sound of a soft breath

The building was impressive in its architecture (1 Kings 6:1-38) and filled with extravagant furnishings (1 Kings 7:13-51). But its true significance is what would happen there: God's glory would be present (1 Kings 8:10-13). How mind-boggling that the Creator of the universe would be willing to take such a step! But that reveals something important about God: he wants to meet with his people."

Whiney Kuniholm wrote this in reflecting on the passage from 1 Kings chapter 8 in the Old Testament of the Bible. I am journaling through his book titled The Essential Jesus: 100 Readings Through the Bible's Greatest Story. This is the 14th passage of 100 that are outlined in this book.

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. (1Kings 8:10-11)

One of the grand threads that run through the entire Bible, both testaments, is the periodic and incredible intersections between heaven and earth. We read about these intersections all throughout the Scriptures. This theme is established right from the beginning in the first few chapters of the Bible in the garden where God lived with Adam & Eve. God even walked with them in the garden during the cool of the day. (Genesis 3:8)

Much later after God won their freedom from slavery in Eqypt we read about the tabernacle. This was the portable tent of meeting that God gave them instructions to build and take with them as they traveled around the desert for forty years. It was a place where God dwelt among His people. (Exodus 25:8) It was a place where heaven and earth came together, the intersection between God and humans.

In this chapter of first Kings we read about the transition from the portable tabernacle tent to the more permanent stone temple just built under King Solomon. The priests transferred the ark of the Lord from the tent of meeting, or Tabernacle, to the inner sanctuary known as the Most Holy Place in this brand new temple. Here we read an account of what happened after the ark of the Lord had been moved into the inner sanctuary. A cloud filled the temple and the priests couldn't continue their work. The Glory of the Lord filled the temple causing all other actions to cease. Wow! Another point at which heaven and earth intersected.

Before Christ came to this earth the tabernacle and later the temple were the place, the location, where God was present. It was the place on earth where God dwelt, where heaven and earth overlapped, where heaven and earth intersected. It was also a picture of a new intersection. A preview of what was coming - who was coming.

In Christ Jesus God and the human race intersected literally. God became human. Jesus was both God and man and lived on this earth with us humans during a very specific time in our human history interacting face to face, flesh to flesh, with those He created. God here living and walking among His people.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

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