39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 23:39-43
Have you ever felt like the Lord put you into a specific place or circumstances for a time even though you didn’t know the reason? The Feast of Tabernacles starts today as outlined above in Leviticus. It was and is a time for the Israelites to live in temporary shelters remembering the ways in which God provided for them in that time as they lived in tents and had to rely on God to meet their needs.
It occurred to me this week that we are still living in temporary shelters. Yes, most of us live in houses that are fairly permanent in their structure but over and over again Jesus tells us this world is not our home. There are many scriptures that reference earth as our temporary dwelling place and then 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 refers to our physical bodies as our earthly tent it says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
Have you ever wondered why the Israelites had to go through the wilderness before the Promised Land? Why did God deliver them out of slavery and into a desert with little water, little food, the sun beating down, and a transient lifestyle. One would think that the 400 years as slaves was enough preparation for the Promise Land, hadn’t they already suffered enough to earn this season of rest and refreshment free from captivity?
Did God owe them deliverance from Egypt? They hadn’t done anything to deserve slavery and yet neither had they done anything to prove worthy of deliverance by the hand of God. Yet God chose to deliver them, he chose to free them, and he chose to do so through a man named Moses. But after a great deliverance through the Red Sea on dry ground where God wiped out their enemies they are delivered into…the wilderness. They lived in tents and moved when God said to move. They followed the cloud of his presence by day (shade) and pillar of fire by night (warmth and light). They learned dependence because they were hungry and thirsty and didn’t know where they were going.
I was looking at a word in Hebrew earlier this week “yanach,” which “describes the intentional act of causing something or someone to rest, remain, or be set down in a determined place or condition (Topical Lexicon). The same word is used for items set aside for specific purposes like in the tabernacle. I can’t help but think of many people I know that feel they have been put in a place right now for undetermined reasons where they are unsure of what is next as they lean into the Lord. Or maybe they know the destination, but they aren’t there yet and they are wondering, “When, Lord?” —much like the Israelites in their tents. They knew they were headed to the promise land, but the specifics were not given, all they knew at that time was they were in the wilderness and it was not ideal. But what was God was doing in the wilderness?
This was a people getting reacquainted with God. Their time in the wilderness was teaching them that he is faithful. He provided provision, protection and instruction for them. When they were thirsty, he provided water for them and when they were hungry, he sent food. Yet they still longed for the old ways many times. They still longed to go back to what seemed easier though it was not, some days they considered captivity more ideal than the preparation for the Promised Land. How often do we do the same? God puts us in a place that requires dependence on him and instead we panic, we worry, we try to make things happen on our own. Often that place is to prepare us for the next. If we don’t learn to trust God in the times of lack then we will certainly not trust him in the place of abundance.
All of us who are followers of Christ Jesus are in this wilderness season in a way, living between being freed from captivity and awaiting the final fulfillment of the promise, eternity with him. We are set into this specific moment of time for a specific reason.
I think it was why God wanted them and us to continue to remember and celebrate the time that they lived in tents – as a reminder that this is not the final destination.
The Lord God brought the Israelites “out of” in order to bring them “in to”. He does the same for each of us who are willing to go. He takes us out of the captivity of this world and into his promises both present and future.
Do not let the surroundings cause you to lose faith or turn back, rather let the One who is faithful lead you forward filling you with his light.
Remember how he cared for the Israelites and “tabernacled” (to dwell, reside or pitch a tent) with them in the wilderness, and again as he sent his son Jesus, and once more when he indwelt our earthly bodies with his Holy Spirit – and one day when we will dwell with him for all eternity. But there is still work to do, there is a harvest to be gathered, and many are still stuck in Egypt or turning back to Egypt. Let that not be us. Let us not forget that this is our temporary residence and something far greater awaits us.
“15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:15-16
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