Immanuel: The Dwelling Place of God is with His People (Revelation 21:1-6a, 22-27)

The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green;
The trees of nature fruitless be,
Compared with Christ the Apple Tree.

His beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see,
In Jesus Christ the Appletree.

For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought;
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the Appletree.

I’m weary with my former toil—
Here I will sit and rest awhile,
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the Appletree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the Appletree.

—“Jesus Christ the Appletree”

The Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:1-10)

“That feast will be, like most other marriage suppers, the fulfilment of long expectation. Our Lord has waited long for his perfected Church. He espoused himself to her before ever the earth was; but there was much to be done ere she was prepared for the marriage. The Bridegroom, too, had to leave his Father, and become one with his Bride by taking upon himself our humanity. For our sake, he did quit the thrones and royalties of heaven that he might be bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; and here was he born, and here he lived, and here he died.”

—Charles Spurgeon

The People of God (Revelation 7:9-17)

“Maker of the sun, He is made under the sun. . . .
In [the Father] He remains,
From [His mother] He goes forth.
Creator of heaven and earth,
He was born on earth under heaven.
Unspeakably wise, He is wisely speechless;
filling the world, He lies in a manger;
Ruler of the stars, He nurses at His mother’s bosom.
He is both great in the nature of God,
and small in the form of a servant,
but so that His greatness is not diminished by His smallness,
nor His smallness overwhelmed by His greatness.”

—Augustine of Hippo

God’s Presence Changes Our Relationship to Time (Leviticus 25:1-13)

“To witness the perpetual marvel of the world’s coming into being is to sense the presence of the Giver in the given, to realize that the source of time is eternity, that the secret of being is the eternal within time. … All week long we are called upon to sanctify life through employing things of space.  On the Sabbath it is given us to share in the holiness that is in the heart of time. … Eternity utters a day.”

—Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath

God’s Presence Changes the Way His People Live (Leviticus 19:9-18)

“Holiness is thus not so much an abstract or a mystic idea, as a regulative principle in the everyday lives of men and women. ... Holiness is thus attained not by flight from the world, nor by monk-like renunciation of human relationships of family or station, but by the spirit in which we fulfill the obligations of life in its simplest and commonest details: in this way—by doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God—is everyday life transfigured.”

— J. H. Hertz, Leviticus

God’s Distinctive Vision for Sexuality (Leviticus 18:1-5)

“Unfortunately, many modern Christians have been deeply formed within the surrounding culture, so that they have… come to see their relationships and marriages in purely individualistic terms. Their marriages are perceived as solely for their own benefit rather than existing also for the sake of the church and its witness in the world. It is no wonder, then, that Christian relationships are often not clearly distinguishable from those in the culture at large.”

— Jonathan Grant, Divine Sex

Washed by His Blood (Leviticus 16:1-5)

“You should tell the devil: ‘Just by telling me that I am a miserable, great sinner you are placing a sword and weapon into my hand with which I can decisively overcome you; yea, with your own weapon I can kill and floor you. For if you can tell me that I am a poor sinner, I on the other hand, can tell you that Christ died for sinners, and is their Intercessor . . . You remind me of the boundless, great faithfulness and benefaction of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . . . to Him I direct you. You may accuse and condemn Him. Let me rest in peace; for on His shoulders, not on mine, lie all my sins.’”

— Martin Luther

God Separates to Make a Way (Leviticus 10:8-11)

“For the Scriptures teach me that God established two seats for men, a judgment seat for those who are still secure and proud and will neither acknowledge nor confess their sin, and a mercy seat for those whose conscience is poor and needy, who feel and confess their sin, dread his judgment, and yearn for his grace. And this mercy seat is Christ himself . . . There shall I take my refuge when I have done or still do less than is meet and done much more of sin according to the law, both before and after my sanctification and justification. . . . Thereunder shall my heart and conscience creep and be safe.”

— Martin Luther

A Holy God (Leviticus 9:22-10:3)

“The Scripture stories do not, like Homer’s, court our favor, they do not flatter us that they may please us and enchant us — they seek to subject us, and if we refuse to be subjected we are rebels.”

— Erich Auerbach

“In the self-assured world of modernity people seek to make sense of the Scriptures, instead of hoping, with the aid of the Scriptures, to make some sense of themselves.”

— Nicholas Lash