Skip to main content

The Tent of Meeting


For us, a tent is something that you put up when you go camping.  For those in the ancient Middle East, a tent was often their home.  But even then, it was much more, it was a place of:

Hospitality – Abraham welcomed three strangers to his tent (Genesis 18:1-8).  Abraham, as the host, was culturally obligated to provide food, water and shelter.

Protection – if you welcomed a stranger under the roof of your house (or under the shelter of your tent), you were also obligated to provide protection (Genesis 19:8, Judges 19:23).
                
Meeting – you welcomed people at the entrance to you tent and you often met with them inside.  In fact, there is a “Tent of Meeting” mentioned in the Bible where people could go to seek the Lord (Exodus 33:7-11).

When we move beyond our camping perspective, we can begin to appreciate the significance behind a question that David asked in Psalm 15 (v1).

“O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?”

His question holds two rather compelling assumptions:

The first is that the Lord’s tent is a most desirable place to be.  That assumption is absolutely correct since it was the place where people could seek the Lord.

The second assumption is that the entrance into the tent might not be accessible to all.  That assumption is also absolutely correct in that those who had access were those whose walk was blameless and who did what was righteous (v2).

While this “Tent of Meeting” that David refers to is no longer an actual tent in a specific geographical location, it is for us a picture of being in the Lord’s presence, the most desirable place to be!

As for accessibility, it is for those who trust Christ because it is in Him that we become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).  Furthermore, those who are in Christ are seen by the Lord as blameless (Eph 1:4).

To those who trust Christ and abide in the Lord’s tent, God Himself, the most consummate host ever, always welcomes them.  In His tent, He protects us and meets all of our needs!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excel Still More!

To excel, according to some of the meanings from a few dictionaries, is to surpass others, do extremely well, outdo, do something better than anyone else. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, we find the phrase “excel still more”.   It prompts the question:  if we are already doing something better than anyone else, why would we be encouraged to do even more? Perhaps it would be helpful to see the wording that other translations use for “excel still more” to see why we would be encouraged to do so.  Here is a sampling: • abound more and more • to keep doing so more and more • but try even harder • live that way more and more. • that you progress even more. • that you increase more and more in how you ought to walk Maybe it would also be helpful to see some other verses where the word “excel” is used: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.”...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...
1 comment
Read more

Value Proposition

Value proposition:  it’s a marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.  It should clearly and concisely communicate what customers can gain from selecting a particular brand over that of its competitors. In a value proposition, you don’t want your product to be viewed as being worth less than what your competitors offer.   But even worse, in a bit of a quirk of how letters and spaces can fall, if you take out the space between “worth” and “less”, you get “worthless”, which means something of no value.   If that word is used in conjunction with how your product is viewed by customers, it’s a word that will likely kill your brand. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, in a sense, communicated some value propositions. In chapter three, he starts off with describing the value of some things that many considered as extremely valuable in that day and age.   They had to do with status and achievement in the reli...
Post a Comment
Read more