God Will Dwell With Men - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.
Revelation 21:3

God Will Dwell With Men
It has ever been God's great purpose to dwell with men. This great desire came out in the Garden of Eden, when the Lord God came down to the Garden in the cool of the evening. Alas! sin had defiled that fair Garden and God could no longer dwell with man. Then, on the ground of redemption, God dwelt in a tabernacle in the midst of Israel. Alas! Israel entirely failed to walk in consistency with the presence of God. The nation fell into idolatry, finally rejected Christ, and the Lord had to say, "Your house is left to you desolate."

But God does not give up His great purpose, for the Church is called out to be the house of God. Alas! as in every other age, the Church breaks down, and the breakdown is all the more terrible because of the greater light and privileges granted to the Church. At last, that which professes to be the Church becomes so utterly corrupt that, instead of being "a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:22), it becomes "the dwelling place of demons" (Rev. 18:2).

But how good to learn that no breakdown on the part of man can thwart God in carrying out His purpose, for looking on to the new heaven and the new earth we see, such is the manifold wisdom and power of God that, in spite of all our failure, at last the purpose of God will be fulfilled in a scene where there will never be any breakdown. It will be no question of rule, or government, or judgment, for there will be no sin to put down, no enemy to overcome. "God Himself will be with them and be their God" (21:3). Moreover, it is "men" with whom God will dwell; it will be no longer nations. No national, political, or social distinctions will intrude into this new world. It will be God Himself with men, and the men will be His people, and He will be their God.

Hamilton Smith