A Study of the Tabernacle: Is God Distant?

Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you? Maybe you are facing things that seem devastating and oppressive. Perhaps you feel taken advantage of by people who are only concerned about their own gain. It may be that wave after wave after wave of discouraging things have crashed against your hopes and dreams eroding the foundation of what you believe about the provision and protection of God. In desperation and frustration you cry out the words of Gideon from Judges 6:13, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord deliver us from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us . . .”

Feeling abandoned by God is not a new thing. Each generation faces the question of whether God is real and cares. Gideon mentions the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, but before God sent Moses and brought the 10 plagues to deliver Israel, what do you suppose that generation’s thoughts were about the provision and protection of God? Does He not see what we are going through? Sure, God had foretold these 400 years of oppression to our father, Abraham, but doesn’t God see how desperate we are? Can’t He feel our pain and recognize that enough is enough? It is hard to worship a God who seems so removed from the struggles we face in this life!

Perhaps, this is part of the reason behind the orders by God to build the Tabernacle while they are camped at Mt. Sinai, awaiting the march to the Promised Land. They had been witnessing His power and presence through the pillar of fire & cloud and the gift of manna each morning, but what about a God who actually dwells within their camp? Who had ever heard of such a thing? What might that do to provide comfort in the midst of the trials and challenges that come with living in this world? And, suppose this Tabernacle provides the foreshadow of an even deeper longing that God desires in His relationship with mankind? Instead of a God who dwells within the camp, suppose, through the Tabernacle, He pointed to a way that would allow Him access to take up residence within our hearts?

Over the next eleven weeks (or so), we will consider the various elements that were part of the Tabernacle and how they pointed to the plan of God to bring mankind into a relationship with Himself through the work of His own Son, Jesus. We will see that abandoning us is the farthest thing from His mind! So, you want a relationship with the God of the universe? Guess what? He wants one with you as well—up close and personal! And, He wants to give us plenty of reason to trust in His provision and protection through the things Jesus came to do on our behalf! He is not a distant God—He wants to live right in our midst!!!

Click to listen to sermon.

-Scott