The Lord Restores The Tabernacle Of David

The Lord never has nor ever will desire a stone temple for His habitation. This Truth was made clear by the words of Nathan the prophet in response to David's wish to build the Lord a Temple. When David brought the Ark of the Presence to Zion, it was placed in a tent, known as the Tabernacle of David.

Second Samuel Six:

17 So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

David expresses his wishes to the prophet Nathan.

Second Samuel Seven:

1-3 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies; that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.

Nathan is so confident that David has the favor of the Lord that he tells him to "go for it". And then the Lord spoke to him.

4-6 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

The prophet Amos prophesied the restoration of David's Tabernacle, not the Temple built by Solomon.

Amos Nine:

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

This Word was confirmed by the Holy Spirit at the Council of Jerusalem

Acts Fifteen:

13-15 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

16-18 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

Isaiah sees the Tabernacle of the Millenium

Isaiah Thirty-Three:

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
Not one of its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.

The Throne is established within the Tabernacle of David

Isaiah Sixteen:

5 In mercy the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.

The Presence of the Lord in His Tabernacle will be our security

Isaiah Four:

6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

The Tabernacle will never be taken down, but the servants of God will expand His Tabernacle over the nations. This is the vision for "the children of the barren woman".

Isaiah Fifty-Four:

1 Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman says the Lord.
2 Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

Jeremiah does not lament the Temple destruction, but the removal of the Lord's Tabernacle. The Ark of the Presence housed within the Temple was kept behind curtains. This is the Holy of holies.

Jeremiah Ten:

20 My tent is plundered,
And all my cords are broken;
My children have gone from me,
And they are no more.
There is no one to pitch my tent anymore,
Or set up my curtains.

This is God's Eternal Habitation With Man

Revelation Twenty-One:

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the Lord:

Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,
Says the Lord.
But on this one I will look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

Acts 7:

44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, 46 who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built Him a house.

48 However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 49 Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not made all these things?

51 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.