At the end of the previous Gem, I hinted that in this Gem I would reveal a secret name for God and open up a treasure trove of meaning to you. I, in fact closed the last Gem, by telling you that God’s obscure name is Ha-Makom. I have told you before that Ha Shem is also a name for God. Ha Shem is actually Hebrew for ‘the Name”. It is used as a circumlocution when you don’t feel to speak the name of God, you replace His Holy Name with Ha Shem, ‘the name’. There is another curious name in Hebrew that is spoken as a name and that is [מקום] Ha Makom – the place. It is found in the key passage related to Jacob in Genesis 28.
And he came on a place and stayed the night there, for the sun had gone. And he took stones of the place and placed them at his head; and he lay down in that place. [LITV]
Genesis 28:11
Do you notice something that is curious in the verse above? I have deliberately given you the verse from the Literal Translation. We are focused on the word [makom] meaning “place”, found in the opening verse of the key passage which lays the foundations for “the place”. [מקום] ‘Place’ appears three times in this opening verse.
ויפגע במקום וילן שׁם כי־בא השׁמשׁ ויקח מאבני המקום וישׂם מראשׁתיו וישׁכב במקום ההוא׃
{and he came} {on a place} {and he stayed} there {for had set} {the sun} {and he took} {from the stones of} {the place} {and put} {at his head} {and he lay down} {in place} that:
The key word in this account is highlighted and emphasized by being repeated three times in the opening portion. Now let me give you the flavour of the whole account without the complication of Hebrew and interlinearisation.
At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. . .
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz].
Genesis 28:11-13 . . . 16-19
Hebrew rabbis say ‘ha makom’ “the place” is one of the Divine names. Just as [ha shem] signifies “the name of God” so too [ha makom] is “the place of God”. In other words, ‘the holy location’ or ‘the location of the holy’. Makom signifies both a unique place in Jewish history and geography, and a place that transcends both time and place. It is not that God is only found in one place on earth. In fact a rabbinical saying is “God is the place of the world, but the world is not the place of God.” When Jews go to a Shiva, a seven day time of mourning, they say “Ha makom yinachem” meaning ‘The Place give you consolation’. God is both transcendent and imminent.
Do you see how this plays out in the account of Jacob’s dream of the ladder and going up and down to heaven? After his experience of ‘the place’, Jacob makes the following statement. “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it! What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to His presence!” This experience for Jacob was so revelatory that he took a stone, one of the stones he had laid his head on, and set it up as a memorial stone and poured oil on it to consecrate the place as special.
Do you catch the effect of this on Jacob? He lays down in this ordinary place and has a dream of a ladder ascending from the place to heaven where he sees angels ascending and descending to God, who stands at the top of the ladder in heaven. This is a means of communicating with Almighty God. So he calls it Bethel, the House of God, the very gateway to God. Oh there is more, all three of the Patriarchs had an experience with this same place. Jacob has found the Place where God is closer. Hasidic teachers say, “You can’t limit the Holy One to one place; God is everywhere. Then they ask their leading question: “Where is God?” Answer: Wherever you let him in!
The point is that makom is not a single physical location or geographic point on the globe where God is. Makom is God’s presence per se. In other words, God cannot be limited to one individual location, instead, God transcends space, and He is accessible to all people in all places at any point in time. The word makom occurs 385 times in the Tanakh (OT). Each occurance does not always contain the sense or nuance outlined above. In fact on occasions God castigates Israel for treating ‘The Place’ with disdain or treating it commonly. But each use indicates the opportunity to dwell in His Presence.
I am not going to give you every reference. That would be overkill but I will give you some key examples:
But if you want every reference in order to do your own study of the word makom, just let me know and I will send them to you.
And He said, Do not come near here. Pull off your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
Exodus 3:5
“See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.
Exodus 23:20
So the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai and traveled on from place to place until the cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran. When the people set out for the first time, following the instructions the LORD had given through Moses . . .
Numbers 10:12-3
. . . and in the wilderness, where you have seen how Jehovah your God has borne you as a man bears his son, in all the way which you have gone until you have come to this place. Yet in this thing you are not believing in Jehovah your God, who went before you in the way to seek out a place for your camping, in fire by night, to show you the way in which you should go, and in a cloud by the day.
Deuteronomy 1:31-33
But you shall seek to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes; for you shall seek His dwelling, to put His name there. And you shall go there.
Deuteronomy 12:11
And it happened when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the feet of the priests had been lifted to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all its banks, as before. And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and camped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And the twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan were raised up in Gilgal by Joshua.
Joshua 4:18-20
And the Commander of the army of Jehovah said to Joshua, Take your shoe off your foot, for the place on which you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so.
Joshua 5:15
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you. Be not like the horse, like the mule, with no understanding; with bit and bridle his gear to be held in, that they do not come near you. Many sorrows are to the wicked; but he who trusts in Jehovah, mercy embraces him.
Psalm 32:7-10
The Lyrics of Song “Hiding Place”
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
I will trust in You
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in You
You Are My Hiding Place
One little comment from Gordon Fee set me on this quest of finding the Makom of God.
“To take this imagery (Revelation 14) literally is simply to miss the point, especially if one is required to look upon the Divine “presence” as a place.”
I am sure you can tell there is more to come in subsequent Gems.
Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would linger behind in the Tent of Meeting.
Exodus 33:11
We (Christians) are always in the presence of God. There is never a non-sacred moment! His presence never diminishes. Our awareness of His presence may falter, but the reality of His presence never changes.
Max Lucado
We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. C. S. Lewis
Learn to linger in the Presence of God; don’t be in a hurry to leave!
Ian
Make pursuing the Presence of God your Priority.
Ian