20 - Shekinah, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit Temple

Shekinah

1 Corinthians 3:16 ^NASB "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and {that} the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

This is a verse that on the surface seems fairly simple. It is unique to the church age that we are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. This did not happen in the Old Testament. There were a few who were endued by God the Holy Spirit, but it was temporary and for a specific purpose which always had to do with the administration of God's theocratic kingdom. It was not for the purpose of the spiritual life. By the time we get into the church age though there is something distinct that happens after the day of Pentecost, and that is that every believer is baptized by God the Holy Spirit, indwelt by God the Holy Spirit permanently from the instant of salvation, and then in the practice or experience of the Christian life we can be filled by means of the Holy Spirit. These are important concepts to understand. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in this passage is related to the concept of temple. Temple at its core meaning has to do with the dwelling of God among His people.

There next stage in our development is understanding the Shekinah presence in the tabernacle and later the temple. This is crucial to understanding how all of these things fit together.

1)  The presence of the Shekinah sanctified the temple and made it holy. Remember the word "holy" means to be set apart, it doesn't have a primary meaning of being pure or moral or good. Exodus 25:21 ^NASB "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you.[22] There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel." So God's presence is above the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant in the innermost sanctuary of the holy place. This is further illustrated in Exodus 33:9 ^NASB "Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the LORD would speak with Moses. [10] When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent." Exodus 40:34ff ^NASB "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. [35] Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. [36] Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; [37] but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up."

2)  This presence of God, the Shekinah glory, demonstrated that God was in the midst of His people and His presence was visible and verifiable. The Old Testament God is giving clear, visible, physical verifiable signs of His presence. The presence of the Shekinah was something that the people could gain comfort from. They could look out of their tents and look over to the tabernacle and see the glory cloud over the tabernacle and know that God was with them. Notice that there faith was not based solely on the testimony of God, it was a faith that was confirmed by sight. Exodus 16:10 ^NASB "It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud." The cloud in this context is then going to come and settle over the tabernacle. Again in Numbers 14:10 ^NASB "But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel."

3)  The presence became the basis for fellowship for the people. It is analogous to our position in Christ. We are positionally in Christ at the moment of salvation but fellowship has to do with our day to day experience. So the fact that the presence was there did not mean that they were enjoying fellowship with Gods but it is the basis for their fellowship with God. So the analogy for the believer si that the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit becomes the basis for our fellowship with God. Old Testament passages are Leviticus 9:23; Numbers 14:10.

4)  This glory cloud that occurred at the tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus is the same glory cloud that came into the temple that Solomon constructed. 1 Kings 8:10-11 ^NASB "It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD."; 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 ^NASB "in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the LORD {saying,} '{He} indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,' then the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God." Notice the terminology in the Old Testament: it refers to the glory of Yahweh. These are crucial terms. We will see as we get to the end how these things connect, because if you and I are supposed to glorify God to the maximum in our spiritual life it starts by understanding the fact that we have this glory of God as part of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That is out potential, and what we are looking for is the activation of that potential as a result of our spiritual life. In the Old Testament "the house of the Lord" was the temple; the only house of the Lord today is the believer's physical body. The church building is not the house of God.

5)  The Shekinah glory, then, provided security and guidance for the nation Israel. Exodus 14:19 ^NASB "The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them." Notice it identifies the presence as the angel of God; the cloud itself is not God but is used to manifest the presence of God. Also Exodus 40:36-38 ^NASB "Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel." In the same way we have the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. It provides security. The indwelling of God the Holy Spirit thus is connected to the sealing of the Holy Spirit and the doctrine of eternal security. In Israel in the Old Testament the Shekinah presence was lost but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the believer today is not lost. The Shekinah left Israel on two occasions. Once when the ark was captured by the Philistines in 1 Samuel chapter five, and again in Ezekiel when the nation is disciplined with the fifth cycle of discipline and the temple is destroyed.

6)  We see that the Shekinah glory is localized over the ark of the covenant.

7)  Though there was a visible presence of God and thought the Jews could come out every day and take a look and see the cloud, or at night the fire, they knew God was present there, that isn't how they learned about God. At no point in any dispensation, except the period before the fall, is God learned about through direct observation. Empiricism is never the basis for learning about God, it is always divine revelation. The Jews knew God was present and that confirmed their covenant relationship, and confirmed the security and guidance of God, but they did not learn about God—His nature, His essence, or His will—from directly seeing Him. They learned about Him indirectly through the revelation of doctrine given through the prophets. Jews in the Old Testament were to meditate on His presence. They were to focus on the fact that God's presence was in the temple and to meditate on it. An example of this is found in the 99^th psalm.

Psalm 99:1 ^NASB "The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned {above} the cherubim, let the earth shake!

Ps 99:2 The LORD is great in Zion, And He is exalted above all the peoples [nations].

Ps 99:3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He.

Ps 99:4 The strength of the King loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

Ps 99:5 Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He.

Ps 99:6  Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them.

Ps 99:7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the statute that He gave them.

Ps 99:8 O LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And {yet} an avenger of their {evil} deeds.

Ps 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God."

8)  The ark was composed of two elements. There is the lid above and the box below. The box was a casket-shaped container which contained three things: the law which was broken, the manna which represented rejection of God's provision of food and logistical grace, and Aaron's rod that budded which came out of an episode in the people rebelled against Aaron's leadership. They wanted another priest, so God demonstrated that Aaron was His chosen priest by causing his staff to sprout green leaves. The staff was taken from dead wood. The leaves indicated that Aaron was God's choice and that he could bring life where there was death. The reason this was put inside the ark was because it represented the Israelite rebellion against God's gracious provision of leadership. The presence of the tables of the law which were broken signified their sin; the manna was a representation of God's logistical grace which they rejected; Aaron's rod represented the leadership Israel rejected. All were symbols of Israel's sinfulness, and the fact of the casket-shaped container was a reminder that the penalty for sin is death and separation from God. So there is the lower level, the box, and there is the upper level which is called the kapporet, traditionally taken to mean to cover. But it doesn't mean to cover, it means to cleanse. It is often translated in the LXX by the key word KATHARIZO [kaqarizw] which means to cleanse or to purify. So the basic idea of atonement had to do with purification.

9)  The case being built here is that the presence of God is enthroned above the kaporret. The mercy seat is the place where cleansing or purification took place and that the presence of God cannot come to Israel until first and foremost there is a purification or cleansing that has transpired. God cannot indwell something that has not been first cleansed or purified. When we get to the New Testament we realize that this fits Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 1-4. God has to first positionally sanctify or cleanse us before He can indwell us. So the Holy Spirit cleanses us, purifies us, sanctifies us positionally at the instant of salvation in order to make a home for the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ. This is the same thing that took place in the Old Testament: a positional cleansing of Israel which took place at Mount Sinai, and because of that the presence of God now can indwell the temple. What we will see with that, especially if we apply it to the question of demon possession of the Christian, is that it is not simply the fact that God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, but for Him to indwell the believer He has had to positionally purify this inner area where Jesus Christ is going to indwell as a temple. We will see how God protected that inner area in the Old Testament. Even though there might be sin in the camp among the Jews there could be nothing impure enter into the inner area where God's presence was located. The purification indicated that the nation Israel has been cleansed and set apart unto God. This doesn't mean that the individuals are all saved, it means that God is setting apart the nation for His service.  

10)   The ark served as an on-going reminder of God's covenant with Israel. So as long as there was the presence of God over the ark it served as a reminder that God has entered into a unique and special relationship with the nation Israel. In the same way the church age believer as a temple of the Holy Spirit, has the Holy Spirit as an ongoing reminder of his eternal security and is thus related to the doctrine of the sealing of the Spirit and does not lose salvation.

11)   The presence of God is positional but it did not guarantee experiential blessings to Israel. It is the basis for blessing but it didn't guarantee it. Blessing for Israel is dependent upon their obedience. And in the same way that we are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit and are in the family of God there is no blessing for the believer unless we are walking by God the Holy Spirit. Exodus 25:22 ^NASB "There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel." Cf. Jeremiah 7:3-15 where Israel is warned much later in their history about their disobedience. (The deception was that this is the temple of the Lord, so God is not going to fulfil those warnings back in Leviticus about taking them out of the land) Once the presence was removed it was no longer sanctified and it could then be destroyed.

12)   The priesthood, both the function of the individual priest and the ritual they followed, were to be according to a precisely correct procedure. They could not deviate from that procedure. If they violated that there would be horrendous consequences. Following the procedure would guarantee that the sanctified presence would not be defiled.

13)   If the inner sanctuary were violated the result was immediate cleansing through death. There are three examples in the Old Testament. Leviticus 10:1 ^NASB "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. [2] And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD." In the church age believer's innermost area there is a temple, and that temple is for the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ and it cannot be violated. There can be sin in our life but in terms of that inner area that is the temple set aside for the indwelling of Jesus Christ it can't be violated, therefore a demon certainly cannot enter in. So believers cannot be possessed or indwelt by demons. The issue with Nadab and Abihu is that they were a) in rebellion against God, b) they were bringing an unauthorized light into the holy of holies where the glory, the light of God, dwelt. So they are going to bring a false glory, a pseudo glory into the presence of the glory that is Yahweh's. Two other examples: 1 Samuel 5, the episode where the ark is captured by the Philistines and they set it before Dagon. Then in 2 Samuel 6:2-10 as they are moving the ark into Jerusalem one of the assistants reaches out to stabilize the ark. What he was doing was trying to stabilize God! God doesn't need any help to be stable. So as he touches the ark he instantly dies.

14)   When Israel disobeyed God they lost blessing and the eventual punishment was the loss of the Shekinah. The purpose was not that they lost their covenant status, they still had it, but God had to leave the temple before the temple could be destroyed. If His presence was still there it could not be violated or defiled by the Gentiles who are going to destroy and discipline Israel by the Assyrians and later the Babylonians.

15)   Just as God was in the midst of corporate Israel the New Testament picks up that analogy to show that God the Holy Spirit is "in us"—the preposition EN [e)n] plus the locative dative indicating that he is inside each and every believer.