Shechinah
The Anointing Oil
The gold altar, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the veil for the doorway of the tent. (Exodus 39:38)
In addition to all the other items necessary for the Tabernacle, Bezalel made the oil of anointing (Shemen haMishchah, שֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה). The special oil is used only for consecration, not for any ordinary or mundane purposes (Exodus 30:22-33). Moses used the oil to consecrate the Tabernacle, its furnishings, and the priesthood. The prophets used it to anoint the kings of Israel. In the Messianic Era, the Levitical priesthood will use it to consecrate the Third Temple and all its furnishings. But who will anoint the Messiah?
The kings of Israel received their position through the anointing with oil. The anointing of the king symbolizes the investment of God's Holy Spirit upon the new king. The king of Israel is thereafter called "the LORD's anointed one (i.e., messiah, mashiach, מָשִׁיחַ)." The Prophet Samuel anointed both King Saul and King David, and the Holy Spirit rushed on them. Zadok the priest anointed David's son King Solomon with the horn of the anointing oil (I Kings 1:39). According to the Talmud, Bezalel's original batch of sacred anointing oil miraculously lasted through all generations. "Plenty remains for the days to come, as it is written [in Exodus 30:31]: 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations." (b. Keritot 12b).
The Talmud explains that, prior to the Babylonian exile, King Josiah hid away the sacred anointing oil along with the ark, the jar of manna, and Aaron's staff that budded. When the Messiah comes, Elijah the prophet will recover those items and present them as tokens to testify that Yeshua is the Messiah chosen by God:
Elijah will show Israel three tokens in the days to come: the jar filled with manna, the flask of anointing oil, and the flask of water (of the red heifer). Others say that he will show them the staff of Aaron, its blossoms and almonds. (Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 21)
The Coronation of the King
I have been anointed with fresh oil. (Psalm 92:10)
The Mishnah refers to Nisan I as "the new year for kings" because the length of a king's reign is reckoned according to the Jewish year, which begins on that day (m.Rosh HaShanah I.I). Perhaps King Messiah receives anointing and coronation on the first day of Nisan after His arrival. Alternatively, the ceremony could be delayed until the completion of the seven years of purification subsequent to the War of Gog and Magog. Let's go with the latter option as we try to imagine that momentous occasion.
In the Bible, the ceremony for the coronation of a king consists of the anointing with oil, the sounding of a shofar blast, and the public acclamation, "Yechi HaMelech," i.e., "Long live the king!" (i Kings 1:34), followed by a celebratory banquet (I Kings I:25).
The king's coronation must take place outside the city walls beside a spring of living water (I Kings I:0, 33). The Gihon Spring that currently feeds Hezekiah's tunnel should be utilized, placing the ceremony on the southern end of the City of David, south of the Temple Mount, perhaps adjacent to a restored Pool of Siloam. The narrow courtyards in that area allow for only a small crowd of witnesses: a few Levitical priests, the choir, the close retinue of the King, and less than a thousand fortunate to be invited to attend.
The thousands unable to squeeze themselves in among the witnesses fill the city streets, stand on the roofs of the houses, crowd the top of the Old City Walls, camp out in the Kidron Valley, and cover the hilltops and houses east of the city. In addition to all these, an unseen multitude presses into the liminal space on the edge of mortal perception: the righteous resurrected. They might sometimes be peripherally glimpsed-if they so choose. Even without the benefit of seeing the form of the blessed holy ones, those gathered for the event feel their presence. One has the strong impression that multitudes of multitudes stand in attendance, corporally present, speaking with one another in hushed and whispered tones, anticipating the big moment. An almost electric sense of anticipation crackles in the air. Filling the stadium seating of the clouds above, ranks of angels eagerly look on with bated breath.
The fanfare of shofar and trumpet blast announces the King's arrival. Behold! He has descended from the upper city, flanked by a tight entourage of the holy ones, all visible to the naked eye in scintillating colors of brilliant glory. A great shout rises from every quarter of the city and, for those with ears to hear, a shout from the heavens above. The King takes His seat in the midst of the assembly with the fathers on His right and mortals on His left.
One with wild hair like that of a Nazirite steps forward. His eyes are a flame of fire; his face shines like the sun, yet he is a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins and a mantle of resplendence over his shoulder. Is this Elijah? Or John the Immerser?
Elijah prostrates himself before the throne. At a nod from the King, the resurrected Elijah rises and presents his tokens. He carries a staff in his left hand, a horn of oil in his right, and a clay pot in the crook of his right arm. In clear and pure Hebrew, he says, "Please recognize, the manna, the oil, and the staff." The crowd acknowledges the tokens as he lifts each one in turn, "We recognize them." Aaron and Moses arise in garments whiter than any detergent on earth could whiten them to examine the items and verify their authenticity.
The King rises from the throne, saying, "Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." He kneels before Elijah. All heaven and earth gasp at the incongruity, the reversal of station, the display of profound humility (cf. Matthew 3:15).
Abashed by the gesture, Elijah weeps with love as he pours out the precious oil on the head of the Son of David (cf. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 49). The oil runs down the King's head, down on His beard, down on the edge of His robes. Elijah declares, "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your fellows" (Psalm 45:7, cf. Hebrews 1:8-9). He smears the oil in the shape of a crown on the King's forehead.
Yeshua replies, "You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows" (Psalm 23:5).
Elijah presents to the King the hidden manna and the staff that sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds:
That same staff also is destined to be held in the hand of King Messiah (may he come speedily in our days), as it says [in Psalm I10:2], "The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies." (Numbers Rabbah 18:23)
Behold, The Man
Behold, the man whose name is Branch. (Zechariah 6:12)
From the midst of the holy ones, King David arises with eyes like flaming torches; arms and legs that gleam like polished bronze. He sets a crown of pure gold upon the head of his son (Psalm 21:3) and kneels before the King.
The kings of Israel often received enthronement names. Upon Yeshua is bestowed "the name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). The voice of the Prophet Jeremiah declares, "I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness'" (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
The LORD Is Our Righteousness
HaShem Tzidkeinu
יְהוָה צִדְקֵנוּ
King HaShem Tzidkeinu rises to His feet, dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. His head is like gold, pure gold; His locks are like clusters of dates and black as a raven, His eyes are like doves beside streams of water (Song of Songs 5:10ff). They robe Him in a royal garment of purple and present Him to the witnesses.
He stands before them, the crown upon His head, hair glistening with oil, the blossomed staff in His hand, the robe of purple over His shoulders. The voice of the Prophet Zechariah proclaims, "Behold, the man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne" (Zechariah 6:12-13).
In response, a priest from the Levitical order sounds a series of blasts on a single shofar. The voice of the shofar sounds louder and louder. It travels to the four corners of the earth; it shakes the heavens. The assembly of those present falls prostrate before the King with a shout of acclamation, "Yechi HaMelech Yeshua-Long live Yeshua the King!" The sound of their shout rises over Jerusalem. Every knee bows. Every face lowers to the ground. Every tongue in heaven and on earth confesses "that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-II).
Now a holy hush falls on the assembly and over all the earth. Yeshua alone is left standing on His feet. Sunlight glints off the golden crown as He turns His head to look on those surrounding Him in adoration. Those on His right and those on His left are prostrated before Him. The fathers are prostrate before Him. The twelve are prostrate before Him. Elijah, Moses, Aaron, and David are prostrate before Him. The prophets and the kings of Judah are prostrate before him. All the holy ones are prostrate before Him. The whole assembly of Israel is prostrate before Him. The emissaries of the nations are prostrate before Him. All those looking on from afar are prostrate before Him. Even the angels above prostrate themselves before Him with the admission, "You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands; you have put all things in subjection under his feet" (Hebrews 2:7-8; Psalm 8).
The moment passes. The whole congregation rises to its feet with an eruption of applause, music, lyre, and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, they shout joyfully before the King (Psalm 98:4-6). The city bursts with music, great rejoicing, playing on flutes, and the earth shakes with the noise of their rejoicing (I Kings I:40). The heavens brighten, the earth rumbles, the field exults, the sea in its fullness roars, the rivers and the trees of the forest clap their hands and sing for joy. The mountains sing joyfully, they skip and dance like rams, like lambs. Mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and winged fowl; kings of the earth and all people; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and virgins; old men and children, with dancing and timbrel and lyre, join their voices in the New Song before the King (Psalm 148:9-14).
The glad procession sets out from Siloam and ascends the hill of the LORD toward the Temple Mount for the inauguration of the Temple.
Consecration of the Temple
On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. (Exodus 40:2)
Moses consecrated the Tabernacle in the wilderness on the new moon of the month of Nisan, "the first day of the first month." Likewise, the Third Temple will be consecrated "in the first month, on the first of the month" (Ezekiel 45:18).
Seven years after the War of Gog and Magog, the Levitical priests slaughter a bull as a purification offering to cleanse the newly constructed Sanctuary from ritual impurity. They apply some of its blood to the doorposts of the Temple, the gates of the inner court, and the four corners of the altar (Ezekiel 45:19). The consecration takes seven days with a repetition of the ritual on the seventh day (Ezekiel 45:20). The purification by the blood of the bull applied to the doorposts of the Temple evokes Passover symbolism which, in turn, evokes the atoning death of Yeshua who was "pierced through for our transgressions ... crushed for our iniquities" at Passover (cf. I Corinthians 5:7).
Similarly, the consecration of the altar involves a bull offered by the priesthood as a special type of purification offering. Ordinarily, when the priesthood offers a bull for a sin offering, they bring its blood inside the Sanctuary and apply it to the golden altar. However, in this case, the priests apply the blood to the altar of burnt offering: "on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border round about; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it" (Ezekiel 43:20). For the subsequent six days, the priests offer a combination of sin offerings and burnt offerings: "Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it" (Ezekiel 43:26). After seven days, the purifications and consecrations are complete. The LORD declares through the Prophet Ezekiel, "When they have completed the [seven] days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you" (Ezekiel 43:27).
Departure and the Shechinah
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34)
The Hebrew word Shechinah (שְׁכִינָה) means Dwelling Presence. It derives from the verb shachan (שָׁכַן), "to dwell." The Hebrew word that English Bibles regularly translate as Tabernacle, mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן), is built from the same verbal root and means "dwelling place." The Shechinah is God's Dwelling Presence: the aspect of God that takes up residence on earth. The Tabernacle is God's Dwelling Place.
SHACHAN (שָׁכַן): to dwell.
MISHKAN (מִשְׁכָּן): Dwelling place. Tabernacle.
SHECHINAH (שְׁכִינָה): Dwelling Presence of God.
When the children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai, the Dwelling Presence (Shechinah) of God overshadowed the top of the mountain in a cloud of glory that appeared to the sons of Israel "like a consuming fire on the mountain top" (Exodus 24:17). Ten months later, on the first day of the first month, the Shechinah left the mountain to enter the Mishkan. The cloud of glory covered the tent and filled the Tabernacle to such an extent that even Moses himself could not enter the Sanctuary. The Shechinah took up residence in the Tabernacle in fulfillment of the words, "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8).
On the day that King Solomon consecrated the First Temple in Jerusalem, the Shechinah appeared again and took up residence in the Temple (I Kings 8). As in the days of Moses, the Glory of the LORD filled the Temple to such an extent that the priesthood could not enter the Sanctuary to perform their duties (I Kings 8:10-II).
The Shechinah remained present in the First Temple up until the days of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Before the fall of Jerusalem, the Prophet Ezekiel beheld a tragic vision of the Shechinah leaving the Temple (Ezekiel 10:18). The cherubim bearing the presence of the LORD lifted their wings and rose. The wheels of the LORD's chariot rose with them. As if leaving reluctantly, they paused outside "the entrance of the east gate of the LORD's house" where the Shechinah briefly lingered before departing toward the east, in the direction of the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 10:19).
In a much later vision, Ezekiel foresaw the return of the Shechinah to a magnificent future Temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43). But when the generation of Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the Temple, the Shechinah did not return as Ezekiel anticipated. The "Shechinah and Holy Spirit" of prophecy did not rest on the Second Temple as it had upon the First Temple (b.Yoma 21b). The fulfillment of the prophecy about the return of the Shechinah awaits the final redemption and the Third Temple.
Return of the Shechinah
Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:35)
King Solomon's dedication of the First Temple provides us with a model to visualize the dedication of the Third Temple (I Kings 8). The King assembles the nation for the ceremony on the eighth day after the consecration began. A host of the holy ones are also present, many visible to the naked eye. The eastern gates stand open, and the King enters through them. He offers up a prayer of dedication like that of King Solomon, "I have surely built You a lofty house, a place for Your dwelling forever" (I Kings 8:13ff). He concludes with a petition in the words of Moses, "Return, O LORD, to the myriad thousands of Israel" (Numbers 10:36).
For those with eyes to see the unseen, "behold, the glory of the God of Israel" comes "from the way of the east," from the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 43:2). The angels say to the gates of Jerusalem, "Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in!" (Psalm 24:7). The Glory of the LORD enters the Temple through the eastern gates in the manner of the chariot that Ezekiel beheld on the day of his commissioning (Ezekiel 43:3). Four living creatures, each with four wings and four faces gazing in the four directions, carry the firmament on their shoulders. Four many-eyed wheel-angels turn beside them as they move. "The sound of their wings" beating the air crashes "like the sound of abundant waters... like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp" (Ezekiel I:24). As they advance from heaven, there comes suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it fills the whole house of the LORD (Acts 2:2). "In the midst of the living beings" is something "like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings" which appear to everyone present as tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and resting upon each one of them (Ezekiel I:13, cf. Acts 2:3).
The chariot arrives like the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD, like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day (Ezekiel I:26-28). "The glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east ….. and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house" (Ezekiel 43:4-5). A voice says, "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut" (Ezekiel 442). The foundations of the thresholds tremble while the Temple fills with smoke (Isaiah 6:4).
Outpouring of the Spirit
"It shall be in the last days," God says, "that I will pour forth of my Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." (Acts 2:17)
Everyone assembled in the Temple courts falls prostrate under the onrushing Presence of the LORD. The priests cannot stand to minister, for the glory of the LORD fills the house of the LORD. They fall on their faces before the LORD of Hosts. The Shechinah takes up residence within the Sanctuary.
In the days of the Apostles, God "gave the Spirit as a pledge" and a down-payment on the fullness yet to come. He now pours forth His Spirit on all flesh as He weighs out the Spirit and metes out the waters by measure (2 Corinthians I:22, 5:5; Ephesians I:14; Acts 2:17; cf. Joel 3:1[2:28]; Job 28:25).
When the sound of the rushing wind falls silent, the priesthood lies prone in the courtyards of the Temple. Even the King has prostrated Himself in worship before the Presence of the LORD. No one speaks or moves. "The LORD is in His holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20). From out of the silence that comes after the wind, after the earthquake, and after the fire, a voice speaks like the sound of a gentle breeze, a still small voice, a quiet whisper. "Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!" (Ezekiel 2:1). The Son of Man rises to His feet. He uncovers His face and enters to stand before the LORD. "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever" (Ezekiel 43:7).
The LORD is There
Throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel. (Exodus 40:38)
Subsequent to the return of the Shechinah, the Dwelling Presence of the LORD manifests over Jerusalem like the cloud of glory that sheltered Israel as a pillar of cloud by day and guided the nation as a fire by night. The cloud stands above the Temple like a pillar of white, rising vertically from the space above the Sanctuary for several thousand feet. At that altitude, its crown spreads horizontally over Jerusalem as a thin canopy of localized cloud cover, not so much as to completely obscure the light of the sun but enough to diminish its intensity during the hottest hours at its height. Moreover, the inexplicable phenomenon affects weather systems as they arrive from the west. Jerusalem and its immediate environs receive gentle rainfall in its season, but high winds and destructive deluges avoid the city. Likewise, the dust-laden, hot, and arid winds of the sharav blowing up from the Arabian and Saharan deserts no longer reach Jerusalem.
By night, the same cloud appears luminous against the dark sky, shimmering like the display of the northern lights after a solar storm. A splay of subtle colors flashes, swirls, and moves through the cloud like flames, providing gentle illumination for the entire city through the night. People refer to the canopy of cloud and the glory overshadowing the city as The Chuppah (חֻפָּה), i.e., Jerusalem's "wedding canopy":
The LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy (chuppah). There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. (Isaiah 4:5-6)
The visible presence of God over Jerusalem banishes atheism and agnosticism from the world. "The name of the city from that day shall be, 'The LORD is there'" (Ezekiel 48:35). "Jerusalem will dwell safely, and this is the name by which she will be called: The LORD is our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 33:16).
The LORD Is There
HaShem Shamah
יְהוָה שָׁמָּה
The LORD Is Our Righteousness
HaShem Tzidkeinu
יְהוָה צִדְקֵנוּ