Return to Potter's Clay Homepage
Randy Felton
Potter’s Clay Ministries, Inc.
417 NW 42nd St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Shalom2@cox.net
www.haydid.org/potter.htm
Sarah's Tent
The Home: A Pattern From Scripture
We are going to begin a study of the home. I am going to use some examples that may seem strange and foreign to you, but I feel they have some things to teach us.
We will look at 4 different dwellings to see some comparisons.
The tent of Abraham and Sarah was a typical Bedouin dwelling. You will still see the same basic tent in the Middle East today. These are temporary dwellings but are not moved on a daily basis. In some places they are almost never, if ever moved. One of the most striking sights in my memory is that of a Bedouin tent along the side the Kings Highway going from Jerusalem to Jericho. There among the sheep and goats being kept by the family was a Bedouin tent. This is not too unusual in itself but there was something that just did not look quite right. As I looked more closely the scene became more clear to me. There in front of the tent was a late model Mercedes sedan and on top of the tent was a TV antenna. This was quite a contrast between old and new.
Abraham and Sarah lived in such a tent (without the Mercedes and TV). The tent is made up of three basic parts. 1. The entry. 2. The guest chamber, or what we would call the family room. 3. The bed room. It is said that Sarah was so hospitable that her tent was open on all four sides to accommodate anyone who would pass by and show them that they were welcome.
The guest chamber is where you would invite guests in for a more intimate gathering. The third chamber was the bedroom. This was only for Sarah and Abraham. This was their dwelling and their place of intimacy.
The Tabernacle was a similar structure. The "Tent of Meeting", or Mishkan, was a tent with a similar arrangement. There was the outer curtain which enclosed the courtyard. The tent itself had two chambers. The Holy Place and behind it was the Holiest Place or the Holy of Holies.
The Temple was arranged much the same as the Tabernacle with added courtyards.
The entry is open to all who would call on the home. Guests are invited in to the inner chamber, or guest room, or as we would call it the family room or den. Only those on the most intimate terms would ever be allowed into the bedroom.
This pattern is consistent with the arrangement of the Tabernacle and the Temple. The family was given first and then the nation of Israel. The family dwelling was given first, and then the Tabernacle and the Temple. They will interpret each other. If you want to see how to approach God, look at the structure of the family and it’s dwelling. If you want to know about the sanctity of the family, look at how the Temple is arranged. Look at the patterns that are established within the framework of the worship of God.
What we should be getting out of this picture is that of God wanting an intimate relationship with us. To truly enter into His presence, is to become intimate with Him. If you are not intimate with God, then you have not entered into His bedroom and really come into a relationship with Him.
Too often we only enter as children. When it thunders and lightning flashes, children want to come into Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom. There it is safe and comforting in the midst of a storm. This is how we approach God. When the storms of life come we seek His shelter and His comfort. There is nothing wrong with that. God longs for us to turn to Him. But we are to be much more than that. We are to mature and become His Bride. We should come into that place of closeness to God, because we want to be intimate with Him and not just to seek refuge.
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
1 Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1 Cor 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
I trust that this brief lesson has shown you some of the patterns that God has given us even in what we know as the "Old Testament". God has always desired an intimate relationship with man. He has gone to great lengths to achieve this. He has given us patterns to show us His nature and how we should live our lives to be happy and fulfilled. May we all find that place of intimacy with God and enter into His bedroom.
Return to Potter's Clay Homepage
