The best Companion on the loftiest road
We often think of the tabernacle in restrictive terms: only the high priest could enter the holy of holies and even he could do so only once a year. While this is certainly true, there is another way of looking at it: the tabernacle allowed the God of glory to dwell among His people without consuming them. Indeed, this is the Lord’s stated purpose for the tabernacle: “And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8).
Later, He went a step further (no pun intended). “Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” (Lev. 26:11f) Here we read that not only did the Lord want to dwell among His people, but also it was His intention to walk with them.
As hard as it is to believe, the Lord yearns for our fellowship. It is His desire to dwell among us and walk with us. He not only stated this in the Law, but also reiterated it in the Prophets.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 6:8)
A lovely example of this is Enoch. We read, “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” (Gen. 5:22-24)
Twice we are told that Enoch walked with God. He made a life of it. And it’s almost as if, one day, as he walked with the Lord, one foot came down on the ground of earth and the other foot came down on the streets of gold. So accustomed was he to enjoying the Lord’s presence that this old planet faded away, and he stepped right into glory.
In this, Enoch is to be a picture of the church. In spite of all the work he had to do, Enoch wasn’t distracted from that which is precious to the Lord: walking with Him and enjoying His fellowship until the day He brings us home. Enoch’s occupation is to be our occupation: “he walked with God.” And Enoch’s hope is to be our hope: “and he was not, for God took him.”
Finally, we can hardly think of walking with God without being reminded of the incarnation of Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt [lit. tabernacled] among us” (Jn. 1:14). In the person of the Lord Jesus, Jehovah dwelt and walked among His people.
But there’s more! Remember the words of Micah? That we are “to walk humbly with [our] God”? That alone is a privilege beyond value. But as always, the Lord’s plans for us are infinitely grander than our loftiest ideas. In unspeakable grace, our God stepped out of the glories of Heaven and walked humbly among us!
He left Heaven and walked the dusty paths of Earth with us so that one day we could leave Earth and walk the streets of gold with Him.