Could you comment on the meaning of the phrase ‘God with us’?

Biblical Interpretation
Written By David Gooding
 

This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1991.

In commenting on the phrase 'God with us', I think in particular of the translation of the Hebrew in Isaiah 7:14, where 'Immanuel' refers explicitly and particularly to the incarnation of our Lord.

I see this as different from the general way in which God has been with his people throughout all generations, as for instance in the promise to Joshua: 'As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee' (Josh 1:5).

I do not mean to question that God is with us still as he was with Joshua, nor that we have access into the immediate presence of God. Certainly, in Exodus 25:22, the Hebrew uses an idiom similar to our English idiom, 'meet with', but the preposition it uses for 'with' in this idiom is not the same as the preposition it uses in the phrase 'God with us'. In the latter, the word 'with' means 'in company with', which is not quite the same as the meaning of 'with' in the former.

Very truly yours in Christ,

 
David Gooding
Previous

Were animal sacrifices offered at the door or at the gate of the tabernacle? And does this have implications for being washed in blood?
Next

Is it important to observe the distinction between the roles of God the Father and God the Son, particularly within the book of the Revelation?