… as long as I live in the tent of this body…
Summary: The simplest form of shelter, and the most ancient, is the tent. It is still with us today.
What does Peter mean by writing that we live in a “tent of this body?” Is he being tent-ative? Or is he trying to get our at-tent-ion? Puns aside, the tent is one of the most powerful metaphors in the Bible.
We all likely know what a tent is. The common tent is simply fabric draped over poles and held in place by rope. Come to think of it, that is what an ancient tent is, too.
Tents transcend time.
Few other devices used by mankind, outside of clothing, have been consistently used throughout all history. In Genesis 4:20, we read:
“Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.”
(Adah was the wife of Lamech, who was the great-great-great-grandson of Cain, son of Adam and Eve.)
Three months after God had led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, he brought them to Mt. Sinai in the desert. There, from the top of the mountain, God gave the Law. He also gave instructions on building the Tabernacle, a large tent that sheltered the Ark of the Covenant.
All of this happened about fifteen hundred years before Jesus was born. For hundreds of years, the Israelites lived in tents. Even a thousand years later, when Canaan had been occupied, and most of the Israelites lived in houses, some remained in tents. Jeremiah records that the Rekabite family “always live in tents.” (Jeremiah 35: 7) Their tribe remained nomads among the Israelites at the command of their forefather, Johonadab. (Sadly, even today, the tent is more than a symbol. The homeless across our nation have taken shelter in tents.)
Tents are for more than recreational camping. Throughout history, tents have provided a shelter or covering for people.
Tents are moveable. They go where the people who live in them go. Armies have used tents for centuries as mobile shelters.
One thing that all people understand is that tents are nothing without people. If you take the people away and leave the tent, all that is left is a shell. Like a dead body, an empty tent will decompose, fall apart, blow down.
Like a spirit, a person can occupy a tent. But a person and a spirit also can go out and come back. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes about a man who was, “caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body, I do not know…” (2 Corinthians 12:2).
In Revelation 1: 10, John writes, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit…” which sounds like he was out of his body or as Peter might say, out of the tent of his body.
Peter considers the spirit and the body to be two different things. The body is a “tent,” a temporary structure. The spirit lives apart from the tent. This is one of the most important concepts in Christendom. If a person does not understand this, nothing else makes sense.
Application: The body and the spirit are two different things. Like a tent, the body is temporary. The spirit is not.
Food for Thought: How does the kind of tent one lives in affect the quality of the spirit that lives in the tent?
I think that a lot of the quality of life affects the Spirit if the it is a poor quality tent or if it isn’t maintained correctly. Its turning to winter and I’m concerned about those sad wet cold Spirits that still need to be saved.
Then I know that you can have a strong Spirit with a beaten tent like Job.
Thank you, Mr. T,
Your heart for the poor reflects the heart of our Maker. God bless you! There is much work to be done and I trust that Father will lead each of us into the work he wants us to do.
Hey Mr. T,
Good to to see you online Jarhead. Great comment, keep exercising in The Spirit so you can help the unsaved.
This skin and bones is a rental
Interesting metaphor, JRM.
I suppose some sort of acknowledgement is the “lease” I can do.
🙂
Sorry, couldn’t think of something more profound this morning.
JRM –
Don’t sell yourself short! The rental comment is quite profound. As Polonius says in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
(I’m not sure if that means that wit is the tent of brevity, or if I am just reading too much into Shakespeare’s quote.
… Probably the latter. 🙂 )
When I first read today’s “Food for thought,” for some reason, the first thought that came to mind was Matthew 15:11. “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” At first, I was stuck with how does verse have anything to do with today’s reading? I mean, God placed it on my heart, but why? As I thought more about it, here’s what I came to.
How does the kind of tent one lives in affect the quality of the spirit that lives in the tent? Our surroundings affect the quality of our spirit. If our tent is not well maintained on the outside, our spirit will be affected and if our spirit is affected in a negative way, what comes out of us may not be that of the Light. We may portray a victim mentality. We may be rude or hateful towards people. We may be negative and unapproachable. We may put off a vibe that we don’t want to be bothered and we don’t “love they neighbor.” We may seek to hide the low quality of our tent with addiction or by over spending to pretend we have it all together, when in reality, these things continue to lessen the quality of our spirit even more and we become trapped in a never ending circle.
He has paid it all for us. The quality of our spirit has been bought for eternity. We are all broken, but thank God that light shines through cracks. Our tent is only as strong as we maintain it through studying the Word, sitting in His presence and through prayer. If we don’t maintain the outside with these things, our spirit will grow weak and falter just as our tent will eventually wear out and fall down.
Darla,
Thank you for sharing what the Lord put on your heart today! I really appreciate the connection between the tent we are given and the tent we make for ourselves. In John 9 Jesus has a very interesting conversation with some Pharisees who took offense at the idea that they might be “blind.”
“If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:41)
Jesus did pay it all for us.
Well said!
Good devotion and comments. One thing the tent and spirit do have in common is that both are created by God and belong to Him. For the disciple of Christ, He is Lord of all of who we are. We belong to Him body, soul and spirit. 1 Corinthians 6: 15 – 20.
Thank you, Rich!
You bring to mind Romans 9: 19-21.
Shall what God has made ask, “Why did you make me like this?”
Some things are beyond our knowing, but God is able to work all things to his glory. (Romans 8:28)
09-30-2021, How does the kind of tent one lives in affect the quality of the spirit that lives in the tent?
The tent controls the spirit of all who live by the desires of “their flesh, their humanity”. Their spirit is in agreement with their flesh and this union leads to their spiritual death.
As believers in Jesus Christ we have the Holy Spirit who provides the strength and power to put the power of the tent to death. Our spirits will flourish to the degree we depend upon the Holy Spirit to overcome this power of our flesh. Romans 6:6, 8:5,13; Galatians 5:17
God is fully aware of this battle we fight and inspired Paul to write instructs for us to daily walk in the full armor of God. He has provided full protection against anything the enemy might chose to attack us with, and His Word as our sword, our one offensive weapon against evil. Jesus shows us how to use it effectively as we see Him overcome Satan in the wilderness.
Ephesians 6:11-18, Matthew 4:1-11
Ron,
Thank you! You make what should be an obvious point, but as I read your words about the tent controlling the spirit of the flesh, I am struck by the truth and the absurdity of that fact. It is so tragic that a spirit can be led to believe that the tent of the flesh is all there is.
Yes Jeff, Jesus healed a lot of blind while on earth. Been down that road myself. I am so looking forward to what we will be able to see after our full sanctification by Jesus. It is going to be a very lasting WOW moment.
Keep up the great work!
Blessings, Ron