The Tabernacle of the Lord with host Patti Brunner takes a distinctive gaze at tabernacles in Catholic Churches, the Mosaic tabernacle of the Old Testament and the tabernacle of the heart of the baptized.  The tabernacle of Moses in the desert was a foreshadowing of the joy that now takes place not in the desert tent but everywhere that the people of God dwell.  The ‘real’ tabernacle comes down from heaven; it is Jesus, true God true Man.  For video, audio, or to read the script, please continue reading below.

For audio only PPN;

When the Spirit resides within you, and Jesus whispers His Words into your heart and mind, joy also takes place among the angels who stand near his Presence in your heart.  They know that this is why Jesus suffered such a humiliating and painful death—so that in freedom from sin, you might be a tabernacle of the Most High God.  For the first time Man was truly able to have the Holy Spirit within him.  The tabernacle of the Lord is set before all men as a reminder of God’s covenant with you. He said, “I will be your God and you will be my people”.  When we come before a tabernacle in a Catholic Church we can gaze upon the place that solidifies heaven on earth — the Creator among the created. 

The first tabernacle was like a mobile sanctuary that travelled with the Israelites as they wandered 40 years in the desert with Moses.  The word tabernacle means tent.  In the bible, God made his presence known in the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was housed.  As baptized and confirmed pure vessels, we too were created to be tabernacles of the Real Presence of God.  

Blog

When the Spirit resides within you, and Jesus whispers His Words into your heart and mind, joy also takes place among the angels who stand near his Presence in your heart.  They know that this is why Jesus suffered such a humiliating and painful death—so that in freedom from sin, you might be a tabernacle of the Most High God.  The tabernacle of Moses in the desert was a foreshadowing of the joy that now takes place not in the desert tent but everywhere that the people of God dwell.  

Welcome to Truth of the Spirit and the Tabernacle of the Lord.  I’m your host, Patti Brunner.  This is part of a series on the Storeroom of the Old and the New Testament.

 I’ll explain that first tabernacle of Moses in a few minutes, but the ‘real’ tabernacle comes down from heaven.  It is Jesus, true God true Man.  For the first time Man was truly able to have the Holy Spirit within him.  Mary also was among the first to be overshadowed by this presence as the living tabernacle was formed within her womb and she became the Ark of the new covenant.  Through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, by the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation, we, too, become living tabernacles, a sacred vessel.

The Lord told me that today people have trashed this sacred vessel through complacency and ignorance.  Homosexual marriages, pornographic and adulterous liaisons, non-marital sexual encounters–these eliminate the purity of the vessel that was dedicated to God through Baptism.  The Lord’s priests wait and watch like the Father of the Prodigal Son for repentance to enter their impure hearts so that the trash may be removed [through the sacrament of Reconciliation] and the vessel, the tabernacle of the mind, body and soul can receive the True Presence of the Living God through receiving Holy Communion. 

Receiving the Eucharist unworthily gives no grace to the sin-filled soul; it is caked with the barriers of sin that God’s graceful presence cannot dwell in.  The Lord God Almighty does not dwell in darkness and spiritual filth.  But His Chosen servants, by the power and grace of their ordination can reach into the sinful hearts with their absolution and cleanse it—when a penitent sinner opens the door and asks for the priest to take what they confess and remove it.  Repentance is stronger than sin.  Repentance is stronger than the worst evil in the world.  When the repentant heart approaches the sacrament of Reconciliation it can become the most beautiful tabernacle in the world.  Through the grace restored after absolution the soul is more beautiful than the most beautiful cathedral in the world.  And the angels weep with joy as the Lord takes His place within these hearts.

Catholic churches throughout the world have a tabernacle to reserve the consecrated Hosts that are the True Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ on earth.  How this mystery happens is a subject of another day, but there have been many Eucharistic miracles to help people to comprehend; but they ignore this truth. 

            The tabernacle of the Lord is set before all men as a reminder of God’s covenant with you. He said, “I will be your God and you will be my people”.  When we come before a tabernacle in a Catholic Church we can gaze upon the place that solidifies heaven on earth — the Creator among the created, the one who was unapproachable now down among the people.  It does not limit our contact in the sacrifice nor in the Body but it reminds the faithful what the Lord has done for them.  The people need this reminder — how quickly they forget the Lord and begin to come together in social gathering instead as a worshipping people joining together to bow before the Lord in all things.

            The highest honor must be given to His tabernacle.  Whether in private or public, it must be given the respect due to the presence of God among his people.

We belong to God.  Indeed, through our thoughts, actions and omissions we show signs of rejection, but know this, you each still long to be with God, even though in your weakness you turn toward the world.  Jesus sent his Spirit to make you strong.  Accept his Spirit and you will have ‘enough’ power to change the world, to set the wrongs into righteousness for it will not be you but Jesus working within you, a partner in this work. 

            The Father and Jesus have given you the Gift of their Spirit.  Accept it!  The Lord loves you and all you do to come into His presence.

The Lord’s Peace dwells within the hearts of the faithful.  You are the ‘Living Tabernacle’ the most beautiful resting place imaginable on the earth.  Know this, as the Spirit comes upon the people, he will reside where he is welcomed.  The open heart becomes the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit.

In adoration chapels, the Host of the Eucharist is displayed in a monstrance for all visitors to see.  Adoration is available so that you are totally aware of the Lord’s Presence with you.  You don’t have to worry about ‘searching’ for God—God has let you find Him!

• When you come to Adoration to pray, you give witness to your faith:  The words of Jesus Christ are true “This is My Body”.  Living your faith is made easier as you physically ‘stand-up’ and step out in your belief.
• Angels surround the tabernacle and the monstrance during exposition.  You enter a real ‘communion’ as you enter the Lord’s presence in this adoration; as you join the angels in adoration.
• In the tabernacle, the Great I Am is there for you one-on-one. 
• The Body of Christ promotes a community because of the love that draws us together as people of God.  The celebration of the mass is a community celebration and it pleases the Lord.  The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic faith.  But, adoration is a special time for intimacy between Father & child, Bride & Bridegroom, between two friends.  The Great I Am is your God and you are His child, his bride, his friend, his disciple, You are His.  Come to Him with all your concerns and worries.  Come to Him with all your joys and accomplishments.  Come to Him for quiet and rest. He will give you rest.

When the Lord sends you among His people to teach the truths that you truly have begun to comprehend, draw from the strength and source of the Eucharistic food, His own Body and Blood.  As you take nourishment from this Real Food you can, in turn, teach others to do so also.

“A key unlocks that which is hidden from sight.  It does not create a treasure but merely reveals it.  The Body of Christ, the Great I Am is present behind the ‘veil’ of a closed tabernacle.  But, what about a closed heart?  In the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, the Lord is given your heart to dwell within.  He remains with you until the end of time as long as you don’t kick him out.  Even so, He returns to the repentant heart quickly.  What is the key that allows his return?  Trust.  Repentant  hearts trust that forgiveness is possible.  Trust Him that He will not hold this against you for eternity.”

If, at this point, you are struggling with the idea of the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist I invite you to listen to a couple of my previous podcasts:  #43 Sacraments-Part 2 Eucharist   and #59 Basics of Faith part 7 – Basics of the Real Presence.  [insert links and insert a slide of them.]

Or, pick up the Catechism of the Catholic Church  or google “Real Presence Eucharist” and find hundreds of articles to help you, especially good is the USCCB’s web page; they laid a lot of the ground work that I followed for my resources.

Secondly, allow the light of Christ to guide you as the light of God led Moses and the people in the desert in Exodus and Deuteronomy.  The tabernacle of Moses in the desert is a foreshadowing.  Today in Catholic churches around the world, we enter into the real presence of God in adoration chapels just as Moses entered the presence of God on the mountain top and in  the ‘tent of meeting’.

 “Moses spent time with God on the mountain as did Elijah physically and spiritually.  And the prophet Isaiah prophesized about mountain top experiences.   Today’s mountain top does not require us to go to Colorado or Mount Helen, what it does require is ‘getting above the complacent and ordinary routine of your lives’.  Seeking the Lord when you are in a desperate need is a way to find God, but the worries of the day can be quite distracting.  To sit and listen—whether it is to the quiet whisper or the booming thunderous presence of God–is required to meet with God on the mountaintop.  In your local church, go sit in front of the tabernacle—even better, attend an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and the mountain top will be yours.  Many people have a unique experience with God in the midst of a retreat.  This happened to both my husband and me.  Emptying out the busyness of your life and dedicating a day or a weekend to seek the Lord is a great way for your eyes and ears to be opened to find him.  Trust me, He’s not the one who is lost.  In fact, He is always at your side.  One time, at the end of a powerful retreat, a priest commented, “You say you are leaving your mountain-top experience to re-enter the real world, but what you need to understand is that this is the real life.  The things you left behind to be here are the imitation.”  Whether or not you are Catholic, whether or not you believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, come and sit before a tabernacle in a Catholic Church.  I have known people who have done that, and they recognized the presence of God—even though they do not believe it. 

 In the bible, God made his presence known in the Holy of Holies.  The Ark of the Covenant was housed in the tabernacle, the tent that travelled through the desert with Moses and the People of God.  Come let Him make himself known to you, personally.  He will help you to empty out the internal chaos within your heart and mind.  He will lead you to freedom like he led the people of God to the Promised Land, and He will give you supernatural peace.”

After God set the Hebrew slaves free, as the people were formed into a people of God, and after the Ten Commandments were given, God revealed to Moses his plan to connect with his people through his presence in the ‘Holy of Holies’ within the tabernacle. 

The word tabernacle means tent.  The first tabernacle was like a mobile sanctuary that travelled with the Israelites as they wandered 40 years in the desert.   As we read in Exodus and Deuteronomy, God gave Moses detailed construction plans to build a special tent or tabernacle to house the holy items and for worship through sacrifice and gratitude and thanksgiving offerings.  The Greek word for thanksgiving is Eucharist.  God’s plan of the Tabernacle foreshadows the Triduum.  You can learn more about the Triduum on episode #57: Basics of Faith part 5 – Basics of the Paschal Mystery.

So what was God’s blueprint for Moses?  Within the precisely planned fabric outer walls was an inner courtyard where animals were sacrificed and then burned upon a brazen altar after the blood was collected. 

The first room inside the tent was the Holy Place.  Outside of it, in the courtyard,  the laver was a large washbowl used by the priests to wash and to purify before entering the holy place.

It was the duty of the priests from the tribe of Levi to minister to God in the Holy Place.  He gave specific instruction in what the high priest should wear.  This foreshadows the vestments that our priests wear to minister unto the Lord.

Inside the Holy Place the light was provided by an oil-burning golden candelabra or menorah with 7-lamps on a golden lampstand that was always kept burning, foreshadowing our sanctuary lamp in front of our tabernacle.

There was an altar to offer incense to God, and a table of 12 loaves of bread known as Shrew bread.

Mosaic Law instructed the priests to eat the sacrifice.      In Exodus chapter 29, God instructed:  “32 At the entrance of the meeting tent Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket.  33 They themselves are to eat of these things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but no layman may eat of them, since they are sacred.”

Consuming the sacrifice gave them relationship with God.  Eating the bread made holy by being in the presence of God  and eating the meat of the sacrifice foreshadowed the sharing of the Eucharist.  Remember, partaking or eating the sacrifice allow people access to God. 

Only by sharing, eating, what the priests had consecrated through the sacrifice could the rest of the people have a communion with God.   No longer do we have imperfect animal sacrifice of rams, lambs  or oxen but Christ offers himself as the one and only perfect lamb,  the perfect sacrifice.

God had Moses build the Ark of the Covenant into which they placed the stone tablets of the 10 commandments, a container of manna—the miracle food that came down from heaven that fed the people in the desert by God, and the staff of Aaron that sprouted to show that he was chosen by God to be the first high priest of the tabernacle.

The Ark of the Covenant was then kept in the next room of the tent:  the Holy of Holies.  Only the high priest—chosen from the Levi tribe of priests–was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies to be in the presence of God to pray.   Once a year the high priest would enter the inner room—the Holy of Holies— and the High Priest would sprinkle the sacrificial blood on the horns of the Ark, the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  The light in this section of the tent was provided by the glory of God.  Only one priest at a time was allowed to enter in by going under the veil.   They had bells on the bottom of their robes and a rope tied to their waist.  If the priest was not holy enough to be in the presence of God he would be struck down and the others would pull him out.

 When it was time for the Israelites to move on, the presence of God would leave the Holy of Holies.  After dismantling their mobile sanctuary,  a flame by night and a cloud by day would guide the Israelites to their next location; just like the flame of the Holy Spirit leads us today.

Generations later, when David triumphed in taking the city of Jerusalem to set up the Kingdom of Israel, King David brought the Ark into the city.

It tells us in 2 Samuel chapter 6, they were transporting the Ark of God on a new cart while David and all Israel danced before God with great enthusiasm, amid songs and music on lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.  Then, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah stretched out his hand to steady the ark and God struck him dead.  You see, Uzzah was not a priest according to the order of Aaron.  Therefore God judged him unworthy to invade the presence of God.  David stopped the procession because of the offense to God. 

“12 After three months…David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities.  13 As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.  14 Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon, 15 as he and all the Israelites were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.  …17 The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place within the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered holocausts and peace offerings before the LORD”  [2 Samuel chapter 6] 

It’s interesting that David, who was of the tribe of Judah, served the kingdom as priest, prophet and king and foreshadowed Jesus.

King Solomon, the son and successor of David, was allowed by God to build the first Temple to hold the Ark.  We can read about its dedication in 2 Chronicles     Chapter 7 NAB “1 When Solomon had ended his prayer, [of dedication] fire came down from heaven and consumed the holocaust and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the house.  2 But the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.  3 All the Israelites looked on while the fire came down and the glory of the LORD was upon the house, and they fell down upon the pavement with their faces to the earth and adored, praising the LORD, “for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.” 4 The king and all the people were offering sacrifices before the LORD.  5 King Solomon offered as sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep.”

In the years between King Solomon and Jesus, when the people turned away from God in sin towards false gods, the gold furnishings in the temple were taken by conquering enemies and the temple was destroyed and the people were exiled to Babylon. 

Eventually after they repented, the people were returned, the Temple was rebuilt and contained the ancient scrolls we include in the Old Testament.  Modeling the tabernacle in the desert, the curtain to the Holy of Holies was shut tight to all but the high priest.  The curtain witnesses the barrier the people had to the presence of God.  We too, can have a barrier.  We must open the door to our heart to be in the presence of God. 

At the crucifixion of Jesus, the temple curtain was torn.  At the eternal moment of the Mass, the curtain is open in our time.  And we can enter the Holy of Holies through the sacrifice of Jesus.  His blood is the perfect and eternal sacrifice.  It is always acceptable and allows our communion with God.  Our Holy of Holies is not an earthly one but the real Holy of Holies, the place of the heavenly presence of God.  Jesus, our High Priest, opens the door for us to come into the Real Presence of God.

You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit.  I’m Patti Brunner.  Be sure and check out the other episodes I mentioned today.  You can find them on the Truth of the Spirit YouTube channel or the Padua Podcast Network.  I’ll put a link on my blog of this episode on PatriarchMinistries.com website.  And come back again for more.  With the Holy Spirit, there’s always more.