Greetings.

I pray my posts would bear witness; you would experience eating at the Lord’s table – well fed with strong meat – inspired, encouraged, and hopeful.

The last thing I want is for my posts to be purely informational.

I hope for you, and for me as well, they are windows into more of God.

I pray the revelation of the Lord would ignite your heart for the deep things of God in his Word and Spirit.

The glory cloud of God is moving on, let’s make sure our tents move with it.

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The Tabernacle of David is a compelling story, in sharp contrast with the Tabernacle of Moses.

The Tabernacle of Moses was the place to be in it’s day. It had it’s season of glory.

But God captured David’s heart, and with it, David captured God’s, and brought the presence of God, the Ark of the Covenant, to Jerusalem.

The story of God is dynamic, an unfolding river of revelation and relationship, not to be contained for long in any particular locale or man-made dwelling.

Relationship with Jesus is as vibrant as anything imagined.

He’s not one to let the status quo capture him, but, at the right time and in the right season, having prepared everything, takes the risk to venture men and women into the wilderness with him.

Oh, how dull and boring Christianity is without the presence of Christ!

But God, even in the midst of the Old Covenant, with all its traditions and ordinances, having established the Tabernacle of Moses for centuries, did an astounding new work – he birthed a new move of his Spirit.

Enter David

The kingdom was being torn from Saul – Saul’s flesh having beaten him from pioneering the new work of a King and the “type” and precedent it would establish for Israel and for the Messiah to come – so God took it upon himself to rescue Israel, by anointing David.

The Lord, through the brokenness of Saul, drove David into the mountains and valleys of Israel, the wilderness school of God, and prepared a new King, one who would be disciplined and trained to take possession of the unimaginable, the glorious presence of God, symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant.

There is only one path to the presence of God, and it is through the wilderness with God.

It is in the wilderness where the revelation of faith by grace takes root, producing fruit for repentance – where the deeds of the body are finally put to death by the Spirit of the living God – opening the ground swells of living water from heaven, a new creation.

David’s journey removes all the fog about what it takes to gain and possess the fullness of Christ.

The Scripture is crystal clear, it takes a wilderness journey with Jesus.

The Tabernacle of David is an outward expression of the inward work God accomplished in David – fathering his son – during his sojourn.

God was the prize of David’s journey. He apprehended what the Lord apprehended him for.

The Prize – Jesus

The apostle Paul says it succinctly for you and me today, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (NIV, Philippians 3:14)

David did not have a clear understanding of what God was up to in the wilderness, but he submitted to the journey anyway.

Just like today as in days of old, God did a mysterious and surprising work of faith and obedience in David’s heart, rewarding him with his presence.

And he will with you as well!

The Ark of the Covenant, housed in David’s tent in Jerusalem, was a public display of God’s intimacy with David, and, David’s with him.

It was a testimony of David’s wilderness journey with the Lord – the defeat of sin – (a “type” of Christ’s journey and ours), preparing him for kingship, and, most importantly, unprecedented relationship his heavenly father.

Jesus said to the Church of Philadelphia, the end – time bride, “… I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” (NIV, Revelation 3:9)

The last day move of God, the end – time revival, the revelation of sonship in the bride – will manifest the unprecedented an unimaginable, and cause many to confess Christ is truly in the midst of this new work, and, be heartsick, they did not prepare.

This will not be an outward work of the flesh visible to the naked eye, but an inward witness, revelation, from the Father of his love for the bride.

David, his anointing and wilderness journey, the Tabernacle, and, his kingly rule and reign, is not only a type of Christ and Christ’s relationship with the Father, but is also a type of the bride – men and women “made” into “sons of God” from all eras, and, in particular for us, those at the end of the New Testament.

For us, standing on the edge of the New Testament, the bride has particular meaning, because, Revelation Chapter 12, and elsewhere in Scripture, specifically contrasts the Church from the bride in the closing days of the New Covenant.

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Tabernacle of Moses

The Tabernacle of Moses existed for hundreds of years and was not set aside until Solomon’s Temple.

In contrast to David’s Tabernacle (a type of Christ and the bride), the Tabernacle of Moses is a type of the Christian church at large – those, who for the most part, are satisfied living under Saul, and are not desiring or looking for the deep things of God in the adventure of the wilderness.

(Hebrews says, “… and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (NIV, 9:28))

The heart must be cultivated for the things of God.

It is the job of the church to cultivate our hearts for the deep things of God – to stir the passions of desire for more of Jesus.

In the absence of that, the heart drifts away or is content to settle for less.

The Tabernacle of Moses was a wilderness church at one time, but it lost its way through the traditions of men.

At the end of the Church age, the foolish virgins, who fail to buy enough oil for their lamps, miss being chosen by Christ.

For whatever reasons, they settled for less, instead of being cultivated and stirred up for more.

They are unprepared to enter the marriage supper, and tragically, are driven into a different wilderness, the wilderness of the Antichrist world kingdom at its worst (Revelation Chapters 12 and 13).

They lack the preparation of God’s wilderness, forfeiting what could’ve been their’s, and are left behind to face the mayhem of the end times.

The Tabernacle of Moses in its latter years symbolize those, who, for whatever reasons, miss the new move(s) of God, and, are left behind with centuries held traditions and beliefs.

Those centuries held traditions and beliefs will be insufficient armor in the new world order, they are subtly and quickly enveloped in the darkness of the world kingdom God had so diligently labored over decades for them to avoid.

God loves the church at large even though she has been unfaithful to seek and follow him.

He will not abandon those called by his name, even though they have been unfaithful to him, for he is faithful to the unfaithful, and that includes you and me in our wounds and sins. (2 Timothy 2:13).

Though the Church, the “pregnant woman” of Revelation Chapter 12, will face the wrath of the Antichrist world kingdom in fury (Chapter 13), God will not forsake her, walking her through the fire as he did Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, centuries before.

Only this time, heaven awaits the saints in the Tribulation on the other side of their trial – purchasing their own testimony of God’s faithfulness in the worst of circumstances – being saved for the eternal glories in Christ.

In the closing days of the New Testament era – sometime up ahead – the Church will be divided as never before, a bride, and those outside the bride.

There are many “types” in the Old Covenant depicting different stations in Christ.

The New Testament is rife with this understanding as well.

God’s heart is everyone would become the bride of Christ and enter into deep intimacy and union with him.

But the story of mankind, for the most part, is otherwise.

The foolish virgins, those who cleave to the things of this world instead of Christ, miss the grand and great adventure of the fullness of the gospel, and, most importantly, the intimate presence and union with the Father and the Son by the Spirit of God.

Clash of Kingdoms

Saul and David were anointed King’s.

Saul’s story is beyond the scope of this post but it is one, we as Christians, should be mindful – to not neglect the grace the Lord sends our way in his offering of love and care.

Let’s be counted among those who receive healing and restoration for our wounds and sinful practices accepting the Lord’s invitation to “make” you and me into a new creation, the promise of the gospel.

The story of Saul, the story of defiance and disobedience, is the story of men and women throughout history, following Adam and Eve’s fall, of course, excepting the second Adam, the Lord Jesus.

There are different types of defiance and disobedience and only the gentleness of Christ, and the care of his love and discipline, can bring good fruit out of a heart otherwise trained in the school of rebellion.

Jesus promised not to leave us as orphans!

He has not given up on you no matter what you may believe or think about yourself, or think about him.

Jesus has seen it all and he knows the vessel he can make you into regardless of your history, the depth of your fall, the pervasiveness of your wounds and sin.

Jesus has a redemptive story uniquely and particularly fashioned just for you and for me. Let’s let him fashion us into the people God designed us to be.

For whatever reasons, Saul failed to lean into the Lord – to receive from Samuel the ways of the Lord – to learn to be patient and inquire of the Lord in times of distress and brokenness.

Ultimately, Saul’s kingdom was to be torn from him along with the hope his descendants would rule.

Paul warns it is possible, though we do not like to consider these things, to be grafted into the tree (i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ), and then to be cut off, those who forsake the kindness of God, his grace, love, and care.

It’s a horrible thing even to think about. If you feel like you’ve been separated from the tree those are probably lying emotions and not true. We’re talking about extreme situations here.

Even if one has been separated from the tree, Jesus can graft that one back in again, and again!

He is no stranger to the wrong choices we’ve made – he is always for us and our only hope.

THE LOVE OF GOD IS TOWARD YOU AND ME NO MATTER HOW DEEPLY WE FALL – JESUS’ HAND IS OUTSTRETCHED ALL THE DAY LONG – HIS GENEROSITY WAITING TO GRASP YOUR HEART INTO HIS ARMS.

Though the kingdom was slowly being torn from Saul, God loved him and worked to bring repentance and forgiveness to Saul, through God’s goodness and kindness in David, toward him.

Yes, the goodness of David toward Saul in the midst of Saul’s pursuit of David was a testimony of God’s love for the man named Saul, and hope of his repentance.

David, a type of Christ, repeatedly offered God’s kindness to Saul hoping the fruit of humility would plant seeds of kindness and goodness in Saul’s heart.

God’s grace came to Saul first through Samuel and then through David – a wonderful picture of the gospel to mankind – the grace and truth of Jesus Christ offered to a lost and fallen world.

Saul represents a type of the lower nature – the hostility of our flesh and the brokenness of others in this world – chasing after us, tempting us to sin.

It is the agreements with sin and wounds – known and unknown – bound and determined to resist and fight against the work of Christ.

Passover and Pentecost will only take us so far.

The Feast of Tabernacles, represented in David’s wilderness journey and ultimate possession of the Ark of the Covenant, is a necessary journey if one is to receive healing and restoration in the deep areas of the body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

There is no substitute for the wilderness journey with the Lord.

We have the promises of God, the treasures of Christ, promised to you and me and those promises include the wilderness journey.

Saul’s reign ended in defeat; the Philistines a type of sin, destroying his flesh and the flesh of those in his camp, including his sons.

He and his lineage returned to the dust, cut off from the new work of God happening in their very midst, through the one Saul was trying to kill – how ironic!

New moves of God come under the most difficult of circumstances, scrutiny, criticism, and even persecution, not from the world, but from those who were formerly anointed to shepherd God’s people.

It’s sad, but it’s true. It’s been the history of the Church. And it is the history in the closing days of the Church as well.

Those who fight with Saul are a type of those who fight against their brethren, persecuting new moves of God, and a type of those who fall away – apostatize in the closing days of the New Testament era and end up, unless made new in the final wave of revival, in the fury of the eighth head of the beast (Revelation Chapter 13).

The Bible is not a fairy tale. Scripture coming to pass is more certain than the sun rising tomorrow. For both are ordained of God. The spiritual laws are just as powerful and certain as the natural.

The mighty men of David, and David, escape the carnage Saul and his sons faced at the hands of the Philistines, and established the kingdom of David – the new ushering in the more perfect, Solomon, a type of Christ’s millennial rule.

David is the bridge between the old ways and another deeper and more encompassing move of God, pictured in the rule of Solomon.

The vastness and richness of Christ’s millennial rule will only come after the Great Tribulation, which is preceded by the transition of the old ways to the new, the final end – time ministry of the bride of Christ.

We, who have the treasure trove of Scripture and the abundance of Christ are not asked to do the impossible, but asked to allow God to do the impossible in us.

Jesus stands at the door of your heart and mine, seeking permission to sup with you and me in the deep and intimate parts of our lives.

Surely, he can be trusted to take our hand and walk us through the deep.

The gentleness of Christ is knocking on the door of our hearts.

Blessings, Drake

(NIV) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™