Concepts of Place and Presence
The Significance of Place
From time to time, and again this past week, I have pondered the significance of place. Many of us report feeling a connection with particular places; maybe our childhood hometown or farm. I know a person whose ancestors came from Scotland two generations ago. She had never been there, but felt a pull to go there. As she flew north from England suddenly she began to weep. She did not know why, but then realized the plane had just entered Scotland. She went to an isolated place to visit the place of her ancestors and as she stood at a fork in a path feeling “at home”, but not knowing which fork to follow, and elderly gentleman approached. She said nothing to him. But he said “Welcome home, lass.” How can such a palpable sense of “place” be passed on to generations who have never been to the place? What draws even atheistic Jews to abandon everything and move to Israel?
A technical word for this phenomenon is Topophilia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topophilia
But my curiosity about significance of place was actually aroused by reading scripture. Over and over, all through scripture, I encounter passages which underline the significance of place to both God and man. Here are but a few which came readily to mind in a few minutes.
Place – Biblical Significance
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. [The first verse in the Bible is about places.]
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea [ a place], and over the fowl of the air [a place], and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth [a place.]
Gen 12:1 (NIV) The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. [Central to initiating a “chosen people” is a particular place.]
Ex 25:22 (NKJV)"And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. [God designated a very specific place, of a few cubic feet at most, where he would meet with his people.]
Ex 33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: [See verses before and after verse 21 re; Presence]
Psalm 46:4 (NIV) There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells
2 Chron 7:11-15 (NIV) When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
John 14:2 –3 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Eph 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. [There are earthly and heavenly places; visible and invisible places; earthly and heavenly realms or kingdoms.]
The Concepts and Language of Place
I was thinking that “place” is a time-space concept. In infinity, all is always everywhere. There is no “here” or “there.” Before God created the heavens and the earth, did time or space exist? Right away it is a kind of nonsense question, because in “forever” when was “before?”
All concepts of position or movement are predicated on place. From, to, toward, around, above, under, over, up down, etc. – all require discreteness of objects and locations relative to one another.
The Bible is full of concepts of time, space and movement. It has to be, because it is written for us, the time and space creatures. For example, John 14:2 –3 In my Father's house are many rooms [distinct places]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going [movement in an “away” direction] there [a specific location] to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will [time concept] come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Presence
That verse also illustrates a concept related to place – presence. To speak of being present or absent from a person, there must be a distinction of a discrete beings with physical dimensions and boundaries. There are many scriptures which speak of the presence of God. Here are but a few.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 4: 16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Deut 23 :14 For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. [presence and absence]
2 Chron 20:9 If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.
Ps 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Jonah 1:3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Luke 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
Now there are another large number of scriptures which describe the omnipresence of God. So what can be meant by such things as fleeing from the presence of God, coming into the presence of God, or God withdrawing his presence from humans?
Without much reflection or study, my preliminary thought is that the language of God’s “presence” is about particular manifestations of His presence. It is kind of where the heavenly intersects the earthly. It is where God “shows up;” where his presence becomes somehow tangible.
Postscript
I really appreciate dialogue and feedback. so if you have thoughts about anything I have posted on this or any other day, please go to "Comments" and leave a comment.
From time to time, and again this past week, I have pondered the significance of place. Many of us report feeling a connection with particular places; maybe our childhood hometown or farm. I know a person whose ancestors came from Scotland two generations ago. She had never been there, but felt a pull to go there. As she flew north from England suddenly she began to weep. She did not know why, but then realized the plane had just entered Scotland. She went to an isolated place to visit the place of her ancestors and as she stood at a fork in a path feeling “at home”, but not knowing which fork to follow, and elderly gentleman approached. She said nothing to him. But he said “Welcome home, lass.” How can such a palpable sense of “place” be passed on to generations who have never been to the place? What draws even atheistic Jews to abandon everything and move to Israel?
A technical word for this phenomenon is Topophilia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topophilia
But my curiosity about significance of place was actually aroused by reading scripture. Over and over, all through scripture, I encounter passages which underline the significance of place to both God and man. Here are but a few which came readily to mind in a few minutes.
Place – Biblical Significance
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. [The first verse in the Bible is about places.]
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea [ a place], and over the fowl of the air [a place], and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth [a place.]
Gen 12:1 (NIV) The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. [Central to initiating a “chosen people” is a particular place.]
Ex 25:22 (NKJV)"And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. [God designated a very specific place, of a few cubic feet at most, where he would meet with his people.]
Ex 33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: [See verses before and after verse 21 re; Presence]
Psalm 46:4 (NIV) There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells
2 Chron 7:11-15 (NIV) When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
John 14:2 –3 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Eph 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. [There are earthly and heavenly places; visible and invisible places; earthly and heavenly realms or kingdoms.]
The Concepts and Language of Place
I was thinking that “place” is a time-space concept. In infinity, all is always everywhere. There is no “here” or “there.” Before God created the heavens and the earth, did time or space exist? Right away it is a kind of nonsense question, because in “forever” when was “before?”
All concepts of position or movement are predicated on place. From, to, toward, around, above, under, over, up down, etc. – all require discreteness of objects and locations relative to one another.
The Bible is full of concepts of time, space and movement. It has to be, because it is written for us, the time and space creatures. For example, John 14:2 –3 In my Father's house are many rooms [distinct places]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going [movement in an “away” direction] there [a specific location] to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will [time concept] come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Presence
That verse also illustrates a concept related to place – presence. To speak of being present or absent from a person, there must be a distinction of a discrete beings with physical dimensions and boundaries. There are many scriptures which speak of the presence of God. Here are but a few.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 4: 16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Deut 23 :14 For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. [presence and absence]
2 Chron 20:9 If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.
Ps 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Jonah 1:3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Luke 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
Now there are another large number of scriptures which describe the omnipresence of God. So what can be meant by such things as fleeing from the presence of God, coming into the presence of God, or God withdrawing his presence from humans?
Without much reflection or study, my preliminary thought is that the language of God’s “presence” is about particular manifestations of His presence. It is kind of where the heavenly intersects the earthly. It is where God “shows up;” where his presence becomes somehow tangible.
Postscript
I really appreciate dialogue and feedback. so if you have thoughts about anything I have posted on this or any other day, please go to "Comments" and leave a comment.
posted by lornewel at
6:47 p.m.
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