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Revelation 1:7-8 Jesus was the Almighty.
Genesis 17:1 And the Almighty was God.

John 8:58 Jesus was the “I Am”
Exodus 3:14 and the “I Am” was God

Acts 3:14 Jesus was the “HOLY ONE”
Isaiah 43:15 and the “HOLY ONE” was God

John 8:24 Jesus is the “I Am He”
Isaiah 43:10 and the “I Am He” was God

Revelation 22:13 Jesus is the “First and the Last”
Isaiah 44:6 and the “First and the Last” was God

I Corinthians 10:4 Jesus was “The Rock”
Psalm 18:31 and “The Rock” was God

II Corinthians 11:2 Jesus was the “One HUSBAND”
Jeremiah 31:32 and the “One HUSBAND” was God

Matthew 23:8 Jesus was the “ONE MASTER”
Malachi 1:6 and the “ONE MASTER” was God

John 10:16 Jesus was the “One SHEPHERD”
Isaiah 40:11 and the “ONE SHEPHERD” was God

Acts 4:12 Jesus was the “ONE SAVIOR”
Isaiah 45:21 and the “ONE SAVIOR” was God

Luke 1:68 Jesus was the “ONE REDEEMER”
Isaiah 41:14 and the “ONE REDEEMER” was God

Revelation 19:16 Jesus was “LORD OF LORDS
1 Timothy 6:14 Jesus was “LORD OF LORDS
Deuteronomy 10:17 and the “LORD OF LORDS” was God

Philippians 2:10 Every knee must bow to Jesus
Isaiah 45:23 Every knee must bow to God

John 1: 3-10 Jesus was the “ONE CREATOR”
Isaiah 44:24 Jesus was the “ONE CREATOR”
Genesis 1:1 and the “ONE CREATOR” was God

John 1:49 Jesus was “KING OF ISRAEL”
Isaiah 44:6 and the “KING OF ISRAEL” was God

Deuteronomy 4:35 The Lord He is God, there is NONE else beside him

Deuteronomy 4:39 there is None Else

Deuteronomy 6:4 the Lord our God is ONE Lord

Deuteronomy 32:39 I even I, am He and THERE IS NO GOD WITH ME

1 Kings 8:60 The LORD is God – There is None Else

2 Kings 19:15 You ALONE are the only true God

Psalm 86:10 You are God, YOU ALONE

Isaiah 42:8 I am Jehovah, and to no one else shall I give my own glory

Isaiah 43:10,11 Before me there was no God formed
NEITHER SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME. I, EVEN I AM THE LORD:
AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOR.

Isaiah 44:6 I AM THE FIRST, AND THE LAST: AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO GOD

Isaiah 45:5 I am the Lord, and there is NONE ELSE, THERE IS NO GOD BESIDE ME

Isaiah 45:6 There is NONE beside Me. I am the Lord and there is NONE else.

Isaiah 45:15 you are a God, the /god of Israel, a Savior.

Isaiah 45:22 turn to me and be saved. For I am God, and there is no one else

Isaiah 48:11 I will not give my glory unto another.
Isaiah 45:5

Isaiah 48:12 I am he, I am the first, I also am the Last. Revelation 1:8

Hosea 13:4 I am Jehovah your God, there was no God except me, and there was no savior but I.

Joel 2:27 I am your God, and None Else

Zechariah 14:9 In that day shall there be ONE LORD AND HIS NAME ONE

Philippians 2:11 that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father

Matthew 23:9 For one is your Father, the heavenly one

Mark 12:29 Jehovah our God is one Jehovah

Trust in the Lord

Psalm 4:5

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods.
They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest.
I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship.
I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching.
I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees.
When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter” … and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy. because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree so I’ll just take this one,” and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed-box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat.
His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree.

The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe.
The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree.
It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill.
When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you.
If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts.
Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined.

We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us.
We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Author UnKnown

“

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal.

I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering.

I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for awhile, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son, come and sit on my knee.” This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?” He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.” I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark.” The Father seems to tell me, “‘My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side.”

–Author: Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, now St Padre Pio.

“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord
“plans for good and not for evil,
plans to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11

The majestic presence or manifestation of God which has descended to “dwell” among men.

The word itself is taken from such passages as speak of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle or among the people of Israel (see Ex. xxv. 8, xxix. 45-46; Num. v. 3, xxxv. 34; I Kings vi. 13; Ezek. xliii. 9; Zech. ii. 14.

Occasionally the name of God is spoken of as descending (Deut. xii. 11; xiv. 23; xvi. 6, 11; xxvi. 2; Neh. i. 9).

It is especially said that God dwells in Jerusalem (Zech. viii. 3; Ps. cxxxv. 21; I Chron. xxiii. 25),

on Mount Zion (Isa. viii. 18; Joel iv. [A. V. iii.] 17, 21; Ps. xv. 1, lxxiv. 2),

 and in the Temple itself (Ezek. xliii. 7).

Allusion is made also to “him that dwelt in the bush” (Deut. xxxiii. 16, ); and it is said that “the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai” (Ex. xxiv. 16).

Onḳelos translates “Elohim” in Gen. ix. 27 by “Shekinah”; and wherever the person, the dwelling, or the remoteness of God is mentioned, he paraphrases by the same word (Num. xiv. 14, 42; xvi. 3; xxxv. 34; Deut. i. 42, iii. 24, iv. 39, vi. 15, vii. 21, xxiii. 16, xxxi. 17); so too, wherever the Name occurs, he substitutes for it the term “Shekinah” (Deut. xii. 5, 11, 21), and “presence” or “face” is translated the same way (Ex. xxxiii. 14-15; Num. vi. 25; Deut. xxxi. 17-18.

Where the text states that God dwells in the Temple above the cherubim (as in Hab. ii. 20; I Sam. iv. 4; II Sam. vi. 2; I Kings viii. 12, 13; xiv. 21; Ps. lxxiv. 2), or that God has been seen (Isa. vi. 6 et seq.; Ex. iii. 6; Ezek. i. 1; Lev. ix. 4), the Yerushalmi has “Shekinah”; and even where it describes God as abiding in heaven, the same word is used (Isa. xxxiii. 5; Deut. iii. 24, iv. 39). This statement holds true also of allusions to His remoteness or to the hiding of His face (Hos. v. 6; Isa. viii. 17, xlv. 15;

The Temple is called the “house of the Shekinah” (Targ. Onḳ. to Deut. xii. 5; Ps. xlix. 15, cviii. 8); and the term likewise occurs in connection with “glory” (“yeḳara”; Ruth ii. 12; Cant. iii. 6, iv. 6, v. 6; Ps. xliv. 25, lxviii. 19, cxv. 16; Jer. xix. 18) and with “holiness” (Cant. i. 10, ii. 2, iii. 2, vi. 1; Ps. lxxiv. 12, lxxxvi. 3).

In the Apocrypha and New Testament.

Since the Shekinah is light, those passages of the Apocrypha and New Testament which mention radiance, and in which the Greek text reads δόξα, refer to the Shekinah, there being no other Greek equivalent for the word. Thus, according to Luke ii. 9, “the glory of the Lord [δόζα Ḳυρίου] shone round about them” (comp. II Peter i. 17; Eph. i. 6; II Cor. iv. 6); and it is supposed that in John i. 14 and Rev. xxi. 3 the words σκηνοῦν and σκηνή were expressly selected as implying the Shekinah. The idea that God dwells in man and that man is His temple (e.g., Col. ii. 9; II Cor. vi. 16; John xiv. 23) is merely a more realistic conception of the resting of the Shekinah on man.

Nature of the Shekinah.

Maimonides (“Moreh,” i. 28 [Munk's translation, "Guide des Egarés," i. 58, 73, 88, 286, 288; iii. 43, 93]; Maybaum, l.c. pp. 5, 34) regarded the Shekinah, like the Memra, (arabic) the Yeḳara, (Arabic) and the Logos, as a distinct entity, and as a light created to be an intermediary between God and the world; while Naḥmanides (Maybaum, l.c.), on the other hand, considered it the essence of God as manifested in a distinct form. So in more modern times Gfrörer saw in “Shekinah,” “Memra,” and “Yeḳara” independent entities which, in that they were mediators, were the origin of the Logos idea; while Maybaum, who was followed by Hamburger, regarded the Shekinah merely as an expression for the various relations of God to the world, and as intended to represent: (1) the dwelling of God in the midst of Israel; (2) His omnipresence; (3) His personal presence, etc. (Maybaum, l.c. pp. 51-54). That the Shekinah was not an intermediary is shown by the Targum to Ex. xxxiii. 15, xxxiv. 9 (Maybaum, l.c. pp. 5, 34), where the term “Shekinah” is used instead of “God.” The word often occurs, however, in connections where it can not be identical with “God,” e.g., in passages which declare that “the Shekinah rests,” or, more explicitly, that “God allows His Shekinah to rest,” on such a one. In short: in the great majority of cases “Shekinah” designates “God”; but the frequent use of the word has caused other ideas to be associated with it, which can best be understood from citations. In this connection the statements of the Talmud and Midrash are more characteristic than those of the Targumim, because they were spontaneous and were not made with reference to the text of the Bible.

Appearances of the Shekinah.

Jose (c. 150) says: “The Shekinah never came down to earth, nor did Moses and Elijah ever ascend to heaven, since it is said, Ps. cxv. 16: ‘The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men’” (Suk. 5a, above). The Shekinah is here identical with Yhwh. This view was, however, challenged even in the Talmud. Ab. R. N. xxxviii. says: “The Shekinah descended to earth, or will have descended, ten times (as to the tenth see Schechter’s note, Recension A, ad loc.): to the garden of Eden (Gen. iii. 8); when the Tower of Babel was built (ib. xi. 5); to Sodom (ib. xxi.); to Egypt (Ex. iii. 8); to the Red Sea (II Sam. xxii. 10); upon Sinai (Ex. xix. 10); in the pillar of cloud (Num. xi. 25); to the Sanctuary (Ezek. xliv. 2); and it will again descend at the time of Gog and Magog (Zech. xiv. 4). The Shekinah appeared also in the burning bush (Ex. R. ii.), and it was everywhere (B. B. 25a). Two arks came up out of Egypt with Israel: one containing the Shekinah, and the other the body of Joseph (Soṭah 13a). Canaan was the only land worthy of the Shekinah, which rested in the territory of Benjamin (Mek., ed. Friedmann, p. 31a; Zeb. 54b); the country beyond the Jordan was not worthy thereof (Num. R. vii.). Although the Shekinah was enthroned in heaven, it observed and scrutinized mankind(Ex. R. ii.). The Tabernacle was erected in order that the Shekinah might dwell on earth (Num. R. xii.); and it actually entered the Holy of Holies (Sanh. 103b). Wheresoever the Israelites went in exile the Shekinah accompanied them; and when they were redeemed it likewise was released (Meg. 29a; see also R. H. 3a; B. Ḳ. 25a; Zeb. 118b; Soṭah 5a; Shab. 67a).

Those on Whom the Shekinah Rested.

The Shekinah was one of the five things lacking in the Second Temple (Targ. to Hag. i. 8; Yer. Ta’an. 65a, and parallel passages). Shunning the Gentiles, it rested solely among the Israelites (Shab. 22b), and even there only when they numbered at least 2,002 myriads (Ber. 7a; Yeb. 64a; B. B. 15b; comp. Sanh. 105b), confining itself solely to those of this multitude who were of pure and therefore aristocratic lineage (Ḳid. 70b) and who were wise, brave, wealthy, and tall (Shab. 92a; comp. Ned. 38a); but even for such it would not descend into an atmosphere of sadness (Shab. 30b and parallel passages), since there can be no sorrow in the presence of God (Ḥag. 5b); nor should one pray in a sorrowful frame of mind (Ber. 31a).

The polemic attitude which the conception of the Shekinah betrays toward the founder and the ideal of Christianity is unmistakable. The Shekinah rested upon the priests even if they were unclean (Yoma 56b); and if it was lacking, none approached them for an oracle (ib. 75b). Prominent doctors of the Law were considered worthy of the Shekinah, but both their generation. (i.e., their contemporaries) and their place of residence (i.e., in a foreign land) deprived them of its presence (Suk. 28a; B. B. 60a; Soṭah 48b; M. Ḳ. 25a). In all these statements the Shekinah is identical with the Holy Spirit. It was received by thirty-six pious persons (Suk. 45b), a number which recalls the thirty-six nomes of Egypt and their gods. The Shekinah was also believed to be a protection, as is still the case in the night prayer: “on my four sides four angels, and above my head the Shekinah of God” (comp. Ḳid. 31a). The Shekinah is found at the head of the sick (Shab. 12b) and at the right hand of man (Targ. to Ps. xvi. 8). Pharaoh’s daughter saw it at the side of Moses (Soṭah 11a; comp. Targ. to Judges vi. 13), and it spoke with the prophet Jonah twice (Zeb. 98a), with Adam, with the serpent (Bek. 8a; Shab. 87a; Pes. 87b et passim), and with others.

To Whom Does the Shekinah Appear?

Unsullied thoughts and pious deeds render one worthy of the Shekinah, which is present when two are engaged with the Torah (Ab. iii. 3), when ten pray (Ber. 6a; Ab. 3, 9), and when the mysticism of the Merkabah is explained (Ḥag. 14b); and it is likewise attracted by the study of the Law at night (Tamid 32b); the reading of the “Shema’” (Shab. 57a); prayer (B. B. 22a); hospitality (Shab. 127a; Sanh. 103b); benevolence (B. B. 10a); chastity (Derek Ereẓ i.); peace and faithfulness in married life (Soṭah 17a); and similar deeds and qualities (Ket. 111a; Ber. 67a; Men. 43b; Sanh. 42b; Yer. Ḥag. i. et passim). Sins, on the other hand, cause the Shekinah to depart (Targ. to Isa. lvii. 7; Jer. xxxiii. 5 et passim). It inspires correct judgment in upright judges (Sanh. 7a), while unrighteous magistrates cause it to depart (Shab. 139a). It appeared on the day on which the Tabernacle was first erected (Num. R. xiii.). Before the Israelites sinned the Shekinah rested on every one; but when they did evil it disappeared (Soṭah 3b). In like manner it departed from David when he became leprous (Sanh. 107a). Among the transgressions which have this result are the shedding of blood (Yoma 84b) and idolatry, (Meg. 15b; others are cited in Soṭah 42a; Kallah, end; Ber. 5b, 27b; Shab. 33a;, and Sanh. 106a). Whosoever sins in secret or walks with a proud and haughty bearing “crowds out the feet of the Shekinah” (Ḥag. 16a; Ber. 43b; comp. ib. 59a).

The Shekinah as Light.

The Hellenists, both Jews and Gentiles, characterized the god of the Jews as unseen, and translated the Tetragrammaton by “invisible” (ἀόρατος). In like manner Ḥag. 5b declares that “God sees, but is not seen,” although was rendered by δόζα (“glory”), even in the Septuagint (Deissmann, “Hellenisirung des Semitischen Monotheismus,” p. 5). According to this view, the Shekinah appeared as physical light; so that Targ. to Num. vi. 2 says, “Yhwh shall cause His Shekinah to shine for thee.” A Gentile asked the patriarch Gamaliel (c. 100): “Thou sayest that wherever ten are gathered together the Shekinah appears; how many are there?” Gamaliel answered: “As the sun, which is but one of the countless servants of God, giveth light to all the world, so in a much greater degree doth the Shekinah” (Sanh. 39a). The emperor (Hadrian) said to Rabbi Joshua b. Hananiah, “I desire greatly to see thy God.” Joshua requested him to stand facing the brilliant summer sun, and said, “Gaze upon it.” The emperor said, “I can not.” “Then,” said Joshua, “if thou art not able to look upon a servant of God, how much less mayest thou gaze upon the Shekinah?”(Ḥul. 60a). Rab Sheshet (c. 300) was blind, and could not perceive when the Shekinah appeared in the Shaf we-Yatib synagogue of Nehardea, where it rested when it was not in the synagogue at Huzal. In the former synagogue Samuel and Levi heard the sound of its approach and fled (Meg. 29a). The Shekinah tinkled like a bell (Soṭah 9b), while the Holy Spirit also manifested itself to human senses in light and sound. The Holy Spirit had the form of a dove, and the Shekinah had wings. Thus he who acknowledged God took refuge under the wings of the Shekinah (Shab. 31a; Sanh. 96a); and Moses when dead lay in its pinions (Sifre, Deut. 355; Soṭah 13b; Targumic passages in Maybaum l.c. p. 65). The saints enjoy the light of the Shekinah in heaven (Ber. 17a, 64a; Shab. 30a; B. B. 10a).

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Shekhinah is the presence or manifestation of God which has descended to “dwell” among humanity.

The term never appears in the Hebrew Bible; later rabbis used the word when speaking of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle or amongst the people of Israel.

The root of the word means “dwelling”. Of the principal names of God, it is the only one that is of the feminine gender in Hebrew grammar. Some believe that this was the name of a female counterpart of God, but this is unlikely as the name is always mentioned in conjunction an article (e.g.: “the Shekhina descended and dwelt among them” or “He removed Himself and His Shekhina from their midst”). This kind of usage does not occur in Semitic languages in conjunction with proper names.

The Arabic form of the word “Sakina is also mentioned in the Quran.This mention is in the middle of the narrative of the choice of Saul to be king and is mentioned as descending with the ark of the covenant here the word is used to mean “security” and is derived from the root sa-ka-na which means dwell:

And (further) their Prophet said to them: “A Sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the Ark of the Covenant, with (an assurance) therein of security from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a Symbol for you if ye indeed have faith.”

 The Shekhinah in Christianity

In addition to the various accounts indicating the presence or glory of God recorded in the Hebrew Bible, many Christians also consider the Shekhinah to be manifest in numerous instances in the New Testament.

The public domain Easton’s Bible Dictionary, published in 1897, says,

Shechinah – a Chaldee word meaning resting-place, not found in Scripture, but used by the later Jews to designate the visible symbol of God’s presence in the Tabernacle, and afterwards in Solomon’s temple. When the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, he went before them “in a pillar of a cloud.” This was the symbol of his presence with his people. God also spoke to Moses through the ‘shekhinah’ out of a burning bush. For references made to it during the wilderness wanderings, see Exodus 14:20; 40:34-38; Leviticus 9:23, 24; Numbers 14:10; 16:19, 42.

It is probable that after the entrance into Canaan this glory-cloud settled in the tabernacle upon the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. We have, however, no special reference to it till the consecration of the temple by Solomon, when it filled the whole house with its glory, so that the priests could not stand to minister (1 Kings 8:10-13; 2 Chr. 5:13, 14; 7:1-3). Probably it remained in the first temple in the holy of holies as the symbol of YHWH’s presence so long as that temple stood. It afterwards disappeared.

References to the Shekhinah in Christianity often see the presence and the glory of the Lord as being synonymous as illustrated in the following verse from Exodus;

And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. And the glory of YHWH abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of YWHH was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. (Exodus 24:15-17 ASV)

The Spirit of the Lord

The Shekhinah in the New Testament is commonly equated to the presence or indwelling of the Spirit of the Lord (generally referred to as the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Christ) in the believer, drawing parallels to the presence of God in Solomon’s Temple. Furthermore, in the same manner that the Shekhinah is linked to prophecy in Judaism, so it is in Christianity:

For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 ASV)

The Glory of the Lord

Where references are made to the Shekhinah as manifestations of the glory of the Lord associated with his presence, Christians find numerous occurrences in the New Testament in both literal (as in Luke 2:9 which refers to the “glory of the Lord” shining on the shepherds at Jesus’ birth)^[5] as well as spiritual forms (as in John 17:22, where Jesus speaks to God of giving the “glory” that God gave to him to the people)^[6]. A contrast can be found in Ichabod, so named as a result of the Ark of the Covenant being captured by the Philistines: “The glory is departed from Israel” (1 Samuel 4:22 KJV).

The Divine Presence

By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. (Exodus 13:21)

The word Shekhina, in Hebrew, is derived from the Biblical verb shakhan, meaning “the act of dwelling” but taking the feminine form. Therefore, at the beginning of the Talmudic era, the word Shekhina meant the aspect of God that dwelt among people and could be apprehended by the senses.

For example, one Talmudic verse said: “Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell (ve’shakhanti) among them.” However, in a later version, the translation said “Let them make Me a Sanctuary so that My Shekhina will dwell among them.” In other words, a separate entity.

Slowly, the manifested entity became stronger. A complete distinction appears in a Talmudic quotation from the end of the 1st century BCE: “…while the Children of Israel were still in Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, stipulated that He would liberate them from Egypt only in order that they built him a Sanctuary so that He can let His Shekhina dwell among them… As soon as the Tabernacle was erected, the Shekhina descended and dwelt among them.”

Another quotation from early 3rd century says: “On that day a thing came about which had never existed since the creation of the world. From the creation of the world and up to that hour the Shekhina had never dwelt among the lower beings. But from the time that the Tabernacle was erected, she did dwell among them.”

Another tradition claimed that she had always dwelt among her people, but their sins drove her, on and off, into Heaven. However, she was drawn back to her children and tried to save them, over and over. By that time, her image was so ingrained into real historical events, that when the Jews were exiled to Babylonia, she transferred her seat there, and appeared alternately in two major synagogues.

She often made herself visible to the congregations there, particularly in one synagogue, which was built of stones and dust taken from a holy place in Jerusalem.

As the Jews dispersed further, sightings occurred in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Russia – in every town where Jews lived. Shekhina comforted the sick, the poor, the suffering, and had a particular concern for repentant sinners “These are accepted by the Shekhina as if they were righteous and pious persons who never sinned.

They are carried aloft and seated next to the Shekhina…he whose heart is broken and whose spirit is low, and whose mouth rarely utters a word, the Shekhina walks with him every day…”.

The paradox of dwelling in one place, and being in various places and with many people at the same time, had to be resolved. The Talmud reconciled the two ideas beautifully in a well-known anecdote. “The Emperor said to Raban Gamaliel: ŒYou say that wherever ten men are assembled, the Shekhina dwells among them.

As time went by, her position strengthened.

An interesting Medieval anecdote shows the Shekhina as a total separate entity, in her most important role – interceding on behalf of her children.

“The Shekhina comes to the defense of sinful Israel by saying first to Israel: ‘Be not a witness against thy neighbor without a cause’ and then thereafter saying to God: ‘Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me..’ ”

This is obviously a conversation taking place among three distinct entities – Israel, God, and the Shekhina.

Another significant passage from the 11th century, describes Rabbi Akiva (a second century sage) saying: “When the Holy One, blessed be He, considered the deeds of the generation of Enoch and that they were spoiled and evil, He removed Himself and His Shekhina from their midst and ascended into the heights with blasts of trumpets…”

Like any good mother, she could punish too.

When she behaved violently, her character came closer to her powerful aspect of the great Asherah, Yahweh’s Canaanite Consort.

She descended to Earth to punish Adam, Eve, and the Serpent when they sinned at the Garden of Eden.

She confused the builders of the Tower of Babel.

She drowned the Egyptians at the Red Sea crossing during Exodus.