Dr Paul Allen

  Several instances throughout Exodus (e.g., Ex 16:10; 34:5) have made clear that the visible manifestation of Yahweh’s presence often occurs as a cloud. Since the Israelites conceived of Yahweh as invisible, they needed a visible entity—​a reminder or symbol that could be seen by the human eye—​to reassure them that Yahweh was indeed present with them. That visible entity is often referred to in the OT as the “glory” (kabod) of Yahweh. Isa 40:5, e.g., states that it is the “glory of the LORD” that “all people will see.” Once the construction and arrangement of the tabernacle in Exodus are complete, the glory of Yahweh, in the form of a cloud, fills the place that Moses cannot even enter it (Ex 40:35).  It seems, therefore, to have been more than something that could merely be seen; it could be sensed in other ways. At one point in Exodus, the “glory” is called a “consuming fire” (24:17). The glory of Yahweh was reassuring and fear-inspiring all at the same time. This is remin...

Figures 059 The Erection of the Tabernacle and the Sacred Vessels (left plate) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “ And the Word became flesh, and  dwelt  among us… ” – John  1:14  - If we’re reading through this verse in our daily Bible reading, we’re likely to zip right by it with little fanfare.  We read, simply, that Jesus “dwelt” among us. And when we think of the idea of “dwelling” we just think of “hanging out.”  But there’s much more going on in what John is saying than it sounds to us English-speakers. He uses a peculiar word here. There are more common Greek words for “to dwell,” but he chooses  skēnoō .  Now, the word  skēnē  in Greek means “tent,” and  skēnoō  is the verb form. So we could render it, “to pitch a tent.” John tells us that this Word became flesh and  pitched his tent  among us. That’s a weird way to talk, isn’t it? Especially since we don’t have any Scripture tha...

English: Moses Sees the Promised Land from Afar, as in Numbers 27:12, by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God ; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.” ( Exodus 19:17 ) This is the first of more than 30 references to events that took place outside the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness under Moses. In this first mention, it was “without the camp” that God first met with His people and gave them the Ten Commandments . The first temporary tabernacle was also “pitched . . . without the camp” ( Exodus 33:7 ). However, when the regular tabernacle was established, it was placed in the midst of the camp, and the camp was considered holy before the Lord . “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp . . . therefore shall thy camp be holy” ( Deuteronomy 23:14 ). Accordingly, anything unclean was commanded to be banned from the camp (vv. 10-13), including even “the bodies of those beasts, whos...

English: Damian. "Jesus Christ and St. John the Apostle". A detail of the Last Supper fresco from Ubisi, Georgia (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Lord said to Moses , "You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing . You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations." (Exodus 30:17-21) Right after you were born, the blood and vernix on your body was washed off by a nurse. Have you taken a bath or shower since the day you were born? Of course you have. Our bodies continually become dir...

"To the Glory of God and in Commemoration of all the Baptisms in this Church † Erected John the Baptist Day 1932". (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." ( John 1:14 ) This is the definitive verse on the divine incarnation, when " God was in Christ , reconciling the world unto himself" ( 2 Corinthians 5:19 ), and the wealth of truth implied therein is beyond human comprehension.  We can never understand how the infinite God could become finite man, but where the intellect fails, faith prevails. It was the Word who "was God" and by whom "all things were made" ( John 1:1 , 3 ), yet He made His own human body, in the womb of Mary, and therein "dwelt among us" for thirty-three years. The Greek word here for "dwelt" is unusual, literally meaning " tabernacled ." ...

Image via Wikipedia Psalm 137 (Photo credit: Mouse ) "And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." ( Isaiah 32:2 )   In the context of this beautiful verse, the "man" is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ . To one who had been traveling in the heat of the desert, such as the Sinai wilderness, nothing was so welcome as the cool shadows behind a great rock in which one could rest for a while from the hardships of the wearying land. The symbol of the shadow is often used in the Old Testament to illustrate the refreshing presence of the Lord.   "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" ( Psalm 91:1 ). Wherever His loved ones go, He is there, and our dwelling place is there in His shadow.   There is safety there, also. "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the sh...

Image via Wikipedia "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount." ( Exodus 25:40 )   Nothing that God does is capricious or accidental. A remarkable object lesson of His attention to every detail in the plan of salvation is the tabernacle in the wilderness. The divine blueprint for this structure and its attendants, followed by its construction and dedication, occupy no less than thirteen chapters of Exodus. Then the exposition of the symbolical meaning of "the pattern" shown to Moses "in the mount" occupies a major part of three chapters in the book of Hebrews . At least in terms of space allocated to the tabernacle, it seems to constitute the major "type" of the Bible, speaking in many ways of the Lord Jesus Christ . Numerous authors have devoted entire volumes to its exposition. The brazen altar , the laver, the mercy seat, the high priest--all "serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly th...

“ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His  glory … ” -  John 1:14  - By using the peculiar word "dwelt" from John 1:14 for  to pitch a tent , John was calling our attention to the Tabernacle of Israel , where God condescended to reveal Himself to Israel for worship and communion. The climax of the story of the Tabernacle comes in  Exodus 40:34–38 , where Yahweh ’s glory fills the Tabernacle, signifying that He will dwell—that He will take up residence—with His people. That scene sheds light on the relationship between the two phrases in  John 1:14 : “and [He] dwelt among us,” fits perfectly with “and we saw His glory.” There is an inseparable connection between the (a) dwelling place of God, and (b) His glory that fills that place. The dwelling  of God is inseparable from the  glory  of God. The Journey of the Glory of Yahweh in the Tabernacle And so the glory of Yahweh was with Israel in the tabernacle—a cloud by day...