TEARS IN THE TABERNACLE

My blog posting today, comes after much soul searching and reflection upon two verses of scripture concerning tears. With the death of my last brother I decided it was time to deal with these verses. I know there are two positions regarding the Great White Throne judgment. One is that saints won't go through this judgment. The second, which I feel is correct, is that we will. I would suggest that you review both sides of the issue and come up with your own conclusion.

Psalm 56:8. You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? (NKJV)

Revelation 21:3 & 4. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (NKJV)

For years I have been fascinated with two verses of Scripture containing references to tears. The first one is found in Psalm 56:8 where the psalmist is heard saying: Psalm 56:8. You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?

Why in the world would the Lord be collecting our tears and recording them in His book? Whatever would be the purpose of such a collection? Initially I thought of it as a symbol of God's caring and concern for us. While I believe this to be true, I feel certain there is more to it than that.

As I reflect upon it I think of Sharon’s Uncle Carl. He was a man who kept meticulous records. Anything he replaced in his home had a tag on it with the date, what happened and how much it cost. The tag cross referenced to a file containing the manual and receipt for it. Things he bought as keepsakes were also tagged and cross filed.

That which means a great deal to us we refer to as "keepsakes." We keep them because they have special meaning to us. Some are filed in a special place and some are memories stored in our hearts.

So it is with God. Our tears are precious to him. He retains them as His keepsake. He records everything about the circumstances surrounding them. Each teardrop is cross referenced and kept on file!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon in his "Treasury of David" comments on this verse as follows:

Put thou my tears into thy bottle. His sorrows were so many that there would need a great wineskin to hold them all. There is no allusion to the little complimentary lachrymators for fashionable and fanciful Romans, it is a more robust metaphor by far; such floods of tears had David wept that a

leathern bottle would scarce hold them. He trusts that the Lord will be so considerate of his tears as to store them up as men do the juice of the vine, and he hopes that the place of storage will be a special one--thy bottle, nota bottle.

Are they not in thy book? Yes, they are recorded there, but let not only the record but the grief itself be present to thee. Look on my griefs as real things, for these move the heart more than a mere account, however exact.

How condescending is the Lord! How exact his knowledge of us! How generous his estimation! How tender his regard![i]

In his comments about Psalm 56:8, G. Vernon McGee made reference as follows:

"My tears have been put into thy bottle." A note in The New Scofield Bible concerning this subject says, "Sometimes, in olden days in the East, mourners would catch their tears in bottles (water skins) and place them at the tombs of their loved ones" - to show how much they had grieved. Let me add to that something John Bunyan, the tinker of Bedford, said, "God preserves our tears in a bottle, so that He can wipe them away," When I read that, I wished I had cried more. We need to weep more. Matthew Henry said, "The tears of God's persecuted people are bottled up, and sealed among God's treasures."[ii]

How comforting it is to know that our Savior is so concerned for us that he not only keeps our tears, but he numbers them. Whether they be tears of joy or sorrow, he records them!

I cannot help but wonder what book they might be recorded in. I have been unable to locate in my commentaries any reference connecting the recording of our tears with a specific book referred to in scripture. So I am letting my mind wander.

Is it possible our tears are recorded in one of the books which are opened during the "Great White Throne Judgment?" I know there are many who believe that Christians will not be in that judgment and give sound reasons why we will not be in it.
(Expositor's Commentary)

"To return to the main question in connection with the passage before us.

Does it present us with the picture of a general judgment or of a judgment of the wicked alone? There is much in the passage that leads distinctly to

the latter conclusion."[iii]

My greatest difficulty with those who believe we are exempted is, if no saints are there, why did John include that the Book of Life was also opened, and those whose names were not in it were condemned. It would seem that if all who were judged were not in it, why would it be opened?

Other commentators believe we will. (Pulpit Commentary)

Revelation 20:12 - 5 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (NKJV)

Immediately following this text we read about the New Heaven and new earth and about the tabernacle of God being with men. It is then that we come to the second verse with which I have struggled. It is Revelation 21:4 - And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (NKJV)

I picture the connection of these two verses as follows. Throughout our lifetime God has collected all of the tears we shed, whether of joy or sorrow and sealed them into His very special bottle. He has recorded the circumstances surrounding each one of our tears in a book. In doing so, God demonstrates his meticulous care and concern for us. He is keeping a diary of our joys and sorrows.

Our Lord is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. He is especially attuned to the tears surrounding our deaths. This is clearly expressed in Psalm 116:15. Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints. (NKJV) In our time of grief, He mourns with us and collects our tears.

Surely, all the tears that he collects and the recording that he does he plans to share with us. What better time to do this than at the great white throne judgment where he thoroughly evaluates every person's works.

In the Pulpit Commentary, D. Thomas describes how all men will stand before God in the Final Judgment as follows:

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God (verse 12). They stand before God; they confront him, as it were, eye to eye, being to being. Each feels God to be the All to him now. The idea of God fills every soul as a burning flame. They stand before him, feeling his presence, and awaiting his doom fixing word. This is a distinguishing feature of the retributive period. In every preceding period of human history, with the exception of the millennial ages, the vast majorities of all generations had no conscious contact with God. Some denied his very being, whilst others desired not a knowledge of his ways.

But hence on, forever and ever, all the good and the bad will "Stand before God" - will be in conscious contact with him. His felt presence will be the heaven of the good, and his felt presence will be the hell of the ceil.[iv]

In the Pulpit Commentary S. Conway defines the literal meaning of judgment as follows:

Now, the Greek word for "judgment" is "crisis;" that is the Greek word, simply, in English letters. But what is more is that our word "crisis" does more accurately set forth the meaning of "judgment" than what is commonly understood thereby. When we speak of a "crisis." we mean a turning point, a decisive settling as to the course which affairs will take. That is a crisis. But when we speak of "judgment," the imagery of these verses rise up before our minds, and we think of an external judge, and a sentence that he passes upon us.[v]

During this great crisis in my life, I see my book of tears open in His presence. As he reads the circumstances surrounding each one of my tears, He speaks of my joys and my sorrows. Teardrop by teardrop drip from my bottle of tears upon my cheeks. As He reveals the works of my hands and of my heart tears flow from my eyes mixing with the tears from the bottle and flow across my cheeks. I see how far short I fall in the light of His glory. How many hurts I caused others to suffer.

Through those tears I see the book of life opened by a nail scarred hand. In it I see my name, Don, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. My crisis is over. Tears of joy flood my face.

God's judgment is complete. With the apostle John I see a New Jerusalem coming down from God. I hear a loud voice, "The Tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them." The literal translation is, "He shall tabernacle with them."

I am now with Him in the tabernacle. I no longer see the face of God as that of a terrifying judge, but the Lord of grace and mercy. Slowly the mighty hand of my Lord stretches toward me and gently wipes away all those tears. Tears of joy and tears of sorrow evaporate beneath the warmth of His fingers. Sorrowful memories disappear; all aches and pains are gone.

No longer are there tears in Heaven or in the tabernacle. ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW!!

Hugs, In Christ's and My Love,

©4/28/08 Don E. Cunningham © 5/1/08 1876 words

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[i] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Treasury of David, Books for the Ages (Electronic) Vol6, 2006, page 894

[ii] G. Vernon McGee, Through The Bible, Vol. 18, Libronix Digital, Psalm 56:8

[iii] William Milligan, DD, Expositor’s Bible, Book for the Ages (Electronic) Vol 3 Chapter 16, Revelation 20

[iv] D. Thomas, The Pulpit Commentary, Book for the Ages (electronic), Vol 13, 2006 Revelation 20:12

[v] S. Conway, The Pulpit Commentary, Book for the Ages (Electronic), Vol 13, 2006 Revelation 20:11-15