Where do you look to find God? Where is His dwelling place? Do you search for God among the stars in the sky or in the depths of the sea? Do you look to your inner self to hear His whisper in your quietest thoughts? Or do you think He can be found in popular opinion or majority vote? There is Good News! God does not hide, nor does He wait to be found. He loves us far too much for that. He comes to us.

As the children of Israel wondered through the Sinai desert, their focus of worship was the tabernacle—a large portable tent. That was God’s special dwelling place. They did not have to search to find Him. He lived among them (Ex. 25:8). Frequently, the tabernacle was called “the Tent of Meeting” because there God would meet His people.

Note that the tabernacle was not a mere symbolic representation of God’s presence. It was the actual place of His dwelling. After the tabernacle was built a “cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. . . So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels” (Ex. 40:34, 38). What a great comfort it was for the Israelites to look at the Tabernacle and to know God was with them.

Much later in the history of Israel, King Solomon built a more permanent house of worship for the Lord (1 Kings 6). When its construction was complete, it was filled with the glory of the Lord. “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. Then Solomon said, ‘The LORD has said that He would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever’ ” (1 Kings 8:10-13). This temple as beautiful as it was did not last forever.

The Babylonians destroyed it in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 25:8-9). How the people must have wept to see the dwelling place of God destroyed. How would God now dwell in their midst? A greater temple was to come (Ezek. 37:27-28, Is 7:14).

“Then the Jews demanded of Him, ‘What miraculous sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do all this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and You are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple He had spoken of was his body” (John 2:18-21).

Just as God dwelled in the tabernacle and in the temple, so also He dwells in the man, Jesus of Nazareth. As St. John records in his prologue, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:1, 14). In Jesus, God dwells with us (Matt. 1:23, Rev. 21:3-4). If you want to find God, look to Jesus.

Prayer: Immanuel, I thank You that You have revealed God to me. Because of You, I do not need to look for God in all the mysteries of the universe. But to know God, I look to You. Help me to remain focused on You always. Amen.

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Updated: Friday February 08, 2008