2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
Jehovah Shammah, the Lord Who is there, directs me to continue discussing citations that reveal His constant presence in mankind’s history and in our personal lives today. God in His first person is transcendent. That means human perception is not enough to allow us to actually physically see Him. Jehovah Shammah understands that limitation on our part which is why He sent us His second person in Jesus Christ, Whom we were able to perceive. Although the name, Jesus Christ, was never used in the OT, there is plenty of evidence for the faithful to see of His presence there. The JG 5: 13-15 citation discussed yesterday is brilliant example of that. Despite my comments above about humans not being able to perceive God in His first person, there is an exception. It is when God’s actual physical presence was perceived as a “pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night” [EX 13: 21-22] or as the “dazzling light of His presence” (otherwise referred to as His shekinah glory) as exemplified in 2 CH 7: 1-5, describing the dedication of Solomon's Temple. “When King Solomon finished his prayer, the fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been offered, and the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence filled the Temple. Because the Temple was full of the dazzling light, the priests could not enter it. When the people of Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the light fill the Temple, they fell face downward on the pavement, worshipping God and praising Him for His goodness and eternal love. Then Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices to God. He sacrificed 22, 000 head of cattle and 120, 000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so he and all the people dedicated the Temple.”
It is a sad commentary on human nature that such an august and profound occasion didn’t have a more permanent effect on the condition of the people’s heart-attitude. We must remember that it was right after Solomon’s reign that Israel divided into two kingdoms, beginning a downward path of disobedience that led to her captivity. There is a particularly significant passage, EX 33: 16-23, which sheds light on Jehovah’s Shammah’s first person presence and His love. After the golden calf incident and the Lord’s orders for the Jews to leave Mt. Sinai, Moses asked God a very intriguing question. “’How will anyone know that You are pleased with Your people and with me if You do not go with us? Your presence with us will distinguish us from any other people on earth.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do just as you have asked, because I know you very well and I am pleased with you.’ then Moses requested, ‘Please, let me see the dazzling light of Your presence.’ The Lord answered, ‘I will make all my splendor pass before you and in your presence I will pronounce My sacred name. I am the Lord, and I show compassion and pity on those I choose. I will not let you see My face, because no one can see Me and stay alive, but here is a place beside Me where you can stand on a Rock. When the dazzling light of My presence passes by, I will put you in the cleft of that Rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back but not My face.’”
Every time I read that it makes me breathless! Here’s why: God not only covers Moses (and I believe all the faithful) with His hand, but He shields Moses from death with the Rock! It’s no typo that I’ve capitalized “Rock.” It is because this is the Rock that is the presence of His second person, Jesus Christ! Being covered with God’s hand is being covered with His sovereign power. Talk about an eagle bringing its young to the protection of its breast-this is the quintessential example of it! The Rock kept Moses from sure death, just as Christ’s death on the cross keeps us from sure death. Oh how I wish my traditionally Jewish family and friends understood God’s mighty presence in their lives! Moses saw God’s back and not His face. I truly believe that Moses’ presence with Jesus and Elijah at the time of the transfiguration [MT 17: 3] indicates that now that he is in heaven, he has been allowed to see God’s face and Jesus Christ.
Now, we might ask: Why is all of this so important to me in 2001? The path through the Scriptures that Jehovah Shammah is taking us on shows us that God has been present with us in one person or another from the very beginning. That He is still with us, although not physically, after all the history of mankind’s disobedience to Him tells us that while there are surely limitations to God’s patience, He is eager to see as many of us as possible sanctified and ready for that great meeting with Christ in the air [1 THESS 4: 16-17]. That is no license for us to continue sinning if that is what we are doing. God knows the challenges to our faith, endurance, and the pain we suffer isn’t easy for us. He is very aware of the work of the adversary in mounting opposition. That is why His presence in our lives today is so crucial. He wants us to know that we are equipped to endure with courage of faith, to handle our pain long enough to remain faithful [EPH 6: 10-18]. He also wants us to know that our suffering is small in comparison to the great eternal bliss that we will have with Him as our reward for our endurance [RO 8: 18]. Hallelujah! Our God is with us and deserves our eternal praise!
PRAYER: O Lord, we stand before You today in humility to acknowledge the blessing of Your presence in our lives and the power of Your loving, guiding, protecting hand upon us. We recognize that when we exercise the faith and endurance to challenges of it that You gave us, we are a truly blessed people. Our past sin was covered by the sacrifice of Your Son on the cross for us. What greater manifestation of Your love can there be? Just as you covered Moses with Your hand as Your shekinah glory passed by and provided the Rock with the cleft for his protection, that is how You bring Your righteous power, protection, and opportunity to one day share Your glory to us. We know we still have our part to do. We know that we must get rid of sin in our lives and endure whatever suffering comes our way as long as it is necessary. We are eager for that call to meet with Christ in the air and that it could come at any time. We offer You praise, adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, reverence, and thanksgiving for equipping us to endure until that Day comes. The gift of prayer and the Holy Spirit Who makes us hungry for Your word is more than appreciated. That the Spirit helps us to understand Your love letter to us, the Bible, is an amazing gift. We love You, Dearest Jehovah Shammah, with all our hearts. In Christ’s holy name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will review some citations that show us the departure from earth of God’s physical presence but also help us to understand that He has not abandoned us. This is an amazing fact in view of the disobedience shown Him over mankind’s history. It sheds light on the depth of His compassion, patience, and love for us. When we have faith, real faith that is put into practice, we need never experience hopelessness. God calls us to that faith and to the built-in hope of the resurrection that is there for us because of it. His love is right here for us. He is anxious to bless us abundantly if we will only ask Him for that. The power of His hand is there for us to bring direction, righteousness, protection, provision, and His love into our lives. For what more could we ask? Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn