“Our Tent”


BIBLE READING:2 Corinthians 5

In the first paragraph of this chapter, Paul spoke of the spiritual body which is to replace the earthly body of Christians at the time of the Second Advent and judgment of the last day (2 Cor 1:10).  He then delivered some of the most profound teachings in Holy Scripture regarding the ministry of reconciliation, of which Paul, along with the other apostles, was an ambassador (2 Cor 1:11-21).
The word "tabernacle" is actually "tent," which is as good a symbol of something being transient and temporary as anything that could be imagined. Paul was a tentmaker, and this is exactly the type of metaphor that should have been expected from him and, added to that was the fact of Israel's having dwelt in tents during the forty years of the wilderness wanderings. No tent would last indefinitely when exposed to the elements, and the same is true of mortal bodies when exposed to the inevitable erosion of time.
Our physical bodies are from God, but we have a greater building.  Paul made tents with his hands, but the glorious resurrection body is far above and beyond anything human hands might fashion.  When the soul of a Christian is clothed with a wonderful and glorious spiritual body, decay and death will be no more.  The souls of the redeemed will enjoy eternal life.


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