Page 7 - lesson31.vp

Lesson 31 Hope of Israel Ministries BIBLE Correspondence Course 7

Thus on the verse, “...the earth did shine with His the Tabernacle and the land of Israel.
glory” (Ezekiel 43:2), the rabbis remark, “This is 3. Was the “Shekinah” always physically
the face of the Shekhinah” (Avot diRabbi Natan manifested? Numbers 35:34.
[18b-19a]; see also Chullin 59b-60a). Both the COMMENT: YEHOVAH’s physical
angels in heaven and the righteous in olam ha-ba presence amongst His people was conditional on
(”the world to come”) are SUSTAINED BY them not defiling the land.
THE RADIANCE OF THE SHEKINAH 4. Did YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory fill
(Exodus Rabbah 32:4, B’rakhot 17a; cf. Exodus the Tabernacle after it was erected? Exodus
34:29-35)... 40:33-38.
“According to Saadiah Gaon [882-942 5. Was YEHOVAH’s Shekinah appear-
C.E.], the Shekhinah is identical with kevod ance frightening to those who experienced it?
ha-Shem (”the glory of God”), which served as Exodus 20:18-21.
an INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN GOD AND 6. At the time of the setting up of the
MAN during the prophetic experience. He Tabernacle YEHOVAH spoke to Moses out of
suggests that the “glory of God” is the Biblical the cloud and, at that time, Moses realized that
term, and Shekhinah the Talmudic term for the the “Shekinah” was a VEHICLE and NOT
CREATED splendor of light which ACTS AS YEHOVAH God -- and YEHOVAH allowed
AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN GOD AND him to see A LARGER PORTION of His
MAN, and which sometimes TAKES ON PHYSICAL “Shekinah” presence. Notice
HUMAN FORM. Thus when Moses asked to Exodus 33:18-23.
see the glory of God, HE WAS SHOWN THE
SHEKHINAH, and when the prophets in their The Shekinah Glory in the Book of John
visions saw God in HUMAN LIKENESS, what
they actually saw WAS NOT GOD HIMSELF Now that we have some idea of the
BUT THE SHEKHINAH (see Saadiah’s inter- concept of YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory, we
pretation of Ezekiel 1:26, I Kings 22:19, and can take another look at the first chapter of the
Daniel 7:9 in Book of Beliefs and Opinions Book of John in the New Testament.
2:10).” In the first verses of John 1 we can find
During the time of Moses, the added confirmation that the “word” is, in fact, the
PHYSICAL “Shekinah” presence was evidence Shekinah Glory of YEHOVAH God. Since the
of the REAL which is omnipresent and unseen. publication of the King James Version of the
The presence was NOT YEHOVAH (YHVH) -- Bible in 1611 this, and almost all versions that
it was a PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION of the have stemmed from it, have attached the
actual presence of YEHOVAH among His masculine gender to the Greek concept of the
people. “logos” to explain the presence of the Shekinah
1. The “Shekinah” was first evident Glory at the Creation. Unfortunately, due to this
when the Israelites set out from Succoth in their gender change, and the modern Christian’s lack
escape from Egypt. There it appeared as a cloudy of understanding of the logos concept in the
pillar in the day and a fiery pillar by night. environment of 1st. Century Greek philosophy,
Exodus 13:20. most have BLINDLY taken the “word” to mean
2. Was the physical “Shekinah” also a pre-existence of the Messiah! Nothing could be
evident at the crossing of the Red Sea? Exodus further from the truth!
14:24-25. Any one of the eight English translations
COMMENT: The Israelites were led by of the Bible prior to 1611 -- the Tyndale Bible
the “Shekinah” for forty years, after which the (1535), the Matthew Bible (1535), the Taverner
“holy presence” of the omniscient God inhabited Bible (1539), the Great (Cranmer’s) Bible

How Do You Know YEHOVAH God Exists?