This week’s session we will discuss the glorious event of God making his presence on earth, as we continue through the book of Multiply, by Francis Chan. Having someone physically in our lives is monumental. It impacts us all in such a dramatic way. We can be aware of things in our lives, we can learn about things and even hear of other people, but it is not until we experience them personally, we don’t feel the true impact.
Each of us have learned about God in our own way, and from time to time we experience him in our lives. Does anything matter more that God’s presence with us? Maybe a harder question would be, what could be worse than being separated from Almighty God? The bible is filled with story after story that describe the blessings that come with His presence and the horrors that accompany His rejection.
God made a covenant to show that He wanted to be present with humanity. He gave the Law to show people how to conduct themselves in His presence. He even established sacrifices when sin separated people from His presence. So much of what we see in the Old Testament relates directly to the presence of God.
One of the most fascinating features of the Old Testament Law was a tent, referred to as the tabernacle. This was where God would meet with His people. God lead the Israelite people through the desert as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. With the tabernacle, God was creating a home for Himself on earth. That tabernacle would go with Israel wherever they went. At this point the Israelite people would be known as the people who literally had God dwelling in their midst. To understand the significance of the tabernacle and His presence we need to understand the bigger picture.
Presence in the Garden
In the perfect world that God started with, humanity lived in the presence of God. Adam and Eve interacted with God without any division that came through sin. They lived at peace with God, His creation, and one another. The distance we feel from God now and the struggles we have with other people was not a part of the human experience prior to the fall. But at we’ve seen, the fall changed everything.
When sin entered the story, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, the fellowship was destroyed. When they broke the relationship by sinning, they tied to hide from God’s presence when He entered the garden. This separation was only intensified when God expelled them from the garden and placed an armed angelic guard at its entrance (talk about setting boundaries!). Since then nothing has been more important for humanity than regaining God’s presence.
Why is the presence of God so important for you and all humanity?
We know that even after Adam and Eve walked out of the garden, God’s presence was literally everywhere and He was active throughout the Old Testament, just as He is active today, but they struggled with the presence of God. Encounters with God seem to only show up here and there, and God’s presence, in the sense that Adam and Eve experienced it, was missing. This is why the tabernacle is so significant. God was offering a solution to what went wrong in the garden.
Last session we focused on the sacrificial system, which centered on a specific location: the tabernacle.
Tabernacle
The tabernacle was essentially a tent where God’s presence would dwell on earth. The centerpiece of the tabernacle was the ark of the covenant. This ark was basically a box, covered in gold, that contained a copy of the Ten Commandments, a jar of the manna that God used to miraculously feed the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness, and Aaron’s rod, which God had caused to bud as a sign of His life-giving power. On top of the ark were two cherubim, and God’s presence sat atop the ark, enthroned between these angelic figures.
Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. – Exodus 25:89 ESV
You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. – Exodus 25:17-22 ESV
In your mind, what is so significant about the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant?
Disregard and Rebellion
In the scene from Exodus chapter 32, we can see a glimpse of our own behavior. It is here where Moses goes up on the mountain to get the details of the offer being presented by God for the relationship and the people rejoice and just begin with their own thoughts, ideas and agenda…
Do you recall what the Israelite people did at the base of the mountain while Moses was getting the Ten Commandments?
Before the Israelites even had a chance to experience God’s presence, they almost lost it, and some actually did. It was a shocking scene, Moses literally leaves the direct encounter with God, comes down the hill experiences something we probably can’t feel. They were dancing and worshiping a golden calf. The first two commandments that Moses had just watched the finger of God write.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth – Exodus 20:3-4 ESV
It seemed like God’s covenant with Israel was over even before it began. This was a serious matter that many Christian’s and so-called Christians tend to overlook. God was so serious about this rebellion he responded in a devastating ways. About 3,000 men died as a direct result of their sin. We have to realize these were 3,000 people of the chosen generation. God is serious about His relationship, and there are consequences to our decisions here on earth.
That was not the only change in the relationship. He updates the relationship definition now. He tells them…
The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” – Exodus 33:1-3 ESV
At this point, Israel was facing life without God. As terrible as that sounds, think about what God was really offering her, God was offering to bless the Israelites apart from a relationship with Him. Fram a practical standpoint this makes a lot of sense. The people are going to keep on sinning, so maybe it would be easier if they accepted God’s blessing and be on their way. Sadly, isn’t that exactly what most people today really want? God’s presence is nice, but what we really want is what He can give us.
In your mind, what is so bad or challenging with God’s alteration to the covenant?
Consider God’s presence in your own life. How would you respond to the prospect of God’s blessing apart from God’s presence? Have you ever experienced seasons where you were in the midst of His blessings, but felt like he was distant?
Wise Leadership
Moses and the Israelites were at a crucial turning point. But Moses response shows he knew what was truly at stake.
Read Exodus 33:7-23
What stands out to you about Moses’ response?
As you think of the experiences Moses and Israel had with God, how might it affect the way you interact with God?
The Temple
Ultimately, God went with His people, and they carried the tabernacle from place to place until God gave them the land of Canaan as promised. The nation of Israel gets established and eventually David becomes king, and makes a decision that God needs a better dwelling place than a tent. Since David was a man of war, God told David that his son Solomon would build the temple. It took Solomon seven years to build the temple.
Now that God’s people had made it to the promised land, God was going to take up permanent residence with his people. It was a glimpse of what the world ought to be like. When the temple was complete Solomon dedicated the temple with prayer.
Read 1 Kings 8:1-13 and 27-30
What does this passage reveal about God’s glory and the significance of God’s dwelling among His people?
Important Warning
As soon as God’s glory descended and filled the temple, God warned Solomon that His presence would dwell among them only as long as they remained faithful to His covenant and obeyed His Law. In other words, God was dwelling in the midst of His people, but only as long as their lives acknowledged His presence. As soon as they began to take God and His presence for granted, as soon as they turned their backs on God and His commands, then He would leave them to their sin. Instead of the blessing that comes with God’s presence, Israel would experience the judgment that comes with rejecting God.
Read 1 Kings 9:1-9
What does God’s warning to Solomon teach us about what it means for God’s presence to dwell in the midst of His people?
Tragically, God’s warning in 1 Kings 9, becomes a reality. The book of Ezekiel, God’s people find themselves in exile. It is recorded that the glory of God departed from the temple (Ez 10-11). Once again God’s people found themselves alienated from God’s presence on earth.
God became flesh
Once again, Jesus solves the problem. John opens his Gospel by describing Jesus as the Word, who was with God in the beginning, and who was God. Then John said something that is shocking in light of what we’ve been saying about God’s presence on earth.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14 ESV
How does what you have studied thus far help you understand the significance of God becoming man in Jesus?
Rejoice this week grasping the reality of your relationship with God. Ask God to help you understand the significance of His presence on earth, and to help you live together with the other Christians in your life in a way that reflects His presence and glory in your midst.
We will resume our Multiply sessions in two weeks, but during that time, the following bible readings will benefit us in preparation for the next session.
2 Samuel 7
1 Kings 1
1 Kings 2
1 Kings 3
1 Kings 4
Psalms 2 & 24
There is also a supporting video to watch that will lead you into the next section:
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.