Does God Need a House? The Tabernacle: Dwelling and Kvelling
We recently announced the opening of The Shalom House, our new ministry center in Roswell, GA. We are so excited for our ministry to have a place to call home! This wonderful blessing has us thinking about the concept of a house. Throughout Scripture, God is depicted as being housed in the Tabernacle, the Temple, and later taking up residence within the very bodies of his people by the Holy Spirit.
King Solomon, who built the first temple in Jerusalem, asked a good question: “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).
God created the universe (Gen 1:1), and the whole earth is full of his glory (Is 6:3). Why would he need a place to live? Much less a place built with human hands? Does God need a house? The answer to this question is no, of course not. But he wants a home with us. A place to dwell with his people, to tell his story, and to kvell (rejoice) over his children.
A Place to Dwell
The plan of God from beginning to end has always been to spread his kingdom over the whole world. He appointed humans to represent him and to extend his righteous reign and perfect peace on the earth. A central facet of God’s kingdom is his presence. God desires to be present - to dwell (remain, reside) with his people.
In the Garden of Eden, God walked and talked with Adam and Eve. Though that fellowship was lost because of sin, God’s desire to dwell with his people remained. He chose Abraham and his descendents (Israel) to represent him on the earth.
When God brought the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, among the first things he communicated to Moses were instructions to build the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle, a precursor to the Temple, was so important to God that 50 out of the 187 chapters of the Torah are dedicated to it!
The Hebrew word for the Tabernacle is Mishkan. This comes from the Hebrew root shakhan meaning “to dwell.” The Tabernacle means the dwelling place. In Modern Hebrew, this is the same root from which the words for “neighbor” and “neighborhood” are derived. God literally moved into the neighborhood to live among his people!
Later in the story, God himself would come, take on flesh, and dwell or “tabernacle” among us in Jesus the Messiah (John 1:14). Stepping on to the scene, he declared that “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt 3:2). Now those of us who know him receive the very presence of God - the Holy Spirit - to live inside us. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16).
A Place to Tell
Another purpose of the Tabernacle, and later of the Temple, was to tell Israel and the nations who God is. The Tabernacle demonstrated his holiness and glory in the physical realm. While God desired to live among his people, many rules and regulations had to be put in place in order to make that possible. It was in the Tabernacle where sacrifices were made. The priestly and sacrificial systems were put in place as a gracious measure to atone for sin, and also to show Israel what God was like and how to relate to him.
The design of the Tabernacle itself tells about God and his plan of redemption. Detailed instructions for its construction were given to Moses directly from heaven. Each ceremonial component is deeply significant: the bronze laver, the table of showbread, the menorah and the holy incense… We can learn amazing insights about the nature of God from the pattern of the Tabernacle - far too many to describe here!
The Ten Commandments, or the tablets of the testimony, were kept in the most holy place of the Tabernacle, inside the Ark of the Covenant, as a reminder of the special relationship between God and Israel. It was this special relationship, reflected in the Torah and the many laws given to Israel, that was meant to set Israel apart as a holy nation. God desired that Israel would be a light to the nations, drawing them to worship him. “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” (Deut 4:6-7).
A Place to Kvell
Kvell is a fabulous Yiddish word. (Yiddish is dialect combining Hebrew and German spoken historically by European Jews). It means “to delight, to feel or express joy or triumph; to exclaim joyfully or proudly.” This expression is particularly used when a person is boasting about a family member. Picture a grandfather who just cannot stop delighting in his grandchild. He tells everyone he knows about them, showing off pictures every chance he gets! He’s kvelling!
We are made in the image of a God who truly delights in people. In the Garden of Eden, he walked with Adam in the cool of the day. I wonder if he kvelled to the angels about how proud he was of his creation! The prophet Zephaniah describes God kvelling over Israel: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with loud singing” (Zeph 3:17). He’s kvelling!
The Tabernacle was also called the “Tent of Meeting.” It was a place where the congregation, the family of God, came together to meet with him and bring their offerings and requests. A central part of life at the Tabernacle involved the yearly festivals - the Feasts of the Lord (Lev 23).
Think about that for a moment: the commandments of the Torah involved massive amounts of celebration! God is fun! We serve a rejoicing God! The purpose of these Feasts of the Lord was to put in place a yearly reminder, a memorial to who God is - to worship and thank him for all he has done.
Jesus celebrated these feasts along with the people of Israel. Passover, Pentecost (Weeks or Shavuot), Rosh Hashanah, and the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths or Sukkot), among others. Not only that, but he is prophetically pictured in these feasts and he used them to teach about himself.
The whole Jewish calendar tells both a historic and a prophetic story. This month (Oct 16-24th) we celebrate Sukkot, which hearkens back to the 40 years when the Israelites were camped around the Tabernacle in booths (called sukkot). Jewish people all over the world build booths and rejoice in them for eight days. We look forward to the ultimate fulfillment of this feast when Jesus returns to establish his Kingdom, and “the tabernacle of God is with man” (Rev 21:3).
The Shalom House!
We can’t stop kvelling about The Shalom House! Our ministry now has a place to dwell in Roswell and to tell people about our hope in Messiah! In this ministry center we will have special events for the Jewish festivals, teach Bible studies on the Jewish roots of our faith and messianic prophecy, and even host Israeli travelers passing through Atlanta.
It’s a house where we want everyone to feel welcome to learn and ask questions about Israel, the Jewish people, and faith in Jesus as Messiah. It is already becoming a very special place. We need your prayers and support as we move forward with this vision.
We have dedicated The Shalom House to the Lord! We pray his presence will be felt by all who enter. That his word and gospel are received by many. And that all who come to visit will rejoice with us in his mighty work!
By Anna Beth Havenar
Director of Communications and Community Outreach