Scott: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family" podcast with Steve Demme. I'm your  host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How are you  today? 

Steve: It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood here. Still feels like summer even  though it's fall. 

Scott: I always love fall, but then it actually becomes fall and it rains, which is what  it's doing today. I'm like, "Oh, yeah. I forgot about this part of fall."  Steve: Yeah. We're getting that tomorrow, hopefully. We need it. Our creek almost  dried up.  

This podcast is a continuation in our series on the stone, the rock. If you're like me, it  takes time to learn a new concept. It involves a lot of review and rethinking. I'm still edified as I was looking at these scriptures. As you know, during most of our  podcasts, we read God's word. It grows on me how important it is that we stay in the  Bible. 

This idea of staying in Scripture is reminiscent of John 15, where we are commanded  to abide in His word. Abide means to pitch your tent and dwell there. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that You not only sent Jesus  to be the word made flesh, but You gave us Your word. You gave us, for thousands of  years, all these men of God who have spoken, inspired by the Spirit. It's a cohesive  message. It's deep. 

Sometimes we feel like even as much as we've delved into it, we're only scratching the  surface. Give us insight today into Your Word afresh, and write these words on our  heart so that we can be different, not inspired momentarily. 

I pray that as we expose ourselves to the living, inspired, immutable, unchanging  Word of God, that we'll be changed more into the image of Christ. In Jesus' name,  amen. 

Scott: Amen. 

Steve: Let's go over our words a little bit today. I used the word pitch your tent and  dwell, probably because I've been studying this and it's very real to me. The tent in  the wilderness was called the tabernacle. 

Tabernacle can mean a tent, but it can also be a verb, which means to dwell. In some  versions, particularly the King James version, it talks about God tabernacling with His  people, or dwelling with His people. Tabernacle and dwell. 

You have to study the roots because sometimes the word tent and tabernacle have a  couple different roots, but I want us to think about that concept. The tabernacle is not  only a place where God dwells, but it also means to dwell. 

We're going to first get a glimpse into God's heart, which I hope I haven't said this so  much that we have lost the beauty of it. Exodus 29:43-46 (Speaking of the  tabernacle) ”There, I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by  My glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. 

"Aaron also and his sons, I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among  the people of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am Jehovah their  God, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them. I am  Jehovah, their God." 

This is God's heart. He wants to be near His people. He doesn't want to be way up on  the mountain. He wants to be in their midst. 

God doesn't want to meet me only when I'm walking, or when I'm in church, or when  I'm especially seeking Him. He wants to be with me when I'm walking my pups, when  I'm working in my office, He wants to be near me, wants to be near all of us. One of the unique times when God drew near to a person is Chapter 28:11-12,  "Taking one of the stones of the place, he (Jacob) put it under his head and lay down  in that place to sleep. He dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the  Earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending  and descending on it. Jehovah is in this place. This is none other than the house of  God, and this is the gate of heaven." 

Chapter 28:18-19, “Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under  his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name  of that place Bethel.” 

There's a connection, which we're going to see in a couple of these passages. There's  a connection between God wanting to dwell with us, God being with us, and the  Stone. 

The Stone was the key piece in this passage about the “Gate of Heaven” and the  “House of God.” In Hebrew, the word “El” means God, and house is “Beth.” House of  God is Beth-El. 

The house is where somebody dwells and lives. This is a special place, and the key  component was the Stone. Jacob recognized this. He took the stone. He set it up. He  poured oil on it. People don't pour oil on rocks that you find in the wilderness. This  was a specific act of anointing. 

Notice this language in Psalm 27:4-5, "One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I  seek after, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to gaze  upon the beauty of Jehovah and to inquire in His temple. In the day of trouble, He will  conceal me in His tabernacle. In the secret place of His tent, He will hide me. He will  set me up on a Rock."  

Note the Rock, the house of Jehovah, the secret place of His tent, the tabernacle. The word Bethel is used 65 times. I looked it up the other day. It's all through the Old  Testament. Now I hope that when our listeners read their Bible, they notice how many  times Bethel appears. 

This is the house of God, and it’s a tabernacle, or tent. He also says, "And He will set  me up on a Rock." Psalm 118:19-23, "Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I  may enter through them, and give thanks to Jehovah. This is the gate of Jehovah, the  righteous shall enter through it. 

"I thank You that You have answered me and have become my salvation. The Stone  that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. This is Jehovah's doing. It is  marvelous in our eyes." 

Now something's a little bit different. Yes, it's the gate of righteousness or the gate of  Jehovah. As I read those verses, I remember that no one can come to the Father  except through the Son. Jesus is the way. He is the Door. 

When I read gates of righteousness, and gate of Jehovah, the way to the Father with  God on the top and angels up and down, I'm thinking, "This is Jesus."  In Genesis 28 we also have the stone. Putting these together we see this same stone  has become the cornerstone. Cornerstones are the key stone when you build the  foundation of a house. 

Note Matthew 21:42, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the  cornerstone." Acts 4:12. "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the  builders, which has become the cornerstone." 

There's more to these verses, and I'm going to tuck another thought in here to be  faithful to scripture, even though I have not fully comprehended all that is transpiring. Isaiah 8:13-15, "It is Jehovah of hosts Whom you should regard as holy, and He shall  be your fear, and He shall be your dread. Then He will become a sanctuary and a  stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, and a snare and a  trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over them, then they will fall  and be broken. They will even be snared and taken." 

My tendency is to focus on the positive aspects of the stone being Christ and the  stone as the cornerstone of the house of God. However there is also the concept of a  stumbling block, and a rock of offense, which is also a part of this truth. We know that Jesus was rejected by the builders. He was cast aside. He did not get the  royal reception that was worthy of Him. The cornerstone can be a wonderful thing for  those of us that have embraced Jesus, but if you haven't, it can be a stone of offense  and a stone of stumbling. 

Let's continue to build here. In Ephesians 2:20-22, "We are His house, built on the  foundation of the apostles and the prophets. The chief cornerstone is Christ Jesus  Himself 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 place for  God by the Spirit." 

Our understanding of the Stone keeps growing. We have had to read between the  lines when we're reading the Old Testament. It doesn't say Jesus. It says house of  God. It says cornerstone. It says stone.  

However Paul declares the chief cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. This house that  He's building and is growing into a holy temple. We’re being fitted and built into this  place, but it's not any place. It's a dwelling place. It's a tabernacle for God by the Spirit  so that God can live among us. 

1 Peter 2:4-8 is a powerful passage. I read this a lot, and I'm going to continue  reading it a lot. There's so much packed in here. "Coming to Him as to a Living Stone,  which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God. "You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy  priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen  and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame, so the honor is  for you who believe. 

"But for those who do not believe, the Stone that the builders rejected has become the  cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because  they disobey the word, as they were destined to do." 

We see the wonderful holiness and nearness of God through Christ, which is a  blessing to those who believe, but for those who have not believed, those who have  rejected him, he's a rock of offense. I need to hold that thought in my mind. 2 Corinthians 6:16, "We are the temple of the living God. As God said, 'I will make My  dwelling place among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they  shall be My people.'" 

This is what God had on his heart way back in Exodus 19. This is something that has  always been on His heart. He is committed to us. His love is steadfast, not fleeting.  It's unchanging. He says, "I am going to work a work in their midst, and I'm going to  send My Son to accomplish it, and He's going to save His people. He's going to  transform them," and then we become God's temple. Then He makes His dwelling  place among us and walks among us. It's beautiful.  

Let’s examine the New Testament word for tent or tabernacle. The root word is skene,  S‑K‑E‑N‑E, and skenos, which means tent or tabernacle. As I studied, I noticed that  Paul and Priscilla and Aquila were skenopoios, which is tentmaker. The verb is  skenosy. Another word from the same root, is skénopégia and it's for the tabernacle  or the feast of tabernacles, the feast of booths. 

Now we're going to go to Revelation 21:1-3. We started in the Old Testament,  Genesis, then we read Exodus, we've read all these verses that establish our  foundations, our beginnings, and now we are in the telos, the end, Revelation. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth for the first heaven and the first Earth had  passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming  down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. "I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place/tabernacle of  God is with man. He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His people, and God  Himself will be with them as their God.'" 

Earlier in Revelation, these same words are used in a beautiful way. This is in the  seventh chapter. One of the elders addressed me saying, "Who are these clothed in  white robes, and from where have they come?" I said to him, "Sir, you know." He said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have  washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. He who  sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them with His presence." If you look at that verse, which I looked at it in four or five translations, some say He'll  spread His tent over them, some say He will spread the tabernacle of His presence,  but He will spread His tabernacle over them with His presence. 

“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor  any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,  and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear  from their eyes.” 

This is what He does when He spreads His tent, His tabernacle, over us with His  presence. A verse that many of us know, and are very familiar with, may have a new  insight now, John 1:14. "The word became flesh and did tabernacle among us, and we  beheld His glory, glory as of an only begotten of a Father, full of grace and truth." All right, Scott. I don't envy you now having to respond, but this is why you get paid  the big bucks. 

Scott: I'm astonished, again, I go back to what you were first talking about, and it's all  through Scripture, how God wants to be with us. 

Steve: Amen. 

Scott: Every other religion, it looks like God wants ‑ whatever their version of God is ‑ wants us to be lowly and worship Him from afar or whatever. From the beginning of  the Bible, you get God wanting to walk with Adam in the cool of the day. Throughout this study of building the house, it's like He's literally building a temple  out of His Son and us to be together with Him. It is astonishing when you put it all  together like this. I'm in awe. 

The contrast between the precious cornerstone and the one who trusts in Him will  never be put to shame, is what my translation says in 1 Peter 2. That phrase always  catches my heart because I think the devil is trying to shame us all the time. Steve: Absolutely. 

Scott: The idea of never being put to shame when you trust in Him. Then the contrast  between that and the stone the builders rejected is the rock that makes them fall. You  see it happening. I see that in people currently, and even some that I'm praying for  that hopefully they won't stumble ultimately, but it's so powerful. 

Steve: Amen. If I can put it this way, I've wondered why this is so sometimes a little  bit ‑‑ I don't know if difficult is the word ‑‑ but it's hard to compass because you've  got about four different thoughts here that we're trying to pull together. We like linear, this is A, this is B. If we believe, we receive, things like that. Here you  have a picture, as we've seen all through scripture, of God's heart wanting to dwell  with us. We also have this unique, which He calls chosen and precious, physical  demonstration of His presence, a stone, the rock, the cornerstone. I think we're a little bit more comfortable with cornerstone because we've heard it so  much. It's all through the New Testament, but when we tie it together with this stone that He set up and anointed and this stone, which was not only the gate of heaven,  but it was the house of God, Bethel. 

Then this same stone is becoming the cornerstone to build the house of God, the  Bethel, except we're a part of it now because of what the stone has done for us. The  stone is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. 

Steve: This stone, this house of God, it ties the whole Bible together. It says in  Revelation 21, which I stopped before I got to it, but it talks about the holy Jerusalem  coming down. 

It has 12 gates, at the gates 12 angels, and of the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of  the sons of Israel inscribed, and on the east, three gates, etc. The wall of the city had  12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the lamb. There is so much that comes together here, and the key piece is Christ. Christ is the  cornerstone. Christ is the one Who came to tabernacle among us so that we can  tabernacle with Him. Amen. 

Father, thank you for these nuggets, these chosen and precious insights into your  word. Thank you for your big heart that wants to dwell with us and dwell in our midst.  Thank you for making a way, Jesus. Thank you for taking away our sin. Thank you for  paying the penalty for our sin. 

Thank you for assuaging the wrath of God and restoring us to communion with the  Father so that we can, like angels, ascend and descend. We can come close to you and  you can come close to us. Thank you. 

We worship you, and we commit these truths that we've heard to you today into your  good spirit's hands. Reveal them to us when we need to have them revealed, but as  Scott said, help us to get the message that you are committed to drawing near and  dwelling with us. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the  Building Faith and Family podcast with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the  show, email Steve at spdemme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.