Now let’s continue on.  Let’s go to Joshua 18 and see where the tabernacle of the congregation ended up.  And it stayed there for a good number of years.  And that is in the place called Shiloh.  Joshua 18:1, “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there.  And the land was subdued before them.”  And so then all during the time that it was at Shiloh, all the children of Israel would go up to Shiloh to worship for the Feast of Tabernacles, and so forth.

Now let’s come to the book of 1 Samuel and we will see that also God was very, very, how shall we say, when the people served God, God blessed them.  When the people didn’t serve God, they brought the curses upon them, and it affected the house of God.  It affected the tabernacle of the congregation.  Now we find this right here in 1 Samuel 1.  And we find that the mother of Samuel, in this particular case.  Now let’s read in verse 1.  “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephriam, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.  And [they] this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh:…”  So it remained there all that time from Joshua until this time in Shiloh.  “…And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there” (1 Sam. 1:1-3).

Well the account tells us that Hannah went up and the LORD had closed her womb and the other wife was just nit-picking on her because she didn’t have any children.  So Hanna went up, and she was praying earnestly to God.  “Oh God please, help me to have children.”  And Eli the priest came by, and he castigated her for being drunk.  And she said, “No my lord, I’m not drunk, but in the bitterness of my soul I’m making my complaint known unto the LORD.”  And so Eli said, “Your request of the LORD be granted.”  So then she bore Samuel.  And Samuel then, was given as a dedicated present to God to the tabernacle, which at this time, because I’m sure of the things that they had done on the outside, was also called the Temple of the LORD.  But the temple had not yet been build in this particular case.

And when she brought him up, she prayed and she thanked God, and every year she would bring him a little ephod, a new coat, every year as he would grow.  And all of Israel knew that he was the one to succeed Eli.  Now let’s pick it up here in chapter 3, and let’s see what happened… and I also want us to understand this if we look at the church as the temple of God, which it is today, what happens when the light of God is ready to go out in the church?  Well, exactly the same thing that happened here when the light was ready to go out.  The children of Israel sinned, and we’ll see what happened because of those sins and how terrible it was indeed.

Chapter 3, verse 1, “And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli.  And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.”  Not even with the Urim and Thummim.  “And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was [that’s where God was, before the ark], and Samuel was laid down to sleep;…” (1 Sam. 3:1-3).  So that’s where Samuel came in.  He went in and he was the one who assisted Eli in lighting the lights.  We saw the candelabra there.  But as it were, the sins of Eli were so terrible that God told Samuel what was going to happen and He said that the sons of Eli, and Eli are going to die in one day.  And here’s how it happened.  And it happened when they didn’t expect it.  And it happened in a way that they didn’t think would happen, but it did.

Let’s come over here to 1 Samuel 4:3.  “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to-day before the Philistines?”  Because you see what happens, the enemies of God always triumph when the people of God sin.  So they said, “Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies” (1 Sam. 4:3).  Well you see what happened, they went to Shiloh, they got the ark, they went out to the battle and the battle didn’t go well.  As a matter of fact they lost the battle, they lost the ark, the two sons of Eli were killed, Hophni and Phinehas.  They died in the battle, and when they came back and told the news to Eli, notice what happened.

“And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, what meaneth the noise of this tumult?  And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.  Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.  And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army.  And he said, What is there done, my son?  And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.  And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he [that is Eli] fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died:…” (vs. 14-18).  And so God fulfilled His word.

Now then the Philistines, they had the ark.  So they took it as a triumph of war.  And they took it into the temple of their god Dagon.  And you know what happened.  Well, first of all the image of Dagon fell down, and the hands broke, and then the head broke on several different occasions there.  And God also afflicted them with hemorrhoids.  Now that is a painful thing.  The whole land was afflicted with hemorrhoids and mice.  So they wanted to know what to do to get rid of this.

Now, 1 Samuel 6:1, “And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.  And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place” (1 Sam. 6:1-2).  So they said, “You take the ark of the LORD and you put it in a cart, and you point it over toward Israel and let it go.  Put in there the offering of golden hemorrhoids and golden mice and send it on to the LORD.”  So that’s what they did.

And the ark came back now, chapter 7, verse 1.  “And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.”  Now these had to be Levites in order to be able to handle the ark in order to take care of it.  “And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.” (1 Sam. 7:1-2).  And so then many different things happened.  It came to pass that it stayed there and it waited until the time that David was going to bring it back.

Now let’s see what happened after that.  Let’s see what happened in bringing the ark back.  Let’s come to 1 Chronicles 13.  Now remember we saw in the pictures how that the ark of the covenant had the staves in it, and it had to be carried.  Now David should have known better.  But he didn’t.  We’ll find here 1 Chronicles 13 when his first attempt to bring back the ark.  And he didn’t do it according to the way that he should have.  And he did it according to the way he thought was good.

Now notice 1 Chronicles 13:1.  “And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.  And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us: and let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at  it in the days of Saul” (I Chron. 13:1-3).  And so they went, it seemed right.  David gathered all of Israel.  They went down with a great party.  They loaded it up on a new cart, verse 7.

“And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.  And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and He smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God” (vs. 8-10).  Well, David was all upset about this, and he was displeased.  But he should have known better.  They just went ahead and left it there.  Left the ark of God remain there.  And that was at the house of Obed-edom, because they didn’t want anything more drastic to happen.

So then David came to his senses.  Let’s turn over to 1 Chronicles 15:1.  “And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God,…”  Now this is important.  Remember that the tabernacle was at Shiloh, and the ark left and then came over to Kirjath-jearim.  Then was at the house of Obed-edom, and now David, in his house, was building a special place for the ark of God.  “…And pitched for it a tent.  Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto Him for ever” (I Chron. 15:1-2).

Now come over here to verse 13.  “For because ye did it not at the first [the right way], the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought Him not after the due order.  So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.  And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD” (vs. 13-15).  So they brought it there, they put it into the special place that David had made, the special little tent, so it was right there in his house.  Now I think it’s interesting that the church is called the tabernacle of David, because David had a special relationship with God, having the ark of the covenant right in his house.  Now maybe that helps you understand why the sin with Bathsheba then, was so grievous.  Because right in the house where God was with the ark, David committed his adultery, plotted his murder, the murder of Uriah the Hittite, and all of that.  Because you see, this did not come out of the house of David until after Solomon finished the temple.

Now let’s continue the story.  Let’s go on here to 2 Samuel 7, and let’s see what David was doing one day, before the ark.  He was there playing before God on the psaltery, and singing, and it came to his mind that he ought to build a temple.  2 Samuel 7:1, “And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains [within this tent].  And Nathan said to the king, Go do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.  And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go, and tell My servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in?  Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle” (2 Sam. 7:1-6).  And so that’s something too, brethren, for us to realize that today now we are tabernacling with God.  As a matter of fact, it talks about when Christ came, that He came and where it says, “dwelt among them”, it means He tabernacled among them.  And that’s a whole sermon that I gave last year on Christ tabernacling among us.

Now, God continues telling the message here to David.  “In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying, Why build ye not Me an house of cedar?”  No He didn’t.  “Now therefore so shalt thou say unto My servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be the ruler over My people, over Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.  Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them [that’s a prophecy of what we know as Israel in prophecy today], that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies.  Also the LORD telleth thee that He will make thee an house” (vs. 7-11).  So the prophecy was that God said, “As long as the sun and moon are there, David you will have someone to sit on your throne, and I will build a house for you.  And as for you, since you’re a bloody man, you cannot build a house for me.  But your son after you, he shall build a house for Me.”  And so God chose Solomon to build the house.

Now let’s come over here to 1 Chronicles 28, and let’s see that God then gave all the plans.  He gave all the plans of the temple to David.  David saved up money.  David saved up gold and silver, and all the things for the temple so that it would be a grand and glorious temple indeed.  Now let’s pick it up here in verse 1.  “And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.  Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:…”  So he has everything ready.  “…But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for My name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood” (1 Chron. 28:1-3).

“Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for He hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father He liked me to make me king over all Israel: and of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) He hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.  And He said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build My house and My courts: for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be His father.  Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if…”   Now notice it’s “if”, and I want us to understand that that’s a mighty important thing, because Solomon did not do that.  “…If he be constant to do My commandments and My judgments, as at this day.  Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek [now he’s talking to Solomon here] for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.  And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind:…” (vs. 4-9).

Now this, brethren, is showing us the whole setting of what it’s going to be like in the millennium.  Because Solomon, and what he did was a fore-type of what the coming millennium, which the Feast of Tabernacles pictures.  And so David wanted Solomon to really seek God, to have a willing heart.  And this is what we want to teach through all the Feast of Tabernacles, through all the 1000 year reign and rule of Jesus Christ.  This is what we want brethren.  No question about it.

“…For the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: I thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever.  Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it” (vs. 9-10).  And so he did.  David died, Solomon built the house.

Now let’s come to 2 Chronicles 1 and let’s see what happened after David died.  By this time the ark was still in the house of David, and the tabernacles had moved from Shiloh to Gibeon.  Now we find that right here.  Let’s come here to verse 1.  “And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.  Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.  So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God,…” (2 Chron. 1:1-3). So from the time that the ark of the covenant was taken from the tabernacle in Shiloh, then the ark and the tabernacle were separated.  The ark was with David, and the tabernacle and everything, the altar of burnt offerings was over in Gibeon.

And so then when it came time to bring it all together, let’s see what happened.  Chapter 5:1.  Now everything was made ready.  The temple was finished ready for the dedication of the temple.  And verse 1, “Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.” (2 Chron. 5:1-2).  So it stayed there in the house of David.

“Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.”  Which was the Feast of Trumpets.  “And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.  And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation,…”  So they went over to Gibeon and brought the tabernacle of the congregation, and then they retired the tabernacle of the congregation into the subterranean areas below the temple to store it.  “…And all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.  Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:…” (vs. 3-7).  So in building the holy of holies in the temple, it was made on the inside exactly like the tabernacle in the wilderness.  You had the ark of the covenant there, and then engraven right into the walls were the wings of the cherubim overshadowing the whole thing.  And then the wings of the cherubim over the ark of the covenant.

“And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen [outside of that] without.  And there it is unto this day.”  Now when this was written, “they are there this day”, I don’t know if Ezra wrote this or not.  “There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.” (vs. 9-10).  And then, of course, at the dedication we saw how they were all playing the trumpets and singing, and the power of God with the cloud came and filled the whole house.  And there the ark was until that time. And it stayed there.  And then when it came time for the temple to be destroyed during the days of Jeremiah, we don’t know exactly what has happened to the ark.  That has been a mystery.

The ark, some people say, is in Ethiopia, but that is a counterfeit ark.  Any stories of it being in Ethiopia are just sheer folly.  I believe that the ark was placed, as it was written in the Apocryphal book of Baruch, that an angel of the LORD told Jeremiah to take the ark of the covenant and bury it in the subterranean parts of the temple area, and I think that’s where it is buried.  Now maybe they will find it there.  I do not know.  But from that time forward Israel did not have the ark of the covenant within the temple.  When they came back out of the captivity and built the second temple, it was a small little temple.  And it was so small and so little that it was a pathetic little thing compared to the glorious one that Solomon had built.  But nevertheless, God placed His name there.  However, there was not the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies.  So from the time of Ezra on down there was no ark in the holy of holies, even down to the time of Christ.  So we don’t know where it went.  But we do know this: whenever God is upset with His people He will not dwell with them.  God will not dwell where there is not righteousness.  And we need to understand that with the church, brethren.  We need to understand that with the things that we are doing.  That’s why with the Feast of Tabernacles, this shows that there is going to come a time when we are going to dwell with God.  We are going to be the priests and the Levites.  We are going to be the kings.  Judgment is going to be given to us.

Let’s go to Revelation 20 and let’s see that.  This is at the beginning of the millennium.  We are going to live and reign with Christ a thousand years.  And the temple that is going to be built at that time, we don’t know what it’s going to be like.  And just exactly how it’s going to be, the book of Ezekiel, chapters 44 through 47, do not show the millennial temple.  What they actually show is the second temple of Ezra, then it comes down to the time of Christ and on out into the preaching of the gospel unto the whole world.  But it doesn’t show the temple that is going to be built there in Jerusalem.  But I imagine that it’s going to be a special one, because this one God is going to oversee.

Now let’s pick it up here in verse 4 of Revelation 20.  “And I saw thrones,…”  We’re going to cover that a little later.  “…And judgment was given unto them:…”  And we’re going to understand what righteous judgment is.  “…And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reined with Christ a thousand years.”  So now then, God is going to have a place to dwell with His people.  A holy nation, a royal priesthood.  And we are going to have the government, then it’s going to be on the shoulders of Christ, as we saw, but then the government of God is going to be then, we’re going to be part of that in bringing it out to the whole world.

Now notice, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.”  We’ll talk about the fulfilling of the thousand years, and so forth, as we go through the feast.  “Blessed and holy…”  Now this shows that we’re going to be the very sons of God, because only God is blessed and holy, you see.  “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power,…”  You’ll be living and dwelling forever, you see.  “…They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (vs. 5-6).  And so it all goes back to the very first tabernacle that God had Moses and the children of Israel build there in the wilderness.  That God wanted a place to dwell with His people.