By Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong
One of the clear mandates God has given us is the establishment of what is called in Scripture, “The Tabernacle of David”. Now oftentimes when we think of the Tabernacle of David, we immediately think of a 24/7 prayer ministry. However, it is far more than that. The Tabernacle of David was established on Mount Zion by King David and it was everything God had wanted for a spiritual house to be. If we are truly called to be a Zion church, then it follows that we will need to have a Spiritual Tabernacle erected as well.
It is interesting that when the Lord wanted to use an adjective to describe the activity of His house, the only adjective He used was the activity of “prayer”. He didn’t say that “My House would be a house of teaching” and we all know that teaching is a vital part of what we are called to do. He didn’t say “My House shall be a house of good works”, though we all know that good works are essential parts of who we are. Neither did He say “My House will be a house of praise” and again, nobody needs to remind us about the importance of praise. As wonderful and vital as all these things are, the principal activity God desires in His House is the enterprise of prayer, because prayer not only connects our impotence to His omnipotence, it is the one thing that brings heaven down to earth.
If you are a pastor, I want to strongly suggest not to try to pack the church calendar with too many programmes and diminish what is really our eternal call and purpose. Because if we fight the battles we aren’t supposed to fight, we won’t have the strength to fight the battles we are called to fight. I am not afraid of failure; I am afraid of succeeding at things that have no eternal value. And we must start somewhere.
He wants His glory to be made manifest to all His people, those whose hearts are set to seek Him.
In 2020, Chris Berglund had an amazing prophetic dream of Cornerstone. In the dream, he saw me sitting in front of a golden desk and on top of the desk, he saw many rectangular cornerstones made out of a very thin glass, yet impenetrable. Inside these glass vials were ancient scrolls, each containing passages of Scripture, and these vials could only be opened at the appointed time. They could not be opened by human hands. Then as he looked, a plumbline came down from heaven, barely touching the top of the first glass vial, and the glass shattered and disappeared into thin air. Inside this first treasure case was the first scroll, and on it was Amos 9:11-15. The intent of God is to restore the Tabernacle of David again.
Then in another prophetic dream he had on 2 Dec 2021, both Chris and I were sitting in a garden by a stream. I had a Bible with me which was opened to Amos 9:11, the same Scripture on the Tabernacle of David.
There’s a lot to unpack on the Tabernacle of David but I will just mention one. In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant which represented God’s presence and His Holiness, was hidden from the eyes of men. Whenever they travelled from one destination to the next, they would cover the Ark. It was not visible to the common man. When they arrived at their destination, they would erect the Tabernacle and then place the Ark in the Holy of Holies where it was visible only to the High Priest, who entered in only once a year. The veil kept the people from beholding the Ark, but it also kept God boxed in. When Jesus died on the Cross, what was the first judicial thing God did? He rend the veil from top to bottom. In other words, the way into His Presence is now opened.
When David erected the Tabernacle of David, he saw into the future; he saw into the new covenant and understood what God truly wanted. He understood that God did not want to be veiled from His people, and that He wanted them to draw near. There was no veil in the Tent because he had a revelation of God’s heart. And common people, like you and I, could behold the Ark of His Presence.
David knew what God had wanted because he was a man after His own heart. David also understood God wanted to pave the way for Gentiles, those who feared the Lord, and those who wanted to know Him and to draw near to Him.
So he gave access to the Gentiles so that they could come and worship in the Tent. This is the reason why thousands of years later, James would stand up in Acts and quote Amos 9:11 as the promise of the gospel going to the Gentiles. And this is what I believe the Lord is wanting to do — He wants His glory to be made manifest to all His people, those whose hearts are set to seek Him.
When the Tabernacle was established on Mount Zion, the presence of God was once again at the heart of the nation and 24-hour prayer, intercession and worship were established there. It was through David that God led His people to their greatest victories over the surrounding nations. Significantly all of the inheritance which had been promised to God’s people but which had never actually been conquered, was now conquered. And finally, all the enemies including Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines were put down.
All this is somehow strategically connected with us here at Cornerstone and the Bible College of Wales. We have received several significant prophetic promises of the establishment of the Tabernacle of David in Cornerstone, that He is going to establish an international intercessory movement with a global influence.
I pray God will give you a vision to establish the Tabernacle of David in your community. May we see His glory and His power manifested again in our churches as we establish the House of Prayer for all nations.