LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Point of Encounter with God
For Israel, God's chosen place to meet with His people was the Temple, but for the Christian it is not a place but a Person: Jesus Christ.
Roberto Sáez
"But you are to seek the place of the lord your God will choose among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go." (Deut. 12:5). "Then hear from heaven..." (2 Chro. 6:23, 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 39). "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them." (Matt. 18:19-20).
Looking back at all God's beloved, throughout the ages that have been exposed to the possibility of falling into spiritual vanity, it is necessary to remember what the point of encounter was between them and God. It is only in Christ that the soul finds rest, renovation and light. It is only in Him that the heart finds the freshness of God's life for one's daily walk. It is what Laodicea didn't see in all their blindness, and the reason why they fell into spiritual pride.
A Meeting Place and Place of Prayer
In the moment when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God gave his people instructions regarding the meeting place. It would be just one sanctuary in the whole territory, a place chosen by God. It would be a meeting place where the Name of God would be present to invoke for prayer and to enjoy His presence.
Canaan was full of sanctuaries erected to a diversity of idols; there was religious pluralism, wide tolerance and respect for all forms of cults. The Canaanites, when learning of God's order for Israel regarding a single national sanctuary, surely thought that it was madness or intolerant fanaticism. Today's situation is no different. We live in times that are open to all forms of cults invented by man; there is freedom for all types of religious expression. However, even though it has a high price to pay, God's remnant moves away from such tolerance that gives place to liberalism and devotes itself to God's pattern.
Israel was not, niether is the Church entitled to raise up altars or meeting places for their own purposes; this is the exclusive right of God. He chose Shiloh as the meeting point for Israel and also as the meeting point for the Church: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the obedience of the nations is his." (Gn. 49:10). In the case of Israel, this was a geographical place; in the case of the Church, it is a person: Christ the Lord. Shiloh remained God's chosen place until, because of Israel's sins, the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant. That day, the daughter-in-law of Eli let out a scream: "Ichabod!" -The glory has departed from Israel- In that moment their son was born abruptly and the prophet Eli fell down dead.
This incident marked a turning point in Israel's history. The Ark of the Covenant moved from one place to another until God again chose a fixed place: Jerusalem. How many things can happen when we move away from the meeting place established by God!
Today we are in the same danger as that found in the days of Eli. We have extravagant cults exacerbated by rhythms that incite the emotions, instrumentalization with volumes that surpass the voices of the church, relaxed morals, publicized miracles, extrasensory experiences, and emphasis on saving money to buy a radio or a TV. Will not all of this be a rejected offering? God's remnant must leave these things in order to live in the center of God's will, which is Shiloh, "The Sent one." When he came, the tribe of Judah would not boast any longer in an independent king or in their own judge. Jesus Christ was judged by the Roman law under Pontius Pilate's power: in this way the prophecy was completed. The Sent One arrived and people of all the nations go to him to congregate in his name.
TheTemple as a Simile of Christ
"But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my name..." (2 Chronicles 6:6) God again declares to Israel that He is entitled to choose the place of His dwelling. This will be a meeting place, in order to meet with God, a place for prayer, to invoke His name regarding any thing, be it great or small, personal or of national interest, in all circumstances: whether of war, drought, hunger, illness, pestilences; if they would repent of their wicked ways and pray and seek the face of God, extending their hands toward God's house from any point of the earth, "You will hear from the heavens" (6:30). The possibilities of prayer were limitless in their range, and they included all people, all men ,even to the foreigner. These same possibilities are available today for those that meet with Christ (Matt.18:19-20).
If we compare the text of Deuteronomy 12:5 and 2 Chronicles 6:6 with that of Matthew 18 :19-20, we find a perfect correlation between what is said of God's chosen place in the Old Testament and the person of our Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. What this clearly implies is that Shiloh, like the temple in Jerusalem, is a figure of Christ. Jesus is the chosen One of God; He is God with us. God put His name in Him and we are all brought to His person so that through Him we meet with God. He promises that if we request something in His name, the Father will hear from heaven.
If God heard the Jews on the basis of external symbols, how much more those that, upon the foundation of work and person of Jesus Christ, are brought to the living and true God? How much more effective is the churches' prayer than that of the Jews in times of the law? God's answers to our prayers have been limitless. It is said that George Meuller wrote down his prayers and he ended up counting 1,500,000 prayers that the Lord responded to throughout his life.
The Jews' meeting was external; the Christian's is internal. The purpose of having an exclusive, single place as a center of national and international adoration for the believers of the Old Testament was to maintain the unity of faith amongst all God's children. For the believers of the New Testament, there is an exclusivity without any place for discussion of a single person as a point of encounter between God and man: the Lord Jesus Christ. He has the same purpose, that is to say, the unity of faith of all God's children through His person.
The idea of constructing temples and cathedrals as a meeting point between God and man is an idea which comes from the Old Testament, which the Lord Himself abolished when He said to the Samaritan woman that from then onward, those who worshiped God would do it in spirit and truth. (John 4:24) This is corroborated by the Holy Spirit when Paul tangibly declares: "God... does not live in temples built by human hands." (Acts 17:24) The idea of gathering the children of God in any other name that is not Jesus Christ is, without doubt, a misguided path. The Lord Jesus said: "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John12:32) The prophecy in Genesis says "...and the obedience of the nations is his." In this point there is a great deal of distortion, but, as in all times, God always reserves a remnant that will return to do His will.
We Meet with God in Christ
Hebrews 10:19-22 offers the clearest and most categorical teaching in the entire Bible regarding God's established form to meet with him through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our communion with God, we have to faithfully follow the steps that are described in this passage. There we are told that we have access to the Most Holy Place through Christ's blood for the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, and that we have a great High Priest over the house of God. All this is a spiritual reality that has its fulfillment in Christ. And then we are told how we are to come closer: with a sincere heart, with faith, purified hearts from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
In this passage, as in the entire book of Hebrews, we find a harmony between the Old and New Testament; an application of the symbol to the reality of the symbol. Here the shades of the Hebrew meeting are cleared and we arrive at the Christian meeting. While the participants of the Hebrew meeting extended their hands in faith toward the house of God in a place on the earth to invoke the name of God and to make their petitions, the participants of the faith in the Son of God invoke His name, the name that God revealed by disposition from an angel to Joseph: "you are to give him the name Jesus." (Matthew 1:21) This is the name above all other names that must be invoked to be heard by God: Jesus, which in the Hebrew language is Jeshua or Joshua.
Jesus says to the Father in prayer: "I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world." (John 17:6) He taught us that in his name we would do all things. Jesus' name is salvation. In the Bible Jesus' name appears in 252 different forms and all speak of a relationship with salvation; because our God delights in saving. You can invoke His name as the Bread of Life and you will be saved from hunger; you can invoke His name as the Light of the World, and you will be saved from the darkness; you can invoke His name as the Life and be saved from death. One of the greatest necessities of God's beloved in these times is to remain watchful through prayer, not falling into the disgrace of Laodicea.
After knowing all this, our confidence when praying must be more assured by the immeasurable power of Jesus' name. Call on Him, invoke His name, and you will see that at once our prayer will be in the presence of God, being heard by the Father.
There, in the presence of God, next to your brothers and sisters in Christ, you will be able to pray, knowing that the possibilities of communion and prayer are limitless and that the smallest things and the biggest things reach the throne; from the ephemeral things of everyday desires, to the great spiritual interests of the Kingdom of God. Dare to pray and you will see how the mountains will fall and how obstacles that the enemy puts in front of the church will vanish.
Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ is the meeting point, the name of God is in him, and through him we are received and enjoy God's presence.