Recently, I have received several emails with serious questions. The concern some viewers have expressed is:
“Are you selling the Tabernacle and furniture because you are
quitting or because you need the money?”
No, the Tabernacle Man is not quitting or retiring. The Tabernacle display was listed for sale because of the high number of requests I have received during the Covid pandemic. Daily I receive several requests for teaching materials and new teaching videos. The current Tabernacle display rests dormant in storage. With the Covid restrictions in 2020, all speaking engagements halted to zero. Therefore, the main source of funding for new materials and videos came to a close.
The sale of the current display will provide the needed funds to produce more videos and build a revised, lighter, travel-worthy version of the Tabernacle display. Follow this link for a detailed description of the display.
The full-size Tabernacle display is cumbersome when traveling and requires additional loading space. The original Tabernacle display was built to be used as a stationary, teaching prop only for the YouTube series. I never imagined attracting over 25,000 subscribers to the channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTabernacleMan Therefore, the weight and size were not an issue.
However, the few times I have traveled with the display
I quickly learned an important lesson:
Size and weight matter!
Although the current Tabernacle display is slightly scaled down, the walls are still six inches thick. When loading the entire display, it fills a 26-foot U-Haul truck and my 8 x 24-foot enclosed trailer. If I reduce the thickness of the walls to three inches thick, I will reduce the total weight and the trailer space by 50%. The reduction will not be noticed once the display is set in place for teaching.
The current Tabernacle display comes with the furniture seen in the YouTube videos. I have a second set of furniture built and ready to be gold-leafed in the future. Although all speaking engagements were closed because of the dark cloud of Covid, there was a silver lining or in this case, a "gold lining" to the dark cloud of Covid - affordable gold leaf!
Fortunately, a vendor overseas was willing to significantly discount the price if the sheets were purchased in bulk. The ark of the covenant alone will require 5,000 to 5,500 individual sheets.
Normally, a pack of 100 sheets of 3 1/8" x 3 1/8" 24K gold loose leaf would cost $172.90. There is a cheaper version of imitation gold leafing that can be purchased in hobby stores. Over time, the imitation leaf tarnishes and discolors. I learned that lesson the hard way early in my teaching ministry.
I know what you want to ask. How much did you pay for the 10,000 sheets? What would have cost, pre-Covid times, approximately $17,290.00 USD, was secured for less than $1,500.00 USD. Yes, this is 24K gold, not imitation gold leaf generally sold in hobby and craft stores.
This blessing came about soon after I recovered from Covid in April 2020. I choose to believe the Lord guided me to the right vendor at the right time which enabled me to secure the 24K gold leaf.
I have story after story of how I was helped by the Lord and his people, sometimes complete strangers at the time, to build each and every teaching prop. "Favor" - There is no other way to explain how over the years one guy with a passion for the Tabernacle would meet skilled artisans, camera operators, video editors, metal workers, engravers, carpenters, merchants, and individual donors wanting to help fashion all of the wood, paint, screws, epoxy putty, cloth, weaving supplies into the High Priest garments and a life-size Tabernacle of Moses.
To view the video of the "Pattern of the Tabernacle" click the following link.
During my illness, when I was seriously contemplating whether to continue The Tabernacle Man I read the following from the prophet Isaiah 58:11 JPS 1917.
And the LORD will guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought,
and make strong thy bones;
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.
September 2023. I was recently rereading the Bible and came to Leviticus but this time it was different. If I may be honest, I normally just read it to say I checked it off the reading list but this time I had an urgency to pause and really read. I started asking myself so many questions while reading the offerings and then I went to YouTube and stumbled on The Tabernacle Man. Yes, when your heart is hunger God will direct you. I am so thankful for your videos and teachings. I know I have a lot the glean from your videos but I am hunger. Thank you and God bless!!!!!!