25th May 2022
Tatty tents
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV)
Flat packs are no modern invention. God gave the Israelites a ‘flat pack’ sanctuary that could be put up and taken down as they spent forty years travelling through the desert. It was made with a framework of wood and boards which were hung with linen curtains and a covering of skins. When they came into the Promised Land it was erected at Shiloh, Bethel, and then Gibeon, till it was taken to Jerusalem for the last time as Solomon replaced it with the Temple.
His father, King David, had been struck by the fact that he was living in a nice house made of cedar, and the ark of God, the symbol of God’s presence and the covenant with the nation, was in a tent. God was OK with him building a temple, though it had to wait for his son to do the work, but he did make it clear that he, God, had never complained about this moving tent where he ‘dwelt’ and had never demanded a posh temple. (2 Samuel 7:1–7).
The temple was made of solid stone, a permanent and durable structure able to withstand all the elements, the rain and winds and the strong sun. It would stand in the midst of Jerusalem like a jewel. The tabernacle on the other hand, was made of materials that are perishable and can deteriorate. After a while it may well have looked rather like a worn out, dilapidated, shabby tent. But God seems to have been very happy with his tatty tent.
But to the present – I look in the mirror and accept that the face that looks back at me is how I look now. It’s changed considerably over the years that I have had it, and nowadays it’s looking rather dilapidated too. I’m not made of durable materials. But you and I, however tatty we may get, are places that God is happy to dwell in, and one day he’s going to make us gloriously permanent.
Prayer
Our thanks to you, our Father, that you happily live with us, regardless of our physical circumstances, and that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us to live with you forever. Amen.
Study by Hilary Buck
About the writer:
Hilary Buck is a Minister and pastors the Lewes congregation of Grace Communion International.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion in Lewes
The House of Friendship
208 High Street
Lewes
BN7 2NS
Meeting time:
Sunday 11:00am
Local congregational contact:
Hilary Buck
Email: lewes@gracecom.church
Like us on www.facebook.com/GCLewes
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church