THE APOSTOLIC MANDATE

Topic: WORSHIP IN THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID (Offering Spiritual Sacrifices)

TABERNACLE OF DAVID COMPARED TO THE TABERNACLE OF MOSES The difference between the two Tabernacles is not Principles, but objects of sacrifice . When Gentiles came to the faith, it took the New Covenant church, which was Jewish and Israeli only by then, to decide on the Gentiles who were coming to the faith of the New Covenant Messianic Community by then. Jocob (James) in Acts 15:13-17 qoutes Amos 9:11. Jacob was revealing what God was doing in that season, that the Lord is rebuilding the Tabanacle of David which had fallen. It is in this Tabernacle that the rest of mankind will worship or seek God from. It is here that we understand that the New Covenant community or khehillah (ekklēsia or church) of the Messiah has a Tabernacle different from that of Moses. What is different in the two Tabernacles is not the principles of worship. The principle of worship is the same but the objects of sacrifice are different. In Moses's Tabernacle, animals were offered, the cecrifice represented the priest and his people, in the Messianic Davidic Tabernacle, the Messiah Himself who was and still is the High Priest became the sacrifice. The Priest and the sacrifice became one. In this Tabernacle the priest offers himself. So the Messianic Community are Kings and Priests who offer themselves as sacrifices (Rom 12:1-3). Paul exhorted his Roman audience to present themselves as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1-2) . Spiritual sacrifice is when a priest presents himself (1 Peter 2:5). So we offer spiritual sacrifice by our daily devoted lives to Yeshua the Meshiach. All believers in the Messiah, Jews and Gentiles can then access the presence of God in this Tabernacle, unlike that of Moses which only the High Priest could access the Kabod (Presence) only once a year. In the next episode we will deal with ways to practically offer sacrifices daily. Shalom Tehillah-James Mokgola