Our Tent

One of my memories growing up was staying in a tent.  My father used to take us on road trips.  Instead of staying in a motel, we always stayed in a tent.  My Dad had purchased a large canvass Coleman tent.  Sometimes we traveled for the purpose of camping.  At other times, we traveled to get from point A to point B.  Regardless of the reason, we stayed in a tent.  I can remember waking up to frigid mornings as well has hot and humid ones.  I also remember meals coming from either a grill or campfire.  After we were finished, we literally pulled up stakes and packed everything back up in the trunk of the old, blue, beat up '69 Chevy Bell Air that served as our family car.  That tent served us for several years.  However, like so many other things, it became old and worn out.  Eventually, the tent was no longer serviceable and had to be discarded.  

Even though we had fond memories of trips with the tent, we would not have wanted to live in a tent.  A tent is not intended to be a permanent home.  It is portable and temporary.  It is quite different than a house built on a foundation.  When we lived in Vermont, we went shopping for a home.  I was struck by the age of some of the houses we looked at.  I used to think that a house built in the1920's or 1930s was old, but there were houses for sale that were built in the 1800's or even older.  They were older than myself, my Dad, and even my grandfather.  They were still very solid homes despite their age.

A passage of scripture I have been reading brought back memories of the tents and old dwellings of the past.  In John 1, after stating that the Word was with God and was God and created all things, it states, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

There is more than one word that can translate to "dwell, remain, abide, etc." from Greek.  This particular word, skēnoō, means to pitch a tent, or dwell in a tent.  This is an interesting word choice to describe what Jesus did when he left Heaven and came to earth to live among us.  It is a remember of what God did when he made a covenant with Israel at Sinai.  He gave instructions to Israel to build him a tent as his sanctuary.  After construction of the tabernacle, his glory came and dwelt in the tent, which was pitched in the midst of the camp.  God had come down to dwell among his people.  The reason it was in a tabernacle was so that it could be portable.  God and his people moved from one place to another together at temporary lodging places until they arrived at their permanent home. The same is true for Jesus.  He pitched a tent for a time and lived among us.  This was not his permanent home.  After his death and resurrection, he ascended back to the Father.  

2 Corinthians 5 tells us that we also are living in a tent.  Even though the tent will wear out, we have a permanent home built by God in Heaven.  The tent that this text is referring to is our body.  Our bodies, like any other tent, wears out over time.  The text says that while we are living in this tent, we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling.  This becomes more apparent as the years go by and the tent continues to wear out.  Our stay in this tent is only temporary.  Like Abraham in Hebrews 11:10, we are looking for a home with foundations.  Our Lord has gone to prepare this home for us.  This tent is not our home, we are just passing through.