The Shekinah in the Early Church
So what happened to the Shekinah Glory of God? No one knows for sure when it left Solomon’s Temple. The Glory of the Lord descended on the Temple when Solomon dedicated it (II Chronicles 7:1) but the Bible does not seem to mention it after that time.
The Shekinah was not in the Temple when the Babylonians attacked the Temple and seized the treasures. Since the Shekinah dwelled over the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple the logical question is was the Ark in the Temple when the Babylonians entered it? Some believe the Ark went to Babylon. There is no evidence to support this.
So what happened to the Ark? There was a priest who was appointed as guardian of the Ark, the Menorah and the Table of Showbread. He had the sole authority to remove the sacred Ark if he felt it were in danger from outside invasion or if he felt the high priest or king were evil. This priest would hide the Ark in a place that only he and his family knew. When this guardian passed away the responsibility would be handed down to his oldest son so that there would always be a guardian of the Ark in Israel. I believe this guardian hid the Ark and it has not been removed from its secure location since.
When Zerubbabel led the 42,360 Jews back to the Land from Babylon (Ezra 2:64), he also returned all the treasures that were taken from the Temple. The Shekinah Glory of the Lord is not mentioned as being present or filling the Temple when the Second Temple was dedicated. The Targum (a Hebrew commentary of sorts) holds that the Shekinah was not in the Second Temple. Haggai 1 seems to indicate that the Shekinah did not return to the Second Temple.
Israel sat in anticipation of the Shekinah returning. They anxiously longed for the day the power of the Glory of God was restored to the Land. This passion grew as Israel struggled to gain her independence as a nation.
A family of priests who were zealous for the re-establishment of Israel and the return of the Shekinah led a revolt against the control of the Greecian empire. Mattathias the priest had five sons who carried on his passion. His son Judas Maccabeus was the High Priest from 165 B.C. to 162 B.C. He led an army of Jewish revolutionists who rebelled against the control of the Greeks. The Maccabean rule lasted until 63 B.C. when the Roman general Pompeus got involved.
When Jesus the Messiah was born in 3 B.C., God’s people were watching and waiting for return of the Shekinah to the Temple. The prophecies of the Old Testament are clear that the Messiah will come and rule with a rod of iron. They were looking for the Shekinah to come. All of the glory of God came in Jesus but many Jews did not see it although it was directly in front of them.
Hebrews 2:7 says that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor. What does it mean He was crowned with glory and honor? The Greek word for glory is the equivalent for the Hebrew word translated glory. This is the same word that is used in reference to the Shekinah Glory of God. Jesus was filled with the Shekinah Glory of God. The leaders of Israel were so occupied with bringing back the Shekinah that when He did come in Jesus the Messiah, they did not see Him. But that time the Shekinah did not come on the Holy of Holies, it came in the Messiah who lived among them. The Shekinah is not restricted to a box.
When Christ ascended from this earth what happened to the Shekinah? Did God take it away and leave His people powerless and alone? No. Jesus promised His followers that He would not leave them alone. He told His disciples in John 14:16 “ I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. “
After Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, he told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until that promise was fulfilled (Acts 1:4). The small group of believers met in the upper room and waited for God to send the Holy Spirit whom he promised to them. Is the Holy Spirit the same as the Shekinah of God? Or does the Holy Spirit give the believer access to the Shekinah? I am not sure but the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to the disciples, came with power from God. He told them that they would receive power then the Holy Ghost would come on them (Acts 1:8) and it did! That is the power that rested on the Early Church and allowed them to transform the world.
On the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) the Holy Spirit fell on the Early Church. Believers from around the world had made pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. The Holy Spirit came on them and they were able to understand each other’s language. The Shekinah unified the Church. That day about 3,000 became followers of the Messiah and joined with the Church. These people went to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple where they would hopefully see the Shekinah. Instead of seeing the Shekinah on the Temple, they experienced the Shekinah filling them.
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The veil was a curtain about 8” thick that separated the Holy of Holies from the front part of the Temple where the Menorah, table of showbread and golden altar of incense were. The Holy of Holies is where the Shekinah Glory of God would dwell between the wings of the Cherubim over the Mercy Seat. Only God could have torn the veil. He tore the veil to signify that the Shekinah was no longer in the Holy of Holies. The Holy Spirit of God changed residence. The Holy Spirit now dwells in the believer. The body of believers is the Holy of Holies! Paul said in I Corinthians 6:19 that the believer’s body is the temple of God. There are two Greek words for temple. This is the Greek word that means the inner sanctuary. This is the Holy of Holies.
I realize that since the resurrection of Christ believers have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I am not saying that the Church today does not have the Holy Sprit. I am saying that we are not seeing the power of the Shekinah working through believers today like it did in the Early Church. The group of believers in Jerusalem grew from 120 to over 3,000 in one day. This movement spread like wildfire throughout the world. The Roman government felt threatened by the power of the Early Church so they tried to exterminate them. They fed them to wild beasts and made them fight the gladiators in the hippodromes. Nero speared Christians on a pole and set them on fire to light his gardens at night. Rome persecuted and killed the believers in mass. In spite of the persecution of Rome, the Early Church set the world on fire for God.
Comparing the power the Early Church had to transform the world in spite of the best attempts of Rome to exterminate them and the ineffectiveness of the Church today, we have to ask the question, “What did they have that we are missing?” How do we get that power back on the church today? How does the Shekinah fit into prophecy?
© Dr Steven L Smith 2016
The Shekinah was not in the Temple when the Babylonians attacked the Temple and seized the treasures. Since the Shekinah dwelled over the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple the logical question is was the Ark in the Temple when the Babylonians entered it? Some believe the Ark went to Babylon. There is no evidence to support this.
So what happened to the Ark? There was a priest who was appointed as guardian of the Ark, the Menorah and the Table of Showbread. He had the sole authority to remove the sacred Ark if he felt it were in danger from outside invasion or if he felt the high priest or king were evil. This priest would hide the Ark in a place that only he and his family knew. When this guardian passed away the responsibility would be handed down to his oldest son so that there would always be a guardian of the Ark in Israel. I believe this guardian hid the Ark and it has not been removed from its secure location since.
When Zerubbabel led the 42,360 Jews back to the Land from Babylon (Ezra 2:64), he also returned all the treasures that were taken from the Temple. The Shekinah Glory of the Lord is not mentioned as being present or filling the Temple when the Second Temple was dedicated. The Targum (a Hebrew commentary of sorts) holds that the Shekinah was not in the Second Temple. Haggai 1 seems to indicate that the Shekinah did not return to the Second Temple.
Israel sat in anticipation of the Shekinah returning. They anxiously longed for the day the power of the Glory of God was restored to the Land. This passion grew as Israel struggled to gain her independence as a nation.
A family of priests who were zealous for the re-establishment of Israel and the return of the Shekinah led a revolt against the control of the Greecian empire. Mattathias the priest had five sons who carried on his passion. His son Judas Maccabeus was the High Priest from 165 B.C. to 162 B.C. He led an army of Jewish revolutionists who rebelled against the control of the Greeks. The Maccabean rule lasted until 63 B.C. when the Roman general Pompeus got involved.
When Jesus the Messiah was born in 3 B.C., God’s people were watching and waiting for return of the Shekinah to the Temple. The prophecies of the Old Testament are clear that the Messiah will come and rule with a rod of iron. They were looking for the Shekinah to come. All of the glory of God came in Jesus but many Jews did not see it although it was directly in front of them.
Hebrews 2:7 says that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor. What does it mean He was crowned with glory and honor? The Greek word for glory is the equivalent for the Hebrew word translated glory. This is the same word that is used in reference to the Shekinah Glory of God. Jesus was filled with the Shekinah Glory of God. The leaders of Israel were so occupied with bringing back the Shekinah that when He did come in Jesus the Messiah, they did not see Him. But that time the Shekinah did not come on the Holy of Holies, it came in the Messiah who lived among them. The Shekinah is not restricted to a box.
When Christ ascended from this earth what happened to the Shekinah? Did God take it away and leave His people powerless and alone? No. Jesus promised His followers that He would not leave them alone. He told His disciples in John 14:16 “ I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. “
After Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, he told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until that promise was fulfilled (Acts 1:4). The small group of believers met in the upper room and waited for God to send the Holy Spirit whom he promised to them. Is the Holy Spirit the same as the Shekinah of God? Or does the Holy Spirit give the believer access to the Shekinah? I am not sure but the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to the disciples, came with power from God. He told them that they would receive power then the Holy Ghost would come on them (Acts 1:8) and it did! That is the power that rested on the Early Church and allowed them to transform the world.
On the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) the Holy Spirit fell on the Early Church. Believers from around the world had made pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. The Holy Spirit came on them and they were able to understand each other’s language. The Shekinah unified the Church. That day about 3,000 became followers of the Messiah and joined with the Church. These people went to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple where they would hopefully see the Shekinah. Instead of seeing the Shekinah on the Temple, they experienced the Shekinah filling them.
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The veil was a curtain about 8” thick that separated the Holy of Holies from the front part of the Temple where the Menorah, table of showbread and golden altar of incense were. The Holy of Holies is where the Shekinah Glory of God would dwell between the wings of the Cherubim over the Mercy Seat. Only God could have torn the veil. He tore the veil to signify that the Shekinah was no longer in the Holy of Holies. The Holy Spirit of God changed residence. The Holy Spirit now dwells in the believer. The body of believers is the Holy of Holies! Paul said in I Corinthians 6:19 that the believer’s body is the temple of God. There are two Greek words for temple. This is the Greek word that means the inner sanctuary. This is the Holy of Holies.
I realize that since the resurrection of Christ believers have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I am not saying that the Church today does not have the Holy Sprit. I am saying that we are not seeing the power of the Shekinah working through believers today like it did in the Early Church. The group of believers in Jerusalem grew from 120 to over 3,000 in one day. This movement spread like wildfire throughout the world. The Roman government felt threatened by the power of the Early Church so they tried to exterminate them. They fed them to wild beasts and made them fight the gladiators in the hippodromes. Nero speared Christians on a pole and set them on fire to light his gardens at night. Rome persecuted and killed the believers in mass. In spite of the persecution of Rome, the Early Church set the world on fire for God.
Comparing the power the Early Church had to transform the world in spite of the best attempts of Rome to exterminate them and the ineffectiveness of the Church today, we have to ask the question, “What did they have that we are missing?” How do we get that power back on the church today? How does the Shekinah fit into prophecy?
© Dr Steven L Smith 2016