Where is God’s Dwelling Place Part 2
Torah Living Daily Challenge 28
In my last Torah Living Daily Challenge, we discussed the last Torah Portion section of Parashah 47 that addressed the Feasts of the Lord and our celebrating before Yahovah at the place of Father’s choosing (that is, the places where He would choose to place His name and to dwell) at specific times of the sacred calendar year. The challenge was not simply to have an understanding as to what those times and places were that we were to gather before Father, but the priorities that we are to place upon keeping those sacred days of the calendar year.
In this TLDC I would like to turn our focus over to the actual places where Father has chosen to place His name and to dwell. We saw in the previous Challenge episode that we were instructed at least 5-times to gather before Father at the place where He chose to place His name and to dwell. Thus, it becomes crystal clear to even the least experienced of us, that Father places a great amount of importance in our assembling before Him at an appointed place during specific times of His calendar year. This may appear to be somewhat of foreign concept to us in the West because we have been raised in a social environment that affords us the “freedom” (and I say freedom from a nebulous perspective) to worship wherever we please. Take for instance those of us who reside in the United States: we tend to change denominations and churches several times throughout our lifetimes. Granted, these frequent changes are for various and sundry reasons such as relocations, changes in conviction, changes in family and personal relationships and disagreements over doctrines. It’s not the point of changing churches and denominations that I’m trying to get across here, but more so the inbred thinking in our religious society that we can worship God (and note I say God as opposed to Yahovah/Yahweh) however and wherever we please. We have developed the concept within our psyches that God is everywhere (which is indeed true—or at least His Spirit moves throughout the world) and churches (that is brick and steel buildings) are simply the places where we have the resources and the authorized individuals to administer the worship and teachings of our chosen religions.
However, prior to our entering the land of promise, we were instructed to come and worship and celebrate before Father during certain appointed times of Father’s calendar year, at the place where He chose to dwell. Ultimately, after we subdued the land of promised through Father’s power and might (reference Exodus 14:14 and Deuteronomy 3:22), Father established Shiloh as His initial dwelling place, in the Tabernacle that was erected there. (Reference Joshua 18:1; 19:51; 21:2; 22:12) Certainly, the Creator of the Universe can not possibly be contained in a tent of meeting as is clearly attested to by Solomon (known as the wisest man ever to live on this planet) in 2 Chronicles 6:18-21 which reads: “But will Yahovah in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! (Note: this is known as Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the Temple.) Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant and to this supplication, O Yahovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which your servant prays before you: that your eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken unto the prayer which your servant prays toward this place. Hearken therefore unto the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear You from your dwelling place, even from heaven, and when you hear, forgive.” Does this not cause goose bumps to cover your being? Indeed, the thought of the Creator of the universe, electing to dwell among us is an unfathomable perception when one considers who and what He truly is. We can not adequately fathom the extent of His power, majesty and glory, and to think that He would dwell, not just among us mere mortal beings, but also employ some aspect of His being—a portion of His Ruach haKodesh—His Holy Spirit—to dwell in a makeshift tent in Shiloh and ultimately in a magnificent edifice in Jerusalem (reference 2 Chronicles 7:12; 1 Kings 18:29) is simply awe-inspiring to me. But the fact of the matter is that He did as the sacred writings attest.
We know that Father’s presence ultimately left the Temple in Jerusalem just prior to the Babylonian invasion on March 16, 597 BCE. The actual invasion is recorded in what is referred to as the Babylonian Chronicles, which is located in the British Museum. Father’s presence in the Temple in Jerusalem served as a protection and blessing over us and over the land. But when Father’s presence left us, our protection and blessings departed with Him. Ezekiel records the departure of the Spirit of Yahovah from the Temple in Ezekiel, chapters 8-11. I won’t read these 4-chapters in this episode, but suffice to say, that Father’s precious Ruach (His precious Spirit) progressively departed the sanctuary of the Temple to the Mount of Olives, until it completely went up to heaven. This is a most powerful testimony of the departure of Father’s presence from among us. And with that departure came the imminent siege and invasion of Jerusalem and 70-year long captivity.
Why did Father abandon us and His Temple? History bears out a number of reasons as well as Ezekiel’s vision of the Father’s departure also sheds a great amount of light as to why. They included:
1. Our failure to obey and our rejection of Father’s Torah
2. Our whoring after other gods
3. Our adopting pagan ways
4. Our desecration of the Temple with idols and pagan worship practices
Again, Father’s departure as eerily summarized in Ezekiel 8 through 11, paints a most profound picture of the Father’s steadfast love for us, comparable to a doting spouse; and us, a cheating spouse who defies the holiness code set forth by Father in His Torah and commits spiritual adultery. It is our spiritual infidelity that led to Father’s departure and our ultimate destruction as a nation. We did not care after Father’s Temple as we should. We allowed idols to be erected and pagan worship to be conducted on the Temple Mount. We defiled Father’s dwelling place. Father had essentially no other option but to pick up and leave. But He left with a broken heart. He left looking back over His shoulder (metaphorically speaking), hoping that we would come to our senses and return to Him. He was willing to forgive us and re-occupy the Temple. But we wouldn’t turn our acts around. We continued in our adulterous ways. Thus, we deserved what we got, sadly to say. With Father’s departure went our protective covering and within a short period of time, Nebuchadnezzar’s army invaded the land, sacked Jerusalem and the Temple, and took the best of our people into captivity. After the period of captivity was concluded, many returned to the land of promise and a second Temple was ultimately built. But that Temple too was destroyed, this time by the Romans in 68 CE (Rood’s reckoning) or 70 CE by other’s reckoning.
Y’shua Messiah revealed to the Apostle Paul that Yahovah’s dwelling place was no longer the Temple (although Yahovah’s Spirit had left the Temple and the land some 600-years prior), but now our bodies–our person–the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah. Paul wrote to the Corinthian assembly:
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
And there are a multitude of passages that confirm this shift from a physical Temple to that of the believer’s person as being the dwelling place of the Most High. (Reference I Cor. 6:19; II Cor. 6:16; Rom. 8:9; Joh. 14:17; Eph. 2:22; Heb. 3:6; I Pet. 2:5; I Joh. 4:12) Now with our bodies assuming the purpose of being a dwelling place for the Father’s precious Ruach haKodesh—His Spirit, comes tremendous responsibility that I’m afraid many of us take for granted. The first temple was abandoned by Father because we turned to other gods, we erected idols on the Temple grounds, we worshiped other gods on the Temple grounds. But now as our bodies assume the purpose of housing Father’s Spirit, we run the same risk of running Father off if we fail to remain faithful to Father and desecrate our body-temples. How can such a thing happen? Well, this becomes today’s Torah Living Daily Challenge dear friends: taking care of this temple so as not to run Father’s Spirit away from us. Ways that we will run Father away from our body-temples are:
1. Defiling our bodies with things that pollute our bodies health-wise such as foods that Yahovah has banned such as shellfish; pork; blood products to name a few.
2. Damaging our bodies by consuming things that are unhealthy such as junk-food on a frequent basis; GMO foods; manufactured foods; recreational and prescription drugs or pharmakia.
3. Defacing our bodies with piercings and tattoos.
4. Filling our minds with filth and trash such as pornography; violent entertainment; carnal music and literature; harboring anger and hatred for others; lusting after women and men who are not our spouses.
5. Committing adultery and fornication; body worshiping; and the like.
These are just a smattering of things that will ultimately run Father’s Spirit away from us and that is our challenge today dear saints: to keep this temple undefiled so that Father will live and dwell happily within us. As He sets up and dwells within our being, we are able to do some amazing things that we wouldn’t have been able to do without His presence in our lives: long to learn more about Him and His ways; seek to do that which is good and to bear much good fruit; obey Torah without faltering; perform miracles and great and mighty exploits. Let’s face it: many of us have gone through periods in our lives when Father’s Spirit was far from us. Remember those terrible times. We don’t ever want to relive those times again do we? I know that I don’t. I know that I am nowhere near perfect. But I am fully cognizant of where I need to go and where I need to be in my walk with Messiah. Thus, I work ever so hard, and rely on the help of Father’s Holy Spirit to mold me into the person He desires me to be. I rely a lot on the Ruach Kodesh. But I realize that I have to do my part. I must keep this vessel—this temple—undefiled at all times so that Father will have an inviting environment in which to dwell. So I’ve begun watching what I eat beyond what is stipulated in the dietary food laws; I guard my mind, heart and eyes such they do not provide an opening for evil to enter in and defile this temple. I reject this world’s pharmakia. I take the best care of this physical body as I possibly can with the resources that I have available. I work ever so hard to keep my mind stayed upon Father so as not to stray to the right or the left.
Friends, this is not an easy road that we’ve chosen to take. But I would guess that you wouldn’t want to trade this life abundant for the world. It’s time that we treat our bodies like the Temple that Solomon built for purposes of providing Father a dwelling place. We have everything we need to maintain Father’s dwelling place today. Let’s do so with much joy, celebration, praise and love. Until next time, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training. Shalom.