The Fourth Tent

[HKHaugan]

While we have identified three tents, those that the Lord created for this world, there is another one, a fourth one, mentioned in Revelation.  It is for the believers who have come into the Kingdom.  They “…are in front of the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple. The One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them (Rev.7:15 NIV).”  Note the progression from the last three segments.  We go from the individual in a human body, to the gathered group of believers who find they are really part of the Body of Christ covering the first two. Upon leaving this world they enter Heaven and are covered by the Heavenly tent of God in eternity---three tents for the world and one for eternity.

Just what is this fourth tent?  First, we know it is a living cover, an extension of God’s will and therefore, has always been there.  It existed before Creation and will be there when the new Heaven and earth appear.  We have experienced it in this world as the Father’s eternal shelter of His grace and love.  Second, we know, that extended from God, it is a personal cover, a heart cover, the presence of the Lord Jesus.  Third, we know that it is a spiritual cover, a soul cover, an interpersonal cover, the relational bonding by the Holy Spirit.  It is an all-inclusive tent provided in the Trinity of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There is more if we are willing to see it.

This tent is different than the other three.  When Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers He asked the Lord that ‘the eyes of their heart’ might be enlightened (Eph.1:18).  It meant spiritual sight, insight, to behold something radically different from what they were seeing in the world.  This was a different cover that would engulf them.  The first three tents covered them and were a foretaste of this fourth tent.  Moses and the Hebrew people had similar moments. When the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush (Ex.3), when he completed the work of setting up the Tent of Meeting (Ex.40:33) and when he and the Hebrew people were led through wilderness by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day (Ex.40:38). 

But perhaps the most telling preparatory description of this tent is in the Creation sequence in Genesis.  Right there in Creation is the revelation of the spiritual cover that would set in motion the whole future of God’s plan.  When God created the heavens and the earth, “…the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen.1:2 NIV).”  Here is the extraordinary part, “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.”  And there was evening, and there was morning---the first day (vs.3-5).”  Here is the clue.  The light that God made in the universe is the light that points to the spiritual light that is God.  Look at what happens when Jesus comes.  Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a high mountain.  “There He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light (Mt.17:2 NIV).”  And what did the Lord tell His disciples about Himself?  That’s right.  “I am the light of the world (John 8:12 and 9:5).  Jesus is the light, the cover, the shelter, the One who brings all things ‘to light.’ 

 Forever we will live in the light radiating from His Presence.  Not only will He be the tent of light, He will also be the Temple in which we abide.  Here is the promise about Heaven from Revelation, “The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn't need sun or moon for light. God's Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth's kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won't be any night. They'll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in (21:22-26 The Message).”

The fourth tent is God’s Glory, the same Glory that the Hebrews saw in the desert when He led them with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.  It was present in Solomon’s Temple, “When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of God filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in—God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of God fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking God: Yes! God is good! His love never quits!(2 Chronicles 7:1-3 The Message Bible).” 

The Glory of God is something we are called to look forward to.  But we are between ‘the already’ and ‘the not yet.’  The Lord gives us tastes of the glory yet to come when He reveals the fruit of His Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the insights and principles from His Word, the relationships we have in the tents of the Body of Christ, our worship and prayer gatherings and within our hearts as He touches us personally day by day.

For now, in our present moments, we rejoice with the Apostles and the early disciples who identified for us the future glory that awaits us, “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (Jn.1:1-2)…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn.1:14).”  When our time comes we will flourish in the tent of His glory with a new body, new eyes, in a constant awareness seeing Him face to face being covered in the light of His glory.  Amen and amen.