Soon after the Israelites enter
the promised land, Shiloh, a district in the tribe of Ephraim, is chosen to be
the central location for the tabernacle. Due to the wickedness of the
Ephraimite and the priests, God leaves the tabernacle at Shiloh and allows the
Ark of the Covenant to be captured. Since God’s presence was associated with
the combination of the Ark inside the Tabernacle, it’s as if God allowed
Himself to be captured and taken away from Israel (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 1 Samuel4:19-22, 1 Samuel 5:1-12).
Eventually, David is selected at King of Israel and His throne, along with the tabernacle and recaptured Ark (2 Samuel 6:15-17) are now located in Jerusalem. Instead of this moveable tent, David wants to build a house for God. God says, “No! I will build a house for you.” In other words, God would build a dynasty for David that would continue forever. This is the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7, Psalm 89:3-4). This, of course, is fulfilled in Jesus descending from David and being the eternal King of kings. A house for God (temple) would be built, but by David’s son, Solomon, since David was a man of war. After Solomon’s prayer of dedication, God comes and fills the Temple with His glory (1 Kings 8:10-11). The same thing happened in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35). The tabernacle has now been superseded by the temple. Not coincidentally, the church, the Spiritual Temple, of the Lord was filled in the Day of Pentecost, superseding the earthly temple. The point is that God had a dwelling place in the Garden, then in the tabernacle, then in the temple and now in the church.
For now, we are tracking the
idea that God has taken up residence in Jerusalem, the city of David, in Zion. The
magnificent furnishings and servants (priests) of the temple meet the “needs”
of the resident and signify that a glorious Being dwells there. The nature of
sacrifices in the temple allowed people to approach God just a little bit
closer. Citizens could be cleansed and move into the courtyard. Priest could be
cleaned and moved into the Holy Place. The High Priest could be cleansed and
enter the Most Holy Place but only once a year. The reality is that pure
holiness dwells at the center of Israelite life and only proper cleansing can
bring them closer to God.
There was garden imagery inside
the temple as were cherubim, giving us reminders of the Garden of Eden (1 Kings 6:23, 1 Kings 7:18). Even the Ark was covered with cherubim as they guarded
God’s presence (1 Kings 8:6-7). But God’s dwelling place in Jerusalem, also
called the City of God, was not the final product. It’s a miniature model of
what God intends to do over all the earth. The ultimate blessing from God is
His presence among us (Psalm 48). The entire city of Jerusalem is now the
dwelling place of God as signified by all the gold brough in (2 Chronicles 1:15). Psalm 84 speaks of the blessing it is to dwell with God. SIDE NOTE: From
this Psalm we sing at our church the song title, Better Is One Day.
Eventually, Israel’s sin leads
to the northern 10 tribes being completely annihilated by the Assyrians and the
southern 2 tribes being decimate and carried off into captivity by the
Babylonians. At this point both Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed and no
one knows what happened to the Ark of the Covenant. Ultimately, this shows that, like Adam removed
from the garden, Israel was removed from the land of Canaan because Israel is
not holy enough to live with God (Isaiah 1:4-15). Isaiah moves from the earthly
Jerusalem to a New Jerusalem in which people from all nations dwell, a time
where even they are priests and Levites (Isaiah 66:18-24). This is the end
outcome that God is moving towards. Isaiah 2:2-5 speaks of Mt. Zion, Jerusalem,
the city of God, being the highest mountain ever in the latter days (end times).
This is not altitude but importance or significance. It’s so big that it’ll
cover the earth (Daniel 2:35). The Lord desires to dwell globally in a
temple-city. That ultimate temple-city is the church (Revelation 21). Israel
and Jerusalem are not replaced, rather, they were a stopping point along the
way from the garden to the New Creation. Read Isaiah 65:17-25. The old
Jerusalem bears little resemblance to the New Jerusalem.
The prophet Ezekiel was supposed
to be a priest but could not serve in the temple because it was destroyed along
with Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 597 BC. He was only 25 but 5 years later
God gives him a series of visions over a 20 year period. Before all of this, Ezekiel is given a vision
and it shows God on a throne-chariot. This signifies that God is still with
Israel in some way even though God is about to punish them and God is about to
depart the temple/sanctuary (Ezekiel 8:6, Ezekiel 9:4). This is a somewhat modified departure because
God is pictured as standing on a mountain near Jerusalem looking at it from
afar (Ezekiel 11:23). Ezekiel 40-48 show us another vision with a focus on new
temple. Remember, it’s a vision and vision are often non-literal (symbolic) ways
of communicating literal truths, just like the book of Revelation. Ezekiel sees a replacement temple and a
replacement city with a river that continues to grow and grow. This Jerusalem
gets a name change. It’ll now be called, “The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).
This vision would no doubt
encourage the Israelites to rebuild a second temple after their 70 years in
Babylonian captivity. A new physical foundation would have to be build and the
wall around Jerusalem would be to be erected. But this vision to Ezekiel was
not about that 2nd temple. The 2nd Temple era simply
served as a reminder of what was still yet to come in the final phase of God’s
ultimate plan. Jerusalem (Zion) and the temple were there to point us to the
final outcome. Worthy of note is that God never said to have filled the 2nd
Temple like He did the tabernacle or the 1st temple. The Ark was
missing and still never has been recovered to this day. But He promises to fill
this 2nd temple with glory (Haggai 2:7-9). In fact, He promised
Judah that He’d finally visit that 2nd Temple in Malachi 3:1. This was fulfilled when Jesus came and dwelt
among us (John 1:14). The word dwelt in Greek means tabernacled.
Jesus is the true Temple (John 2:19). He came to live with us in the flesh! And
He Himself went into the 2nd temple and did much teaching and even
cleansed the temple from wicked practices. Indeed, God came and visited the
temple and filled it with His own incarnate glory.
Since Jesus is the true temple,
when we are united with Him by faith in Him, we become part of the temple of
His body. And the Holy Spirit comes to LIVE in us. We’ll dive into this
living/spiritual temple next time.
QUESTIONS
TO CONSIDER
1. Share what stood out to you.
1. Share what stood out to you.
2. What
do you make of God’s allowing the Ark of the Covenant to repeatedly captured?
What does it signify?
3. If
you had to summarize the theme of God dwelling among us using Biblical language
how would you do that? Starting from Genesis and ending in Revelation.
4. What’s
the significance of fruit and cherubim imagery in the temple? What about the
lighting, smells and presence of food? What is the significance of all the
ornate decorations of gold, silver, onyx and purple?
5. What
does God teach us when we see Israel being removed from their land and
Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed?
6. Based
on our understanding of Jerusalem being called Mt. Zion, what should we expect
God’s kingdom to be like in light of Daniel 2 and Isaiah 2:2-5)
7. How
are visions meant to be understood?
8. Why
is the name change of Jerusalem important in the last verse of Ezekiel?
9. What
must we seen continual progressions in the meta-story of God dwelling with us
and Israel in various stagesd?
10. What are you most encouraged
about as we continue to study Biblical Theology and this particular theme?
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