ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: David’s Tabernacle Restored, Part 8

December 14, 2018

We are really taking a different approach today to understanding the Tabernacle of David and the nature or praise and worship. You may even think I’ve gone off the deep end at first, but that’s OK. Bear with me while I lay some foundations.

You will remember how we’ve talked about Lucifer and his original creation as worship leader in Heaven and how he was created to surround the Throne of God with worship. The concept of “surrounding” comes into play with where I want to go today, and why that was so significant.

In order for me to explain this, we need to revisit the original creation of Eve for Adam. First, let’s look at Adam and Eve’s original purpose: dominion!

Genesis 1:26-28: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

That brings us now to Eve as the counterpart and “other self” for Adam.

Genesis 2:18-24: And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The way this gets translated in our English versions really misses it. First, consider two Hebrew words, ‘ish, and ‘ishah.

The word, ‘ish, literally translated, is man. This word, however, is the term that is applied to “husband.”

On the other hand, ‘ishah would be the term for woman. As you might imagine, this is also the term for “wife.”

For as long as I can remember, I have heard the term “helpmeet” applied to Eve’s creation for Adam. That’s sad. First of all, there is no such thing in the Hebrew as “helpmeet.” That waters down the whole concept of a woman’s creation, and specifically, a wife. There are two distinct words in the Hebrew text to describe just how significant Eve’s creation was.

The first is the word, ‘ezer. This word gets translated as “help” but it is much more than that. It means: to aid, to sustain, to surround, to protect. We’ll come back to this momentarily.

The second word is, neged. While one of the meanings of this word is “counterpart” or “other self,” it goes well beyond that. Neged is used as a military term. It represents: a front, a defense, over against, before. In other words, this is someone who will be your defense, someone who will die for you if necessary, someone who opposes your enemies, someone who provides every kind of assistance necessary. In another sense, this is someone who will become the praise of your existence.

I can illustrate this from Proverbs 31. Notice how this begins.

Proverbs 31:10-31: Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

I said to notice how this passage begins: Who can find a virtuous woman?

Once again, we have an translation in our English versions that — while OK — really hides what Holy Spirit is communication. Here is a word in Hebrew which parallels the term, neged. In this instance, the Hebrew word translated, “virtuous,” is chayil.

We almost need a separate study to look at all of the meanings of this word, but it clearly demonstrates all the attributes of the “virtuous woman.” Watch!

Chayil means: force, army, wealth, resources, virtue, valor, strength, band of soldiers, forces, goods, hosts, might, power, riches, substance, valor, worthy, efficiency, ability.

Are you beginning to get the picture? Are you beginning to see how Eve was created for Adam? Do you now understand ‘ezer and neged and the true nature of the Bride?

When we read where God said, “I will make him an help meet for him,” a far better translation would have been, “I will make him a counterpart, fitted and equipped for him.”

The wheels are turning in your head! (grin) I can see it now! What in the world does all this have to do with the Tabernacle of David? What does all this have to do with praise and worship?

Let’s go back to the picture of Lucifer in Heaven, and how he was created to surround the Throne of God with praise, glory and worship.

Why did God want the Throne surrounded in the first place? Why worship?

Because praise and worship are what we see described in the virtuous woman. God was surrounding himself with beauty, with force, with unimaginable glory, with utter perfection. That praise and worship would go forth from the Throne as His military might. Remember! It wasn’t just Lucifer, the “morning star,” the illuminated one. It was the angelic hosts that accompanied him in this chorus of worship.

So, consider this. When Lucifer corrupted that praise and worship and became so elevated in his own mind that he thought he could replace God on the Throne, he was thrown out of Heaven, along with those angels that accompanied him and became joined in agreement.

God wasn’t about to eliminate that presence around the Throne! He decided instead to have for Himself a people just like Him — a people who would also replace Lucifer as that force of praise and worship surrounding the Throne. His heart’s desire was for a people who would become a force of love, a force of strength, a source and resource of creative sound — that same kind of sound that came forth when He uttered the first words of Creation.

Remember what God said of David?

Acts 13:22: And when he had removed him (Saul), he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

David saw into the very heart of the Lord. His heart’s desire was to accomplish that desire of the Lord for a people who would become His family, a people who would replace Lucifer, a people who would become that surrounding force of praise and worship around the Throne. When David sat on the hillsides, tending the sheep, playing on his harp and praising and worshiping the Lord, God saw the heart of David. David had a vision of the heart of the Lord. It permeated his being. It consumed him. A determination gripped him to the place where he knew that if the day ever came when it would be possible, he was somehow going to fulfil the heart’s desire of the Lord for praise and worship.

Let’s get back to the understanding of how and why we have all been created. First, consider what God did (on an interim basis?) to replace Lucifer as that force of praise and worship.

Revelation 4: After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

God didn’t leave Himself without that surrounding force of praise and worship when Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. He surrounded the Throne with four unusual beings, as well as the twenty-four Elders.

By the way, the translation of the word, zoon (which comes from zao) as “beast” gives a wrong impression. The use of the word, beast, could give one a mental image of some kind of monster. Rather, this could and should be translated as “being” — or “living being.” They were not humans, but they were living beings of unusual character and appearance. They represented the military force in the midst of the praise and worship.

The 11th verse of Revelation 4 makes the statement, for Thou hast created all [things — this word does not exist in the Greek text], and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

These beings were created to bring that pleasure to God in the absence of Lucifer, but by the same token, we were created for His pleasure. David saw that. Remember, the Lord said of David that he would fulfil all His will. That’s the same word in the Greek text: thelema. It represents: desire, purpose, design, pleasure, determination, inclination.

We were created for the express purpose of bringing delight and pleasure to the Lord. Of course we were to be His family. We were created in His likeness and image. But we were created to bring the kind of praise and worship that only He could develop within us.

This is where we need to leave it for today. We will continue this picture next week.

In case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific. That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings available by Skype. If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener. If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later. The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

Blessings on you!

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

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