When Israel went out of Egypt God came to dwell among his people and to rule over them as their King, present with them in the cloud and the pillar of fire. Judah is called his sanctuary because Jerusalem lay within Judah's portion of Canaan, the Mount Zion which he chose for his dwelling and where the temple was to be built. The word sanctuary is used here in a derived and figurative sense, not meaning that the tribe itself was literally a tabernacle or temple, whether earthly or heavenly, nor making Judah identical with Mount Zion. At most in a literal sense it would confine the sanctuary to Judah, one tribe out of twelve, so it cannot make the whole church the sanctuary, and it cannot make the church the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13-14 where the sanctuary and the host are named as two different objects. Its setting is the parting of the Red Sea and the driving back of the Jordan, when the waters fled before the Lord to show that deliverance was by God's presence and power and not by human strength, witnessing that the Lord has ever had a kingdom in this earth even while Satan rules as a usurper.
Exodus Setting and Language
Psalm 114:2 stands in the opening stanza about Israel's departure from Egypt, placing Judah's becoming God's sanctuary and Israel's becoming His dominion at the Exodus. The psalm is one of four historical psalms, giving detailed attention to the ancient history of the Hebrew people. Its words accompany the Red Sea's parting and the Jordan's retreat, identifying Judah as God's sanctuary and Israel as the realm over which He rules and showing God's presence and dominion in both crossings.
The psalm belongs to Israel's deliverance from Egypt, when the sea fled, the Jordan was driven back, and opposing powers yielded before the Lord. The verse teaches that God delivered Israel from Egypt. That deliverance displayed God's presence and power rather than human achievement, for when Israel left Egypt the people were helpless and had to stand still and see His salvation, while Judah became God's sanctuary and Israel His realm.
Calling Judah His sanctuary and Israel His dominion uses figurative language and does not mean Judah literally was a sanctuary. The psalm's other figurative image of mountains skipping underscores this figurative character. The presentation uses personification to describe their sacred and royal roles, attributing life and action to what is inanimate. It thus illustrates how something inanimate like the New Jerusalem can be spoken of as making herself ready and being clothed in the righteousness of the saints.
Sanctuary Identity Clarified
The word sanctuary is applied to Judah in a derived and figurative sense, as one of the Bible's uses of the term for something other than the tabernacle or temple. It is an exception that does not mean the earthly tabernacle or temple or the heavenly sanctuary. In this use Judah is identified as a sacred place belonging to God.
The calling of Judah God's sanctuary does not mean that Judah literally was a sanctuary. The psalm's other image of mountains skipping underscores its figurative language, and comparison with Psalm 78:68 shows that calling Judah God's sanctuary does not make Judah identical with Mount Zion. Judah was the region and tribal territory in which Jerusalem and Mount Zion were located. The tribe itself was not the sanctuary, but Judah is called the sanctuary in connection with Israel's departure from Egypt because God purposed even then to establish his sanctuary in Judah's territory.
Judah is called his sanctuary because God chose Jerusalem, which lay within Judah and fell within Judah's allotment in Canaan where the temple was built, as the place for his dwelling. He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion in Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved, and purposed to locate his sanctuary in the midst of that tribe's territory, building there a high sanctuary established forever like the earth. God was present among Israel during the Exodus, represented by the cloud and pillar of fire, and Judah remained loyal when the ten tribes revolted and was the kingly tribe. In connection with Moses' prediction, the identification of Judah as God's sanctuary and Israel as his dominion clarifies that Canaan itself was not the sanctuary, associating his sanctuary with his people rather than with the land itself.
The verse does not call the whole church the sanctuary, and the term sanctuary cannot properly be applied to the church. Taken in its most literal sense it would confine the sanctuary to Judah, one of Israel's twelve tribes, so only a portion and not the whole. It names Judah and Israel in relation to God, not the church as a sanctuary. It therefore cannot make the church the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13-14, where the sanctuary and the host, meaning the church, are named as two different objects both trodden under foot.
Divine Rule and Application
When Israel went out of Egypt Judah became his sanctuary and Israel his dominion, for God was present among his people during the Exodus, represented by the cloud and the pillar of fire, dwelling among them and ruling over them. Jerusalem, where the temple was afterward built, lay within Judah's allotment in Canaan, and Judah remained loyal when the ten tribes revolted and was the kingly tribe.
The poetic picture of Judah as God's sanctuary and Israel as his dominion means the Lord regarded Israel as his own nation and ruled over them as King, whether or not they had an earthly ruler. Those words belong to the setting of Israel's departure from Egypt, accompanying the parting of the Red Sea and the retreat of the Jordan and showing God's presence and dominion in both crossings.
The verse shows the Lord has ever had a kingdom in this earth even while Satan rules as a usurper, with God himself reigning over Israel, whose civil duties were afterward given to Saul, then to David, to Solomon, and on down to Zedekiah. The sanctuary and its services witnessed to his purpose to make humanity his dwelling place through his Son taking human flesh, and when his people lost this truth and treated the sanctuary as mere outward form they lost the protection of his presence and were overcome by surrounding nations. The psalm belongs to Israel's deliverance from Egypt, when the sea fled, the Jordan was driven back, and opposing powers yielded before the Lord, and its latter part is applied to Christ's second coming and the call for God's people to come out of the sinful world.
When Israel went out of Egypt God came to dwell among his people and to rule over them as their King, present with them in the cloud and the pillar of fire. Judah is called his sanctuary because Jerusalem lay within Judah's portion of Canaan, the Mount Zion which he chose for his dwelling and where the temple was to be built. The word sanctuary is used here in a derived and figurative sense, not meaning that the tribe itself was literally a tabernacle or temple, whether earthly or heavenly, nor making Judah identical with Mount Zion. At most in a literal sense it would confine the sanctuary to Judah, one tribe out of twelve, so it cannot make the whole church the sanctuary, and it cannot make the church the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13-14 where the sanctuary and the host are named as two different objects. Its setting is the parting of the Red Sea and the driving back of the Jordan, when the waters fled before the Lord to show that deliverance was by God's presence and power and not by human strength, witnessing that the Lord has ever had a kingdom in this earth even while Satan rules as a usurper.
Exodus Setting and Language
Psalm 114:2 stands in the opening stanza about Israel's departure from Egypt, placing Judah's becoming God's sanctuary and Israel's becoming His dominion at the Exodus. The psalm is one of four historical psalms, giving detailed attention to the ancient history of the Hebrew people. Its words accompany the Red Sea's parting and the Jordan's retreat, identifying Judah as God's sanctuary and Israel as the realm over which He rules and showing God's presence and dominion in both crossings.
The psalm belongs to Israel's deliverance from Egypt, when the sea fled, the Jordan was driven back, and opposing powers yielded before the Lord. The verse teaches that God delivered Israel from Egypt. That deliverance displayed God's presence and power rather than human achievement, for when Israel left Egypt the people were helpless and had to stand still and see His salvation, while Judah became God's sanctuary and Israel His realm.
Calling Judah His sanctuary and Israel His dominion uses figurative language and does not mean Judah literally was a sanctuary. The psalm's other figurative image of mountains skipping underscores this figurative character. The presentation uses personification to describe their sacred and royal roles, attributing life and action to what is inanimate. It thus illustrates how something inanimate like the New Jerusalem can be spoken of as making herself ready and being clothed in the righteousness of the saints.
Sanctuary Identity Clarified
The word sanctuary is applied to Judah in a derived and figurative sense, as one of the Bible's uses of the term for something other than the tabernacle or temple. It is an exception that does not mean the earthly tabernacle or temple or the heavenly sanctuary. In this use Judah is identified as a sacred place belonging to God.
The calling of Judah God's sanctuary does not mean that Judah literally was a sanctuary. The psalm's other image of mountains skipping underscores its figurative language, and comparison with Psalm 78:68 shows that calling Judah God's sanctuary does not make Judah identical with Mount Zion. Judah was the region and tribal territory in which Jerusalem and Mount Zion were located. The tribe itself was not the sanctuary, but Judah is called the sanctuary in connection with Israel's departure from Egypt because God purposed even then to establish his sanctuary in Judah's territory.
Judah is called his sanctuary because God chose Jerusalem, which lay within Judah and fell within Judah's allotment in Canaan where the temple was built, as the place for his dwelling. He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion in Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved, and purposed to locate his sanctuary in the midst of that tribe's territory, building there a high sanctuary established forever like the earth. God was present among Israel during the Exodus, represented by the cloud and pillar of fire, and Judah remained loyal when the ten tribes revolted and was the kingly tribe. In connection with Moses' prediction, the identification of Judah as God's sanctuary and Israel as his dominion clarifies that Canaan itself was not the sanctuary, associating his sanctuary with his people rather than with the land itself.
The verse does not call the whole church the sanctuary, and the term sanctuary cannot properly be applied to the church. Taken in its most literal sense it would confine the sanctuary to Judah, one of Israel's twelve tribes, so only a portion and not the whole. It names Judah and Israel in relation to God, not the church as a sanctuary. It therefore cannot make the church the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13-14, where the sanctuary and the host, meaning the church, are named as two different objects both trodden under foot.
Divine Rule and Application
When Israel went out of Egypt Judah became his sanctuary and Israel his dominion, for God was present among his people during the Exodus, represented by the cloud and the pillar of fire, dwelling among them and ruling over them. Jerusalem, where the temple was afterward built, lay within Judah's allotment in Canaan, and Judah remained loyal when the ten tribes revolted and was the kingly tribe.
The poetic picture of Judah as God's sanctuary and Israel as his dominion means the Lord regarded Israel as his own nation and ruled over them as King, whether or not they had an earthly ruler. Those words belong to the setting of Israel's departure from Egypt, accompanying the parting of the Red Sea and the retreat of the Jordan and showing God's presence and dominion in both crossings.
The verse shows the Lord has ever had a kingdom in this earth even while Satan rules as a usurper, with God himself reigning over Israel, whose civil duties were afterward given to Saul, then to David, to Solomon, and on down to Zedekiah. The sanctuary and its services witnessed to his purpose to make humanity his dwelling place through his Son taking human flesh, and when his people lost this truth and treated the sanctuary as mere outward form they lost the protection of his presence and were overcome by surrounding nations. The psalm belongs to Israel's deliverance from Egypt, when the sea fled, the Jordan was driven back, and opposing powers yielded before the Lord, and its latter part is applied to Christ's second coming and the call for God's people to come out of the sinful world.