His Tent in Me

09.04.13

Ezekiel 23.4 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. (ESV)

Oholah means: her tent. Oholibah means: my tent in her. That helped me to put things into perspective just a bit (after all, this is: Pablo’s Perspectives…just sayin’).

Oholah was the nickname for Samaria, the capital city of Israel, or the ten northern tribes who broke away after King Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, lost them in a revolt. The two remaining tribes were Judah and Benjamin and they we known as Judah and their capital city was Jerusalem, the city of David.

“Her tent” made me think of how Israel, under their original king, Jeroboam, rebelled from the Judean royalty and did their own thing: they pitched their own tent, so to speak. Judah on the other hand was where the Temple of God was and where the Tabernacle had dwelt for many years: My Tent (God’s Tent) in her. The sin of Samaria was simply this: they divorced God and proclaimed that the worship of God could be accomplished in an alternative place: their own tent; i.e. Samaria; not in God’s Tent in Jerusalem.

In whose tent do we dwell? I think that is the question for me most of the time. Do I dwell in God’s tent and pay attention to Him or do I dwell in my own tent, doing my own thing? The sin of Israel, divorcing God and doing their own thing, led to more and more of their doing their own thing and drifting further and further away. They drifted so far that they completely forgot about God.

Judah on the other hand, lived in God’s Tent, but decided politics and political wrangling was the way to go. Their religion became their power. They lived in God’s Tent and quit listening to God; or decided they needed to help Him in the execution of His sovereignty. They wanted to be the Inside-the-Beltway crowd; smarter than the stupid Samarians, and smarter than God.

According to the Bible, God has pitched His Tent in me (Cf. John 14); He sent his Spirit to dwell with me and in me. That’s important. I am Oholibah: His Tent in me. And as a result that ought to do something to me, and for me. And I need to remember Oholibah every day. God is not in some far off place commanding angels and rerouting worlds; He is with me and He had placed His tent in me; I am His Territory; His dwelling place.

Lord, in courage and respect, in happiness and somberness, may I live Oholibah today. May I frequent the tent this day and remember where You say You are: with me and in me. Rule from the Throne You have placed in my heart… Amen.