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The LORD Is There (Yahweh-Shammah) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking, brought to you by The Deep Dive.
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We've got a really compelling deep dive lined up for you
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today. That's right, our focus today is
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on a Hebrew phrase from Ezekiel, Yahweh, Shama.
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It's a name, meaning essentially the Lord is there.
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A really significant name. It really is for those Judean
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exiles back in Ezekiel's day, grieving the destroyed temple,
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feeling like God was absent. This name must have been like
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sunrise after a long night, a pledge that their covenant God
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would dwell with them again, and permanently this time.
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Yes, a real anchor of hope. And this deep dive, well, we
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want to show that God's constant presence isn't just a minor
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detail. It's really the beating heart of
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the gospel message. It gives such solid assurance to
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his people, then and now. Absolutely.
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Our goal today is to really unpack this idea of God's
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dwelling presence right through Scripture.
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We'll trace that storyline, you know, from Eden all the way to
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the New Jerusalem. And we'll see how the central
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truth fits into a systematic understanding of who God is,
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what the church is, how we worship, even the church's
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mission. And finally, we'll look at how
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this teaching has stood up in historical Christian confessions
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and how it speaks to some of the challenges we face today.
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Great. We want to equip you with
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knowledge that really shapes how you grasp God's presence in your
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own daily life. So let's get started.
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OK, let's unpack this. This idea of God dwelling with
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his people, tracing how it unfolds in the Bible.
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It really feels like 1 continuous escalating story of
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God moving towards humanity, doesn't it?
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It really does a single narrative thread.
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So where does this story actually begin in Scripture?
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It starts right back in the Garden of Eden, which we can
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think of as the first sanctuary. Genesis 3.8 tells us that the
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Lord walked in the garden in the cool of the day.
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Right, that familiar verse. Yeah, but the Hebrew verb there,
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heathalic. It's quite interesting.
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It suggests more than just a casual walk.
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It kind of paints a picture of a priest king regularly patrolling
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his sacred realm, tending to his domain.
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So it's official, almost a sign of his rule and care.
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Exactly this was, you could say, the prototypal dwelling
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presence, an initial direct fellowship, face to face
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communion in that holy space. A perfect start, but then of
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course, human rebellion changes everything.
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Yes, tragically, human sin fractured that perfect
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communion, the expulsion from Eden.
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It meant separation, a break in that direct fellowship.
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The connection was severed. It was.
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Yet even in that expulsion, there's this subtle hint, almost
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a glimmer of future RE entry. Think about the cherubim
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guarding the eastward gate with the flaming sword.
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Right in Genesis 3. Seems like a final keep out sign
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well. Yes, but it also foreshadows
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something. It hints that re entry, getting
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back into God's presence would have to happen through
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atonement, through shed blood. It's a sign that the way back
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requires a substitute, a payment.
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OK, so even the guarding points forward.
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In a way, yes. So the rest of the Old Testament
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then becomes this unfolding quest, you could say, to restore
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what was lost in Eden. And crucially, God's place and
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his presence are always tied together.
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It's all about God orchestrating a way back.
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That's a really helpful way to frame it, A quest for
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restoration. So after Eden, how did God keep
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making his presence known? Even if it wasn't that full
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Edenic communion? What were the next steps?
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Well, the patriarchal narratives, the stories of
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Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they give us these preliminary
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glimpses, like flashes of God's nearness.
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OK, so. Think about Abraham raising
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altars at places like Shechem, Bethel, and Moriah.
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These weren't permanent temples obviously.
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They're more like momentary micro temples.
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Specific spots marking God's self revelation.
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Places where God showed up. So temporary markers of divine
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encounters. Exactly.
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Episodic. And Jacob's ladder vision at
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Bethel, that's in Genesis 28. That's particularly central
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here. Remember what?
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He exclaimed. Surely the Lord is in this
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place. This is none other than the
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House of God, the gate of heaven.
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Yeah, powerful language. House of God, Gate of Heaven.
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That language directly anticipates the later Tabernacle
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and temple structures. It points to a place where
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heaven and earth meet, and the stairway itself.
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It anticipates Christ's role as the mediator, the bridge which
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Jesus himself picks up in John 1.51.
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Linking heaven and earth. Precisely.
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But again, these patriarchal manifestations, they are
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episodic, temporary. They were anticipatory.
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They sort of whetted the appetite, you know, They built
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expectation but didn't fully satisfy the longing for God's
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abiding presence. Like appetizers making Israel
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long for something more substantial and more permanent.
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You could put it that way, yes. Yeah, they pointed forward.
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Which brings us then, to the Exodus.
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This seems like a major turning point.
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How did the Tabernacle, that portable sanctuary, build on
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these earlier experiences and really ramp up the sense of
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God's presence? Oh, expectations really soared
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during the Exodus. This was a massive leap forward
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At Mount Sinai. The Lord himself declared an
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Exodus 25.8. Let them make me a sanctuary
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that I may dwell. The Hebrew word is sheikin in
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their midst. So a direct command from God for
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a dwelling place, not just a reaction to human initiative
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like the altars. Exactly.
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This was God initiating a way to live among his people.
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Nationally, the portable Tabernacle became, in essence,
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an earthly echo of God's heavenly throne room.
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It's very layout reflected Eden's structure.
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Now so the layout. Well, it had these concentric
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zones of holiness, the outer court, the holy place in the
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Holy of Holies. It visually taught Israel about
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God's supreme holiness and the need for a structured, careful
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approach to him. You couldn't just barge in.
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The design itself was a lesson in reverence.
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Absolutely. And when he's finally completed,
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Exodus 40.34 tells us the glory of the Lord filled the
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Tabernacle. This was the Shekinah glory,
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that visible cloud, a tangible sign that God had truly taken up
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residence. Wow, so God literally moved in?
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He did. And that cloud pillar?
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It served 2 functions. It was like a royal standard,
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signifying God's kingship and guidance, but also a covenantal
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compass leading them through the wilderness.
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His presence directed their journey.
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Leading and dwelling. Yes, and crucially, God's
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presence here was inseparable from mediation, the whole
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Levitical system, the sacrifices.
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They were necessary to protect Israel from God's consuming
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holiness while still allowing access.
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A necessary buffer almost. You could say that.
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And this is where Reformed theology really sees the gospel
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logic playing out. Substitution.
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Propitiation. Sinful people could only
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approach a holy God through shed blood.
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It was all pointing forward to Christ's ultimate sacrifice.
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The Tabernacle was this powerful object.
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Lesson God is here, He is holy, and access requires atonement.
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A very vivid picture. Temporary, yes, but incredibly
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real. Still being portable.
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It feels like it points towards something more permanent, right?
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It does. It was glorious, but it was
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still a tent. It built anticipation for
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something more fixed. And that leads us to Solomon's
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temple in Jerusalem. This seems like the peak of Old
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Covenant presence, a sense of arrival.
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But then, as you hinted earlier, something tragic happened.
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Yes, Solomon's temple represented the high watermark,
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you might say, of Old Covenant presence theology.
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In First Kings 8, Solomon uses the word dwelling 11 times in
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his prayer of dedication. He's emphasizing the permanence,
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the stability of God residing there. 11 times.
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He really wanted to stress that point.
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He did, Yet even in that moment of peak glory, he immediately
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qualifies it. He says in verse 27, But will
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God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven, and the highest
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heaven cannot contain you. How much less this house that I
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have built? So even then there was this
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understanding. Absolutely.
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He affirmed both God's transcendence, His infinite
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otherness, His inability to be confined by anything created,
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and His eminence, His gracious willingness to make His presence
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known in a specific place. Holding those two together is
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key to understanding Yahweh Shama.
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God is infinitely above, yet He chooses to be near.
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That balance is critical. But then things went wrong.
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What led to the tragedy? Israel's apostasy, the
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persistent unsaithfulness to the covenant.
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Because of this national sin, the prophet Ezekiel records this
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absolutely chilling departure of the glory cloud.
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It wasn't sudden. It happened stage by stage.
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Stage by stage, How did that look?
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Ezekiel describes it moving for the Holy of Holies to the
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threshold of the Temple, then out the Eastgate, and finally up
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over the Mount of Olives, like a slow, deliberate withdrawal.
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You can read about it Ezekiel chapters 10 and 11.
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That must have been devastating to witness, even in a vision, a
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theological low point. Absolutely.
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It was a stark lesson. Physical structures, even the
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glorious temple, couldn't guarantee God's presence.
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Only covenant faithfulness could.
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The building didn't hold God, the covenant relationship dead.
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But Ezekiel didn't just see departure, did he?
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There was hope, too. That's right.
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Despite this awful vision of departure, Ezekiel also received
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a counter vision. He saw a future colossal, almost
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cosmic temple and eschatological temple where the glory would
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return permanently. This.
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Time a return of the glory. Yes, described in Ezekiel 43.
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And from this future temple he saw life giving, water flowing
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out, symbolizing spiritual renewal and blessing for the
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whole land and its people, as seen in Ezekiel 47.
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In the name of the city surrounding this future temple.
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Yahweh Shama. Yahweh Shama Ezekiel 48.35 The
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Lord is there. It was this solid promise that
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God, who had left because of sin, would one day return to
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dwell with His people permanently, never to leave
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again. That was the hope they clung to
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in exile. So the Old Testament ends on
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this note of profound loss, but also intense expectation, a
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promise of a dramatic, permanent return of God's presence.
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How does the New Testament, then fulfill this hope?
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Where does it pick up the story? The New Testament bursts under
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the scene with this absolutely stunning declaration that the
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promised hope has dawned. John 1.14 famously says And the
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Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
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And that word for dwelt Eskanson literally means tabernacled or
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pitched his tent. Directly connecting Jesus to the
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Tabernacle. Precisely.
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It's an unmistakable echo. But now it's not a tent of
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animal skins. It's a living person in Jesus.
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The ultimate archetypal presence of God walks into human history
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and importantly, without the need for veils or constant
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animal sacrifices, God is directly present in human form.
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The dwelling is now personal, embodied.
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Embodied exactly. And Jesus himself reinforced
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this. He called his own body the new
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temple in John 2. Remember when he said destroy
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this temple and in three days I will raise it up.
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He wasn't talking about the stone building.
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Right, he meant his own resurrection.
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Yes, and then think about what happened at his death.
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The curtain in the Jerusalem Temple was torn in two from top
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to bottom. A supernatural event.
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Signifying that Jesus through his death, through his offered
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flesh, had become the torn curtain.
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He opened the way for sinners to draw near to God directly,
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without any barrier. Hebrews 10.1920 makes that
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connection explicit. Access is now through His
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sacrifice. The ultimate fulfillment of all
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those Old Testament shadows. Exactly all the previous
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dwelling places pointed to him. So Jesus is the ultimate
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dwelling place of God, but then he ascends to heaven.
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Did his presence withdraw again or did it change form?
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That's a great question. His presence wasn't withdrawn,
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rather it was universalized, made available much more widely.
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How did that happen? Through the Holy Spirit poured
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out of Pentecost, Christ's physical, localized presence on
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earth transitioned into His spiritual, global presence by
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the Spirit in His people. So the Spirit becomes the way
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Christ is present with us now. Yes, Paul could then write to
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the Corinthians, ordinary believers in a messy church, and
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say, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's
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Spirit dwells in you? That's First Corinthians 3 point
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and 10. What a staggering thought.
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The Church itself is now the temple.
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The church corporately, yes, and also individual believers.
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Paul says we become living stones built together into a
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dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
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That's Ephesians 2.22. So the community and the
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individual are now temples. Wow, so God's presence is now
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internal and communal, not tied to one physical building?
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Correct and Reformed theology really highlights the unity here
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of Word, sacrament and Spirit. Where Christ is faithfully
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proclaimed in the Word and His sacraments, baptism in the
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Lord's Supper, are rightly administered.
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The risen Lord genuinely, though not physically or locally,
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abides. It's a real spiritual presence
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mediated by the Spirit through these means.
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So this is our current reality as the church God dwelling in us
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by His Spirit. But the Bible still points
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forward, doesn't it, to an even fuller experience of his
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presence. It does.
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Our present experience, wonderful as it is, is described
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as a first fruit. It's real, it's genuine, but
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it's not yet complete. We still groan inwardly, as
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Romans 8.23 says, waiting for the final adoption, the
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redemption of our bodies and the unveiled fullness of His
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presence. So there's still more to come.
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What does that ultimate consummation look like?
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That ultimate fullness arise in John's final vision in the Book
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of Revelation. The New Jerusalem comes down
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from heaven and notice its shape.
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It's described as a perfect cube.
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Like the Holy of Holies and the Tabernacle and Temple.
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Exactly. The dimensions echo the most
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sacred space. This signals that the entire
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cosmos has now become the sanctuary.
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God's presence fills everything. It's a cosmic temple reality.
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The whole universe as God's dwelling place.
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Yes, and then you hear that thunderous covenant refrain in
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Revelation 21.3. Behold the dwelling place.
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The Greek word Skonia, again linking back to the Tabernacle
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of God, is with man. He will dwell with them, and
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they will be His people. This is the absolute peak, the
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final fulfillment of God's promise.
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You will dwell with them permanently.
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Permanently. And then John adds something
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truly startling in Revelation 21.22.
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What's that? He says.
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And I saw no temple in this city.
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No temple after all that focus on temples and tabernacles.
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Right for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb.
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All the mediated structures, the buildings, the rituals, the
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symbols, they give way to immediate, unhindered communion.
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Lampstands, clouds, sacrificial smoke, all those shadows devolve
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in the pure, unfiltered light of seeing God face to face.
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Wow. Direct access.
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Ultimate presence. Exactly the story that started
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with God walking among trees and Edom closes with God himself,
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illuminating A transformed creation.
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And over the gates of that city, you could say is etched the name
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Ezekiel first heard. Yahweh Shama, the Lord is there
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forever. That's an absolutely
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breathtaking sweep through Scripture from Eden lost to Eden
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restored and even transcended. OK, so having traced that
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biblical storyline, how does systematic theology help us get
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a firmer handle on this concept of Yahweh Shama?
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How does it help us hold together all these different
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facets? That's a key role for systematic
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theology here. At its heart, Yahweh Shama
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really pushes systematic theology to hold together 2
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crucial truths about God that might seem contradictory at
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first glance. His divine nearness, His
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imminence and His divine otherness.
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His transcendence. God being both completely beyond
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us, yet also intimately close. Precisely.
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Isaiah 57.15 captures this tension beautifully.
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It speaks of God as the high and exalted One who inhabits
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eternity, yet He also dwells with the contrite and lowly of
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Spirit. Systematic theology helps us
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resist collapsing this tension. How could we collapse it?
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Well, we could reduce God to just a distant uninvolved deity,
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sort of a deistic clock maker. Or on the other hand, we could
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dissolve him into some kind of impersonal pantheistic force
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that's just diffused everywhere. Yahweh Shama resists both
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errors. So it maintains God is truly
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distinct, yet truly present. Yes, Reformed theology often
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talks about distinction. Without distance, God remains
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ontologically separate from his creation.
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He isn't part of it, yet He freely chooses covenantly to
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give himself to be there in grace.
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Any solid theological understanding has to honor this
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balance. OK, distinct yet near.
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How does this understanding fit specifically within the
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framework of the Covenant of Grace that's so foundational to
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Reformed thinking? Right within the covenant of
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grace, this polarity, transcendence, and imminence
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plays out as promise and presence.
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Think about that recurring covenant formula.
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I will be your God and you shall be my people.
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You hear it from Genesis 17 all the way to Revelation 21.
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It's the charter of the covenant.
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It's. The central promise.
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It is, and God's presence isn't just some automatic feature of
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the universe. It's a gift sworn and secured by
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God's own divine, both within that covenant structure.
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Reformed theology is adamant God saving prisons is always coven
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until it's never just natural or automatic.
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It's based on his promise, his commitment.
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Exactly. The Westminster Confession
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Chapter 7, Section 1 puts it perfectly.
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God voluntarily condescended to relate to us through covenant.
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If you were to withdraw that covenant promise, His sheer
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presence would only mean judgement for sinners, not
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blessing. Because of His Holiness
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confronting our sin. Precisely.
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And this covenantal understanding becomes the
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absolute key to grasping union with Christ.
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It's only by being spiritually united to Jesus, the Mediator,
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that a believer can share in that enjoyed nearness of God.
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Why? Because Christ alone perfectly
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fulfills both sides of the covenant, representing God to us
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and us to God. That link between covenant
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presence and union with Christ is so vital.
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It naturally leads us into Christology, our understanding
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of Jesus person and work. How is Jesus himself the
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absolute center of this whole theme of God's dwelling
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presence? Well, Jesus isn't just, you
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know, a conduit or a carrier of divine presence.
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He is his personal Incarnate embodiment, Colossians 2.9 says.
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In Him the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily, not just
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some attributes, but the fullness.
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The very essence of God in human form.
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Yes, John's Gospel deliberately presents him as the true temple.
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Remember John 2 and also the true ladder connecting heaven
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and earth from John 1 he gathers up all those Old Testament
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dwelling motifs, Tabernacle, Temple, Bethel into his own
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person. He is the place where God meets
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humanity. He fulfills all those earlier
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pictures. He does, but his earthly
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ministry isn't the end of the story for his presence.
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Through his death and resurrection, he throws open the
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doors to God's presence for us. And then, in his ascension, he
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relocates his glorified human nature to the Father's right
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hand. Which creates that apparent
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paradox we touched on earlier. His body is in heaven, yet he
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promises to be with us always. How does Reformed theology
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systematically explain this? Right the paradox absent in
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body, yet present in promise and power.
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Reformed theology often uses a concept sometimes called the
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genus Magistaticum. It's a way of saying that the
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properties and power of Christ divine nature communicate
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operatively to his human nature without the human nature itself
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becoming divine or omnipresent. OK.
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Can you unpack that a bit? Operatively, not essentially.
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It means His divine power works through His humanity, enabling
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Him to fulfill His promise. So the ascended Christ can
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genuinely be with His Church to the end of the age, as He
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promised in Matthew 28.20, even while His resurrected physical
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body remains localized in heaven.
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His presence with us now is real, powerful, but it's not a
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physical diffusion of His body. It's mediated by His Word and
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crucially, by the Holy Spirit. That makes sense.
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It preserves the reality of his ascension and glorified humanity
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while affirming his real presence.
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So let's talk more about the Holy Spirit's role.
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How does pneumatology, the study of the Spirit, complete the
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picture? Pneumatology is absolutely
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essential here. The Spirit is the indispensable
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bridge. You could say He doesn't replace
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the sun. He applies the Sun's work and
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presence to us. Christ accomplished salvation.
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The Spirit delivers it to our hearts.
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The applier of redemption. Exactly.
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Ephesians 1 describes the Spirit as both a seal marking us as
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God's own possession and a guarantee or down payment
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securing our future inheritance of full presence.
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By indwelling the believers heart, the Spirit establishes
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what John Calvin called the Communio Christiameria, a real
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ongoing participation in Christ and all his benefits.
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And again, this indwelling is covenantal.
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Tied to the means of grace, not some vague mystical feeling.
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So the spirit works through specific channels.
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Yes, and this is where Reformed cessationism comes in.
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It argues that the spirits primary mode of mediating God's
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presence now is, through the inspired sufficient word of
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Scripture, illuminated to our hearts and accompanied by the
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sacraments. As opposed to ongoing revelatory
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gifts like prophecy. Correct.
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Cessationism holds that those sign gifts which authenticated
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the apostles and the foundation of the New Testament have ceased
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with the closing of the Canon, not because God is less present,
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but because His definitive revelation in Christ, now
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permanently recorded in Scripture, is complete and
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sufficient. The Spirit's work today is to
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magnify that Christ revealed in that Word, ensuring our
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experience of Yahweh Shama remains Christ centered and
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governed by Scripture. OK, so the Spirit makes Christ's
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presence real through Word and sacrament.
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What does this mean for the Church itself, for ecclesiology,
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and for how we understand the sacraments?
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The implications are huge for ecclesiology, the doctrine of
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the church. The Westminster Confession calls
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the visible church the house and family of God.
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Think of it as an embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven in a foreign
21:24
land. It's the designated place where
21:26
the King's presence is officially encountered.
21:28
An embassy. I like that picture.
21:30
And in this embassy, the Word in sacraments function is the
21:32
official diplomatic channels. Preaching is the proclamation of
21:36
the King's royal decree. The Gospel, baptism and the
21:40
Lord's Supper are the official seals that confirm and apply
21:43
those covenant promises to believers.
21:45
So how does this view differ from other understandings of the
21:48
sacraments like memorialism or transubstantiation?
21:52
Well, Reform sacramentology charts in Middle Course.
21:55
It rejects bare memorialism, the idea that the sacraments are
21:58
only symbolic reminders with no real presence involved.
22:01
But it also rejects the Roman Catholic doctrine of
22:04
transubstantiation, the claim that the bread and wine
22:07
physically substantially change into the actual body and blood
22:10
of Christ. So what does it affirm instead?
22:12
It affirms a real spiritual presence.
22:15
In the Lord's Supper, for example, believers by faith
22:18
enabled by the Spirit, are lifted up into heavenly
22:21
fellowship with the ascended Christ.
22:23
We spiritually feed on him. We don't physically pull Christ
22:26
down to an earthly altar. His body remains in heaven, but
22:30
His presence and benefits are spiritually conveyed to us.
22:32
So we commune with him where he is in heaven by the Spirit.
22:36
Exactly. And this makes gathered worship
22:38
incredibly significant. It becomes, as Hebrews 12
22:41
suggests, A forecase to the future, an eschatological
22:44
outpost where the heavenly Mount Zion breaks into our present
22:47
time. We are joining the Heavenly
22:49
assembly. That elevates our view of Sunday
22:51
worship considerably. It should, and the regulative
22:54
principle of worship flows directly from this.
22:57
If God Himself is convening the assembly and making His presence
23:00
known, then he gets to set the agenda.
23:02
He tells us in Scripture how he wants to be approached through
23:05
preaching, prayer, psalms, sacraments.
23:08
Unauthorized human inventions, however well-intentioned, risk
23:12
obscuring his presence rather than enhancing it.
23:15
Worship on His terms because he is present.
23:17
And finally, how does all this connect to eschatology, our
23:20
understanding of the future and the end times?
23:23
Eschatology basically takes all these threads, presence,
23:26
covenant, Christ, Spirit, Church and weaves them into the big
23:29
picture of the already and not yet.
23:32
We already have genuine inaugurated presence.
23:34
Christ truly jaws with His church by the Spirit now, but
23:37
it's not yet exhaustive or complete.
23:40
We still see in a mirror dimly, as Paul says in First
23:43
Corinthians 13. We long for that unmediated face
23:46
to face communion. The not yet part.
23:49
Right. And that not yet finds its
23:50
fulfillment at Christ's return. That's when the covenant formula
23:54
hits its absolute climax. Behold, the dwelling place of
23:57
God is with man. Revelation 21.3.
24:00
The promise is fully realized. And that's when the temple
24:03
disappears. Exactly as we saw Revelation
24:05
21.22 says there's no temple in the New Jerusalem, for its
24:08
temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb.
24:11
All the spatial ritual mediations, the things that help
24:14
bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful people, they fall
24:17
away. Why?
24:17
Because the gap is closed. In Christ we have immediate
24:20
vision, direct communion. The tension between God's
24:22
transcendence and his imminence is perfectly resolved in
24:25
unending joy and. Worship.
24:26
We remain creatures, right? Oh, absolutely.
24:29
Even in that perfect state, the Creator creature distinction
24:32
remains. We don't become God.
24:34
And that distinction preserves the joyful reverence, the
24:37
adoration that defines true biblical worship forever.
24:41
So systematic theology through this lens of Yahweh Shama
24:44
reveals a God who is infinitely glorious and above us, yet who
24:48
has eternally committed himself to be with us, even naming his
24:52
final dwelling place after His own faithful presence.
24:55
It's such a rich and comprehensive theme running
24:57
through all of Scripture and theology.
24:59
OK, let's shift focus a bit. How has the church historically
25:03
grappled with and articulated this doctrine of God's dwelling
25:05
presence? What's the historical witness?
25:07
Well, from the very earliest centuries, the Church Fathers
25:10
wrestled with this How can God, who is high and lifted up, truly
25:14
dwell among finite, sinful people?
25:16
The live question. What were some early answers?
25:18
Writers like Justin Martyr in the 2nd century, he really
25:21
leaned into the idea of the Logos, the divine Word, pitching
25:25
his tent in human flesh. John 1.14 Again, he used this to
25:30
counter arguments that God couldn't possibly interact with
25:32
material world or be confined spatially.
25:36
Irenaeus, around the same time, saw salvation history as God
25:39
patiently accustoming humanity step by step to behold His
25:43
presence, preparing us for the fullness in Christ.
25:46
So a gradual revelation of presence.
25:48
Yes, and then Augustine of Hippo in the 4th and 5th centuries
25:52
offered a really lasting synthesis, especially in his
25:54
work City of God. He portrayed history as the
25:56
pilgrimage of the City of God. This community, defined by the
26:00
indwelling spirit journeying towards its consummation for
26:03
gusting God's presence, had a strong future orientation.
26:06
We taste it now, especially through the sacraments, but the
26:09
full appearing awaits the end. And he also spoke about internal
26:12
communion. He did his famous phrase in
26:14
Teretory, Return to yourself, for in the inner man dwells
26:17
truth affirmed a real interior communion with God by the Spirit
26:21
while still upholding God's transcendence.
26:23
He laid a lot of groundwork. OK, so the early church set the
26:26
stage. How did the Protestant
26:28
Reformation, and particularly someone like John Calvin, build
26:32
on or refine this understanding? The Reformation essentially
26:35
reclaimed Augustine's focus on grace and Christ sharpening it.
26:40
John Calvin is obviously central here.
26:42
He lived in a time when many ordinary people felt alienated
26:45
from God, unsure how to access his grace.
26:49
Calvin's doctrine of union with Christ became a cornerstone.
26:52
How did union with Christ address that?
26:54
Calvin taught that everything a believer receives,
26:57
justification, sanctification, adoption, all of it, flows
27:00
directly from being spiritually united to the living,
27:03
resurrected Christ. It's not about climbing a ladder
27:05
to God. It's about being joined to
27:07
Christ by the Spirit. And through that union, the
27:09
Spirit makes us participants in Christ's own perfect fellowship
27:12
with the Father. God's presence comes to us in
27:14
Christ. So Christ is the locus of
27:16
presence. Exactly.
27:18
Kelvin's Institute's consistently recast the temple
27:21
motif Christocentrically. Christ is the true temple, and
27:24
through the spirit believers because living temples built on
27:27
him. And his view of the Lord's
27:28
Supper fits right in. By refusing to localize Christ's
27:32
physical body in the bread and wine, Kelvin safeguarded the
27:35
truth of Christ's ascension. His body is in heaven, but he
27:38
strongly insisted on a real spiritual participation in
27:41
Christ during the Supper, something far more profound than
27:44
mere symbolism. Presence for Calvin was
27:47
dynamically real by the Spirit's power.
27:49
Spiritually real, not physically localized.
27:51
That's a key Reformed emphasis. So after Calvin, how did the
27:55
Westminster divines in the 17th century codify these insights?
27:58
What did they add to the formal expression of this doctrine?
28:01
The Westminster divines who drafted the confession and
28:04
catechisms really systematize this Reformed understanding,
28:07
often in direct response to opposing views.
28:10
The confession, as we mentioned, calls the visible Church, the
28:13
house and family of God. WCF 25.2, chapter 29 on the
28:18
Lord's Supper carefully balances presence and ascension, stating
28:21
Christ's body and blood are spiritually present to the faith
28:24
of believers. Real presence, but spiritual.
28:27
Maintaining that Calvinistic balance.
28:29
Precisely. And the Larger Catechisms
28:32
explanation of the Second Commandment grounds the
28:34
regulative principle of worship firmly in the logic of God's
28:38
presence. Because God is wholly and
28:40
present, only he can determine the acceptable ways to approach
28:43
Him in worship. We don't invent ways to conjure
28:45
his presence. So worship practices are tied
28:47
directly to respecting His presence.
28:50
Yes, and Westminster also clearly extended the theme into
28:53
the future hope. Chapter 32 on the state of man
28:56
after death speaks of believers souls being made perfect in
28:59
holiness and immediately passing into glory, admitted to behold
29:03
the face of God and light and glory experiencing His special
29:07
presence. So they cemented Yahweh Shama as
29:10
relevant for the church now and for our ultimate hope.
29:13
A very comprehensive framework. Now, how did the Puritans, who
29:17
were contemporaries or followed shortly after the Westminster
29:19
Assembly, take these theological truths and translate them into
29:23
practical, everyday Christian living?
29:26
The Puritans excelled at this, translating profound theology
29:29
into lived piety. John Owen is a prime example.
29:33
His work Communion with God, published in 1657, is a deep
29:36
dive into our triune fellowship. He meticulously showed how
29:40
believers enjoy distinct yet inseparable communion with the
29:43
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For Omen, God's presence wasn't
29:47
just a doctrine about sacred places.
29:49
It was a dynamic relational reality to be actively
29:52
cultivated through faith and obedience.
29:54
Making it very personal and experiential.
29:56
Deeply so. Stephen Charnock, another great
29:59
Puritan theologian, in his massive work on God's existence
30:01
and attributes, discuss God's immensity and omnipresence,
30:05
arguing that his special, gracious presence within the
30:07
covenant should inspire awe and reverence, not casual
30:10
familiarity. Not presumption.
30:12
Exactly, and the strong curiton emphasis on the spirits
30:16
indwelling led to a very rigorous approach to personal
30:19
holiness. Their logic was simple.
30:23
If the Almighty God truly lives within you, then your heart
30:26
becomes a sacred space, a private sanctuary that must be
30:29
kept clean for Him. You find this language of
30:32
walking with God throughout their writings A conscious
30:35
attempt to recover that intimate eudenic fellowship in daily
30:38
life. That's fascinating, connecting
30:40
deep theology directly to the need for personal holiness and a
30:43
conscious walk with God. What about more recent
30:45
contributions? How has the understanding of
30:47
God's presence developed or been highlighted in, say, the last
30:50
couple of centuries? There's been a really fruitful
30:53
focus in modern biblical theology that has further
30:55
illuminated this dwelling theme. Curtis Voss, often called the
30:58
father of Reformed biblical theology, working at Princeton
31:01
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, argued powerfully
31:05
that God himself in communion with his people is the ultimate
31:08
highest good offered in the covenant of grace.
31:11
And this experience of communion deepens throughout redemptive
31:13
history. So God himself is the goal.
31:16
His presence is the prize. Precisely building on Voss,
31:20
Meredith G Klein traced temple symbolism and covenant structure
31:24
from Eden all the way to the Final Judgement, coining the
31:27
influential phrase Kingdom temple to describe the
31:30
interconnectedness of God's rule in His dwelling.
31:33
More recently, GK Beal has extensively systematized this,
31:36
showing convincingly how every sanctuary in Scripture, Eden,
31:40
Tabernacle, Temple, even the Believer and the Church
31:43
functions as a microcosm of heaven, pointing towards the
31:46
ultimate cosmic temple. Seeing the temple pattern
31:48
everywhere. Seeing that redemptive
31:50
historical trajectory, and on a more popular level, someone like
31:53
RC Sproule did a tremendous service reminding contemporary
31:56
Christians about the vital connection between God's
31:59
presence and His Holiness, that God is awesome and holy.
32:03
Not faith, but good, as the saying goes.
32:05
His famous lion. The greatest need of the human
32:07
being is to be in the presence of God.
32:09
Really resonated and captured this core truth for many.
32:12
Yeah, that's a powerful statement.
32:14
It is so across the centuries. You see this consistent thread
32:18
in the Reformed tradition. It guards God's otherness, his
32:21
transcendence, but equally cherishes His chosen nearness,
32:25
His imminence in Christ through the Spirit.
32:27
From Augustine's Pilgrim City of God, through Calvin's union with
32:30
Christ, Westminster's careful Sacramento theology, Owens deep
32:34
Trinitarian communion, Bolson Beals redemptive historical
32:38
insights, they all contribute to our understanding of this Lord
32:41
who is both infinitely majestic and yet pleased to name His
32:44
people, His city. Yahweh, Shama, the Lord is
32:46
there. Each era adds depth, but the
32:49
core promise remains. The glory that left will return,
32:53
and this time it will never leave again.
32:55
It's clear this concept of Yahweh Shama, God's dwelling
32:58
presence, brings so much coherence to our theology and
33:01
history. How does it equip us to engage
33:03
with some of the ongoing theological debates and
33:05
challenges we encounter today? That's a really practical
33:08
question. Because Yahweh Shama
33:10
encapsulates this whole biblical promise of God's dwelling, it
33:13
becomes a crucial reference point in current discussions
33:16
about how, where, and to whom that presence is mediated.
33:20
Today. We can maybe look at 3 specific
33:23
areas where it brings clarity. OK, sounds good.
33:26
Let's start with one that's often debated Charismatic
33:29
continuationism versus Reformed cessationism regarding
33:32
revelatory gifts. How does Yahweh Sharma inform
33:35
the cessationist perspective? Well, the modern charismatic
33:39
movement often argues that if God is truly there, truly
33:42
present and active, then the church should still expect to
33:45
experience the more overtly supernatural or revelatory gifts
33:49
we see in the book of Acts or First Corinthians.
33:51
Things like prophecy, tongues, words of knowledge.
33:54
The experience of God's presence is often tied to these
33:56
manifestations. Presence equals ongoing
33:59
miraculous gifts, in that view. Often, yes.
34:03
Now Reformed cessationism responds by agreeing that
34:05
Pentecost was hugely significant for the outpouring of the Spirit
34:09
in the last days, inaugurating God's end time presence.
34:13
However, it argues the purpose of certain gifts, particularly
34:16
prophecy in tongues, was foundational.
34:18
They served to authenticate the apostles in the divine origin of
34:21
the New Covenant message as it was being delivered and
34:24
recorded. Ephesians 2.20 talks about the
34:26
Church being built on the foundation of the apostles and
34:29
prophets. Hebrews 2.3 to 4 makes a similar
34:31
point about the message being confirmed by signs and wonders.
34:34
So once the foundation was laid and the New Testament Canon was
34:37
complete. The need for those specific,
34:40
authenticating revelatory gifts ceased.
34:43
The foundation doesn't need to be continually relayed.
34:46
Paul's statement in First Corinthians 13 that tongues will
34:49
cease and prophecy will pass away when the perfect or the
34:51
complete comes is often understood by cessationists to
34:54
refer to the completion of God's special revelation in Scripture.
34:57
We now have the perfect mirror of God's Word to see Christ
35:00
clearly. So cessationism isn't arguing
35:03
God is less present now. Not at all.
35:05
It's arguing that claiming ongoing prophecy or Apostolic
35:08
level revelation today actually risks undermining the
35:12
sufficiency and finality of Scripture.
35:14
It implies God's presence requires something more than His
35:17
completed Word illuminated by His Spirit.
35:20
By contrast, the Reformed view locates Yahweh Shama, God's
35:24
active presence primarily in the faithful preaching and hearing
35:27
of that sufficient Word, attended by the Spirit and
35:30
sealed in the sacraments. Christ walks among his churches
35:34
through these ordained means. OK, that clarifies the
35:36
cessationist argument rooted in the sufficiency of Scripture for
35:39
knowing God's presence. What about another major
35:41
historical point of difference, the Roman Catholic doctrine of
35:44
transubstantiation in the Eucharist?
35:47
How does the Reformed view of Sacramento presence informed by
35:50
Yahweh Shama contrast with that? Right, this is a second key
35:53
area. Roman Catholicism teaches
35:55
transubstantiation, the doctrine that during the Mass, the
35:59
substance of the bread and wine is miraculously changed into the
36:03
actual physical substance of Christ's body and blood, while
36:06
the outward appearances or accidents remain.
36:09
So Christ's earthly body is believed to be physically
36:12
locally present on the altar. Yahweh Shama in this view
36:15
becomes very localized and physical in the Host.
36:18
Christ is physically there on the altar.
36:21
Yes, the Council of Trent affirmed.
36:23
His body, blood, soul and divinity are truly, really and
36:27
substantially contained in the consecrated elements.
36:31
The Westminster Confession, however, explicitly counters
36:33
this well, affirming, as we saw, that believers really and
36:36
indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually,
36:39
receive and feed upon Christ crucified.
36:41
WCF 29.7. It insists His physical body
36:44
remains in heaven at God's right hand until the time of the
36:46
restitution of all things. Acts 3.21.
36:49
So again, a real presence, but spiritual, not physical
36:51
relocalization. Exactly.
36:53
The Reformed view argues that bringing Christ's physical body
36:57
down to earthly altars actually reverses the biblical logic of
37:00
the ascension. The Ascension seats Christ in
37:03
glory, and our life is now hidden with Christ in God.
37:06
Colossians 3.3 Worship involves lifting our hearts up to Him by
37:10
faith where He is. The Lord's Supper doesn't
37:13
materialize Christ's body on earth.
37:15
Rather, by the Spirit working through faith, it lifts the
37:18
believer in the communion with the ascended Christ in the
37:20
heavenly sanctuary. We go to him spiritually, He
37:23
doesn't come down physically. That's the essence.
37:25
It preserves the integrity of Christ's glorified human nature
37:28
in heaven and the Pilgrim already, but not yet nature of
37:32
the Church on earth. Sacramento Presence is
37:34
covenantily real and spiritually nourishing, but it points us
37:38
upward and forward, not downward to a physical representation.
37:41
OK, that's clear. Finally, how does this robust
37:44
understanding of Yahweh Shama, God's covenantal Christ centered
37:47
presence, equip us to respond to the challenge of religious
37:50
pluralism, the idea that many different paths lead to God?
37:54
This is a huge challenge today. Religious pluralism often argues
37:58
that if God's presence permeates all of creation, or if God is
38:01
fundamentally loving, then surely no single religion can
38:05
claim exclusive access. The idea is often that all
38:08
sincere paths eventually lead there to the same divine
38:12
reality. A kind of universal
38:13
accessibility to God's presence. Yes.
38:16
However, the biblical concept of Yahweh Shama is fundamentally
38:19
covenantal and Christ centered. The God who promises I will be
38:23
your God does so through a specific historical covenant
38:26
oath that finds its ultimate fulfillment in mediation in His
38:30
Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Outside of that covenant
38:33
relationship, mediated by Christ, God's presence is
38:36
encountered not as saving grace, but his holy judgement against
38:40
sin. Think back to Eden's flaming
38:41
sword of the terrifying holiness of Mount Sinai.
38:43
So God's general presence isn't the same as his saving
38:47
covenantal presence. Precisely that's why Jesus can
38:49
declare with absolute finality, I am the way and the truth and
38:52
the life. No one comes to the Father
38:54
except through me. John 14.6 This isn't cosmic
38:57
narrow mindedness. It's covenant, whole
38:59
faithfulness and clarity. And you said earlier this
39:01
exclusivity is actually merciful.
39:03
Yes, because it definitively locates the throne of grace.
39:07
It tells sinners exactly where they can find reconciliation and
39:11
access to God's favorable presence through the finished
39:14
work of the Messiah, His pierced yet living Mediator.
39:18
Any attempt to universalize saving presence by bypassing the
39:21
cross and the specific covenant in Christ ultimately diminishes
39:24
God's holiness, ignores the reality of sin, and ironically,
39:29
evacuates the gospel of its power to actually bring people
39:32
to God. It removes the specific solution
39:34
God provided. It does, and a related error you
39:37
sometimes find, perhaps influenced by Eastern thought or
39:40
romanticism, is viewing God's presence merely as an impersonal
39:43
force, or reducing Yahweh Shama to a metaphor for finding the
39:47
God within through self discovery.
39:50
But Scripture consistently portrays God's dwelling as his
39:52
sovereign initiative towards us. The tabernacling word, the
39:56
descending New Jerusalem, the Spirit poured out from above.
39:59
It's God coming to us, not as discovering Him within
40:01
ourselves, apart from His gracious action in Christ.
40:05
God's initiative, not human achievement.
40:07
Absolutely. So a solid Reformed
40:08
understanding of Yahweh Shama safeguards God's holy otherness
40:12
from being diluted while also protecting His gracious nearness
40:15
from being distorted, whether through overly physical
40:18
Sacramento views or unbiblical charismatic claims.
40:22
The result is a presence that is firmly grounded in Christ,
40:25
mediated by the Spirit through Word and Sacrament, and oriented
40:28
towards the future hope. It needs no new revelations, no
40:31
physical transformations and sacraments, and no blending with
40:34
other religions because the covenant Lord Himself has
40:37
secured His presence with His people and named His eternal
40:40
city after that very fact. Yahweh Sharma isn't just a
40:43
slogan, it's God's final word on His relationship with His
40:46
redeemed people. This has been incredibly
40:49
thorough, tracing Yahweh Sharma through scripture, theology,
40:51
history, and contemporary debates.
40:54
Now let's bring it right down to the ground level.
40:56
What does this profound truth the Lord is there really mean
40:59
for us, for our daily Christian lives?
41:01
How does it shape our walk? It should be absolutely
41:04
foundational because God pledges covenantally to be irrevocably
41:08
there with his people in Christ. Believers possess an assurance
41:12
of security that no circumstance can ultimately shake.
41:15
Not personal sorrow, not cultural hostility, not private
41:19
struggles or feelings of doubt. An unshakable security.
41:22
Yes, remember the original context for Ezekiel's promise.
41:26
The people were exiles, feeling abandoned in Babylon.
41:29
Yet even there God promised them.
41:31
Through Ezekiel, though I scattered them, yet I have been
41:34
a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where
41:36
they have gone. Ezekiel 11.16 God was their
41:39
temple, even in exile. He was present even when the
41:42
physical temple was gone. Exactly and similarly the
41:45
ascended Christ assures His Church through the writer of
41:47
Hebrews, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
41:50
Hebrews 13.5. This isn't just a nice
41:53
sentiment. It's a covenant oath sealed by
41:55
Christ's own blood. Our subjective feelings of God's
41:58
absence, which are real and painful at times, can never
42:01
nullify the objective reality of His nearness secured for us in
42:04
the Gospel. Our feelings don't change the
42:06
fact of his presence. They don't, and knowing that
42:09
provides believers, especially weary ones, with this solid
42:13
bedrock beneath the shifting sands of emotions or
42:15
circumstances. Our identity and security are
42:18
anchored not in our performance or feelings, but in the
42:21
immovable pledge of Emanuel. God with us.
42:24
That brings immense comfort and stability.
42:27
But you mentioned earlier that this presence also motivates
42:30
holiness. How does knowing the Lord is
42:33
there actively spur us on to live differently?
42:36
Well, the very same pledge that brings comfort also brings a
42:40
call to consecration. Because the Holy One dwells
42:43
within His people by His Spirit. We cannot treat sin lightly.
42:46
To do so is, frankly, to disrespect our divine guests.
42:50
It's like trashing the house while the owner is living there.
42:52
That's a good analogy. Paul uses this temple imagery
42:55
repeatedly to drive home moral commands.
42:57
Remember First Corinthians 3? Do you not know that you are
43:00
God's temple and the God's Spirit dwells in you in First
43:03
Corinthians 6? Or do you not know that your
43:05
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?
43:08
You are not your own for you were bought with a price, so
43:10
glorify God in your body. The indwelling demands outward
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holiness. Yes, holiness isn't some
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optional extra for super spiritual Christians.
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It flows directly from the reality of God's residence
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within us. Our lies should increasingly
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reflect the character of the one who lives there.
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So pastoral ministry needs to connect comfort with this call,
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encouraging believers to actively cleanse their lives
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from sin, knowing that the indwelling Spirit himself
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provides the power for that transformation.
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It's an encouraging call, not a condemning one, because He
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enables what He commands, making our hearts progressively
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brighter sanctuaries reflecting his glory.
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That's a powerful connection. Presence empowers holiness.
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How does this reality of God's presence shape our corporate
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worship when we gather as the church?
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It should shape it fundamentally.
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If God Himself in Christ by the Spirit truly convenes the
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assembly when we gather, then Sunday worship isn't just a a
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casual get together or a religious meeting.
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It's a participation in that heavenly reality.
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Hebrews 12 describes joining the assembly of the first born, the
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innumerable angels approaching God the Judge of all.
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We are granted an audience with the King.
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Thinking of it as an audience with the King changes things.
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It really does. And This is why the regulative
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principle of worship makes sense.
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If the king summons us, he also sets the protocol for the
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audience. He tells us in His Word how He
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desires to be approached through the reading and preaching of
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Scripture, through covenantal prayer, through singing psalms
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and hymns with understanding, through the right administration
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of baptism and the Lord's Supper.
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These are the God ordained channels through which the
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Ascended Christ meets with His people and distributes His
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grace. So creativity has its place, but
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only in service to these means. Exactly.
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Creativity, artistry, beauty. These are wonderful gifts, but
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they should serve and adore the divinely appointed means of
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grace, not replace them or distract from them.
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We must be careful not to confuse a well produced
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emotional atmosphere with the actual spiritual presence of God
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mediated through His Word and Spirit.
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Teaching congregations to view gathered worship as this sacred
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audience cultivates both deep reverence and authentic joy, the
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hallmarks of worship offered in spirit and truth.
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Reverence and joy, not stuffiness or frivolity.
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OK, This understanding of presence also seems like it
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would have strong implications for the Church's mission and
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evangelism. Oh.
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Absolutely. Yahweh Shama is rocket fuel for
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mission. Think about the Great Commission
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in Matthew 28. It's bookended by Christ's
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authority in His presence. He starts by saying all
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authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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Then He gives the command to make disciples.
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And how does he conclude? And behold, I am with you always
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to the end of the age. His presence guarantees the
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mission. It undergirds the whole
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enterprise. Evangelism isn't us going out
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alone trying to drum up business for God.
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It's acting as ambassadors for the King, accompanied by the
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King himself. Even the most timid believer
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stepping into their workplace or neighborhood carries the unseen
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reality of Christ's presence with them, promised as they seek
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to share the gospel in Word and deed.
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That should give us both confidence and humility.
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Exactly. Confidence because the success
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of the mission ultimately depends on His power and
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presence, not ours. Humility because we know this
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incredible treasure is carried in very ordinary jars of clay,
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as Paul puts it in 2nd Corinthians 4.7, so that the
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surpassing power belongs to God. Constantly reminding
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congregations of this promise I Am With You always guards
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against both burnout from self-reliance and despair when
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results seem slow. That's incredibly practical for
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sustaining mission. And finally, how does this core
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truth, the Lord is there, sustain believers through times
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of suffering and hardship, when maybe His presence feels the
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most distant? This is perhaps with the truth
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of Yahweh. Shama becomes most precious.
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When David walked through the valley of the shadow of death,
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what was his comfort? Not that the valley wasn't dark
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or scary, but you were with me. Your rod and your staff, they
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comfort me. Psalm 23.4.
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His security was in God's presence, in the darkness.
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God with us, even in the valley. Yes.
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Think also of John, exiled on the desolate island of Patmos
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for his faith. It was precisely there, in that
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place of suffering and isolation, that he received the
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glorious revelation of Jesus Christ and encountered the risen
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Lord walking among his churches. God met him in his suffering.
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Presence and affliction. Absolutely so in pastoral care,
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reminding those who are suffering that God doesn't just
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observe their pain from a safe distance, but that He enters
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into the furnace with them, like He did with Shadrach, Meshach,
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and Abednego in Daniel 3, transforms abstract doctrines
47:41
like omnipresence into concrete, tangible solace.
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And because the indwelling Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our
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inheritance, Ephesians 1.14, every present trial endured in
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His presence becomes strangely intertwined with future glory.
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The sorrows of our earthly pilgrimage actually anticipate
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the final joyful shout of Yahweh Shama when the New Jerusalem
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descends and God dwells fully with His people, wiping away
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every tear. His presence now is the
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guarantee of His perfect presence then.
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We've certainly covered a lot of ground today.
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We've traced God's dwelling presence from Eden right through
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to the New Jerusalem. We've seen how it shapes our
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systematic theology, how the church has understood it
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historically, how it informed current debates, and, crucially,
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how it grounds our daily Christian lives.
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It really is a central threat, isn't?
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It it absolutely is this doctrine of God's dwelling
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presence, Yahweh, Shama. It really is key to Christian
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living. It gives us solid assurance and
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uncertain times. It motivates us toward holiness,
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not out of fear, but out of love for the One who dwells within.
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It shapes how we view and engage in corporate worship.
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It fuels our mission and it sustains us when we walk through
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those inevitable times of difficulty.
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Comfort, holiness, worship, mission, perseverance.
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Yeah, it touches everything. It really does.
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It gives us courage for mission, knowing the Shepherd who sends
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us goes with us. He is there.
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It helps make this world, though not our final home, a place
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where we can experience his fellowship.
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And it transforms ordinary Sundays into extraordinary
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glimpses of the heavenly Zion we're journeying towards.
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Well said. So here's something for you, our
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listener, to really chew on. Consider this.
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How does this reality, this promise of God irrevocably being
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there with his people in Christ, even and perhaps especially in
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suffering? How does that change your own
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sense of security, your purpose, maybe even your priorities?
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What specific aspects of your life might look different if you
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lived each day, each moment, with a more tangible certainty
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that Yahweh Shama, the Lord, is truly there with you?
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That's a great question to ponder.
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It is. Thank you for joining us on this
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deep dive into Yahweh Shama. Until next time, keep thinking
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reformed.