Exodus 40:35: “And Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested (shakhan) upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.”
Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because of the Shekhinah glory. The Talmud and other Jewish literature are filled with references to the Shekhinah glory. Christians hate the word mystical and yet the word Shekhinah that Christians love to use is a mystical word. It is simply referring to the presence of God. The word, Shekhinah itself is not found in the Biblical text. This word is really an extra-biblical word that, oh my gosh, mystical Jewish rabbis coined. They took the word shakhan which literally means a dwelling place and put it into a Hiphal form so it literally means he is caused to dwell. Then they gave it a feminine ending. In Mishnaic Hebrew the word is often referred to as birds nesting. (Talmud Baba Kammah 92b).
The word also means royalty or royal residence. The Greek word skene – dwelling is thought to be derived from shakhan. The word tabernacle (mishcan) is a derivative of the same root and it is also used in the sense of a dwelling-place. In classic Jewish thought the Shekhinah refers to a dwelling or settling in a special place so that while in proximity to the Shekhinah, the connection to God is more readily perceivable. The word shakhan is different than the other Hebrew word for that is used for dwelling which is yashav. Shakhan is different in that it means to take up residence in one place for an extended period of time.
Where does the Shekhinah manifest itself? It is the Temple and Tabernacle that is most prevalent in Jewish literature. However, the Talmud reports that it may be found in acts of public prayer. “Where ten are gathered for prayer, there the Shekhinah rest.” Talmud Sanhedrin 39a. It is also found in righteous judgment: “When three sit as judges, the Shekhinah is with them.” Talmud Berachot 6a. Yeah, I know that sounds strikingly like the words of Jesus, “Where two or three are gather together, there am I in the midst.” Matthew 18:20. I am sometimes criticized for quoting from the Jewish Talmud but Jesus Himself quoted from oral tradition which became the Talmud. We often think Jesus is referring to prayer yet in Jewish tradition they recognize He was making a reference to righteous judgment. The word Shekhinah is also found when in personal need – Talmud Shabbat 12b.” It was also manifested when the prophets prophesied. II Kings 3:15: “And now, bring me for a musician, and it happened that when the music played, God’s hand rested upon him (Elisha).” Elisha then received his prophecy.
Yet, is not God omnipresent, how can He dwell in one location. This is where we really need to understand rabbinic teaching if we are to understand our own theology. The rabbinic teaching is that the omnipresence of God is Heavenly and it is his masculine nature, the part that protects, provides and watches over. The Shekhiniah is the earthly, the feminine nature that nurtures, comforts, shares intimately with us. David and the prophets always had the presence of God dwelling within them to protect and provide for them, but it was at the temple or tabernacle where they found that nurturing and caring presence of God, the Shekhiniah.
Josephus in Antiquities 14.7.1 gives an account of Herod raiding the tomb of David and Solomon to acquire the wealth to finance the rebuilding of the temple. Josephus records that as two guards entered the tomb they were slain by a flame of the Shekhinah glory. It shook old Herod up so much he sealed off the tomb never to re-enter.
Eusebius church historian and scholar 260-340 CE records that the Shekhinah glory was seen leaving the temple in 66 AD and alighting on the Mount of Olives. Josephus and a witness named Rabbi Jonathan also records the same account. That is why the Mount of Olives is such a special place for Christians. Yet do we need to travel to the Mount of Olives to experience the Shekhinah glory?
John says: “In the beginning was the Word (logos) and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-2.
The King James Version of 1611 and all versions that have stemmed from it, have attached the Masculine gender to the Greek concept of the Logos. Yet, the eight prior English translations give logos a neuter gender: By it all things were made. This is important, look closely. Jesus is The Logos which is why later translations give it a masculine gender. However, Jewish teaching tells us that it was the Shekhinah glory that created the world. Prior to His appearance on Earth, Jesus was the Shekhinah glory and when the physical manifestation ascended to heaven his earthly manifestation as the Shekhinah glory remained. Paul tells us that He will “never leave us…” Hebrews 13:5. The word leave in the Greek is aniemi which means to tightly embrace, He will never stop embracing us. He cannot do that from heaven. So, although his physical body ascended to heaven, His earthly presence, the Shekhinah glory, the feminine nature of nurturing, comforting etc. remains to aniemi, tightly embrace us.
But soft, remember the Shekhinah means a dwelling place. Paul makes it clear that this is our earthly bodies: “We have this treasure in earthly bodies…” II Cor. 4:7. How about that? The Shekhinah glory now dwells within us.
Yet there is more, the Shekhinah glory also demands a physical location. As Jesus went to the garden, Paul to the desert we too need a place to go. A place far from our rapid pace, where we are sheltered by tree and flowers, where no one else is around and His Shekhinah glory can manifest itself to sooth our troubled minds. We need that trysting place like Jesus found in the garden where we can have a time of intimacy with Him. A husband and wife have their little private place that they can go to, where no one else is around and it is there that they can be intimate. Without it the relationship will die. So too we need that private place to go to every day, a garden, a special room, a warehouse… where the Shekhinah can manifest itself and we can share an intimacy with our creator so that relationship will never die and in that place we find that shahkan where the Shekhinah can aniemi or tightly embrace us.
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