Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Psalm 132:7 Let us go into His dwelling place; Let us worship at His footstool. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 132:7 Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool. |
Bible Question:
Dear Doc, Not sure how to go into conversation with you on the website. I am in UK. What I was trying to imagine was, at that time, last of Judges, at Shiloh, was there still a Tabernacle, same materials as in desert wanderings? Did the Israelites travel for all the festivals? or just once a year? Would there be daily animal sacrifices, or just at special times? I realise some things we may not be told, but just thinking about the beginnings of Samuel's life and wondering how informal or formal things would have been there at Shiloh. Old tent and 3 priests and servants, or full ceremonial style place? Pete |
Bible Answer: Dear Pete, Good question, sir. By the way, welcome to the forum! The tabernacle was placed in Shiloh by Joshua after Canaan had been subdued. Things got pretty muddled up thereafter. During the time of the judges, almost everyone got pretty confused about what was expected of them. Of course, when we neglect the Word in our prosperity and success, that's what happens. Per the prophecy of Moses (cf Deuteronomy 12), in Judges we find the statements, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6 and 21:25) Based on what we find by the time of Samuel is born, we can surmise that the tabernacle remained set up in Shiloh except when the Israelites took the ark with them in battle. There are a number of references to people going there on the feast days. Furthermore, I'd venture to suggest that God kept some kind of remnant of faithful sons of Levi to serve Him. I base this assumption on "And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision." (1 Samuel 3:1b) However, where there are humans there is sin (1 Samuel 2:12-17). Yet, note well that the basic things that were being done were according to the law, although Hophni and Phinehas were not doing them precisely as prescribed in the law. They were twisting things to their own advantage. It even says that sometimes someone would correct them (verse 16), so there must have been an awareness by others in Israel that things weren't quite kosher! :-) Now, we finally see the tabernacle moved a generation later by King David. He brought it just outside of Bethlehem (2 Sam 6:10) and then into Bethlehem itself a bit later (2 Sam 6:12) where it remained until King Solomon brought it to the new temple in Jerusalem (2 Chron 5:2). Except for what we are told in the law of Moses, we only have "snapshots" of how things were done with regard to the tabernacle. Those things didn't change significantly, from what we are told, until David set up courses of musicians and the like (2 Chron 8:14). So, that's my long winded way of saying that in the absence of any other information, we may assume that the practices associated with the tabernacle remained fairly consistent up through the time of David. It is a strange fact, but humans tend to be pretty good about maintaining ceremony. You see that in Britain frequently, for example. How many kings and queens received their coronation while sitting just above the Stone of Scone. Doesn't that go back to the 1200's? That old rock was probably used for at least as long -- if not longer -- in Scotland on Moot Hill going back to the time of the Picts! So I wouldn't be surprised to see quite a bit of consistency between how things were done in the time of Moses and how things were done in the time of Samuel. I hope this will be helpful for you. In Him, Doc |