The Bible testifies that God is Spirit. He is not limited by a body of flesh and blood, which binds Him to a certain time and place, but it is possible for Him to be everywhere at the same time: in his holy dwelling heaven and on earth with his creatures, especially with whom loves and serve in humility and humility
For thus says the High and Exalted One, who eternally enthrones and whose name is the Holy One: in the high and in the holy house I dwell and in the shattered and humble in spirit ... Isaiah 57:15
God created the people to live in communion with Him. That's why He wants to be close to them. In many places in the Bible we, therefore, see that God is among people He loves:
When they heard (Adam and Eve) the sound of the LORD God, who walked in the garden in the evening chill ...
Genesis 3:8
I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.
Leviticus 26:12
I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites and I will be their God.
Exodus 25: 8
for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.
Deuteronomy 6:15
... for I the LORD have my habitation in the midst of the children of Israel.
Numbers 35:34
However, after the people of Israel had been disobedient and rebellious in disbelief for centuries, the prophet Ezekiel saw in a vision how the Lord departed from their midst (chapters 10 and 11:23). But he and other prophets could at the same time announce God's promise that He would again live with believing and obedient people in the future:
Jubilate and rejoice, you daughter of Zion! For, behold, I come and dwell in your midst, says the LORD, and many people shall seek communion with the LORD in that day, and they shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst ... he shall yet again to Jerusalem. prefer ... because He is getting out of his holy home.
Zechariah 2:10-13
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tent of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God will be with them
Revelation 21:3
Because his presence as a Person for people is not visible, the Bible speaks of the presence of "the Spirit of God" and "the glory of the Lord". Already in the first verses of the Bible, it is said that God's Spirit is on earth, and the prophet Haggai spoke of "the Spirit" in Israel:
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1: 2
for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, according to the word that I have promised you when you came forth out of Egypt, and my Spirit stood among you
Haggai 2:5-6
God has always been present on earth, because He continues with his work, reaching his stated goal. But in a special way, He was present among Israel in the Angel of the Covenant, because the prophet points to him. He is called "the Angel of God's face" or "Face". In this angel was the Spirit of God, so that He spoke and acted in the same mind, spirit, as God himself does. The people, therefore, regarded him as God himself:
20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.
22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.
23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.
Exodus 23:20-23
The LORD your God will cover you for yourself; He himself will drive and annihilate those nations before you so that you can take possession of their land.
Deuteronomy 31:3
I will mention the Lord's mercies, the glorious deeds of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has done for us ... He said, "They are my people ... and He became their Savior ... and the Angel of his face has made them saved ... But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit ... Isaiah 63: 7-11
And as God was present in Israel in the person of this angel, He is now in Christ Jesus:
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my Spirit upon Him.
Matthew 12:18-21
This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 17: 5
For He who sent God speaks the words of God, for He does not give the Spirit in moderation.
John 3:34
After his revival from the dead to eternal life, He is no longer a man of flesh and blood, but a perfect spiritual Man. He is no longer visible to His disciples, but He has received a glorified way of life in which, like God, He is "in the Spirit" on earth. In this way He dwells among his followers and even in each of them individually:
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
John 15:26-27
Behold, I (Christ) stand at the door, and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him ...
Revelation 3:20
You are in the Spirit, at least if the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you ... And if the Spirit of Him (God), who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you ... Romans 8: 9-11
Under the New Covenant, "the Spirit of God" is actually Christ Jesus, who after his ascension acts as God's omnipresent authorized shepherd and leader of believers on earth:
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.
Matthew 18:20
In spite of the fact that God and Christ cannot be among us because of our unholiness (Hebrews 7:26) they are still present in the Spirit and in all who believe. The Spirit of God can, therefore, be God or Christ himself, or an angel. It is, therefore, meant God's power and influence on earth and not a separate Person of Deity.
The manifestation of God
When we speak of God as "the Spirit," it means that He is invisible to us. God can obviously manifest, make visible, but He does not because we sinful people can not bear the sight of the holy and almighty God. Even when God sent an angel, people could not bear or hardly bear his sight and thought they would die because they had seen "God"
When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
Judges 13:21-22
Even Moses and Elijah could only catch a glimpse of the Angel who spoke to them (Exodus 33:18-23).
God's presence often appeared from certain (sometimes terrifying) natural phenomena.
The cloud and fire column in the desert also testified of the presence of God in the people of Israel. This hid the glory of God before the eyes of the people. The sight of the glorified Lord Jesus is now also unbearable.
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
Revelation 1:12-17
The Tabernacle and later the Temple was built as the visible dwelling place of God among men. > Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40-34-35
