Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

Amos is preaching to the Northern Kingdom, and bringing judgement as a message. The Northern Kingdom was about to fall to the Assyrians, and in the midst of this message, Amos provided hope, a message that spoke of the future kingdom of God, and the tabernacle of David.

The ESV uses the term “booth” to translate the Hebrew סֻכָּה sook-kaw’, and it is typically describing a temporary shelter. Amos is not speaking of the temple built by Solomon, but of a tabernacle.

Consider – Is Amos bringing to the Northern Kingdoms attention the old days, when the ark of the covenant would reside in a collapsible tent, constructed under the care of Moses, with the glory of God manifesting as a pillar of fire or a vertical cloud over it.

For this passage in Amos, the tabernacle (or the booth) of David had fallen. Note that he refers to the tabernacle of David, but I assumed (wrongly) that the tabernacle was associated with Moses in this verse. I need to read the Scriptures for what it says!

Yes, the original tabernacle was built and managed by Moses. The tabernacle of David is something far different.

1 Chronicles 15:1 David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

David, even while the original tabernacle (associated with Moses) stood, took the ark of the covenant from the Holy of Holies, brought it to Mount Zion, pitched a tent, and began a completely new order of worship.

1 Chronicles 16:37 So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister regularly before the ark as each day required,
1 Chronicles 16:38 and also Obed-edom and his sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.
1 Chronicles 16:39 And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon

Notice that Zadok the priest was in Gibeon, while Asaph and his brothers were to minister before the ark of the covenant, the very heart of the original tabernacle. (Somehow, if I had been Zadok, I think I would have felt ripped off!)

There is so much more to speak of, but Amos is speaking of a tent/tabernacle/booth containing only the ark of the covenant, in Jerusalem, with direct access to the ark for worship.

When James speaks of the tabernacle of David in Acts, there is much more to the word picture than I first imagined. The tabernacle of David represented direct access to the ark, representing God Himself. The tabernacle of David was a simpler, much more humble tent than the original tabernacle. The tabernacle of David was approached by many in Jerusalem, and singing was a large component of the worship.

During the reign of David, the tabernacle of David was a beautiful picture of Jesus, being the approachable Messiah, humble in appearance, available for worship, and lastly, a temporary structure, for the day would come that the tabernacle of the body of Jesus would be tore down!

Thankfully, God raised Jesus from the dead, and from the empty grave, the Messiah restored the tabernacle of David, which we humbly call the church nowadays.

The tabernacle of David, the body of Christ, is open for the remnant of mankind, and for all the gentiles called by the name of the Lord. May the increase of the David’s tabernacle be great, and may we remember that like David’s tabernacle of old, the New Testament tabernacle of David is to be approachable, humble and realize it’s own temporary status on earth.

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