(OUR ONLY HOPE) WHEN TENTS AND TOWERS FALL AND EVEN WHEN THEY STAND ~ PART 3 ~ A Study in Jeremiah

 

Suddenly my tents are devastated, my curtains in an instant. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? (Jeremiah 4:20b-21)

Four things came to mind as I thought about what could have been in Jeremiah’s mind when he was pronouncing judgment to come. (1) A disobedient prophet, (2) An obedient prophet, (3) The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths/Sukkot, and (4) The hope of restoration for Israel in the future.

I would ask the reader to please read the two previous posts to understand how we got here on this very short portion of Scripture. I have covered points 1-3 in the previous posts.

The hope of restoration for Israel in the future: This, in itself, could lead me into a whole other area of study that is far too big for a blog of this nature, but it will suffice to say that I do not believe the Church and Israel are one and the same entity. It would be helpful to read all of Romans 11. I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. (Romans 11:1-2a) For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved…(Romans 11:25-26a)

When God was dealing with the nation of Israel, His chosen people, He chose to live in Israel. He lived in great Temples in Jerusalem. Before that, He lived in a portable Tabernacle. Why? That He might dwell among His people. God left the Temple due to apostasy and pagan worship that was carried on in His own residence on earth. Because He is a covenant-keeping God, He still has a plan for Israel. At a point in history to come, He will dwell in Jerusalem once again for a thousand years.

Zechariah 14:16—Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This is talking about the people of the world in the future Kingdom, but not the church for she did not come against Jerusalem at Armageddon. Look at this prophecy in Zephaniah 2:7—And the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, they will pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in evening; for the LORD their God will care for them and restore their fortune. Ashkelon was originally a Philistine settlement. Israelis, in 1981, had recently constructed new Ashkelon and immigrants were arriving in droves.

So why did I think of this future restoration when Jeremiah was talking about tents and curtains? Zechariah 8:1-2—Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.’” To see all the many words of restoration, read Isaiah 54 in full. Specifically, I want to focus on verses 2-3: Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities. (See also Isaiah 49:19-20)

Suddenly my tents are devastated, my curtains in an instant. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? I believe Jeremiah may be saying, “Look, if we don’t repent as a nation, judgment is coming. We are going to lose our home. Home is where the heart is because it is where God dwells with us. We, as a nation, are taking for granted the one thing in life that matters. God dwelling with His people!”

The Temple in Jerusalem was the center of Jewish religious life because it was where God dwelt among His people. Judah had no problem acknowledging that but sought to worship idols in other places as well as in the temple. Their hearts were divided.

The veil in the temple separated the Holy of Holies, the place of God’s presence, from the rest of the temple where men dwelt. The veil was there to show the worshiper that God was holy, and it was sin that separated holy God from him. (Isaiah 59:1-2). Only the high priest could pass beyond the veil once each year to make atonement for the sins of the people. (Leviticus 16). This veil was 40 cubits high and approximately 4 inches thick. The historian Josephus said that the veil was so thick that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart. When the ultimate sacrifice was made for the final atonement for sin by the Lamb of God, at the very moment of Jesus’ death on the cross when He cried out in a loud voice and gave up His spirit, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:50-51a) That tearing of the veil signified the only way into the Holy of Holies, into God’s presence, both for the Jew and the Gentile alike.

Hebrews 10 talks about how the priests stood daily ministering and offering the same sacrifices repeatedly…sacrifices that could never take away sins. But Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time when His enemies would be made a footstool for His feet. By one offering He perfected for all time those who are sanctified, made holy, or set apart by Him for His purposes. It speaks about the New Covenant which had been first talked about in Jeremiah 31:31-34. In verse 18 it says: Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

This is an issue as relevant today as it was then. These perpetual sacrifices are the same type still being offered today in the Roman Catholic Church day in and day out. Whether one wants to define “Holy Eucharist” as ‘re-sacrifice’ of Christ, ‘re-offering’ of Christ’s sacrifice, or a ‘re-presentation’ of Christ’s sacrifice, the concept is unbiblical. Christ sacrificed for the sins of those who would believe in Him once for all when He offered Himself. His death was sufficient to atone for all our sins. There is no other offering to make. Instead, true believers receive Christ’s sacrifice as atonement for their sin by faith. When believers take Communion, taking the bread and the cup are symbols of having fully received His sacrifice on our behalf by grace through faith.

We enter into fellowship with God through the veil of Christ’s flesh. Hebrews 10:19-22—Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Jeremiah, even while talking about the judgment to come, unveiled the hope to come which was the New Covenant. Jesus was the curtain or the veil that was torn. God moved out of the temple never again to dwell in a temple made with human hands. Old things had passed away. The Old Covenant was replaced with the New Covenant. The high priest had to enter the Holy of Holies through the veil. But now, because of Christ, our superior High Priest, we as believers in His finished work have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body.

Looking at the Feast of Tabernacles, we said that there is evidence that Jesus’ first coming and His second coming are tied to this feast. Also, it begins and ends with a special Sabbath day of rest. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Different elements of the Sabbath symbolized to His people that the coming Messiah would provide them with a permanent rest. We see the Jews, and people in our own day, constantly laboring to make themselves acceptable to God. Trying to keep the law, still attempting to offer sacrifices for their sin in order that they may be forgiven. Hebrews 10:1 says that the law can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, and our great High Priest, sat down after offering the ultimate sacrifice for sin because there was nothing more to be done—nor would there ever be again. “It is finished!” Because of what Jesus did, there is nothing we can do or must do to be justified in God’s sight. God sent His Son so that we might rest in Him and in what He has provided, not only here and now, but for all time. Trying to add anything to the perfect sacrifice for sin is a slap in the face to God’s holiness.

The Sabbath day of rest was instituted by God. He blessed it, sanctified it, and made it holy. The holy Son of God who lived a perfectly righteous life imputes that life to all who believe in Him. He sanctifies or makes holy all who believe in Him. In Christ, we find complete rest from any self-righteous works we might attempt to offer that could never make us right before Him. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) We do not only rest in Him one day a week, but always because He is our Sabbath rest as well as Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8). We could never work enough to earn God’s favor, but we can know we have God’s favor and that it will never be diminished because it is based upon the finished work of His Son on our behalf. We have peace with God when we cease from our futile labors of trying to make ourselves good enough for Him.  

Jeremiah was pleading with his people to turn to God because judgment was coming. His people were those who worshipped God in name only. They had no relationship with Him, or they would have not turned from worshipping Him alone to worshipping idols. They did not understand the Feast of Tabernacles, nor did they understand the Sabbath rest. In Hebrews 4, the writer pleaded with his readers to enter in to the Sabbath rest provided by Christ and not to harden their hearts against God as those in the wilderness had done. That generation had not been able to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:11 says God had said, “AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.” Twice in Hebrews 3 the writer quotes Psalm 95:7 to call out to his readers, “TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME…”, and again in Hebrews 4:7. There is as much a sense of urgency in these words today for us as there were to all who heard these words down through the ages. While the words of God are fresh in our minds, we must immediately give heed to the voice of God calling us to repentance, to put our faith in Jesus, our Sabbath rest. We must make every effort to enter that rest so that we will not fall, through following prior examples of disobedience. There is no other rest besides Jesus. Only He has satisfied the requirements of the Law we could never begin to satisfy.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That means that we all have offended Almighty God, Creator, and Sovereign Ruler of the universe. The wages of sin is death…eternal death. No amount of work would ever be sufficient to begin to pay for our sins. Jesus perfectly kept the Law, living a wholly righteous life to be our Substitute and pay for our sins. The Bible gives the command from Old Testament to New Testament, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Only a fool would believe he could ever stand before God in his own holiness. But there are only two options: Rest in the finished work of Christ or spend eternity in hell enduring the eternal wrath of God for sin. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. The writer of Hebrew says in Hebrews 2:3—How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? The Northern Kingdom neglected the way of salvation; we know the Southern Kingdom did as well. Judgment is still coming for all those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior.

On 9/11, it is reported that almost 3,000 people died. Not one of them woke up that morning who were headed to work thinking this was the day of their death. Some, indeed, went on to their eternal heavenly rest, but only eternity will reveal just how many were dismayed to find themselves in hell facing an eternity of enduring God’s wrath with the full understanding it is because they did not turn to Jesus. No doubt most of them were well spoken of at their funerals and referred to as having gone on to a better place, their heavenly rest. Unless they trusted in Christ as their Sabbath rest, those well-intentioned thoughts and words were lies. None of us knows when tents and towers will fall so we must be diligent to enter into the rest that only Jesus provides.