And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. Exodus 33:7
More than a million Israelites were making their way from Egypt to Canaan, making it a massive camp out in the wilderness. In the midst of that great camp would stand the Tabernacle, the special tent where the presence of God would dwell. But our text tells us of a time when Moses would rename and relocate that Tabernacle, where God’s presence was. God’s presence in the world today is also under a name and in a place where most of Christendom is not aware.
Moses’ new name for the Tabernacle was ‘Tabernacle of the congregation”. A ‘congregation’ is a gathering or assembly. When we turn to the New Testament, we find that same word – the Greek word is ‘ekklesia’ – translated as ‘church’. And it means ‘assembly’. That’s important, as we look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:20 ‘For where two or three are gathered together unto My Name, there am I in the midst of them’. That word ‘gathered’ does not refer to a casual coming together, but to a gathering that has been established and continues to be established. We can accurately read it ‘where two or three are and continue to be gathered together’. So Matthew 18:20 is the simplest definition of the place of a New Testament Assembly.
Matthew 18:20 is also the simplest definition of the name of a New Testament Assembly. Jesus declared ‘In My Name’. How disappointed He must be at the way in which professing Christendom has carved itself up into dozens of different names. All of those denominations fly in the face of His simple direction to us: ‘in My Name’. We believe our Lord is pleased when His saints shun all of those names and gather to His Name alone.
Note that the Tabernacle was outside the camp. That’s where we want to go, outside of the confusion of doctrine and practices, and outside of the babble of names, unto His Name. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/TzSPgEIts-E