my dwelling place: reading scripture through the lens of god’s desire to dwell among us

The concept of God’s presence is deeply embedded in Christian teaching from God’s presence in the Garden of Eden, through the hope of God’s presence in the New Earth. But what does it that mean?

Many Christians find it difficult to explain what is meant by God’s presence. We hear of God being especially present in a worship service, or of specific places where God’s presence is expected by the pilgrims who travel there. We know that God’s presence was somehow in the tabernacle, and will be part of the new earth when Jesus returns. It is also taught that God is omnipresent, that is, present everywhere and always.

But what is God’s presence? What does it take for Him to dwell among His people and why does it matter?

In this third volume under the Lost in Translation imprint, Deborah Roeger applies her in-depth and detailed yet extremely practical approach to Bible study to look at God’s presence in its many forms and manifestations from the creation to the restoration of God’s creation. As she traces God’s dwelling presence through the pages of Scripture she looks thoughtfully at what God requires of us so He can be present among us.

In the process, she provides a thematic look at the whole of scripture that can be used as a guide to study other topics with full attention to the overall context of the story we find in Scripture. It is the story of God, who created for His glory and longs for the restoration of His dwelling presence among His creation. This understanding of the broad context will help you put other events in their proper place in the history of God’s plan of salvation.

My Dwelling Place is not just an explanation of biblical terms. It is first of all an explanation of what it takes for God to come and dwell among us. It is then a call to take up our mission and the gifts God has given us and to learn to practice His presence at all times.

As in each volume in this series, there is a valuable added resource in the appendix discussing how to do word studies and how to use both available tools for Bible study and to take the context of each passage seriously when doing so.

This study can be read individually, but it is especially valuable as a resource for small group study or for a transforming church-wide study.