Replacement Theology 2 - Temple Vs Tabernacle


This past midweek day (perhaps 4/20/22) I logged in to the Israel Virtual House of Prayer, and had a nice time of fellowship and prayer with some online friends - a married couple and one of their other intercessory Zoom teammates.

The wife shared her testimony about being invited to a Seder Meal in Israel on Passover, led by an articulate, scholarly Israeli gentleman.  The host was explaining the meaning of all the various aspects of the Seder Meal.  Suddenly my friend let out a huge  groan which startled her, her host, and everyone assembled for the Seder Meal!  She was totally embarrassed, and everyone else there was greatly surprised!

The Holy Spirit then revealed to her what He wanted to do.  She then explained to her host that she believed that the groaning was the Holy Spirit's strong encouragement to her to express repentance for her family heritage of anti-Semitism rooted in the Masonic Lodge tradition of her family.  She begged for forgiveness from the host for the harm that her family had done by harboring this anti-Semitism!

She then reported that the host had graciously forgiven this family sin, and told her how deeply her act of repentance and contrition had touched his heart!

We proceeded on the Israel Virtual House of Prayer hour to seek the Lord's wisdom how to eradicate anti-Semitic prejudice from the world.

After the Zoom meeting concluded, I began to remember reading a book called Kingdom of the Cults many years ago, and that the section of that book which addressed the Masonic Lodge movement included something about a man called Hiram Abiff.  So I did some quick online research about Hiram Abiff, and discovered that the Bible includes mention of King Hiram of Tyre as the source of building materials, building expertise, and fabrication of utensils used in the house of David and the temple of Solomon.

I also discovered that King David had the idea after he built a nice house for himself that he should build a nice house for God to replace the tabernacle/tent of meeting where the presence of God dwelt from the time after the children of Israel left Egypt on the first Passover until David's time.   1 Chronicles 17:1, etc.

Then I read that the Lord had told the prophet Nathan to tell David that He, God, had never spoken to anyone about building a house for Him, and that David shall not build Him a house, but that David's son would build Him a house.  1 Chronicles 17:4, 11-12.  I noticed that God did NOT say that He had ordained that David's son would build a house for God, but only that David's son would build Him a house!

Then my thoughts turned to Revelation 21:3 says Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

So, at the end of the Bible God is back to dwelling in a tabernacle, not a temple!  And as I write this page I noticed this:  Rev 21:22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

So that got me thinking that God had originally given very specific instructions about the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 25 and 26, but that Solomon had built the temple with materials which were not ordained by God, but obtained from a friendly King Hiram.

The next day I again logged on to the Israel Virtual House of Prayer, and someone in that hour's prayer group mentioned the term "Replacement Theology", which you, dear reader, may know is substituting the gentile church in place of the nation of Israel concerning Bible prophesy.

That made me think that perhaps there was another form of "Replacement Theology" which has to do with the substitution of carnal buildings and organizations for the simple tabernacles and personal relationships which God has in mind for eternity!

There is much talk these days about a total reformation of 'the church' so that the body of Christ will become all that we are meant to be but have failed to become.

This concept is poignant for me because years ago I had a vision of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.  I blinked a couple of times and the vision did not disappear, so I asked the Lord what this vision was about.  The thought that came to my mind was that it is a picture of the body of Christ coming out of the confines of the church cocoon and flying away on the winds of the Holy Spirit to be all that it is meant to be.

I personally believe that the reality which Jesus described in Matthew 23:8-12 will become a reality soon, and that will usher in the great end-time harvest of souls which is ordained by God.

Mat 23:8  But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Mat 23:9  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Mat 23:10  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Mat 23:11  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

As they say, the times, they are a'changin'.  Bigtime!

4/22/22

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

As I continue to listen and seek the Lord concerning what He wants to change in these days, I realize that God is all about fellowship with His creation.  From Adam in the garden of Eden to  Revelation 21 where His tabernacle is again 'among people [not just males, by the way]', it is all about fellowship.

Then there is the forgotten apostle, John, The Beloved Disciple, who makes this statement which seems so odd from  our current perspective:

1 John 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

This matters because God's plan for His creation is not a lecture hall where He lectures us each Sunday and then sends us out into the world to live our lives for ourselves by the Book!  His plan is that He was in His Son Jesus Christ reconciling the cosmos to Himself to restore the fellowship which has been sorely missing since Adam and Eve went astray after their 'own way'.  Talk about 'trend-setters'!  His plan is that as many people as possible will turn back to Him in brokenness and contrition when we see the tragic results of our going 'our own way'; that we will become abiders in His True Vine - our Lord Jesus - and become grateful lovers of God and His righteousness, and haters of our current ways of selfish, proud iniquity - just like Jesus!  Hebrews 1:9

So Father is in the process of transforming our collective lives as well as our individual lives from the perverted lecture hall mentality which He never ordained  to the fellowship pattern of living with Him and for Him by abiding in Jesus as we claim His death on a daily basis as our death the sin and unrighteousness, and as we claim His resurrection life as our resurrection to a new life lived for God rather than for ourselves in fellowship with Father and Jesus.

WARNING!!! It does not matter that we think that we are doing fine and have no need to change!  We have the Scriptures to tell us objectively and convincingly that the pride of our heart deceives us (Obadiah 1:3-4), and that we are prone to delusions of rightness when we lean on our own understanding!  For example, there is the 'messenger' of the ekklesia in Laodicea:

Rev 3:14  "To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write: 'The Amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the originator of God's creation, says this:
Rev 3:15  'I know your actions [o messenger], that you [o messenger] are neither cold nor hot. I wish you [o messenger] were cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  Since you [o messenger] are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you [o messenger] out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17  You [o messenger] say, "I am rich. I have become wealthy. I don't need anything." Yet you [o messenger] don't realize that you [o messenger] are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Rev 3:18  Therefore, I advise you [o messenger] to buy from me gold purified in fire so you [o messenger] may be rich, white clothes to wear so your shameful nakedness [o messenger] won't show, and ointment to put on your eyes [o messenger] so you [o messenger] may see.
Rev 3:19  I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent [o messenger]!
Rev 3:20  Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me.   [That's REAL fellowship!]

I inserted the [o messenger] into this passage repeatedly because the Greek word for 'you' in this passage is always singular, not plural, and this distinction is lost in the English translations other than the KJV.  Jesus is clearly sending His message directly to the individual church 'messenger' and not directly to the congregation of believers.  My speculation is that this messenger was not appointed by God but by himself or herself, or maybe even by the congregation or denomination.  A carnal appointment rather than a holy appointment, judging by the deluded nature of the 'messenger'.

4/24/22.

Today (4.25.22) I had occasion to join an intercessory team on the Israel Virtual House of Prayer twice, and it was mentioned that the USIEA Education Center in Ariel, Samaria, Israel, has been a place where multitudes of people have experienced the presence of God in a life-changing way.  It sounded to me like God is using the Education Center as a Tabernacle of His presence.  While there is much strife and turmoil in Jerusalem and particularly on the Temple Mount, God is interacting with people in Ariel!

My speculation  at this point in time is that God originally ordained the Tabernacle of Meeting after the Exodus from Egypt, bu that Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem, which God said that He had never mentioned to anyone to build.  There was a transition from portable tabernacle to permanent  temple, and from lively interaction with God to religious duty of dead religion until Messiah came, was rejected by most of the religious establishment, crucified, buried and Resurrected to Life!  Within a generation of that debacle the second temple was destroyed and remains mostly destroyed.

My further speculation is that there is much strife about the Temple Mount because the offspring of King Hiram, who provided the materials and much of the labor for the building of the temple by Solomon are irate because although they built the temple they were not allowed to worship God in the temple which they had helped to build!  By comparison, there was no strife associated with the Tabernacle of Meeting because it was ordained by God, built according to His specifications from materials which He provided from Egypt by the children of Israel.

Fast forwarding through two thousand years of churchianity, we find the body of Christ carnally divided into a multitude of 'churches' and 'denominations', each of which claims to be the best church in town or the best denomination in town!  I suspect that this will all end when Jesus shows up as He did to Isaiah the Prophet as recorded in Isaiah chapter 6 to UNDO what people have done contrary to God's clear instructions and desires because of our failure to crucify our flesh daily, take up our crosses daily and abide in Jesus to live for God rather than continuing to live for ourselves by leaning on our own understanding (or misunderstanding) of the Scriptures due to the fact that the pride of our hearts always deceives us until we ask Jesus to circumcise our hearts.


Come, O Word of God, living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword!  Pierce to the division of soul and Spirit, joint and marrow, and disclose the thoughts and motives of every heart!  And lead us in the way everlasting!

Help us to transition out of the unordained temples of our making and return to You and Father in the ordained Tabernacle of Meeting of Your choice of time and place and circumstances that we might know You, the One True God, and You, Lord Jesus, Whom Father sent, and You, Holy Spirit, Whom Jesus poured out!

E Pluribus Unum, Father, as You will!  In Your Name, Lord Jesus, amen!

Speculation:  What will the non-church fellowship of believers in Messiah look like?  That remains to be seen, but I suspect that there will no longer be 'leaders' giving lectures, but there will be 'facilitators' whose heart's desire is for Father's will to be done, and for Jesus to use whatever vessels He wills from time to time to teach and touch and transform us into His image, and no one will glory in the vessels any more, but all glory will go to Abba Yah Elohim Who is the source of all life and blessings, and Who alone is worthy of all blessings and pleasing and honor and praise now and evermore!

4/25/22

DISCLAIMER

I feel led to remark at this point that my foregoing stream of thoughts probably is the result of having been challenged by the Lord the day after I was saved in 1976 that the only correct answer I could give to Him is "Yes, Lord."  I was also told at that time that the Lord simply wants us to all be available to Him to be vessels for Him to use to reach out and touch other people in any way that He wants to touch and affect their lives.  And the only correct answer is always "Yes, Lord."

About twenty years later I was challenged by the Lord's words in  Luke 14 and John 8 about the minimum requirements for being His disciple.  These chapters contain four mentions of either 'My disciple' or 'My disciples'.  Meeting these four requirements daily has become my first chore and delight of each day.

As a result I seem to find passages of Scripture which no one else seems to be addressing - even with the help of the Internet!

So I disclaim any credit for any good thing which comes through my life, but I take full responsibility for any rubbish which passes out of my life.  There always seems to be lots of room for improvement!

4/26/22

Today I realized that the tabernacle and the temple represent two greatly different entities - the body of Christ  and manmade religion.  For clarity's sake let me explain that I understand the body of Christ to be composed of every person who has been born again of the Spirit of God as Jesus described in the Gospel of John chapter 3, while the church is composed of people who are born again and others who are not born again of the Spirit of God.  The body of Christ is equivalent to the tabernacle of God, which was God's way of maintaining His presence among His people, while the church is equivalent to the temple of Solomon - manmade but not ordained by God Himself.  It is useful on occasion, but not permanently useful.

I am hoping that eventually the Jews and the Moslems will both realize that their buildings on the temple mount are man-made idols, neither of which are ordained by the One True God, and that their repentance from that idolatry will lead to the reconciliation of both groups of people to the One True God and and to each other in Messiah!   In the meantime Father seems to delight in using the USIEA training facility and staff as his 'tabernacle' of healing, restoration and reconciliation.

I am keenly aware of the difference between the church/temple and the body of Christ/tabernacle.  The first prayer I ever know that was answered was the prayer I prayed on the day I got saved in May, 1976.  It was, "Lord Jesus, if You are really there, here's the mess that I have made of my life.  If you can do anything with it, take a shot!  Just don't give me any more dead religion!"  After I had prayed that prayer and nothing happened, the friend who was telling me about Jesus suggested that since I was talking to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords that I ought to be on my knees.  That sounded reasonable, and I was too weary and depressed to argue, so I knelt down.  The moment that my knees touched the carpet 26 years worth of tears of frustration and disappointment were released and my life was changed forever.  That was the day that my adventure with Jesus began.

Several months later I was walking in the downtown area of the town I live in, and I met the music director of the church in which I was raised from birth until age 16.  He was about 70 years old and he was skipping like a little child!  I asked him what was causing him to be so joyful and he said, "I left our church and have been attending a church with real believers!!!  I had attended our church for forty years, trying to be a good witness to the other members of the church.  But recently the Lord said to me, "The tail does not wag the dog!" , and I realized that no one in our church had come to know Jesus as a result of my born again life or testimony!

I had a similar experience of being removed from a dead church and integrated into real Christian fellowship.  I was saved on a Saturday afternoon at about 3:30 p.m.  My wife and I had been attending a local Roman Catholic church for several years.  The day after I was saved (my wife having been saved for several weeks at that time) we attended that Catholic church and realized that we no longer felt an affinity there.  We didn't know what to do, so the next Sunday we again were walking toward the Catholic church, and passed the chapel at the university in our town.  As we walked past the chapel a college girl pointed at me and said, "You're Rob Harms, aren't you?!"  I was greatly surprised by this event, but found out later that this girl had done some house cleaning for my mother, and had seen my picture at my parent's house.  She invited us into the chapel for a 'fellowship service', and we experienced what I can only describe as 'charismania' at its best!  The presence of the Lord was so real, and the people were so genuine in their worship that we immediately felt that we were where we were meant to be.  Jesus had not only saved me from my sins, He had saved us from dead religion - exactly as I had asked Him to do!!

Unfortunately that fellowship group was soon 'organized' into a church, and the presence of the Lord decreased dramatically.  They even eventually renounced the 'baptism in the Holy Spirit' as false doctrine, yet they remain a congregation to this day.

Many years ago I had a vision of a butterfly emerging out of a cocoon, and when I asked Jesus what this meant I got the impression that it was the body of Christ coming out of the church cocoon in which it had been temporarily housed, and entering into the freedom of flying on the winds of the Spirit as it was meant to do as the body of Christ.  I believe that this process has begun in earnest, and am looking forward to what the Lord is going to do with His body/tabernacle!!

5/5/22

3/14/23  I recently was told by a brother Christian that he had been seeing flocks of birds and schools of fish and other groups of creatures moving about in a certain order without visible leadership.  And even the flocks of Canadian geese which have a 'leader' rotate the leadership position regularly before the strain of leading the flock becomes exhausting.  I believe that there is wisdom in the flocking revelation.  The Holy Spirit of God is most able to lead us individually and corporately to do our Heavenly Father's will, and to spread the joy and peace and righteousness of the Kingdom of God in the lives of all who use the Lord's grace to stop living for self, but to live for Him instead!