domed-roof house

Chapter 2 - God's Prophesied Place to Stay, A "Tent" Absolutely Not Made by Man's Hands!

God's prophetic "tent" came to pass based upon prophetic great and precious promises!

The prophecy of God's new covenant, under which His prophetic "tent" shall be built

Chapter 3 - God Begins Building His Prophesied "Tent", A "Domed-Roof House", Through His Firstborn Son, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David

The raising up of Moses tent was a type to the occurrence on the day of Pentecost

Chapter 4 - References to God's Desired True "Tent" Throughout All of the New Covenant Writings!

The startling truth of God's Word is that the God never intended, or desired, to dwell permanently in temples made with the hands of human beings, but to dwell IN human beings themselves, as His "tent"! According to holy scripture, in both the new and old covenant writings, it has always been the God's desire and plan to literally live permanently IN His created beings, which He along with His agent, the Word, created in their own image (Gen. 1:26; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:2). The knowledge and understanding of, 1) the ancient prophecies of God's desired true "tent", and, 2) the coming to pass of those prophecies through Jesus Christ, is what this study will clearly and logically show, hand-holding and leading a reader step by step progressively through many of the prophecies, and the passages describing the fulfillment of those prophecies.

The various prophecies about God's prophesied coming true "tent", and the fulfillment of those prophecies, expose many modern "Christian" ideas and concepts as being no more than mortal-made half-baked theological concoctions, which are held as sacred cows in lieu of actually knowing and understanding the knowledge in God's Word of His desired true "tent". For those who have always had difficulty seeing the big picture in God's Word, of how does everything from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 fit together into one solid and cohesive depiction of God's overall plan, and the coming together and fulfillment of that plan, of how all of it is designed to fit together, this study shall make giant, huge chunks of it fall into place for you in your mind!

God's planned "tent", the first Adam, became polluted through sin, and it "fell down". The God had to postpone moving into His "tent", the first Adam and his posterity, until a promised redeemer could come and cause it to become "cleaned up" on the inside. By the time God's first "tent" collapsed He already had a second Adam, a second "tent", in place, since the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:44-47), the Word made flesh (John 1:12-14), Jesus Christ, was the first thing produced before all of the rest of God's creation was produced (Prov. 8:22-31; Col. 1:15)! Through mortal kind's belief in God's second Adam, the fallen down posterity of the first Adam could become washed on the inside in a bath made of the "water" of God's Word (Eph. 5:26), a bath causing a new genesis (Gk., palingenesias) for Adam's posterity, and a renewing up (Gk., anakainōseōs) in us of God's holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)! Thusly once again God's creation could be as righteous as He is, thusly becoming a fit "tent" for Him in which to dwell.

I believe everything the God has ever said or done, everything any prophet has ever spoken or written, and everything that has been prophesied about God's promised coming redeemer, Jesus Christ, what he was going to do when he came, what he did while he was in his earthly ministry, and what he's doing now in his heavenly ministry, and yet into the future, these things have ALL been said and done to bring to pass the cleansing of mortal kind so He could dwell IN them as His "tent"!

All of the historical supposed dwelling places of God, the tent which Moses built in the wilderness of the exodus, the three temples in Jerusalem, and all of the other various "houses of Yehovah" and "houses of Elohiym" which were constructed at various times, they all were only types of His true prophetic "tent", types wherein the LORD God would only meet with His people, but absolutely not dwell IN those places (Exod. 15:17; Acts 7:47-50; Heb. 8:2, 9:11, 24)! This scriptural fact and Truth is prerequisite to understanding this study.

In the gospel records Jesus Christ referred very often to this subject matter of the coming of God's prophesied true "tent". But the references are veiled through the use of parables and metaphors, so that only those who have "eyes" to "see", and "ears" to "hear", those who have God's Spirit IN or UPON them, can "see" and "hear" the spiritual meanings of those parables. Those reading this study will need God's gift of holy Spirit working in their minds to be able to "see" and "hear" this bull's eye of great Truth, this Mystery of Godliness in God's Word. Later on in this study, after the reader has learned many of the prophecies of God's true "tent", and has learned how they have all become fulfilled through Jesus Christ, then I'll take you through the gospel records of Jesus' parables and metaphors to explain to you their "hidden" meanings, which are absolutely not hidden to those with "eyes" and ears" of God's holy Spirit working in them.

In apostle Paul's record, in Eph. 3, he wrote to the believers in the area of Ephesus, similar to as he wrote to believers in other areas, to make known to them the revelation of this mystery, of which he was caused to become a minister. See also Rev. 10:7. Throughout this study, the words in parenthesis in scriptural quotations are those exact words appearing in the UBS4/NA27 eclectic Greek text.

Eph. 3:8 (LIT/UBS4) To me, the least of all holy ones, was given this, the grace to evangelize to the ethnic groups the untracked out (anexichniaston) riches of the Christ,

Eph. 3:9 (LIT/UBS4) and to illuminate (phōtisai) all [as to] what [is] the house stewardship (oikonomia) of the Mystery (mustēriou), of the one having been hidden away (apokekrummenou) from the ages in the God, the one having created all the things;

Eph. 3:10 (LIT/UBS4) in order that now may be made known to the beginning ones, and to the authorities in the heavenly places, through the assembly (ekklēsias), the much variegated (polupoikilos) wisdom of the God,

Eph. 3:11 (LIT/UBS4) down [the] preparation (prothesin) of the ages, which [wisdom] He made in the Christ Jesus, the Lord of us;

You may wish to read those four verses over and over a few times, to try and get the full impact of their meaning. I've underlined those points which should be especially important to Jesus' disciples. This study shows you the pattern of HOW those riches of the Christ can be tracked out in God's Word. Tracking out these riches is not only a privilege, but a discipleship responsibility in a disciple's stewardship of the household of the God. As you can see in Eph. 3:10, it is the responsibility of the assembly, the one body of Christ, to make known the much variegated wisdom of the God, of which this Mystery of Godliness is certainly a main cache of those riches!

Throughout the holy scriptures, in both the new and old covenant writings, the holy Spirit, i.e. the God, has chosen to use key words to describe and characterize key truths not only about Himself, but about His entire creation. Some of the key words used in the NT writings which are directly related to the subject matter of the God's prophetic true "tent", are, "tent" (Gk. skēnē) , "house" (Gk. oikia), "holy place" (Gk. naos), "homing-down place" (Gk. katoikētērion), "domed-roof house" (Gk. oikodomē), which, these and more, are all used to describe WHAT and WHERE the God has always desired to "home-down" (Gk. katoikēo).

Some of these terms may sound new to you. They may sound new to most everyone. This is because for most all subjects in God's Word modern Christianity no longer uses the Spirit-based words used by the prophets, Jesus Christ, and his disciples and apostles, to describe the Spirit-based things of the God. The following passage from the LIT translation quotes Apostle Paul:

1 Cor. 2:12 (LIT/UBS4) But we have absolutely not taken in the spirit of the cosmos, BUT, the Spirit, the one out of the God, in order that we may see the things having been graciously given to us under the God!

absolutely not in [the] words taught of wisdom of mortal kind, BUT, in [words] taught of Spirit, judging and combining together Spirit-based things [with] Spirit-based [words]!

Words invented by mortal-made theological "wisdom" don't appear in the ancient Hebrew and Greek texts of God's Word, and so they obviously can't be used to track specific subject matters throughout God's Word. But, the words used by the prophets, Jesus Christ, and his disciples and apostles, since they were inspired by holy Spirit working in and through them (2 Pet. 1:21), those specific words can be tracked throughout both the Hebrew and Greek texts of God's Word. Those are word trails that can actually be tracked and followed in God's Word, to straightly cut (2 Tim. 2:15) God's Word; in order that a worker of God's Word can gather together all the scriptural evidence, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about any given subject matter in God's Word.

Whenever the ancient prophets spoke or wrote God's Word, or whenever Jesus Christ spoke with his disciples, or whenever Jesus' apostles spoke, or taught or preached God's Word, those exact words and their exact meanings are the ones I use in this study about God's prophesied true "tent". God's Word defines the meanings of its own terms, based upon the consideration of ALL of the contexts in which any specific word is used. I believe there are no one verse doctrines in God's Word. Moreover, if you, or I, or anyone, out of a lack of the Spirit of God in them, or through slothfulness, can't "see", i.e. put together and understand (connect the dots!) the truth in God's Word, that is not a good enough reason to start inventing a mortal-made theological nomenclature and its associated terminology, according to apostle Paul (1 Cor. 2:12-13)!

So, the reader of this study must be willing to allow himself to become exposed to the actual scriptural terms, and their idiomatic usages and meanings, which Jesus Christ, his disciples and apostles, and the ancient prophets used to preach, teach and communicate this Mystery of Godliness, about God's desire for His prophetic true 'tent".

Later in the study I supply an Excel spread sheet containing a flat file, and multiple pivot tables generated from it, to list and define most all of the key words in the new covenant writings, and many of their associated words in the old covenant writings, by book, chapter and verse. In both the OT prophesies, and in the NT revelation given to us to explain those prophecies, the holy Spirit worked through His writers and messengers to skillfully choreograph, using verbs, adjectives and nouns, the coming together of the LORD God's promised new covenant, and the explanation of it, so that the truth about God's true "tent" is revealed, both implicitly and explicitly in wonderful details.

As with all of God's Word, physical things are very often used metaphorically as types, figures and examples to represent spiritual things and truths. And as always, it is up to the reader to determine for him/herself if and when the holy Spirit, through it's writers, refer to and/or use types, figures and examples to declare truths. This is why this subject is obviously not the "milk" of God's Word. But it is strong meat; and it is a reward very satisfying to those who are willing to work to discover and dig it out of god's Word.

So far I have discovered that the bulk of the main points about this great truth of God's prophesied desired place to stay, His true "tent', is in the contexts of many of the metaphorical usages of these words; "tent" (Gk. skēnē) , "house" (Gk. oikia), "holy place" (Gk. naos), "homing-down place" (Gk. katoikētērion), "domed-roof house" (Gk. oikodomē), and their OT equivalent words also. However, there are many other words used as well in both the OT and NT writings to refer to God's true "tent", which I'll present in this study.

The key to tracking this great Mystery of Godliness (1 Tim. 3:16) in God's Word is through straightly cutting (2 Tim. 2:15) the subject matter in God's Word, based upon how the new covenant writers define the meanings of the terms given in the associated old covenant prophecies. There are key verses throughout the new covenant writings in which the writers, or the characters speaking, refer back to old covenant prophecies, defining terms in those old covenant prophecies using common or not so common terms used in their own present day, language and culture. I call these key verses cross-reference verses, because in them the new covenant writers and characters give us very valuable examples of the meanings of words, subjects, and concepts which the old covenant writers and characters used.

As we go through these exciting passages throughout the Bible I'll point out to you those special cross-reference verses; verses which equate new covenant writer's and character's words, subjects and concepts to their associated old covenant words, subjects and concepts. In this study we'll see in vivid example after example how the holy Spirit choreographs the revelation of this great Mystery of Godliness through His prophets. We'll see how God began long ago revealing this great truth in many portions and in many ways, and later through His son Jesus Christ and the apostles. We'll see how down through time, over thousands of years, all of God's men and women symphonize together to supply their portion of this great truth, all of which finally comes together in the years shortly after the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, as recorded in the book of Acts and elsewhere.

I believe that what this study is about, the true 'tent" of God, was the primary subject matter taught and preached by the one body of Christ in the first century, and perhaps into the second and third centuries to some extent, varying by location. I believe this truth was the heart of "orthodox" Christianity in the first and second centuries, but began to be over ruled by mortal-made theological "wisdom" in the third and fourth centuries. This truth was eventually labeled as heresy when the mortal-made theological triune-god "wisdom" started to become "orthodox" at bloody spear point.

This was the orthodox truth in the days of the events in the book of Acts. According to many records in God's Word, the goal of their evangelism of the name of Jesus was to bring believing disciples of God and His son Christ Jesus into the full knowledge and understanding of this great central truth in God's Word. In the first three centuries after the birth of the one body of Christ on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), this was the Truth, the spiritual subject matter about which everything revolved. Then, for a believing disciple coming to the knowledge and understanding of this great truth was considered as coming to enlightenment. To acquire the knowledge and understanding of this great truth was the primary goal of discipleship to Christ.

Anything the God has ever said and done at anytime since the creation, and anything His prophets have ever said and done, and anything Jesus Christ and his apostles have ever said and done, it has all been to the end of bringing to pass, into a living reality, the creation of God's true "tent", the one in which He has always desired to dwell!

Chapter 2 - God's Prophesied Place To Stay, A "Tent" Absolutely Not Made By Mortal's Hands!

Many passages in the new covenant writings of the Bible tell us WHY God sent His son, why Jesus came, what is the work which he came to do for the Father. But what all of those passages relate to us are aspects of the prophesied;

Within this framework of subject matter lie all of the reasons why the Christ was sent!

This study of God's prophesied desired true "tent" is about absolutely the greatest truth in God's Word. The knowledge of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God is the knowledge of His prophesied true "tent", and of his prophesied new covenant, of which Christ Jesus mentions briefly in the ancient writings, but which his apostles preached in the first century. Jesus Christ is the first one since the ancient prophets to introduce the knowledge of the subject of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God, and rightly so, since it is Jesus' shed blood and his death which put through God's promised coming new covenant.

Mark 4:10 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) when (hote) he caused himself to become (egeneto) down (kata) alone (monas), they were asking (ērōtōn) him (auton), the ones (hoi) around (peri) him (auton) together with (sun) the (tois) twelve (dōdeka), [about] the (tas) parables (parabolas).

Mark 4:11 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) he was saying (elegen) to them (autois), “To you (humin) the (to) Mystery (mustērion) of the (tēs) Kingdom (basileias) of the (tou) God (theou) has been given (dedotai).

But (de) to those (ekeinois), to the (tois) outsiders (exō), everything (panta) of the (ta) [mystery] is caused to become (ginetai) in (en) to parables (parabolais), (See Mat. 13:11)

Jesus is saying what He was sent to say, through telling his disciples, and us now as well, that his parables are about the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God! His parables are about the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God! His parables are about the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God! Oh, did I mention that, Jesus said that his parables are about the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God! In the Greek the word mustērion means a secret as well.

Without coincidence, in the new covenant writings the first mention of this mystery, and others, is by Jesus Christ in Mat. 13:11, and the first mention of God's prophesied new covenant is by Jesus Christ in Mat. 26:28, at the "last supper". Part of the knowledge of this Mystery of the Kingdom of the God, or secret, is about God's prophesied new covenant, about which relationship between this mystery and God's new covenant apostle Paul connects the dots for us in Rom. 11:25-27, Eph. 1:7-12, and elsewhere.

All through the old covenant books of the Bible God kept secret the full knowledge of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God, God's prophesied new covenant according to Jesus Christ in Mat. 26:28, of when and how it was going to come to pass in the future. Jesus Christ was sent not only to fully reveal this secret, the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God, as he was beginning to do through all of his parables, but to bring it to pass through his own shed blood and death!

But not everyone is going to be able to "see" and "hear" this out of God's Word.

Mark 4:12a (LIT/UBS4) in order that (hina) being ones looking (blepontes) they may look at (blepōsin) [them] and (kai) they may not see (mē idōsin) [them];

and (kai) being ones hearing (akouontes), they may hear (akouōsin) [them] and (kai) they may not put together (mē suniōsin) [them].

Jesus Christ told his disciples that the knowledge of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God has been given to them to know and to understand, beginning at least at that moment in which he told them this. For them the knowledge of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God would not remain a mystery, a secret, which they would not ever come to know, but it would become fully revealed to them, because to them it has been given!

But to the ones to which the God does not intend to give this knowledge, to them, it shall remain hidden, they shall not be able to "see", "hear" and subsequently come to know and understand the knowledge of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God.

Mark 4:12b (LIT/UBS4) Whether or not in time (mēpote) they may turn (epistrepsōsin), and (kai) [their sin] may be let go (aphethē) to them (autois).”

Jesus says that for those who as of yet cannot "see" and "hear" his parables, i.e. can't understand them, that in time if they my come to believe God's Word, and repent in their hearts and turn back to God, that He may let go to them the penalty for their sin, and then the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God would be "given" to them as well.

In the records of the "last supper" Jesus tells his disciples how the God, his heavenly Father, intends to fully reveal to the world the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God, which revelation shall come to those who partake in a new covenant He is putting through, a new covenant which shall supersede the old covenant which was based upon the Mosaic law, through the shed blood and death of His own son, Jesus Christ.

Mat. 26:27 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) having taken (labōn) a cup (potērion), and (kai) having given thanks (eucharistēsas), he gave (edōken) [the cup] to them (autois), saying (legōn), “Drink (piete) out (ex) of it (autou), all (pantes) [of you];

Mat. 26:28 (LIT/UBS4) because (gar) this (touto) is (estin) the (to) blood (haima) of me (mou), of the (tēs) new (kainēs) covenant (diathēkēs), the (to) [blood] being poured out (ekchunnomenon) about (peri) many (pollōn), into (eis) a letting go (aphasin) of sins (hamartiōn)!

Here again, at the last few hours before the betrayal of Jesus he reveals to his disciples that his own shed blood is what shall make it possible for God's prophesied new covenant to begin, under which anyone may have the penalty for their sin let go by God. And then the knowledge and understanding of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God can be given to them, because they shall "see", and they shall "hear" what all of Jesus' parables say and mean, because that knowledge and understanding shall be given to them by God Himself.

Jesus said that his poured out blood is going to make available a new covenant, a covenant different than the one which the sons of Israel are currently under, for those who have actually placed themselves under it. As we now know, at that time God was no longer honoring His covenant He made with the sons of Israel, as Jesus made very obviously clear, referring to Israel's religious leadership as the sons of the devil (John 8:44).

God, through His "mouth" the prophet Jeremiah, foretold of His new covenant He was going to put through at sometime in the future. All of the related subject matter of this new covenant, the details of it, what it was, when was it going to come, and how was it going to come, and so on, were not fully disclosed in the writings of the law, the Psalms, and of the prophets. There were "bits and pieces" of the knowledge of the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God, and its associated prophesied new covenant, and prophetic knowledge that a promised redeemer was coming, and something about Abraham's seed, and something about the posterity of David and his throne, and so on, sprinkled throughout the writings of the law, psalms and of the prophets. But there was no way to fit together all of these pieces of prophetic facts of this mystery, of this secret which God was keeping (Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:7) of His coming new covenant, into a clear, logical, coherent and cohesive schematic of future events. This is what this study is all about.

Jeremiah's prophecy of these future events (from his time in history) is one of God's most exciting declarations of these coming events, it being somewhat more prolific and comprehensive concerning God's new covenant, and its unprecedented provision for the letting go to people of the penalty of death for their sin. The writer of the scroll of Hebrews, in Chapter 8 and other places, gives us his quote of Jeremiah's prophecy, and along with it his precious knowledge and understanding of the promised redeemer's role in putting it through, through his shed blood. The writer of the book of Hebrews starts putting together the pieces of this puzzle for us, about the Mystery of the Kingdom of the God which Jesus introduced to us in Mark 4:10-12, and its association to God's new covenant in Jesus' shed blood and death, that Jesus spoke of t his "last supper" in Mat. 26:27-28.

Jer. 31:31 (Rotherham) Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh,––When I will solemnize––With the house of Israel, and, With the house of Judah, A new, covenant:

Jer. 31:32 (Rotherham) Not like the covenant which I solemnised with their fathers, In the day when I grasped their hand, to bring them forth, out of the land of Egypt,––In that, they, brake my covenant, Though, I, had become a husband unto them, Declareth Yahweh.

Jer. 31:33 (Rotherham) For, this, is the covenant which I will solemnize with the house of Israel, after those days, Declareth Yahweh, I will put my law within, them, Yea, on their heart, will I write it,––So will I become their, God, And, they, shall become my, people.

Jer. 31:34 (Rotherham) Then shall they no longer teach, Every man his neighbour, and, Every man his brother, saying, Know ye Yahweh,––For, they all, shall know, me, From the least of them, Even unto the greatest of them, Declareth Yahweh, For I will forgive their iniquity, And, their sin, will I remember, no more.

The writer of Hebrews, in chapter 8, quotes this prophecy of Jeremiah, and points out to us that this promised new covenant about which Jeremiah spoke is about God bringing to pass the building of His own true "tent" (Heb. 8:2), in which He has always desired to stay, a tent that He shall build with His own "hand", and it shall absolutely not be built with the hands of mortals.

In the book of Hebrews the writer presents a unified and comprehensive description of God's new covenant plan about which Jesus mentioned to his disciples at the last supper (Mat. 26:26-27), and the coming to pass and fulfillment of that new covenant, for the letting go of the sin of mortal kind. In many ways the book of Hebrews can be compared to a kiosk directory in the shopping mall of God's new covenant, conveniently given to us who are looking to find something. The writer of Hebrews tells Israel not only that God's new covenant has finally come to pass, but how it has come to pass, the role of the promised redeemer in bringing it to pass, and of the letting go of the penalty for the sin of those now under God's new covenant. And very importantly, the writer of Hebrews quotes many of those prophecies and allusions of many of the related aspects of God's new covenant, showing us where to look and how to solve the mystery, the secret God kept, which revelation of this and other mysteries have now been revealed to anyone who truly desires to know.

The writer of Hebrews describes many new covenant aspects throughout his scroll, and in addition pin-points for us many of those related evidential prophecies and allusions in the writings of the law, Psalms and of the prophets. Through this the writer of Hebrews draws lines between and connects together those "dots", putting together for us a pattern of some sort of exactly what God did reveal of his mystery, His secret; which total revelation of it He had to keep secret from the devil, so the devil couldn't stop the shedding of blood and death of His son, in whose blood God's new covenant is put through and set up. As you shall see, it is the "raising up of God's true "tent", the "tent" He has made for Himself with His own "hand".

On account of this the book of Hebrews, chapter 8, is for me the doorway back into the ancient texts of the writings of the law, the psalms and of the prophets, through which to start tracking out the riches God has hidden in Christ about the coming to pass of God's true "tent", the one He made with his own "hand". The knowledge and understanding of who is Jesus Christ, and why has he been sent, of all of Jesus' parables of the Mystery of the Kingdom of God, of God's new covenant through Jesus' shed blood and death, of the letting go of the penalty of death for sin, and of what is the assembly and what is its purpose, and much more, are all facets of truth of the one great truth in God's Word about His desired true "tent".

In the book of Heb. 8:2 the writer of Hebrews uses the word "tent" (Gk. skēnēs) in reference to a holy place of some kind in which the God desired to permanently dwell. But the writer refers not to a mortal-made building of some kind, but to the true "tent" of the LORD God, one which is "pegged" into place by the LORD God Himself, and absolutely not by mortals. The writer is careful to use the emphatic particle of negation, ouk, to dramatically slam this very important truth into the reader's minds: the true "tent" of the God was neither the tent (lit., tent of meeting) Moses built in the wilderness of the exodus (Exod. 33:7-11), nor Solomon's, nor Zerubbabel's, nor Herod's temples which were in Jerusalem, nor any other 'house of Yahweh", nor "house of Elohim" mentioned in the holy writings, which were all constructed by human hands! These were never the desired true "tent", His desired permanent place to stay, because they were all made, built, set up, put in place, you pick the verb, by mortals, using their hands!

Heb. 8:1 (LIT/UBS4) But [the] head cost²⁷⁷⁴ (kephalaion) over the things being said [is this]:

We have a chief sacrificial priest like this, one who sat down in (en) right (dexia) of the throne of the magnificence (megalōsunēs) in the heavens;

Heb. 8:2 (LIT/UBS4) a liturgist (leitourgos) of the holy things, and of the tent (skēnēs), the true one (alēthinēs), which the LORD pegged⁴⁰⁷⁸ (epēxen), absolutely not (ouk) a mortal (anthrōpos)!

We can easily see by the immediate context of Heb. 8 that the writer is comparing the setting up of the true "tent" of God against the setting up of the one which Moses and the children of Israel set up in the wilderness of the exodus, which tent was only a physical type to God's true "tent". Pegged (Gk., epēxen) is a reference to driving in the stakes of a tent, which are used to hold the ropes in place which hold up a tent. Therefore, I take the meaning of the word pegged as simply being a reference to the erecting and setting up of a tent, to make it ready to inhabit. The writer says God "pegged", i.e. set up, His own true "tent", thusly declaring that the one Moses pegged, i.e. set up, in the wilderness of the exodus was absolutely not God's true "tent'. The true "tent" of God is not a mortal-made tent of some kind, because the true "tent" of God was "pegged" by God Himself, absolutely not by a mortal, Moses, Solomon, or any other.

The mortal-made tent about which the writer of Hebrews speaks in Heb. 8:5-, the one which Moses and the children of Israel set up in the wilderness of the exodus, was only a physical example, a shadow, a type to the true "tent" God desired, over which true "tent" the resurrected and ascended Christ Jesus is now a chief sacrificial priest, and a liturgist of the holy things of it.

The tent which Moses and the children of Israel constructed in the wilderness, during their exodus from Egypt and on their way to the promised land, was only a physical representation of God's prophesied true "tent" in which He desired to dwell. The physical type of the true "tent" was built based upon the direction and instructions God pointed out to Moses when he was in the mountain. It's important to note, that the physical tent which Moses and the children of Israel built in the wilderness of the exodus, and especially all of its unique appointments, were only physical representations of the form and appointments of God's true "tent" which He made with His own "hand", which at that time the completion of His true 'tent" was still yet coming in the future.

- tent (Heb., ‘ōhel, Strong's # 0168; Gk., skēnēs, Strong's # 4633-4638, both verbs and nouns)

- peg, pegged (Heb., yātēd, Strong's # 03489; Gk., epēxen, Strong's # 4078)

The following picture is a scale model rendering by artist Christopher Warren of the tent the children of Israel carried around with them for forty yeas in the wilderness. This model is located in Timnah National Park, Israel.

In this artistic and somewhat realistic rendering of the tent which Moses and the children of Israel built in the wilderness of the exodus from Egypt, you can see the tent in the midst of a court which was formed by curtains attached to erect poles. In the actual compound Moses built, given a cubit was on average of about 18 inches in length, the curtains and posts surrounding the courtyard and tent were about 15 feet high. In the midst of the court was placed the alter of burnt offerings, and next to it, directly in front of the tent, the laver in which the priests were required to wash themselves clean before performing the services of the liturgy. The tent was always built to "face" east (Num. 3:38). This is a view of the tent from the northeast.

According to Exod. 25:8, the whole compound is referred to by God as a cleansed place (Heb., miqdāš). The cleansed place was enclosed with hangings made of a twined bleached fabric of some kind (Heb. 27:9-). Many translations say linen. Within this cleansed place was a courtyard (Heb. hāsēr, Heb. 27:9), in which were the alter, the laver, and the place to stay (Heb., miškān, Heb. 25:9), the place where God would come and meet and speak with His people (Exod. 25:22). Miškān is a general term used to describe its functional purpose, while tent (Heb. 'ōhel) is a term used to describe its structural design. In Exod. 26:7 we can see God using both of these terms together to describe its distinguishing characteristics.

Regarding the place to stay (Heb. miškān), God says He never actually dwelled there, in the sense of it being a permanent residence for Him (Isa. 66:1-2; Acts 7:47-50). The place to stay (Heb. miškān) is used both to refer to the tent, and to refer to a specific spot also inside of the tent, a spot which is behind the veil and in the holy place of the holy ones, which spot is directly over and above the mercy seat of the ark of the witness, and between the Cherubims. This specific spot inside of the holy place of the holy ones is where God said that he would meet and speak to the sons of Israel (Exod. 25:22).

Jesus Christ, who caused himself to become our chief sacrificial priest through the sacrifice of himself (Acts 4:11; Rom. 1:3; Col. 1:18; Gal. 3:13, 4:4-5; Phil. 2:7-8; Heb. 1:4, 2:17, 6:20, 7:26), has caused himself to become a liturgist of the holy things, and of the "tent", the true one, the one which the LORD "pegged", one absolutely not "pegged" by mortals!

In Heb. 8:2 please notice that the writer of Hebrews refers back to an ancient record about God "pegging" His own "tent". Note that the writer understood the Greek word skēnēs, meaning a tent, to be a very good equivalent to the Hebrew word used in that old record, or records, about God's coming true "tent" in which He desires to dwell. If the writer of Hebrews was quoting the writer of that old record, then we could find the Hebrew word, or words, for "tent' and search on them to discover further information in the Hebrew records to go with the Hebrews 8:1- passage and its context.

I'll show you here, at the beginning of this study, how I straightly cut (2 Tim. 2:15) God's Word, the ancient Biblical texts, so you can see my method, which is exactly how I went about putting together this study, as well as all of my studies.

In the context of Heb. 8:1- the writer wrote about Moses setting up a tent for God in the wilderness of the exodus from Egypt. Just off the top of our heads, knowing that Moses wrote at least the first five books of the OT writings, Genesis through Deuteronomy, and the second of those books is titled Exodus, do you suppose we may expect to find there subject matter related to that of Heb. chapter 8:1-? I would say so. But, for the sake of the accuracy of our search, and the thoroughness of it to find everything we can related to this subject, let's be more systematic in our approach and search the OT writings using the Strong's number for the Hebrew word meaning "a tent".

Using virtually any concordance (Strong's works well) we can see that the Greek noun skēnēs, meaning a tent, is equivalent to the Hebrew noun 'ōhel, Strong's number 0168. From searching all of the OT texts of the Bible for the word ōhel (most of my resources are computerized) I find that the Hebrew word ōhel is used about 345 times in the OT writings. My software shows me the book, chapter and verse of each of those usages.

From here each usage and its associated context must be carefully examined in order to find any and all references to the God's prophetic true "tent" in which He desired to dwell. And so my initial tracking to discover the riches of the meaning of the Heb. 8:1-2 passage begins with completely researching both the Greek word skēnēs throughout the new covenant writings, and the Hebrew word ōhel throughout the books of the law, Psalms, and prophets.

While searching from Genesis to Malachi in the OT for ōhel, meaning a tent, its third usage in Exodus is in Exod. 26:7, which is the record the writer of Hebrews spoke about in Heb. 8:1- , about Moses building a tent for God. Here in this passage God is giving Moses specific directions and instructions as to HOW the wilderness tent should be built.

Exod. 26:7a (LIT/USB4) "And (wĕ) you have made ('śh) curtains (yĕrî’â) [of] goats [hair] (‘ēz) into (lĕ) a tent (‘ōhel), over (‘al) the (ha) place to stay (miškān);" (See Exod. 40:19 also)

"place to stay" - In this verse is the first usage by Moses in his pentateuch of the word miškān, generally meaning a place to stay, and pointing out its functional purpose. by Moses in his Pentateuch. This attracts my attention to what is the exact spot within this place to stay, where God said that he would meet and speak with the sons of Israel, which exact spot is directly over and above the mercy seat of the ark of the witness, and between the Cherubims (Exod. 25:22).

From the writer of Heb. 8:1- we know that this tent that Moses built with his own hands is only a type of the true "tent" which God made with His own "hand". Therefore all of the objects and furnishings of the entire compound are types to those things associated with God's true "tent".

"over" - Please notice God's use of the preposition 'al, meaning over, to express the locative position of His place to stay. The tent of goats [hair] is to be over the place to stay. This leaves no doubt as to the exact location of the place to stay, that it is under the tent, and thereby inside of the tent, since the tent is to be over it. Therefore, in God's true "tent", the one He is going to make with His own "hand", His exact place to stay is going to be within it, under the 'tent", and inside of the "tent", since the "tent" is going to be over the place to stay.

"goats [hair]" - Many scholars believe that both the skin and the hair attached to the skin is implied in the use of this word here. From both scriptural evidence and the record in Josephus, the hair of goats was woven and dyed it various colors to make the curtains which were used to be a part of the tent built over the dwelling.

"you have made" - If you look at Hebrew verbs you may notice that many times God uses perfect tense verbs to express an action or activity as completed, although as yet from a human being point of view the action may not have begun (future tense), or is still ongoing (present tense). As we know, God can see the outcome of all things. Apparently He often desires to state the action of a verb in its completed, or perfect tense form, which both announces the goal of the action of a verb, and the attainment of that goal, and the subsequent completion of the action of the verb, all simultaneously! Wow! How concise is that?

- a tent (Heb., ‘ōhel, Strong's # 0168; Gk., skēnēs, Strong's # 4633-4638, both verbs and nouns)

Here's another verse in this record about the tent (Heb. ‘ōhel) Moses made with his hands, for God.

Exod. 26:14 (LIT/UBS4) And (wĕ) you have made (‘śh) a cover (mikseh) into (lĕ) the (ha) tent (‘ōhel), skins (‘ôr) of rams (‘ayil) having been reddened (‘dm); and (wĕ) a cover (mikseh), skins (‘ôr) of antelopes (tahaš), from (min) into (lĕ) [the tent] above (ma’al).

"skins of antelopes" - There is a wide range of opinions of scholars as to what exactly is the meaning of this Hebrew word tahaš. From my own intense study is seems highly unlikely that it refers to a sea mammal of some kind, a porpoise, dolphin, or dugong. If so, that would mean that throughout the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years they would be required to keep returning to the Red Sea and associated bodies of water to fish for these mammals, to keep producing replacement parts for the tent as those skins wore out from use. To me tahaš is much more likely to refer to an antelope or gazelle, the skins from which can be locally obtained as the Israelites continued to wander, and from which could be obtained fur/hair-bearing skins, as the texts describe were used.

"a cover into the tent" - A little research on this word for a cover (Heb. mikseh), shows that it refers specifically to a cover over an entrance. Its first usage is for the cover over the entrance of Noah's ark, the door which was sealed shut. Here in Exod. 26:14 is is used to refer to a cover over the entrance into the tent.

"skins of rams having been reddened" - These are skins from which the hair has been removed, and the hides have been dyed to some shade of red. This was the material, color and texture of the cover over the entrance into the tent. This cover "faced" East, toward the risings of the Sun (Num. 3:38). What seems extraordinarily interesting to me is that there is a verse of holy scripture, right here in the local context, which actually refers to this cover over the entrance into this tent Moses built as the "face" of the tent (Exod. 26:9)! And again in Exod. 29:10 we can see a description of this reddened cover over the entrance into the tent, described as being the "face" of the tent!

"face (pāneh) [of the] tent ('ōhel)"! The "face" of the tent containing the place to stay of God, which tent was covered in hairy animal skins, and which contained curtains within woven of the hair of rams, faced East into the risings of the Sun, and the "face" of the tent was reddened. According to Exod. 26:31-33 the veil (Heb., pārōket) inside of the tent which separated between the holy place and the holy place of the holy ones, was multi-colored, of the colors violet, purple and worm scarlet. The text is very clear that the cover (Heb. mikseh) into the tent, the "face" of it, was reddened (Exod. 26:14), and the veil (Heb., pārōket) inside of the tent was multi-colored!

What stands out to me in these records is how similar are the descriptions of the exterior of the tent, which was covered all around the outside with hairy animal skins, and had a reddened "face", it being a tent specifically designed by God Himself to contain His place to stay inside of it, appears to me to very similar to the description of a human skull, and the looks of its covering!

As a side note: A reader of an English Bible will have great difficulty seeing this concept plainly in virtually any English "translation", because virtually all of these key words associated with the tent are creatively "synonymed" into obfuscation, and thereby oblivion. Subsequently the reader simply can't readily connect the dots between and across words, verses and passages, to put them together, because the constant changes in English "translation" wordage leaves no apparent connection between them. The only way possible to thoroughly and truely straightly cut God's Word, and track the truths in God's Word, is through finding and tracking the locations and usages of the exact Hebrew and Greek words themselves. All that the creative "synonyming" of English translations can do is lead you into half-truths, one and two-verse mortal-made theological doctrines, obfuscation and frustration.

Josephus describes for us how extensively the animal skins and hair were used to make curtains, a veil, and the covering of the tent itself.

"...but that on other days, especially when the weather was inclined to snow, it might be expanded, and afford a covering to the veil of diverse colors; whence that custom of ours is derived, of having a fine linen veil, after the temple has been built, to be drawn over the entrances; but the ten other curtains were four cubits in breadth, and twenty-eight in length; and had golden clasps, in order to join the one curtain to the other, which was done so exactly that they seemed to be one entire curtain. These were spread over the temple, and covered all the top and parts of the walls, on the sides and behind, so far as within one cubit of the ground.

There were other curtains of the same breadth with these, but one more in number, and longer, for they were thirty cubits long; but these were woven with hair, with the like subtlety as those of wool were made, and were extended loosely down to the ground, appearing like a triangular front and elevation at the gates, the eleventh curtain being used for this very purpose. There were also other curtains made of skins above these, which afforded covering and protection to those that were woven, both in hot weather, and when it rained; and great was the surprise of those who viewed these curtains at a distance, for they seemed not at all to differ from the colour of the sky; but those that were made of hair and of skins reached down in the same manner as did the veil at the gates, and kept off the heat of the sun, and what injury the rains might do; and after this manner was the tabernacle reared."

I believe that this is a very important point to notice, that apparently the whole of the outside of the tent was covered with animal skins and their hair, and the curtains within were woven with hair of rams, like wool woven. Josephus states that not only animal skins, but animal hair also was used in the curtains and coverings of the tent Moses built. It was all covered with skin and hair, except for the "face"! I believe this is absolutely not coincidental when we come to know and understand many of the other records in God's Word about this tent, and about the true "tent" of God which God "pegged" with His own "hand"!

In the book of 2 Cor. 5:1-5, apostle Paul speaking to the believers in the Corinth area, the ones having been baptized by Christ Jesus in God's gift of holy Spirit, speaks of our human body as being a "tent". Paul says to them that although "we" are living in an earthly "tent" upon land, our present physical bodies, that we should be dropping ourselves into (an Eastern idiom meaning to put on clothing) our heavenly habit, i.e., our heavenly "tent", as well! And that, "indeed we, if having dropped ourselves into [the heavenly habit of us], we shall absolutely not be found naked!" Apostle Paul speaks of us putting on our spiritual "habit", to cover our spiritual "nakedness", the nakedness Adam and Eve achieved through their sin, for their posterity.

If we, while living in our earthly "tent" upon land, our earthly "tent" being our physical body, have received God's Spirit in us thereby dropping us into our heavenly habit, our heavenly "tent", then we shall absolutely not be found "naked" when our earthly tent upon land is loosened down, i.e., dies! "Dropping ourselves into" I believe is an idiomatic metaphor for our acceptance of, and taking responsibility for our own knowledge and belief of God's Word, thereby dropping into the wholeness and discipleship which our belief in God's Word brings. In this record in 2 Cor. 5:1-5, apostle Paul speaks ultimately about us discipling ourselves into growing up into a complete male (or female), growing up spiritually into the measure of the fullness of the maturity of Christ (Eph. 4:13), in God's true "tent"!

You may recall, back in Heb. 8:2, the writer said about Christ Jesus, about what he has become:

As I've been showing, I'm interested in finding any and all OT prophecies and records about God preparing, or building, or making, or specifically "pegging" if possible, His own desired true "tent". The writer of Hebrews says that God has "pegged" His own true "tent", speaking absolutely not about the one which Moses built in the wilderness of the exodus. This act of pegging His own true "tent" He has done, absolutely not a mortal.

You may recall, in Exod. 26:7a that God spoke of this "tent" as His place to stay. God, through Moses, used the word meaning place to stay, (Heb., miškān), as referring to both the tent itself, and as an exact spot inside of the tent, the exact spot where God said that he would meet and speak with the sons of Israel; which exact spot is directly over and above the mercy seat of the ark of the witness, and between the Cherubims (Exod. 25:22).

Reading in the book of Exodus, in the record in Exod. 15:1-21, in the words of the song which Moses and the children of Israel sang to God to thank Him for His deliverance of them through the Red sea, are the prophetic words describing God's future plan for the children of Israel, and for Himself. Moses records for us some of the revelation God gave to him about His true holy place He is going to prepare with His own "hand".

Exod. 15:17 (LIT/BHS-W4) You are coming (bw’), and (‏wĕ‎) you are planting (n’) in (bĕ) a mountain (har) an inheritance (na'ălāh), a place (mākôn) toward (lĕ) [which] to dwell (yšb);

LORD (‘ādôn), it has been prepared (kwn) [by] your hand (yād‎)!

Look at this, God is planting an inheritance in a mountain! It's a place toward which He is going to dwell! It's a holy place! And God has prepared it by His own hand!

Here, in this telling reference to God's true "tent", the one He shall build with his own "hand", Moses refers to God's true "tent" as a "mountain", a cleansed place where God shall permanently sit/dwell (Heb., yšb); a cleansed place into which God is "planting" for Himself an inheritance. David asked God about this "tent", this mountain, and who are the ones He is planting in His "tent", His mountain, the ones who shall be lodging (Heb., mî-yāgûr) with him in his "tent" (Psalm 15:1)?

In Psalm 15:2-5 David reveals to us God's fabulous answer to him, about who are the ones who shall be lodging with Him in His mountain, in His true "tent", the "tent" prepared by His own "hand"! I believe this is a prophecy of those under the new covenant in Jesus' shed blood, being those who are the one body of Christ as apostle Paul states (Eph. 5:21-32; Col. 1:12-18), those who are the assembly of God as Jesus stated (Mat. 16:18), those who shell be in the temple Jesus shall raise after three days (John 2:19-22; 1 Tim. 3:15)! Psalm 15:1-5 is a Davidic prophecy of the assembly of God (Gk. ekklēsia, Strong's # 1577) under the new covenant put through by Jesus' blood!

I believe this is why the phrase (Heb., qōdeš haqqŏdāšîm) is in the plural in the Hebrew text (Exod. 26:33b), and precisely why I believe it should be translated as "holy place of the holy ones", as I translate it. I believe the usage of the plurality of the word haqqŏdāšîm is prophetically indicative of the future splitting of the curtain of the Holy Place from top to bottom, into two pieces, as is recorded for us (Mat. 27:51; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:45), indicating of a future approach to the God for all mortal kind. That declares to all of those who have believed upon Jesus' name, those who have been made holy and are now holy ones (Eph. 1:3-5), that the God, through Jesus' blood, has given to them an approach toward Him (Eph. 2:18-19), into His Holy Place, i.e., into His holy places, He into them and they into Him, through Christ!

In this verse Moses gives us several more words which can be searched on and tracked throughout the holy writings to discover if any of them lead us to more clues and truths about God's true "tent", the one prepared by His own "hand".

- you are planting (Heb., n', Strong's # 05193; Gk., phuteuō, Strong's # 5452)

- an inheritance (Heb., na'ălāh, Strong's # 05159; Gk., klēronomia, Strong's # 2817)

- to dwell (Heb., yšb, Strong's # 03427; Gk., katoikēo, Strong's # 2730, oikeō, Strrong's # 3611)

- a cleansed place (Heb., miqdāš, Strong's # 04720; Gk., katharos, Strong's # 2513)

- hand (Heb., yād, Strong's # 03027; Gk., cheir, Strong's # 5495, cheiropoiētos, Strong's # 5499)

Now searching in the Hebrew and Greek texts for the word for hand, on both the Hebrew word yād, and its Greek equivalent cheir, and on the Greek word cheiropoiētos, meaning hands-made, suddenly I hit upon a large cache of the riches of this great truth in God's Word about his true "tent". NOW, I'm starting to see how some specific OT prophecies, and the related NT passages about them, both come together to form the proper context for the proper understanding of the meaning of them all!

Apostle Paul emphatically echoed the same magnificent truth of Exod. 15:17, and of Isaiah's prophecy (Isa. 66:1-2), when he stood up in the midst of the rocky hill of Ares to address the Athenians (Acts 17:22-34), during his second itinerary.

Acts 17:24 (LIT/UBS4) The God, the one having made (poiēsas) the cosmos and all the things in it, [the things] of heaven and of land being subordinate (huparchōn) to this one, [the] LORD absolutely does not home-down (ouk katoikei) in hands-made (cheiropoiētois) holy places (naois)!

Paul's emphatic statement that the God absolutely does not home-down (Gk., katoikei) in hands-made (Gk. cheiropoiētois) holy places (Gk., naois), can be taken to mean the God has absolutely not ever homed-down in a man-made tent, or a holy place of any kind, including the one Moses built in the wilderness of the exodus. In this important "truth' in God's word both apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews (if not Paul) both agree! Apparently, based upon the truth in Exodus 15:17 and Acts 17:24, Moses, apostle Paul, and the writer of Hebrews all agree that throughout history, all those who built tents, and/or holy places, and/or houses for God in which He could stay near to His people, they absolutely were not His true "tent" in which He desired to permanently stay.

He absolutely did not permanently sit/dwell (Heb., yšb) in them per se, but He has used them only to meet and speak with His people. That's all, according to Moses, apostle Paul, the writer of the book of Hebrews, and according to God Himself. If you don't like it, change your wrong thinking! Don't change God's word into a lie to support your own soap opera theology! Up until the coming of the promised redeemer, and through his completed work, God's true "tent", His true place to stay, His true holy place had absolutely not yet been built by Him, and had absolutely not yet been "pegged" with His own "hand"!

- holy places (Gk., naos, Strorng's # 3485; Heb., qōdeš, Strong's # 06944)

Through another one of God's mouths, the prophet Isaiah, the LORD God asks us WHERE is this "house" (Heb. bayit) that we build for Him? Exactly where is it?

Isaiah 66:1 (YLT) Thusly says YHWH, "The heavens are My throne, and the earth My footstool.

And WHERE is this, a place of rest [for Me]?

Isaiah 66:2 (YLT) And all these My hand has made, And all these things are, An affirmation of Jehovah!

And unto this one I look attentively, Unto the humble and bruised in spirit, And who is trembling at My word.

At this time in history, the time of Isaiah's prophecy, it was still impossible for us to know the answer to His question to us, since the promised redeemer has not yet come; nor has yet come that great day of Pentecost after Christ Jesus' resurrection; nor has yet come the revelation of the Great Mystery of the Joel 2:28-32 prophecy and the others associated with it as well. Without these revelations through other mouths of God, the deep spiritual insights Jesus Christ brought to us through his parables, and the record of what Stephen said in Acts 6:8 through 7:60, and the revelation of the Great Mystery through apostle Paul, and other great spiritual insights through others, we would have no clue as to how to answer the LORD God's question to us here in Isaiah, as to WHERE is the "house" that we build for Him if He builds it with His own "hand"!

- house (Heb., bayit, Strong's # 01004; Gk., oikia, Strong's # 3614, and oikos, Strong's # 3624)

Disciple Stephen, just before he was stoned to death for saying so, witnesses to us this magnificent truth of God's "tent", His holy place, His "house" about which Isaiah spoke (Isa. 66:1-2), witnessing to us that it was part of the evangelism of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1-), which apostle Paul refers to as the word of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-19) which Jesus Christ and the apostles and disciples both preached and taught. Stephen, witnessing to the absolute relevancy of this vital truth to the first century church, echoes the prophet Isaiah. This is some of what Stephen enunciated to the lawless ones shortly before they stoned him to death.

Acts 7:47 (LIT/UBS4) But Solomon built a domed-roof house³⁶¹⁸ (ōkodomēsen), a house (oikon) for Him.

Acts 7:48 (LIT/UBS4) BUT (alla), the highest one absolutely does not home-down (ouch katoikei) in hands-made places (cheiropoiētois)!

Which house (oikon); shall you build domed-roof houses³⁶¹⁸ (oikodomēsete) for me?’ says [the] LORD.

Acts 7:50 (LIT/UBS4) Did absolutely not the hand of me make all these things?’

As we can clearly see here in Stephen's witness, he understood Isaiah's prophecy of the God's question to us about "Which house: shall you build domed-roof houses for me?" referring to God's prophetic "tent', His prophetic "house" as being a domed-roof house! Given Stephen's knowledge and understanding of the OT prophecies, Stephen deliberately chose to use the word oikodomēsete to refer to the LORD God's prophetic place to stay, His holy place, His "house" which he shall build with His own "hand". Please notice that oikodomēsete is a verb form of its compound root oikodomēō. The two nouns which make up this verb are oikos, meaning a house, and doma, generally meaning a roof.

The noun form of oikodomēsete is oikodomē. You may notice that Stephen didn't simply use the word for house, oikos, in reference to Isaiah's prophecy of God's prophetic "tent', His holy place, the "house" He is going to build with His own "hand", but Stephen adds another dimension of meaning to it, drawing our attention to God's prophetic "house" as having a special roof of some kind. Since most all houses built normally have roofs to keep out the rain and heat, Stephen making it a point to draw our attention to this house as having a special roof of some kind must be more than simply superfluous wordage!

In the book of Exod. 25:22, underneath all of this skin and hair, God tells us exactly where He would position Himself inside of the tent which Moses and the children of Israel are building, to speak with Moses and His people, which was above the mercy seat, and between the two Cherubims which are over the ark of testimony (Exod. 25:22). The ark of testimony is referred to as the ark of covenant also in the holy writings.

In the tent which Moses built in the wilderness, that tent was only a type to God's true desired place to stay which was at that time still prophesied to come to pass at some time in the future. The tent, and the place to stay of God inside of that tent Moses built, each had a distinctly different purpose and function. The designed purpose of the tent Moses built was to be a container in which the place to stay of God could be near to His people, where God could meet and speak with His people.

If the tent which Moses built in the wilderness was only a type to God's true prophetic "tent" that he would "peg" with His own hand, then the physical features of Moses' tent are all only types to the true features of that true "tent" that the God has begun to prepare with His own "hand"! A good book I recommend on the typical representations of the various parts of the construction of Moses' tent is by Ada R. Habershon, titled "The Study of the Types Priests And Levites, A Type of the Church". (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1974)

Here's a quick little side-track on the word "pegged", which I believe is very telling.

The writer of Hebrews 8:2 says that the LORD "pegged" (Gk. epēxen) His own true "tent", and absolutely not a mortal. The writer of Acts, Luke, uses the only other occurrence of the word epēxen. Luke says:

Acts 2:23 (LIT/UBS4) This one (touton) having been segregated (hōrismenē) [through] the (tē) counsel (boulē) and (kai) prognosis (prognosei) of the (tou) God (theou), [being] a given out one (ekdoton), through (dia) [the] hand (cheiron) of lawless ones (anomōn) you annihilated (aneilete), having pegged⁴³⁶² (prospēxantes) [him];

Acts 2:24 (LIT/UBS4) whom (hon) the (ho) God (theos) stood up (anestesen), having loosened (lusas) the (tas) pains (ōdinas) of the (tou) death (thanatou);

The lawless ones pegged and staked Jesus Christ, which killed him. Their pegging and staking of Jesus Christ caused his blood to flow out of his body, which shedding of his blood paid the price in lieu of the penalty of death for all mortalkind for their sin. This made it possible for the LORD God to set up a new covenant between Himself and His creation, through which covenant the LORD God could now "peg" His desired true "tent" in which He, the LORD God, would dwell!

I believe the literal act of "pegging" which the LORD God does is His act of giving His gift of holy Spirit, which He gave to Jesus Christ very shortly after his water baptism through John, the baptist. The God giving His gift of holy Spirit is how He builds, i.e., prepares one to be "raised up" (Rom. 8:11).

When mortals peg someone it causes their death. But when God "pegs" someone it gives them eternal life. The God "pegged" His "tent", Jesus Christ, through baptizing Jesus Christ with His paternal Spirit very shortly after Jesus' water baptism through John, the baptist. Then the lawless ones tore down God's "tent" through literally pegging and staking him at the place of the skull. Then God stood up His tent after the lawless ones caused it to fall down, after Jesus was in the grave 3 days and nights!

The God produced (Gk., prōtotokos) His firstborn son (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 11:23), first as the Word in the beginning (Col. 1:15), and then as Jesus, the promised Christ (Luke 1:35) when it became flesh and tented (Gk., eskēnōsen) among us (John 1:14).

Amos 9:11 (LIT) In the day, [in] the one of it, I am standing up the booth of David, the one having fallen.

Amos 9:12 (YLT) So that they possess the remnant of Edom, And all the nations on whom My name is called, An affirmation of Jehovah—doer of this.

When God stood up His son Jesus Christ from out of dead ones, He literally began standing up the "booth" of David, the one having fallen. In Amos the verb for "standing up" is in the imperfect tense, indicating continuous on-going action. According to Amos' prophecy, in that future day, whenever it may come, God shall be "standing up" (continuous on-going action) the "booth" of David!

In Acts apostle James comments on this specific prophecy of Amos, making it crystal clear to his listeners that this prophecy HAS ALREADY COME TO PASS! The standing up of the booth of David, and the walling-in of its breaks and demolished places, has already occurred!

Acts 15:13 (LIT/UBS4) But with the [passing of the time] of them to be hushed, James was caused to judge away (apekrithē), saying, “Males, brothers, hear me!

Acts 15:14 (LIT/UBS4) Simeon led out¹⁸³⁴ first, down as the God caused Himself to scope in upon (epeskepsato) [them] to take out of ethnic groups (ethnōn) a people for the name of Him.

Acts 15:15 (LIT/UBS4) And to this the words of the prophets symphonize (sumphōnousin), down as it has been written:

Acts 15:16 (LIT/UBS4) “With [the passing of] these things I shall turn up³⁹⁰, and I shall build up a domed-roof house⁴⁵⁶ (anoikodomēsō), the tent (skēnēn) of David, the one having fallen (peptōkuian).

And of the things of her having been dug down I shall build up a domed-roof house⁴⁵⁶ (anoikodomēsō), and I shall [build] her straight up (anorthōsō autēn);

According to apostle James, Amos' "booth of David" is the same thing as the "tent of David", as James calls it. James refers to these also as "a domed-roof house".

Additionally, please notice also that James understands Amos' quote of God saying, "I am standing up the booth of David" as meaning the equivalent of "I shall build up a domed-roof house".

And yet in addition to this, please notice also that James understands Amos' quote of God saying, "I am standing [it] up!" as meaning the equivalent of "I shall [build] her straight up".

Please notice this very special verb James uses, anoikodomēsō, to describe the God the Father's action of building His true "tent". Anoikodomēsō is a triple compound, an-oiko-domēsō, made of three words being used like building blocks being put together: the preposition an meaning up, the noun oikos meaning house, and the noun dōma meaning roof or rooftop. This verb's literal raw meaning is to build an up-house-rooftop. From my own personal studies, and from translating well over 12,000 Greek word morphologies used in the ancient NT texts of the Bible, many of those words being double and triple compounds, this verbs general meaning is about building up a house, but its specific meaning is about building up the houses rooftop, so foul weather doesn't get into the "house" to contaminate it, and ultimately make the "house" unclean and an unfit place in which to dwell.

The reason why I translate the verb anoikodomēsō, and its other closely related words, epoikodomeō, oikodomēō, oikodomē, sunoikodomeō, which all have both the words oikos and dōma compounded together in them, is because in the majority of the contexts of all of their usages, in 53 usages out of a total of 69, in 77% of all of their usages they are used metaphorically to represent the the "rooftop" of our own personal "house", which is the skull, the head of the body of a human being; the place in which we seek out the LORD God, to receive and store knowledge of, and believe in the God through His Word! In 77% of all of their usages they refer to the "rooftop" of our own "house", the place that has hairy skin all over it like the tent Moses built in the wilderness of the Exodus for God! Jesus Christ died, giving his life at the "place of a cranium" (Mat. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17), so our craniums could be cleansed, washed in the Word (Eph. 5:26; John 13:10; 1 Cor. 6:11; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 9:14; 1 John 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5),

Acts 15:17 (LIT/UBS4) so that perhaps the ones remaining down of the mortals, all the ethnic groups also upon whom the name of me has been called aloud upon them, they may seek out (ekzētēsōsin) the LORD,” says [the] LORD doing these things,

Acts 15:18 (LIT/UBS4) things known (gnōsta) from (ap’) [the] age (aiōnos).

Acts 15:19 (LIT/UBS4) Through which (dio) I (egō) judge (krinō) not (mē) to crowd in alongside (parenochlein) the ones (tois) from (apo) the (tōn) ethnic groups (ethnōn) turning (epistrephousin) over (epi) to the (ton) God (theon);

James equated what apostle Peter did with the household of Cornelius, recorded in Acts 10, and the fact that other believers from among other ethnic groups were presently turning over to God, as on-going fulfillment of the Amos 9:11-12 prophecy! Luke, in Acts 10, records the event which for the first time brought in believers from another ethnic group, believers from other than the children of Israel, into being part of the building of God's true prophetic "tent", the "booth of David", the "domed-roof house".

The present tense, on-going building of God's true "tent", i.e., the "booth of David" as the prophet Amos called it, a "domed-roof house" as the apostle James called it, certainly IS the context here in Acts 15:7-20, recorded about two thousand years ago. Some "Christian leaders" still refuse to believe that the LORD God has ALREADY begun raising up His "tent", the one ABSOLUTELY NOT made with mortal's hands, but the "tent" which the LORD God stood up, and is still standing up, with His own "hand", His true "tent", the "booth of David", the "tent of David", the one having fallen down, the "domed-roof house" of God, which He is building with His own "hand"!

While searching through all of the OT writer's usages of ōhel, meaning a tent, for figurative usages of it in connection with God's desired future true "tent" built with His own "hand", a passage in 2 Sam. 7 stands out.

God, through His messenger the prophet Nathan, asks king David if he is going to build for Him a house (Heb. ‏בַּיִת‎, bayit) in which to sit/dwell (Heb. ישׁב, yšb) (v. 5).

This passage looks to me to be the first mention in the OT writings of another coming future covenant, one unlike the Mosaic covenant, a new covenant coming through David, particularly through his future seed, which seed we know is referred to in the NT writings as the son of David. David recognized that the God not only gave to him a great and precious promise concerning a great event coming in the future involving David's own seed, but he recognized this great promise to him here in 2 Sam. 7 as a coming new covenant also, of which David's confirmation of this is recorded in 2 Sam. 23:5; Psalm 25:14, 89:1-37, 111, 132, and this fact is recorded in 2 Chron. 21:7, Isa. 42:1-9, 49, 55-62, 66:1-2, Jer. 31-32, Ezek. 11:16-20, Joel 2:28-32, Amos 9:11-12, and more also. David recognized that although he was planning then to build the God a house, that it was not the true house in which the God desired to dwell.

As recorded in this passage in 2 Sam. 7, God here takes the time to clarify something to David concerning David's misconception over what is God's true "house". What God's Word says here should clarify for all of Christianity (at least for those who still may read and study out of God's Word, instead of reading mortal-made theological theories into it!) what is God's true "tent", His true "house" in which He has always desired to dwell! God says that He has not sat/dwelled in a house which has been built for Him, FROM the day the sons of Israel were caused to go out of Egypt until NOW, "the day of this", the day he gave Nathan this prophecy to give to David.

Some English translations, like the AV, Darby, ESV and Rotherham, translate the Hebrew word ‏מִן‎, min, as "since" instead of "from" as is its actual meaning. Translating min as "since" makes the sentence in the text say/mean that God at one time did sit in a house built for Him, the tent Moses built in the wilderness of the exodus, but now He no longer does. That's absolutely not what the text says! God says, according to the text, that FROM the time He brought the sons of Israel out of Egypt until NOW, the time he's giving Nathan this prophecy, that during that whole time He has not sat/dwelled in a house, a tent, including the one Moses built, but that He has been walking during all of that time (2 Sam. 7:6-7; 1 Chron. 17:5)!

God has not sat/dwelled in the tent Moses built for Him in the wilderness. But God says He caused Himself to become (Heb. היה, hyh) walking (Heb. הלך, hlk) in a tent (Heb. אֹהֶל, 'ōhel) and in a place to stay (Heb. ‏מִשְׁכָּן‎, miškān) (v. 6). Walking is not the same as sitting/dwelling (Heb., yšb), or staying (Heb., škn). I believe God is saying that He has never come to rest in a place to stay made by the hands of mortals.

Moreover, God says that mortal's using their own hands to build for Him places to stay are their own ideas, because God says to David that He has never asked (v. 7) for anyone to build for Him a place to stay (v. 6)! The God has plans to build His own "tent", a "tent" absolutely not made with mortal's hands! We read in Heb. 8:2, that by the time the book of Hebrews was written, some estimate to be at approximately 53-54 A.D., the writer of Hebrews already believed and was teaching that Jesus Christ was a liturgist (leitourgos) of the holy things, and of the tent (skēnēs), the true one (alēthinēs), which the LORD pegged⁴⁰⁷⁸ (epēxen), absolutely not (ouk) a mortal (anthrōpos)!" (Heb. 8:2)!

In 2 Sam. 7:8-11b God says that he has given rest to David from all of his enemies, and He has given rest to the sons of Israel through planting them in a permanent place, and they are not troubled or afflicted any more. But God says that He has not been sitting/dwelling, i.e., resting, but that He has been walking! We can see this stated again in 1 Chron. 17:5, where the preposition from (Heb. min) is used also; YHWH says that He has not "sat (Heb. yšb), i.e., rested, in a house from (min) the day Israel was caused to go up until the day, the day of this one; but became from tent to tent., and FROM a place to stay [to place to stay]!" How can YHWH say it much clearer, that He has had no permanent place to stay to rest? Up until the time Jesus Christ came God was "walking". Since Jesus Christ came, the son of David, God has raised him up, the "tent of David", and God is now "tenting" IN him, the "tent" He has built with His own "hand".

2 Sam. 7:11c (LIT/BHS-W4) And YHWH has caused Himself to report to you, that YHWH is making for you a house!

2 Sam. 7:12 (LIT/BHS-W4) That [when the] days [of you] are being fulfilled, and you have laid after [the] fathers [of you], and I have caused myself to raise up [the] seed [of you] which afterward is coming out from [the] belly [of you], and I have caused myself to prepare [the] kingdom of him ,

Jesus Christ received his fleshly body out of the seed of David (Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8; *Rev. 22:16), specifically from his mother Mariam (Mat. 1:16). The sperm in Mariam which fertilized her egg (assuming that's how God did it) must have been put there by God Himself (Luke 1:35), since no mortal man did it!

And I have prepared [for him] afterward a throne, a kingdom until forever!

Jesus Christ was born in the city of David (Luke 2:11), and he was of the house of David (Luke 1:69, John 7:42).

Jesus Christ is referred to as the Son of David sixteen times in the NT writings. (Mat. 1:1, 20, 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30-31, 21:9, 15, 22:42, Mark 10:47-48, 12:35, Luke 3:31, 18:38-39)

In Rev. 5:5 Christ Jesus is referred to as "the Lion, the one out of the tribe of Judah, the root of David."

The throne of Christ Jesus is not the throne of the God, his God and Father (John 20:17) as well as ours, but the throne of David! (Luke 1:32, Mat. 19:28, 25:31, Acts 2:30, Heb. 1:8, Rev. 3:21)

2 Sam. 7:14a (LIT/BHS-W4) I am becoming to him into a Father, and he is becoming to Me into a son;

2 Sam. 7:14b (YLT) whom in his dealings perversely I have even reproved with a rod of men, and with strokes of the sons of Adam,

2 Sam. 7:15 (YLT) and My kindness doth not turn aside from him, as I turned it aside from Saul, whom I turned aside from before you,

2 Sam. 7:16 (YLT) and stedfast [is] thy house and thy kingdom unto the age before thee, thy throne is established unto the age.”

I believe this prophecy in 2 Sam. 7:11c-16 is the prophecy the writer of the book of Hebrews declares has already come to pass, recorded in Heb. 8:1-2, the passage with which I began this presentation. If this is the prophecy, or part of the records of this prophecy which the God gave, to which the writer of Hebrews refers in Heb. 8:1-2, then this prophecy in 2 Sam. HAS ALREADY COME TO PASS! God's prophetic 'tent', His own place to stay which He was going to build with His own "hand", He has already built it, and He is already staying in it, and IT IS CHRIST JESUS and Christ's one body, the assembly (Gk., ekklēsia)!

If anyone may still be thinking about building God a place to stay, built with the hands of mortals, forget it! It's too late! God never wanted one of those mortal-made buildings anyway! The true prophetic "tent" He has always desired, He has already built and is still building, and He is already dwelling in it, in His son Christ Jesus, who is a chief sacrificial priest, and a liturgist of his Father's "tent" (Heb. 8:2)!

2 Sam. 7:16 says that for this prophetic son of God, his house, his kingdom, and his throne are all everlasting! Some Christians may not like this prophesy in the Word of God because it disagrees with some soap opera-like mortal-made theological theories which have been invented at various times. But that's just too bad. The promised redeemer, the promised son of God who is a son of the mortal and specifically a son of David through a fleshly birth, but a son of God through a spiritual birth (see John 3:1-13; 1 Cor. 15:35-54), he is going to have a house, a kingdom, and a throne, which is going to last for ever, and the raising up of it has already begun to come to pass. The raising up of God's "tent' has already begun, with Jesus Christ, who is the prophetic "tent" which the God made with His own "hand", a kind of "tent" in which He desired to dwell all along! And there is more raising up and enlarging of God's "tent" yet to come, as believers among the other ethnic groups (gentiles) continue to become added to the one body of Christ (Isaiah 54), the "tent" of David!

The scriptural facts which state that this son of God is going to have a house, a kingdom, and a throne, implies that this son of God is a king of some kind. Kings usually rule kingdoms full of people, don't they? In the book of Revelation the little lamb, whom we know is the son of God, is "a Lord of lords and a King of kings" (Rev. 17:14), who shall point out (Gk., deixei) to us his Father, the one true God, who is "the KING of kings and the LORD of lords" (1 Tim. 6:14-16)!

WHEN did or does Christ Jesus begin to point out to us his Father, and our heavenly Father? WHEN did or does Christ Jesus receive his "house", his kingdom, and his throne? Is the promised kingdom of the son of God the same kingdom about which Jesus Christ, in his earthly ministry, taught and preached has come near (Gk., ēngiken, Mat. 3:2, 4:17; 10:7, 11:12, 12:28, 13:41, 23:13; *Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9-11)?

In Psalm 15:1-5 king David, during his contemplation of Nathan's prophecy to him of God's great and precious promise to him recorded in 2 Sam. 17:11c-12, David asks the God, "WHO shall sojourn in your "tent", that same 'tent' being the "tent" of David as well? The God tells us the answer to David's question through His "mouth", the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 33:13-15, 54:1-, and the God tells us through His son Jesus Christ in Mat. 12:32 and 13:29! Please take a moment and read those passages. These all who shall sojourn in God's "tent" are all the same ones as the God mentioned in Isaiah 66:2, and in Amos 9:12.

These prophecies speak of the characteristic values of the hearts of those ones, how they feel in their hearts toward God, ones who are allusions to the kind of the ones who in the future shall repent toward God in their hearts and believe upon the name of Jesus', and subsequently enter into his "one body"! Psalm 15:1-5, Isaiah 33:13-15, 54:1-, 66:2, and Amos 9:12 are all allusions to meek ones, to humble ones, to ones who have believing hearts toward God's Word. God's answer was that at some time in the future these ones would believe to become parts of God's "tent', the "tent" of David" which is the one body of Christ, who is God's "tent" which He built with His own "hand"!

God's prophetic "tent" came to pass based upon prophetic great and precious promises!

Back again in the book of Hebrews, beginning in 8:3, in the same context where the writer witnesses to us about God's prophetic "tent", the writer goes on to show us that the coming to pass of this great and precious prophetic promise of God's "tent", which He made with His own "hand", has not only come to pass, but HOW it has come to pass. The prophesied "tent" of God has come to pass because the prophesied new covenant has been put through and set in place, based upon the shed blood and death of God's firstborn son, Jesus Christ!

Heb. 8:3 (LIT/UBS4) Because every chief sacrificial priest is appointed into the [liturgy] to bring toward [the God] both offerings (dōra) and sacrifices (thusias);

from which [it is] a necessary thing for this one also to have something which he may bring toward [the God].

Jesus Christ had something to bring toward God, himself, his own life. And he offered himself to God as a sacrifice for us.

Heb. 8:4 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore if truly he was being upon land, perhaps absolutely not was he being a sacrificial priest, being of the ones bringing toward [God] the offerings down the law?

Jesus Christ was upon land, i.e., upon the earth, in his earthly ministry. And being in his earthly ministry he absolutely did act not only as the chief sacrificial priest for the children of Israel, but on account of his shed blood, as the chief sacrificial priest for all of mortalkind on earth, when, according to the mosaic law of the first covenant, he offered himself, his blood, being without spot or blemish, as a sacrificial lamb to God.

Under the first covenant law, the blood of various offerings and sacrifices was never good enough to totally remove the penalty of death for the children of Israel, for their sin. Those offerings and sacrifices gained only a temporary pardon for their sin, through which only limited covenant benefits could be obtained, but never paternal sonship and eternal life! Each month the offerings and sacrifices had to be made again, and again, and again, month after month after month, for only temporary pardon, and limited covenant benefits, only the limited benefits made available by God under that first covenant.

What Jesus Christ accomplished for not only the children of Israel, but for all mortalkind, through his own shed blood, earned him a liturgical position in a heavenly ministry, under a new covenant, a new covenant the God has offered to all mortalkind based upon Jesus Christ shed blood.

Heb. 8:5 (LIT/UBS4) [Are they not] ones who serve an example and shadow of the heavenly things, down as Moses has been admonished being about to complete the tent (skēnēn)?

“You shall make (poiēseis) all things (panta) down (kata) the (ton) type⁵¹⁷⁹ (tupon), the one (ton) having been pointed out (deichthenta) to you (soi) in (en) the (tō) mountain (orei)!”

As Moses was nearing completion of the physical tent which he built for God during the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, God found a flaw in Moses' workmanship, and He drew Moses' attention to it, to repair it. Moses was to follow God's plan exactly while making the physical tent of God, according to the type which God pointed out to Moses while he was up in the mountain talking with God.

In order for God's true heavenly "tent" to be built correctly, His true "holy place", His "domed-roof house" as Stephen referred to it, according to his knowledge, understanding and interpretation of Isaiah's prophecy, Jesus Christ had to be very careful to do correctly all things he did in his earthly ministry so that he could bring to pass God's prophesied new covenant, and so Jesus could obtain his new liturgical position in it, as a mediator over a new, stronger positioned covenant than the old one.

Heb. 8:6 (LIT/UBS4) But now he has attained a different liturgy (leitourgias), for as much as he is a mediator (mesitēs) also of a stronger positioned (kreittonos) covenant (diathēkēs), one which had law put in place upon stronger positioned (kreittosin) promises (epangeliais).

Heb. 8:7 (LIT/UBS4) Because if the first [covenant], [if] that one was being a faultless one (amemptos), perhaps absolutely not a second one would have been seeking a place!

Just as Moses had made an error while constructing God's tent in the wilderness, the children of Israel made errors also, in that they could not continually follow the Mosaic law under the first covenant to continually receive the limited benefits available to them through it. One of the primary functions of the law was to act as a schoolmaster, i.e., a child-trainer, to teach them to BELIEVE in God's Word, which belief and trust in God they could never corporately rise up to obtain.

The abundance of life God meant for the children of Israel to receive under the injunctions of the first covenant was subsequently faulty, on account of the children of Israel failed time after time to follow the covenant exactly. This is absolutely an indictment of the quality of their leadership, about which Jesus Christ told them that their father was the devil (John 8:44)! And the first covenant was never designed to bring to them a paternal birth above in God's paternal seed (1 Pet. 1:23), His gift of holy Spirit; with which comes eternal life and all of the other covenant benefits available under the new covenant based upon Jesus' shed blood, about which God has given to us His great and precious promises (2 Pet. 1:4).

The prophecy of God's new covenant, under which His prophetic "tent" shall be built

Heb. 8:8 (LIT/UBS4) Because causing Himself to find [the] fault (memphomenos) of them, He says, ”Behold, days come”, says [the] LORD, “and I shall make a complete coming together (suntelesō) of a new (kainēn) covenant (diathēkēn), over the house of Israel, and over the house of Judah; (See Mat. 3:2, 6:10, 10:7, 26:29; Mark 9:1, 14:25; Luke *17:20-21, 22:18; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:8, 9:15)

Heb. 8:9 (LIT/UBS4) absolutely not down the covenant which I made for the fathers of them in a day having caused myself to take upon me the hand of them to lead them out, out of [the] land of Egypt, because they absolutely did not stay in the covenant of me, and I was uncaring of them!”, says [the] LORD.

Heb. 8:10 (LIT/UBS4) “That this [is] the covenant which I shall cause Myself to put through (diathēsomai) for the house of Israel with [the passing] of the days of those”, says [the] LORD:

“I am giving [the] laws of me into the thought (dianoian) of them;

And I shall cause Myself to be (esomai) for them into a God, and they shall cause themselves to be (esontai) for me into a people.

Heb. 8:11 (LIT/UBS4) And no, absolutely not (ou) may they teach, each one the fellow citizen (politēn) of him, and each one the brother of him, saying , ‘Know the LORD’, because all shall see Me, from a micro one unto a great one of them;

Heb. 8:12 (LIT/UBS4) because I shall cause Myself to be auspicious to the unrighteousness of them, and of the sins of them, no, absolutely not (ou mē) may I yet be caused to remember (mnēsthō eti) [them]!”

Heb. 8:13 (LIT/UBS4) In the [finding fault] to say a new one, [it means] He has made old the first one.

But the [covenant] being caused to be made old (palaioumenon), and is growing older (gēraskon), [is] near invisibility (aphanismou)!

Who, after digging through God's Word diligently to discover and learn about all of God's new great and precious promises which come under the new covenant based upon Jesus' shed blood, would care to continue to look at all of the penalties under the old covenant for failure to keep it? With new covenant benefits such as receiving a new birth above in God's gift of His paternal Spirit, receiving real paternal sonship as opposed to only adoption, receiving an eternal inheritance, part of which we receive now to help us obtain a more abundant life NOW, eternal life in the future, is it any wonder that the old covenant is almost invisible! Who still cares about the old covenant now that our coming redeemer has finally arrived, Christ Jesus, who has bought us, and has brought to us a greater covenant based upon the value of his shed blood, containing greater precious promises for a more abundant life now, and in the future?

In this chapter, chapter 2, we have plainly seen, on account of how apostle James in Acts 15:16 referred to Amos' prophecy in Amos 9:11, that the "booth of David" is the "tent of David", which are both references to God's "domed-roof house", which apostle James quotes God as saying "I shall build up a domed-roof house⁴⁵⁶ (anoikodomēsō), and I shall [build] her straight up (anorthōsō autēn)." In chapter three of this study I'll show you many more additional NT scriptural terms which are used to describe more or less specific characteristics of God's true prophetic "tent".

Chapter 3 - God Begins Building His Prophesied "Tent", A "Domed-Roof House", Through His Firstborn Son, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of of David

Luke 3:21 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) it came to pass (egeneto) in (en) the (tō) [time] absolutely all (hapanta) the (ton) people (laon) [were] to be baptized (baptisthēnai), Jesus (Iēsou) also (kai) having been baptized (baptisthentos), he was uttering toward (proseuchomenou) [God] also (kai) for the (ton) heaven (ouranon) to be opened up (aneōchthēnai),

Luke 3:22 (LIT/UBS4) and (kai) for the (to) Spirit (pneuma), the (to) holy one (hagion), to come down (katabēnai) upon (ep’) him (auton) - a bodily (sōmatikō) sight (eidei) as (hōs) a dove (peristeran), and (kai) for a sound (phōnēn) out (ex) of heaven (ouranou) to cause itself to come to pass (genesthai) - “You (su) are (ei) the (ho) son (huios) of me (mou), the (ho) beloved one (agapētos); in (en) you (soi) I well-approved (eudokēsa).” (See Mat. 3:16-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; 2 Pet. 1:16-18)

In these two verses please notice, paying close attention to what the Greek texts says, that immediately after Jesus' water baptism by John Jesus began uttering toward God, i.e. praying, for several things: 1) first for the heaven to be opened up, 2) and then for the Spirit, the holy one, to come down, and 3) for a sound out of heaven to cause itself to come to pass, audible confirmation from God that He truly has made Jesus Christ His son. This is similar to what Jesus taught that we are supposed to do, to ask (Luke 11:13; Mat. 7:7-8, 11, 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 4:10) to receive salvation/wholeness which is the new birth above, which is a baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus (Mat. 3:11)!

I believe Jesus' new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, which occurred immediately after Jesus' water baptism by John, made him the firstborn, i.e., first produced (Gk., prōtotokos) son of God. Until the day of Pentecost Jesus Christ was the only begotten (Gk., monogenēs) son of the God. On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), through Jesus' own shed blood, it became available for all mortalkind, whoever may believe upon the name of Jesus, to receive a new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, thusly making them begotten (Gk., genos) sons also of the God (Acts 17:28-29). Since the day of Pentecost Jesus Christ is no longer the only begotten son of God, but he still remains the first produced son of God.

I believe Jesus Christ received his new birth above and paternal sonship in the same manner as all those who receive a new birth above and paternal sonship of the God, through receiving a baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit, His assurance (Gk., arrabōna) (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5; Eph. 1:14). Likewise as Jesus Christ received his inheritance from the heavenly Father sometime after his resurrection and ascension, we also after our resurrection and ascension shall receive our inheritance from the heavenly Father, as our brother Christ Jesus fully shares it with us (Eph. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 8:17; Gal. 4:7; James 2:5; Mat. 25:34; Rev. 21:7, 22:12).

Jesus' baptism in God's gift of His Spirit marked the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Jesus' spiritual baptism marked the beginning of the devil's constant presentation to Jesus of temptations also, to try and defeat the promised coming redeemer from his purpose. Jesus Christ stated several times that he could do absolutely not one thing (*please notice Jesus' double use of the emphatic particle of negation, ou) without the power of his Father IN him, working THROUGH him to do all things (Luke 5:17; John 3:2, *5:19-20, 8:16, 29, 9:33, 10:38, 14:10-11, 28; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:19-20), so that Jesus could accomplish the purpose for which he became an agent (Isa. 61:1-2, Luke 4:17-20), and an icon (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4) of the one true God. It was the power of God's holy Spirit in Jesus, his Father Himself IN Jesus Christ, which gave Jesus the ability to do and complete his apostleship (Heb. 3:1), to defeat the devil at every turn, and to become our chief sacrificial priest.

In his earthly ministry Jesus Christ preached and taught how he was going to "raise up" the true "tent" of the LORD God, which is also referred to prophetically as the "booth/tent of David", through his own self-sacrifice of his own blood.

John 2:17 (LIT/UBS4) The disciples remembered that it is written of him, “The zeal (zēlos) [of me] for the house (oukou) of you shall eat me down.” (See Psalm 69:9)

This passage in John 2 helps us understand the meaning of Psalm 69:9 and its associated context, which was no doubt another mystery to those ancient ones contemplating its possible meaning. Psalm 69:9 speaks of the promised coming redeemer being zealous to become the "house", the true "tent" of the God! Jesus Christ drove himself to go to the stake not only for the redemption of all mortalkind from the penalty of sin, and so that he could literally become the true "tent" of the living God, a "tent" made in God's own image, by His own hand, but for other reasons also in the depth of this mystery, such as so Christ Jesus could cause all those also who believe upon his name to become true "tents" of the living God, all those after the posterity of the first man created in God's image, Adam!

At the very beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry what is the first thing the devil does? In the record in Luke 3:21-23, and then skipping over Luke's record of Mariam's lineage, Jesus' mother, tracing it back through king David all the way back to Joseph, i.e., Israel, the great, great, great grandson of Abraham, in Luke 4:1-13 Luke tells us. The first major challenge to Jesus Christ at the opening of his earthly ministry, after his new birth above in his Father's Spirit, was from the devil, tempting Jesus for forty days in the wilderness. Why? For all that the devil may have known, it was at least to stop Jesus Christ from redeeming all mortalkind out from under his spiritual bondage and oppression (Isa. 61:1-2; Luke 4:17-20; John 1:33, 3:17), and to dismantle the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and to remove him from being the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:3-4, Rom. 8:37; Eph. 6:13-18; Php. 4:13; Col. 1:27; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5) since Adam and Eve lost God's Spirit and became "naked"!

Jesus cleaned out the temple (Mat. 21:12-13; Luke 11:15-18). Why? Now, with the understanding of the megalithically and epically-sized scope of the context of John 2:17, is it any stretch to put it together as to why Jesus was so zealous to clean out the temple in Jerusalem, the supposed "house" of God? For Jesus the temple in Jerusalem was a symbol of the very thing he was so courageously causing himself to become, the true "tent" of the God! Jesus Christ was absolutely striving to keep clean his body and mind so the Father would stay IN him, all the way to the stake. The children of Israel, under the leadership of children of the devil (John 8:44), their religious leaders, they were so far removed from the knowledge of God's Word, and subsequently God Himself, that they were now treating a place where God would meet and speak with His people as a cave of robbers! The devil had turned the temple in Jerusalem, the physical symbol of the true "tent" of God, which Jesus Christ was courageously striving for and causing himself to become, into the extreme antithesis of the purpose for which Jesus Christ was sent!

Jesus Christ was tempted in all things like as we (Heb. 4:15), of which you can believe the devil made certain. I believe Jesus Christ was suffering through every possibly imaginable thing in his flesh while causing himself to become, and thereby make it available to all mortalkind to become, the true "tent" of the living god! Jesus Christ had to literally bring every thought captive to the obedience of God's Word to get through to the end (2 Cor. 10:5), to the stake, and then to make it available for all mortalkind to become the true "tent" of the God, our heavenly Father (Php. 2:5-11)!

John 2:18 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore the Judeans judged away, and enunciated to him, “What sign do you point out to us that you do these things?”

John 2:19 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus was caused to judge away, and he enunciated to them, “Loosen this, the Holy Place (naon), and in three days I shall arouse it!”

John 2:20 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore the Judeans enunciated, “This, the Holy Place, was built a domed-roof house³⁶¹⁸ [in] forty and six years, and you shall arouse it in three days?”

John 2:21 (LIT/UBS4) But that one was speaking about the Holy Place of the body of him!

John 2:22 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore when (hote) he was aroused out of dead ones the disciples of him remembered this that he was saying.

What exactly does the text say? John 2:22 says that WHEN, not before, not after, but WHEN Jesus was aroused out of dead ones, that THEN, at the time of that occurrence, that's WHEN Jesus' disciples believed the writing, Psalm 69:9, about the zealousness of Jesus Christ to become the "house" of the God. WHEN they saw that Jesus Christ was aroused out from among the dead ones, THEN they finally understood and believed the Psalm 69:9 prophecy, that Jesus did everything he did because he was zealous to become the "house" of the living God.

Moreover, WHEN they saw that Jesus Christ was aroused out from among the dead ones, THEN they finally understood and believed what Jesus said, that, “Loosen this, the Holy Place (naon), and in three days I shall arouse it!” WHEN Jesus was aroused out from among dead ones THEN they finally put together the reality of the occurrence, that the God, through necessity, must be dwelling IN Jesus Christ, and that it was the God IN Jesus who raised Jesus out from among the dead ones. WHEN Jesus Christ was aroused out from among dead ones THEN they realized that Jesus Christ must have accomplished his goal, to become the "house", the "tent" of the living God, the true "tent" in which the God has always desired to dwell!

Now, based upon this context in John 2:17-22, and all of the previous scripture references mentioned so far in this study, we can go to the record in John 20:19-29 about Jesus visiting his disciples after his arousal out of dead ones, and especially about Jesus visiting them again when disciple Thomas is present, and we can understand clearly and exactly what apostle John meant when he recorded for us Thomas remarkable exclamation, "The Lord of me, and the God of me" (John 20:28). The disciples already believed that Jesus had accomplished his zealous goal of causing himself to become the "house", the true prophetic "tent" of the God, in which the God has always desired to dwell. Now in this encounter with Jesus, when Thomas also finally sees and believes that Jesus Christ has been raised up out from among dead ones, Thomas finally puts together for himself the reality of the truth of the occurrence, that the God is IN the man, Jesus Christ, dwelling in him.

I believe when Thomas said, "The Lord of me, and the God of me" (John 20:28), that Thomas understood and believed that he was looking at and addressing two distinctly individual beings, both living in one and the same body, living in Jesus Christ's physical body. Apostle Paul believed this, and he taught this, which we can plainly see throughout of of his writings, and especially in Rom. 8, and specifically in Rom. 8:11

Rom. 8:11 (LIT/UBS4) But if the Spirit of the one having aroused (egeirantos) Jesus out of dead ones homesteads (oikei) in you, the one having aroused Christ out of dead ones shall make alive (zōopoiēsei) the death-doomed (thnēta) bodies of you also, through the in-housing (enoikountos) Spirit of Him in you! (See Mat. 10:25; Rom. 8:8-11; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 13:3-5; Eph. 1:19, 4:13; Phil. 2:13, 3:21; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7)

When did the LORD God first "move in" to His own prophesied "tent", His true desired Holy Place? I believe it was immediately after Jesus' water baptism by John the baptist, when the Spirit of God, as if it was a dove, came down upon Jesus (Mat. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). I believe that was the moment when Jesus Christ became spiritually "begotten" by his Father, the God, since that was when Jesus received into him the God's paternal seed (1 Pet. 1:23; Rom. 8:15-17), God's gift of holy Spirit, which, according to the scriptures, causes a new birth to occur.

According to apostle Paul, in his letter to the believers in the Colosse area, the God moved into His prophesied "tent" completely!

Col. 1:19 (LIT/UBS4) because (hoti) all (pan) the (to) fulness (plērōma) [of the God] well-approved (eudokēsen) to home-down (katoikēsai) in (en) him (autō); (See Col. 2:9; Eph. 3:16-19)

Col. 1:20 (LIT/UBS4) and (kai) through (di’) him (autou) to reconcile (apokatallaxai) all the things (ta panta) into (eis) Himself (auton), making peace (eirēnopoiēsas) through (di’) him (autou);

[making peace] through (dia) the (tou) blood (haimatos) of the (tou) stake (staurou) of him (autou), whether (eite) the things (ta) [are] upon (epi) the (tēs) land (gēs), whether (eite) the things (ta) [are] in (en) the (tois) heavens (ouranois)! (See Luke 5:17; John 3:2, 5:19-20, 8:16, 29, 9:33, 10:38, 14:10-11, 28; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:19-20)

Col. 2:9 (LIT/UBS4) Because in him homes-down (katoikei) all the fullness (plērōma) of godliness (theotētos) [of God] bodily (sōmatikōs)! (See Col. 1:19; Eph. 3:16-19)

Before the time of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, the LORD God began the coming to pass of the various prophecies of His coming true "tent', the one made only with His own "hand", through moving into His son Jesus Christ and homing down in His 'tent", who was also the son of David, i.e., the "booth/tent of David". Before Jesus Christ was taken by the lawless ones and pegged and staked through their own hands (Acts 2:23, 36), the LORD God had already moved in into His son Jesus completely, as apostle Paul says in Col. 1:19 and 2:9, because the fulness of the God's godliness was IN Jesus Christ. After the God moved into His prophesied true "tent", and became IN Jesus, then God began reconciling all those in the cosmos to Himself THROUGH Jesus the Christ, using him instrumentally as His agent (See Luke 5:17; John 3:2, 5:19-20, 8:16, 29, 9:33, 10:38, 14:10-11, 28; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:19-20).

In Acts 2:33 Luke says that after Jesus' ascension to the right of the Father, then Jesus received the promise of the Spirit, i.e., the prophetic promise of the God to David, and to one coming out of David's seed, who we now know was God's firstborn son (2 Sam. 7:5-16; Amos 9:11-12). While on earth Jesus received the down payment of His Father in him, he receiving holy Spirit immediately after his water baptism by John, which apostle Paul states in Col. 2:9 was the fulness of the God's godliness (Gk., theotētos). Before Jesus' ascension he had already received the down payment of his inheritance from his Father, which is the fulness of his Father's Spirit in him. But according to Acts 2:33 after Jesus' ascension he received something else, the remaining portion of his inheritance from our heavenly Father which I believe was the throne of David, which subsequently and necessarily caused Jesus' glorification.

In many "translations" this word theotētos, which apostle Paul uses in Col. 2:9, is forged in English to say "godhead" by those who have adopted the mortal-made liberal theological theory, invented in the 4th century, of a three-headed god, which theory was patterned after various beliefs among several other religions having triune-god structures. In modern Christianity this theory is now laid over top of God's Word to predefine God's Word, and is thereby considered to be pre-eminent over God's Word, and is thusly elevated in its veracity over the veracity of God's Word (2 Cor. 10:4-6)!

I believe just as Jesus Christ received sonship with his heavenly Father, the God, likewise all those who believe God's Word about Jesus Christ, and who thusly believe upon Jesus' name receive sonship as well, through receiving God's Spirit into themselves as Jesus did.

There is an abundance of OT prophecy and NT revelation given to us by God THROUGH His "mouths", such as His son Jesus Christ, His prophets, apostles and disciples, about His true "tent", His true prophetic homing down place which He has made with His own "hand", and absolutely not made with mortal's hands. On account of the many specific words used in those prophecies and revelations to describe God's prophetic "tent" to us, I have chosen to translate the Greek verb oikodomēō as to build a domed-roof house, to draw greater attention to this both central and encompassing truth about the God's desired true "tent", His desired true Holy Place in which he has always desired to home-down.

Mat. 16:18 (LIT/UBS4) But (de), and I (kagō) say (legō) to you (soi), that (hoti) you (su) are (ei) a stone (petros). (See 1 Pet. 2:4-10)

And (kai) upon (epi) this (tautē), the (tē) Rock (petra), I shall build a domed-roof house³⁶¹⁸ (oikodomēsō) of me (mou), the (tēn) assembly (ekklēsian)!

What is the assembly? Apostle Paul defines the assembly of God for us in the opening of his first letter to the ones having been made holy in Christ Jesus, in Corinth.

1 Cor. 1:2 (LIT/UBS4) to the (tē) assembly (ekklēsia) of the (tou) God (theou), the one (tē) being (ousē) in (en) Corinth (Korinthō);

[to the ones] having been made holy (hēgiasmenois) in (en) Christ (christō) Jesus (Iēsou);

[to the ones] called aloud (klētois) “holy ones” (hagiois), together with (sun) all (pasin) the ones (tois) calling aloud upon (epikaloumenois) the (to) name (onoma) of the (tou) Lord (kuriou) of us (hēmōn), Jesus (Iēsou) Christ (christou), in (en) every (panti) place (topō), of them (autōn) and (kai) of us (hēmōn);

According to apostle Paul, and from other scriptural writers, and in may places in their writings also, the assembly of God is made up of the ones having been made holy in Christ Jesus. And from further study of the holy scriptures we can easily and clearly see that the holy ones are those who have received the new birth above, a baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit, from Christ Jesus. Therefore all of those who, since the day of Pentecost, have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and who have received from him a new birth above through a baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit, all of these holy ones are the ones Christ Jesus is building into a domed-roof house, which is referred to also as his one body. The ekklēsia of the God is the one body of Christ, which is the "domed-roof house", which is the prophesied true "tent" of the God, which He is building with His own "hand", through His instrumental use of His son, Christ Jesus!

In the context of Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus Christ gives Simon Bar-Jonah (v. 17) a new name, based upon characterizing him as the personification of a natural object, a "stone" (v. 18). And further more, Simon Bar-Jonah, as a "stone" of some kind, is going to be instrumental in Jesus Christ's building of the assembly, a domed-roof house.

Many who are all puffed up with themselves, but who are unstudied, treat Mat. 16:18 as a one-verse doctrine, that apostle Peter is the one and only "rock" upon which the "church" is built, totally ignoring the entire remaining Word of God and what it says about other "rocks" and 'stones".

In apostle Peter's first letter to the scattered called-out ones, written about 28-30 years after the time of Jesus renaming Simon Bar-Jonah, recorded in Mat. 16:18, Peter teaches us his understanding of the larger context of the meaning of that event. Apostle Peter witnesses his knowledge and understanding to us that he is only a "stone" among many other "living stones" which the God has called-out to be built into domed-roof houses, into a spirit-based 'house" of God. Jesus Christ, God's firstborn son, was the first called-out stone, a reputable stone, but a stone which was rejected by the Judean religious leaders while building their own "domed-roof house". Jesus Christ, apostle Peter, and ALL of those believing upon the name of Jesus, all those who are holy ones, are ALL "living stones" God is using to build His "tent", the assembly, His domed-roof house.

1 Pet. 2:1 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore, having put away everything of malice, and everything of fish bait (dolon), and acting (hupokriseis), and envying (phthonous), and all down-talking (katalalias),

everything of fish bait - saying things which "stink" to high heaven in God's "nostrils"; sayig things which are not according to God's Word.

1 Pet. 2:2 (LIT/UBS4) as babes generated at this time long over the logical (logikon) milk (gala) without fish bait (adolon), in order that in it you may grow into wholeness (sōtērian),

in order that you may grow into wholeness - A general reference to or own personal discipleship to our heavenly Father, God, and His son Christ Jesus. As we put on the knowledge of God's Word and practice what we think, say and do, to be in accordance with God's Word, then we have God's promise that we shall grow up spiritually into becoming more spiritually mature, all the way into "a complete male, into [the] measure of the fullness of maturity of the Christ!" (Eph. 4:13).

1 Pet. 2:3 (LIT/UBS4) if you have tasted that the Lord [is] a benevolent one (chrēstos);

1 Pet. 2:4 (LIT/UBS4) toward whom coming [the Lord is] a living (zōnta) stone (lithon).

[It is] true, under mortals [he is a stone] having been disapproved (apodedokimasmenon)!

But alongside (para) God (theō) [he is] a called-out (eklekton) [stone], a reputable (entimon) [stone].

1 Pet. 2:5 (LIT/UBS4) Yourselves also, as living (zōntes) stones (lithoi), you are being built [into] domed-roof houses³⁶¹⁸ (oikodomeisthe), into a Spirit-based (pneumatikos) house (oikos);

[into] a holy priesthood to bring up (anenenkai) Spirit-based (pneumatikas) sacrifices (thusias) well received toward the God, through (dia) Jesus Christ;

you are being built into domed-roof houses - Please notice the plural, domed-roof houses. This is one of several verses which refer to each and every individual son of God as an individual domed-roof house, while all together they constitute the making of the domed-roof house of the God, his true "tent", a spirit-based house. (See Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:27)

to bring up spirit-based sacrifices - In general, these are things which we think, say, and do for God and our fellow mortals, out of the love in our hearts for our heavenly Father, His son Christ Jesus, and our fellow mortals. (See Heb. 13:15-16; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:5)

1 Pet. 2:6 (LIT/UBS4) through that there is held around in a writing, “Behold (idou), I place in Zion an angle tip²⁰⁴ (akrogōniaion) stone (lithon), a called-out (eklekton) [stone], a reputable (entimon) [stone].

And the one believing upon him may no, absolutely not, be let down to shame (ou mē kataischunthē)!”

1 Pet. 2:7 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore for you [is placed] the one of highly esteemed value (timē), for the ones believing.

But [for the ones] having unbelief, [he is] a stone (lithos) which the ones building a domed-roof house³⁶¹⁸ (oikodomountes) disapproved (apedokimasan)!

a stone disapproved - The ones who were disapproved (John 8:44), disapproved the one who was approved by God (Luke 3:22)! Of course, it makes perfect sense! The "domed-roof house" the religious leaders, et al., were building was full of lies, deceit, and murder. Their heart's mental condition was as apostle Paul describes in Rom. 1:18 - 2:2.

This one was made to become into a head (kephalēn) of an angle (gōnias)!

a head of an angle - I believe the "head" is a reference to the plumb bob on the end of a plumb line. The stretched out line is the "angle". See 204 in The Literal Idiomatic Translation Glossary. This specific prophetic characteristic of the promised coming redeemer is presented latter in this study.

1 Pet. 2:8 (LIT/UBS4) And [this one became] a stone (lithos) of striking (proskommatos), and a rock (petra) of scandal (skandalou) to the ones [who] strike (proskoptousin) the Word, they being unbelieving ones;

a stone of striking - Jesus was much more than a pebble in their sandals. he was the "stone" which the religious leaders were constantly striking with their feet. Jesus was causing them to stumble, he tripping them up. They were stumbling over Jesus and his teachings. They were stumbling over God's Word, because they didn't know it, and it was not in them. They couldn't "see" it (John 8:19), or "hear" it (John 8:43), because they were in darkness (John 8:12), and their father was the devil (John 8:44). Every time they stumbled over Jesus their stumbling exposed them as only actors (Mat. 15:7, 16:3, 22:18, 23:13-15, 23, 25, 27, 29; Mark 7:6)! Every time they stumbled over Jesus Christ, the "stone", they fell upon it and were broken a little more. They were not only stumbling over the "stone" of striking, it was falling upon them and crushing them (Mat. 21:44)!

a rock of scandal - Jesus scandalized the religious leaders over and over, through openly showing them as false men of God, as only actors! Jesus not only exposed their almost total lack of knowledge and understanding of God's Word, but he exposed many, if not all, of their phony mortal-made religious edicts, and traditions, which burdens they heaped upon the shoulders of the people. Apostle John's record in John 8, and apostle Paul's record in Rom. 1:18 - 2:2 fairly sum up, both implicitly and explicitly, most all of the devilish spiritual issues demonstrated by Judean religious leaders in Jerusalem at that time in Jesus' earthly ministry. But their "domed-roof house" had been disapproved for centuries.

1 Pet. 2:9 (LIT/UBS4) But you [are] a called-out (eklekton) genus (genos), a kingly (basileion) priesthood (hierateuma), a holy ethnic group (ethnos), a people into an acquisition;

As apostle Peter makes perfectly clear in this record (1 Pet. 2:1-9, he is absolutely not the only "stone" used by God in the building of His domed-roof house, His spirit-based house, His prophetic true "tent", which is the assembly, the one body of Christ, which the God is building with His own "hand", through Christ Jesus! Apostle Peter wasn't the first or only called-out "living stone" of God, God's son Jesus Christ was the first living stone called-out. Neither was apostle Peter the last called-out living stone of God, as are ALL those believing upon the name of Jesus, the ones becoming holy ones, ones of both Judeans and other ethnic groups which up to this time now are still being called-out!

The raising up of Moses tent was a type to the occurrence on the day of Pentecost

While continuing to search through all of the OT usages of ōhel, meaning a tent, for figurative usages of it in connection with God's desired future true "tent" built with His own "hand", a passage in Numbers stands out. Moses, speaking of a day in which the physical tent in the wilderness of the exodus was being caused by God to be raised up (Heb. qwm), the place where God said that he would meet and speak with His people, Moses describes a scene similar to that which was observed by all of the children of Israel on the day of Pentecost described to us by Luke in Acts 2:1-6.

Num. 9:15 (LIT/BHS-W4) And (wĕ) in (bĕ) a day (yôm) it (‘ēt), the (ha) place to stay (miškān), was caused to be raised up (qwm);

the (ha) cloud (‘ānān) had covered (ksh) it (‘ēt), the (ha) place to stay (miškān), to be (lĕ) the (ha) tent (‘ōhel) of witness (‘ēdût).

And (wĕ) in (bĕ) the (ha) evening (‘ereb) it was becoming (hyh) over (‘al) the (ha) place to stay (miškān) a fire-like appearance (kĕmar’ēh-‘ēš) until (‘ad) morning (bōqer).

As we can see here in Num. 9:15, God's use of a cloud and fire, or what appears to look like fire, are often used as types to indicate His presence. You can find many occurrences of this fire type for yourself simply by searching the OT texts on Strong's # 784, the Hebrew word ’ēsh, meaning fire; such as Exod. 3:2, 24:17, 40:38, Num. 9:15, 14:14, Deut. 1:33, 4:11, 12, 15, 24, 33, 36, 5:4-5, 22-26, 9:10, 10:4 and more. Cloud types can be found using the same method, Strong's # 6051 for the Hebrew word, 3507 for the Greek word. Word searches such as these can be done using simply a Strong's Concordance, which can be purchased at nearly any large chain book store, or any Bible book store.

"tent of witness" - When the cloud and fire were over the tent it indicated God's presence, that He was present to meet and speak with His people, the children of Israel, to witness His Word to them. The tent became symbolic of God's presence, and the covenant promises of His Word.

Num. 9:16 (LIT/BHS-W4) Uprightly (kēn), continually (tāmîd) it was becoming (hyh) the (ha) cloud (‘ānān) covering (ksh) [the tent of witness], and (wĕ) [it was becoming] a fire-like appearance (ûmar’ēh-‘ēš) [at] night (laylâ).

At some time during the raising up of the tent, the God began indicating His presence with the children of Israel with the use of a cloud during the day, which changed into what appeared to be like fire during the night, which stood upright over the tent. In verse 16 notice the Spirit's use of this very telling verb hāyâ, which action of the verb always describes an object going through some kind of transitional change. In this context the object is the cloud/fire changing back and forth in appearance from a cloud to fire and then back again, daily.

As recorded in Acts 2:1-5, on the day of Pentecost as each of the twelve apostles were sitting down at various places around Solomon's porch in the temple area, unexpectedly out of heaven there became an echo, as of a violent bearing breath (v. 2). And there appeared to them as if tongues of fire were being divided. And a tongue sat down upon each one of them (v. 3). And they all were filled with holy (a Gk. adj.) Spirit (v. 4). They were not filled with demon spirit or spirits, which are unholy. They were filled with God, who is a Spirit (John 4:24), and who is holy (Lev. 11:44-45). A tongue of what appeared to be fire sat down upon each one of the twelve, indicating God's presence IN them.

Acts is a book describing the birth, then rise and expansion of the prophesied one body of Christ, the prophesied true "tent" of God, built by God's own "hand". In Acts are several records of believers receiving the new birth above, baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit, from Christ Jesus (Mat. 3:11). Acts 2 is a record of the beginning of the outpouring of God's Spirit INTO all those who believe upon the precious name of Jesus Christ, which outpouring Jesus referred to as the coming "Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4, 2:33, Gal. 3:14)! In Acts 2 God came INTO the twelve, to meet and speak with His people (v. 4) who were present that day, to meet and speak to the Judeans having come to Jerusalem from every ethnic group from the ones under the heaven (v. 5), to participate in the feast of Passover.

The first ones to receive the new birth above in God's Spirit, baptism in His gift of holy Spirit, were Jesus' twelve. Then, once God was IN the twelve, then He spoke THROUGH the twelve, to His people that day, to the children of Israel, and proselytes. And when many of them believed the things they heard spoken, they too received baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus, about three thousand on that day (Acts 2:41)!

In the tent Moses made in the wilderness of the exodus, God said he would meet and speak to His people from above the mercy seat, and from between the Cherubims (Exod. 25:22). On the day of Pentecost God met and spoke with His people, He being IN and speaking THROUGH the twelve. By this time Judas of Iscariot was out of the twelve (Mat. 27:5; Acts 1:18) and Matthias was in to take his place (Acts 1:26). On that day of Pentecost, fire over the heads of the twelve signified the presence of God to meet and speak with His people, likewise as the cloud and fire were over the tent in the wilderness of the exodus.

In the exodus of the children of Israel from the slavery and bondage in Egypt, we see Moses as a type to the promised coming redeemer, Jesus Christ. In Exod. 11 God took of His Spirit which He put over Moses and put it to rest over seventy elders, to give them inherent power to help Moses lift the burden of the management of the children of Israel. On the day of Pentecost we see Christ Jesus sharing his inheritance of his Father's Spirit given to him with his twelve, and then with about three thousand more, to help Christ Jesus lift and manage the burden of reconciling all mortalkind back the God (2 Cor. 5:18-20, 6:1-2)!

Often in the NT texts we see the phrase "Spirit of Christ". The Spirit of Christ is God's gift of holy Spirit, the "Promise of the Father". But since Christ Jesus is freely sharing his Father's gift/inheritance given to him with his one body, those who believe upon his name, the phrase Spirit of Christ is used in the genitive case to now show the ownership and source of distribution from where the gift of God's holy Spirit comes. Spirit of Christ is a reference to God's Spirit as being an inheritance to Christ Jesus, His son, who now shares his inheritance with us his one body. But the gift of holy Spirit, sometimes called the Spirit of Christ, is still the one and the same Spirit of the God.

In Heb. 9:1-5, the writer tells us about the configuration of the earthly tent which Moses built, as being a consolidated or collective tent made from uniting two tents together; each of the two areas in the consolidated tent, the holy place and the holy places of the holy ones, being separate and individual tents themselves. The area into which many sacrificial priests were permitted to enter, into which a sacrificial priest would step upon entering the consolidated tent through the first curtain, was called a holy place (Heb. 9:2). Toward the back of the holy place, walking west, was a second curtain, a veil separating the holy place from the other place/tent called the holy places of holy ones (Heb. 9:3), wherein, at that time, only one chief sacrificial priest could enter in, only once a year, to meet and speak with God. In this area was the ark of witness, i.e., ark of covenant, over which was the mercy seat and the Cherubims. In this area, from between the Cherubims, God said He would meet and speak with Moses (Exod. 25:22).

Heb. 9:6 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) these things (toutōn) thusly (houtōs) having been schematically laid down (kateskeuasmenon), truly (men) into (eis) the (tēn) first (prōtēn) tent (skēnēn), through (dia) [it], all (pantos) the (hoi) sacrificial priests (hiereis) go in (eisiasin), completing (epitelountes) the (tas) services (latreias).

Heb. 9:7 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) into (eis) the (tēn) second (deuteran) [tent], once (hapax) [out] of the (tou) year (eniautou), only (monos) the (ho) chief sacrificial priest (archiereus) [goes in], absolutely not (ou) apart from (chōris) blood (haimatos) over (huper) himself (heautou), and (kai) [over] the (tōn) ignorant things (agnoēmatōn) of the (tou) people (laou), which (ho) he brings toward (prospherei) [the place of reconciliation]!

In the phrase holy places (hagia) of holy ones (hagiōn), referring to the second tent within the consolidated tent (Heb. 9:3), please notice how each word is a plural pronominal adjective in the nominative case. This plurality indicates to me that although the second tent within the consolidated tent had limitations to only one chief sacrificial priest only once a year, in God's true prophetic "tent" which He shall build with His own "hand" sometime in the future, in that place in the future "tent" He absolutely does not intend to be alone, but that all of the sacrificial priests shall be able to enter in to meet and speak with Him! This earthly consolidated tent, containing both the holy place and the holy places of the holy ones, is a type to God's true consolidated "tent", the one not built with mortal's hands, but the one which He is building with His own "hand", in which there will not be two separate areas, or tents, but only one area, one tent, in which ALL of the sacrificial priests shall meet and speak with God!

Heb. 9:8 (LIT/UBS4) This (touto) is being made obvious (dēlountos) of the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos), of the (tou) holy one (hagiou):

the (tēn) way (hodon) of the (tōn) holy ones (hagiōn) was not yet to have been manifested (mēpō pephanerōsthai) while yet (eti) the (tēs) first (prōtēs) tent (skēnēs) is holding (echousēs) a stance (stasin);

"the way of the holy ones" - i.e., the "way" into the place called the holy places of the holy ones.

Jesus said, “I (ego) am (eimi) the (hē) way (hodos), and (kai) the (hē) truth (aletheia), and (kai) the (hē) life (zoe).

Absolutely not one (oudeis) causes himself to come (erchetai) toward (pros) the (ton) Father (patera), if (ei) not (mē) through (di’) me (emou)! (John 14:6)

Jesus says that he is making a way for others also to "come toward" the Father. If Jesus is making a way for others to come to the Father, then this new "way" must not have existed before! Under the old covenant law only the high sacrificial priest could "come toward" the Father, inside the veil, into the room containing the ark of the witness, and only once a year! This new "way" that Jesus made is there for all of the holy ones, all of the ones who have believed upon Jesus' name and have received a baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit, which "others" are the assembly, the one body of Christ! These are the ones who truly are, according to the holy scriptures, the holy ones, i.e., the paternal children of the God through their new birth above in His paternal Spirit.

Apostle Paul said, "that (hoti) through (di’) him (autou) we have (echomen) the (tēn) approach (prosagōgēn) toward (pros) the (ton) Father (patera), ..." (Eph. 2:18)

Under the old covenant only a high sacrificial priest, and only once a year, was allowed to "come toward" the God, to meet and speak with Him, and He with him. Now, since Jesus made a new way, the veil is rent in two for God's children, inviting them to come toward Him in His holy place, to meet and speak with Him, and He with them, us!

Heb. 9:9 (LIT/UBS4) which (hētis) [is] a parable (parabolē) into (eis) the (ton) time (kairon), the (ton) [time] in present standing (enestēkota), down (kath) to which (hēn) both (te) offerings (dōra) and (kai) sacrifices (thusiai) being brought toward (prospherontai) [the place of reconciliation] are not being inherently powered (mē dunamenai) down to (kata) conscience (suneidēsin) to make complete (teleiōsai) the (ton) [sacrificial priest] serving (latreuonta);

For the sacrificial priests and the people as well, with the coming of the law the sight of the tent which Moses built was a constant reminder of the sin of the people, including the sacrificial priests. The monthly services as well were being a constant reminder of the people's sin for which atonement was needed, which services needed to be performed regularly according to the law to gain temporary atonement each month for the sin, "the ignorant things" of the sacrificial priests and all of the people. There was no rest in the consciousness of their minds from the constant reminders of their own sin, and the penalties for that sin, which ultimate penalty was death, under the Mosaic law of God's first covenant with them. The chief sacrificial priest going into the holy places of holy ones once a year absolutely did not free up anyone in their consciences' from the constant reminders of their own sin, and the likely impending consequences of it under the law, since they generally failed to keep all of the law all of the time!

The plain truth is, when one keeps thinking about his or her past and present sins, as though they are not yet forgiven and subsequently gone out of God's remembrance, those very thoughts block him or her from BELIEVING to ask for and receive God's great and precious promises under the new covenant in Jesus' shed blood, under the Law of Belief (Rom. 3:23-28)! All of the sacrificial priests were not allowed to enter in into the second tent, the area called the holy places of the holy ones, because those sacrificial priests were absolutely not holy ones! Their own thoughts and remembrances of their own sin, their own sin consciousness they carried around in their minds, was unclean before God! And so only one chief sacrificial priest, only once a year, was allowed to come before God to meet and speak with Him. Please read the last part of Heb. 9:9 again.

The laver washed them up only on the outside. But on the inside, in their own minds, they were full of remembrances of their own sin. The provisions of the mosaic law forced both God and the children of Israel to remember, confront and face their own on-going sin each month, month after month! The Mosaic Law under the first covenant didn't provide for a release altogether from sin consciousness, but only temporary pardon for the consequences of and remembrance of their sin. It wasn't until Christ came and shed his blood to pay, once and for all time, the penalty for the sin of all mortal kind, that mortal kind could become washed on the inside from their own remembrance and consciousness of their own sin, from knowing that on account of Christ the God has forgotten ALL, ALL, ALL of their sins, and He shall absolutely not remember them! Please notice the double emphasis on this point in the text, from the use of both the particle of negation mē, and the emphatic particle of negation, ou, in Heb. 8:12!

But they knew of a time coming, in which time God said through His "mouth", the prophet Jeremiah, "and of the sins of them, no, absolutely not (ou mē) may I yet be caused to remember (mnēsthō eti) [them]!” (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12, 10:17)

According to the ordinances of the Mosaic law, about the offerings and sacrifices and everything else which needed to be done monthly and ongoing, about their sin, it couldn't make the sacrificial priest complete because the law was constantly causing them to remember their sin and the sin of all of the people, not to mention it defined sin itself!

These verses and many others speak of sin consciousness as still a form of slavery to sin. It's mental bondage! It stops us from approaching God to meet and speak with Him, because it reminds us to think that we may not be good enough to do so. And you know that the devil is constantly playing you to the max on this, in both ears, coming at you mostly from the "church" you go to! Freedom from mental bondage over sin is exactly WHY God sent His son Jesus Christ to us. When God looks at our hearts he desires to see BELIEF in our hearts toward Him and His WORD, since under His new covenant BELIEF in His new covenant promises is required to receive them from God. He absolutely does not desire to see us in our hearts side-tracked, derailed and decommissioned from our discipleship an account of we can't stop stewing over our own past and present sin!

Deliverance and freedom from self-condemnation, or any kind of condemnation over our past and present sin, is one huge reason why God sent His son (Rom. 8:1). We are to allow the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse our consciences from the dead works we have done, and from conscious memories of those sins (Heb. 9:13-14). Else, why did Christ die?

Heb. 10:1 says that when the conscience of us is cleansed from our remembrances of our sin, then the deliverance of us is made complete in the blood of Jesus Christ! If your heart is still stewing over your own sin, then you are not yet allowing your deliverance to be made complete, because you haven't allowed yourself to be set "free" yet, and subsequently come to peace with God! You're not allowing it! God and Jesus Christ did their parts! To still continue to think about the evil you once did is to still continue to think about evil! Quit thinking about evil! Just stop it, entirely! This will allow your "house" to become cleansed enough for the God to resume moving in to you, His "tent", to "home-down" in you (Heb. 10:22).

Heb. 10:1-4 says that if the sacrificial priests serving, the ones bringing sacrifices to the holy place to keep the law, could have had their consciences cleansed from the remembrance of sin, they would have paused, i.e., stopped bring sacrifices, because they would no longer yet have a conscience of sin (v. 2-3)! But the blood of animals couldn't do that, since only the shed blood of God's promised redeemer could cause that to come to pass. The blood of animals was only a shadow (v. 1) of the cleansing blood of the promised redeemer to come. The inherently unpowerful blood of bulls and he-goats absolutely could not "seize away" sins (v. 4)!

And by the same paradigm, if anyone, after you having received Christ, is trying to accuse you of being a sinner, or remind you of your sin, in any way, shape or form, whether its blatant, or through insinuation, or through innuendo, it's because they are trying to make you feel defeated, worthless, lowdown and a worm, not yet delivered through Christ's blood, so you won't boldly stand up for yourself, or for God and His son Christ Jesus, and boldly oppose the devil and all forms of his evil; and especially so you will hesitate or shy away from boldly approaching God to meet and speak with Him (Rom. 8:1-9)! This is a very common tactic of the devil, which he constantly tries to use to defeat a believer in his discipleship and prayer life, in his fellowship with God and his son Christ Jesus (1 John 1:3).

Please allow me to guess for a moment: I'll guess that you may have experienced at some time, more or less often, religious persecution of some kind. It may have been over your supposed sin (whether real, or imagined in the soap opera-like minds of others), or maybe belittlement of some kind toward you, or ill treatment of you based upon political and/or social pecking order, or ill treatment of you over anything. I'm guessing if you have experienced something like this, that it has or is coming at you mostly from the people in your own denominational "Christian" church, family and friends! You've been signed up for that "family and friends" plan by the devil, working through people right there in your own church, sitting right next to you in the pew!

Rom. 8:1 (LIT/UBS4) says "So, [there is] now absolutely not one condemnation to the ones in Christ Jesus!"

So then are those doing the condemning believable believers? To say these kind of supposed "believers" are working for the devil, for which reason there is absolutely not one excuse to justify it, is right on the button! Are they even believers at all? NO!!! They're what Jesus Christ commonly referred to as actors (Mat. 7:1-5)! The sly, cowardly, passive aggressive words out of their mouths, which stink to the highest heaven, are bad "fruit" which cannot possibly come from a good "tree" (Mat. 7:15-20)! Then which "tree" are they coming from? Those actors are coming from the same "tree" from which Eve and Adam ate, a "tree" of lies and deceit, a "tree" posing as good, but which was evil.

I've noticed, as anyone can who may cause himself to become exposed to the beliefs, teachings and practices of multiple Christian-based denominations, that almost each and every "Christian" denomination believes its own followers are the only true Christians, and followers of all other denominations are being duped, and are a lesser quality of Christians than they, if Christians at all! I've see firsthand on almost a daily basis, for most of my life, that the greatest perpetrator in the creation and maintenance of sin consciousness is "Christianity" itself, i.e., what people mistakenly believe is Christianity. Having an opinion over the quality of mortal-made theological theories, or the possible meanings of scriptural passages, is one thing. But accusing others of not having received a new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, is another. That's called BIGOTRY, and it's a common trait and characteristic of mortal-made religious EGOMANIA! This is totally opposite from what Jesus Christ and his apostles and disciples preached and taught!

Yes, that's my assessment of the condition, more or less, of modern "Christianity". Yes, they may put on a great show, music, singing, orchestra, opera, or whatever, all designed to produce group emotional commiseration. I believe much of that has been developed into a form of entertainment, spun-off from psychoanalysis! Whipped-up emotional experiences are passed off a Real spiritual experiences. The order of the day is to both laugh and cry together, commiserate and wallow together in recognition of our own fallen estate and failures, that we should constantly confess to endless sin, or what we're taught is sin, and to be threatened from the pulpit that our sin will eventually get us, because it can't be hid. The net effect of this is to tear down believers instead of build them up into believing to be more than conquerors through Christ (Col. 1:27; Rom. 8:37) in everything life presents.

Remembering sin and wallowing in those remembrances is absolutely not what the Word says! Confessing, forgiving, forgetting and moving on is what the Word says. I see most so-called Christian denominational theologies as fostering organized group wallowing. People leave church with a head full of the remembrances of sin, theirs, yours, mine, other's, chocked full of sin consciousness of what great sinners we all are, or have been, or will be in the future! NO! NO! NO! That's not the knowledge, realization, BELIEF and attitude of deliverance, and especially not an attitude of discipleship to God's Word and Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:37; Eph. 6:13-18; Php. 4:13; Col. 1:27; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5)! Commiseration and wallowing is a giant pity party, even when it's done with musical accompaniment and stunning oration! That's manufacturing sin consciousness with the productivity and efficiency of a factory assembly line! People go home entertained after another near brush with God's Word, but no actual encounter!

Jesus Christ came so that we could be made free from sickness, and the penalties of sin, both of which lie in the hole of guilt and depression into which sin consciousness leads the way. God's Word says we have been washed on both the OUTSIDE and on the INSIDE, in God's eyes, through what God did for us through Jesus' shed blood! Sin free, free, free! Get it!!! (John 8:32, 36; Rom. 6:18, 22, 8:2; Gal. 5:1; 1 Pet. 2:16) Our heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ delivered us TOTALLY, not half way! To deny this great TRUTH in God's Word implies God's Word is a lie, and God did not totally, completely, 100% deliver us through His son Jesus Christ; and moreover that Jesus Christ shed his blood and died for a second rate cause; and moreover that our belief in God's Word is in vain! Over this great TRUTH is why and where the devil attacks the most; so that we, in our own minds, will not step into the "tent" and "come toward" our own heavenly Father to speak with Him!

Under the prophesied new covenant which God promised in His son Jesus Christ, He would remember mine, yours, and theirs, sins NO MORE! That's what God's Word says, and that's what the God has done; whether you like it, whether your denominational scholars like it, whether your pastors like it, or whether the devil likes it! Get it!!! Don't take off sin consciousness and throw it in the washing machine, to be worn another day, throw it out!!!

Heb. 9:10 (LIT/UBS4) [offerings and sacrifices] over (epi) only (monon) foods (brōmasin), and (kai) drinks (pomasin), and (kai) different (diaphorois) baptisms (baptismois), righteous purposes (dikaiōmata) of flesh (sarkos), until (mechri) a time (kairou) of thorough uprightness (diorthōseōs) being laid upon us (epikeimena).

The time of thorough uprightness was laid upon us with the coming of God's new covenant in His son Jesus Christ's, shed blood being laid upon us, which blood makes those who believe upon the precious name of Jesus 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100% righteous in God's sight! Through Jesus' shed blood we have been washed inside and out, so that we are thoroughly upright in our heavenly Fathe's eyes. Oh, did I make it clear yet that the truth in God's Word about what is everything coved under Jesus' blood includes deliverance from sin consciousness also, and that is what makes us 100% delivered?

Thinking of sin, whether you've done it yet or not, is according to God's Word as much sin as doing sin! That's why sin consciousness must go. Get rid of it! Do you want to walk and grow up in your own discipleship into the fullness of the maturity of Christ, then let this truth of deliverance in God's Word be laid upon you, in your mind. Our participation in this new covenant is based upon our BELIEF in our hearts of God's Word; whereas participation in the old covenant was based upon DOING the works of the Mosaic law (Rom. 3:23-28). First comes KNOWING God's Word, than BELIEVING God's Word can come (Rom. 10:17).

Heb. 9:11 (LIT/UBS4) But Christ having caused himself to become alongside (paragenomenos) a chief sacrificial priest (archiereus) of the good things having caused themselves to come to pass (genomenōn), through the greater and completed (teleioteras) tent (skēnēs), one absolutely not (ou) hand-made (cheiropoiētou), (this (taut’) [completed tent] is (estin) absolutely not (ou) of this (tautēs), the (tēs) [present] creation (ktiseōs)),

Heb 9:12 (LIT/UBS4) but absolutely not (oude) through (di’) blood of he-goats and of young offspring, but through (dia) the blood of his own he entered in once upon a time (ephapax) into (eis) the (ta) holy places (hagia), he having caused himself to find (heuramenos) ageless (aiōnian) redemption (lutrōsin)!

Many have interpreted this verse to mean that it refers to Jesus physically walking into the "holy place" in the temple in Jerusalem. But that is absolutely not how the "holy place" is qualified in the context of this passage by the writer! This reference, Heb. 9:11-12, is to the prophesied "tent" of the LORD God, which was the "holy place" into which Jesus Christ entered! The writer of Hebrews is absolutely not talking about a physical "tent", a physical "holy place" of some kind that exists somewhere, or ever existed in the present creation! The writer is still talking about the "tent" he mentioned back in Heb. 8:2, the one which the LORD "pegged", a "tent" which is absolutely not "pegged" by a mortal man. The "tent" into which Jesus Christ "entered into" is a "tent" which cannot be built by human hands!

In these two verses the writer of Hebrews tells us THAT the man Jesus Christ entered in into the "tent", the holy place, and HOW the man Jesus Christ entered in into that holy place; he entered in (instrumental method) into the prophesied "tent" of God through (dia), or by way of, the sacrifice of himself, through the shedding of his own blood. The writer of this passage, Heb. chapters 8-9, clearly states that he is talking about the prophesied "tent" which is ABSOLUTELY NOT (please notice the emphatic particle of negation, ou) hand-made, which we have learned from other passages means the hands of mortal men did not and cannot build it because it is not of the present creation, and the LORD God says He is going to build it with His own "hand". (Exod. 15:17; Heb. 8:2). And God has built it, through and in His son Christ Jesus!

Eph. 4:12 (LIT/UBS4) toward the making fit the holy ones into [the] work of [the] ministry, into [the building] of a domed-roof house³⁶¹⁹ (oikodomēn) of the body (sōmatos) of the Christ;

Eph. 4:13 (LIT/UBS4) until all the ones may come down opposite into the oneness of the belief, and of the experiential knowledge (epignōseōs) of the son of the God, into a complete (teleion) male (andra), into [the] measure (metron) of the fullness (plērōmatos) of maturity (hēlikias) of the Christ;

Chapter 4 - References to God's Desired True "Tent" Throughout All of the New Covenant Writings!

I've prepared an Excel spreadsheet with pivot tables to present to the reader many of the key Greek words used by the new covenant writers in the copies of the ancient Greek texts to figuratively or otherwise refer to God's prophetic true "tent", His desired true Holy Place in which He has always desired to home-down. This should be an excellent tool for anyone who may need guidance into finding many or most of the scriptural references directly related to this great central and encompassing truth about God our heavenly Father's true desired "tent" which he formed, made and created by His own "hand", in His own image!

Please link here, Excel Spread Sheet with Pivot Tables, to open the "Domed-Roof House" spreadsheet and begin exploring many of the OT and NT scriptural references to God's prophetic true "tent", which He "pegged" with His own "hand". To access this Excel spreadsheet you must have a version of Excel equivalent to Microsoft Office 2003, which is Microsoft^® Office Excel 2003 (11.8341.8341) SP3, or later version.

The Excel spreadsheet is coming in a few more days, after I add a couple more words to the flat file. I keep finding more words which refer to God's true "tent"!

The following is a list, by Strong's number, of scripture references which substantiate and corroborate God's prophetic true "tent", His Holy Place in which He, since the very beginning of His creation, has always desired to home-down. The OT references are those mentioned in the NT references. In essence, the related OT prophecies are prophetic allusions to the coming one body of Christ, which full knowledge and understanding of it was kept secret by God in order to insure the completion of His plan for the redemption of mortalkind through the shed blood of His first born son, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:8, 4-10).

In the following examples, a believer is a called-out one (Gk., eklogē, noun), and as such is one who is a member of the assembly (Gk., ekklesia, noun), one who has believed upon the precious name of Jesus, in Jesus' shed blood, and in all that the God has caused it to mean for a believer's personal wholeness/salvation, which salvation comes through receiving the new birth above in the God the Father's seed, which is receiving a baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus. I use the word believer to refer to someone who is a part of the one body of Christ.

456, anoikodomeō, I shall build up a domed-roof house, used 2 times out of 2 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Amos 7:7-8, 9:11-12; Acts 15:16);

886, acheiropoiētos, not hands-made, used 3 times out of 3 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Mark 14:58; 2 Cor. 5:1; Col. 2:11);

1774, enoikeō, in-housed, used 3 times out of 5 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Rom. 8:11; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Tim. 1:14);

2026, epoikodomeō, a domed-roof house built over, used 7 times out of 7 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (1 Cor. 3:10, 12, 14; Eph. 2:20; Col. 2:7; Jude 1:20);

2730, katoikēo, to home-down, used 5 times out of 47 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Acts 7:48; Acts 17:24; Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:19; Col. 2:9);

2732, katoikētērion, a homing-down place, used 1 time out of 2 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Eph. 2:22);

3438, monē, a place of stay, used 2 times out of 2 usages to refer to God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (John 14:2, 23);

3485, naos, a Holy Place, used 23 times out of 46 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (John 2:19, 21; 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21; Rev. 3:12, 7:15, 11:1-2, 19, 14:15, 17, 15:5-6, 8, 16:1, 17, *21:22);

3611, oikeō, to homestead, used 3 times out of 9 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 3:16);

3614, oikia, a house, used 11 times out of 95 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Mat. 7:24-27; Luke 6:48-49; John 8:35, 14:2; 2 Cor. 5:1);

3618, oikodomēō, to build a domed-roof house, used 29 times out of 41 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Mat. 7:24, 26, 16:18, 21:33, 23:29, 26:61, 27:40; Mark 12:1, 14:58, 15:29; Luke 6:48-49, 12:18, 14:28, 30; Acts 7:49, 9:31, 20:32; Rom. 15:20; 1 Cor. 8:1, 10, 10:23, 14:4, 17; Gal. 2:18; 1 Thes. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:5);

3619, oikodomē, [the building of] a domed-roof house/houses, used 15 times out of 18 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Rom. 14:19, 15:2; 1 Cor. 3:9, 14:3, 5, 12, 26; 2 Cor. 5:1, 10:8, 12:19, 13:10; Eph. 2:21, 4:12, 16, 29);

3624, oikos, a house, used 33 times out of 114 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Mat. 10:6, 12:44, 15:24, 21:13, 23:38; Mark 11:17; Luke 12:39, 14:23, 15:6, 16:4, 18:14, 19:5, 9, 46; John 2:16-17; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6, 8:10, 10:21; 1 Pet. 2:5, 4:17);

4633, skēnē, a tent, used 6 out of 25 times to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Acts 15:16; Heb. 8:2, 9:11; Rev. 13:6, 15:5, 21:3);

4925, sunoikodomeō, are being built together [into] a domed-roof house, used only 1 time to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Eph. 2:22);

5499, cheiropoiētos, hands-made, used 5 times out of 6 usages to refer to the God's new homing-down Holy Place in the head/mind of a believer, individually and/or collectively (Mark 14:58; Acts 7:48, 17:24; Heb. 9:11, 24).

In 1 Cor. 6:19 and 2 Cor. 6:16 Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian believers his knowledge and understanding of what Moses wrote and meant as recorded in his prophecy in Lev. 26:11-12:

1 Cor. 6:19 (LIT/UBS4) Or (ē) have you absolutely not seen (ouk oidate) that (hoti) the (to) body (sōma) of you (humōn) is (estin) a Holy Place (naos) of the (tou) holy (hagiou) Spirit (pneumatos) in (en) you (humin), of which (hou) you have (echete) from (apo) God (theou), and (kai) you are (este) absolutely not (ouk) of yourselves (heautōn)!?

2 Cor. 6:16 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) what (ti) Holy Place (naō) of God (theou) [has] agreement together (sunkatathesis) with (meta) idols (eidōlōn)?

Because (gar) we (hēmeis) are (esmen) [the] Holy Place (naos) of a living (zōntos) God (theou)!

Down as (kathōs) the (ho) God (theos) enunciated (eipen), “I shall be in-housed (enoikēsō) in (en) them (autois), and (kai) I shall walk among (emperipatēsō) [them].

And (kai) I shall cause Myself to be (esomai) [the] God (theos) of them (autōn), and (kai) they shall cause themselves to be (esontai) [the] people (laos) of Me (mou)!” (See Lev. 26:11-12)

Although Lev. 26 is a record of God laying out some of His first covenant declarations to the children of Israel, according to apostle Paul verses 11 and 12 of Lev. 26 are an allusion to His new covenant in Jesus Christ's shed blood, an allusion to the one body of Christ, declarations to the coming future children of Him under the new covenant is Jesus' shed blood!

Those who may believe that the Great Mystery was totally hidden in the old covenant writings, they have not yet read God's Word closely enough, especially in these passages! The prophecies of the Great Mystery were hidden enough so the devil couldn't put the pieces together, since the God was absolutely not about to teach the devil His Word! But God's Word is absolutely not totally hidden from those whom the God is teaching!

In John 10 apostle John shows that Jesus Christ certainly recognized the meaning of Amos' prophecy in Amos 9:12:

John 10:16 (LIT/UBS4) And I have others, sheep which are absolutely not out of the courtyard of this!

It is necessary (dei) [for] me (me) to lead (agagein) those ones also (kakeina).

And (kai) the (tēs) sound (phōnēs) of me (mou) they shall hear (akousousin).

And (kai) they shall cause themselves to become (genēsontai) one (mia) flock (poimnē), [having] one (heis) shepherd (poimēn).

Since the day of Pentecost all those who BELIEVE upon Jesus' name, no matter out of what ethnic group they may be, become his sheep (John 10:26). All those who are Jesus' sheep hear his voice, and he knows them, and they follow him (John 10:27). Jesus and his "sheep" are the "tent" of the LORD God (2 Cor. 5:1-5). They are the ones upon which the LORD God had His "eye", as prophesied and recorded in Isaiah 66:2.

[out] of the one having reconciled us to Himself THROUGH (dia) Christ, and having given to us the Ministry (diakonian) of the Reconciliation (katallagēs),

[out of the one] reconciling [the] cosmos to Himself (not reckoning to them the sidefalls of them), and having put IN (en) to us the Word of Reconciliation.

Apostle Paul says God was IN Christ, working THROUGH Christ, reconciling the cosmos to Himself! At the time Jesus Christ became our chief sacrificial priest, God was dwelling inside His "tent", Jesus Christ, reconciling us to Himself, INSIDE of his "tent". Figuratively, God was inviting us into His "tent" to be with Him; i.e., the God was inviting us to invite Him into us, as Jesus Christ invited the God, His Spirit, into him (Luke 3:21-22), Jesus being our example to imitate and follow!