What is Shekinah?

Shekinah is the glory and presence of God; sometimes tangible, and even visible.  It describes the indescribable experience of God’s presence with us.

The word Shekinah, found in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, literally means dwelling.  It is used in Rabitic literature to signify God’s presence, and it is used in Hebrew writings to describe where God dwells.  Although the word Shekinah does not occur in the Bible, the root “skn” occurs not only in the verb dwell, but also in the noun “miskan”, which means dwelling place or tabernacle.  Also, the name Shecaniah, “Yahweh dwells”, is found in I Chronicles 3:21.  God first revealed His Glory cloud in Exodus 13:21, which represented His presence and protection in the Wilderness.  This Glory cloud also rested upon Mount Sinai when Moses communed with God and received the Ten Commandments. Exodus 19:18

God’s desire is to dwell with man.  Before we were born-again, God could not dwell within us because we were not sanctified.  So, He had them sanctify a piece of ground and build a tabernacle (which was basically a tent covered with curtains), and in that He dwelt.  His Shekinah Glory or His presence or His essence descended in the midst of the Ark of the Covenant, the one place on earth that God sanctified for His Spirit to dwell.  After many generations, Solomon built Him a house which we call the Temple.  The Shekinah Glory of God moved from the tabernacle into the temple where it stayed until Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.”  Then the Shekinah glory departed from the temple and ascended to Heaven.  It returned fifty days later, on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), to take up its final abode in the hearts of man; which was God’s plan from the beginning.  Before God could do that, man’s heart had to be changed to be sanctified, or set apart, to become holy that it could be a suitable dwelling place for the Shekinah of God.

We experience the Shekinah in our ministry continually as we obey, live, speak, believe, and act upon the Word of God.  He moves in response to His Word and those who make their stand on it.  That is who we are, and that is why we know, understand, and experience the Shekinah of God in our midst.