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Oikétérion

11/5/2020

 
Jude 6-7 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation [oikétérion], he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house [oikétérion] which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.”
In both of the Scriptures quoted above, the Greek term oikétérion is employed to convey the idea of some kind of glorified form that certain beings can assume. In the first, Jude tells his audience that some angels (called “sons of God” in Genesis 6, or “watchers” in 1 Enoch and Daniel 4) abandoned the glory they once had in order to indulge in mortal, fleshly experiences which resulted in the birth of the Nephilim.
In the second passage, the mortal human form is referred to as a “tabernacle” (like a kind of tent in which God’s presence was said to reside), and the “house not made with hands” is the immortal form that Jews and Christians aspire to in the age to come.
The idea of it being “not made with hands” alludes to creation by God, which ties into the “sons of God” terminology and also implies divinely ordained purpose.
We can see that “oikétérion” makes no sense interpreted as a physical place of residence, as many believe. Note that it comes from heaven but it is not heaven itself; additionally both angels and men have physical forms whether glorified or not, whether in heaven or not.
So what is the oikétérion? Paul’s use of clothing as an illustration (probably borrowed from the Mesopotamian myth of Adapa) is helpful, showing that it is bestowed by God and can be put on or taken off - but we have no evidence that this action is reversible. The angels that remove theirs never get it back, and the humans that will put it on will enter eternity that way. The glory of immortality is not something to consider lightly.
The oikétérion is the glorified form that God gives those created personally by Him. It implies a status, an authority and a responsibility as His representatives - to be His image bearers, whether that be in heaven or on earth.
Now do you see why Adam and Eve realised that they were “naked” after their actions failed to represent God’s Word? They had lost their own oikétérion, traded for fig leaves and humiliation.

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    T.J. Steadman

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