The Shekinah & God's Presence
Selected Scriptures
Shekinah: He caused to dwell
Exodus 3:2 (NIV)
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up. Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
Exodus 13:21-22 (NIV)
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Exodus 19:9,16-19 (NIV)
The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud..." On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Exodus 24:15-18 (NIV)
When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 33:9-11 (NIV)
As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.
Exodus 40:34-38 (NIV)
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.
Exodus 15:26 (NIV)
He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you."
Deuteronomy 29:5 (NIV)
During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.
Deuteronomy 34:7 (NIV)
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
1 Kings 8:10-12 (NIV)
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled His temple. Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that He would dwell in a dark cloud."
2 Chronicles 5:11-14 (NIV)
The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps, and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: "He is good; His love endures forever." Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
2 Chronicles 7:1-3 (NIV)
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, "He is good; His love endures forever."
Ezekiel 10:3-4 (NIV)
Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord.
The church was full of the glory of God. It was like a mist. People fell down in their seats all over the church, overpowered by the glory of God. Sinners came out crying for mercy.
~Signs & Wonders, Mariah Woodworth Etter
William Seymour arrived in Los Angeles on February 22, 1906, and began to hold meetings at a small storefront church on Santa Fe Street. Seymour called for 10 days of fasting and prayer, and on April 9 the power of God began to fall! God began pouring out His Spirit so intensely that people started getting baptized in the Holy Spirit. Soon people began coming from everywhere. The meetings were moved to a mission on Azusa Street. The power of God was so strong that creative miracles began to occur. Ears that did not exist formed in place. Arms that had been lost due to work accidents were reconstructed by the power of God. As the people prayed in the Spirit, a literal fire would come out of the roof of the building, causing onlookers to call the fire department because the building looked like it was burning. But when the fire department came, the fire could not be put out because nothing was burning and there was no smell of smoke.
Azusa Street - Church on Fire
Azusa: On several occasions fire was seen coming out of the roof of the building and fire was coming down from heaven.
Other times there would be a Shekinah glory cloud in the auditorium that would glow.
Other times the cloud looked like smoke two feet high hovering over the floor.
The glory of God inhabited this former warehouse and stable in the early years of the twentieth century, releasing creative miracles of healing. Missing limbs grew out, eyeballs filled in empty sockets, cancerous growths fell off, and lives were restored as the Shekinah glory filled the building. On certain nights, flames could be seen shooting from the rooftop of the mission, converging with flames shooting from the sky into the mission. This, too, is the Shekinah glory described in Exodus 13 as the "pillar of fire" that led the Israelites by night. Jewish teachers also believe the flames of fire are angels called seraphim, meaning "burning ones." The flames over Azusa were fiery angels coming and going from heaven, bringing miracles and returning to heaven to receive more miracles. In John 1:51, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, you will see all heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth." It is no wonder that when the "burning roof" lit up the night over Azusa Street, creative healing phenomena intensified, such as limbs growing out—all in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
~True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond, Tommy Welchel
Hebrews 1:7 (NIV)
In speaking of the angels He says, "He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire."
It could only be described but not understood. At times he would come into the building and there would be a kind of glow. There were times when God would start moving and a smoke-like substance would begin to glow even brighter. People could walk through it, and sometimes it would sort of roll. You couldn’t pick it up or blow it with a fan. Sometimes the mist was so thick that it would fill the whole building. You could sit in it, run your hands through it, and breathe it into your lungs, but you could not capture it.
~True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond, Tommy Welchel
It looked like flames about fifty feet in the air coming into and going out of the roof to meet and merge in the sky over the warehouse. He also noted that whenever the people worshiped by singing in tongues, the power was greater and the anointing fell on the service.
~True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond, Tommy Welchel
Being a part of heaven. She noted that although the glory cloud was present all the time within the building, the divine fiery connection wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Whenever this connection was present, the power of God was more intense within the meeting, and the miracles were more amazing.
~True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond, Tommy Welchel
Azusa Street wasn’t planned—it was prayed down. There is a physicality, if you will, to the realm of the Spirit. Revelation 5:8 speaks of this: "...and they held gold bowls which are the prayers of God’s people." Rain doesn’t fall. Rain collects until gravity pulls it down. The power of God works the same way. We keep praying and praying until the bowls get so heavy with prayers, we pull heaven down. That’s what they did at Azusa Street. We don’t have to contend to have a 100-year prophecy fulfilled, but we have a part to play. That role is mainly praying and seeking God until that anointing rains down.
~True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond, Tommy Welchel
Exodus 33:18 (NIV)
Then Moses said, "Now show me Your glory."
