Introduction
In the New Testament, the Herodian temple in Jerusalem becomes a focal point. It was a place where Jesus ministered, taught and prophesied (Matthew 21:14, 23; 22-23; 26:55; Mark 11:11, 27-12:44; 14:49; Luke 11:51; 19:47; 20:1-19; 21:1-38; John 5:14; 7:10-34; 8:2-59; 10:22-39; 18:20), a place Jesus deeply respected and defended against abuse (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45; John 2:14-15) and a place of great symbolism and importance given that Satan took Jesus to the temple in order to tempt him (Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9). Yet, Jesus understood that He was superior to the temple (Matthew 12:6). That belief brought a measure of tension given the great importance placed upon the temple by Judaism. Its historical importance brought surprise and shock among His disciples when He predicted the destruction of Herod’s temple (Matthew 24:1-3; Mark 13:1-2; Luke 21:5-6). Their questions to Jesus show that they believed destruction of the temple would bring an end to the world. [1] Yet Christ made clear that “the end will not come right away” (Luke 21:9; cf. Matthew 24:6-8) despite the temple’s destruction within one generation (Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:32). This again creates significant tension. If the center of Jewish life is to be destroyed well before the end of the age, what will become of Judaism and their religious practices?
Jesus and His People as the New Eschatological Temple
The answer comes in a surprising reinterpretation made by Christ: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). While this statement caused confusion among the Jews, John clarifies that Jesus was not speaking about Herod’s temple but the temple that “was his body” (vs 21). An accusation recorded in Mark 14 hints at this change in temple:
58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’ ”
The change from a temple made with human hands (the Herodian temple) to a temple made without human hands (Jesus’ incarnation) supports that Ezekiel’s promised sanctuary during Israel’s exile has now become Jesus Christ. Yahweh’s promise to provide sanctuary during their exile was transitional between the old Solomonic temple and a new “eschatological” temple of our age. Where Yahweh had prior been their sanctuary, with the advent of Jesus Christ, the sanctuary becomes the incarnation of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ statement stands in strong contrast to the Herodian temple, whose importance did not wane after Christ’s resurrection. It remained a center of Jewish life, a place where the disciples often testified of Christ (Acts 3:1-4:2; 5:17-42) and participated in temple rituals (Acts 21:26; 22:17; 24:17-18). [2]
Nevertheless, the disciples understood that Jesus had inaugurated a new temple. This is clear from early in the church’s development where Acts 4 declares Jesus as the cornerstone of the new eschatological temple:
11 Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone’ (cf. Matthew 21:42; Mark22 12:10; Luke 20:17; Psalm 118:22). 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
That Peter claimed salvation comes only from Christ establishes Jesus as the new temple, as salvation was always associated with the temple and the sacrifices offered there for sin. This conclusion is supported in Psalm 118 from which this proclamation is made. It states the Lord “has become my salvation” (vs 14), “I will not die but live” (vs 17), “open the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter” (vs 20), “you have become my salvation” (vs 21), “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you” (vs 26). These verses show that God is our salvation and God is found in the temple, His house. The gate is the gate of the temple and entrance allows praise and thanksgiving to God. [3] He has provided salvation for His people through entrance into a new temple, the cornerstone of which has been rejected. [4]
John understood that Jesus was the new eschatological temple. When he recorded that Jesus “became flesh” to tabernacle (σκηνόω skēnoō) among us, it offers a strong clue John understood the temple-transformation inaugurated in Christ. This view is enhanced in John 1:51 where Jesus predicted heaven would open, with angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, pointing back to Jacob’s dream of Genesis 28:12. John understood that Jesus saw Himself as the fulfillment of Jacob’s revelatory dream. He was the new temple connecting heaven and earth.
While Christ saw Himself as the new eschatological temple, He also saw Himself as the cornerstone, suggestive that the temple would become larger and greater. Zechariah 6:12 predicted that “the man whose name is the Branch . . . will branch out . . . and build the temple of the Lord”. Christ would build the temple, the greater edifice in glorification of the Father. Branching out suggests growth. [5] Growth would be achieved through converts to Christ.
This seems understood by the Apostles. Paul, in addressing the Corinthians speaks of his efforts as a wise builder laying a foundation that others will build upon (1 Corinthians 3:10). He urges each to follow his lead, build carefully while assuring that what they build is upon the foundation of Christ (i.e. cornerstone). He warns that our building-efforts will be tested by fire. He then completes his counsel with:
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
If we are God’s temple built upon the foundation of Christ, then we, together with Christ, are partnering (vs 9) to build His temple. The temple grows as the Word is accepted by those in the world, becoming greater and the structure more complete. [6] In 2 Corinthians 6:16-18, Paul declares that “we are the temple of the living God”, calling a number of Old Testament scriptures in support of his argument. They show God’s intention to live and walk among His people (cf. Leviticus 26:11-12; Ezekiel 37:26-27), separate them from the world making them holy (Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 11:17; 20:34, 41) and Yahweh’s promise to be a father to His people (2 Samuel 7:14). The first reference confirms the radical transformation to the eschatological temple, the second shows the necessity of holiness if we wish to maintain God’s indwelling presence while the third fulfills the promise that we would be in close relationship with Him (a family typically live together in the same house).
This third point is again emphasized by Paul in Ephesians 2:19-22 in which he shows the change in relationship from Gentiles (foreigners and strangers [to the covenant]) to “members of his household”. He follows with a similar declaration that we are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (vs 20). He further states “in him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord” (vs 21), “and in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (vs 22).
Many expositors have considered the language metaphorical or analogical. Taken together with the statements of Christ recorded by John, the message couldn’t be clearer. The church is literally the temple of God, the final eschatological temple that the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple only foreshadowed. It is confirmed in 1 Peter 2, which gives an understanding of the new temple consistent with other scriptures:
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Peter similarly refers to Christ as the chief cornerstone, yet a living stone. He then urges believers to be living stones built up into a spiritual house (temple) but adding that we are also a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices. He then quotes Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14, making a link with God’s Old Testament promises to establish a temple on a sure foundation. The quoted scriptures show how Christ is the fulfillment of these promises.
Peter saw the new eschatological temple as Paul did. Christ is building it through the evangelization of Jews and Gentiles. Believers also serve as priests, offering spiritual sacrifices. Peter thus sees believers (both Jewish and Gentile) as the new priests in the new eschatological temple (cf. Isaiah 19:23-25). This new royal priesthood offers spiritual sacrifices, showing that the Old Testament blood, drink and meal sacrifices have been replaced by spiritual sacrifices offered by a spiritual priesthood in a spiritual temple, completing a broad temple transformation. In the new world order, there is a new temple, a new priesthood and new sacrifices, all superior to those of the old world order which could only foreshadow the true realities in Christ.
This new understanding was radical, moving from a man-made temple to a temple that was not man-made; from a temple of stone to a temple of living stones. It replaced the Aaronic high priest with an eternal High Priest in heaven. It dispensed with the Aaronic priesthood, replacing it with a priesthood modeled after Melchizedek (Hebrews 7) while permanently altering the cultic sacrifices offered by God’s people. Most significant, it would eliminate one thousand years of Judaic tradition where a very visible temple stood on Mount Zion in the center of Jerusalem as a stone structure of grandiose significance.
The new eschatological temple is now invisible, found in Christ, present where believers are gathered and would move outward from Jerusalem to all the nations until the grand spiritual structure was completed and filled the earth. Its priesthood would no longer be men of a physical tribe of Israel but all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, man or woman. The traditional boundaries that separated the priesthood, separating Jew from Gentile and man from woman had been abolished. There was no longer a special priestly class enjoying the privileges of their position. The priesthood had now been democratized and no one was excluded from all the benefits of service to God. All would have direct access to Him through Christ as intermediary. There was also no earthly head of the cult to guide and direct the movement. Each believer would individually be directed by Christ and His teachings. Such a notion was truly revolutionary in the Ancient Near East. It brought true equality to all those who were in Christ while leaving the movement leaderless (or more exactly, without an earthly leader. Each would be directly accountable to Jesus as Head of the church). How would Christianity grow and take hold without any of the visible traditional symbols of cultic worship?
The Consecration of the New Eschatological Temple
The idolatry and injustice committed within Israel brought Yahweh’s abandonment of the temple witnessed in vision by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 10). It portended the destruction of Jerusalem and the Solomonic temple while also bringing judgment upon Israel for her sins. When rebuilt, the second temple lacked the visible Presence of God on the day of consecration. It affirmed that Yahweh’s Presence with Israel had entered a new transitional phase. Yet Ezekiel had promised that the visible Presence would infill a new rebuilt temple. If Christ and His followers were the new eschatological temple, then they would represent the final temple and we would expect a consecration ritual including visible evidence of the indwelling divine Presence in the new temple. That evidence is found in Acts 2:
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
The infilling of the Spirit with visibly seen cloven tongues of fire suggest that Yahweh’s divine Presence has infilled His new eschatological temple, the church. The symbol of fire, often emblematic of a theophany (as is wind and sound) points toward Yahweh’s intervention in history. He has made Himself known to His people. That the theophanic sign is fire, echos back to Sinai (Exodus 19:18). It also echos back to the creation of a new people Israel, the creation of the tabernacle and the divine Presence as a cloud and pillar of fire indwelling the tabernacle and temple. That the fire was not a pillar but cloven tongues is part of Yahweh’s democratization of His priesthood and temple. Given that the new eschatological temple is now His people, His presence would be visibly manifested on the day of consecration as a “distributed” pillar of fire, lodging with each of His people. [7] Democratization provides a critical change as Yahweh’s presence was prior in one place, His physical house in Jerusalem. Now His presence can be found wherever believers are found. It allows Yahweh’s glory to now truly fill the earth as originally intended from the first creation.
In testifying of the coming of the Spirit, Peter In Acts 2:17-21 quoted Joel 2:28-32 as proof the descent and indwelling of the Spirit was the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Yet his quotation appears to conflate Joel with Isaiah 2:2, a prophecy of the coming eschatological temple, saying “the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains” “exalted above the hills”, “and all nations will stream to it”. The conflation shows that Peter understood the outpouring of the Spirit as the establishment of the final eschatological temple. In conflating Joel with Isaiah, Peter changes Joel from “and after that” to “in the last days”, giving a clear eschatological focus to Joel’s prophecy. [8] Peter sees the coming of the Spirit pointing forward to a new eschatological age. Yet the coming of the Spirit also looks backward to the end of the old age, the old world order with its Sinaic covenant now ending. By quoting the signs in the heavens and on earth, including blood, fire, smoke, sun turned to darkness and moon to blood before the Day of the Lord, he interprets Joel’s words as the end of the old age and end of the old creation. [9] Clearly, the coming of the Spirit had deep significance to Christian origins.
Also significant was the occasion of the infilling. That the infilling of His temple occurred on Pentecost also echos Sinai, as Jewish tradition celebrated Pentecost as the day God gave Israel the law. [10] Sinai was an archetypal sanctuary where the newly created people of Israel met with God, received the law and entered into covenant. The echo to Sinai points toward Yahweh creating a new people of God the church, with whom He has presented His laws through Christ and then entered into blood covenant relationship. Also important are the instructions to build the tabernacle that immediately followed the giving of the law, suggestive that Yahweh was beginning the erection of His final eschatological temple. [11]
That Pentecost was the feast that celebrated the firstfruits is also suggestive. Every Israelite understood the harvest had begun, pointing eschatologically to the great final harvest promised by the prophets. The great promised ingathering of Israel had begun! But what may not have been clear to Israel Paul clarifies, claiming the giving of the Spirit is the firstfruits of Christ’s resurrection (Romans 8). The harvest is no longer to be thought of as the start of an agricultural harvest (cf. Deuteronomy 26:1-11) but a great harvest of Israel, an amazing miraculous harvest of resurrected saints of God. [12] Paul thus links the work of the Spirit to the restoration of creation and the redemption of our bodies (resurrection), described as our adoption as sons:
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8
In his declaration, Paul assures that the ultimate goal of the church’s creation is to realize resurrection life as Christ did. The Spirit’s gifting into the believer’s life is a seal promising a future resurrection. It shows that our acceptance of Christ is not the full attainment of salvation. Rather, it is the beginning of our salvation with the ultimate realization deferred to the end of the new eschatological age.
There may be more to Paul’s thinking than is immediately apparent. In 2 Corinthians 5:1, he compares our current bodies to a tent, which in resurrection will be replaced by a house, descriptions that are significant. The tent echos the Tent of Meeting, where Israelites met with God before the erection of the tabernacle, which itself could be viewed as a tent. House echos the temple, a structure that was permanent where the tent was temporary. The temple’s permanence derived from its placement in the land, pointing toward the fulfillment of the promise. The tent was transient in that its use was while in the wilderness. Thus, our resurrection points to the reality that we have arrived in our promised permanent land (our heavenly land) with our faith proven, no longer in probative relationship with God in the wilderness (our earthly existence) where our faith was still in test. The replacement in death of our earthly body – a tent, with a resurrected spiritual body – a house, is an unmistakable reference to bodily resurrection and to our eternity with Christ. It also affirms God’s intention that His people will be His temple and House – where He will dwell forever.
The outpouring of the Spirit also points toward a new creation as the Spirit also brooded over the old creation (Genesis 1:2). Paul’s declaration succinctly shows the cosmic relation of the church as God’s new creation and temple with the greater reclamation of the cosmos. Yahweh’s new eschatological temple is more than just His church, it is His church resident in His cosmos. This viewpoint becomes important when one studies Revelation in which a temple perspective incorporates the cosmos and is focused upon both the redemption of the church and the redemption of all creation.
The Earthly Temple a Pattern of the Heavenly Temple
The book of Revelation reveals the central role the temple plays in eschatology. But before proceeding to examine John’s view of the temple, an important precursor must be established: the earthly temple is a pattern and model of God’s heavenly temple. This truth is made explicit in Hebrews 8:
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
Hebrews establishes that the heavenly temple is the true temple and its earthly representation is a copy patterned after its heaven reality. Thus, any priesthood serving in the earthly temple is inferior and passing away. It is no longer needed as a superior priesthood now exists mediating a better covenant. It follows that all meaningful cultic rituals must be performed in the heavenly temple including the application of blood in the Most-Holy-Place. The blood of the covenantal victim must be sprinkled in the heavenly temple. Further, Hebrews 13:15 urges believers to offer sacrifices, alluding to our new role as priests in the new eschatological temple of God. The implication is that though we are physically located on earth, we are spiritually part of God’s heavenly eschatological temple.
How has this transformation happened? Upon the death of Christ, the curtain in the temple was rent (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke23:45). The temple curtain represented the firmament separating us from God’s presence. The cherubim sewn onto the curtain symbolically guarded the way to God’s presence (Genesis 3:24), showing that God’s presence was in heaven, in His cosmic Holy-of-Holies. The rending of the curtain then pointed toward the destruction of the firmament of the first creation, eliminating the boundary between heaven and earth. The symbolism is clear: priests in the old temple ministered in the Holy Place but could not enter the Most-Holy-Place. With the destruction of the firmament, believers, as priests in the new eschatological temple now enjoy unfettered access to God through Christ in the Most-holy-place in God’s heavenly temple. This position is confirmed in Hebrews 10:
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
Hebrews confirms our access to the Most-Holy-Place in God’s heavenly temple while adding that the curtain, which was understood in Judaism as the firmament has been reinterpreted as Christ’s body. Jesus is the way to the Father through His torn body offered on the cross.
The grand superiority of the new eschatological temple is now manifest. With access into the true temple, there was no longer need for a temple-building in Jerusalem. Given that the sacrifices offered in that temple could not bring eternal redemption and since the priesthood could not mediate peace with God, the old temple became obsolete and along with it, the symbolic sacrifices required in the Sinaic covenant (Hebrews 8:13). Hebrews 9:8-10 intimates the obsolescence of the temple when it stated “the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning”, “for the present time . . . the gifts and sacrifices . . . were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper”, “they are only . . . external regulations applying until the time of the new order”. That Christ “has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages” (vs 26) affirms that a new age has dawned and the old order has passed away. With the passing of that old order, the Sinaic cult, the Aaronic priesthood, and the old temple of stone have also passed away, affirmed in the destruction of the Herodian temple. All these changes bear witness to a far-reaching transformational change associated in the thinking of Jewish and Gentile Christians.
A Radically New Concept
Of the numerous transformative changes in Christ we’ve studied thus far, the claim that the true temple of our age is the church may seem the most radical and unexpected. Such an idea is radical when compared with the traditional Old Testament understanding of the temple. Yet there are indications in Israel’s history that the changes may not have been as radical and unexpected as they first appear. The Qumran community had rejected the Jerusalem temple, considering it corrupt and ungodly. They envisioned themselves as the keepers of the true and faithful message. In their Hymn Scroll, the community is described as a sprouting – “the Shoot” that grows “into the branches of the eternal planting” that “shall spread over all”, watered by the very rivers of Eden. “It shall be a well-spring of light as an eternal unfailing fountain”. [13] 4QFlor 1.6 states that “a sanctuary of Adam” (mankind) will be built in the midst of the community, suggestive that the Qumran community considered themselves to be the temple, a sanctuary of the true followers of Yahweh. [14] The comparison to Eden strengthens the view that Eden was a prototypical sanctuary between God and mankind.
1QH 7.23-24 speak of dominion over the sons of the earth, with the community shining like the seven-fold light in Eden, a reference to the temple’s lampstand, with the belief that they were the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s eschatological temple (CD 3.19-20). [15] 4Q511 (fragment 35, lines 3-4) states “God makes (some) holy for himself like an everlasting sanctuary . . . and they will become priests”. [16] Sirach 24 adopts similar Edenic language, adding “the Creator . . . caused my tabernacle to rest” and “in the beloved city he gave me rest”. These allusions suggest a spiritual reinterpretation of the “sanctuary”, “tabernacle” and “rest”. 1 Enoch 90 also alludes to the destruction of the temple and replacement with a larger one that could hold an enlarged humanity represented symbolically as animals. These sources taken together are strong evidence suggesting an awareness of the temple and sanctuary as God’s people awaiting restoration, envisioned as restoration to Edenic rest.
When we turn to Scripture, there are passages that suggest future radical changes to the temple or priesthood. Psalms often spoke of all the nations worshiping God (Psalms 86:9; 99:2; 113:4; see also Isaiah 2:1-4; 56:4-8; Zechariah 8:20-23). The change from a purely Jewish worship to a temple that accommodated all the nations would represent a dramatic transformation of worship and temple. Psalm 114:2 calls Judah “God’s sanctuary”, implying Judah dwelt with God together as a temple. Jeremiah 3:16-17 envisions the end-time temple without the ark of the covenant, a striking omission as the ark held the tablets of the law, the basis of the covenant. It hints that a new covenant accompanies the new eschatological temple, confirmed in other scriptures. The absence of the ark would arrest any Jewish person’s attention.
Isaiah 19:23-25 envisions Egypt and Assyria worshiping and serving God together, with Egypt called “my people” and Assyria called “my handiwork”. There is prediction of a highway from Egypt to Assyria upon which the exiles of Israel would return to the land. Such language puts Egypt and Assyria on equivalent standing with Jews before God, intimating that they will also serve Him as priests. It is striking these traditional enemies of Israel are united together with Israel with each declared to be a blessing on the earth, in apparent echo of Genesis 12:2-3. It also affirms the Noahic curse would not extend to Ham in the end (8:24-25). This prophecy is a radical transformation of Egypt’s and Assyria’s relationship with God that would certainly impact temple worship and cult.
Zechariah 6:12-13 predicts that the Messiah will build the temple. Despite apparent disbelief that Christ could destroy and rebuild the temple in three days given its massive size, there was apparently widespread understanding the Messiah would build the final eschatological temple. [17] Such a belief should drive an expectation that the Herodian temple would be obsoleted if not destroyed. Yet mainstream Judaism largely rejected the notion of the obsolescence of their stone temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel 37:15-28 declares that there will be one king over Israel – David, when God brings the tribes of Judah and Joseph from the nations. Along with the ordination of David [the Messiah] would come a new covenant. If the covenant of Sinai naturally led to the erection of the tabernacle/temple, then it should have been understood by God’s people that the coming Messiah would establish a new temple and a new covenant. Even Joel’s prophecy that the Lord would pour out His Spirit on all flesh should have flagged to Israel that radical changes were in her future given in the Lord’s Spirit had always been resident in His temple. The shift to residency in the hearts of believers (see also Ezekiel 36:24-28) from the traditional temple-house certainly points toward temple obsolescence/temple transformation.
Relevance to Christians Today
Ethical Lessons
Despite the complexity of this topic, some important ethical lessons are apparent. First, Christians are priests who serve in God’s temple (2 Peter 2:9). Critically, with the destruction of the separating curtain between the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place, we are no longer restricted as the Aaronic priests were. We have entered into His presence, the Most Holy Place of His temple. The required ceremonial washings and blood sacrifices the High Priest must offer before he entering the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16) once per year, reveal the necessity of purity of heart. Often in churches it is preached that we are all fallen creatures and God understands our failings and forgives. That is certainly true if we repent, but repentance means we change so that we do not repeat our sins. We cannot use our carnal failings as license for sin and uncleanness (Jude 1:4).
More important, the prophets are clear that Christ’s coming brings a new heart of flesh that replaces the heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26), finally making it possible to live faithfully to the covenant (Eze 11:20; 36:27-29). That means in Christ, we are no longer fallen creatures. We are expected to live our lives in full compliance with God’s laws. That does not mean we will not commit inadvertent sins due to our limited knowledge and judgment. Hebrews 9:7 assures forgiveness for inadvertent sins. That said, the infilling presence of the Holy Spirit has made us new creations that are no longer fallen creatures, but new lives capable of meeting God’s covenantal requirements. Understanding that we are now always in God’s presence affirms the importance of holiness. Critically, we must remind ourselves that without holiness, no man will see God.
Second, as priests, we have the responsibility to reconcile fallen men to God. It means the spiritual sacrifices we make, whether prayers, fasting, withstanding evil, working to bring justice to the poor and powerless, suffering persecution or being wronged by others, should all be viewed as means to God’s great eschatological end – the redemption of our families, friends and strangers. All of these things may be types of spiritual sacrifices to reconcile the lost to Christ.
Third, it also means that our words and lifestyles matter. These are forms of our witness that prove we truly love Christ and love others. Hence why bearing the fruit of the Spirit is critically important and why the false fruit of carnality, sinfulness and lawlessness must be banished from our lives at all costs. When our lives do not reflect the values, sacrifices, heart and mindset of Christ, our witness becomes ineffective. The world sees our hypocrisy and will be intolerant of our excuses. One cannot speak of a forgiving God without also speaking of a holy God. One cannot speak of a just God while indifferent to the injustices of others. If we truly love those in the world as Christ did, we must live as He did, holy, just and loving to all in the world. Failure to do as Christ did, is not an option.
Finally, in an age of tolerance within the church, Israel’s history should remind all Christians of the price of failure. The priesthood was corrupt and the sins of the people numerous and varied. Their history revealed an unwillingness to obey the call of multiple prophets to repent. In the end, it brought rejection of Christ as Messiah. What followed was a rejection of the Jewish nation. Their temple and city were destroyed with scores killed during Jerusalem’s siege. The few that escaped were scattered into the nations. Worse, only a remnant over the last two thousand years secured salvation.
It is a warning to the church. No one in the church believes they would reject Christ. But rejecting His laws is rejecting Christ. If we love Christ. we will obey His laws. Not living like Christ is a rejection of Christ. Living like the world and sharing their values is a rejection of Christ. Failing to be spiritually fruitful in witnessing to the lost is a rejection of Christ. Ignoring injustice is a rejection of Christ. As priests, our singular focus must be upon reconciling the lost to Christ. Holy living is the means by which it is accomplished. If we love Christ, we will love the lost. Failing to accept and live a Christ-like life was a failure of the Jews of Jesus’ day. Their rejection and destruction portends the end-of-the-age judgment that awaits those in the church who reject Christ. They will not make heaven but be condemned eternally to hell.
Eschatological Lessons
Eschatlogically, the destruction of the second (Herodian) temple is expected given it was part of the old creation. The new creation demanded it. A secondary ground for its destruction can be seen in the sins of the Jewish nation, embodied in the rejection of Christ by the religious leadership. Israel’s sin of rejecting God (for idols) had brought the destruction of the Solomonic temple and it would naturally follow that the second temple would also be destroyed for their sin of rejecting Christ. With the rejection of the Messiah came a rejection of His new laws and covenant, with the people embracing their own teachings and traditions added to the Sinaic covenant. The law could not bring salvation. Their refusal to abandon these teachings became idolatrous, setting the stage for destruction of the second temple. Worse, they rejected the new temple, the true eschatological temple Jesus Christ, making their Herodian temple a center of false worship. Rejecting Christ was temple rejection. Judgment must follow as their worship was now false and idolatrous.
Many Christians have concluded that modern-day Israel must rebuild their stone temple in Jerusalem on the temple mount and reinstate their cultic worship as part of the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. Those holding to this view should reconsider in light of our studies. God’s presence is always found with His people, not in one place in a temple in Jerusalem. Even in Old Testament times, God’s presence was always with His people, hence why God moved outside the camp when they idolatrously worshiped the golden calf and why God abandoned the Solomonic temple when the priests practiced idolatry (Ezekiel 10). The idolatry of those generations brought their rejection . They were no longer God’s people.
Ezekiel 40-48 is often argued as proof that a literal temple of stone must be rebuilt in the end-times. Yet Ezekiel’s vision may best be understood symbolically. Beale has noted that this new temple lacked the basin (bronze sea), the lampstand, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, the veil, the high priest, the anointing oil, the ark and cherubim. The approach to the altar of sacrifice also changed from the south to the east adding steps. [18] Some conservative scholars have argued that these furnishings are absent as they have been fulfilled in Christ. That may be true but one must ask if denying the symbolism is done to protect a hermeneutical method (literalism)? That all these symbolic articles are absent from Ezekiel’s temple suggests a symbolism in the new temple that extends well beyond a literal temple. In light of the clear claims of the New Testament, it seems best to interpret the final eschatological temple as a living temple comprised of Christ and His followers. Efforts to press for a future stone temple seem as misguided as Jewish attempts to preserve their temple-cult. [19]
An important point of reflection is found in the outpouring of God’s Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-6). That many spoke in other tongues yet everyone heard the words in their own languages represents a reversal of the curse of Babel. It was at Babel that mankind in unison disobeyed God, attempting to thwart His mandate to fill the earth (Genesis 11:4). They belligerently selected a place for all men to reside and declared that it would be the place of God’s temple. They would build it to the heavens, demanding to enter heaven itself and be in God’s presence. In building the edifice, they would make a name for themselves, a false and idolatrous notion. Judgment followed with the confusion of tongues that destroyed their unity as a people, creating the nations. Isaiah 2:1-4 prophesied a day when all the nations would again behave in unity. They would all speak of Yahweh and His greatness rather than man’s greatness and their gathering point would be a mountain in Jerusalem rather than a plain of their choosing. Isaiah’s prophecy promises a day when the curse of Babel would be reversed, a day when men would speak one language and a day when all would gather at Jerusalem and seek the Lord.
The phenomenon of tongues was a demonstration and proof that the curse of Babel had been reversed through the work of Christ. Man has been reunited through the power of Christ, signified in the elimination of the barrier of language that separated the nations at Babel. The nations are now one in Christ as in the days before Babel. That men from all nations would come to Jerusalem also shows the fulfillment of the Genesis mandate to increase in number and fill the earth. It also marks the kick-off of the regathering of God’s people to the land. [20] They are no longer exiles. Gentiles who were once strangers and foreigners to the covenant are now fellow citizens and heirs to the promise made to Abraham (Ephesians 2:19). Paul’s choice of words for stranger (ξένος xenos) and foreigner ( πάροικος paroikos) are interesting as xenos means alien and paroikos means without citizenship or one who lives as a sojourner on the earth. Of Christians it means one whose home is in heaven. Thus, we who were exiles in that we were excluded from God’s presence in heaven, are no longer exiles from God’s presence but ironically, we become exiles here on earth while we await total entrance into our heavenly home. Note the ironic inversion. It explains why Peter calls us exiles (so 1 Peter 1:1 and 2:11). We are to abstain from sinful desires that can prevent our entrance into heaven, leaving us again as exiles apart from God in this world, symbolically the wilderness. Note 2 Corinthians 6:15-18 which urges us to “come out” from this world and its failed cities of Babylon and Jerusalem now that we have citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem. The investiture of the Spirit in believers shows we are no longer exiles from God but now dwell together with him. Those whose sanctuary is in Jesus have become citizens in the heavenly city of Jerusalem, making us exiles here on earth. The exercise of tongues at Pentecost confirms that the promised eschatological temple of Isaiah is here! It is the sanctuary in Christ.
Parallels may be seen between the judgments on Babel and Jerusalem. Both Babel’s temple and Herod’s temple were idolatrous. Both (falsely) claimed to be the meeting point of God with men. Each resisted God’s will to be (spiritually) fruitful. Both peoples sought greatness in their own eyes. Both temples were judged; Babel’s effort was halted and Herod’s temple was dismantled and destroyed. Both peoples were scattered in judgment, one seeing tongues confused, and a remnant of the other seeing tongues re-unified. And both saw a remnant “come out” and separate from them; from Babel came Abraham and from Judaism came a Christian remnant. Both remnants (Abraham and the church) had/have “Babylon” as an enemy; for Abraham the idolatry of Mesopotamia, for the church, the idolatry of eschatological Babylon.
Abraham’s salvation was found in his belief and obedience. Our salvation is found similarly in our belief in Christ and obedience to His covenant whereby compliance is now achievable since being given a new heart and a new spirit. Relative to our studies of the temple, it is critical for believers to understand that both these temples were false temples and thus vigilance is required to avoid making similar mistakes that the majorities prior made in both cases. Given that Christians are declared true children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7), these are matters worthy of reflection.
These conclusions all derive from a realization that the temple is a model of the universe. No wonder Paul can claim:
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (emphasis mine)
Everything in our physical cosmos models and points toward things heavenly, providing insight into God and His purposes both for the ancient Israelite and for their Ancient Near Eastern neighbors. Even the pagan rituals reveal a shadow of truth of God’s redemptive plan! Thus, creation models re-creation, but creation also models God’s dwelling. Creation models re-creation because re-creation is the re-establishment of God’s dwelling place. Re-creation completes God’s great creative act. It explains why the new heaven and new earth seen by John in Revelation is accompanied by a new Jerusalem from above. The new Jerusalem is a temple-city, a new temple, the capstone and completion of the new creation. It also explains the accompanying proclamation:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21 (Emphasis mine)
John’s choice of word for “dwelling” is striking: σκηνή (skēnē), which Strong’s describes as the temple of God after which the temple in Jerusalem was built. One can only marvel that the Genesis narrative introduces creation using temple imagery and Revelation closes chiastically with the realization of a new creation using temple imagery where the final temple is compared to a bride, affirming that the final temple is not a stone building, but a living community of people with whom God tabernacles. [21] It heralds the completion of God’s creation allowing Sabbatical rest – an eternal Sabbath to the Lord, having completed all the work that God had planned. Awe is seen in the great redemptive program God has undertaken and in the richness of meaning resident in the Genesis creation narrative.
In examining the temple, from beginning to end, a radical reinterpretation is encountered (see Figure 1). Beginning as a garden and prototypical temple, then moving from a tent to a permanent structure of stone, replaced by a spiritual sanctuary following the temple’s destruction through their exile, only to see its final realization in Christ as the temple-curtain separating us from God, from which it branches out to include all nations in a temple that fills the earth with God’s glory. Consecrated on the Day of Pentecost, infilled by the presence of God as a pillar of fire distributed and democratized into tongues of fire, being spiritually built up throughout our age, awaiting the return of its High Priest. Its introduction has obsoleted the old temple, the old covenant and the old priesthood. These are passing away as a new order has been introduced, with a new temple, a new covenant and a new priesthood. It places our age in tension between two competing concepts of worship, between which every person must decide. Where shall man worship? In a physical temple of the first creation or in a spiritual temple of a new creation? That question is essential to all who seek God. For God is not to be found through worship in the first creation which is a mere shadow of His glorious person. Everything that is part of the old creation is subject to decay and destruction from the effects of sin. This is especially true of our bodies which Paul describes as a tent, a temporary structure needed only until we reach our heavenly destination. Then our bodies, as part of God’s eternal temple can be rightly be described as a spiritual house, a permanent structure that is eternal in the heavenlies. Those who strive for eternal life must abandon the false temple of our physical cosmos despite its allure and embrace the new spiritual unseen cosmos. True woship is in spirit – the new creation (John 4:23-24).
[1] Note the testimony of Matthew “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” That they expected the destruction of the temple to bring the end of the age is not surprising when one realizes the temple was a model of the cosmos in miniature. Its destruction would represent and portend the end of the world.
[2] The disciples may have participated in temple rituals for a variety of reasons including proving that they were not violating Jewish tradition while also preaching Christ.
[3] So Allen, Leslie, C., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 21, Psalms 101-50, Columbia, Thomas Nelson Inc, 2002, p. 163-167
[4] A similar presentation is found in Zechariah 10 which can be contrasted against God’s enemies (cf. Isaiah 28 and Jeremiah 51).
[5] Note Daniel 2:34-35 in which the rock, a symbol of the Messiah was cut out without human hands and grew into a mountain, an allusion to the advancement of the kingdom of God through evangelization.
[6] Beale notes the Edenic allusion to Paul’s planting (vss 6-9), one of a number of references to Eden and to the mandate to be fruitful and multiply. Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 245-250
[7] The expressions “cloven tongues of fire” or “cloven tongues as of fire” are also found in Isaiah 5:24-25 and Isaiah 30:27-30, where Beale has argued the source of the tongues as of fire are God’s heavenly temple (see also 1 Enoch 14:8-25). Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 205-208. If true, the appearance of cloven tongues of fire in Acts may signal that the heavenly temple and God’s new earthly eschatological temple are becoming one. That the earthly temple was a model of the heavenly temple will be examined subsequently.
[8] The conflation is claimed by Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 209
[9] Every Israelite understood that these signs portended the end of the age and the total destruction of creation. In a future post, we will argue these signs can be interpreted as the end of the old world order.
[10] Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 204. Caution must be observed as Scripture gives no unambiguous date for the giving of the law and there is no consensus among Jewish expositors. Berman, Joshua, The Temple, Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now, Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson Inc., 1995, p. 36-37
[11] Berman, Joshua, The Temple, Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now, Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson Inc., 1995, p. 38-39 Berman acknowledges a delay in execution due to Israel’s sin of idolatry. The intent was the establishment of tabernacle would immediately follow the giving of the law.
[12] Despite the agricultural background of Deuteronomy 26, the ordinance pointed toward the promised freedom from oppression and slavery of sin, wrought through the Messiah, seen in the exodus and wilderness journey from the nations of the world to a (new) promised land, a heavenly land (country), confirmed in Hebrews 11:16. The public affirmation from the lips of each Israelite of Yahweh’s mighty deeds of deliverance of the Egyptian exodus also points to far greater future miracles of spiritual deliverance of His people while the individual presentation of the firstfruits of each Israelite’s harvest points toward the fruitfulness of their lives in bringing righteousness and deliverance to others through Christ.
[13] Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 155.
[14] Ibid, p.155-156
[15] Ibid, p.156
[16] Ibid, p.157
[17] Beale references the following Jewish writings that understand the Messiah will build the temple: the Targum of this Zechariah passage, Targum Isaiah 53:5; Midrash Rabbah Numbers 13:2; 18:21; Midrash Rabbah Leviticus 9:6; Midrash Lamentations 1:16; Midrash Rabbah Song of Songs 4:16; Rirke de Rabbi Ellezer48. Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p.194. Given this widespread understanding, the confrontation about Christ destroying and rebuilding the temple reveals their unbelief that He is the Messiah.
[18] Ibid, p.354
[19] The path to a repentant, Christ-believing Judaism through the erection of a stone temple in Jerusalem also is unclear. Repentance comes through acceptance of Christ and His new covenant which then brings membership in His covenant-community of all nations, where the Jews are part, but not separate and distinct (see Romans 10:12). Are not all fellow citizens heirs together to the Abrahamic promise?
[20] Note Jesus’ words concerning his efforts to gather the Jews (symbolized by the city of Jerusalem, wherein was the headship of the religious cult) in Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34 as a mother hen gathers her chicks. Yet they were unwilling and thus only a remnant of Jews were ingathered, together with many Gentile believers as one unified church.
[21] Much of the language used to describe the new Jerusalem makes it appear to be a city of gold and precious jewels however one does not marry a city. These descriptions only emphasize the temple aspect of the holy community. Its cubic dimensions emphasize that the city is a giant Holy of Holies and the names on the foundations and gates emphasize the men through whom God established and kept His covenants. The jewels seem reminiscient of the robe of the High Priest, etc. The description is not of a physical environs as much as a spiritual one.