Dwelling with God (Indwelling)
Where Do We Live … Dwell?
Dwelling With ABBA and Christ Jesus in Our “Tents” “Not Made With Human Hands” – The Tabernacles, During Our Sojourn On Earth As Colonist, Sojourners, Strangers.
Primitive Christianity: A Colonist Perspective on Missionary Efforts.
Many of those European emigrants coming to America, fleeing intense religious persecution in their countries, used expressions from their Bibles to describe themselves and their purposes when they arrived. Many referred to themselves as “sojourners,” “strangers,” “aliens,” “colonists,” and “planters;” terms used by Abraham, Jacob, Joshua and Moses, to name but a few.
“This is why all whom Moses calls wise are represented as sojourners (paroikountes). Their souls are never colonists leaving heaven for a new home. Their way is to visit earthly nature as a people who travel abroad to see and learn. So when they stayed awhile in their bodies, and beheld through them all that sense and mortality has to show, they make their way back to the place from which they set out at first. To them the heavenly region, where their citizenship lies, is their native land; the earthly region is which they became sojourners is a foreign country.” [1] [2]
“20 But we are a colony of heaven on earth as we cling tightly to our life-giver, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our humble bodies and transfigure us into the identical likeness of his glorified body. And using his matchless power, he continually subdues everything to himself.” (Phil. 3.20. TPT)
“23 And as members of the church of the Firstborn[3] all our names have been legally registered as citizens of heaven! [4]And we have come before God who judges all, and who lives among the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect in his eyes.(Hebrews 12.23.TPT
[1] De confusione linguarum (confusione, Latin confision, mess; linguarum, Latin for tongue, language, speech – a Tower of Babel reference), Philo of Alexandria (also called Philo Judaeus), a Jewish philosopher, who lived in the Roman province of Egypt in approximately 50 B.C., confirmed this in his writings.“
[2] Augustine 500 A.D. On the city of God against the pagans (Latin: De civitate Dei contra paganos), often called The City of God, is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. The book was in response to allegations that Christianity brought about the decline of Rome and is considered one of Augustine's most important works, standing alongside The Confessions, The Enchiridion, On Christian Doctrine, and On the Trinity. As a work of one of the most influential Church Fathers, The City of God is a cornerstone of Western thought, expounding on many profound questions of theology, such as the suffering of the righteous, the existence of evil, the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin.
[3] “12:23 This is Jesus who is God’s uniquely Firstborn (Heb. 1:6). In Christ we are all the firstborn and have all the rights and blessings that Jesus has.” (TPT).
[4] “12:23 Or “whose names are written in heaven.” There are many books in heaven. See Ex. 32:32; Pss. 69:28; 87:6; Dan. 12:1; Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27.” (TPT)
As revealed in Hebrews 12, verse 23, above, ABBA’s Word, which changes not, confirms who we are: that is, registered citizens in Heaven. A group of us, is also confirmed by his Words as a colony of heaven.
“1 Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, And speaketh truth in his heart; 3 He that slandereth not with his tongue, Nor doeth evil to his friend, Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honoreth them that fear Jehovah; He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not; 5 He that putteth not out his money to interest, Nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” (Psalm 15 ASV***).
Our Ancestors As Sojourners – Colonists & Citizens Of Heaven.
King David understood the benefit of repeatedly accepting the immutable Covenant of ABBA’s blessings, when he wrote the Psalms; but David actually lived them by his daily practice of ascending the fifteen steps into the Kingdom of ABBA by reading them aloud, pausing between each (Selah, speaking Amen), then continuing through Psalms 120-135. In one first century Aramaic (Syriac Peshitto) manuscript of the Old Testament they are called “the songs of the homeward marches.” The same may be said by the writings of the Desert Fathers and primitive Christianity practices written of in: Devotio Moderna and Sayings of the Desert Fathers[1]. Primitive Christianity continues in practice in America in 2022. For those who may have an interest please VISIT this link in the footnote[2].
Other translations describe them variously as “songs of the pilgrim caravans,” “songs of degrees,” “songs of the stairway” (referring to Jacob’s Ladder in Gen. 28.12. GNV.), and “songs of ascent. Our ancestors acknowledged the pilgrim, sojourner nature, as descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “We are strangers before the and sojourners, as all our fathers were.” (1 Chron. 29. GNV.) In Genesis 23.4, Abraham declares himself to be an alien (stranger) and sojourner among the Hittites. In Young’s Living Translation of God’s Word, the word “sojourner” appears thirty seven times in the Old Testament (transliterated as ger). In fact Moses named his son Gershom containing its root trilateral. The Hebrew ending of Gershom, shom, is the same as the Hebrew shom, an adverb meaning "there." Moses was a "sojourner, there" in the land of Midian. Interestingly, the name Gershon / Gershom had already been used in the family of Levi as well (1 Chronicles 6:1, 16). In the Old and the New Testament, the word is translated consistently eighty one times through Revelation.
What is Meant of the Tent of the Meeting?
What is on the surface of this word rendered in English, does not convey, either what it meant in the days of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses … and many others in the Old Testament. Philo in his Treatises writes about it in the following passage, so we will start there. Understanding each of those Patriarchs described themselves as sojourners, strangers, even aliens in the lands where they sojourned, they also lived in their tents; a term best described by the conditions in which Moses found himself after the exodus from Egypt, leading the people through the wilderness.
[1] SOURCE (**) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers
[2] Christ in the Desert has two dependent monasteries in Mexico: La Soledad, near San Miguel de Allende, and St. Mary and All the Saints. Recently, in 2010 another foundation was established near Dallas, TX, Thien Tam, that has a community of mostly Vietnamese monks. All of these monasteries likewise observe the Benedictine life according to the Rule without apostolates other than a guesthouse. The community at Christ in the Desert is comprised of men from several nations, though English is the language of the house. https://christdesert.org/about/
“XII. As, therefore, among men in general, that is to say, among those who propose to themselves many objects in life, the divine spirit does not remain, even though it may abide among them for a very short time, but it remains among one species of men alone, namely, among those who having put off all the things of creation, and the inmost veil and covering (Page 340) of false opinion, come to God in their unconcealed and naked minds. Thus also Moses, having fixed his tent outside of the tabernacle and outside of all the corporeal army, * that is to say, having established his mind so that it should not move, begins to worship God, and having entered into the darkness, that invisible country, remains there, performing the most sacred mysteries; and he becomes, not merely an initiated man, but also an hierophant of mysteries and a teacher of divine things, which he will explain to those whose ears are purified; therefore the divine spirit is always standing by him, conducting him in every right way: but from other men, as I have said before, it very soon separates itself, and completes their life in the number of a hundred and twenty years. …” (Philo, ibid.) [Emphasis added]
Most readers of ABBA’s word, when considering “tent” would conclude it was a physical tent, but might not consider that the “word” as used is a figure of speech with deeper meaning. The number of references to the word tent are massive in The WORD of GOD; and since this is such an important topic, some of those have been compiled below, with the word habitation following:
Tent: Bible Strong's 168. ohel Strong's Concordance ohel: a tent Original Word: אֹהֶל Part of Speech: Noun Masculine Transliteration: ohel Phonetic Spelling: (o'-hel) Definition: a tent Brown-Driver-Briggs* אֹ֫הֶל343 noun masculineGenesis 13:3 tent (compare Assyrian âlu, above, Arabic, fellow-dwellers, family, Sabean אהל DHMZMG 1883, 341 and others, also in proper names Sabean & Phoenician see אהליאב) — absolute ׳א Genesis 4:20 ...; construct id. Exodus 28:43 ...; אֹ֫הֱלָה (ה locative) Genesis 18:6 ...; suffix אָהֳלִי Job 29:4 ...; אָֽהָלִךָ Psalm 61:5; אָֽהֳלֹה Genesis 9:21 3t. (see DrSm xxxv); plural אֹהָלִים Genesis 13:5 ... (Ges§ 23. 3); בָֽאֳהָלִים Judges 8:11 ...; construct אָהֳלֵי Numbers 16:26 ...; suffix אֹהָלַי Jeremiah 4:20; אֹהָלֶיךָ Numbers 24:5 ...; אָהֳלֵיכֶם Joshua 22:8 ..., etc. — 2 dwelling, habitation; Psalm 91:10 לְאֹהָלֶ֑ךָ home (literally to thy tents, plural) Judges 19:9 (after הלך); ׳א בֵּיתִי habitation of my house Psalm 132:3 compare Daniel 11:45; דוד ׳א habitation or palace of David where throne erected Isaiah 16:5; בַת צִיּוֺן ׳א h. of daughter of Zion (= Jerusalem) Lamentations 2:4; אָהֲלֵי יַעֲקֹב Jeremiah 30:18; Malachi 2:12 ("" מִשְׁכָּן); יְהוּדָה ׳א Zechariah 12:7 ("" בית דוד); רְשָׁעִים ׳א h. of wicked Job 8:22, compare רֶשַׁע ׳א Psalm 84:11, יְשָׁרִים ׳א Proverbs 14:11; שֹׁחַד ׳א Job 15:34; צַדִּיקִים ׳א Psalm 118:15; אֱדוֺם ׳א = Edom itself, Psalm 83:7 compare קְדָר ׳א Psalm 120:5 כוּשָׁן ׳א Habakkuk 3:7. 3 the sacred tent used in worship of God; הָאֹהֶל the tent; מוֺעֵד ׳א tent of meeting of God with his people (tent of congregation or assembly Ges MV and others) According to E Moses so called the tent which he used to pitch without the camp, afar off, into which he used to enter, & where God spake with him face to face, Exodus 33:7-11 Numbers 12:5,10; Deuteronomy 31:14,15; J seems to have same conception of an ׳מ ׳א outside the camp, ("" בַּיִת & הַר קֹדֶשׁ) is refuge & dwelling-place of righteous, Psalm 15:1; Psalm 27:5; Psalm 27:6; Psalm 61:5 (compare Psalm 90:1). {Emphasis added]
The description above, in terms of of its first usage includes the Book of Job dating at least back to Genesis chapter 3. That Enoch had such a tent is provided in the description of Enoch in the Book of Jasher which can be found at avariety of locations online . Enoch also withdrew many times from the crowds, to meet with God in the secret place of the MOST HIGH GOD. To demonstrate both tent and habitation used in the same sense as that in (3) above and Philo’s description; Psalm 91, written by David many years after Moses offers this context; in the same sense as Philo at the time of Christ, 4,000 years after Genesis Chapter 3:
“1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. 3 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. 11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation.” (Ps. 91.1-16. ASV***) [Emphasis added]. [Emphasis added]
Brown-Driver-Briggs* I. מָעוֺן noun [masculine] dwelling, habitation; — absolute ׳מ Psalm 71:3 ..., construct מְעוֺן Jeremiah 25:30 ..., suffix מְעוֺנֶ֑ךָ Psalm 91:9, etc.; — …2 dwelling of ׳י: a. in heaven קָדְשְׁךָ ׳מ Deuteronomy 26:15 compare Jeremiah 25:30 ("" מָרוֺם), Zechariah 2:17; Psalm 68:6; 2Chronicles 30:27.
And Christ Jesus ratifies the same exact thing if these passages:
“18 The Jews therefore answered and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” (Jn. 14.18-11) {Emphasis added]
This passage clearly in describes the abode in the body, describes where the Father, and Christ Jesus both abide.
“1 Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go, ye know the way.” (Jn 14.1-2 ASV***) [Emphasis added]
The word mansion is rendered from the Greek below having the meaning of an abode, a place where one abides all the time.
“23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.” (Jn. 14-23-24 ASV***) [Emphasis added]
“ … STRONGS NT 3438: μόνη Thayer’s Greek Lexicon* μόνη, μόνης, ἡ (μένω) (from Herodotus down), a staying, abiding, dwelling, abode: John 14:2; μόνην ποιεῖν (L T Tr WH ποιεῖσθαι, as in Thucydides 1, 131; Josephus, Antiquities 8, 13, 7; 13, 2, 1), to make an (one's) abode, παρά τίνι metaphorically, of God and Christ by their power and spirit exerting a most blessed influence on the souls of believers, John 14:23; see ποιῶ, 1 c. …”It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Peace be unto you and your families.. Grace is all. JT
