The Bookends of the Bible
Although the Bible is a collection of 66 books written by 40 different authors over 1,500 years, it is amazing the flow of the themes that appear.
Genesis begins with the creation of the world and Adam and Eve in a garden paradise, where they enjoy the blessings of God, who is with them and whose fellowship they enjoy.
We see that sin enters the world, and the Bible narrative shows God working to restore to people the presence of God that was so vivid in the beginning. We see glimpses of God’s presence with His people as God brings forth a nation by calling Abraham from his home to a place that God promises will be inherited by his offspring.
As the exodus from bondage in Egypt takes place, God’s presence is seen in an awesome form in a cloud and pillar of fire that leads them through the wilderness to possess the land promised to Abraham hundreds of years before.
During this journey, Moses is given the privilege of experiencing God’s presence. So much so that after meeting with the Lord, his face shone so bright that it frightened God’s people. At a critical moment, the Lord’s reassurance to Moses was, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) God’s presence among His people was to distinguish them from all other people.
In the New Testament, Jesus was with His disciples as the presence of the Lord took human form. When Jesus prepared for the cross, He told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. The Gospel of Matthew begins with Jesus coming as Immanuel (God with us) and ends with Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am with you till the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
The age and grand bookend of the Bible is seen in Revelation 21:3. It is there we read, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
I am thankful that we can experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit in our lives and corporately when we gather as God’s people in worship. But as the words of the old hymn remind us, this is “a foretaste of glory divine.”