Immanuel

Immanuel.  The time approaches when we celebrate God being with us -- but it is not a new concept.  It's all over the Bible.

In Zephaniah -- after all the horrible disasters promised, God begins to promise that there will be a remnant.  But it gets better...

The King of Israel, Yahweh, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil...

Yahweh your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you buy his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing. 

[Zephaniah 3:15b, 17]

In Haggai -- 

Be strong, all you people of the land, declares Yahweh.

Work, for I am with you, declares Yahweh of hosts,

according to the covenant that I made with you 

when you came out of Egypt.

My Spirit remains in your midst.  Fear not.

[Haggai 2:4b-5]

In the psalms -- Psalm 139 is about how incredibly God is with us -- all around, all within...

And in the New Testament we see God intimately involved with His people.  In Revelation 11, God breathes new life into His prophets and reigns over the earth.  From the beginning of the Bible when He breathed life into Adam, to there in Revelation, God never far off from His people.  He is the one sustaining their very lives, and at the same time, ruling the universe.

That's far too wonderful for me to grasp.

Yet this is the God who loves me.

[12.20.08]