Every once in a while, Lara and I venture over to Camping World. Sometimes they have some little piece, or part, or gizmo that nobody else carries. They always ask me if I’m part of the “good” Sam club. But I tell them “No, I’m part of the “bad” Sam’s Club across town, why do you think I dress like this?”
Anyhow, what an amazing place right? Lara and I always walk the circuit of campers. You know the drill. You start off with the shabby tents, and popups, which I think are so cool. But then I look over at Lara, and she’s so unimpressed. So, we go further. “What about this one, or that one?” And she’s like, “Does it have a big enough master bed... big enough bathroom and shower … big enough television and DVR… a big enough bunk bed for all the dogs… a big enough engine. We get most of the way through the place, she’s still unimpressed. “Does it have a built-in laundry mat? a two-car garage? A basement if there is a storm?” So, about the time we hit the registers it’s always the same thing, “We’re not ever going camping are we honey?” After {cough} years of marriage I’ve learned that if it doesn’t have bricks and mortar Lara ain’t staying there!
Now, in your Bible, the word for “camper” or “tent” is Tabernacle. The word for “camping” is “Tabernacling.” And the issue is, in what kind of Tabernacle would the God of Heaven and Earth ever stay? And under what circumstances would he ever avail himself for such a thing?
There is a fascinating book in your Bible called “Exodus.” It describes a time when God’s people found themselves living in Egypt, under king Pharaoh. To understand why God’s people Israel ever ended up in Egypt you have to go back and read the incredible account of Genesis. The bottom line is that you have a generation of Egyptians and Israelites who know Yahweh, the Lord God of Heaven and Earth. But soon, the subsequent generations do not, including a new Pharaoh.
Exodus chronicles how “culturally” it can take just one generation, and God goes from hero to zero. Soon you have a new Pharaoh who becomes threatened by, and indeed hostile, to religion. So, he begins instituting policies like Abortion, and Infanticide. And that’s what godless Kings do. How do you destroy a godly nation? You go after it’s sons, and young men. You kill, destroy, confuse, maim, sexualize, pervert, homosexualize, transgender them—whatever it takes so the sons don’t prosper and flourish. It’s same sort of policies our godless state, national government are pushing… even local school boards… except it’s even Christians electing their own godless Pharaohs. But at the end of the day, it’s the same satanic strategy.
In Exodus 23, God’s people begin to groan and cry out… and they are again today… and the cries sharpen, until they reach a decibel level that shakes even the gates of heaven. And what does Exodus 2:24-25 say but, “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God knew.”
But even more than God seeing and knowing, in Exodus, the God of Israel comes “camping and tabernacling.” Once he delivers Israel from Pharaoh, he commands Moses to build a kind of portable sanctuary—an ornate tent—stretched out over a wooden frame. The tent is fit for a king. It has inner linings of beautiful woven fabric. It’s covered with animal skins to make it waterproof. If you like, you can nerd out and read all about the Tabernacle specifications.
But of course we won’t, because the point is that when all hell begins to break loose on this earth, or in our land, or in our lives—what does God do?—he tabernacles among us, he visits us, he brings heaven down to earth. It’s interesting that when God camps among us… his chosen camper… is a microcosm of heaven itself. So unlike our camp grounds, which might be a place of licentiousness and dissipation… God’s tabernacle is a place of holiness, a place of worship and sacrifice, a place where God’s people consecrate themselves, and encounter the glory of God in all his perfection of grace of truth.
Now just a little Bible history. First God tabernacles in a tent. Then God tabernacles in a temple. But then, in the fulness of time, he tabernacles or dwells among us in flesh and blood, in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s One and Only Son. That’s what the gospel of John is all about, that we spent a year unpacking. But in these last days, God tabernacles by his Holy Spirit within his people, the Church, the Kingdom of God. At the end of the age though, Jesus tells us that he will come with the Father to take us to a place where we will “tabernacle” with God forever! See, Lara is going to go camping after all, just not this side of eternity.
Regardless, the whole point of the Tabernacle is for God to create space for heaven to touch earth, for us to encounter the living God. The Tabernacle was as much an object lesson as anything. The way it was configured, its features, are all divinely inspired to teach us as much about ourselves as to teach us about the nature of God.
Here is what God says about his Tabernacle in Exodus 29:42-46, “There I will {meet you and speak to you. . .}” “43 I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 And they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”
As you venture from the exterior or the Tabernacle into the most interior space (the Holy of Holies) you learn ever deeper truths, and have an ever deepening encounter with the grace of God. So each week over the next six weeks, we’re going to encounter God in ever deeper, more intimate spaces. One of the reasons you can encounter God in a place like Lakeside is because (as you will see) our worship gathering itself is a kind of microcosm of heaven. Through worship (yes, in this church building, in this service) we actively tabernacle with God, and he tabernacles with us, in a way profoundly similar to that of Exodus 29.
This morning we begin in what is called “The Outer Court” of the Tabernacle. The Outer Court is where God welcomes not just his people, but the nations, to taste his goodness. In the outer court, God makes space for you to come and know him. He makes space for you to take your first steps of faith. In the outer court, is the aroma of God’s goodness, and rumors of God’s greatness. In the outer courts the curiosity of both the godly and the godless is aroused.
Psalm 100:1-5 describes the spirit of the outer court. “Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.”
There are two prerequisites for encountering God in his outer court. The first is simply this: Ask yourself. Are you willing to acknowledge God’s Greatness? You’ve heard the “rumors” of God’s greatness and power. Your first step is simply this… its Psalm 100:3, “Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his—his people, the sheep of his pasture.” The Bible is so clear and consistent about this, Old and New Testament. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Romans 1:20 says, “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”
Such faith was the prerequisite of encountering the Living God tabernacling in the flesh, in His son Jesus Christ. John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” You come into the outer court seeking, yearning, willing to encounter the Living God. Are you willing to acknowledge God exists? Are you open to explore all the rumors of his greatness, power? Yes, or No? And that’s faith in its most elementary form!
The second prerequisite to enter outer court is simply this: Ask yourself. Are you willing to savor God’s goodness? It’s Psalm 100:4-5, “4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.” The first sign of a heart being warmed to God isn’t just faith, it’s gratitude. Conversely, just as gratitude is one of our first steps toward God, ingratitude is one of our first steps away from God! According to Romans 1:20, YES!!!! “[God’s] his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.” But sadly, according to Romans 1:21, “For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.”
I know it’s counter intuitive. We often come to God doubting his greatness and goodness. No, you come saying, “God, you made me. I’m yours.” You come thanking God for all he’s done for you and given you. You realize how blessed you already are. Are you alive? Did you get a good night’s sleep? Is it a new day? Did you have a nice cup of coffee this morning? Is your body healthy? Are you surrounded by the love of your wife, children, grandchildren? Your parents? Friends? Fellow believers? Can you think of a single reason to thank Him today? Maybe something you’ve overlooked, or taken for granted? No matter what your circumstances, your losses, or your disappointments, you surely have some reason to thank God? In the outer courts is the aroma of God’s goodness… rumors, and stories, and testimonies of God’s greatness. But as you’ll see next week… just inside the Tabernacle, just inside the outer courts… is the “reality” of God’s goodness and greatness.
Psalm 100:1-5. “Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.”