The Place of His Choosing: Part 2

 Hello Again Dear Friends and Readers!

Last we were together, in Part 1 of The Place of His Choosing, I shared with you that I once had this question:

Should believers be attempting to celebrate YHVH’s appointed times outside of Jerusalem with no physical temple?

We looked at several scriptures where YHVH commanded Israel to worship Him at “the place of His choosing,” and that left us with a few new questions:

Has Israel been left without a temple?

and

Where is the place of YHVH’s choosing today?

I believe when we answer the latter two questions, we will be able to answer the former one.  Ready to dive in?  Let’s go!

Let us first think about the purpose of the tabernacle and the temple of YHVH.  Scripture shows us that in their respective times, they were the dwelling place of YHVH.  

We see the glory of YHVH filling the tabernacle in the wilderness in Exodus 40:34-38, and His glory once again filling the temple in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 8:10-11.  These were the places that YHVH used to dwell among His people.  They were the places that He chose to dwell…

Where does YHVH dwell today?

Has he abandoned His people?  

There were definitely times in scripture when we see that YHVH did pull away from dwelling among His people.  

He did destroy Shiloh.

He did allow the Babylonians to raze the first temple.

We are not even told whether or not His glory returned to the second temple (with the obvious exception that Yeshua was there in his earthly lifetime).

But could we say that He abandoned His people?

I do not believe that we can say that.  

Why? Because YHVH knew that His people would continue to be sinful.  He knew that they needed more than His presence in a nearby building through the mediation of a sinful high priest in order to be reconciled to a holy God.  He knew that a personal and individual savior and sinless high priest would be the only way…

 

In. Walks. Yeshua.

Yeshua’s life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Holy Spirit changed the way that YHVH chose to dwell with man.  

Paul explains it to the new Corinthian believers this way:  Don’t you know that you are God’s temple, and that the Holy Spirit dwells among you? - 1 Corinthians 3:16.

He reiterates it again in 1 Corinthians 6:19.  

Here are a few more verses to make this point: Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15-16; 5:23; 1 Corinthians 10:17; Romans 8:9; Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:24; Hebrews 13:3.

And the point is this:  YHVH did not stop dwelling with mankind.  He has not left His people without a temple.  

How so, you ask?

YOU. ME. 

Believers in Messiah Yeshua…

We are His dwelling place.

So, to revisit our questions:

Has Israel been left without a temple?

  

No, Israel’s temple is now built on the firm foundation of Israel’s Messiah…Yeshua. (See Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42-44; Acts 4:11; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Daniel 2:35)  Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, every follower of Messiah Yeshua makes up part of the temple.  This temple is not contigent upon location, but is made up of people in various locations all over the earth.  

This leads to our next question:

Where is the place of YHVH’s choosing today?

As previously noted, today’s temple is not bound to one location.  Therefore the place of YHVH’s choosing is not bound to one location either.  The place He has chosen to dwell through the gift of His Holy Spirit (John 14:15-21; Acts 2:38) is within His people.  The place of His choosing, therefore, must be where His people dwell.  

This could be Jerusalem…or just as easily South Africa…or The United States…or Greenland…or China…or Saudi Arabia…or any location on the face of the earth. 

 This brings us to the question that started it all:

Should believers be attempting to celebrate YHVH’s appointed times outside of Jerusalem with no physical temple?

I believe based on the evidence presented in this article series the answer is…

YES

Believers who wish to keep YHVH’s appointed times carry within their own bodies the dwelling place of YHVH.  His Holy Spirit resides within them, and they are shepherded by Messiah Yeshua, the one and only sinless high priest - Hebrews 8:1-6.

YHVH’s choice for the times we are living in looks different than in the past, but He is God.  He gets to choose.  The place He has chosen in this season is within His people.  

The sacrifices He is currently accepting are those found in Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 9:13; and Hebrews 13:15.

• Loyalty

• Knowledge of God

• Justice 

• Mercy

• Humility

• And Praise 

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me to discover The current place of YHVH’s choosing.  Isn't it exciting to know that YHVH has chosen us to be the hands and feet of Messiah to a lost and dying world?!  May we take His Name to all tribes, tongues, and nations of the world…until the knowledge of the glory of God fills the earth as the waters cover the sea!  Habakkuk 2:14

As always, thank you for coming to Seek with Me!