Hidden In God’s Pavilion

Posted by mliteadmin on September 28, 2012
Posted in Morning Lite Blog  | 1 Comment

I’ve been parked on Psalm 27 now for 2 or 3 weeks. I can’t seem to want to leave that place and move on in my daily reading of the Psalms—this is both my desire and what I have felt the Lord wanted of me.
I think I know why now…verse 5 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It says, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”
The word pavilion is very interesting—it is a word that is very closely tied to the time of year we are in right now. I’m speaking of the Hebrew calendar year, the one I believe to be the Biblical calendar and the one God follows in His timing in dealing with us.
Sunday (September 30th) at sundown starts the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is an 8 day celebration that God commands of His people annually (Leviticus 23:34). This is one of the high points in the year according to the Biblical calendar. Robert Heidler, of Glory of Zion, teaches that God’s high points in His calendar are there for us to be revived in our relationship with Him as we mark these times annually to think on Him, worship Him, and celebrate our life in Him. Leviticus 23 gives all three of God’s main times of celebration annually.
Now, what does this have to do with Psalm 27:5? The Hebrew name for Feast of Tabernacles is Sukkoth, and is related to the word sukkah, which means booth or tabernacle. These were portable dwellings, and were what Israel lived in in their 40 year trek through the wilderness. These booths, or tabernacles, were what God used to  cover and protect Israel in during their time of wondering in the wilderness. At Feast of Tabernacles we are to celebrate God’s protection of His people, and worship Him for His promise to protect us. The Hebrew word for pavilion in Psalm 27:5 is the same root word as sukkah. I believe Psalm 27:5 has significant application for us at this time of year.
As I grow in my Hebraic understanding of the Bible (the Bible was written by Hebrew people) I become more and more aware of the importance of God’s cycles, His times. I believe that if we take time to celebrate God during Sukkoth—Feast of Tabernacles—we will be more prone to experience His protection for the coming year, until next Feast of Tabernacles. It’s not that God’s needs the celebration, or the reminder to protect. It is that we need the reminder, or should I say, the renewing of our minds (Colossians 3:10). We need to be brought back to the place of realizing the desire and promise of God to hide us in His pavilion, His sukkah, as we worship Him.
This is not about earning God’s protection through some legalistic ritual. It is about positioning ourselves to be in God’s timing, walking in step with Him, the only one Who knows what the next year holds—and the one Who has promised to keep us (Psalm 121:5) and provide for us (Psalm 37:1-27).
Feast of Tabernacles is also about Jesus, God’s Messiah, Who came to tabernacle with us, as we see in John 1:14. Jesus is the complete character (“express image”) of God—He is the fulness of the Godhead in a body. He came to be Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). As we celebrate and worship Him this time of year He reveals all there is of God the Father to us (John 14:8 & 9).
May you joyously celebrate in this season and may God greet you as you do …