tabernacle.  I think it is no small thing that the apostle Paul was also a “tentmaker” by trade. {END NOTE}

When James mentioned the tabernacle of David that had fallen down - then being rebuilt, he was referring to the new believers and what God was doing in and among His people, the church.  Today when “church is mentioned most folks think of a building/temple, certainly NOT a tent/tabernacle.   I know we all realize that “church” is the people, not a physical structure, but why must we have soooo many physical structures with the name “____ Church” in front?    If we are all Christians, why separate and divide/denominate ourselves from one another?  <soapbox>  OK, I’m stepping off my soap box now.

David was a man after God’s heart.  I believe Zion reflects God’s heart and the tabernacle of David was a beautiful expression of that.  The unique thing about it was this simple tent in Zion (City of David) had only ONE item under it..The Ark of Lord.  The Ark represents the presence, power, and glory of the Lord as well as the mercy seat where Jesus’ blood was sprinkled to please the Father and reconcile us to God.  God said He would “meet” for fellership between the Cherub’s cover.  I believe He still is there meeting His people.  David’s tent had no veil.  Jesus later rent the veil in the temple removing the barrier between the holy of holies and the holy place.  However, the Ark was not in the temple (Herod’s temple).  But ONLY the Ark was in David’s tent.  Moses’ tabernacle was still standing and offerings continued, yet the Ark of the Lord was under David’s tabernacle   Continual 24/7 worship and praise took place at David’s tabernacle; the offerings and sacrifices took place at the other tabernacle.  In I Chron. 16 you will find the story of David getting the Ark of God and placing it in a tent in Zion near his house.  Verses 37-39 refer first to the Ark at David’s tabernacle and then Moses tabernacle (referred to as tabernacle of the Lord) in Gibeon.

There is so much more I would like to say, but I don’t want to make this too long and I want to hear back from others.  Do you think God is re-building again the tabernacle of David which had fallen?  I invite each to search this out for yourselves.  For more info click here: http://fellership.com/Charlie_zion.htm

Charlie

PS I stand corrected when I foolishly said Zion is not mentioned in the NT.  What was I thinkin?!!  Zion is most certainly mentioned many times in the New Testament.  I totally blew it in my first attempt to share a few thoughts on Zion.  I appreciate Horshack holding my feet to the fire and pointing out my gross error.