THE GLORY OF GOD , whether present or absent, has great power in our lives. Far more than a feeling, when his presence is upon us, our spirit and his Spirit are in union, and the energies of heaven flow to us, into us, and through us. We walk in blessing; all is well. When his presence is absent, there is a tangible void as vast as the universe. We restlessly seek this fundamental unifying force to give direction to our thoughts and emotions and the actions of our bodies. We may walk at the edge of curses; all is not well. With the Psalmist, our own voice cries out. “Hear us, you who sit enthroned between the cherubim. Awaken your might; make your face shine upon us.” (Psa. 80:1-3)
The image of God present between the cherubim begins with his instructions to Moses in the early part of the desert years of Israel. After the incident of the worship of the golden calf, the concept of a place and presence of God becomes reality with God’s directions to Moses. “Have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Ex. 25:8-9)
In the tabernacle God established boundaries to the levels of intimacy with himself. There was the entry area, where all who were ritually pure could come. Then the holy place, where the Levites called into his service were permitted. And finally, the most holy place, where the high priest and his designated acolytes could approach the very place of God’s presence. “Have them make an ark of acacia wood. Overlay it with pure gold. Make an atonement cover of pure gold. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. There, I will meet with you.” (Ex. 25:10-22)
This same image of God’s presence enthroned between the cherubim permeates the O.T. going forward, and reaches the height of its physical expression when Solomon builds the first Temple. “For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold.” (1 Kings 6:23-28)
From the time of Moses, roughly fifteenth century B.C., to the time of the Babylonian exile of the fifth century B.C., the meeting place above of the ark of covenant is solidly fixed in the minds and hearts of God’s chosen people, but his presence has been felt keenly by his absence during times of apostasy. And then, when they disperse to exile, something unthinkable occurs. God prophecies something new through Jeremiah. “People will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made.” (Jer. 3:16)
As they return from exile, God speaks less, and less, and finally goes silent… for four centuries. His last words come from Malachi: “I will send the prophet Elijah to you. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” (Mal. 4:5-6) a nation of people now walks in a vast void, with darkness increasingly seeping into the place once filled with light. Curses hang heavy in the atmospheric aether.
Then comes John the Baptist, saying, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” (Matt. 3:3) And God comes to walk with his people. John says, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.” Of him that Paul describes as “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), John says “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:4) And darkness is pushed back by the light; it must, as a spiritual law of heavenly physics, retreat from its presence. The heavenly tabernacle is established, and at its center is the lamb of God. “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless, and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” (Heb. 7:18-19)
Our churches today all reflect in their architecture the same designs of assembly area, holy area, and most holy area that were established through Moses. The structures and esthetics may differ, but the basics remain. At the front stands a spiritual leader, a pastor or perhaps a priest. And he speaks of God to the assembly. Together, we have a physical representation of the place and presence of God. This is not a bad thing, but it also is not the best thing. The barriers to intimacy with God have been struck down, and all may enter the holy of holies. But do so cautiously, for there is great power here. “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.” (Ecc. 5:1) But also, be confident of God’s call to intimacy with him. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
Our meeting may be at a place we think holy, but make no mistake: it is a meeting with a holy God. And our very being reflects his design for meeting. We are “spirit, soul, and body” (1 Thess. 5:23), says Paul, who asks “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19) We are the meeting place, and within us the outstretched arms of the cherubim hover over his presence.
Q. Is my holiest place prepared for the presence of God?
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