God's Shekinah Presence

Well, thank you, Mr. Tuck. You know, I love that song. I don't know if you've ever heard Elvis Presley sing that song. But it really, really belts it out, doesn't it? I have that song, and I play it in the car sometimes. You know, it's just really... he put his heart into that. He always did enjoy singing the spiritual-type songs. You know, we look in the world at all the problems that are out there, and it seems like they're mounting every day. Doesn't it seem like it's getting worse and worse?

I mean, you hear every week another problem that is cropped up. And, you know, just nothing ever seems to get resolved. Human beings, it seems, lack something within themselves, which does not enable them to resolve their problems readily. Now, sometimes they can resolve problems. I don't mean to say that as human beings, we do not ever solve any problems, but sometimes serious problems. You know, generations can pass before people make real changes to their character. I mean, great length of time, sometimes, before any major change in character takes place.

And to me, I don't know. When I try to fathom, I try to understand that, you know, it's a mystery about human beings, isn't it? That we keep making the same mistakes. It's like if you were beating your head against the wall, you know, every generation beats their head against the wall. And until somebody says, well, wait a minute, maybe I shouldn't do this. Maybe that's why I have the headaches I have, you know, or whatever else problem that they may have. You know, going man's way of life, as Mr. Willis was talking about, has symptoms to it. The world's ways have symptoms. And, of course, going God's ways also have symptoms, have side effects that are great, that are wonderful.

But why are there multiple generations who continue in the same sense until there comes a crisis that occurs, and then they want to make changes? You know, why did Israel, for instance, and, you know, if you've gone reading through the Bible reading program, why did Israel repeat sins again and again and again?

They would fall into trouble. And, of course, they would cry out to God. And God would send the judge. The judge would come and deliver them. And they would be good boys for a little while. And pretty soon they'd be right back where they were before. And they'd be crying out to God for help again. And God would send another judge. And it happened again and again and again. The reason is, is because there is a missing dimension, which has eluded man, in fact, since the time of the Garden of Eden. You know, it has eluded man.

Man has not been able to have this missing dimension, this missing element. What is missing? What is missing? Why, again, can man cannot straighten his problem? It's because what is missing? Well, what is missing in the world, brethren, in a nutshell, is this. God's presence both within man, which he intended to be there from the beginning, but man chose the wrong way, as we know, in the Garden of Eden.

So God's presence both within man and with man. That's the missing dimension. You know, often people, even God's people, struggle with sins because this is lacking. God's not present, for whatever reason. You know, God is not within as much as he should be, and God is not with us as much as we might think he is sometimes. And so therefore we tend to fall into sins. We fall into problems. And we're in a lot of ways, and maybe in a minuscule way, it happens to us the way it happened to Israel.

We've got to fall into trouble, and then we cry out to God, and God delivers us. And hopefully with God's Spirit, though, we do learn the lesson, and we make the changes in our lives. It's interesting that I'm not going to go over there, but over in the book of Revelation, late as the end, remember, you know, God says to them, Christ says to them, I counsel you to buy gold of me in the fire. As we know in the tribulation, he wanted them to be hot or cold, but they were lukewarm. And at the end, what does God say to them? What does Christ say to them?

He says, I stand at the door and knock. It's like Christ was in the outside. God was not inside the house, inside the home, inside the life of the lay of the sea, but he's standing outside, and he's knocking. So, in the course of this sermon today, this morning, I'm going to ask you the question, brethren, is, do you have God's presence?

Do you have His presence? Is it both in you, and is it with you? There is a difference, isn't there? We're talking about the Holy Spirit being within us, and a man is the Son of God, if he's being led by that Spirit. But if God is within us, through that means, by the Holy Spirit, then, of course, he needs to be with us as well.

And the Bible actually tells us how we can have God with us. And remember, that was one of the names of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, which means God with us. Interesting, isn't it? That that was the name of Jesus Christ, one of His names. Let's go over here to Revelation 21 over here.

We know that it's always good to look to the end of the story, the end of the book, to remind ourselves that we're all this is going to end up.

But over here, and we'll read just in verse 3 and 4, these two verses here. But in Revelation 21 and verse 3, it says, And of course, this is looking past, in fact, the time of the Second Resurrection period, past the Monaean. That God is going to be with man, but notice what happens when God is with man, when God is around man. When His tabernacle is within the midst of man. But notice it goes on, Verse 4 shows what happens when God is around. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And so this is the end of the story. You know, the end of the book, we know that it's going to end up there. That's what God wants, in fact, to happen, you know, with His people, ultimately, and for this world, ultimately. The Father Himself is going to come, and He's going to dwell with man. And when God is around, He's going to come, and He's going to dwell with man. And when God is present, brethren, you know what God does is He heals the sores of life. It's like when God began to be in your life, brethren, He began to heal those sores that you had, those festering sores that you had. I'm talking about spiritually those kinds of sores, brethren. Because the reason for the sores of life is because of the sores of life. Because the reason for the sores of life is because God is not present. God is not there. You know, the reason for man's trouble started, in fact, in the very beginning. So let's go back to Genesis chapter 3 and notice over here. So we read in Revelation 21 toward the end of the book, but let's go over here to Genesis 3 now, at the beginning of the book. You know, man had been created. Eve had been created for Adam, and the wedding had taken place in chapter 2. Satan came along, or the serpent came along in chapter 3.

And we know what happens after that. All of a sudden they realize they're naked, as the scriptures talk about. But let's go on down here. This is after that Adam has already taken of the fruit that God told him not to take up.

And the woman, you know, apparently said, here Adam tried this, and he did. You know, I guess he didn't really think much, did he, about it? Although the Bible does say that Eve was deceived, but Adam was not. But notice going on here, after the fact, in verse 16, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying of every tree of the... Oh, I'm sorry, in chapter 2 there, on down here to verse 16. So God begins to pronounce a sentence against Adam and Eve. He says, to the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow, your conception. Think about the fact, brethren, they were in the Garden of Eden in a perfect environment. And as long as they were in God's presence, you know, life couldn't have been better, you know? There were no troubles, there were no sorrows, there were no pains, there was... Death, of course, was not even in the book. Hadn't thought about death, period. What's going on again? He said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. Verse 16 here in chapter 3, And your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And what he meant by this is not that the husband would just be the head of the family, but he would...some would do so in an abusive type manner. But going on, verse 17, and then to Adam, he said this, because, he says, You have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, cursed as the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the herb in the field, in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. In other words, life was going to get harder, very much harder because of the decision that they made. But let's notice over here in verse 22. And after God had told this to man, he did this. He said, And then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, to know good and evil, and now, lest he put out his hand, and take also the tree of life, and eat and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed the caribim at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flaming sword, which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. So man was escorted out of the garden of Eden, and he did not have access to the tree of life, which was symbolic of God's way of life, brethren, and also symbolic of the Holy Spirit. And so man was escorted out of the presence of God. So essentially, that's what you have, that has happened. And from this point on, brethren, man's trouble began. That's when his troubles really did begin.

And when sin occurred, we know of the story of the account, it was man who hid himself from God.

But here we see that man is put out, as it were, out of the presence of God. You know, being in God's presence is a great privilege, a very, very great privilege. An incredible privilege, in fact. You know, the rabbis have a word that is not actually in the Bible, but it's based upon a word that literally means, settle, inhabit, dwell, abide, and those words, by the way, which are verbs, are used quite often in the Bible. And that Hebrew word that the rabbis, the Jews, have used from ancient times, talking about how that, in fact, it denotes God's presence is the Hebrew word shekinah. I'll spell it for you if you want to write it in your notes. It's spelled capital S-H-E-K-I-N-A-H, shekinah. And it's a name of God that means God dwells. God dwells. In other words, a combination of a verb and a noun. God, of course, dwelling with man. And so they called it shekinah. But you see, at the very beginning, man had shekinah. He had God dwelling with him, talking with Adam and Eve and the cool of the day, which he apparently had done on the Sabbath before. And then on Sunday morning, the devil came and enticed them, as we understand. Shekinah, that's what man had. And brother in shekinah is the core, as a core of understanding God's interaction with Adam and Eve and his interaction, ultimately, that's going to be with all mankind. When I read to you from Revelation 21, man then, when God makes his abode with man, God will dwell with man, man will have shekinah, as the Jews call it.

Because where there is shekinah, brethren, there's intimate relationship with all the inherent benefits, all the side effects, by the way, like Mr. Willis was talking about, the side effects of God's Holy Spirit. And so wherever God's Spirit is, wherever He is, where His presence is, there is an intimate relationship with Him, with all the benefits. Moses wrote in Exodus 34 verse 9, when he was crying out to God, talking to God, in Exodus 34 verse 9, he said, He wanted God to be among the people of Israel, to walk in the midst of God's people. Again, somewhat akin to what would have happened in the Garden of Eden, that God would walk and talk with man. He would be with a man. He would have an intimate relationship with a man. You know, that's what God's desire is, brethren. It's always what His desire has been, to be with His people, and to be among His people. But of course, we know that a lot of this was not possible because of what, in fact, happened, the fact that, again, man turned away from God. And so humans were separated from God, and it began to, in fact, happen right there in the Garden of Eden, until man was escorted out to the entryway, and cariboum were put there to guard the way into the Garden of Eden, into the presence of God, where they could have had access to the Holy Spirit, which would have been given to them and parted to them the potential of eternal life. But of course, man was cut off at that time from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit was not available to mankind except to God's servants. You know, from that time forward, you only have a few. You can count them on your hands and your feet if you want to take the time of those that had access to God through the Holy Spirit, who had God's presence in their own lives. And so, man was separated from God, starting with the first two parents. And we see, right away, their problems begin to happen, not just with telling the ground by the sweat of the brow, and not just with having pain in childbirth, but look at what happened in the case of Cain and Abel. You know, Cain, the first juvenile delinquent, you know, that was in the Bible. Didn't start off too well, did it? And there weren't very many examples of anybody that was really close to God. You know, in fact, anybody that called upon God, the Bible talks about, you know, that it was a long time before people began to call upon God. But God, again, has always been present with His servants. He was present with Enoch. Enoch prophesied, in fact, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. You can read it over in the book of Jude. God was with Noah. God locked Noah and his family in the ark before the flood. God was with Abraham. He was with Isaac. He was with Jacob. Just a few through the ages that God was with. He spoke to Abraham face to face, and he called him a friend because Shekinah was there. God dwelt with Abraham. He was with Abraham. Let's go over here to Exodus chapter 3. We know the story and the account of Moses. Moses came along. He had fled out of Egypt. You know, and remember, he was over there in Media. He was a shepherd of sheep, basically. He was tending sheep. But let's notice here in Exodus chapter 3.

Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Vidian. He led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. And so he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Which was a remarkable thing to see in the wilderness, by the way. Because, you know, things that are dry tend to go up just like that. You know, they're on fire. And it says, then Moses said, I will now turn aside to see the great sign and why the bush does not burn. And so when the Lord saw that he turned aside, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. And then he said, do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. Where you are is holy ground.

Moreover, he said, I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham. So he identified himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I will surely, as surely seen the oppression of my people, who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. Now I want you to think about this a little bit, brethren, because when God said, take your sandals off, Moses, you're standing on holy ground, God was dwelling there. God was there. God's Shekinah was there. His presence was there with Moses. And look what begins to happen here, brethren. Right off the bat, you know, God tells Moses, look, I've heard the cry of my people. And he says, I'm going to deliver them from Egypt. You see what begins to happen when God is present, brethren? God begins to do things.

Change begins to take place. You don't have problems that go on and on and on, year after year after year, and generation after generation. But something is done. Something is accomplished. And, of course, we know how, in fact, that Moses didn't think he could do it. And God, of course, convinced him that he could do it. In fact, Aaron, of course, was to assist and to help him. But when God entered Moses' life, this was very dramatic, his life began to change. No longer would he be in that bucolic setting up there in the wilderness with those sheep.

You know, you can tolerate the complaints of sheep a whole lot better than you can the complaints of human beings. But when God entered Moses' life, everything began to change. And God used him to deliver Israel from Egypt. And that's what happens. God was to deliver Israel from their oppressors. And you know what? History records that God did exactly what he promised. Now, I know that there's a lot of revisionist history of people these days that want to say the opposite, you know, of what God's Word says, you know, about how things happen. The Koran, of course, is one of those books that does that. But, you know, I'm not sure that this is altered that much, but, you know, in the Koran, I frankly have not read it, but some things it diverts and says something different. Let's go over here to Exodus 13. Exodus 13.

Down here in verse 21, we'll read what God did. We know that God delivered Israel from Egypt. So we're sort of jumping ahead here in the story and the account. But notice here in verse 21, it says, And the Lord went before them, went before Israel, by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, so as to go by day and night. And He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, or the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. So in other words, brethren, God's presence was there from that time forward. He was there with them.

And of course, there would be a lot of things that Israel was going to have to change. It wouldn't be easy, but they would accomplish it. But God thwarted the enemies, the oppressors of Israel, and delivered them. And God was with Israel. By again, by day, a pillar of cloud, and by night, a pillar of fire. You know, the most important question always, brethren, is this. Is God dwelling? Is He dwelling with us? Is He dwelling with us? Is He with us? Because where Shekinah is, there is a relationship with God, an intimate relationship. It's not a casual relationship, but an intimate relationship with God. Where prayer is taking place, where we are inquiring of God's Word, we're studying God's Word, we're reading God's Word, we're researching God's Word, because there is a relationship with God. And we have a relationship with the Father and the Son, as Jesus Christ said. So the most important question, brethren, always is God abiding?

You know, has He made His abode? And are we, in fact, coming to His presence? Let's go here to Psalm 23. Psalm 23. Psalm 23.

David, we see, is one who yearned for God's presence in his own life. And we see it really in the things that he wrote. When you read the book of Psalms, I want you to, brethren, think about Shekinah. God dwelling with man. And how many times, in fact, David refers to this? Of course, all of us are familiar with this particular passage. The Lord is my shepherd. But let's read only here, down in verse 6. Here's what David says, brethren, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Eternal forever. You know, if you and I, brethren, are dwelling in God's house, you know what? Guess what? God is in that house. God is dwelling with us. And we are dwelling with Him. In the New Testament, the word abide is used. Jesus Christ used the word abide. You know, He that abides in me, I will abide in Him. In other words, He who dwells in me, I will dwell with Him. I will be with Him.

So again, where that Shekinah is, brethren, is relationship. God dwelling with us. But coming with, brethren, God being with us are incredible blessings, untold, that we can enjoy in the presence of God. Again, you can see it all through here. I could spend probably the whole sermon just reading scriptures about that in the book of Psalms.

But in chapter 65 over here, chapter 65, in verse 4, chapter 65, or verse 4, I believe that's where I had recorded. But it says, blessed is the man you choose. And you know, we have to be chosen today. Many have called, but few are chosen and cause to approach you. On the Sabbath, brethren, believe it or not, we come and we approach God. And when you come to services, you're approaching God. You're coming to God.

That He may dwell in your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, of your holy temple. And so, brethren, it is a joy again to come in the presence of God. And David longed to be in the presence of God, and you know, in the presence of God's people as well. He made sure he spent time with godly people in his time. He talked about, in fact, in the book of Psalms about that, how he has not spent his time with the wicked, which he could have done, but he did not. But he spent his time with righteous people, and around righteous people. People were striving to go in the same direction that he was going in. And you know, David was a man after God's own heart. He desired to be in God's presence. Brethren, how about us? Do we desire to be in God's presence, to be where God is? Do we desire to be, you know, around God's people, where God makes his abode, where God walks among his people?

I don't know how God does it, but he walks among us today. We know his angels are here. I'm talking about Jesus Christ being in our midst. We know God is omnipresent, and Christ can be among us and with us. And there's great joy that he has when he abides with us, when he dwells with us.

And he wants to dwell with all of us. I'm not going to go to Psalm 99, verse 1. But over there it says, the eternal reigns, let the people tremble. He dwells between the carobim. Let the earth be moved. So in the temple, in the tabernacle of old, God dwelt between the carobim. He was there. He was there with them. You know, and if there was a question that needed to be asked, Moses could ask it. You know, the high priest had that option of doing that as well, you know, before God, because God was there. He was in the house, as it were. They could ask of him those things that, you know, they would have. The situation sometimes, even God, would be involved in giving counsel. You know, the very purpose, brethren, of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the purpose of the temple, has always been so God could make his presence and dwell with his people. Shikina, that's been the purpose of the tabernacle. That God would be there. That God would always be there. We know that what happened, unfortunately, pretty soon, the people booted God out of the temple later.

You know, what we find, in fact, under the kings after David and Solomon, you know, I don't know that it happened with Rea-Bohm, but after those times, we find that, in fact, a considerable time after those times, that they began to bring idols in. They had idols right within the temple. Now, how could God dwell in the midst of idols in a temple that was dedicated to him? Well, of course, he did not. He did not. So God dwells between the caravans, as the Bible says, and the purpose of the tabernacle and the temple was so his presence could be there, he could abide with his people. Let's go to Exodus 24. Over here to Exodus 24.

Exodus 24.

Now, I think I've gotten the wrong verses here. How did that happen? I have no idea. It must be the last part here. But notice it says in verse 15, Did Moses went up into the mountain and covered the cloud, covered the mountain? Now, the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days, and on the seventh day called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. So here we see God again talking to Moses, and the sight of the glory of God was like a consuming fire on top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went in the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. So again, we see again a relationship here where Moses himself is right in the presence of God walking up into the midst of the cloud here on this day.

Let's go to Numbers 7. Numbers, chapter 7 over here. I hope I've gotten this number right. This was late last night, brethren, so you have to cut me some slack a little bit.

Okay, Numbers 7.

Here's another occasion in Numbers 7, verse 89 here. And now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting, so there was a tabernacle of meeting, it says, "...to speak with him he heard the voice of one speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony from between the two carabums. Thus he spoke to him." So here God is talking to Moses. He's conversing with Moses, instructing Moses. And he spoke with him, as it were, in a very face-to-face type manner. Here we see. Let's see, I believe over here in Numbers 12, but don't quote me here. I'm a little gun-shy after Exodus 24. But Numbers 12, verse 5. Yeah, it says, "...then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both went forward." So here we see again how God communicated with Israel. His presence was here. In this particular situation, by the way, there was a problem that got resolved. You see, in God's presence, problems get resolved pretty fast. But God's presence was there.

I believe now we want to go to chapter 20. Chapter 20 over here. Chapter 20, down in verse 6.

Of course, this is the time about Moses' error in chapter 20 here. But in verse 6, it says, You see, God was right there, brethren. His presence was there when there were problems. And again, the Shekinah was there. And God spoke to Moses.

And you know, God dwelt with His people. Let's go over to 1 Samuel chapter 4.

But you know, you see this all through the Scriptures, what I'm talking about here. God's presence with man.

With Israel, particularly here, we see. 1 Samuel chapter 4, in verse 4.

When, in fact, the tabernacle was set up in the land that God gave them after they had wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, it was set up in Shiloh, ultimately. So here's where we break into this thought. But in verse 4, it says, And so here we see the phrase, God dwelling between the caribim. And the caribim, remember, was on the Ark of the Covenant. And the wings outstretched over the Ark, remember. And that was the mercy seat as well. But God dwelt there. That was His throne, as it were. And the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle. And that is where they went to inquire if they had a question. You know, that needed to be asked. God dwelled between the caribims for Israel as long as they walked with God. Along the way, of course, Israel said greatly. And there were a series of judges I mentioned earlier were sent to correct them. You know, the thing about God that is so amazing, rather than is how merciful He is. Have you ever noticed that about when you read the Scriptures, how merciful God is? And how He tolerated so much, you know, with His people Israel? You know, God talked about how Israel became so wicked, He compared Israel to a loose woman, basically. And He says, you were looser than all the women all around. In fact, the other women looked at you and wondered how you could be so loose. Talked about, in fact, how that she is a wife of God, took the gold and the silver that He had given to them, and that she had, in fact, offered it to false gods.

All the food that God had given, you know, she served it to her lovers. In fact, she said, God said, that Israel did things that even a harlot would not do. A harlot gets paid for her services, but God said with Israel that she was even worse because she actually paid her lovers. So this is the way, in fact, that Israel was a wayward woman. And it's interesting, just this morning, in fact, I was reading the book of Ezekiel about this. After God talks about how God was going to bring them down to just a remnant, He talked about how bad they had been, and He said, nonetheless, I'm going to take you back. I'm going to take you back. Isn't it an amazing thing how God is so merciful, brethren?

Do you ever wonder about that? Is God fair? I hope we never would, because He is so fair with us. How many times have you messed up in your life, and you've always been able to go back and God forgives you?

And you could have His presence once again in your life if you invite Him in. You let Him in, repent, and turn back to God. That's what happened with Israel. God always forgave them.

350 years, God went through this with the judges. And when King Saul came along, King Saul, of course, did okay for a while, but then he turned in with the wrong way, began to do the wrong things. And by the way, during the time of King Saul, he moved the tabernacle from Shiloh to Nob, which was near his hometown, and then later he moved it to Gibeon. So it moved it to different places. But even so, God did not desert His people.

But when the temple was built in Jerusalem, God placed His presence there at the time of the dedication, in a very spectacular way. When God's presence is there, you know it. You're aware of it. Let's go to 2 Chronicles 7. 2 Chronicles over here.

2 Chronicles 7.

In verse 1, it says, It says, And it says, And the priests could not enter the temple, they could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the eternal on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshipped, and praised the eternal, saying, For he is good, for his mercy endures forever. What a dramatic, spectacular way, brethren, where God made his presence known, didn't he?

And that was an indication, again, that God would be sitting between the caravans, as he had done so in the tabernacle, that the temple that Solomon had built, God dwelt there. And he would be there.

Now, Ezekiel, by the way, was there to witness this particular event. He was there to see this.

And, you know, he was there when the lights were turned on in the temple, and he was there when the lights were turned off, as well. But let's go to Ezekiel over here, in the Book of Ezekiel. In chapter 10, try to just read one verse for the sake of time.

In chapter 10, over here, in verse 18, He said in verse 18, And then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple, and stood over the caravans. And the caravans lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. And when they went out, the wheels were beside them, and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And it says, This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the river Kebar, and I knew they were caravans. And so here we see God departing the temple. He left. And Ezekiel was able to witness it via the temple. Vision. See what God did. But he saw when it happened, and he saw when it departed from it. What a sad state of affairs to see. The entrance of God and His presence, coming home as it were, and God leaving, giving the point where He had to leave. He had to get out. Chapter 11, verse 23 over here. Chapter 11. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. And then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea to those in captivity. And the vision I had seen went up from me, so I spoke to those in captivity of all the things which the LORD had shown me.

No, that must have been a most sad time for Ezekiel to see that.

It's like when I see people, brethren, where God begins to step into their lives and begins to work with them and begins to dwell with them, there can't be anything happier than that. You know, I love that feeling when I see people changing their lives. On the other hand, when I see people going the other direction, I see them going the other direction. I'll tell you, it's the saddest moment. I have a pit in my stomach. I can only imagine what it was like for Ezekiel to see what was happening here.

You know, in the times after Solomon, Israel turned, though, from God and God's presence, Solomon's Temple, as we read, and the people had to go into captivity, the people of Judah went into captivity for 70 years. When Shekinah departed in the days of Jesus Christ, the result was the same. The result was the same. It's kind of interesting. You know, Shekinah departing, by the way, is serious, serious business. If God ever departs from your life, you're in a heap of trouble. You know, you may think nothing's going to change, but let me tell you, it's going to change. Because if God does not make His abode with us, brother, and we're not with Him, you know that what happens is we're like any other Tom, Dick, or Harry in the world, walking the streets out there, and we're going to have any problem that can be out there.

You know what? Satan is going to make sure of that. You're going to have some problems. You know what? God's going to allow Him to do that. Hopefully, He'll bring you to your needs.

Well, what happened, brethren, with ancient Israel when Shekinah departed?

They went into the captivity. You went into captivity. What happened during the times of Jesus Christ? Well, the Roman legions came through, and they destroyed the temple back in around 69 to 70 AD. Remember when the stations' armies came down into there? And Christ had warned them what was going to happen. And, brethren, whenever again Shekinah is not there, when God does not dwell with us, we're going to have problems. And that is the truth of what is going to happen. But, God, of course, there is a time when, brethren, God is going to dwell with man again. He's going to dwell with him, as we read in the book of Revelation about that. But let's go over to Isaiah 4.

Isaiah 4, the prophet Isaiah over here, talks about the time ahead. Actually, our time, brethren, the end of the age, we see all these things happening in the world. We ought to be setting up and taking notice of what's going on. You're a redeemer, brethren, do as the Scriptures say. The time of his coming is not that far off. But notice in chapter 4 here, it says, In that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by your name to take away our reproach. In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious. Branch, of course, referring to Jesus Christ. And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. Come to pass that he who is left in Zion remains of Jerusalem will be called holy. Everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. But this is the time at the end, brethren, the end of the age that Isaiah is talking about here. Of course, it is dual as well because it applied to what they were going to be going through as well.

But it says in verse 4, When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. Then God will create above every dwelling place, not Zion, above her assembly a cloud of smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there shall be a covering. And there shall be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from the storm and rain. You see the implications of what he's saying here, brethren? That God's cloud is going to be over every dwelling. Everybody is going to have God's cloud. Like the children of Israel have it. Right now, brethren, there are only a few clouds, as it were, throughout the country, because God's people are the salt of the earth. It's sprinkled here and there. Have you ever took a salt shaker and just sort of shake the salt? It falls all kinds of places. So God's cloud is only over a few homes, but at that time it's going to be over every dwelling. By the time the millennium is over, it's going to be over every dwelling on the face of the earth, because God's presence is going to be there.

You know, Joel, the prophet Joel, I won't go there, but in Joel 2, in verses 28-30, it talks about how God was going to pour His Spirit out upon all flesh.

And later we find in Acts 2 that, in fact, Peter cites Joel as a fulfillment of the Holy Spirit being given. You see, up to this time, the Holy Spirit was only available to the servants of God. It was not available to larger numbers.

But when the Holy Spirit came, and by the way, I might add, it came in a very spectacular way. The flames that were on the heads of the people, the parents of flames, as we read about there in Acts 2, in other words, the dramatic giving of the Holy Spirit. So then the Holy Spirit becomes available to mankind for those that seek God. Christ came along and said, those who seek Me are going to find Me. Knock and it shall be open. You'll want to find God, you'll find Him. If you really do want to find God, by the way. A lot of people don't want to find God. They want to find their version of God. They want to find their religion based upon the book. I remember when I was first studying, I think I've mentioned this to you before, a number of times. The only time I began to understand this book is when I told God, okay, God, if you reveal to me what this book means, I will do it. I will do it. And after that, I guess He had to know I was serious. After that, I was bound by my own word to do it, and I did. With God's help.

Again, thank God that I'm here today. That was back in the 60s, a long time ago. But the Spirit was given, and what happens is God's presence is now available to mankind. Over in John 1, verse 1, we see that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. So there was the Word, which was the Logos, as we understand in the Greek, or the spokesman that was with God. And it says that the Word, in verse 14, dwelt among us. Now, the word dwelt among us is not an accident, brethren. Again, shekinah, God dwells with us. And so Jesus Christ dwells among us. In fact, that word can mean tabernacle. When we go off to the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall, as it were, we're going to God's house, to God's dwelling.

And so Christ became flesh and dwelt among us. And he was among his disciples, right there with them. And he was walking and talking with them. You know, he spent a lot of time with the disciples, became very, very close to them. So close, in fact, that of the people he trained, he only lost one. And that was Judas, who was a son of perdition, as the Bible tells us. But Christ dwelt or tabernacled with man. He should kind of, as it were, with man. Let's go to John 14, verse 23. John 14, verse 23. It's interesting, brethren, how God dwelling is a theme in the Scriptures when you really begin to study it. But John 14, over here, John 14, verse 23, over here, it says, And Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. You get that, brethren? Make our dwelling with him. We're coming to dwell with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. So here, God said he would make his abode, he would make his home, he would make his abode and home with us, his dwelling with us. So again, Shikina here. Relationship, one with another. Chapter 15. Chapter 15, verse 4.

Here it says, Abide in me. Christ is saying to his disciples, Abide in me, and I in you. So, brethren, if God is not abiding in us, we're not abiding with him for some reason.

And he uses the analogy of the sap of the tree, compared to, of course, the Holy Spirit. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. And he said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.

Cut off from God, we cannot do anything.

Well, brethren, why do we have problems then, as God's people? Well, it may be that God is in the house, but we're not listening to him. Maybe we put him outside the door. Maybe he's knocking in our lives. There could be a lot of maybes, can't there? But if there's no change taking place, brethren, it's because God is not dwelling, and you're not dwelling with him. Let's go to James chapter 4, because this is the key, brethren, really to it all. In the book of James, in James chapter 4, over here, in verse 7, It says, He'll run away from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. You want God to dwell with you, brethren? All you've got to do is draw near him. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lamented more and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and let your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

So, brethren, we as God's people, we want God to dwell with us, and we want to dwell with God. We're going to abide with Christ, and Christ to abide with us. We have to, brethren, draw near to him. How do we do that? You know, the Big Four. Prayer, study, fasting, and meditation. Those Big Four, brethren. It goes back to the basics, doesn't it? Always. Are we studying? You know, are we praying? Are we meditating, thinking about God's way of life on a regular basis as God's people? And are we fasting?

We're drawing near to God. You know, sometimes, as he says here, you know, turning to laughter in the morning, come before God, and God is pleased with that, particularly if we are fighting problems. David was at the very lowest point in his life, and if you read the book of Psalms, chapter 51, it was after he committed the sin with Bathsheba.

And David, as it were, had fallen away from God. Of course, he had Uriah killed, and there were a lot of things in that whole scenario that really showed the mind of David was corrupted.

And you know, that happens to people. It's amazing when people depart from God, how rapidly things deteriorate. How quickly people change.

They do things they would never think about doing.

But David fell away when he sinned with Bathsheba, and you know what? When he came to himself, maybe he hit bottom, rock bottom, and David came to himself, he was fearful that God would remove his Spirit from him. In other words, God would move out, like a husband who's fed up with the way his wife lives.

He cried out to God that God would not depart from him, that his Spirit would remain in him and continue to abide in him. And what was his attitude? Then I'll teach sinners your way. I'll help other people come to see this, God. They've got to see this.

And we know what happened with David. God did not remove his Spirit, and David bounced back. But you know, the fact of the matter is, brethren, if we depart from God, Shekinah departs from us. God does not make his dwelling with us. Of course, He will allow us again a long time to turn around, as He did with Israel.

But you know, He doesn't have a hundred years with you and me.

How long again do we have before this whole thing comes to conclusion? But we know, brethren, God is a very merciful God. And you know what? The very best thing that we can always do, brethren, is dwell with God and to have his dwelling with us. You don't want to lose that. When you lose that, bad things begin to happen. Today, the temple that God has where the cloud is over is over the temple of the Christian.

Because our body is the temple of God's Holy Spirit, where Jesus Christ dwells. And you know, the Apostle Paul said, I've been crucified with Christ, yet I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Christ lives in me.

He said, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. So Christ is living his life over and on, brethren, and he's abiding with us. Right in our home, within our temple, as it were. Let's go to Revelation 21 to the end of the book.

Revelation 21 over here. In verse 22. Now again, looking to the time, brethren, of New Jerusalem, this is past the Millennium, past the thousand-year reign of Christ, past the Second Resurrection period. The time when, in fact, that there is no flesh upon the earth, when the New Jerusalem comes down. At least, that's the way we understand it. But notice here, in Revelation 20, that the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. But I saw no temple in it, talking about New Jerusalem. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temples. And, you know, so the glory of Jerusalem, brethren, is going to be God, the Father, Jesus Christ. They are the temples.

It's interesting how this particular verse is rendered in the Jewish translation. In fact, this is from the kingdom, interlinear translation of the Greek. The glory of God is rendered God's Shekinah. God's Shekinah.

So, brethren, God desires to make His abode, His dwelling, with you now, as He shall do in a time ahead for all of mankind, for all of humanity. And when God's presence is there, change begins to take place. Imagine, brethren, what it's going to be like when the Father and the Son set up the New Jerusalem down here upon this earth. Well, we thought that basically this would become the headquarters for the entire universe. What does God have planned for the universe? What does He have planned out there, brethren? Well, I can imagine it's going to be a lot of changes, lots of changes that are going to occur during this dramatic and most wonderful time, brethren, ahead. And you know what? We can be in on the ground floor, brethren, of those who are given the chance to have God's Shekinah presence with us. Now, let's take advantage of it, brethren, along with the accompanying blessings and rejoice with it. Let's be thankful for it. And, brethren, when we come into the presence of God, let's be thankful, let's be joyful for being able to do that. Let's follow the example of David, and let's be thankful to come into the presence of God and have God here with us, dwelling with us. You know, because again, the benefits are tremendous and wonderful. And, you know, changes take place in our lives when God's Shekinah is present with us.

Well, brethren, we'll be seeing you in a few weeks. Hopefully, I'll be sending some reports of our trip to Africa. I try to do at least one a week for you, maybe a little more than that, but, you know, we'll probably pass it around via e-mail to everybody so you're aware what's going on over there, maybe send some pictures as well so you can, you know, see at least visually what's going on. I ask you to pray for the All Goes Well with the plane trip over and the plane trip back, and also that all things go well with other things being planned for the Fall Festival. There's a hundred different things I could ask you to pray for, but just pray, brethren, for the success of the trip that All Goes Well. See you when we get back.