Better Bible Study #6

In Order to Improve Our Understanding of the Bible…

We are Trying to See the Bible as a Unified Story that Leads Us to Jesus

And We are Doing that By Taking a Look at Several Major Themes that are Found in the Bible

Themes are People, Places, Things, or Ideas that Continue to Pop Up and Play an Important Part in the Story

We’ve Looked at the Tree of Life, Babylon, and Sabbath so Far

Tonight We are Looking at

Temple

A Temple = a Building or Structure that is Considered the House of a Deity and Where that Deity can Be Worshipped

It is a Place Where God Dwells

It is Often Called “God’s House” or “the house of the Lord”

The Temple was a Special Place Where God’s Glory Could Be Found

God is Holy, and Any Unholy Person Who Enters His Presence Will Immediately Die

So the Temple Had to Be Made Just Right

With Curtains Seperating the Holy Place (Where Priests Could Enter) and the Most Holy Place (Where God’s Presence Was)

Rules Had to Be Followed Perfectly

No Entering the Temple Unless You’ve Followed Certain Sacrificial and Cleansing Rituals

And No One Could Enter the Most Holy Place of God’s Presence…

Except the High Priest On the Day of Atonement

And Even Then There Had to Be Many Precautions Taken so He Wouldn’t Die in God’s Presence

Why was the Temple Necessary?

For a Number of Reasons:

It was Where His People Would:

Worship God

Pay Their Tithes

Bring Their Sacrifices and Offerings

But Ultimately Because God Wanted to Dwell With His People

As With All Themes, the Temple Idea Takes Us Back to the Very Beginning

Adam and Eve Were in the Garden of Eden

After They Had Rebelled Against God and Ate the Forbidden Fruit, We Read:

Genesis 3:8 (NASB)

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Adam and Eve Lived in the Presence of God Before the Fall

Before Sin Made Humans Unholy, We Were Able to Live in God’s Presence

There was No Need for a Temple

The World was God’s Temple

And We Also See Familiar Temple Language in Genesis 2:15

Genesis 2:15 (NASB)

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

It Isn’t Immediately Obvious in English…

But it is in Hebrew

The Words Translated “Cultivate” and “Keep” are Very Common Words in the OT

“Cultivate” is Most Often Translated “Serve” and “Worship”

In its Most Basic Form, it Means to Work

But it is Used in Many Different Ways

And One of the Ways it is Used is in “Serving” and “Worshiping” God

One of Joshua’s Most Famous Quotes Uses this Word Several Times

Joshua 24:15 (NASB)

“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Many Times the Word is Used in Relation to Temple Service and Worship

“Keep” is Most Often Translated “Keep” and “Observe”

In its Most Basic Form, it Means to Watch Over Something

But it is Used in Many Different Ways

And One of the Ways it is Used is in “Keeping” and “Observing” God’s Covenant Laws

But it Also Involved the Priestly Duty of Watching Over and Caring For the Temple/Tabernacle

1 Chronicles 23:32 (NASB)

Thus they are to keep charge of the tent of meeting, and charge of the holy place, and charge of the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.

So All the Way Back in the Garden of Eden…

Humanity Lived in the Presence of God

And They Were Put There to Priest-Like Duties

Serve, Worship, Keep, and Observe

The Garden of Eden was the First Temple

That Also Explains the Decorations that God Commanded that the Tabernacle Have

The Curtain that Divided the Most Holy Place From the Holy Place of the Tabernacle was to Have Something Very Specific On it

Exodus 26:31,33 (NASB)

“You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman…You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.”

These Heavenly Beings are Woven into the Fabric as Guardians Separating the Unholy From the Holy

How is that Reminiscent of the Garden of Eden?

Genesis 3:24 (NASB)

So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Cherubim Were Stationed as Guardians to Separate Unholy Humans From the Paradise Garden

Then When Solomon Built the Temple, There was Even More Garden Imagery Added

1 Kings 6:18 (NASB)

There was cedar on the house within, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, there was no stone seen.

1 Kings 6:23–28 (NASB)

Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits.

The other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.

He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

1 Kings 6:29 (NASB)

Then he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inner and outer sanctuaries.

(Picture of the Temple)

Cherubim, Trees, and Flowers are Covering the Walls and Doors of the Temple

And 2 Giant Cherubim are Standing On Both Sides of the Ark in the Most Holy Place

All of These Details are to Make Us Think of the First Temple

The First Place Where Humans Served and Worshipped God

But the Temple Doesn’t Just Remind Us of the Garden Temple in the Beginning of Genesis

It Also Reminds Us of One of the Most Important Tests of Faith in the Book of Genesis

2 Chronicles 3:1 (NASB)

Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Solomon Built the Temple in the Exact Location that His Father David had Built an Altar Years Prior

(You Can Read About that in 2 Samuel 24)

This was All On Mount Moriah

We Read About the Mountains of Moriah in Genesis 22

Genesis 22:1–2 (NASB)

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

Years After Humans Were Banished From God’s Holy Presence…

God Chose a Man Who Would Be Named Abraham to Be the Father of a Holy and Righteous People

A People Who Would Bless All Nations and Bring Glory to God

And This Would All Take Place Through the Son of Promise, Isaac

But Then God Commands Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac

And He is Commanded to Do So On a Mountain in the Land of Moriah

Hebrews 11:17–19 (NIV)

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

But Abraham Believed God was Capable of Resurrection

So He Trusted that God Would Raise Isaac if He Sacrificed Him

But God Stopped Abraham Because He Had Passed the Faith Test

And Abraham Called the Place “The LORD Will Provide”…

Because a Sacrifice was Provided in Place of His Son

Years Pass Until We See a Temple Being Built On a Mountain in the Land of Moriah

There Thousands of Sacrifices Will Be Provided for the People of Israel

And Skip Forward to 30 A.D. and We See Jesus Dying as a Sacrifice On This Same Mountain

A Sacrifice of God’s Own Son is Provided for All People for All Time

It was David’s Idea to Build the Stationary Temple as a House for God

We Read About it 2 Samuel 7

David Felt it was Wrong that He Lived in a House and God Lived in a Tent

But God Told David that He’d Never Asked for a House

Then He Made an Everlasting Covenant with David

David’s Descendants Would Always Occupy the Throne

And David’s Descendant Would Be the One to Build a House for God

The Immediate Fulfilling of This Promise was Through Solomon Building the Temple in Jerusalem

But the Ultimate Fulfillment Would Be Through Jesus

David Wanted to Ensure the Success of His Descendant in Building God’s House

1 Chronicles 22:11–16 (NASB)

“Now, my son, the Lord be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed. Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weight, for they are in great quantity; also timber and stone I have prepared, and you may add to them.

Moreover, there are many workmen with you, stonecutters and masons of stone and carpenters, and all men who are skillful in every kind of work. Of the gold, the silver and the bronze and the iron there is no limit. Arise and work, and may the Lord be with you.”

David Gave Advice to Solomon:

To Stay Faithful to God and His Covenant Law

To Be Brave

And to Work Hard and God Would Be with Him

David Also Went to Great Lengths of Pain to Provide the Foundational Elements for God’s House

And Solomon Would Need to Add to that Foundation

But He Wouldn’t Be Alone

He Had Many Workers to Help Him Build the House of God

All of David’s Words Here Ought to Cause Us to Think About How Paul Described the Temple of God

Ephesians 2:19–22 (NASB)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

Christians, Whether Jew or Gentile, are All Citizens of God’s Kingdom

We are All God’s Children

having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

The Church is Described as a Building

Where Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone

He Went Through Great Pains to Provide the Starting Point of the Foundation (Like David)

The Apostles and Early Christians Worked Together to Begin Building the Foundation Upon that Chief Cornerstone (Like Solomon and the Workers)

in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

The Church (God’s People/Children) are the Holy Temple

Like David, Jesus Painstakingly Provided Everything that was Needed for the Temple to Be Built

And Like Solomon, the Apostles and Early Christians, Because of God’s Presence with Them…

Were Able to Build the Foundation of the Temple with What Jesus Had Provided

And Each Christian is Another Living Stone (As Peter Calls Us - 1 Peter 2:5) that Adds to the Temple of God

The Church is the Temple/House of God

Collectively, God Lives Within Our Community/Family as Our Father

Individually, the Holy Spirit Also Lives Within Each One of Us

We No Longer Need a Physical Structure to Be in God’s Presence

We No Longer Need a Curtain to Separate Us From the Holiness of God

Hebrews 4:14–16 (NASB)

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We Be in God’s Presence Because of His Pefecting and Reconciling Work as the Sacrifice and High Priest

Hebrews 10:19–22 (NASB)

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

We Have Been Made Clean and Holy By Jesus’ Blood

We Can Once Again Be in God’s Presence

The Bible Ends with a Lot of References to the Holy Temple of Heaven

And When John Sees the Holy City, New Jerusalem Coming Down Out of Heaven, He Hears Something

Revelation 21:3 (NASB)

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

Humans Will Once Again and Forever Be in the Presence of God

God Will Dwell With His People Forever as it was in the Beginning

When Noticing the Splendor of the New Jerusalem, John Noticed Something

Revelation 21:22 (NASB)

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

There Will Be No Need for a Temple Where God and Humans Can Coexist Together

Because We Will Coexist Together Everywhere

There Will Be Nothing to Separate Us From God Anymore

Life Will Be Returned to the Way it Was Before Sin, Corruption, and Death in the Garden of Eden

This is All Made Possible By the One Who Embodied the Meeting Place of God and Humans

The One Who “Tabernacled Among Us” (John 1:14)

God Became One of Us, So That He Could Once Again Live with Us