From the desk of Steve Shultz:
God desires a close and intimate relationship with each and every one of us. Tiffany Ann Lewis explains it well here on this Love day. I pray you know how deeply loved you are by the Father this day.
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Tiffany Ann Lewis:
Three Chambers of God's Love
A Look at Love Through the Tabernacle of Moses
Since "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and the Creator of the universe, it stands to reason that all expressions of love originate in Him. When considering God's love, the Greek word agape (pronounced a-gah-pay) is often discussed because it is a sacrificial love. I see agape as the foundation of all love, yet I don't believe we are to stop there; I believe agape was intended to take us some place further. If we "stop-ay at agape" (a little play on words) we will be missing the fullness of the relational qualities of love which God has designed.
In order to understand more fully this thing called love, let's look at it symbolically through the tabernacle of Moses. Moses' tabernacle is essentially one large rectangle with a smaller rectangle within it. The smaller rectangle is separated into two parts thus creating three unique sections that are all contained within one building. Heavy veils that act like our modern day doorway separate these sections. The first section or chamber is called the outer court; the second, the inner court or holy place; and the third, the holy of holies or most holy place. Thus we have three chambers in one.
Interestingly, ancient Greek has three primary words for love: agape, phileo, and eros. Hebrew on the other hand has just one primary word: ahab (Strong's #157). Yet, just as the tabernacle is three chambers in one, all three Greek expressions of love are contained in the one Hebrew word ahab (Strong's #157).
Ahab love encompasses all these different expressions:
- human love for another, includes family, and sexual
- human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep, wisdom
- human love for or to God
- the act of being a friend
- God's love toward man, Israel, righteousness
- lovely, lovable
- friends, lovers
- to like
Let's look at these three chambers alongside of the three Greek words for love. Please keep in mind that just as the three chambers are contained in the one tabernacle, the three expressions of love in Greek are contained in the one Hebrew word, ahab.
Door #1 – The Outer Court – Agape – Sacrificial Love
In Greek, agape love is expressed as self giving love that gives freely without asking anything in return. It is a love of choice and refers to the will rather than the emotion. It seeks the highest good for another at all costs.
We see agape love functioning in the outer court. This is the first court that you enter when coming into the Tabernacle. As you enter the outer court you see the brazen altar where a lamb or other animal was slain to take away sin. John 1:29 tells us that Jesus Christ is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Visualizing this scene we can grasp a fuller understanding of God's love.
One of the qualities of agape love is that it meets the needs of another regardless of the cost. God saw our need for a Savior and willingly gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice in order to restore the fellowship between God and man. Agape is the foundation of all love, and when we receive His gift of sacrificial love we enter into the family of God.
It is enough to have our lives redeemed and to receive the promise of eternal life, however, this is only the first area in the Tabernacle. There is another door to the next chamber; I call it the door of friendship. You see, agape does not require the personal friendship of phileo, or the emotional aspects of it, but I believe that it desires it. I believe the Lord is inviting us to walk through the door into the next chamber and experience the aspects of His friendship love.
Door #2 – The Inner Court - Phileo - Friendship Love
Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants... I call you friends" (John 15:15 NCV). Friendship love, phileo, speaks of feelings and emotions. It describes a heart-to-heart connection, a knitting of souls. A friend is someone with whom you share your joy and sorrow, your sin and shame, and your doubts and insecurities. You trust this person with what is on your heart so you are able to reveal the real you to them. Naturally, you won't share all of that with just anybody; you are only going to share that with your close, personal friends. I call these special people in my life "inner court friends." Just like in the Tabernacle of Moses, all were welcome in the outer court, but only a special group had access to the inner court: the Levites.
The Lord desires to engage at that level of relationship with us, too. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him..." (Revelation 3:20). We won't be close to the Lord if we keep the door to our heart closed.
Notice, there is only one letter difference between "close" and "closed": the letter "D." In the Hebrew alphabet, the letter "D" is a dalet and is the pictograph of a door! Beloved, Jesus is inviting us past the outer court and into the holy place saying, "Let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice" (Song of Solomon 2:14). Perfect love has cast out fear. This friendship is a safe place to talk to Him, to share with Him, to let Him see the real you. He won't reject you. He will hold you and do what no human relationship can... He will heal you.
Let's pause a moment. I am sensing the Holy Spirit ministering His phileo love right now... Thank You, Lord...
We have seen how the outer court reveals the sacrificial love of God and how the inner court reveals the friendship love of God. We can remain outer court or inner court friends with Jesus our entire life and that would be wonderful, however, there is still one more door in the Tabernacle. I believe God wants us to experience the full progression of His love. This third door gives us access to the Holy of Holies, where only one goes in to be alone with the presence of the Lord. In the Tabernacle of Moses, that one person was the High Priest. It is here as we are alone with God that we can encounter oneness with the LORD.
Door #3 – The Holy of Holies – Eros – Longing Love
The Greek word for love, "eros," means: longing, desire, and passionate love. You won't find the Greek word eros in the Bible, but you'll find its meaning in the Hebrew word "ahab." As I mentioned earlier, all the qualities of love that we have spoken of so far are found in this one Hebrew word. God is love, and He is the one and only true God of love.
During ancient Hebrew times the best man or "friend of the bridegroom" waited outside the door of the wedding chamber listening to hear the voice of the bridegroom rejoicing. This sound signified that the marriage had been consummated; husband and wife were now one flesh. "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5b). This is a sound of rejoicing that is released in Heaven from our Bridegroom God. In John 3:29, John the Baptist describes himself as the friend of the Bridegroom who is standing at a door, listening for the sound of the Lord's voice.
Could this third chamber be a type of the third Heaven that Paul went to by the Spirit and received the revelation of the great mystery concerning the Church? "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (Ephesians 5:31). Using the natural to define the supernatural, Paul said the great mystery that he was speaking of was Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:32).
When we speak of being the Bride of Christ, we're not speaking of a person but rather a position, a type of spiritual standing. Throughout the Bible many relationships are used as a natural example to define a spiritual principle. Marriage is the most intimate of all relationships. A couple gets married because they are more than friends. The couple is connected on an emotional level that trumps any other human relationship. When two people are in love they want to spend the rest of their lives together. They want nothing but death to separate them. They want this person to be the first one they see in the morning and the last one they see at night. Their love is so strong that they can't seem to get close enough no matter how tightly they squeeze. They can rest in each other's embrace knowing they are loved and accepted by the other.
Beloved, the Lord desires this relationship with us. This closeness won't be experienced in the outer court with His agape love, or in the inner court through His phileo love. The oneness of God's love will only be experienced in the third chamber, the Holy of Holies as we abide alone with Him.
This is the longing love of God's heart and the whole plan of creation from the beginning. God just wants to dwell (tabernacle) with us because He is infatuated with us. Set free from the bondage of sin and death in the outer court and healed in the inner court, we learn to trust love again so we can run full speed ahead into the next chamber and embrace our destiny, Jesus Christ. That is the fullness of love. Amen and Amen.
Tiffany Ann Lewis
Dancing with the Flame of the Lord Ministries
Email: tiffanyann@tiffanyannlewis.com
Tiffany Ann Lewis is a prophetic worship leader and Bible teacher with a unique focus on Biblical Hebrew, and whose heart has been passionately awakened by a God who sees us in our shortcomings, loves us in spite of it all, and calls out to us so we can live (Ezekiel 16). Her vision is to create an atmosphere in worship where we can meet with God face to face. Where the Spirit of God moves freely, releasing emotional, spiritual and physical healing and igniting a passion for our heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus. Tiffany Ann has been ministering for over 10 years in prophetic worship throughout the Body of Christ. She worships with her family at Northway Church in Malta, New York, where she serves on the worship team.
