The Dwelling Places of the Most High

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Short Summary

The discourse elaborates on the biblical theme of God’s desire to dwell among His people, as articulated in Exodus 25:8, “Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” It reflects on the historical significance of the Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, and ultimately the spiritual dwelling of God within believers today, emphasizing that God’s presence has evolved from a physical location to residing within the Church and individual Christians. The speaker encourages the audience to recognize and embody the divine presence in their lives while also highlighting the importance of obedience to God’s commands as a condition for His continued presence. **Keywords:** Sanctuary, dwelling, Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, God’s presence, obedience, Church, believers.

Long Summary

### Summary of “The Dwelling Places of Jehovah” Discourse

Introduction
– Theme text: Exodus 25:8 – “Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.”
– Title of the talk: “The Dwelling Places of Jehovah.”
– Aim: To explore God’s intention to dwell with His people throughout biblical history.

God’s Desire for a Dwelling Place
– Initial reaction to God wanting a tent: It seems unbelievable that the Creator of the universe would desire a physical dwelling.
– Solomon’s question in 1 Kings 8:27 highlights the paradox: “Will God indeed dwell on the earth?” 
– Despite God’s transcendent nature, He chooses to manifest His presence among His people.

Construction of the Tabernacle
– God provides Moses with detailed instructions for building the tabernacle, emphasizing precise adherence to His design.
– The tabernacle is not merely a physical structure; it embodies God’s divine plan and reflects His relationship with Israel.

God’s Conditional Presence
– God’s presence among the Israelites was conditional, requiring their love and obedience (Deuteronomy 6:5-6).
– Historical context shows that the Israelites often failed to maintain their covenant with God, leading to a search for a new people to inhabit His presence.

Manifestations of God’s Presence
– God guided the Israelites out of Egypt with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).
– The Angel of God, representing God’s presence, assisted during their journey (Exodus 14:19-20).
– At Mount Sinai, God communicated directly with Moses, presenting His laws and establishing His covenant with the Israelites (Exodus 19:9).

Fear and Awe at God’s Voice
– The Israelites experienced fear upon hearing God’s voice and witnessing His glory (Exodus 20:18-19).
– Their reaction highlighted a lack of faith, prompting them to ask Moses to act as a mediator (Deuteronomy 5:22-25).

The Tent of Meeting
– Initially, Moses set up the Tent of Meeting outside the camp, indicating the distance caused by Israel’s disobedience (Exodus 33:7).
– The cloud’s descent upon the tent signified God’s presence, drawing the people’s awe and worship (Exodus 33:9-10).

The Tabernacle in the Camp
– The tabernacle was established in the center of the Israelite camp, symbolizing God’s desire to be close to His people (Exodus 40:34-35).
– The Shekinah glory, though not explicitly named in the Bible, represented God’s dwelling and presence.

God’s Continued Presence
– God promises to dwell among the Israelites (Exodus 29:45-46) and the tabernacle served for over 400 years.
– David’s desire to build a house for God is met with God’s promise to establish David’s lineage instead (1 Chronicles 17:1-14).

Solomon’s Temple
– Solomon’s construction of the temple represents a significant moment; God’s glory filled the temple upon its dedication (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

Expansion of God’s Presence
– Prophecies, such as Micah 4:1, hint at God’s intention to extend His dwelling to all nations.
– New Testament references (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) indicate believers themselves are now the temple of God, emphasizing a more intimate relationship.

Future Dwelling with Mankind
– Revelation 21:3-4 depicts a future where God’s presence dwells permanently with mankind, fulfilling His promise of eternal communion.
– Symbolism of the tabernacle is carried into the new covenant, showing the transformational nature of God’s dwelling.

Conclusion
– The discourse emphasizes the importance of recognizing God’s presence in our lives today and living in a manner that reflects His holiness.
– The call to see Christ in each other signifies the communal aspect of God’s dwelling, encouraging believers to embody His spirit.

### Key Bible Verses Mentioned
– Exodus 25:8
– 1 Kings 8:27
– Deuteronomy 6:5-6
– Exodus 13:21-22
– Exodus 14:19-20
– Exodus 19:9
– Exodus 20:18-19
– Exodus 29:45-46
– 1 Chronicles 17:1-14
– 2 Chronicles 7:1-3
– Micah 4:1
– 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
– Revelation 21:3-4

Transcript

As brother Larry has introduced. Here’s the text of the convention, the theme text, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8, and we chose the title of our talk, the Dwelling Places of Jehovah, to talk about in ancient history, in the Old Testament, and now and in the future, God’s intention to dwell with his people and ultimately with all mankind. You already know how this is going to work out, but we’re going to look and do a kind of a overview of the various places where God has chosen to dwell with his people.

Now, this. This theme text. Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in. We might at first find that a bit unbelievable. The Creator of the universe wants Moses to build him a tent to live in.

Come on. Well, there’s a problem here, isn’t there? What does God mean by that? In fact, when Solomon built his temple, here’s what Solomon said. In First Kings, chapter 8, verse 27.

He says, but will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, much less this house that I have builded, and yet Jehovah says he’s going to dwell in that tabernacle. Well, this is, of course, what he meant by sanctuary. Sanctuary and tabernacle are almost synonymous terms.

If we have enough time, we may make a distinction. But the very next verse after this says, this according to all that I show thee the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the furniture thereof. Even so ye shall make it. It’s interesting that he tells Moses to build him a sanctuary, which was the tabernacle. But he doesn’t leave it to Moses to do the design, does he?

Quite the contrary. The entire plan for the tabernacle, all of its intricate detail, was designed by God himself, and Jehovah is quite clear that Moses is to carry out this construction precisely according to the plan. You know, builders today, and brother Michael Castelli will testify to this. You follow the plan, you lay out the formula, you lay out the material requirements, you lay out the plan, and you follow the plan.

You don’t deviate from that. Well, this was the case with Moses as well. Now, why so particular? Because this sanctuary, this tabernacle, was intended to reflect God’s great divine plan of the ages. That’s what it was all about, God’s plan.

And he wanted to make sure that all of these intricate details would come about in the construction of the tabernacle, as they had so many lessons to provide for us. Let’s get back to God’s desire to reside in that sanctuary. We saw from Solomon’s word that Jehovah could not actually reside there, but he could and did place his presence there, and that in itself is an astonishing thing. It was very much of a blessing to the ancient Israelites.

They knew that they were his chosen people, and he maintained a presence with his chosen people. But that presence was conditional. It required the people love him and obey his laws. Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses or chapter 6, verses 5 and 6.

And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might, and these words which I command thee this day shall be upon thy heart. Well, sadly, it’s a matter of history that they didn’t carry out the requirements of the covenant. They didn’t continue to show their love and devotion to their God. But you know, Jehovah in his.

In his infinite wisdom was looking for another group of people to call the Israelites was a starting point. But he had something much more profound and beautiful in mind, and of course, what’s that? What is that? It’s you and me.

It’s the Church of Christ. This is where his focus really was in. In the far future from the Israelites, the construction and the dwelling with the Church of Christ. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The ancient sanctuary describes in type and shadow both Jesus and the church.

Moses and his people had no clue that these things had such import to them. It was sufficient to know that God was with them. He was dwelling with them. He was present with them. So let’s look at a few of the details here as evidences of God’s presence at that early time when Israel left Egypt, God manifested his presence to guide them to the promised land.

Exodus, chapter 13, verses 21 and 22, and Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way, and by night a pillar of fire to give them light that they might go by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night departed not from before the people. Now this is interesting. Every one of those Israelites could see the presence of God in these supernatural manifestations didn’t require any faith.

I mean, do you believe God is with you? Yeah, dummy. Look, don’t you see that they could see that it was exciting to them? At least it should have been exciting. More exciting than it was.

But you know, these displays of God’s presence was not the full manifestation or full presence of Jehovah. We are told that these were manifestations of Jehovah’s angel. This is interesting, and this angel represented him in his presence. In Exodus chapter 14, we’re told this verses 19 and 20, Exodus 14, 19 and 20.

And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud removed from before them and stood behind them, and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light by night, and the one came not near the other all the night.

So notice that the angel of God. There’s an angel involved here. Gee, I wonder who that angel might be. What do you think? Yeah, we may talk that a little bit more so they could see that themselves.

Well, now we go to the next phase in God’s dwelling with them and presence with them, because they move now to Mount Sinai, and when they got to Mount Sinai, there was a special opportunity for God to manifest his presence in a way that they hadn’t seen yet. As amazing and supernatural as these manifestations of the pillar of cloud and fire were, God did something even more amazing, more extraordinary in mind. Exodus chapter 19, verse 9, and Jehovah said to Moses, lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee and may also believe forever.

And Moses told the words of the people unto Jehovah. So Moses would continue to be God’s channel of communication, but according to this, Israel would actually hear the voice of Jehovah speaking with Moses. Exodus chapter 19, verse 17, and Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Think about that. Come on, I want you to meet God. Wow, that must disturb some emotions, huh? Talk about dramatic introductions still in Exodus 19, verses 20, 19 and 20, and when the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, God spake and God answered him by a voice.

And Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mount, and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. Evidently this voice was in the hearing of the entire nation. Imagine hearing the voice of God.

What a voice that must have been, that we have some additional testimony by Moses about this very thing. Forty years later, we’re going to look at Deuteronomy 4, 10, 13. So he’s talking about this new generation, but he’s referring back to what happened at the beginning of their 40 year trek. Starting in verse 10 there. Deuteronomy 4, verse 10.

The day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said unto me, assemble me, my people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children, and ye came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire into the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud and thick darkness, and Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire. Ye heard the voice of the words, but you saw no form, only you heard the voice, and he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded to you to perform even ten commandments.

And he wrote them upon two tables of stone. So what we derive from this is that the people heard the voice of God recite the Ten Commandments. That scenario of sight and sound and feeling the earth shake must have been a very fearsome thing to experience, and people are prone to fear when they have new experiences they don’t expect. How would you feel if this whole building started to shake?

That whole land? All those Israelites were experiencing that, and they reacted predictably. Predictably, as one whose faith is not yet strong. Back to Exodus, chapter 20, verses 18 and 19. We read this, and all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the voice of the trumpet and the mountain smoking.

And when people saw it, they trembled, and they stood afar off, and they said unto Moses, speak without thou with us, and we will hear. But. But not let God speak with us, lest we die. People were terribly scared at hearing the voice of God.

So they pleaded with Moses, moses, you can talk to us, but we just want you to talk to God. If we talk to God, we’re quite likely to die again. Moses recorded this. He recites it 40 years later, this time in Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses 22 through 25. These words, Jehovah spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness with a great voice.

And he added no more, and he wrote upon two tables of stone and gave them unto me, and it came to pass when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that ye came near unto me and even all the heads of your tribes and your elders, and you said, behold, Jehovah, our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness. We have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire.

We have seen this day that God does speak with man, and he liveth. Now therefore, why should we die? For that great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of Jehovah, our God anymore, then we shall die. They weren’t full of faith, these people. Their faith was being developed, and the experiences that were given were given them so that they might learn to obey God.

I’m sure every Israelite thought the idea of having the presence of God sounded to them like a good idea. You can imagine a conversation going on, hey, do you want to meet God? Oh, yeah, that sounds good. But when they got there, as the saying goes, up close and personal with Jehovah, the reality of that formidable divine presence filled them with terror. It’s shortly after this that God says to bonus the words of and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

The tabernacle itself was set up almost exactly a year after Israel left Egypt. Exodus 40:17 defines this and it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month that the tabernacle was reared up. During that first year before the tabernacle was set up, there was a special tent where Jehovah’s presence could be found. Now, there are some interesting details here. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 33.

We’re going to start at verse 7, Exodus 33:7. Now, Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting, and it came to pass that everyone that sought Jehovah went out unto the Tent of Meeting, which was without the camp. Now, the first thing that we note here is that Moses pitched this tent without or outside of the camp, evidently pretty far outside of the camp. It had only been several weeks earlier that Israel transgressed the commandment of Jehovah by setting up the golden calf.

And evidently the consequence of that disobedience was that the Tent of Meeting was set up away from the camp, a little far. God took his presence a little bit more distant, away from the people that had been rebellious. By the way, most modern translations use the expression the Tent of Meeting. If you’re using a King James, you’ll notice it says the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Let’s consider the meaning of this phrase tent of meaning.

The Hebrew phrase here is ohel ma’ed, from Strong’s 168 and 4150. This is a different word than the one used for tabernacle, which is Mishkan. One scholarly work wrote about these two words with Ohel ma’ed, the focus is on the event. Meeting, assembly, appointment, revelation. This is quite distinct from Miskan, which focuses on the place rather than the event.

So this phrase emphasizes the meeting with God. The event of meeting with God. It goes right along with our idea of God dwelling with you. There’s an event here where. Where God speaks with man.

Of course, it’s all through Moses, and this occurs well with the rest of verse seven. Quote, and it came to pass that everyone that sought Jehovah went out into the tent of meeting, which was without the camp. So this is where Moses conducted business with the people of Israel.

They would go out there to meet with Jehovah. Now again, as we mentioned earlier, they’re meeting with Moses. But Moses is their representative. He adjudicates everything, and any issue that was brought before him, they could come to Moses and have it considered.

Again, observe. The meeting place was outside of the camp. The Israelites had to leave the camp in order to trek to the tent of meeting to come to Moses and God. A little bit further here in Exodus 33, verse 8, and it came to pass when Moses went out into the tent, that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tent.

Now, Moses own tent, his personal tent, was still likely in the camp somewhere. So he had to leave the camp to go to the tent of meeting. His trek to the tent seems to have had a ceremonial aspect to it. As he passed, the people would stand up and respectfully watched him till he went into the tent. Continue on in verses 9 and 10.

And it came to pass when Moses entered into the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tent, and Jehovah spake with Moses, and all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped every man at his tent door. You talk about dramatic entries as he’s going through the camp.

Can you imagine all of this? The respect and awe? And he goes in the camp, and here comes the cloud. It certainly inspired reverential worship and respect for their God. This magnificent sign evidently was a daily occurrence.

Moses does this every we would expect in the morning. So but it testified to the presence of God, presence of Jehovah with everyone in the nation continuing on. Verse 11, and Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh with his friend, and he turned again into the camp.

But his minister, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tent. Now this verse testifies to the close and intimate relationship that Moses had with Jehovah God. It also emphasizes the kindness with which Jehovah conducted his relationship with Moses, as a friend would talk to a friend. Now one last detail deserves our scrutiny. We are told that Moses would return to the camp at the end of his workday.

But we’re given this little nugget that Joshua was not only in the tent with Moses, but he remained there seemingly constantly. Why was that? Now we can speculate about what Joshua did there. He was evidently Moses, right hand man who ministered to any and all of the needs of Moses during the day while he was doing the work in the tent. Let’s talk about Joshua a little bit.

Up to this point, Joshua had several prominent mentions in the book of Exodus. Number one. This is found in Exodus 17. We’re not going to read it, but he’s the general of the army and was responsible for the defeat of the Amalekites who had attacked Israel. So he’s the general of the army.

That’s a pretty prominent, pretty high position. Number two, it appears that Joshua accompanied Moses up to Mount Sinai after the sacrifices ratifying the law covenant were complete. We’re told this in Exodus chapter 24. Turn there with me. We’re starting verses 9 through 11.

Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel. This is. They’re going up to Mount Sinai here, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness.

And upon the nobles, the children of Israel, he laid not his hands, they beheld God and did eat and drink. This is an astonishing scene, isn’t it? Moses in his entourage witnessing a manifestation of Jehovah’s glory and then having a meal together. Talk about a feast with God. Wow.

Joshua is not mentioned in this group in this verse, but he’s there. Let’s read on the next two verses again. Exodus 24:12 and 13, and Jehovah said unto Moses, come up to me in the mount and be there, and I will give thee the tables of stone and the law and the commandment which I have written, that thou mayest teach them, and Moses rose up and Joshua his minister and Moses went up into the mount of God.

So Moses and Joshua left Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, 70 of the Israel, the elders of Israel at this lower level still On Mount Sinai, somewhere high in the mountain, proceeded up higher toward the peak. Did Joshua go all the way up to the top of the mountain with Moses? We don’t know, but probably not. Let’s go back to the beginning of the chapter and note something about when Moses would meet God. Exodus 20:4 now, verses 1 and 2.

And he says unto Moses, come up unto Jehovah thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off, and Moses alone shall come near unto Jehovah, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him. So they saw a manifestation of God’s glory and had this meal. But Moses was asked to come up higher, and we’re told that Joshua goes with him. So we deduce that Joshua went some distance up the mountain, but then stopped at some unspecified boundary so that Moses could continue to the very top and then be alone as he meets with God.

Joshua, however, remained in the mountain, remained nearby. Now we know that the rest of the group were waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for him to come down. Finally they go down. They’re still waiting some more, and not good things happened after that.

But Joshua evidently remained with with Moses the whole time. He was a trusted minister of Moses. We might call him a valet again, attentive to Moses needs more or less with most of his time. All right, let’s go back to Exodus chapter 33 now, and we’re still considering this little Note in verse 11 that he departed not out of the tent of meeting.

Again, this is that first tent of meeting during the first year. Why did Joshua stay in the tent? Well, it was likely not to guard the tent. We can’t imagine any Israelite would have the audacity to invade God’s presence. There was too much fear there.

But having Joshua in attendance in a more or less constant nature would contribute to the reverence that was to be part of the worship of Jehovah, and he had the privilege of remaining in this temporary place, dwelling place of Jehovah. Well, let’s move on to the setting up of the tabernacle. In the second year of the Shrek, we covered the tent of meeting, but now the tabernacle would be the new tent of meeting. Exodus chapter 40, verses 34 and 35.

And this is after the completion of the tabernacle, and now it’s getting functional. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle, and Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting. Because the cloud abode thereupon and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle.

Again, notice that there’s another change here that is not so much mentioned, but we know it to be true. That first tent of meeting, remember, was afar, outside the camp. It was removed from the general population. But where was the tabernacle located? In the middle, the very middle of the camp.

God now has moved his presence from outside to right in the center of everything. You’ve probably seen maps, you know, there’s the tabernacle, the courtyard and whatnot, and then on the east, west, north, and south, you had the families of the Levites, and then outside of that was the rest of the nation, by the way. They all had assigned spots.

They all knew where they had to go, and that’s significant, too. But that’s something else. So the presence of God was now in the very center of the nation, and that same cloud signified that, yep, God is there.

God is watching it. Every Israelite could see this, but the Israelites could not see another evidence of Jehovah’s presence that only Moses and the priests could see. It was a supernatural light in the tabernacle that no Israelite was allowed to go in. Remember the name of that light? Shekinah.

The Shekinah night. The supernatural light. The light representing God’s presence there in that tabernacle. Now, the word Shekinah doesn’t appear in the Bible, but the concept clearly does. The Jewish rabbis coined this extra biblical expression, and this is interesting.

It is a form of a Hebrew word that literally means he caused to dwell. That’s right along the line of our theme, isn’t it? This Shekinah he caused to dwell. It represented his presence and his dwelling with them. Here’s a couple references to that light.

Exodus chapter 25, verses 21 and 22, and thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark, and in the Ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee, and there I will meet thee. I will commune with thee from above. The mercy seat between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testament.

All the things that I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. The very precise location of this, what we call now the Shekinah light. It’s the place where he communicated with Moses and with the high priest. Here’s another reference. Psalm 80, verse 1.

Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph, like a flock, thou that sittest above the cherubim. Shine forth I like that. Shine forth. That shows that this presence here was represented by a light.

Now, here’s something for your consideration. I just said that only Moses and the high priest saw the Shekinah light. I’m going to suggest that any priest who served in the holy saw an afterglow of that light. I want you to take your minds back to the construction of the inside apartments of the tabernacle. We know what the veil is between the Holy and the Most Holy.

And that veil was hung on four pillars. Ever see hangings of a curtain that there are openings at the top of it? Now, we know that there were openings at the top of it because, remember, on atonement day, the high priest offered the incense, and he’s told very specifically, this is in Leviticus 16:13. We won’t take time to read it.

He’s told very specifically that he is not to go into the Most Holy with the blood of the atonement day sacrifices until the incense permeated in and covered the Ark of the Testimony. How would it get in? The only way is that there’s these openings at the top of the curtain. So this suggests to my mind at least, that the glow of the Shekinah light may have been visible to anyone in the holy. They didn’t have to go into the holy, or they would have to go into holy to actually see it, but they would see this afterglow through the top, the openings of it.

This is actually quite meaningful to us in a symbolic way. We cannot see beyond the veil, but our hope is anchored beyond the veil, isn’t it? Remember Hebrews chapter 6, verse 19, which we have as an anchor to the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast in entering into that which is within the veil. I really like this because you can imagine yourself as a typical priest, not permitted to go in there, but looking up and you know, maybe there’s another priest with you, and they say, hey, George, see that?

Look. Look at. Look at that. That’s the presence of God. You can see it through the top.

Wonder what color the Shekinah was. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Red, blue, Rainbow? Just green.

Take your choice. Whatever it must have been, it had to be spectacular. It had to be beautiful. It had to be very moving. So in these figures, then, Jehovah manifests his love of Israel by the fact that he chose to dwell with them there.

Exodus, chapter 29, verses 45 and 46. Exodus 29, 45 and 46, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will Be their God, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them. I am Jehovah, their God. Well, the tabernacle continued with Israel for over 400 years after this point, residing much of the time in a place called Shiloh.

And when I was In Israel in 2017, we went to Shiloh, by the way they pronounced it, Shiloh. See, I gotta get Brother Richard’s approval here on the Hebrew. Right. But it’s very interesting that anybody been to Shiloh in their trips to Israel. Okay, there’s a few here.

There’s this flat area in Shiloh where they say, this is where the tabernacle with the courtyard on all the accoutrements sat, and they don’t have a representative there, but they have it marked out, and you could go walk around it, and it certainly seems to be the right size, and, you know, when I was there in 2017, I walked over to where I thought the most holy would be.

It gave me goosebumps. But just to imagine that this is what the Israelites had. Well, the tabernacle is to say it still continued during that 400 years. But we’re going to move forward to the time of King David because something interesting happens here. King David is smitten with an idea.

Let’s read it together in 1st Chronicles, chapter 17, verses 1 and 2, 1st Chronicles 17, 1, 2, and it came to pass when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, lo, I. I dwell in the house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant dwelleth under curtains. Nathan said unto David, do all that is in their heart, for God is with thee. So King David had an idea.

He said, I’m living in a house. I got a nice house. But here the ark is still in curtains. Let’s build a house for God. Let’s house this ark into something more magnificent, more beautiful than just.

Than just curtains. Well, seems like a good idea. Even Nathan said, sounds like a good idea. Go and do it. But Jehovah had another idea.

In the very next two verses, we read this. This is verses three and four again in First Chronicles 17, and it came to pass the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, go and tell David my servant. Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in. I would imagine that King David felt stung by God’s declaration that he would not be permitted to build a house for him.

But Jehovah changes the subject. He changes the direction of the conversation in verse 10. There again, 1st Chronicles 17:10. Moreover, I tell thee that Jehovah will build thee a house. Wow, that had to be encouraging to David, huh?

No, you can’t build a house for me, but I’m going to build one for you. Now God’s going to do something like this. Now, God is extending here the meaning of house. When, when David used the word house, he was thinking of a specific building, a construction. When David says that, when Jehovah says he’s going to build him a house, he has something a little bit more deep in mind.

He’s speaking of a family house, a genealogical house. But Jehovah, as usual, even had deeper meanings than that and more prophetic meanings. Verse 11 still in 1 Chronicles 17, and it shall come to pass when thy days are fulfilled, that thou must go to be with the fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom.

This is a family house now, a family that would have a kingship and a kingdom, and it would be established by God. Verses 12:14. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son, and I will not take my loving kindness away from him as I took it from him who that was before thee, but I will settle him in my house.

Notice that in my house and in my king. Kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever. But you know, you read this, we all know. All right, well, he’s talking about Solomon, but he’s also talking about Jesus.

In fact, I like it. If you look back in, in that verse 11, I will set up thy seed who shall be of thy sons. Notice the plural here. Solomon was a son. Jesus was the son of David.

The plural hero sort of suggests this, this deeper prophetic meaning.

We won’t take the time, but the desire of David to build a house for Jehovah is sung about in 132nd Psalm. A little bit more that you can go. Well, sometime later, when David’s son Solomon actually builds the house, we see God takes possession of it and establishes it again as his dwelling places. Remember, we’re talking about the dwelling places of God. Here’s the latest dwelling place of Jehovah.

First Kings, chapter 6, verses 12 and 13. Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes and execute mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I establish my word with Thee, which I spake unto David thy father, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel. Well, now you remember how the Israelites reacted when they saw and heard the presence of Jehovah on Mount Sinai. Having that very public display of the glory and power of God was important to their belief and fear of their God. It was no less so here in Solomon’s Temple, Jehovah made his presence known to all.

By the way, Brother Brad is going to tell us a lot about Solomon’s Temple, so I’m going to try not to step on your toes too much, dear brother. Second Chronicles, Chapter seven, Verses one through three. Now when Solomon had made an end to praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Jehovah filled the house, and the priest could not enter into the house, because the glory of Jehovah filled Jehovah’s house, and here it is, and all the children looked on. This was a witness to the whole nation when the fire came down.

And when the glory of Jehovah was upon the house, and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to Jehovah, saying, for he is good for his loving kindness endureth forever.

The presence of Jehovah’s temple and his dwelling within the Temple also sanctified the city of Jerusalem as well. Consequently, his presence could be said to be in Jerusalem and even on Mount Zion. Here’s Joel 3:17 where these ideas are connected. So ye shall know that I am Jehovah, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore.

This inclusion of Jerusalem and Mount Zion is significant in showing the dwelling places of Jehovah Literal. Mount Zion was the location of King David’s house, the center of his rulership and his kingdom. So we associate mountains as symbols of kingdoms. We use it all the time as we look through many of the prophecies the Old Testament. When you see mountains, especially in prophetic we think kingdoms, this brings clarity to many prophecies.

For example, here’s 1 Micah chapter 4:1. Again, a very familiar text to you. But in the latter days it shall come to pass that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow into it. Now this is interesting. Up to this point in time we looked at the Tent of Meeting, we looked at the Tabernacle we looked at the temple as dwelling places of God, dwelling places of Jehovah.

Now we’re starting to extend it out into something that includes the Gentiles, and peoples shall flow into it little hints that give us that God intends at some point to extend that dwelling beyond that. Well, the types and shadows we have considered so far all depict a reality that fills us with awe, and God’s word gives us the connections we need to interpret the types. Now we get to the point, dear brethren, where we start to see ourselves in these things. First Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17.

Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit dwelleth in you? If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, and such are ye. Well, now we’re getting into something very stupendous, very extraordinary. Up to this point in time, we’ve been talking about physical structures or physical locations.

Now the apostle Paul is shifting that, and he’s not talking about physical construction. He’s talking about people. He’s talking about you and me. The Greek word for temple here is Strong’s 3485neos, and it derives from a primary word, neo, which means to dwell. You know, we’re still back on the dwelling places of God here.

So we, you and I and our dear brethren, through the gold gospel Age, like the tabernacle and temple of old, are a dwelling place of God. I like Young’s Literal Translation of this first, have ye not known that ye are a sanctuary of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Sanctuary. That relates it right back to the text, doesn’t it? That’s sanctuary.

Again, Paul definitively states this in 2nd Corinthians 6, 16, and what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? For we are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, I will dwell with them and walk with them, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. What awesome truths.

Again, we’ve gone from the external structures and houses that the presence of God, the dwelling of God is to an intimate internal possession of God in our bodies, in our lives, and in our fellowship. All these ancient details, typical details of construction, point to this reality of God living in us and through us each day. Peter adds another nice little detail that brings us back to thinking about Solomon’s temple. First Peter 2, 5, and ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

There’s no doubt the apostle had in mind the stones which made up Solomon’s temple. One more text, second Timothy 1:14 that good thing which was committed unto us, or committed unto thee, guard through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us. So God dwells in us. God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us, and as we shall see, Jesus dwells in us as well.

Let’s step back and look at a number of design and construction details of the tabernacle to see how God is working in us. The tabernacle was a portable temple, and it represented Christ and the Church in the flesh. We who are still alive are a work in progress, just as every member of the church has been throughout the whole Gospel age. This phase of our existence in Christ is also represented in the construction of Solomon’s Temple. But Solomon’s Temple, when it was completed and dedicated, represents the completion of the church beyond the veil.

But on either side of the veil, whether here or then, God is still dwelling in us. He’s dwelling in you. This is very apparent at this convention. Have you seen God dwelling in your brothers and sisters? How can you not?

How can you miss it? As we fellowship together, we see the love of God in each one of them. We see godly kindness and compassion and mercy in the words and behaviors of our brethren. Just as ancient Israel saw unmistakable demonstrations of God’s presence with them, so too we see these qualities, these beautifully godly, godlike qualities, each one as unmistakable signs of our spiritual family.

Let’s talk about the presence of God when the church is in glory. We’re going to go to Revelation 21 now. This chapter has many beautiful connections with things we’ve already seen. Let’s start Revelation 21:1 and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away, and the sea is no more. Of course, this is a millennial picture here, a millennial setting.

The new ecclesiastical heavens, Christ and the Church, are in power. The new earth, the kingdom, civil authorities under the jurisdiction of the ancient worthies, are likewise in control of earthly affairs. The old system has been wiped away. The social C class of disgruntled, unhappy, and dissatisfied people no longer exists. Verse 2 and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

This verse uses multiple symbols of the Church we’ve already seen elsewhere in Scripture and declares their readiness for kingdom work. Note it says holy city, New Jerusalem, a bride. All of these Things are references to the church in glory, verses 3 and 4 still in Revelation 21, and I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. The first things are passed away. So now we have another and new reference to God’s presence. We saw that the tabernacle of old represents Jesus and the church during their earthly sojourn. But that fleshly sojourn in the wilderness apart from men is now changed.

This new symbolic tabernacle that is with men is something different, something more wonderful, and just as Jehovah maintained his presence in the tabernacle both in ancient Israel and in us during the Gospel age, he now intends to dwell with mankind through the auspices of Jesus and the Church. That connection of God with men is depicted in the tabernacle itself. I want you to remember your lessons back on the coverings of the tabernacle. Remember, you had the structure itself.

Then you had a linen curtain that was placed over top of it. That, in fact, was the tabernacle with that linen curtain, and then there were three coverings on top of that goat’s hair curtain, ram skin dyed red, and seal skin. But that linen curtain was the tabernacle itself. Now, there’s many pictures here, and as Brother Fry used to say, you have to keep the pictures separate.

But we’d like to look at just how that curtain laid upon that tabernacle structure. Now, that curtain was made up of strips of material that were 28 cubits long and four cubits wide. There were 10 of them. They sewed five of them together, and they sewed another five of them together, and they connected these two parts with clasps of gold through attaches of gold, clasps of gold through blue.

Now, when you lay that curtain down, what do you have? Well, it’s 28 cubits. Since the tabernacle is 10 cubits high and 10 cubits wide, that means that if I went from the ground up one side overcrossed and down the other, that’s 30 cubits. So when you lay this linen curtain down, it missed hitting the ground by one cubit. All along the length, the north and south side, it did not touch the ground.

Now, this represents. It’s another picture of Christ in the church and our rejoicing with them in Spirit, but we are separate from the world. We don’t touch the world. We don’t have anything to do with the world. But here’s where it gets interesting.

When you go all the way back to the tabernacle, to the back end, remember, it’s 30 cubits long and 10 cubits high, so that’s 40 cubits, and how long was they or how wide was the curtain? It was 40 cubits. That means that all the way at the back. Guess what?

That tent touches the ground. Remember we just read in Revelation, the tent of God is with man. There’s that separation now during the reign of sin and death. But after Christ restores, there again we come back. Well, brethren, let me skip forward a little bit.

I see our chairman is here. There’s so many good things here.

Let me quickly go through Psalm 46 very quickly. This is a set of scriptures that applies to us who are still alive on this side of the veil at the end of the age. Psalm 46. 1:3. God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth do change, and though the mountains be shaken thereof into the heart of the seas, though the waters thereof roar and trouble, though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof. We see a lot of shaking going on in the world today, don’t we? You know, without becoming political, President Trump has been shaking things up as no president has in a while, and it’s not only here in Europe and elsewhere. Shaking going on everywhere.

And much of it is exposing what the ruling class has been doing for quite a while, and the waters of the sea, the sea class sees this and they’re getting more and more upset. Verses 4 and 5. There is a river. The streams whereof make glad the city of God.

The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her in that. Right early quick points on this.

This river, the stream, this is the truth. This is the divine plan, the picture we have of what God is going to do, and it makes sled the city of God. Who’s the city of God? You and me.

And notice it says, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. Remember that the holy represents Spirit begotten, but not yet Spirit born. This psalm is talking about you and me. In the time that we live in, the truth stabilizes us. It allows us to have a sure confidence in what God is doing.

And he reminds us God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. We will not be moved, dear brethren. All right, let me move to concluding. I got one minute.

I may stretch it out. Was Joshua on Mount Sinai or not? I was thinking about this some more, and if Joshua had been documented at being with Moses up there, I think that would have ruined the picture. I think one reason why Joshua was kept down below is that the picture of Moses as the mediator speaking with God did not need another person in there to kind of cloud the picture.

Just a suggestion. Did you notice that Nadab and Abihu were the two priests that went up with Aaron? You know, we don’t have a very good view of Nadab and Abihu, do we? Well, neither did God at that point. But at this point, they were there.

Why was it them? Nadab was firstborn. Did you know that?

The sequence is Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamur. So the two oldest sons were there with Aaron. That’s why they were there. Joshua in the tent of meeting all the time. I’m going to go out on a limb.

I think this is a picture of Jesus in his. In his role as Logos before he came to earth. He was always inattentive to God, yet not seen by man. He was always there. A suggestion.

We didn’t cover Bethel, which means house of God, by the way. This now is your homework phase. So write this down so you can. If you do a study on Bethel, there’s another example of God’s dwelling place. We mentioned Psalm 32, Great Psalm.

The distinction between the tabernacle and sanctuary. There’s times where it seems like they’re synonymous, but I would suggest the tabernacle is the whole assembly there, the whole construction, and the sanctuary was the inside of the tabernacle. You can do a search on the expression Jehovah’s house. There are a lot of scriptures in Jeremiah about Jehovah’s house.

And also check out Psalm 116, and we didn’t cover Ezekiel’s temple. Another picture where God’s presence are. Let me conclude with two texts. 2nd Corinthians 6:16.

And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, I will dwell in them. Brethren, it’s a sobering thought to remember that God is dwelling in us. We must be representatives of God in our words, our actions and our thoughts. We must live holy lives.

That’s a requirement for God to continue, and lastly, Colossians 1:27. This whole thing is a mystery. To people in the world, but not to us, to whom God was pleased to make known that what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you? The hope of glory.

Brethren, I’ve had the privilege of seeing Christ in you many times during this convention. Always look for Christ and for God and the Holy Spirit in our brethren. Flesh often gets in the way, but don’t allow it to blind you to those treasures that God sees in each one of us. May the Lord bless this to.

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