1840- DAVID’S TENT

The other day I went thru the gospel of Mark.

Of course there’s a whole lot in the book- but I came across a story that I liked a lot.

In Marks gospel Jesus is with the disciples and they are going thru the fields picking the ‘ears of corn’ [note- you did not have corn- like we think- growing in the land at the time. They were picking grain. But the King James Bible- 1611- which I use- did translate the term corn].

Now- when the Pharisees saw this- it was the Sabbath day- they accused Jesus and his men of breaking Gods law.

Jesus responded by saying ‘have you never read the story of David when he was fleeing Saul- how he and his men ate the sacred bread- that is not lawful for men to eat- only the priests’.

I always liked this story because there is so much to unpack- let’s try to do a little.

Was it unlawful for the disciples to have done this?

Not really- the Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that rose up during the time of the captivity of the Jews a couple hundred years before the time of Christ.

They did serve a noble purpose at the start- they wanted to retain the culture and religious beliefs of Gods people during a time of displacement from their own land.

So this group established the synagogue system [sort of a Jewish ‘church’] and they would gather around on the Sabbath day and read the scriptures and be reminded of their heritage.

Okay- what happened to these brothers- like many other good things that meant well at the start- was after a while they became elitist.

They saw themselves as better than everyone else- they became judges of all other groups- and they developed a Tradition- called ‘The Tradition of the Elders’ which was an expansion on the law of God.

This is what Jesus often fought against in his day- the Tradition of the Elders [not all tradition in general!]

Why is this important?

It is common in our day for many well meaning believers- Born Again Christians- to disdain all Church tradition.

Many people [like myself] come from a former Catholic background- and one of the first things you normally hear is ‘look at all the bad traditions that the church taught’.

This mindset is often justified by Jesus condemnation of the ‘Traditions of men that make void the Word of God’.

Jesus was not throwing all tradition under the bus- he was rebuking THIS specific tradition.

Got it?

Okay- the reason I said ‘sort of’ [at the top] was because the defense Jesus gave said ‘didn’t you read what David did- when he ate the bread that was unlawful to eat’.

So Jesus really did not mind the ‘you broke the law’ accusation- but instead placed himself in the situation of King David and said ‘I too have authority over the Sabbath’.

In the Jewish mind of the 1^st century- the statements like this that Jesus made [Moses said this- but I say this] these statements meant more than meets the eye.

They meant that Jesus saw himself as being equal with God.

If you carefully read the gospels you see this.

To the first century Jew- this was indeed a violation of what they were taught.

‘The Lord our God is One’.

So- Jesus defends himself and his men by saying ‘I am Lord over the Sabbath’

Strong words indeed.

The story of David is found in the book of Samuel.

He’s running from king Saul at the time- and he goes to the ‘House of God’ and needs food.

The priest [Abiathar] tells him he only has the sacred bread- which is reserved for the priests.

David makes up a story and says he’s on a special mission from Saul and the priest gives David the bread.

He eats- and gives to his men.

Now- when Jesus uses this story in the gospel- he does mention that David and his men both ate.

I find this interesting.

Because Jesus will sit down with his men at the last supper and do the same thing.

He tells them ‘take eat- this is my Body- drink- this is my Blood’.

How could Jesus ‘eat himself’?

The Bread and Wine represent the Body and Blood of Christ.

Jesus said his meat [bread- the thing that sustained him] was to do the will of God and finish his work.

He was sustained too by the mission he was on- he lived to ‘give his Body and Blood’.

This mission was his life’s purpose- he too ‘ate the Bread’.

Jesus also came from the lineage of king David- he was a ‘son’ of David.

In the above verses- it said ‘David came to the house of God’.

We often see this as the Temple.

But remember- the temple was not built yet.

David’s son Solomon will build it in the future.

So what ‘house of God’ did David come to?

It was the tabernacle [of Moses].

 This was a tent type system that God gave to the children of Israel during their wilderness journey.

It became the central place of worship and sacrifice when they entered the promised land.

Eventually the main piece of this tent system gets taken by Israel's enemies [They stole the Ark- the box that held the 10 commandments].

And when David becomes king he gets it back.

As the Ark eventually winds up back in the hands of David- he builds another tent thing- called the Tabernacle of David- and he places the Ark under this tent.

Now- David is king at the time- the bible says he put on a Linen Ephod and worshipped God before this tent [he operated as a priest- which was unlawful for kings to do- normally!].

Understand- at the same time the Tabernacle of Moses still existed- it just did not have the Ark in it- David’s ‘new’ tent had the Ark.

This was symbolic of the New testament King/Priesthood of Jesus.

He in essence would usher the people into the presence of God- absent the Veil of the Temple- a covering that existed in the Tabernacle of Moses- which represented separation from God- but was not in the one David made.

So you see- when Jesus used David as an example- there was more than meets the eye- much more.

[Jesus is the New Testament King/Priest that died on the Cross- the Veil of the temple was ripped on that day- and he now represents us before the throne of God- absent the veil- the thing that separated man from God].

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