Restoring The Fallen Tabernacle of David
Lishan Desta
Aug 18, 2002
Restoring The Fallen Tabernacle Of David
Why do my people say that when I say: I shall restore the fallen tabernacle of David and restore its ruins that they say, "Our God is going to restore worship in our midst"? As much as I want you, My people, to worship Me and bring to Me your sacrifices of praise in the churches and the houses My people gather in My name, however, the words I spoke through My Prophet Amos, are not about Me restoring the grace of worship among you.
Listen carefully, know this and understand it well. I have a strange work to do among My people in the last days. In the Last Days I will make My people to partake of My suffering as I desire them to have fellowship with My cross (Matt 26: 29). I want them to be conformed to My death, so that in the end they may know me not only by their mind but also deep in their soul. As I made My servant, Paul, to carry on his body the marks of my suffering, so shall it be to my dedicated ones in the closing days of the ages.
I shall strip you of the glory of the Old Man by the deep workings of My Cross. When I lay My Cross on My people the world will be awe struck and cry out, saying, 'What a destruction! What a humiliation! What a loss!"
My servants, for many years, they shall be like a city whose gates are destroyed and its walls burned down; as one which lies in ruin, unprotected and ravaged by every passer by. They shall be like a tree in the winter as all its leaves gone, looking desolate and dead. As the world knows not of My purposes, neither discern My workings, therefore, those of this world will stumble, fall and be taken captive because of My strange doings among you, says your God. You shall be a sign spoken against.
When My purpose is attained in you, and I have completely formed My glorious Image in you, then I will open your grave and make you attain unto My Resurrection glory. In that day, when I lift up My people in the eyes of the whole world, the most humiliated among My people shall be transformed to be David-like and God-like, and march before My people to conquer (Zach 12: 8). In That Day, I shall raise the fallen booth of David and restore its former glory. In That Day, I shall fill you with My Power, and I shall make you inherit the gentile nations and glory in their riches. In That Day, I shall stir up many saviors for Myself, and they shall come to My Holy Mount, and the Kingdoms of the earth shall belong to Me, says your God (Obadiah 21). As I have overcome My passions and the throes of death and sat down at the right hand of My Father, to those who endure their Tribulation to the very end and overcome, I shall give them the power to sit with Me on My throne. Theirs shall be the rod of iron to smash the unruly and bring Me the obedience of the nations.
Restoring The Fallen Tabernacle Of David
Lishan Desta
The Tabernacle of David and the Endtime
Collected works
"On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old" Amos 9:11.
Reflection
By making the above verse to mean the 'restoration of the grace of worship in the church,' we are in the danger of missing the greater meaning of the verse. If we do, we will be losing an important aspect in what God is doing in our days to bring about the fullness of His Kingdom.
Here are some reasons why Amos 9:11 should not be limited to the idea of church worship per se, but be applied to events surrounding the Endtime manifestation of the Kingdom of God.
1). The tent of meeting where the Ark was kept and where much worship was conducted, was never called the tabernacle of David (cf. 2 Sam. 6: 17; 7: 1-3; 1 Kg. 8: 1-3; 1 Chr. 16, 21:29-30; 2 Chr. 1:3). For that matter, it has never been called the tabernacle of Moses, even after the first man who first set it up under God’s direction (cf. Acts 7: 44-47; Heb. 3: 2-6; 9, 10).
2). If we suppose that Amos 9:11 refers to the Tent of Meeting as it was in David’s days, then why associate David relationship with God with worship only? Does not the life of King David signify as many important virtues before God as worship? What about election by grace (the 1 Cor. 1: 30 principle), spiritual warfare, prayer, the disciplines of God, waiting upon God, the Messiah and His Kingdom, etc., all of which illustrate David’s life? If so, what are our Scriptural basis to read only and primarily the restoration worship in this verse?
3). To place the above verse in the general context of the Book of Amos, first we have to know that the whole tone of Amos is a cry for political and economic justice for the poor, and for the return of Israel to their covenant relationship with God. Amos openly denounces ritualistic worship, which was devoid of true spirituality (Amos 4: 1; 8: 4-6). To him, true worship is not associated with a place or with a song, but with integrity of heart and justice to the poor (Amos 5: 4-5; 6: 5-6, 8:3).
4). So if not the above, then what is the true meaning of Amos 9: 11? In the prophetic books of the OT, David primarily stands for God’s Kingdom. David is the chosen type of Messiah by the prophets (Is. 11: 1 -6, 16: 4b - 5; Jer. 23: 5-6; Ezk. 37: 22,24; Hos. 3:5). Therefore, the verse in Amos should be taken as God’s promise to His people to restore to them a righteous government like that of David. This kingdom will ensure economic and political justice to all, and restore the fear of God to the land. It will also enlarge the borders of Israel by conquering the neighboring gentile nations (Ps. 77: 69-72). In Amos 9:11, it is the restoration of such a godly King that is in focus, and not as such the worship of God per se.
5). Why should we worry too much about how an obscure verse as Amos 9:11 is interpreted? Is not the meaning the verse is already assigned a worthy one - does not God commend worship? The answer is: Yes, He does (Ps. 29: 1, 96: 5-8, etc). However, we will miss a greater prophetic meaning in that verse if we close our minds to the true interpretation of the verse. The true interpretation of Amos 9:11 is found by looking first at other similar Bible verses, which speak of the restoration of David’s kingdom (Ps. 88; Is. 11: 1, 16: 3-5; 52: 11-13; Zech. 12: 8, 13: 1). Only such verses do set us on the correct path to understand the meaning of Amos 9:11. In short, in its prophetic Endtime sense, Amos 9:11 is about overcoming a ruinous tribulation, being girded by the power of God, and finally being able to expand the Kingdom of God by inheriting the gentile nations.
Prophecy (1)
Why do my people say that when I say: I shall restore the fallen tabernacle of David and restore its ruins that they say, “Our God is going to restore worship in our midst”? As much as I want you, My people, to worship Me and bring Me your sacrifices of praise, however, the words I spoke through My Prophet Amos, are not about Me restoring the grace of worship among you.
Listen carefully, know this and understand it well. I have a strange work to do among My people in the Last Days. In the Last Days, I will make My people to partake of My suffering as I desire them to have fellowship with My cross (Matt 26: 29). I want My people to be conformed to My death, so that in the end they may know me not only through their minds, but also deep in their souls. As I made My servant, Paul, to carry on his body the marks of my suffering, so shall it be to my dedicated ones in the closing days of the ages.
I shall strip you off the glory of the Old Man by the deep workings of My Cross. And when I lay My Cross on My people in the Last Days, the world will be awe struck and cry out, ‘What a destruction! What a humiliation! What a loss!”
When my cross works in your lives, My servants, you shall be like a city whose gates have been destroyed and whose walls have been burned down. Your life shall be in shambles - you will be like a city, which lies in ruins, to be plundered and ravaged by every passer by. You will look like a tree in the wintertime - a tree that has lost all its leaves, appearing desolate and dead to all onlookers. My vineyard, My Beloved, I shall give it up to be polluted and trampled upon. It shall become an abomination to gentiles, and the gentiles shall tread it under foot for many years.
As the world knows not of My purposes, neither discern My workings, therefore, those of this world will stumble, fall and be taken captive because of My strange doings among you, says your God. You shall be a sign to be spoken against by them.
But when My purpose is attained in you, and when I have completely formed My glorious Image in you, then I will open your graves and make you attain unto My resurrection glory. In that day, when I lift up My people in the eyes of the world, the most humiliated among My people shall be transformed to be David-like and God-like. It is in That Day, then, I shall raise the fallen booth of David and restore it to its former glory. In That Day, My tested servants shall march before My flock and lead them to conquest (Zech 12: 8). In That Day, I shall make you to inherit the gentile nations and make you to glory in their riches. In That Day, I shall stir up many saviors for Myself, and they shall come to My Holy Mountain, and the Kingdoms of the earth shall belong to Me, says your God (Obadiah 21).
As I have overcome My passions and the throes of death, and sat down at the right hand of My Father, to those who endure their Tribulation to the very end and overcome, I shall give them the power to sit with Me on My throne. Theirs shall be the rod of iron to smash the unruly, and to bring Me the obedience of the nations, says Your Lord.
Prophecy (2)
“Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, betray not the fugitive; let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples under foot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tabernacle of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness" Isaiah 16: 3-5.
I have given you the charge - hide, hide, hide My people, says God. Let my outcasts, the fugitives of My plan stay with you. Cover them with your shadows; enfold them with your wings. Be to them a cave, a hiding place where My prophets can take a cover in the days of their plight. Be for Me like the daughter of Pharaoh, or Obadiah, or Jehoshabeth and Jehoiada to hide My prophets and kings from the face of those who seek their demise. Or be like the desert of Midian or as the land of Egypt where My chosen ones will take sojourn until the oppressor is removed and a new day dawns.
Let no one know that My prophets are hiding with you; let no one know who they are and what I AM up to in their lives. Let them be fed with you, be protected by you. Let My chosen ones grow and mature hid with you. Stand guard over them, and let not your wings ever expose them. When I am finished making them, molding them, I will take them out and gird them by My power. I will set them on a throne, and give them the kingdom of David, their father. They shall execute judgment in the land, and the earth eagerly awaits their appearance.
Prophecy (3)
“In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them “ Zech. 12:8.
A day is coming, says your God, that I will lift up the weak and strengthen the feeble. In all the ages it has been My chosen plan to reveal My boundless power through the weak and the despised vessels. Now watch me as I work through My servants, those the world has given no place. These I will gird with power; these I will turn into My mighty army. These weak vessels will be as mighty as David, as powerful and as divine as the angel of God, says the Lord. They might have been overthrown, their tabernacles mighty have been in ruins, but I am a God of restoration and resurrection. Yet, I shall clothe them with My Divine Glory and Name. They will march across the length and breadth of the earth, and they will bring the obedience of the nations to their God, says the Lord.
Prophecy (4) and Word
(a). "On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and defilement” Zech 13:1.
(b). "On the Big Day, a fountain will be opened for the family of David and all the leaders of Jerusalem for washing away their sins, for scrubbing their stained and soiled lives clean” Zech 13:1.
Though you may be defiled and filthy in their eyes, an outcast and a rejected one in their estimate, but in My eyes you are a royal priesthood destined for the throne. The enemy has caused you to be a curse among the people; it has made you to be regarded as a sinner. But in My eyes, you are a pure and unsullied dove. What the enemy has caused for your sorrow and pain, I will change and make it for your glory. The enemy thought this will be for your eternal dismay, but it does not know that I have destined it for the glory of the ages.
In that day, when I bring back your captivity, I will use a new way to bring your restoration. I shall use a fountain for a well of salvation to bring about the removal of your defilement. You shall be washed clean, scrubbed clean, from your stain by the virtue of the fountain, says your God. The day is coming, says the Lord God, when I will strip off your filthy garments and restore this humbled ruined tent of yours to a glorious stature. The world will wonder about your luster, because you shall emerge from your rejection shining with My glory. Every one will see your release and enthronement, and they will give Me praise for your sake, says the Lord.
(i). “Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, you will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold” Ps. 68:13.
(ii). “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him He said, "See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes." And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by. Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here. 'Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, For they are a wondrous sign; For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH” Zech. 3:1-8.
(iii). ‘Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One: To Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; who has chosen you" ‘ Is. 49:8.
