The Enlarged Tent of Israel (Isaiah 54:2), the Church

Adam Maarschalk 3 Comments

About a month ago, John Eckhardt posted the following poem in The Eschatology Forum, a Facebook group I belong to, and I think it’s worth sharing. Isaiah looked ahead to this present, everlasting new covenant age and saw a vision of the nations coming in to “a tent” that was much larger than the nation of Israel: 

The Enlarged Tent of Israel (Isaiah 54:2)

“Enlarge your tent and stretch forth your curtains,
You will break out on the right hand and on the left.”
Isaiah spoke this to Israel,
That the nations were coming.
The Tent of Israel was not large enough to receive them,
The Gentiles were coming in,
A new tent God would raise up,
The church would be the place.
On the Day of Pentecost the new tent began to form,
Thousands came into it,
And a new community was born.
Ten years after Pentecost Cornelius heard the call,
Peter went to his house and preached,
The Holy Spirit began to fall,
On the Gentiles came the mercy of God.
The multitudes began to come into this tent,
To the Gentiles the apostle Paul was sent,
Many nations heard the Word,
They came into the church to seek.
This tent expanded throughout the world,
There is no limit to who can come,
This tent is here today,
The Church is that enlarged place.
This tent is large enough to house your city,
This tent can house a nation,
There is plenty of room for souls to enter,
The LORD has made the space.
Let us believe for the multitudes to come in,
Let revival come to our land,
Multitudes are coming to this tent,
They are being brought in by the Lord’s hand.

If there’s any doubt that Isaiah foresaw the Church of Jesus christ, take note of how the apostle Paul applied Isaiah 54:1 in his analogy of two covenants, two women, and two Jerusalems in Galatians 4:21-31.

John Eckhardt is an apostle and church overseer based in Chicago, and founded IMPACT Network in 1995.

3 thoughts on “The Enlarged Tent of Israel (Isaiah 54:2), the Church”

  1. “John Eckhardt is an apostle” An apostle is and apostle, when God calls them that, not when they call themselves that or get an endorsement from some other self-appointed apostle. An apostle would have a true and deep understanding of the Jewish people and the land that would reflect the same understanding bridging the gap between the New and Old Testament, like Simeon, Mary, and Zacharias did in their Holy Spirit inspired speakings early on in the gospels, “a light of revelation to the Gentiles AND the glory of Your people Israel” “sitting on the throne of David” “He has given help to Israel His servant in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers to Abraham and his descendants forever.” “As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
    Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES,
    And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;
    To show mercy toward our fathers,
    And to remember His holy covenant,
    The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
    To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”
    Of course you will spiritualize all this, but we have on the earth, a nation called Israel, with a people speaking an ancient language, surrounded by enemies who want to “kill them all” and a growing movement to take full control of the temple mount and rebuild the temple. But to you all of this is irrelevant, not a later and greater fulfillment of prophecy, but mere “happenstance.”
    As I said, I pray for you that the veil will be removed.

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    • Hi Chuck,

      It’s good to hear from you, and I hope you’ve been well. I don’t like it when folks claim the title of apostle for themselves either. I was basically sharing John Eckhardt’s bio, as he framed it.

      God did fulfill His promises to Israel. Simeon, Mary, and Zacharias rejoiced over Jesus, the light and the glory of God. Their ability to serve God in holiness and righteousness was wrapped up in Jesus, not in national Israel coming into being after a nearly 2000 year absence.

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  2. Just came back to look at this and noticed that God says the tent of Israel will be enlarged and John Eckhardt says “A new tent God would raise up”. This subtle change is hatched by the same evil that made a subtle change to the word of God way back in the garden of Eden. God says, they are not discarded, their tent is enlarged to include the gentiles, but man changes it into a new tent with a discarding of the old tent and that is not in the word of God, period! Hosea loves Gomer too much, the partial hardening, the temporary blindness, serves a purpose, but it is always, “UNTIL” and never permanent, never the final word. May His incredible mercy, be magnified as we truly study His word, and are very, very careful NOT to change it.

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