A Lesson in Belief.

Moving forward from Moses, Aaron, the Tabernacle of Testimony, and the Ark of the Covenant, we encounter Joshua. You probably hear the name of Joshua and think, "the Battle of Jericho". From a historical standpoint, that battle would have been a test of belief indeed. So how contextually supported is the story of Jericho and the life of Joshua in Scripture?

"I Lift My Hands" by Chris Tomlin

Old Testament References to Joshua:

• Numbers 14:36-38, "The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me?' . . . 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun' . . . 'Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.' As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would God speak to historical Moses and Aaron about a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why mention the father of a merely figurative Joshua?
• Why would it be written in Scripture that the Lord swore He would punish Israel for forty years for their guilt, if the story of the spies, including Joshua, was fake?
• Where in Scripture do you find an imaginary plague from the Lord? If the plague was real, must not Joshua have been a real (not merely figurative) Israelite?
• Deut. 31:14-26, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.' So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. The LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land' . . . 'Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel' . . . So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel. Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, 'Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.' It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 'Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark . . . '"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would the Lord speak to a historical Moses just before his death about an imaginary Joshua succeeding him?
• Where in Scripture does the Lord commission an imaginary man for leadership?
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be recorded in the real law of Moses, which was kept beside the real Ark of the Covenant?
• How could a merely imaginary man lead the real sons of Israel into a new land?
• Joshua 6:26-27, "Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, 'Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.' So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Where in Scripture are curses merely imaginary?
• Why associate a specific city with an imaginary curse?
• If the curse in Joshua 6 was real, how could Joshua be merely figurative?
• Joshua 19:49-50, "When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua the son of Nun. In accordance with the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of the real sons of Israel apportioning land to a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why specify the city given to Joshua and its location in the territory of Ephraim, if Joshua was a simply figurative character?
• Judges 2:6-10, "When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of "all the days of Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why reference "the elders who survived Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why name Joshua as the "servant of the Lord", if he was an imaginary character who never actually served the Lord?
• Why specify the age of Joshua at his death if he never lived?
• Why specify the burial place of an imaginary man?
• I Kings 16:33-34, "Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify who rebuilt Jericho and who died, if the curse wasn't real?
• Why write of how the curse of a merely figurative man came to pass?
• How would the "word of the Lord" be given through an imaginary man?
• I Chron. 7:20-27, "The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house. His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon . . . Elishama his son, Non his son and Joshua his son. Their possessions and settlements were Bethel with its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns as far as Ayyah with its towns, and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, Dor with its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify legacies of people in a genealogy attributed to the tribe of Ephraim, if these people never lived?
• Why include a merely figurative Joshua in the genealogy of the real tribe of Ephraim?

New Testament References to Joshua:

• Acts 7:44-47, "The high priest said, 'Are these things so?' And he [Stephen] said, 'Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran' . . . 'Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.'"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would Stephen defend himself before the antagonistic high priest by referencing a figurative character? How would this be a good defense for Stephen?
• Why would Stephen insert an imaginary character into a story including the historical Abraham and Moses?
• Why would Stephen bring a merely imaginary Joshua into the story of how their real "God drove out" the Canaanite nations before them? Wouldn't referencing an imaginary character in this story be considered blasphemous by the high priest?
• Hebrews 3:16-4:11, "For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief . . . For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: 'AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS'; and again in this passage, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.' Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, 'Today,' saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
              'TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
              DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.'
  For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be referenced in writing of the yet observed (at least by Jews) seventh day sabbath and the final Sabbath rest promised to believers?
• Why at all consider whether Joshua gave the sons of Israel true rest, if Joshua never led Israel into a land of their own?
• Why write of some "following the same example of disobedience", if the story of Joshua being exempted from Israel's punishment of forty years' wandering in the wilderness was merely figurative and not a real example from which to learn?

Covenant Testimony (Part II)

How do children learn about the lives of their parents or grandparents? Usually, this is passed down by word of mouth. Children generally do not have reason to doubt what their parents tell them about their lives or their grandparents' lives. Parents' stories become that of their children and are held trustworthy without need for secondary affirmation. This is oral tradition, and is one of the means by which the stories of the Old Testament were handed down for generations to come that they might know the works of the Lord:

Psalm 78:1-8, "A Maskil of Asaph. 

        Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
            Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

      I will open my mouth in a parable;
            I will utter dark sayings of old,

      Which we have heard and known,
            And our fathers have told us.

      We will not conceal them from their children,
            But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
            And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

      For He established a testimony in Jacob
            And appointed a law in Israel,
            Which He commanded our fathers
            That they should teach them to their children,

      That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
            That they may arise and tell them to their children,

      That they should put their confidence in God
            And not forget the works of God,
            But keep His commandments,

      And not be like their fathers,
            A stubborn and rebellious generation,
            A generation that did not prepare its heart
            And whose spirit was not faithful to God
            [continues on with the works of God toward early Israel]."

Facts, customs, and widespread beliefs regarding the Ark of the Covenant and thereby Israel's wilderness wandering:

• Wikipedia - general description of the ark of the covenant
• National Geographic - overview of history and theorized discoveries
• Jewish Encyclopedia - overview, biblical references, and non-biblical references

• Jordan River Crossing with Ark
• Joshua 4:1-9, "Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, "Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight."' So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, 'Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel . . . Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day . . . Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, 'When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, "What are these stones?" then you shall inform your children, saying, "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground." For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.'"
• Gilgal Education Center - References the above Joshua passage where God tells Joshua that He dried up the Jordan so that "all the peoples of the earth" might know the power of the Lord.
• Jewish Virtual Library - Notes various Scripture references to this Gilgal camp of Joshua and the twelve tribes.
• Science Daily - Five stone-ringed camp-sites in the Jordan river valley have been identified by Prof. Adam Zertal, which he identifies with various references to Gilgal in Scripture. According to Prof. Zertal, "Gilgal" was a type of foot-shaped (symbolic of possession of the land on which they treaded) campsite for the early Israelites.
• General Source - Description of the mosaic Madaba map and its proven accuracy.
• Madaba Map, and Galgala or the Twelve Stones - Shows the label and symbol for Galgala from the Madaba Map and ties in the Old Testament account of the tribes crossing the Jordan and camping at Gilgal for circumcision and Passover, as their first campsite across the Jordan and thereby where they would have placed the twelve stones. An image of the corresponding map Section 2 is linked here, showing Galgala.
• Science Daily - Notes that the Madaba Map portrays a site labeled Dodekaliton, meaning "twelve stones", lying adjacent to Galgala outside of Jericho in the Jordan River valley. This is significant. But the accompanying reinterpretation of Galgala/Gilgal with a quarry cave and the stones with excavated rock do not agree with the Scripture narrative of the Jordan River crossing.

• Philistine Capture of the Ark and its Return to Israel
• I Samuel 5:1-11, "So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, 'What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?' And they said, 'Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.' And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. After they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, 'They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people.' They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.' For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there." 
  
• I Samuel 6:13-19, "Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it . . . The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the LORD. When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.       These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
        He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter."
• Times of Israel - Jewish people yet remember Tel Beit Shemesh as the Biblical Beth-shemesh to which the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines. The site today has sculptured iron and rock memorials which tell the story. 
• Archaeological Institute of America - Tel Beth Shemesh is a site of current archaeological excavation and is considered a geological intersection point for the Israelite, Philistine, and Canaanite civilizations during the Late Bronze and Iron ages (1550-540 B.C.).
• Some archaeology - Tel Beth-Shemesh is a 7-acre mound that overlooks the Sorek Valley. The mound has been identified based on the preserved Arab name of a nearby town, Byzantine sources, and the Biblical text's description of the mound's geography. Archaeology dating to the period of the Judges reveals influence of Israelite presence, as pig bones are entirely absent among the animal remains unearthed.
• I Samuel 7:1-2, "And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the LORD and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD."
• Shmunis Family Excavations - Archeologists identify a mound 12 km west of Jerusalem, named Deir el-Azar in Arabic, with ancient Kiriath-jearim. The Arabic name appears to derive from the name of Eleazar, son of Abinadab, who kept watch over the ark when it rested at Kiriath-jearim (I Samuel 7:1). The monastery of the Ark of the Covenant is found at Kiriath-jearim, along with remains of a Byzantine-era church, uncovered in the early 20th century, which likely commemorates the ark tradition.
• Times of Israel - Modern Jewish news site also identifies Old Testament Kiriath-jearim with the hill of the monestary Deir el-Azar, named in English "Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant", resting atop a prior Byzantine structure located 7 miles west of Jerusalem. According to Jewish interpretation of Scripture, the Ark of the Covenant was portrayed to have been located at Kiriath Jearim for 20 years following its return from Philistine capture.
• Find a Dig - The site of Kiriath-jearim offers a expansive view of the Jerusalem skyline in the east and the Mediterranean in the west. The site houses the Monastery of the Ark of the Covenant, which is also known as Notre Dame de l’Ache d’Alliance.

• Modern Tradition on the Ark Outside of Israel
• II Chronicles 35:1-3, "Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. He set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. He also said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, 'Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will be a burden on your shoulders no longer. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.'"
• Jeremiah 3:14-18, "'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD;
              'For I am a master to you,
              And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
              And I will bring you to Zion.'
'Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,' declares the LORD, 'they will no longer say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. At that time they will call Jerusalem "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.'"
• Josephus' War of the Jews, Book 5, Chap. 5, Par. 5, " . . . [description of the Temple at the time of Roman conquest of Jerusalem] Now the seven lamps signified the seven planets; for so many there were springing out of the candlestick. Now the twelve loaves that were upon the table signified the circle of the zodiac and the year; but the altar of incense, by its thirteen kinds of sweet-smelling spices with which the sea replenished it, signified that God is the possessor of all things that are both in the uninhabitable and habitable parts of the earth, and that they are all to be dedicated to his use. But the inmost part of the temple of all was of twenty cubits. This was also separated from the outer part by a veil. In this there was nothing at all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to be seen by any; and was called the Holy of Holies. Now, about the sides of the lower part of the temple . . . "
• CNN - The Ethiopian Orthodox Christians yearly celebrate a festival called Timket, in which models of the Ark of the Covenant, called a Tabot, are brought out of the churches and carried through their towns. Ethiopia is considered to be the Old Testament kingdom of Sheba, and is held by some to hide the Ark of the Covenant.
• General Source - The Ethiopian tabots which are brought out from the churches on the day of the Feast of Timket, corresponding to Epiphany, are always hidden from public view by ornate coverings. The sides of the tabot are square, generally 6 in. x 6 in. During Timket, a priest carries the covered tabot on his head while the worshipers and procession accompany with cries of joy and liturgical dancing. This procession appears similar to the bringing of the Ark into Jerusalem during the time of King David (II Samuel 6:12-19).
• Ethiopian Tourist Site - Affirms the festival of Timket, and notes that the procession with the tabot replicas of the Ark ends with baptism by the priests sprinkling blessed water on the worshipers. This is done to remember Christ's baptism by John the Baptist. The festival of Timket with the carrying of the tabot dates back to the time of Ethiopian Emperor Gebre Meskel, who ruled in Ethiopian calandar years from 515 to 529 (or AD ~530)
• Sacred Sites - St. Mary of Zion Church in Ethiopia claims to house the Ark of the Covenant.Ethiopia, also named Abyssinia, is rooted in the kingdom of Axum which existed from ~150 B.C. to ~600 A.D. The Axumite rulers had commercial and diplomatic contact with Persians, Byzantines, Greeks, and Egyptians. The Axumite kingdom archeology boasts the worlds tallest obelisks or stelae, cut from single blocks of black granite. The tallest obelisk weighed 5 tons and was 33.3 m tall. Ethiopian legend says that the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia [see II Chronicles 9:1-12 for reference to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba] bore a son to King Solomon of Israel. This son, named Menelik, later came to visit Israel and return after a time back to Ethiopia after facing jealousy from the Israelite elders. The legend says that Solomon commanded the elders first-born sons to journey back to Ethiopia with Menelik. One of these was the son of Zadok the High Priest, Azarius, who is said to have secretly taken the Ark with him [note that tradition of a removal of the Ark from Israel during the days of Solomon is not in agreement is the II Chronicles 35:1-3 passage above, but the story does affirm a physical Ark], revealing the theft to Menelik only once distant from Jerusalem. Since the theft had succeeded without harm befalling the departing group, Menelik judged they must have God's blessing.
• Ethiopian Jews - Known as Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jews hold to traditions saying that their ancestors came to Ethiopia in company with Menelik, considered the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, when he returned to Ethiopia from Israel. Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were brought to modern-day Israel during Operation Moses and Operation Solomon.

Covenant Testimony

In view of Scripture, it seems that the Tabernacle of Testimony was real and historical. At the same time, the New Testament writers evidently believed that the nation of Israel had wondered without a land to settle in time past. But might the eyes of modern readers be blind in regard to ancient Judaic writings? Would this be a good, scholarly supposition? I think that the answer to this question lies in considering the author. The Scriptures do not claim human authors, although they were recorded and copied by human hand. No, the Scriptures claim as author the One, True, Omniscient God. This God is said to have no favoritism for the ancients or for the wise:

Psalm 19:1-4, 7-9 (NASB), "The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
            And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

      Day to day pours forth speech,
            And night to night reveals knowledge.

      There is no speech, nor are there words;
            Their voice is not heard.

      Their line has gone out through all the earth,
            And their utterances to the end of the world . . .

 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
            The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
       The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
            The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
      The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
            The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether."

The works of the Lord are not uttered to a few but rather "through all the earth" and "to the end of the world". The sure testimonies of the Lord are not given to the "wise" but rather to the "simple" to make them wise. This being our framework for studying Scripture, well, then onward! All are welcomed to read and seek understanding, and all are offered the opportunity to look upon the "work of His hands".



Facts, customs, and widespread beliefs regarding the Tabernacle of Testimony and Israel's wilderness wandering:

Reconstructed Tabernacle

• Timna Park - Park surrounded by cliffs and centered about Mt. Timna which offers a replica of the Old Testament tabernacle of testimony. The park also boasts the "world's first copper mine", dating back to imperial Egypt.
• Jerusalem Post - Tourist review of Timna Park and the full-size, reconstructed tabernacle of testimony. Article includes a photo of the replica tabernacle and notes its placement in the wilderness that Israel wandered.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Jewish history accounts that the tabernacle served as a "portable sanctuary" during a time of their wandering prior to arrival in Canaan. The Biblical account described how the tabernacle sheltered an alter of incense, table of shewbread, and a seven-branched menorah in the "holy place". Within the "holy place", the "Holy of Holies" was said to be indwelt by the presence of the Lord and sheltered the Ark of the Covenant, containing tablets written with the Ten Commandments.

Shiloh

• Israel Ministry of Tourism website - Notes that upon entry into Canaan, the Tabernacle was set up in the territory of the tribe of Ephriam at Tel Shiloh. Scholars have assessed what they deem to be the exact spot that the Tabernacle stood, corresponding also to the place where Hannah came to pray for and dedicated her son Samuel.
• Jewish Press - An alter (2 ft x 2 ft x 16 in.) has been discovered at Shiloh dating to the first kings of Israel.
• Islamic Web - Reinterpretes quite a bit of Scripture from an Islamic viewpoint (site info page), yet affirms that the Tabernacle and ark of the Covenant were placed at the geographical town of Shiloh.
• Islam For Mankind - Appears to copy, come from the same source text, or provide a source text for the Islamic Web website page above as this alternate webpage identically reinterpretes Scripture (for those questioning the acceptability of such exact copy, similar Islamic reasoning regarding Shiloh can be found on The Message of Islam website).
• United with Israel - Ongoing archeology to discover traces of the Tabernacle of Testimony which is noted in Scripture to have rested there.
• Joshua 18:1, "Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them."
• I Samuel 1:24-25, "Now when she [Hannah] had weaned him [Samuel], she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD [the Tabernacle] in Shiloh, although the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli."
• I Kings 8:1-6, "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion . . . Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. They brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up . . . Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house [the Temple]. . ."

Other Attestators

• Feast of Tabernacles:
• Overview of the Feast - Rabbi Jack Zimmerman (a Messianic Jewish Rabbi and an ordained Christian pastor) reviews how the feast of Booths/Tabernacles is called "Sukkot" in Hebrew and was ordained by God as a reminder of how the nation of Israel dwelt in booths in the wilderness. Many Jews yet observe the feast by constructing four-walled booths with roofs of palm branches in which they "dwell" for the seven days of the feast.
• Judaism 101 - Affirms that the feast is still observed by Jewish people as a reminder of how the Children of Israel dwelt in temporary booths while wondering in the wilderness, which also necessitated a Tabernacle for worship.
• Reform Judaism - Affirms the continued observance of the feast by Jewish people in commemoration of Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
• Leviticus 23:33-34, 39-43, "Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, "On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD" . . . On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days . . . Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'"
• John 7:1-3, 10, "After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore His brothers said to Him, 'Leave here and go into Judea . . .' But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up . . ."
• Levitical Tabernacle Service:
• Temple Institute - The Temple Institute was founded by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who served in a paratrooper brigade during the 1967 Six Day War to regain the Temple Mount for Israel, and who has written many Hebrew works of scholarship. The Temple Institute website notes that Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, and his sons were appointed the first priests for the nation of Israel.
• Cohen-Levi.org - Modern family of Kohen, or Cohen, claims direct geneological descent from the Aaronic priesthood, with geneticists having identified a "Cohen Model Haplotype" DNA signature on the Y-chromosome. This DNA signature in members of the modern Kohen family shows direct descent from a single paternal ancester, which parallels the Torah description of the Aaronic priesthood and its regulations for priestly marraige.
• Chabad.org - Notes that the dedicated status (in departing from Egypt) of all firstborn sons of Israel was transferred to the tribe of Levi at Mt. Sinai due to the idolatry of all the other tribes with the golden calf. The dedication of the Levites assigned them to service in the Tabernacle and Temple of the Lord, which is yet seen as their role by Jewish people in their hope for a Third Temple.
• Numbers 3:5-13, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.'       Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.'"
• Leviticus 21:10-15, "[the Lord speaking to Moses, who instructed Aaron and his sons] 'The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes . . . for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD. 'He shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people, so that he will not profane his offspring among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"

In the camp of Yahweh. (Part II)

Transition to the time of Christ. What mention was made of the tabernacle of testimony and Israel's wandering in the wilderness? If the wilderness narrative was simply a theological portrait, then surely this should be clear in the writings of the New Testament authors. Where the Pharisees and scribes had been blind, the New Testament authors expounded under Divine inspiration.

"Before the Throne of God" by Glad

New Testament References to the Tabernacle:

• Mark 2:23-26, "And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, 'Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' And He said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?'"
• Tabernacle of Testimony - portrayed as a historical tent of worship
• How were the Pharisees so confident that the disciples were doing that which was "not lawful on the Sabbath" if the Sabbath law(s) were mentioned alongside an imaginary tent of testimony (i.e. the tabernacle) in the Pentateuch?
• Why would Jesus, the Son of God, recognize a pretend legal system which gave instruction on an imaginary tent of testimony?
• According to Jesus, King David entered a real place called the "house of God". What physical house of God (recognized by God Himself) was there before the temple, other than the tent of testimony?
• How could a known ancestral high priest serve in an imaginary house of God?
• How could bread be consecrated bread outside of being prepared for service in a real Tent of Testimony or Temple?
• Why would God ordain a mere tent of testimony, rather than a more enduring structure, if the nation of Israel never migrated?
• Acts 7:44-50, "'[Stephen speaking before the Jewish Council] Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:      
        "HEAVEN IS MY THRONE,
              AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET;
              WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?" says the Lord,
              "OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE?                                           
        WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?"'"
• Tabernacle of Testimony - portrayed as a historical tent of worship
• Stephen was on trial before the Jewish Council. Why would he offer the defense that real Jewish forefathers had worshiped God at an imaginary tabernacle of testimony? How would fiction justify him?
• How could an imaginary tent of testimony endure until the time of the real King Solomon?
• Why follow up a story about a merely imaginary house of God by stating that God "does not dwell in houses made by human hands"?
• Why would God ordain a mere tent of testimony, rather than a more enduring structure, if the nation of Israel never migrated?
• How could Stephen defend himself before the Jewish Council with an imaginative tale of Jewish forefathers wandering in the wilderness and dispossessing the nations of Canaan? Would the Jewish Council really consider this an irrefutable argument?
• Hebrews 8:1-5, "Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, 'SEE,' He says, 'THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.'"
• Tabernacle of Testimony - portrayed as a historical tent of worship
• Why would the author of Hebrews write that the "true tabernacle" was pitched by the Lord and not man? If the tabernacle of testimony was immaterial, how can you contrast it with an immaterial true tabernacle?
• How could earthly high priests serve a "copy and shadow of the heavenly things" if they were serving in an immaterial tabernacle of testimony?
• How could a real ancestor Moses erect an immaterial tabernacle?
• Why would God provide a pattern for the crafting of an immaterial tabernacle?
• Why would God strictly command Moses about the crafting of that which was not meant to be crafted?
• Why would God ordain a mere tent of testimony, rather than a more enduring structure, if the nation of Israel never migrated?
• Hebrews 9:1-12, "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.      
        . . . the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance . . .
        But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood . . ."
• Tabernacle of Testimony - portrayed as a historical tent of worship
• If the "first covenant" ordained an immaterial tabernacle, how could that tabernacle be an "earthly sanctuary"?
• Why say that "we cannot now speak in detail" of the character of the earthly tabernacle if it was merely imaginative?
• How could a merely imaginary tabernacle be holy?
• How could the high priests offer sacrificial blood in an imaginary taberacle?
• Why write that Christ entered a "more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands" if the earthly tabernacle was also immaterial?
• Why write that the ark, manna, "Aaron's rod which budded", and the stone tablets were kept in the tabernacle if the story of Israel wandering in the wilderness was imaginary?
• Why would God ordain a mere tent of testimony, rather than a more enduring structure, if the nation of Israel never migrated?