The
earthly tabernacle and temple were built upon the pattern of the
heavenly tabernacle. Upon their earthly completion and dedication,
the shekinah glory of the LORD filled them so that no one could go
in. There is also a heavenly completion of God's judgments prior to
the last plagues of His wrath when His glory fills the heavenly
tabernacle so noone can enter; and I believe we are nearing that
time.
The Tabernacle
“And
he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and
set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished
the work.
Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of
the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into
the tent of the congregation, because the cloud stayed thereon, and
the glory
of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”
(Exodus 40:33-35)
Solomon's Temple
“And
all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the
feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. . . . And the
priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to his place,
into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the
wings of the cherubim. . . .And it came to pass, when the priests
were come out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the LORD,
So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud:
for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. . . .
When your people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because
they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and
confess your name, and pray, and make supplication to you in this
house: Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people
Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their
fathers. . . . For you did separate them from among all the people of
the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by the hand of Moses
your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God.
. . . That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God,
and that there is none else. . . . And at that time Solomon held a
feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the
entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God,
seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he
sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went to their
tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had
done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.” (I Kings
8:2-66)
Solomon
bringing up the ark into the temple began on Tishri
1, Feast of Trumpets, and lasted a week. Then they held solemn
assembly for the week of atonement with Yom Kippur on the tenth.
Then they dedicated the Temple during the 8 days of the Feast of
Tabernacles, Tishri 15-22, and sent everyone home on the twenty-third
of Tishri according to II Chronicles 7:10.
Heavenly Tabernacle
“And
I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had
gotten the victory
over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the
number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of
God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are your ways, you King of saints. Who shall
not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? for you only are holy:
for all nations shall come and worship before you; for your judgments
are made manifest. . . . And the temple
was filled with smoke from the glory of God,
and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple,
till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” (Rev.
15:2-8)
I
see a pattern to the times the LORD's glory filled the
tabernacle/temple after completion of work which brought about a
successively greater period of worship from the first earthly
tabernacle and temple to Ezekiel's temple built in the new earthly
Jerusalem to the heavenly New Jerusalem which has no need of a
temple.
After
Jesus comes with all the saints who have died and His Bride still
alive meets them in the clouds (I Thess. 4:14-17) and we aid Him in
destroying the wicked (Psalm 149:5-9), then the Earth and space junk
will be destroyed with fire and recreated (II Peter 3:7-14).
New Heaven and Earth
“And
I saw a new
heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there
was no more sea. And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. 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.” (Rev. 21:1-3)
Though
Jesus will “tabernacle with us” (John 1:14), He will yet build
the temple He revealed to Ezekiel in the new earthly city of new
Jerusalem.
Ezekiel's Temple
“In
the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the
year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after
that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD
was on me, and brought me thither. In the visions of God brought he
me into the land of Israel, and set me on a very high mountain, by
which was as the frame of a city on the south. And he brought me
thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the
appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring
reed; and he stood in the gate.” (Ezekiel 40:1-3)
On
Yom Kippur, Tishri 10 in 572 BC, Jesus showed Ezekiel the temple
which will be built during His millennial reign.
“And
the glory
of the LORD came into the house
by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the
spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold,
the glory
of the LORD filled the house.
And I heard him speaking to me out of the house; and the man stood by
me. And he said to me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the
place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the middle of
the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of
Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their
prostitution, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high
places. . . . Seven days shall you prepare every day a goat for a sin
offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of
the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they purge the altar and
purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. And when these days
are expired, it shall be, that on the eighth day, and so forward, the
priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace
offerings; and I will accept you, said the Lord GOD. ” (Ezekiel
43:4-7; 25-27)
The
priests are to cleanse the temple with many animal sacrifices during
the Feast of Tabernacles as in the days of Solomon.
Heavenly New Holy Jerusalem
“And
he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and
showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God, Having the glory of God . . . And I
saw no temple therein:
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of
it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into
it.” (Rev. 21: 10-23)
It's
dimensions are too large to rest upon the Earth [pictures], so it will orbit the
Earth like a glowing space station. After Christ's millennial reign
and His final Great White Throne judgment, He will remain in the
heavenly Jerusalem as the nations continue on His edenic Earth no
longer encumbered by a sin nature or a Satan or a mortal body. Wow.
His
Word is everlasting, and He has given us all the history and
instructions needed for the 7,000 years of man's struggle against sin
on Earth until the ultimate victory.
