The Sanctity of the Temple
A captivating yet challenging study, and one beneficial to any Christian, is to consider the temples of Scripture. Lessons are acquired beginning with the temple of God in heaven. That there is a temple in heaven is unsurprising since the writer in Hebrews 9 teaches us that the earthly sanctuary was constructed after the pattern of things in heaven. At least 18 times in the Old Testament this temple of God is mentioned directly, and in our previous article we paused to contemplate Isaiah’s vision of the Lord seated in resplendent glory in that hallowed place (Isa 6). In the eleventh Psalm, David says, “The LORD is in his holy temple … his eyes behold, his eyelids try [examine] the children of men” (v4).1 Interestingly, in the New Testament, it is in the closing book of our Bible that we find numerous references to that heavenly sanctuary, particularly in relation to the execution of divine judgement during tribulation days (Rev 11:19; 14:15-17; 15:5-8; 16:1,17).
The Bible does not limit this subject to a physical building but refers to the Christian’s body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 6:19). The Lord Jesus, likewise, speaking of His own body, stated in John 2:19 that He would destroy this temple and raise it up again in three days! Paul taught that both the local church (1Co 3:16) and the body of Christ (Eph 2:21) are also a temple of God. In all of this we solemnly comprehend that a temple is a sacred place where deity deigns to dwell.
Sadly, and yet unsurprisingly in this fallen world of spiritual confusion, there is an array of heathen temples. Upon the death of King Saul, the Philistines took his head and fastened it in the temple of their god Dagon as a trophy. If only the nation of Israel had taken heed to such lessons, yet they continued to stray into idolatry, reaping further tragic consequences. It is against this background that Paul warned the Corinthian believers about the total incompatibility of a Christian having fellowship in the idol’s temple (1Co 10). What a testimony it was when the new believers in Ephesus separated themselves from the temple of the goddess Diana, burning their idolatrous books (Act 19:19).
The Story of the Temple
Although God is omnipresent and eternally occupies His heavenly temple, Exodus 3:18 confirms that His desire was to dwell in the midst of His redeemed people, providing a place set apart for divine worship, fellowship and service. To Moses were given both visual and verbal instructions concerning the pattern and construction of the tabernacle (Exo 25:9), and as the book of Exodus closes, we read, “Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him” (40:16). Reading the catalogue of journeys in Numbers 33 and movements in the books that follow, one appreciates the numerous times this temporary structure was on the move. Just over 450 years after Moses first reared up the tabernacle, David expressed his desire to see a permanent temple built for the Lord (2Sa 7). Listen carefully to the Lord’s reply: “I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more …. I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house …. I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him …. But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore” (1Ch 17:9-14). From this language we understand that, although Solomon would build a temple for the Lord, what God had in mind looked far beyond Solomon to David’s greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The following story of the temple is both thrilling and tragic. First Kings 6:1 clarifies that 480 years after the tabernacle was erected (28 years after David’s desire in 2 Samuel 7), Solomon began to construct the temple in the fourth year of his reign, which, according to 1 Kings 6:38, took him seven years to complete. Solomon’s reign was the highlight of Israel’s history. Never before or since has any nation seen such a king upon the throne. His wisdom (1Ki 4:29-34), wealth (2Ch 1:12) and worth (9:22) were unparalleled and exceeded all his peers. Yet his lust for women (1Ki 11:1-13) led to his wretched downfall. Within four centuries of that glorious temple being erected, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, carrying away captives (Dan 1:1-4) and commencing the 70-year period of captivity spoken of by the prophets (Lev 26:32-35; 2Ch 36:21; Jer 25:11; 29:10). Eventually, upon the final invasion (2Ki 25:8-21; 2Ch 36:17-20), Nebuchadnezzar ransacked the temple’s remaining vessels, stripping the temple of its gold before burning it with fire. God’s house would lie in ruins for 70 years. When the Babylonian empire was conquered by the Persians, King Cyrus immediately authorised the rebuilding of that holy place (Ezr 1), and although the work was stalled due to Samaritan resistance (4:4-5), in God’s time the temple was ready again (6:15-22).
The Sight of the Temple
Sadly, history would repeat itself, and during the intertestamental period, various Gentile rulers alternately built up and defiled the temple, until the eighteenth year of King Herod’s reign when he began renovating it (Flavius Josephus). The Jews turned it into a den of thieves (Mat 21:13). Our Lord, having opened His public ministry with eight blessings (Mat 5), closed it with eight woes, culminating with this statement, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate …. Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (23:38-39). In A.D. 70, after the crucifixion and total rejection of their Messiah, the soon-to-be Roman emperor Titus arrived, and, along with his army, decimated that mighty edifice.
Ezekiel had been in inhospitable captivity for 25 long years when God gave him a vision of the future millennial temple (Eze 40). The people might have wept by the rivers of Babylon, longing for God’s house (Psa 137), but God, in immeasurable grace, will fulfil the promise of their Messiah, giving them something far greater. Jerusalem shall rejoice, and the daughters of Zion will shout, “Thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zec 9:9). Christ will come and build the temple (6:12-13). In the subsequent article, we invite you to join us as we observe the setting, site, size and sovereign of that Millennial Temple.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
