From “In the Beginning” to Amen // God's Dwelling Place
God’s Purpose Is Not That We Just See Him or Are Aware of Him, But Rather Seek Him and Know Him.
Psalm 132:13-14 (NLT)
“For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem he has desired it for his home. ‘This is my resting place forever,’ he said. ‘I will live here, for this is the home I desired.’”
God Always Chooses a People Before He Chooses a Place.
God's Passionate Desire Is to Dwell with His People.
Not To Exclude the Nations… But To Reach and Bless the Nations.
God's Interested in Building People but He Did Choose a Location… God Chose Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 6:6 (NKJV)
"I Have Chosen Jerusalem That My Name May Be There.”
God Was Showing That His Promises Never Fail.
Does Israel and Jerusalem Still Matter?
God Never Breaks His Promises.
Romans 11:28-29 (NLT)
“Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you, Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.”
Jerusalem Still Matters Because God's Covenant Faithfulness Still Matters.
Hosea 14:4-7 (NKJV)
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall be revived like grain and grow like a vine.”
Zechariah 12:2-3, 9-10 (NLT)
“I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves… For on that day, I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on ME whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son.”
Because Wherever God Places His Purposes… The Enemy Concentrates His Opposition.
Don't Be Surprised When the Place God Chooses Becomes the Place the Enemy Attacks.
Behold… The Dwelling Place of God Is with Mankind.