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God's presence is generally a reference to a place/status of joy, care and favor. Sometimes the bible will also use "dwell with" or "draw near" to express the same idea.
And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Exodus 33:14)
But the LORD was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and regarded them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.(2 Kings 13:23)
Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.(Psalms 140:13)
"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."(Matthew 18:20)
But God is everywhere:
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.(Psalms 139:7-8)
Ps 139:7 ¶ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Ps 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Pr 15:11 ¶ Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
But I think "hell" here refers to the grave or place of the dead, not the lake of fire spoken of in Revelation.
Marcia, the word here in the Hebrew relates not to one or the other but both at the time. As I have shown previously, there are Hebrew words that mean grave, tomb, etc.. The word 'sheol' reflects not only the physical place but at the same time the spiritual abode where the departed are, with emphasis more toward the spiritual world.
Yes, I know all that. My point was that this is not the lake of fire referred to in Revelation, which is what we tend to think of as "hell."
Yeah, I agree with you there :smilewinkgrin: