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  mystical  Jewish rabbis coined. They took the word shakhan which means a dwelling place and put it into a hiphil form so it literally means he is caused to dwell. Then they added 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 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 dwelling which is yashav in that shakhan is more direct and 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.  Jesus may have been referencing this when he said: “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst.”  This was not a reference to prayer as we Christians like to interpret it, but it is really a reference to the study of the Word of God and when two or three are in agreement  in their study they are in unity with Jesus. The 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 miss it.  The rabbinic teaching is that the omnipresence of God is Heavenly, it is his masculine nature, the part that protects, provides, watches over.  However, the Shekhiniah is the earthly, the feminine nature where He nurtures, comforts, shares intimately with you.

Josephus in Antiquities 14.7.1 gives an account of Herod raiding the tomb of David and Solomon to acquire its 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.  This is really why the Mt of Olives has traditionally been such a special place for Christians.  Yet do we need to travel to the Mt 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.  The eight prior English translations give logos a neuter gender: “By it all things were made.”   This is important, which is why we must catch this.  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 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.

As Christians we have the very living, loving life of Jesus Christ inside of us, we are now the temple of God which means that the Shekhinah glory rest within us.  When we allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine out of us, people will see the presence of God.  You think that little bird or squirrel is attracted to you because of you?  Perhaps they sense that living, loving life of Jesus Christ in you and it is the Shekhinah glory they are attracted to.

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 the restless places, sheltered by tree and flower, where no one else is around and His Shekhinah glory can manifest itself to sooth our troubled minds.  A trysting place 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 where 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. We need to find a shahkan where the Shekhinah can aniemi (tightly embrace) us.

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