Life is temporary so relax and enjoy the presence of the Lord
By Dr. Howard Morgan
The festival of Tabernacles speaks to us of the gathering of the people of Israel together to worship the Lord. They were to gather in temporary make-shift dwellings or booths called in Hebrew a Succot.. These booths represented in the natural realm the temporary dwellings of the people of God as they made their way through the wilderness on the way to the promised land. This festival called the nation to gather in Jerusalem and spend a week living in these Succot’s. This was intended to remind the people that their ancestors once dwelled in the wilderness in tents. They were to remember their past, so they would understand their present and have a prophetic comprehension of their future. God was insistent that they do this every year so that every generation would feel for one week what their ancestors felt like for forty years. God wanted them to have an actual experience of leaving the comfort of their own home and dwell in these booths. This was to remind them of who they were, so they would understand who they are, and be conscious that God had called them to Himself for a future purpose. This is very important for us today as believers. So many people do not know who they really are because they tend to forget who they were and do not see themselves as God has called them to be. Because of this they are unsure of where they are going and therefore live a life of spiritual instability.
Tabernacle’s serves a reminder to us of the great deliverance that God wrought in our lives when he brought us out of bondage to sin and also to remind us of the transient nature of our life now. Spiritually we are all dwelling in booths. Our human Body is only a temporary dwelling place. Tabernacles reminds us every year that we are not to take the wrong things too seriously because they are passing away, and we are also reminded to take the right things very seriously. This temporary dwelling, our time in mortality, is for the purpose of tabernacling with God, to meet with God and to allow His purposes to work in our life.
If we only dwell where we are comfortable in the places of our own choosing we can very easily stop pursuing the purposes of God in our lives and readily get caught up in the cares of this world. They grow in such importance to us that they consume our time, energy and talents. We can get caught up in the illusion that temporary things are really more important than they actually are. Tabernacles reminds us that this is not true. It serves to show us that life is temporary and that we should keep our priorities in order, that we should seek God’s Kingdom and Righteousness first, because this life is as temporary as the booth is. Tabernacles serves to remind us that we should see all of life with its many problems and temptations, tests and trials, from this temporal perspective.
Another point of vital importance to us as members of the Body of Christ is that we are called to join with the rest of the Body in these booths. The picture we must see is the whole nation coming to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and dwell in booths. The Body of Christ is called to an understanding of the fact that together we are only dwelling in booths, that we are to have eternity, and God’s eternal purposes in our minds and hearts as we relate to one another. We should not take earthly offences to seriously and allow them to hinder our eternal destinies. I think that there are too many believers who are not dwelling in booths with other members of the Body because of past hurts and offences, disappointments and negative experiences, that forced them to break fellowship with other members of the Body.
Tabernacles reminds us every year that we are commanded by the Lord to come to his capital city and to worship him in these booths. We are called by the Lord to remember that our relationships in the Body of Christ are all about Him and His purposes. Our life is not about us and our happiness or our comfort or that which pleases us. If it was about our comfort we would be dwelling in our own homes and invite those to be with us that we liked. You cannot say to the Lord who He can or cannot bring into your life. You cannot dictate to the Lord who you might be in relationship with for a season.. All relationships in the Body of Christ are for a season as Tabernacles so clearly teaches us. Indeed Tabernacles reminds us of the temporary nature of all aspects of this life. We must have this understanding, and a heart for the purposes of God, so that we can say to the Lord and to ourselves, that those relationships which are not particularly comfortable have a purpose. God has caused us to dwell together, He has caused us to “tabernacle” together. So let us tabernacle with the Lord and with each other to find out the lesson God wants us to learn. Seasons can be of various lengths of time. But they are merely seasons. So rejoice in that. Let Tabernacles instruct you, do not get overly concerned. Just ask God what he wants you to learn form this time of sharing the “tabernacle” together.
Relax! Tabernacles is one of God’s ways of reminding us that we have been invited to worship Him and to enjoy fellowship with Him. Indeed God is searching for us to enter into a deeper relationship with him. He wants us to “Tabernacle” with Him that is why Jesus came to “Tabernacle” with us. (John 1: 14).
It is very difficult to worry when you are truly worshiping God. When the anointing of the Spirit comes down, as it always does when we are truly worshiping the Lord, His sweet loving presence always speaks peace into our hearts. It lets us know every thing will be ok, that all things will work together for the good (Romans 8:28). So Relax, and enjoy your season of Tabernacling with God.