DAVID - Easton's Bible Dictionary

DAVID, CITY OF - Easton's Bible Dictionary

DAVID - The new Bible Dictionary

JERUSALEM - Easton's Bible Dictionary

JERUSALEM. - The new Bible Dictionary

By comparison to Moses Tabernacle, there is relatively little mention of the Tabernacle of David in Scripture. David's Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant's journey to it, is set out in 2 Samuel and confirmed in 1 Chronicles. Other direct references are found in Amos and Acts.

Prior to this time, the Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling place of God in Moses Tabernacle was, at the suggestion of the elders of Israel, taken into battle against the Philistines, the Jews old enemy. A battle in which the Israelites were coming off second best! As the motivation was 'human hope' rather than 'God obedience', the battle was lost, 30,000 Israelites killed, and the Ark captured.

However, after 7 months the Philistines had had enough of their battle trophy, after their God Dagon was humiliated in his own temple and the people of Akdod and Ekron plagued with tumours.

The Israelites at Beth Shemesh were delighted to see the Ark return. That was, until 70 of their men, full of curiosity, looked inside the Ark to see what was there. In one word - death! For them! For sinful man cannot exist in God's presence. Naturally the people were now very afraid and removed the Ark out of the way, up the local hill to Abinadab's house at Kirjath-jearim, where they appointed his son Eleazar to keep further curious onlookers away! The Ark remained there for about 70 years, from the sunset of the priest Eli's years, through much of Samuel's life and all through the reign of King Saul. Until his successor, King David, decided it was now time to bring the Ark up to his capital of Jerusalem. This enabled David to establish priestly as well as kingly authority over the nation. The journey was only 7 miles (12km) but over a rough road.

Let's follow the story as it is recorded in 2 Samuel.

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. 9 David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household. 12 Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. 17 They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. 20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” 21 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. (2 Samuel 6:1-23)

We are now going to follow the journey and see how it reflects the walk that God is calling His disciples to in these final days. Indeed, how David's Tabernacle is a picture, a representation, of God's beautiful, overcoming, end time church.

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:1-7)

David had a real heart for the Lord. He was also an astute ruler who understood the need to bring the priestly and kingly functions together in order to cement his role as leader of the nation. For Israel had always been an accumulation of tribes with diverse 'family' loyalties rather than a single nation state. In particular, there was a divide between the northern 10 tribes and the southern two, Judah and Benjamin. Moses Tabernacle was well established at Gibeah in the north under the High Priest Zadok and provided the potential to become a power base from which rebellion against David's rule could be initiated. Ironically though, finally it was Zadok who remained loyal and Abiathar, the High Priest in Jerusalem, who was disloyal. Zadok eventually replaced Abiathar, so unifying the High Priesthood again.

The city of Jerusalem, itself, was located in the territory of Benjamin, a politically acceptable location close to the border of the northern and southern tribal areas. So for David, this was an opportunity to combine matters of the heart, in wanting to have the Ark of the presence of His Lord near to him, and his desire to unify the kingdom under his rulership.

So David, in his enthusiasm, gathered together 30,000 representatives from amongst the people, gathering at Baalah and proceeding, no doubt with great excitement and celebration, the short distance to Kirjath-jearim to bring back the Ark to Jerusalem.

In their enthusiasm to get on with the job, they forgot God's instruction about the Levites carrying the Ark, then only when covered in cloth. Celebrating before the Lord with songs and instruments, they loaded the Ark onto a cart to be pulled by oxen back to its new home, a simple tent in Jerusalem.

They proceeded along the rough road with great rejoicing, However, when they came to Nacon's threshing floor, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark. Uzzah dropped dead! The celebration stopped!

This is a clear picture of the many enthusiastic Christians around the world who truly want to do great things for God. But instead of seeking His guidance as to what to do and how to do it, they implement their own ideas and proceed in their own strength. In fact, this is what most Christians do! We implement and participate in multitudinous programmes that keep us busy, make us feel good, but end up bearing little or no fruit. We have all been there and done that!

While infectious enthusiasm is an admirable human trait, God is seeking today those prepared to follow His instructions. To do what he asks, when he asks, in the way he asks! Those prepared to put aside their own ideas and aspirations to do things God's way. Often this means waiting until God is ready! For God's time, invariably, is longer than ours!

So there is a call for us to put aside our own thoughts, dreams and aspirations, however well intentioned they might be, and follow the instructions of our heavenly leader! For the self motivated amongst us, this is particularly difficult, as I well know.

Two subjects we hear very little about in the church today are 'fear of the Lord' and 'judgement'. Yet both are at the heart of a balanced faith.

Let's see how, shall we?

We all know about burnout, don't we! So much to do and so little time to do it!

But, as we will see over the next few weeks, God's ways are different to ours. So different, in fact, that we are going to have to revolutionise our ways of thinking about 'church' and 'ministry' in order that we might enter into His will for these end times.

The New Testament and the Abyss

In the New Testament, the sea symbolizes chaos, evil, and evil beings. The depths of the sea were seen as the home of demons—a place called the Abyss, according to Jewish tradition. Luke records Jesus’ casting out of demons who beg not to be sent into the Abyss: When Jesus sends them there anyway, they enter a herd of pigs that plunges into the sea (Luke 8:21).

John also referred to the Abyss in his revelation (9:1,11; 11:7; 17:8). He describes it as the abode of the evil one—Satan (Rev. 20:1—3). He writes that someday the devil himself will rise from the sea (Rev. 13: 1—11).

At one point during his ministry, Jesus compared the fates of Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that Capernaum would go down to the “depths.” Most likely, the people understood this as a reference to hell itself. To them, Jesus’ miracles on the sea meant more than simply that he had power over the forces of nature—they also symbolized his power over evil.

Source: http://www.followtherabbi.com