`And dwelled among us . . .' Finding the source of John

by koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

12 December 2009

"The Word became flesh and dwelled [eskenosen tent-dwelled/tabernacled] among us and we beheld His glory, the glory from the unique born from the Father full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

This is one of the most popular verses in the New Testament for its richness about the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The word that catch our eye is dwelled or eskenosen in the Greek. The word is borrowed from Semitic since s-k-n in the root is the Semitic word for tent or tabernacle. The word dwell here actually reads that He set up His tent among us.

Where John got these thoughts from, scholars are not clear but we tend to think that Leviticus by Moses provide the answer.

What we will do here is to start with Leviticus 26:13 and then reverse back to verse 1.

Leviticus 26:13

"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you should not be their slaves and I broke the bars of your yoke and made [weolek] you walk erect".

A number of thoughts are appealing to us from this verse:

That God brought us out of Egypt. All of us were in the Egypt of slavery and sin but God led us out.

That God broke the bars of our yoke. All of us were sold under sin but God remove this yoke from our shoulders. Saved first by God, we are now ready to be used by Him.

And that is what He promised.

He will make us walk erect/ standing/perfect. The Hebrew word weolek is in the Hiphil form that is very special since it reinforce the verb to say that He will make us walk. He will prop us up. He will support us walking for Him. As Heppenstall has indicated in his scholarship between 1940-1970 in Adventism, and Hans La Rondelle between 1971-currently, Christ for us first becomes also Christ in us and this is how we are walking erect.

Leviticus 26:12

"I will also walk among you and be your God and you shall be My people".

The word for walk here is very special. It has attachments in the original so that it is a form that expressed either reflexiveness or reciprocy. This means that God Himself will walk among us, not a representative of God. Christ was God Himself and He did not sent an angel to represent Him. He represented the Trinity. Walking among us, it is not a fashion show where we sit and watch them walking up and down, God walk with us and we with Him.

Leviticus 26:11

"Moreover, I will make My dwelling [miskene] among you, and My soul will not reject you".

Here we have the powerful statement where John got his idea for John 1:14. God will dwell among us and we will not be rejected by Him. When Jesus came, God dwelled among us, says John in John 1:14. God does not reject anyone who wish to come to Him.

Leviticus 26:10

"And you will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new."

We often clean out the refrigirator to get rid of old food so that we can stock it with new.

Leviticus 26:6-9

God promise peace in the land and He will take care of our enemies.

Leviticus 26:3-5

"If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out" then, He will give rain and good harvests.

The question is which commandments? A hint may be the the previous verse Leviticus 26:2.

Leviticus 26:2

"You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord"

What sabbaths? Are these just festival days or is it the special sabbath? The Lord calls it My sabbath. This is the day He rested on. If we also rest on it He is satisfied that we are keeping His days. How do we know it is the sabbath of the Lord? The previous verse provides the key. 

Leviticus 26:1

"You shall not make for yourselves idols".

With this one is in Exodus 20:3. With the next verse in Leviticus 26:2 one is in Exodus 20:8-11.

God is very interested in us keeping the day that He kept Himself. It is our choice to follow Him because He asked us to do so. We do not select our own day but His day since He calls it My sabbath.

Maybe we say, I cannot. I cannot be perfect, I cannot change, I cannot come to God like I am. Stop. This is exactly what he says here in this chapter: He saves you, He makes you walk with Him upright and He dwells with you. He provides blessings with following and walking with Him. Christ for us becomes Christ in us.

Dear God

We sometimes hope to be perfect first before you accept us, but we learn it is the other way around. Thank you. Take the yoke of sin from our shoulders, save us with your Grace, and make us walk with you upright. Upright with Jesus, intending no evil, intending no sin but to glorify you, our maker and our salvation.

Amen