Posted by D'vorah on July 06, 1998 at 10:51:42:
In Reply to: The Spirit as Shekinah "Glory" posted by Brad on July 05, 1998 at 15:05:46:
: This is all written in the form of a question. The Shekinah or the glory that was present in the wilderness and in the first temple. Is it one and the same as the "Holy Spirit."??? With the destruction of the temple and the coming of Yeshua does the Shekinah dwell in our hearts as a temple??? Is the Shekinah feminine??? The prayer of Lekhah Dodi...is it a hymn to the feminine dimension of Elohim???
: Any insight would be appreciated! Shalom Aleichem Brad, If I may I will give you the Hebraic understanding of the Sh'khinah of YHWH. One of the great themes in the Messianic expectation is that of the Kabutz Kalot--Ingathering of the Exiles from the four corners of the earth. And ever since the destruction of Yerushalayim and the Temple in 70 CE the Yehudim have prayed three times a day for the ingathering..which for us is synonymous with redemption. To make the ingathering complete there also has to be a restoration of the community of Yisrael to Elohim, therefore not only all the tribes of Yisrael have to return to their ancestoral land but also the exiled Sh'khinah [Presence of Elohim]. In the Talmudic period the Sh'khinah was identified with the Ruach HaKodesh [Holy Spirit]. The word is feminine and this is noted by the suffix "ah." Sh'khinah, Divine Presence of Elohim, also called the Dwelling Presence, and the Ruach HaKodesh by the Talmudic period had come to be called "Holy Spirit", however, the two are very different...similar..yet different. The word Sh'khinah comes from the word "shikhan" and means "neighbor"...Elohim becomes a neighbor of the people in the Mishkan/Tabernacle or Temple..that when one walked into the Mishkan or Temple he is walking into a manifestation of the Living Elohim. In the Mishkan or Temple was the manifestation of the revelation of Elohim, something tangible to be experienced as is what happened to us when we became believers. In the Mishkan or Temple everything that the person expereinced, i.e. hears, sees, feels, smells, and tastes should teach him of Elohim, everything that is done in every song, every sacrifice, everything that is done in that compound is Elohim revealing Himself to His people...we have a taste of this within ourselves as being believers with the blessed expectation of the fullness soon! The Ruach HaKodesh is specifically the "Power" of Elohim..and if you will notice in Scripture, most the time when it is mentioned it "comes upon" a person. When the Sh'khinah is being referred to it "dwells" with a person or within a person as it also dwelled within the Mishkan [Tabernacle] in the wilderness...and when one has the Sh'khinah "within" them and the Ruach HaKodesh "upon" them then the Kivod [Divine Radiance/Glory] of Elohim will be manifested as an outward sign...as in the case of Moshe when he came down from the mountain and had to put a veil over his face as he spoke with the people. Here are some descriptions of the the three manifestations of the attributes of Elohim in the Hebraic understanding: *Sh'khinah - Indwelling Presence: Moves upon, Cloud, Envelope, Dwelling, Menachem/Comforter, Rest. *Kivod - Glory: Divine Radiance. *Ruach HaKodesh - Holy Spirit: Divine Power, Prophecy..any action that Elohim does. In the Hebraic concept Adam and Chavah were clothed in the Sh'khinah [Presence of Elohim] and when they sinned the Sh'khinah departed from them.
2 Corin. 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of Elohim, an house not made with hands, eternal in the shamayim.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from shamayim:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
Concerning the Lecha Dodi song that is sung every Kabbalat Shabbat [Welcoming of Shabbat - Friday night] I just posted about this on another forum and will paste it here: ***Lecha dodi likrat kala, penei Shabbat nekabela! Come my Beloved to greet the bride, the Sabbath presence We are inviting Elohim [Beloved] to join us in our ushering in In midrash it says Elohim told the newly created Shabbat that Also the bride or queen represents the Sh'khinah [Elohim's Be favorable, YHWH, Eloheinu, toward Your people Yisael and their prayer and restore the service to the Holy of Holies of Your Temple. The fire-offerings of Yisrael and their prayer accept with love and favor, and may the service of Your people Yisrael always be favorable to You. May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion. Blessed are You, YHWH, Who restores His Sh'khinah to Zion!!!! Many blessings b'Yahushua to you, D'vorah
And the belief that when HaMashiach would come that He would conquer sin and the Sh'khinah would return to the people and that when HaMashiach comes mankind would be indwelled by the Sh'khinah as Adam and Chavah were...this is part of the restoration. This, in part, happened with Yahushua's first coming. We now have the Sh'khinah of Elohim dwelling within us but only in part...a portion, whereas Adam before his fall had full measure. We have the promise that we will have the full manifestation of the Ruach when we receive our change [body without sin]...at that time we will have the Ruach HaKodesh upon us, Sh'khinah within us and the Kivod will radiate from us...and we will be able to stand within the Presence of YHWH without being consummed and He will once again be able to manifest Himself within mankind as He did with Adam. And the Sh'khinah will no longer be exiled.
let us welcome!
of the Shabbat..which is the Queen..the Bride.
Yisrael shall be it's mate..so Yisrael every week greets the
Shabbat as a groom awaiting his bride to come to the
chuppah [wedding canopy].
Presence] which was withdrawn due to Yisrael's sins...so
we ask Elohim to join us in greeting the Sh'khinah showing it
is our prayer for the end of the Exile..and the Sh'khinah to
return.