Tabernacle of David

Fred R. Coulter

  - PDF | Audio | [Up]

When you're studying the Bible and there's something that you read that you don't understand, but it kind of registers and you stick it in the back of your mind and hope you understand that sometime.

It happened to me one day when I was reading Acts 15, and it happened to me during a sermon. Of course, if I would have gone into it, or tried anything at that time, I would have missed the message of the sermon. I was reading about what happened in Acts 15 and the conference they had in Jerusalem.

In talking about how God calls and justifies: Acts 15:8: "And God, Who knows the heart… [the heart-knowing God] …bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did to us, and made no difference between us and them, and has purified their hearts through the faith. Now therefore, why do you tempt God by putting a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe we shall be saved in the same manner as they also" (vs 8-11).

Verse 12: "Then all the multitude kept silence and heard Barnabas and Paul relate what signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. And after they were silent… [they were finished] …James answered and said, 'Men, brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take out a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written'" (vs 12-15)

Now, here's the verse that I had to file away and wonder what that means:

Verse 16: "After these things, I will return and will build again the Tabernacle of David which has fallen; and its ruins I will build again, and will set it up; so that the residue of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, says the Lord, Who does all these things" (vs 16-17).

• Why did James liken the Church to the Tabernacle of David?
• What is the Tabernacle of David?
• What meaning does that have for us for the Feast of Tabernacles?

Note sermons: What is the Key of David? #s 1&2

One day when I was talking with Carl [Franklin] on the phone, it came to me. I said, 'I know what that means!' So, I will try and tell you what it means.

A tabernacle means a booth, a tent, or the tent of testimony. Let's see where this is quoted, because it's quoted in the Prophets. You have to admit, and I'll have to admit, that when you read how God inspired the apostles to interpret some of these verses from the Old Testament, you have to know that that inspiration comes from God!

The Old Testament is written in such a way that one event flows into another event. One prophecy flows into another prophecy. Out of the same prophecy comes something for the Church, and a few sentences later comes something for the Kingdom of Israel, and then a few sentences later comes something for the Kingdom of God on earth. Then it goes right back to the battle that they're doing right in that minute, or whatever it may be.

Amos 9:11: "'In that day I will raise up the Tabernacle of David that has fallen, and close up its breaches; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; so that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the nations on whom My name is called,' says the LORD who is doing this" (vs 11-12).

Now, that goes right into the Millennial setting! Why did James quote this referring to the Church now?

Then it goes into the whole Millennial setting, v 13: "'Behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed. And the mountains will drop sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. And I will bring back the exiles of My people Israel… [from their captivity] …and they shall build the cities… [after you Revelation, they are wasted cities] …which are desolate, and they shall live in them. And they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall also make gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them in their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them,' says the LORD your God" (vs 13-15).

So, I pondered and pondered  that. The way you do when you study something like that to answer a question. You begin with what you know. We're going to discover something very important, just like we discussed about the first Adam and the second Adam. If you want to liken it in this way, you could say the first David and the second David.

Mark 11:1: And when they came to Bethphage and Bethany, which were near to Jerusalem, toward the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, 'Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a colt tied, upon which no man has sat. After loosing it, lead it to Me. And if anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this?" say, "The Lord has need of it"; and he will send it here immediately'"'" (vs 1-3).

Verse 8: "Then many spread their garments in the road…"

You have to understand something here. Just picture in your mind temple area. There was a beautiful bridge across from the Mt. of Olives going west—entering from the east—so this was coming across from the Kidron Bridge. Here are all these people and God inspired them to do something most unusual.

"…and others cut down branches from the trees, and scattered them in the road. And those who went before and those who followed behind were crying out, saying, 'Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord'" (vs 8-9).

Everyone knew that was for the Messiah, and everyone knew that was the prophesied son of David. That was to be for Him and Him alone!

Verse 10: "Blessed is the kingdom of our father David, coming in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!" So, Christ has something to do with David.

In Matt. 22 is a real twister for you. Jesus spoke in such a way that they had to think and figure it out!

Matthew 22:41: While the Pharisees were assembled together, Jesus questioned them, saying, 'What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He?' They said to Him, 'The Son of David.'…. [David #2] …He said to them… [notice how many times He answers with a question and quotes a Scripture] …'How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet'"? Therefore, if David calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?'" (vs 41-45).

That was a real mind-twister for them, because they didn't understand that the One Who was Yahweh Elohim became Jesus Christ.

Verse 46: "And no one was able to answer Him a word, neither dared anyone from that day to question Him anymore."

Let's see where that's quoted from. We know that David worshipped God, and we will see that David had a special relationship with God. That none of the other kings had. Also, in your studies you might know that there's more written about David than any of the other kings or any other prophet. David has written more Psalms than any of the other psalmists. Some of them very, very profound.

Psalm 110:1: "The LORD said unto my Lord…" 'Yahweh' said unto my 'Adonai, which is quite a profound statement.

Did David have another physical human being that you could call Lord or 'Adonai'? There are several terms for Lord:

• Yahweh
• Adonai
• Baal

So, when a woman would say to her husband, 'my lord' as Sarah did to Abraham, she was saying 'Baal.' Not as the god Baal, but just the term 'lord.'

• Did David have any human being over him that was called 'Adonai'?
• Did he have another master over him that he had to check with?
• No!

So, this is a very enigmatic Scripture without the New testament. How is God going to say to God unless 'Elohim' contains two?

"…'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.' The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies.' Your people will offer themselves in the day of Your power, in the beauties of Holiness from the womb of the morning: Yours is the dew of Your youth. The LORD has sworn and will not repent, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.' The LORD at Your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill them with dead bodies; He shall shatter chief men over the broad earth. He shall drink of the brook by the way; therefore, He shall lift up the head" (vs 1-7).

There it is! Talking about David saying, 'My Lord.' Now, Psa. 132 ties right in with the Feast of Tabernacles, and who it is that reigns as king over Israel. It's the resurrected David!

Psalm 132:1: O LORD, remember David and all his afflictions, how he swore to the LORD; and he vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob: 'Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for the LORD, a habitation for the Mighty One of Jacob.'" (vs 1-5).

This was part of the prayer that he was praying when he was wondering whether he could build a house for God.

Verse 6: "Lo, we heard of it at Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of the woods. Let us go unto His tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool. Arise, O LORD, into Your rest… [Millennium] …You and the ark of Your strength" (vs 6-9).

David has special access to the Ark of God that no one else had!

Verse 9: "Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your saints shout for joy. For Your servant David's sake, turn not away the face of Your anointed. The LORD has sworn to David in truth; He will not turn from it: 'Of the fruit of your body will I set upon the throne for you. If your children keep My covenant and My testimonies which I shall teach them, their sons shall also sit upon your throne forever'" (vs 9-12).

Revelation 3:21: "To the one who overcomes will I give authority to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne."

The Bible is so fantastic, it all weaves together in one coherent whole!

Psalm 110:13: "The LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation: 'This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread. I also will clothe her priests with salvation…'" (vs 13-16).

Tie in Rev. 20:4-6; we are to be kings and priests of God and clothed with salvation. What do we have that we didn't receive?

"…and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There I will make the horn of David to bud; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed. I will clothe his enemies with shame; upon himself shall his crown shine" (vs 16-18).

In Heb. 4 we find a connection with the Sabbath Day and the Millennium, and today is the Sabbath Day and we're talking about the Millennial rest of the Kingdom of God. That's what we're observing the Feast of Tabernacles for. There's quite an interesting lesson here.

Hebrews 2:1: "For this reason, it is imperative that we give much greater attention to the things, which we have heard, lest at any time we should slip away."

Paul goes through the rest of Heb. 2 showing why Christ came and that He took on the same likeness of us. He shows that He's greater than Moses because He's the Builder of the house.

Heb. 3:12—Paul says, after he quotes why that generation did not enter in. For your own information, God did not intend the children of Israel to wander a whole 40 years in the wilderness.

I feel that as they came out on the Passover and went to Mt. Sinai, they were building the tabernacle after they got there and got all the instructions, that God fully intended that after the tabernacle was raised up on the first day of the first month of the second year, that during the Feast of Tabernacles of the second year, that God fully intended to take them into the 'promised land' at that time, which would fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles. But they sinned! So, Paul gives a warning here:

Hebrews 3:12: "Beware, brethren, lest perhaps there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in apostatizing from the living God…. [that's why it says lest we should slip away] …Rather, be encouraging one another each day, while it is called 'today,' so that none of you become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (vs 12-13).

Then we end up being blinded, we cast away salvation!

Verse 14: "For we are companions of Christ, if we truly hold the confidence that we had at the beginning steadfast until the end. As it is being said, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion'" (vs 14-15).

Verse 19: "So, we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief."

Remember how Moses sent in the 12 spies. What time was it? When the grapes were ripe! Toward the Feast of Tabernacles! Those grapes were so fantastic that one bunch of grapes had to be strung on a pole and carried by two men. Can you imagine eating a grape like that?

Hebrews 4:1: "Therefore, we should fear, lest perhaps, a promise being open to enter into His rest…"—Greek: 'katapausin' meaning recline or repose; resting from  your labors, reclining at the table of God! This is a direct reference to the Millennium and the weekly Sabbath.

"…any of you might seem to come short. For truly, we have had the Gospel preached to us, even as they also did; but the preaching of the Word did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard. For we who have believed, we ourselves are entering into the rest, as He has said, 'So, I swore in My wrath, "If they shall enter into My rest—"' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He spoke in a certain place about the seventh day in this manner…" (vs 1-4).

Every Sabbath you're commemorating the creation that God has made. You're also commemorating and celebrating the coming Kingdom of God. Every Sabbath! And the Millennial rest of God when the whole world will come and fellowship with God. That's a tremendous thing. As well as to fellowship with God and with one another.

Remember that, just like tell a friend to meet you in a certain place on such and such a day, I'll meet you, but you come the day after. The one who came on the right day and was wondering where the other person was. He never showed up. The one who came on the day after was wondering why they never came.

So it is with the fellowship of God. God fellowships with His people on the Sabbath Day! Therefore, the Sabbath is very important. That's why the Millennium is going to be so fantastic, because God is going to fellowship with all people for a thousand years. That's why this is called the rest. That's why it's referenced to the seventh day.

"…'And God rested on the seventh day from all His works'; 5: And again concerning this: 'If they shall enter into My rest—'Consequently, since it remains for some to enter into it, and those who had previously heard the Gospel did not enter in because of disobedience, again, He marks out a certain day, 'Today,'…" (vs 5-7)—God limits the day!

"…saying in David after so long a time (exactly as it has been quoted above), 'Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.' For if Joshua had given them rest… [if the plan of God finished when Joshua took them into the 'promised land'] …He would not have spoken long afterwards of another day. There remains, therefore, Sabbath-keeping for the people of God" (vs 7-9).

The King James unfortunately the true meaning of the word rest is buried. Because this is not the Greek word 'katapausin.' This word is 'Sabbatismos': Sabbath-keeping!

So, if anyone asks if Sabbath-keeping is required for the people of God, the answer is yes! Why? Because it is the Sabbath of God and He commands it! It pictures the Millennium and God's creation. After all, the greatest creating that God is going to be doing since the creation of the earth is going to be the creating of Holy and righteous and perfect character in the people who are in the Millennium.

Then He's going to top that! As we will see, it's going to be so great, because God is going to top everything that He has done to a certain point until He finishes the plan. It's going to get greater and greater!

Verse 9: "There remains, therefore, Sabbath-keeping for the people of God. For the one who has entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his works, just as God did from His own works. We should be diligent, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience" (vs 9-11). Very powerful!

We know that in Ezek. 37 it talks about Israel and Judah. The Mormons say that 'the two sticks' are the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Nothing could be further from the truth. It says that one stick is Israel and the other is Judah and they will no more be two but be bound together in one, and David, their king, shall rule over them.

Let's see how the Church, always, in its beginning mentioned David. Isn't' that something? What was the first sermon preached by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost? What did he say? Why did he say it this way? All the Jews knew one thing, that the Messiah was going to be the son of David! So, they had to talk about David.

Acts 2:25: "For David speaks concerning Him [Christ], 'I foresaw the Lord before Me continually; for He is at My right hand so that I may not be moved…'"

• What does that mean?
• What significance does that have for the Tabernacle of David in relationship to the Church?

Verse 26: "Therefore, My heart rejoiced and My tongue was glad; moreover, My flesh also shall rest in hope; for You will not leave My soul in the grave, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (vs 26-27).

David said those words! I want you to think about Psa. 22 and what David went through the write those words beginning with, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' To where He was less than a worm and less than dust! To where He said, 'My back is ripped open and My heart is like a dry potsherd! I can count My ribs and see My bones!' The very words of Christ on the cross of crucifixion! David prophesied them!

It makes you wonder what his feelings were when he did that. I don't know, so don't ask me, but I do know that must have been powerful.

Verse 27: "…for You will not leave My soul in the grave, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." Everyone thought that meant David! That David really wouldn't die.

Verse 28: "'You did make Me to know the ways of life; You will fill Me with joy with Your countenance.' Men and brethren, let me speak to you freely concerning the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day…. [Peter starts right out talking about David] …Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him in an oath that from the fruit of his loins, as concerning the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit upon his throne; He foresaw this and spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in the grave, nor did His flesh see corruption" (vs 28-31).

So, there is David 1 and David 2! It was not of himself that he was speaking this.

Verse 32: "This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this that you are now seeing and hearing. For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he himself said, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand until I have made Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."'" (vs 32-35).

That's what the whole Church was based upon; that was the very foundation of the Church: the Tabernacle of David!

We're going to see a little later on what the whole key of David has to do with, the relationship between God and David and the understanding that David had of God, which we're going to see that no one else understood until the Church!

Acts 4:23: "Now, after being released, they came to their own brethren and reported to them all that the chief priests and elders had said. And when they heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord and said, 'O Master, You are the God Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that are in them, Who by the mouth of Your servant David did say, "Why did the nations insolently rage… [tie in Psa. 2] …and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ."'" (vs 23-26). Then it goes on talking about Jesus Christ.

Now let's see how the Apostle Paul confirmed this concerning Christ of the seed of David.

Romans 1:1: "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart to preach the Gospel of God, which He had promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son; Who came from the seed of David according to the flesh, Who was declared the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ our Lord; through Whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith…" (vs 1-5).

If you want to confound some of your anti-law people, you've got right there in v 5. If faith requires no obedience, how can you be obedient to the faith? Jesus said, 'Go learn what that means!'

Let's see how David was called. David the son of Jesse was #8 and not #8 (correcting and error). How many days are there in a week? Seven! When we come to the first day of the week, we have a new beginning, the starting of a new week. Same way in music, there are seven notes and the eighth one is a new octave, a new beginning. So, it's the same way with God's plan. He does it in such a way that it's really nifty. There are seven Holy Days, plus one, being the Passover at the beginning.

So, you have the Passover and seven days of Unleavened Bread. Then you have seven weeks plus one: Pentecost. Then you go the seventh month and you have the first day of the seventh month, which is Feast of Trumpets. Then you come to the Day of Atonement—7+3=10 (judgment) 2 x 5 (double grace). So, the judgment won't be executed upon us, but we'll have double grace. Then you come to the Feast of Tabernacles—seven days plus one at the end.

So, we have 1+7 to start and we have 7+1 to end, and in each case it's a new beginning. We're going to see that all the way through. And David being the eighth son was a new beginning of the kingship to replace Saul.

David was brought in from the sheep cootie and the Lord said:

1-Samuel 16:12: "And he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy with beautiful countenance and good form. And the LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him" (vs 12-14).

You might study in contrast, and ask why was the Spirit taken from Saul? If your study gets to the point where you don't know how to study, just kind of drop your Bible on the table and where it flops open that where you study. Go back and study the difference between Saul and David.

Then he went out to the battle and came out to the giant who stood out there and railed, curse, ranted and raged—Goliath—and David took care of him with the most innocent thing you could ever think of.

Saul said that David could go to battle but you have to put on armor. They brought him in and put on the armor and gave him a sword and the shield and he stood there, Clank! Clank! and said, 'I can't use this! I'll do like I did when I killed the lion and the bear.' He took his slingshot and went on down by the brook and picked up five smooth stones.

I've never been able to make a slingshot that you can whirl around the head and make it go where I wanted it to go. When you can do it, it's just like shooting a gun.

He reached down and go that and said to this giant, 'I come to you in the name of the Living God!' The giant looked down and said, 'You! They sent a rat out to fight me, a champion!' So, David took the stone and wound it up and let it go and it whacked the giant in the forehead, just like a bullet right through his head and he fell down dead!

David ran over and picked up Goliath's sword, lopped off his head; he took care of it, and he did it in the name of the Lord!

1-Sam. 22 has to do with us! When David was being chased by Saul what did David live in? In a tent, caves and slept on the ground!

1-Samuel 22:1: "And David left there and escaped to the cave Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard, they went down there to him…. [tie in with 1-Cor. 1:26] …And every man in distress, and every man who had a creditor, and every man bitter of soul, gathered themselves to him. And he became commander over them. And about four hundred men were with him" (vs 1-2).

Not much of an army; the raggle-taggles, rejects, the cast aside, the dung of society. That's pretty much what we're like in relationship to the establishment. In relationship to the establishment churches, this is us! What is happening to them?

{transcriber's note: part of the audio is missing}

Eli was so derelict that the lamp of God and the Word of God was almost extinguished in Israel. They didn't know God. The priests were sons of Belial, which means corrupt and no good!

• committed adultery
• stole the offerings before they were properly offered
• they had a battle with the Philistines

They said, 'We'll get the Lord on our side, because when we go to battle we take the Ark of God before us.' So, they went into the tabernacle at Shiloh and they took the Ark out of the Holy of Holies and they ran off to battle the Philistines. God was not with them! Carrying the Ark did not force God to be with them, because they were not righteous!

They lost the battle, Eli's two sons were killed because God prophesied that in one day that 'You, Eli, and your sons are going to die the same day.' The messenger came running back to Eli and said that the battle is lost and the Philistines have taken the Ark and Eli fell over backward and hit his head on a rock and died.

The Philistines took the Ark! Now it's separated from the tabernacle. And, of course, they had a few problems because they weren't supposed to have it.

As they do in war when they win, they put the trophies in the temple of their god. So, the Philistines put the Ark of God right before Dagon! The next morning Dagon was fallen over, bowing down to worship before God!

So, they set him back up and the next day he fell down again. Set him back up, and the next day he was in pieces and they couldn't salvage Dagon. Then all of sudden the country began to be filled with mice everywhere, and they had a problem, a huge, big problem! The greatest plague of hemorrhoids in the world! They all got hemorrhoids!

They were suffering and suffering! This went on a total of seven months, and finally they asked one of their priests what was going on. They said, 'We're in trouble with Yahweh! We better get rid of that Ark.' So, they said they would make an offering to God out of gold. They made symbolic hemorrhoids out of gold and symbolic mice and put it in a newly built cart and they put the Ark of God there, and they were lucky they weren't struck dead! God didn't strike them dead because He wanted the Ark back.

They took a goat that had never been milked or ridden, and harnessed up to the cart and headed it out toward Israel and said, 'Bye! Bye!' with much relief! So, it came to the town of Kirjath Jearim and it rested for 20 years and God blessed the house where it rested.

Then after 20 years David said, 'We've got to get the Ark of God from Kirjath Jearim.' They built a cart and ran down there and brought it back. On the way back to Jerusalem, it hit a bump in the road and Uzza reached up to touch the Ark and ZAP! he was dead and the whole operation was stopped. They put the Ark back down and David mourned, and wondered: 'O God, what did I do wrong?' He didn't check with God first!

So, David brought in the priests and asked them what to do. They said that in the Scriptures only the Levites can bring the Ark. David said they would go get the Ark of God and you Levites carry it. They brought it back—not to the tabernacle—to the house of David!

Zadok the priest operated a special tent, a special Tabernacle of David to house the Ark, and the Ark stayed there until the dedication of the temple.

In his Psalm David said, 'I have seen the Lord always before me.' The reason that the Church is called The Tabernacle of David is because just as David had direct access to God, directly to the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was. When David prayed, he was before that. When David wrote his Psalms, he was before the Ark in his house. That's why he was there one day:

2-Samuel 7:1: "And it came to pass when the king dwelt in his house, and when the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, 'See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within curtains'" (vs 1-2)—in the tent that David had made!

That's why David was really lamenting. Here God had done all these things for him, called him out of shepherding the sheep, set him up as king and here God is just living in a little ole measly tent. So, David said that he had to build a house for God.

God said, 'No, you're not going to build a house for Me, I'm going to build one for you! Furthermore, even though you're a man after My own heart, you cannot build it because you're a bloody man. Your son Solomon will build it. However, I'm going to give you personally the plans on how to construct the temple.'

So, it goes from the Tabernacle of David, which is likened to the Church, into the reign and rule of Solomon, which was likened to the Millennium, and into the Temple of God! At that time, the tabernacle was brought up from Gibeon, and the Ark was brought up from the house of David and united in the Temple of God.

Brethren, the reason that the Church is called The Tabernacle of David is because we have that direct access to God just like David did with the aright in front of his eyes every day.

Maybe we can understand why some of these Psalms are so absolutely fantastic. God was there, and God's Spirit was there, and David was inspired of God's Spirit. That's why of David's seed Christ would come, because he was that close to God. That's why there's so much written about David.

Just like all the companions of David—the rejects, the unwanted, the malcontent (according to the establishment)—God brings us all together!

God expects us to have our hearts healed in the Tabernacle of David! Then we will also be in the Temple of God!

Revelation 3:7: "And to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, write…"

I tell you one thing that all of those rejects and malcontents must have had in common: they loved each other and they loved David! When they were chased all around the countryside they took care of each other. Philadelphia means love of the brethren! They were the brethren of David and David loved them.

Remember that one of the battles was 'Who is going to get me a drink of water.' One of the warriors said he would get him a drink of water. He had to go fight one of the enemies and they went in they fought and it was a bloody battle! What they brought back was 400 foreskins of the uncircumcised Gentiles they were fighting.

David said, 'I can't drink of that water because of what you have done for me in risking your life. ' So, David loved those people! Another clue to Philadelphia!

"…'These things says the Holy One, the One Who is true; the One Who has the key of David…'" (v 7).

I think we'll see that the Key of David has nothing to do with prophecy; it may in the secondary or tertiary manner, but not the primary.

"'…Who opens and no one shuts, and Who shuts and no one opens. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, and no one has the power to shut it because you have a little strength… [just like David] …and have kept My Word… [just like David] …and have not denied My name…. [even in the sin of Bathsheba] …Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who proclaim themselves to be Jews and are not, but do lie…. [just like the enemies that fought David] …Behold, I will cause them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you" (vs 7-9).

They all ended up giving tribute to David and to Solomon!

Verse 10: "Because you have kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep you from the time of temptation, which is about to come upon the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly; hold fast that which you have so that no one may take away your crown. The one who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God… [because now you're going to graduate from the Tabernacle of David to the Temple of God] …and he shall not go out anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from My God; and I will write upon him My new name. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (vs 10-13).

That, brethren, is why the Church is like the Tabernacle of David. You have direct access to God the Father almost as if it's face-to-face without directly seeing Him!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Acts 15:8-17
• Amos 9:11-15
• Mark 11:1-3, 8-10
• Matthew 22:41-46
• Psalm 110:1-7
• Psalm 132:1-12
• Revelation 3:21
• Psalm 110:13-18
• Hebrews 2:1
• Hebrews 3:12-15, 19
• Hebrews 4:1-11
• Acts 2:25-35
• Acts 4:23-26
• Romans 1:1-5
• 1 Samuel 16:12-14
• 1 Samuel 22:1-2
• 2 Samuel 7:1-2
• Revelation 3:7-13

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 20:4-6
• Ezekiel 37
• Psalm 2
• 1 Corinthians 1:26

Also referenced: Sermons: What is the Key of David? #s 1&2

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1/24/19