Acts 15:16-17 ” `After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things'”

Various teachers and groups have caught the significance of this quote from Amos 9 being used at this crucial point in Church history. David’s tent, referenced here, was the one he erected on Mt. Zion for the Ark of the Covenant when he brought it to Jerusalem, as recorded in 2 Samuel 6. The reason that was so significant was that the Ark was not hidden from the public, as it had been in the Tabernacle of Moses and later was in Solomon’s Temple, and it was not only visible, it was honored with 24/7 worship by choirs of Levites. Since from the time God commanded its construction through Moses the Ark had signified the manifest Presence of God, this was a huge deal. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit had indeed brought the Presence of God to all believers, and not just a select few. That James quoted this from Amos at this juncture was an affirmation that Gentiles were included without discrimination in God’s plan. We tend to focus on this Jerusalem Council from that standpoint, but we need to remember what God’s plan was, into which Gentiles were being accepted. That plan was for intimate, direct interaction between God and individual believers, through praise and worship by the Holy Spirit. In recent decades we have seen a huge revival of praise and worship in churches of all denominations. That’s a good thing, even though some make it into a show from which the Holy Spirit has been excluded, invalidating the whole thing. The “Tabernacle of David” is another way of saying what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, every believer has direct access to God by the Holy Spirit, and that is what God desires.

This is something I discovered years ago and which I have been trying to communicate ever since, but many people are like the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai, desiring an intermediary rather than direct access to God. (Deuteronomy 18:16) I seek to help them understand that He loves them just as much as He loves me, but they won’t make the time to get to know Him on a daily basis. This is both amazing and frustrating to me. I am very aware from my own experience that there is no end to the distractions that try to pull us away from intimacy with God, but if we will make it a priority, He will more than meet us halfway. I can’t force anyone to make it a priority, but I can demonstrate the benefits of doing so and encourage them to join me. At the same time, I need to stand in the gap for them in prayer, doing battle against the enemy of our souls so that they may have a better chance of appropriating all that God has provided for them in Christ.

Father, in many ways this is the whole of the ministry You’ve given me. Help me never give up, but draw closer and closer to You so that Your Spirit through me may impart Your truth and set people free, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!