The Tabernacle

This sermon was given at our Evensong service on Sunday 27th January; Holocaust Memorial Day. The Old Testament reading was Numbers 9:15-23.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. It's said that to ensure the horrors of the past are never repeated, they must never be forgotten. Personally, I think it's very important that we remember the stories from our past, and also the past of our Jewish brothers and sisters. One such story can be found in our Old Testament reading this evening. This story tells us of the beginnings of the Tabernacle. I don’t know how much you know about the Tabernacle, but it’s quite an interesting concept.

It’s all tied up with the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt; escaping slavery and setting off to find new lives for themselves in the Promised Land. There, in the desert, the Israelites journeyed for forty years, rarely staying in the same place, all the while relying solely on the providence of God.

But, even in these times – perhaps especially in these times – the people of God still needed somewhere to worship their creator. And that’s where the Tabernacle came in.

The Tabernacle was – to all intents and purposes – or, to all tents and purposes, a tent. A big tent, but a tent all the same. It was a mobile temple where the Israelites held the Ark of the Covenant (containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments), and other holy treasures that they had brought with them from Egypt. A nomadic people need a nomadic God, and a nomadic God needs a mobile tent just like his people do. The Tabernacle was the house of the Lord, and, wherever God’s people went, the Tabernacle went also.

Actually, that’s not strictly true, as our reading today shows us; because the Tabernacle did not go wherever the people of God went, no – rather, the people of God went wherever the Tabernacle went.

We heard in our reading tonight how in that wilderness time, God would direct his people on their journey, showing them when to stay where they were, and when to move on. The Spirit of God rested on the Tabernacle, with the appearance of a cloud during the day, and fire at night, and when it rested on the Tabernacle, the people stayed put, and when it moved elsewhere, God’s people upped sticks, and followed it until it stopped, and that is where they too would stop.

They didn’t go anywhere until the Spirit of God moved; if the Spirit was there, then so were God’s people, and if the Spirit decided it was time to go, well, it was time to go. It would have been foolish of them in the extreme with such an outward sign of where their God was heading for them to do anything else. If God was no longer with the Tabernacle, then it was a Tabernacle no longer – just an empty tent, devoid of the very thing that gave it any meaning. But there was no danger of that happening; God was leading his people, and it was obvious.

Wouldn’t that be great?! Wouldn’t it be great, and lovely, and so much easier if we had the same? If God appeared before us to keep us safely hidden in a cloud during the day, and give us light and heat in a pillar of fire overnight? If we could so, so, easily see God moving and directing our steps, allowing us to follow Him with all confidence, knowing it was exactly what God wanted for us?

But… that’s the other thing about the Tabernacle. It was temporary; meant for that time of wandering. Once the Israelites had reached the Promised Land, its function was complete. God’s people no longer needed to seek after the Tabernacle and be shown the way; they had been led to their new home. And so, the itinerant Tabernacle was replaced by the permanence of the Temple. God was no longer a nomad; he – like his people – now had a home.

The problem was, however, that we humans are very good are turning God’s home into God’s prison. We long for God to dwell amongst us, but then we want to keep him just for us, to give us blessings, and keep us safe, and fight our wars. And when that happens, when some parts of humanity become so convinced that God is theirs, and is against their own enemies, well... that's the sort of thing that enables the horrors of the Holocaust to happen.

And so, God broke out. He would not be confined.

The First Temple  built by Solomon with the desire of eternal permanence, was destroyed by the Babylonians. It was eventually rebuilt, but we know that that Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire. God had broken out long before that, however – God broke out at Christ’s crucifixion. When Christ was crucified and the curtain to the Holy of Holies inside the temple was torn in two, the whole thing was confirmed; God no longer dwelt inside walls of stone. The nomadic God was free, and he was once again looking for a Tabernacle; a movable temple in which he could dwell, unconstrained by those who want to keep him locked inside.

And He found it. He found us. St Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians that we are the temple of God. We are the new Tabernacle, a movable dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. 

Whereas in ancient times, God dwelt amongst, but outside his people, now, God lives within us, and us in him. 

I mentioned earlier how great it would be to have that cloud and fire to lead us and show us the way, but the truth is, we have that continuous presence and guide – the fire and the cloud rest within us! And if we are ever minded to long for those days in the wilderness in order to see the cloud and the fire and thus never lose track of what God is doing, or where God is going, we would do extremely well to remember that the cloud and the fire are within us – the Spirit of God is within us, and so God goes where we go. We are the movable temple for our nomadic God.

And that temple, that Tabernacle, still has its old function. The dual purpose it always had ever since the days of Moses; to be a dwelling place for the Lord, and to lead the people to the Promised Land.

Lord, help us to be your Tabernacle, a temple open to all, taking God's blessing to all nations and nationalities and all faiths.

Amen