The Dwelling Of God
To meet someone the very first thing that we have to know is the place he resides in. We can visit there and we can have a chance to meet him. It is same with God. For God’s people to meet God we have to know the dwelling of God. By visiting there, we can meet God and be blessed by God.
God’s Dwelling in the Old Testament
Moses Tabernacle
Then what is the dwelling of God? In the Old Testament, the dwelling of God was the temple. God said that He would come to his people to the place where He chose to cause his name to be honored.
Exodus 20:24 “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
Solomon Temple
This was fulfilled by the sanctuary in the time of Moses and the temple in the time of Solomon. When Solomon built temple to honor the name of God, it became the dwelling of God since then. God put His Spirit in it and He dwelled among his people.
1 King 8:6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. 12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 13 I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
The Reality of God’s Dwelling in the New Testament
Zion the Dwelling of God
The bible says that the Old Testament was given as copy and shadow for the reality which was to be fulfilled in the New Testament by Christ. Then what is the reality of the temple that we should come to meet God?
Prophets of the bible teaches that Zion is the dwelling of God. And God would put his name in Zion that He would be honored by His people.
Isaiah 18:7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers—the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.
And the bible teaches that Zion is the dwelling of God where we must go to meet God and be blessed by God.
Psalm 132:13 For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling, saying, 14 “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it. 15 I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food. 16 I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her faithful people will ever sing for joy.
Blessing for God’s People Who Dwell in Zion
Also, the bible teaches that as God’s people we must come to Zion the dwelling of God for the blessings of eternal life.
Isaiah 51:16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand—I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’
The people who are in Zion is the people of God and they can receive the blessings of eternal life and salvation. (Psalm 133:3) Therefore, through the prophecies of the bible we can see that Zion is the dwelling of God and we must come to Zion to meet God.
The True Zion
Zion the City of God’s Festivals
Then what is the Zion? We have to ask the way to Zion as Jeremiah says:
Jeremiah 50:5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
Now let us find out where Zion is through the prophecies of the bible. According to the bible, Zion is the place where God’s people gather together to keep the festivals of God. It is the house of God where God proclaims feasts for his people.
Isaiah 33:20 Look on Zion, the city of our festivals
And through the festivals, God grants the blessings of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. (Isaiah 33:24) In this sense, Zion is the church today where God’s people gather to keep the festivals of God. But the problem arises when we think about the festivals of God.
The Festivals of God
Are all the churchs Zion? The answer is in this question: “Do they keep the festivals of God?” Since Zion is the city of God’s festivals, the people in Zion must keep the festivals of God. Today many churches claim that they keep the festivals of God such as Sunday worship, Christmas, Thanks-giving Day, etc..
If they are the festivals of God, then they are in Zion and they can be blessed by God. However, the problem is that the festivals they claim to keep as festivals of God are actually not festivals of God. Rather they are the traditions originated from man and they are only man’s customs.
The true festivals of God are recorded all throughout the bible, especially in Leviticus 23. In Leviticus, God proclaims the festivals that the people of God must keep as everlasting covenant. First, there is the Sabbath as weekly festival. And there are seven festivals of three times as annual festivals. They are the Passover, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles. And these are the festivals of God we have to keep.
Conclusion
Today, there is only one church which keeps the festivals of God according to all the laws and regulations of the new covenant following the teachings of Jesus and disciples: World Mission Society Church of God, or WMSCOG in short. The Church of God is Zion the dwelling of God. Come to Zion and keep the festivals of God. Then you can meet God and be blessed by God.