So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. – Exodus 40:38

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 19, 2018): Exodus 40

In the seventies, the drama/comedy M*A*S*H dominated our television screens. The show spoke openly about issues that we didn’t often want to talk about in our society. Racism, the role of women, war and peace, and the destruction and death that war often brought with it were continually examined by the doctors and nurses of the 4077 M*A*S*H. And every once in a while, the team had to bug out because the enemy was getting too close to the hospital, reminding the viewer that the M in M*A*S*H stood for mobile. The idea was revolutionary. By making the hospital mobile, they could bring the hospital closer to the front where the soldiers were being hurt. Travel time was shortened, and it was easier to get the soldiers from the battlefield to the place where they could get the help that they needed. But sometimes that meant that when the flow of the battle changed, the doctors and nurses of these mobile hospitals found themselves in more danger than their counterparts back in the city hospitals.

We have an important parallel here between the Tabernacle and these M*A*S*H units. The Tabernacle was designed to be mobile. It would go wherever the people would go. Unlike the Temple that would replace it, the Tabernacle would move with the people, and it would often be in places of danger. The mobility of the Tabernacle made this place of worship different from other Temples of its day. It was still ornate and beautiful as other Temples were and it was still a place of worship, but this worship site moved to wherever the people needed it to be.

It has been noted that most of the important battles won by Israel occurred during the time of the Tabernacle. David dreamed of the Temple, and Solomon built it, and the majesty of Israel decreased during the Temple era until both the Temple and the nation was gone.

In his defense in front of the Sanhedrin, Stephen mourned the loss of the days of the Tabernacle. And the fact that the Tabernacle was mobile seemed very important to him.

“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands (Acts 7:44-48).

That last phrase is important. I think that Stephen believed that the Mobile Tabernacle was a better representation of God than the Temple could be because the Temple was stuck in one place. God cannot be contained. He is mobile, and Lord over all of the earth.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 1