Two Kinds of With

It is so important to know the difference.

There is a use of the word “with” in Scripture that simply refers to the occasion where people happen to be together, with each other, and there is no larger or more significant purpose in view.

The aisles of a grocery store would be one example.

You may be “with” other people walking the aisles but it means nothing. You just happen to be in the same place at the same time but they are looking for the bananas and you’re trying to find the gouda cheese.

Thankfully there is another word in the Bible that also gets translated as “with.”

And it means something profoundly different than being with people in the grocery store.

This is a “with” that would be more like the Seahawks having Pete Carrol with them.

• Pete is there with the game plan.

• He is there with the game assignments.

• He is with them for the purpose of coaching them through the game.

• He is with them to make sense of the opponent’s moves and provide counter-moves.

• He is with them to buffer the pain of momentary set-backs and offer the hope of a brighter tomorrow.

• He leads the way in celebrating the victories.

• Each player may bring individual strengths to the field, but without the coach with them they’d just be so many moving parts.

NOW, with that in mind, let the significance of this verse sink deep into your heart as God gives Moses his initial instructions for the building of the Tabernacle.

“Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among (with) them.” Exodus 25:6.

That God desires to live among us is amazing. That He is willing to “contain” Himself in an earthly tabernacle is even more amazing. “I will meet you there and talk to you from above the atonement cover between the gold cherubim that hover over the ark of the covenant.” vs. 22.

God’s desire to be with us hasn’t changed since the Exodus, or even the days of Creation.

His purpose for being “with us” is still the same…just like Pete Carrol with the Seahawks…only on a level of wisdom, love and power superseding earthly understanding.

When Jesus came to earth He did away with the Tabernacle or Temple made of curtains or stone in a fixed location. Now you and I are His Tabernacle or Temple whenever we are…made holy through His blood by the Spirit, so that God could come and live WITH us.

That’s what you were created for!

Don’t live another day without His presence.

Take time out of your busy schedule every day to step consciously into His presence through worship, meditation on His word, with your spiritual eyes and ears attuned to hear His voice and sense His presence.

There is no other way to face life and navigate your path.

No wonder Moses pleaded with God, after Israel’s folly with the golden calf, to not remove His presence from them.

They’d be absolutely helpless there in the wilderness if God was not WITH them.