Living in tents
"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1)
"By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise." (Hebrews 11:9)
July 25, 2024
Dear friends,
For the Christian, life in this world is like being on a long camping trip. Camping has its good moments -- mountain sunrises, woodland sounds, beautiful views, and the smell of the campfire. But most of us -- especially after being in a leaky tent, swatting mosquitoes, and sleeping on hard ground -- most of us want to get back to our "real" homes, to our beds, our coffeemaker, our heat and AC, a clean bathroom, and a roof over our heads.
Many of God's people down through the ages have lived in tents. The patriarchs, for example (Heb 11:9), and the Israelites on the way to the promised land did so, as well. For many years God's chosen place of worship was a large tent (the "tabernacle"). When Jesus came into the world, he "tabernacled" (or "pitched his tent" = "dwelt") among us (John 1:14). In fact, much of Jesus' ministry took place as he and his disciples traveled and camped together.
Similarly, the Apostle Peter speaks of Christians as sojourners and exiles: "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:10-11) We are without a permanent home in this world.
In his second epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul describes our very bodies -- weak, frail, vulnerable human flesh-- as tents which will one day be destroyed. He writes of the difficulties of living in this world, that we groan inwardly (Rom 8:23) and that we are wearing away outwardly (2 Cor 4:16). Yet, Paul says, "...we do not lose heart" (4:16), and "...we are always of good courage" (5:6).
Why does he say this? He says it because there’s a permanent home waiting for us at the end of the road! We're still living in leaky tents, and like weary tent-dwellers all through history we are looking forward to something permanent and glorious, namely, our new resurrection bodies, and enjoying God's kingdom forever. Here is a beautiful picture of that permanence: "The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name." (Revelation 3:12)
We do not lose heart because we are on the road to "the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb 11:10). That means we should view life in this world as a kind of a camping trip, or better, a pilgrimage. We are temporary residents here, seeking to serve the Lord and love others until the Lord returns, or we go to him.
This doesn't mean we can't enjoy the creation that God has made, we can (1 Tim 4:1-5). What it means is that we are to live in this world lightly, joyfully, patiently, and with eyes uplifted. We can endure inconveniences, difficulties, weaknesses, rejections, and opposition, because we are on the road to our permanent abode. We can put up with hard ground and leaky tents because we're homeward bound.
MISCELLANEOUS.
-- I'm currently reading Esther, 2 Corinthians, The Pilgrim's Regress by C. S. Lewis, and The Fatherhood of God by Robert S. Candlish. Also, I'm continuing to work my way through Pascal's Pensées.
-- "I see that Christian religion wherein prophecies are fulfilled... If one man alone had made a book of predictions about Jesus Christ, as to the time and the manner, and Jesus Christ had come in conformity to these prophecies, this fact would have infinite weight. But there is much more here. Here is a succession of men during four thousand years, who, consequently and without variation, come, one after another, to foretell this same event." (Blaise Pascal, on biblical prophecies)
-- Here's a handy timeline for the period of Israel's exile and return to the land.
-- In a recent group study, we went through the following passages to help us know how to pray for our nation: 1 Kings 3:7-9; Psalm 118:8-9; Proverbs 14:34; 16:12; 29:26; Jeremiah 29:7; 51:46; Daniel 2:21; 4:32-37; Matthew 5:44-45; Romans 13:7; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Revelation 6:15-17.
-- “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
-- What did J. I. Packer read? Here's his library digitized and online for free.
-- "Why write? Penmanship for the 21st century." (Watch to the end for a cool surprise!)
FINAL QUOTES.
"God fits our souls here to possess a glorious body after; and he will fit the body for a glorious soul." (Richard Sibbes)
"The resurrection and judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait." (A. W. Tozer)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.