Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - God wants to dwell with you
The infinite God wants to dwell with man, with each of us, that is a mind boggling idea when you start to think about that; among all His other creations, He wants to be with us.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:The most fundamental idea in the Bible is this concept that God wants to dwell with man. So I'm going to talk about three streams of evidence. One is dwelling, this concept of dwelling. The other one is going to be God and the other one will be man. But you put them all together, this concept that God wants to dwell with man, and these are three stories that are going on in the Old Testament. You will see these stories very quickly. Even if you've not been a Christian very long, you'll be able to catch these ideas.
Speaker 2:So the first one if you look at Genesis 2, verse 6 and 7, we have the creation of man. Verse 6 and 7, a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. We're talking about the earth. Right Then, the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being or soul. And this being, this soul, is made in the image of God. Right, for what purpose? Well, obviously, to have a relationship with God, the one whose image he bears. Now, if you look in verse 15, it says the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. So question was the man made, created inside the Garden of Eden or was he created outside the Garden of Eden, outside? Now you have to start to think with me, okay, about the Garden of Eden itself, what it must have been like. So it's definitely within a space and there's space outside that garden. Right, we know that, because he made Adam outside, he put him in it, okay, and the question becomes what is this garden really? Is this not where God wants to dwell with man? In this garden, I'm going to call it a garden temple. In the ancient world they had the hanging gardens of Babylon. It was basically a garden park. Many kings of the ancient world had these to go and to relax in, to enjoy times of respite. They were gorgeous. I mean, you can imagine. What do you think the Garden of Eden is? It's one of these pleasure parks. It's a place where you could dwell with God. It's where you communed with God.
Speaker 2:In fact, chapter 3, verse 8 says what? Chapter 3, verse 8. After the fall, they sowed their fig leaves. It says they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking the word for movement like to and fro. We have a question what is this? Is this a force? Is this the person of God in pre-incarnate form, as the Messiah who would come daily to commune with him, to walk with him inside this garden, to dwell with man? No, it tempts us to think this way. Verses 22 to 24, 322,.
Speaker 2:What happened after the curses are given to the serpent, to the woman, to the man, it says. Then the Lord God said behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now he might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. And you see usually a dashed line there, which is what? Also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. And you see usually a dashed line there, which is what?
Speaker 2:There's three indications of the meaning in Hebrew, one of which is that the sentence does not complete, which is basically my perspective. It's like saying something and you stop mid-sentence because everybody knows the rest of the sentence. You don't need to say it, but it's a very horrible thing, so just don't say it. In other words, the very horrible thing is that if man could eat from this tree and live forever in a sinful body. How terrible would that be, that we would always go on living in these sinful bodies. How terrible would the world become as we just acted on our sinful impulses? So it's just kind of left off.
Speaker 2:And so what did he do? Verse 24, so he drove the man out Out of what, out of the garden right and at the east of the Garden of Eden he stationed the cherry bee angels and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. So in other words, no access. But isn't it interesting? East, he drove them out east, when you get to the end of the story with Cain and Abel, cain murders his brother Abel. He goes east to the land of Nod.
Speaker 2:Throughout the Bible, if you study east, well, let's say more about east the tabernacle that is later set up by Israelites in the wilderness and later the temple that was built in Jerusalem. How many entrances were there to the tabernacle and the temple? Just one. And you entered from the east and you were going west. Moving west was moving toward God in the most holy place. But if you moved East, you were going which way? Away from God, away from God. He put them out of the garden, away to the East. Cain went East to the land, away from God. Where did the Gentile astronomers come from? They come from the East, but they went which way West, toward God.
Speaker 2:This is significant in biblical ideas and the idea here is that now you've got a garden temple where God dwelled with man, communed with man, and now he is removed from that garden area, that garden temple, and he cannot come in to enter to commune with God there. Right, because there's these angels that are stationed there with a flaming sword, which is a sign for capital punishment. Try to come in here and that's it. You're dead, right, they're guarding the way to the tree of life. It, you're dead, right, they're guarding the way to the tree of life. So there's this concept that God wants to dwell with man from the very beginning of the scripture.
Speaker 2:Now go to Exodus chapter. I'm sorry, Genesis 12. Genesis 12. I'm trying, but probably not succeeding, at enlarging your views of ideas in the Bible. One of the things God promised Israel? Well, three of the things I'll give you a land, a seed, and I'll make you a worldwide blessing. Right, these aren't just promises that are put into a covenant, verse 1,. Now the Lord said to Abram Go forth from your country, from your relatives, from your father's house, to the land. I will show you why does he want him to go to a land, to dwell with him in that land, in what will eventually be the tabernacle. Isn't that the whole purpose of the land? Isn't it like he's almost setting up another garden?
Speaker 2:Let's go to Exodus 3, verse 8. Exodus 3, verse 8. To see a little bit about this land. It's described this way Exodus 3, verse 8, the story of Moses. Moses has already fled Egypt and he's down in the Sinai tending his father-in-law's sheep.
Speaker 2:In Exodus 3.8. In the story of the burning bush, it says in verse 8, so I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians and bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with what? Milk and honey. Don't you get the sense that this is like a restored Eden? Don't you get the sense that this is like a restored Eden? It's a place for Israel to dwell that is full of abundance of fruits and goodness right, and cows and goats for milk and all these bees to make honey.
Speaker 2:Okay, don't you see that this land is a little different from all the other land on the earth, kind of like the Garden of Eden was different from every other place outside of it. That God is setting up a space. He calls it a spacious land, a place to dwell with man. That's what's going on with the land thing. It's not incidental. And then Exodus 25, verse 8, what are they supposed to construct? Exodus 25, verse 8, they're supposed to construct. Exodus 25, verse 8. They're supposed to construct a sanctuary, a tabernacle, right. Exodus 25, verse 8. Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may. What Dwell among them this is one of the most basic themes of the Bible is God's desire to dwell among men and the way that he eventually makes that possible.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app, and until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.