The Temple - The Stages of God's Dwelling

Summary

The video script explores the concept of the temple in the Bible, illustrating its significance as a focal point for worship and community. It traces the evolution from the nomadic altars of Abraham to the fixed temple in Jerusalem, emphasizing the temple's role in defining the Israelite identity and their relationship with God. The script discusses the temple's destruction and the subsequent exile, highlighting the prophecies of a new temple and God's presence. It concludes with Jesus as the embodiment of the new temple, signifying God's dwelling among people, and the eventual fulfillment of this theme in the new creation where God and the Lamb are present.

Takeaways

• 📖 The Bible uses various images to express themes that connect to the larger narrative, emphasizing the importance of understanding these images in context.
• 🏛 The temple in Jerusalem was not just a religious building but a central focal point for the community, symbolizing the presence of God among the people.
• 🌐 Ancient temples served as places of sacrifice, worship, and community identity, reflecting a sense of obligation and connection to the deity.
• 👣 The tradition of building altars and sanctifying places, as seen with Abraham, shows an early concept of sacred spaces that would later develop into more complex temple structures.
• 🌊 The story of Noah's Ark can be interpreted as a temple narrative, representing a small sanctuary preserving the image-bearing vocation through judgment and renewal.
• 🔗 The tabernacle in the wilderness and later the temple in Jerusalem were seen as models of the new creation, where God's presence dwelled among the people.
• 🏺 The Ark of the Covenant, containing the Ten Commandments, symbolized God's agreement with his people and was central to the temple's significance.
• 🛠 The construction of the temple by King Solomon was part of the ideology that the king was the temple builder, but this could also lead to misuse and misunderstanding of God's presence.
• 🕍 The destruction of the temple by the Babylonians and the subsequent exile highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of God's presence beyond physical structures.
• ⛪️ Jesus's life, teachings, and resurrection redefined the concept of the temple, with his followers becoming the new temple where God's spirit dwells, reflecting God's presence in the world.

Q & A

What is the significance of the temple in Jerusalem according to the script?

The temple in Jerusalem was not just another large religious building; it was a focal point of the whole community, representing a place of sacrifice, worship, and community definition. It was considered the Holy City, with Jerusalem itself being an extended temple.

How did the ancient temples function in the context of the community?

Ancient temples, like the one in Jerusalem, were central to community life, serving as places where people would gather for worship, sacrifice, and to define their communal identity.

What role did Abraham play in the development of the temple concept in the Israelite tradition?

Abraham, as a nomad, established the practice of building altars to the Lord in various places, sanctifying those locations and setting a precedent for worship that would later be developed into the concept of the temple.

How is the story of Noah's Ark related to the temple concept?

The story of Noah's Ark is considered a temple story because the ark, as a gift from God, symbolizes a place of safety and a means of preserving life, akin to the temple's role as a place of refuge and community.

What is the significance of Jacob's Ladder in the context of the temple?

Jacob's Ladder represents a connection between heaven and earth, similar to the role of the temple as a meeting place between God and humanity, and it symbolizes God's promise to dwell among his people.

Why is the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus significant?

The construction of the tabernacle in Exodus is significant because it represents a working model of the new creation where God would dwell among his people, serving as a place for worship and community gathering.

How did the Ark of the Covenant symbolize God's presence with the Israelites?

The Ark of the Covenant, containing the 10 Commandments, symbolized God's agreement and presence with his people, traveling with them as a portable shrine and a focal point for worship.

What was the impact of the Babylonian exile on the concept of the temple?

The Babylonian exile led to a period of questioning and re-evaluation of God's presence and the temple's significance. It was a formative time that led to prophecies of a rebuilt temple and a renewed divine presence.

How did Jesus redefine the concept of the temple?

Jesus redefined the temple by embodying it himself as the 'Emmanuel,' God with us. His actions and teachings indicated that he was the living temple, and his followers, through the Holy Spirit, became the new temple where God dwells.

Why is there no temple in the new creation as described in Revelation?

In the new creation described in Revelation, there is no temple because God and the Lamb (Jesus) are present, fulfilling the role that the temple had as a signpost to God's dwelling place, making the temple concept obsolete.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ The Temple as the Focal Point of Worship

This paragraph discusses the significance of the temple in Jerusalem as a central place of worship and community in ancient Israel. It contrasts the modern understanding of a church with the ancient concept of the temple as a compound, emphasizing that Jerusalem itself was an extended temple, known as the Holy City. The temple served as a place of sacrifice, worship, and community definition, reflecting the broader religious practices of the ancient world. The narrative then traces the origins of this temple imagery back to the patriarch Abraham, who built altars to sanctify places of worship, setting a precedent for the temple's role as a focal point for the community.

05:02

🔨 The Tabernacle and the Journey of God's People

The second paragraph delves into the historical and theological development of the Israelites as God's chosen people. It describes the journey from Abraham's call to the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus, which symbolizes the new creation and serves as a place for worship and community strengthening. The paragraph highlights the importance of the Ark of the Covenant and the challenges faced by the Israelites, including their misuse of the Ark during the Philistine wars. It also touches on the building of the temple by Solomon and the subsequent misuse of the temple as a symbol of security, leading to its destruction and the exile of the people. The paragraph concludes with the promise of a restored temple and the presence of God during the exile, setting the stage for the arrival of Jesus.

10:05

⛪️ Jesus and the New Temple of the Church

The final paragraph explores the role of Jesus as the embodiment of the temple, signifying God's presence among humanity. It discusses Jesus's critique of the temple's corruption and his prediction of its destruction. The paragraph emphasizes Jesus's role in establishing a new temple movement, where his followers become the living temple through the Holy Spirit. This new temple is not a physical structure but a community that reflects God's love and wisdom into the world. The narrative concludes with the vision of the new creation in Revelation, where the temple is no longer necessary because God and the Lamb are present, fulfilling the temple's role as a signpost to the divine.

Keywords

💡Temple

The term 'temple' in the video refers to a place of worship, particularly in the context of ancient Jerusalem and the biblical narrative. It is defined as a sacred space where people gather to honor and communicate with their deity. The video explains how the temple in Jerusalem was not just a building but a focal point for the community, symbolizing the presence of God among the people. The temple is central to the video's theme as it represents the connection between the divine and the human, as well as the historical and spiritual significance of such a place in the context of the Bible.

💡Jerusalem

Jerusalem is described as the 'Holy City' in the video, emphasizing its religious importance in the biblical narrative. It is portrayed as an extended temple, with the city itself being a place of worship and holiness. The video uses Jerusalem as a key example to illustrate how the concept of a temple was not confined to a single building but was integral to the identity and purpose of the entire city, reflecting the divine presence and the religious practices of the Israelites.

💡Worship

Worship, as mentioned in the video, is the act of showing reverence and adoration to a deity. It is a central theme as it ties into the purpose of the temple as a place where people come to honor and connect with God. The video explains that worship is not just an individual act but a communal one, defining the community's identity and their relationship with the divine, as seen in the gatherings at the temple in Jerusalem.

💡Community

The concept of 'community' is integral to the video's narrative, highlighting how the temple serves as a gathering point that strengthens the bonds among the people who worship there. It is depicted as a collective body that shares a common faith and identity, united by their worship in the temple. The video uses the example of the Israelites to illustrate how the temple was a symbol of their unity and their shared religious commitment.

💡Sacrifice

In the video, 'sacrifice' is discussed in the context of religious rituals where offerings are made to a deity as an act of devotion and gratitude. It is presented as a key aspect of temple worship, symbolizing the believers' willingness to give something of value to express their commitment to God. The video connects the idea of sacrifice to the broader theme of devotion and the obligations believers feel towards their deity.

💡Abraham

Abraham is a significant figure in the video, representing the patriarch of the Israelites and the one through whom God established a covenant. His actions, such as building altars and worshiping at various places, are highlighted to show the nomadic nature of early Israelite worship and the sanctification of space. The video uses Abraham's story to trace the origins of the temple concept and the idea of God dwelling among his people.

💡Tabernacle

The 'tabernacle' is described in the video as a portable sanctuary used by the Israelites during their wilderness journey, symbolizing the presence of God among his people even in transit. It is portrayed as a precursor to the physical temple in Jerusalem, serving as a place of worship and a focal point for the community. The video emphasizes the tabernacle's role in the narrative of God's presence with his people, leading up to the establishment of the temple.

💡Ark of the Covenant

The 'Ark of the Covenant' is mentioned as a sacred chest containing the Ten Commandments and other sacred items, representing God's agreement with his people. In the video, it is discussed as a central element of the temple's significance, symbolizing the presence of God and the divine law. The video uses the Ark to illustrate the importance of the temple as a place where God's will and presence were believed to be most tangibly experienced.

💡Exile

The term 'exile' refers to the period when the Israelites were forcibly removed from their land and taken to Babylon. In the video, exile is depicted as a formative and transformative period in the biblical narrative, where the people's understanding of God's presence and the temple's significance was challenged and redefined. The video discusses how the promise of a rebuilt temple and the return of God's presence gave hope and purpose to the exiled community.

💡New Temple

The concept of a 'new temple' in the video is introduced through the figure of Jesus, who is presented as the embodiment of the temple and the fulfillment of the promise of God's dwelling among his people. The video explains that Jesus's life, teachings, death, and resurrection redefine the temple as not just a physical structure but as a spiritual reality within his followers. This new understanding of the temple is central to the video's theme of God's presence being internalized and universalized through the community of believers.

Highlights

The Bible's use of imagery to express themes that connect to a larger narrative.

The misconception of the Jerusalem temple as a large church-like structure.

The temple in Jerusalem as a focal point of the community, not just a religious building.

Jerusalem as an extended temple, serving as the Holy City.

Temples in the ancient world as places of sacrifice and community definition.

The tradition of Abraham building altars as a form of sanctification.

Genesis 12 and the call of Abraham as the beginning of a temple narrative.

Creation seen as a temple in the Bible, with humans as its central image.

The story of Noah's Ark as a temple narrative, symbolizing God's rescue of humanity.

The call of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as a call to be a people where God dwells.

The construction of the tabernacle in Exodus as a model of the new creation.

The Ark of the Covenant as a symbol of God's agreement with his people.

The misuse of the Ark of the Covenant by the Israelites during the Philistine wars.

David's plan to build a fixed temple for the Ark of God, reflecting the wilderness tabernacle.

Solomon's building of the temple and the potential for its misuse by the Israelites.

Jeremiah's warning against relying on the temple as a guarantee of God's presence.

The exile of the Israelites and the promise of a rebuilt temple by the prophets.

Jesus as the embodiment of the temple, the fulfillment of God's promise to dwell with humanity.

The new temple movement initiated by Jesus, symbolized by the last supper.

The church as the new temple, reflecting God's presence on earth through the Holy Spirit.

The absence of a temple in the new creation, as God and Jesus are present, fulfilling the temple's purpose.

Transcripts

The Bible is full of images expressing themes that run right through the whole

narrative. We need to examine each of these images closely. We need to see how

they all connect us to the larger story. We need to read the images.

When I first heard the Bible stories being read and people talking about

them, and heard mention of the temple in Jerusalem, because I'd never been to

Jerusalem or seen a map or diagram or whatever, I assumed that the temple was

like a large church. I knew what churches looked like. They stood there

on a city street, and you'd go into them and there would be worship services and

music and so on. The temple in Jerusalem wasn't like that. The temple in

Jerusalem was a huge compound with the shrine at one point in that compound.

And the temple was not just another large religious building, as though you

might walk around Jerusalem and oh, here's the temple. Actually, Jerusalem

itself was a kind of extended temple. It was the Holy City. It was basically a

temple with a small community around it. And that's how temples in the ancient

world worked. This was the whole point. That you would want to worship your god,

whichever god that might be - and obviously, for the Israelites, it's the

creator God, the God of Abraham, Yahweh - and so the temple becomes the focal

point of the whole community, not just a bit of religion enshrined in one

particular building. And the temple becomes, for all peoples in the ancient

world, a place of sacrifice - a sense of having an obligation to the god and so

wanting to give god something which represents who you really are - a place

of worship, a place of community definition - we are the people who

worship in this temple, and so on. And that's true, as I say, for temples

around the ancient world in general, and certainly for the people of Israel as

they went to Jerusalem. But where does that idea come from in the traditions of

Israel? Because, as we know, to begin with, Abraham and his family were

nomads. They didn't have a city. They were wandering from place to place. But

already in the stories of Abraham, we find that Abraham would build an altar

to the Lord in a particular place and worship there. It's as though,

everywhere he went, he wanted to sanctify that place. He wanted to be

able to show the God who had called him to leave his ancestral home and come to

this new place. He wanted this to be the reality at the heart of his life. And

so, as we read the story of Genesis, moving towards the call of Abraham in

Genesis 12, we find, as we saw in a previous section, creation itself seen

as a temple, a heaven plus earth reality with an image at its heart. In this

case, genuine human beings. The problem was that the humans failed in their task

of reflecting God into the world and the world back to God. They tried to use

bits of the world in order to aggrandize themselves, in order to get what they

might want. So what was God going to do? Was he going to say, Well, that's an end

of that, then. The story of Noah and the flood indicates that that was an option

that God could have taken. But God is faithful to his creation. And so,

despite human sin and failure and folly, God makes a way of demonstrating that

judgment was indeed a possibility, but rescuing humans through and from that

judgment. And indeed, the story of Noah's Ark, as scholars who have studied

the Ancient Near Eastern world have told us, is, in a sense, a temple story in

itself. Here is this little ark, this little gift of God floating on the

waters, carrying the people who are then going to restart the image bearing

vocation. And so we then get, after the Tower of Babel, which we'll come to in

another section, we get the call of Abraham. And he goes about worshiping

God from place to place. We get Isaac, his son. We get Jacob, Isaac's son. And

then, astonishingly, when Jacob is running away from his brother Esau,

having cheated him out of his birthright, suddenly there is another

temple image. Jacob's Ladder, joining heaven and earth, with angels going up

and down on it. And in Jacob's dream, as he sees this ladder, God is making

promises to him about the fact that he's going to come back to this land and

worship him, the true God, in this place. And so these temple images point

forwards. And anyone reading Genesis without knowing where the story was

going might be puzzled by this. But it looks as though, from the beginning, the

call of Abraham Isaac and Jacob was the call to be people in whose midst God

would come to dwell. How on earth was that going to be possible, granted that

they were a deeply dysfunctional family, as we see throughout Genesis, and indeed

in various ways out beyond that? Well, God allowed them to be enslaved in

Egypt, and then he rescued them. They needed to know that they were the people

who were rescued by God. And then God took them to Mount Sinai and gave them

the law because they needed to be shaped and prepared. And the climax of the book

of Exodus really reflects right back to the beginning of Genesis. One, because

the climax of the book of Exodus is the construction of the tabernacle, which is

a small working model of the new creation which God is going to make. The

decoration of the tabernacle speaks of creation. And the function of the

tabernacle is that, there, Israel is going to be gathered to worship God and

strengthened to be his people in all sorts of ways. Of course, that, too, is

shot through with mistakes and folly as Israel goes its own way. But the truth

is that God himself comes to live in the midst of his people in the tabernacle.

And that is the primary biblical narrative, not about how we humans can

get up to God, but about how the true God comes to dwell with us. It's

fascinating, as the story goes on, because the people enter the Promised

Land, God enables them to do that, God is with them, and the shrine - which is

the tabernacle still as a portable tent - the shrine goes with them. And they

have in the shrine, they have the Ark of the Covenant, the box containing the 10

Commandments and the other bits and pieces which symbolize God's agreement

with his people. And early on in the book we call First Samuel, there's a

terrible moment when they have forgotten completely who they're supposed to be as

God's people. And the Philistines are attacking them. So somebody has the

bright idea, let's get the Ark of the Covenant and take that down to battle,

and then we'll win, because our God will see us through. Well, you can't use

God's living presence in that way. It's just an abuse. And so they lose the

battle, and the Philistines capture the ark. But fascinatingly, in terms of how

God's presence works, even when that has been abused and misunderstood and

treated just as a kind of cheap trick, it still carries power. And the

Philistine gods, and then the Philistine people, have to bow before it. And

eventually they send the Ark back. And the Ark arrives back, eventually. And

David, then, when he becomes king, decides he wants to build a house, a

fixed temple for the Ark of God. A place that will replicate what was true of the

tabernacle in the wilderness, only now be as a permanent location. Which is

both a good and a bad thing, as we'll see. Because trying to keep God in one

place is never entirely a good idea. So David plans the temple. Solomon builds

it. That's part of the ideology of the Israelite temple, is that it's the king

who is the temple builder. But again, that can become something which people

can misuse. Jeremiah, in chapter seven, has to warn against people who are

saying, Oh, we've got the temple of the Lord. We've got the temple of the Lord.

In other words, however we live, however we order our lives, whether we are

worshiping God in holiness and truth, we're going to be okay because we've got

the temple of the Lord. And the book of the prophet Jeremiah is how God is going

to smash that temple, and going to destroy it, and going to allow the

Babylonians to take it over and ruin it. And so the people go into exile. And the

exile is one of the most formative moments - well, 70 years plus - in the

whole story of the Old Testament. And it's a puzzle. Where is God? What's

happened to his promise to be with us in person? And so, during the exile,

various prophets promise that Yahweh will return and the temple will be

rebuilt. Ezekiel has a glorious picture of the rebuilt temple and of God coming

to dwell there, like in the tabernacle in the wilderness. Isaiah 40 talks about

the glory of the Lord being revealed at last, and all flesh shall see it

together. But the fascinating thing is throughout the long years following the

return of some of the Judeans from the Babylonian exile, before the time of

Jesus, nobody ever said that that had happened. Until, at last, when Jesus

came, Jesus did things, said things, lived in a certain way, taught certain

truths which led the eye up to the fact that he was the temple in person. He

was, as Matthew says, the Emmanuel, God with us. So when he arrives in

Jerusalem, the place simply isn't big enough for him and the temple together,

and he denounces it because of the failure of the Judean people, yet one

more time, to reflect the true God into the world. He says, If only you'd known

the way of peace which I've been announcing in my kingdom prophecy. But

now you've rejected it, and so the temple is going to be destroyed. And

alas, you with it. But then, as in the prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah,

Malachi, when Jesus comes to the temple and then does what he does there, and

when he then launches his new temple movement, not least in the last supper,

which again we'll come back to later on, Jesus's death and resurrection

constitute his followers as the new temple, as the place where the living

God is now going to dwell on earth. So that Paul can write in Ephesians 2, that

you are now the living temple, because God dwells in your midst by his Holy

Spirit. And so this theme of the church as the new temple isn't just a

miscellaneous illustration, as many people have imagined. It harks back to

that whole biblical theme. This was God's promise. To dwell in the midst of

his people, so that his love and wisdom would be reflected out into the world.

That is the call that we have in following Jesus and in being given the

gift of his spirit to do in and through us what the tabernacling presence of God

had done in the wilderness and in Jerusalem. Now, of course, at the end of

the book of Revelation, there is no temple in the new creation, the new

heavens and the new earth, because God himself is there, and the lamb that is

Jesus is there, so that everything that the temple was in terms of a

forward-looking signpost is now, at last, fulfilled. That's how this great

biblical theme all fits together.

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