God’s
people were in big trouble. Shortly
after being told that they were to “Have no other gods” and that they were not
to make “an idol” (Exodus 20), they, inexplicably, create a Golden Calf and
worship it (Exodus 32). God’s reaction
to this incident is to withdraw his presence from the people. “I will send an angel before you… but I will
not go with you” (Exodus 33:2-3).
Moses knew that
he has to find a way to re-connect the people to God, so he came up with a
plan. “Now Moses used to take a tent and
pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting’.
Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And
whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the
entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses
went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the
entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar
of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped
each at the entrance to their tent” (Exodus 33:7-10).
Moses’
“tent of meeting” had two significant functions. First, it gave the people a place to worship
God together. That is important because,
when people come together to worship, they connect to God in a way that they
cannot otherwise. In fact, in Matthew
18:20, Jesus states, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with
them”. There is a special blessing to be
found when believers come together.
Secondly,
the “Tent of meeting” gave people an opportunity for times of private worship
and reflection. Those who wanted to
“inquire of the Lord” would go out to the tent and meet him there. Worshipping in a group is great, but for our
faith to be real and alive we each need some time of private reflection. We need to set aside time to think and to
pray. The “tent of meeting” provided this
opportunity and helped reconstruct the link between God and his people.
Interestingly,
things have not changed that much. Those
times public of worship and private reflection are still absolutely vital to
our faith.
So it is
worth asking: “Do you have a ‘tent of
meeting’ in your life?”
(Ps. Please know that you would be welcome to
worship with us any Sunday. As well, I
have some hints that may help you start a “quiet time” with God. If you are interested, please contact me at
the church office)
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