Living With God (Sukkot)
We are always hearing about living for God, but what about living with God. The purpose that God created was so that He could dwell with man. Yet, He did not create man as a spiritual being like Himself. But He created man to have a physical body, with an eternal spirit. You have to wonder why? The angels were created as spiritual beings, so why not man? Because man was going to be special to God, and God wanted to bless him. His eternal plan was to have man live forever, but man dashed God’s plan when man sinned in the Garden. Or did he? The sovereign God knew the beginning from the end, for no man can thwart God’s plans. God actually gave man a great blessing by creating him as a physical being. Just look around you and see the beauty of His creation, the flowers, the birds, the trees, the rivers .Just think what we would have missed if God did not create a physical world. Of course, in God’s heavenly temple there is nothing like the splendor of the Lord. His glory is all around Him. No, God created a physical world to partially separate us from Him. God wanted to see if we would be loyal to Him, faithful and obedient to Him, if we did not see Him. Yet, God has made Himself known to us, He walked with Adam and Even in the Garden. He dealt with Cain when he killed his brother. He spoke to Noah and even guided him in building the Ark. He was a friend to Abraham and Moses who saw His glory. God spoke to the prophets, and of course, He sent His Son Yeshua. If you saw Yeshua, you saw the Father, this is what Yeshua told us, John 14:9.
But before we get to Yeshua, God spoke to Moses and told him to build a dwelling for Him. Yes, this is what the Tabernacle in the wilderness was all about. God wanted to meet with us, just like He did with Adam and Eve. He wanted to dwell among us. God told Moses in Exodus 25:8-9, “Have them construct a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, so you shall construct it.”
God only wanted to dwell with man. He loved us so much that He tells us just how special we are to Him. He calls us His segula, in Hebrew which means His special treasure like in Exodus 19:3-6, “And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Yes, it started with Israel, for He chose them as Romans 9:4-5 tells us, “To who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and daughters, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
But God loved all His creation as Paul tells us in Romans 11:17, “ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree..”
So this brings us to Yeshua, Scripture tells us in Ephesians 2:11-22,
“Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace; and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
With what started in the Garden of Eden and was then built in the wilderness, the Tabernacle, and now we ourselves are being built into the temple with Yeshua as the Cornerstone and His Word as the foundation, God has made a way for us to dwell Him. He has brought us all near by the blood of Yeshua and grafted us into Israel and now the two are one. As Psalm 23 ends it says this, “Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,
And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.”
This is what we celebrate during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), dwelling with God forever. You may want to celebrate this Appointed Time of God also. It is a Biblical Feast for all who believe: For God so loved us, that He sent His only begotten Son, so to those who believe shall have everlasting life. John 3:16
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