The Most Holy Place: Where Earth and Heaven Met (3)

Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them.

Exodus 25:8 (NET)

Why all this falderal about The Tabernacle (and its more recent translation, The Temples) anyhow?

What's the big deal?  Why is Resplendent Daughter spending so much time on this topic?  Aren't we supposed to be studying Hebrews?!  Ha, ha, well, we are!  Our main text for today is Hebrews 9:11-14 (ESV).

11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come,^ethen through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify^f for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our^g conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 

I was surprised to learn1 that the Tabernacle's construction and rituals, the Levitical priesthood, and the transporting of the Tabernacle from place to place are mentioned in 50 chapters of our Bible.  So, to ignore the study of this very important Bible component would be akin to ignoring a book of the Bible the size of Ezekiel.  Additionally, it is a representation of the true Tabernacle in Heaven.  We have already seen in previous posts parallels to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.  But, there is one additional reason, one that resonates the most with me; and, that is the one I want to explore today.  In today's post, we will focus on the last and most innermost area of the Tabernacle/Temple, the most "sacred ground", the area called The Holy of Holies.

First, let's examine the physical characteristics of this most holy place.2 

Its entrance was marked by a gorgeous piece of tapestry, similar to the one that marked the entrance to The Holy Place.  (If you have been following my blog, I wrote about that room in the last post.) 

The description of that tapestry can be found in Exodus 26:31-34.  The base material was the finest of linen and it was woven through with scarlet, purple and blue threads, with artistic renderings of cherubim (a specific class of angelic beings - - see Ezekiel 1, 10 and Isaiah 6).  No priest, except for the high priest, was ever allowed to touch this curtain; and, the high priest could touch it only once each year.

The room itself was 15'x15' square. There was no light in the room.  When light was needed, that is, once a year when the high priest (shoeless and with head bowed) entered on the Day of Atonement, the Shekinah Glory of God Almighty, appeared as a brilliant cloud, descended and lit the room.  The ark contained one piece of furniture only: the ark of the covenant. Now, you will be glad to know that I am not going to launch off into an extensive exploration of the ark of the covenant in this post.  But, here is a brief description.3  

The ark was constructed of acacia wood and was 45" long, and 27" high and wide.

It was overlaid with pure gold.  Around the perimeter of the ark's top was a raised "crown", ornate like a crown, and the top of the ark was overlaid with the purest gold.  This flat surface was called the mercy seat.  It was on this mercy seat that the priest would sprinkle the blood of the Passover lamb, when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.  When this occurred, the presence of God Himself, the Shekinah Glory, would appear and fill the room.

And now (finally), your "big takeaway":

The Holy of Holies still exists today.  

"What?!", you exclaim.  "The Tabernacle is nonexistent.  The Temples have been destroyed.  How can that be?"

One of my very favorite verses in the Bible is Luke 23:45 - - 

"The sun stopped shining (was darkened) and the veil of the Temple was torn down the middle."

The Temple veil was 60 feet long/tall and 30 feet wide, weighing thousands of pounds.  Moreover, it was (depending on your source) from 1 to 4 inches thick.   This was a massive curtain.  Luke tells us that, at the moment of Jesus' death, presumably God (who else?) split that sacred curtain (which no one was to touch except once a year, remember?) right down the middle, from top to bottom.

Why?  Why would He do that?  What does it mean?

Jesus had just poured out His life on the Cross, paralleling the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb in the Temple at that same time.  It is entirely possible that, at the moment Jesus died, the High Priest was IN the Holy of Holies sprinkling blood on the mercy seat.  The times of day (when Jesus died and when that lamb sacrifice was to occur on the Day of Atonement) match up!

When Jesus died for our sins, His blood forever paid the price.  There was no longer any need for a physical ark or mercy seat.  The "curtain" separating God from mankind was torn because Jesus Christ, our High Priest, had made an eternal sacrifice, an eternal way for mankind to come to God.

"But, ... you said the Holy of Holies still exists today?"  Yes, that Holy of Holies is in the heart of each and every believer in Jesus, every follower who has asked Him to sprinkle His blood on his heart. At the moment a person asks Jesus to come into the very core of their eternal being, into his spirit, and merge His Holy Spirit with his, that spiritual veil that separates sinful man from a holy God is torn, forever torn.  The Holy Spirit then dwells in the "heart" of every person who gives his or her life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Hallelujah!  Let's praise Him!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzewtL2spMw

Sources:

1     http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4Reasons_for_Studying_the_Taberna.htm

2     http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Holy_of_Holies.htm

3     http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Ark_of_the_Covenant.htm

Exclusionary Entrances

In our current American culture, it has become "hateful" to exclude people, for just about any reason. Here are some controversial examples from over the past few years:

• 2012  Augusta National golf club admits first woman
• 2013  Restriction that prevented U.S. women from serving in direct combat was lifted
• 2015  Boy Scouts of America admit openly gay scoutmasters
• 2016  The Obama transgender bathroom fracas

I could cite many more, but I'm sure you get the drift.  Those who object to any group, club, church or other institution excluding people for any reason, even legitimate reasons, are labeled "haters".

The Bible, on the other hand, is an exclusionary book, as we'll see as we take a look at the Jewish Temple in today's post.
In our Hebrews study, which has, for reasons I can't explain, "meandered" more than any of my previous studies here at the RDM blog, we are now going to delve more deeply into the components of the Jewish Temples/Tabernacles, as promised in the post "Dual Citizenship" from a few days ago.

We will begin with the Temple entrances that, whether the Tabernacle was pitched in the wilderness wanderings or either of the two Temples constructed over the hundreds of years before Jesus was born, faced East.  A good question to explore would be, "Why was that the case?"  A second good question would be, "Who was allowed to enter at each entrance, and why?"

For starters, the Garden of Eden was the first "sanctuary", the place where God met with man (Adam and Eve).  The garden was planted, we are told in Genesis 2:8, in the East of the area known as Eden.  This is the first instance we see of "East" having a prominent role in God meeting with man.
When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, they were sent out "East of Eden", therefore signifying that moving away from God is to travel East.  If that sounds like "a stretch", consider that when Lot departed from Abraham he went East to the area that became Sodom.

Then, later under the inspired leadership of Moses and Aaron, the Tent of Meeting (again, where the presence of God descended to meet with man) was pitched so that the entrance faced East.  See Numbers 3:38 (ESV)

Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel.  And, any outsider who came near was to be put to death.

When Babylon conquered Jerusalem and took Hebrew captives off into 70 years of exile, the Hebrews traveled East.  In fact, we read in Ezekiel 10 that the glory of God left the Jerusalem Temple to travel with the exiles East to Babylon.

When the Temple was built in Jerusalem, the entrance likewise faced East, toward the sunrise and the city's Eastern gate.  But, let's leave this point of directionality and focus on the "who" of the Temple entrances. There's another important factoid revealed here in the Numbers passage, which became part of the Temple ritual later.  The Temple priests, like their forebears before them, guarded and governed who was allowed access to various parts of the Temple.  In the case of the Tabernacle, no non-Hebrew peoples were allowed entrance.  In the more elaborate Temples to follow, Gentiles were allowed into only the most outer courts of the huge building.  There was a literal "Court of the Gentiles" for instance, which resembled a large outdoor bazaar.  Gentiles could proceed no further into the Temple than this outer court which, it could be argued, was not truly a part of the Temple at all.

Jews could proceed through the first East-facing entrance, the Beautiful Gate, into the Court of the Women.  Jewish women could proceed no further.  Jewish men could proceed on through the next East-facing entrance, called the Gate of Nicanor, into the Court of Israel.  But, only the male Levitical priests could enter the next area, called the Court of the Priests.  It was this area of the Temple which corresponded to the design of the Tent of Meeting.  (Just click the link.)

http://www.jesuswalk.com/moses/images/tabernacle-flow-of-worship-2293x1251x300.jpg

In the graphic of the Temple's Court of Israel, at the link above, the "Enter" designation on the East side --- the entire area pictured here could only be accessed by Levitical priests.  Hmmmm....quite exclusionary, right?

Personally, I am so glad that my Savior reassured me that, regardless of the Temple, He is "the Door", the only door I need to experience joy, forgiveness, restoration and eternal life, beginning here and now.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10:9 (ESV)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

When He came, He perfected salvation so as to render the Temple system unnecessary. I do enjoy studying about it, though, because God did ordain the Temple design as a "type" of Jesus Christ's perfect salvation which was to come.  As Hebrews 8:7 testifies - - -

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

Jesus, the Second Adam, in bringing the perfect "second covenant" does not exclude anyone.  No lock on that Door!  He invites anyone to come to Him and through Him for salvation, because eternal redemption is found in none other.  Praise His holy name!


Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_military

http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/448/what-is-the-significance-of-east-in-the-scriptures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple

http://www.friendsandheroes.tv/Temple_in_Jerusalem.html

Dual Citizenship

There is "much ado" these days about legal citizenship in my Earth country, the United States of America.  At the beginning of my life, the requirements for entering this country were quite strict. People who were not natural-born citizens of the USA, yet who sought legal citizenship, had to go through a lengthy, difficult process.  It was ingrained in the process that the legal immigrant would assimilate him-or-herself into the culture, laws and moral fabric that distinguished this nation for its first 150 years.  Over the past 75 years, or so, that process has severely eroded, bringing about much civil unrest in this formerly gleaming nation.

Google defines "citizenship" as follows:  "the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country".1  To have dual citizenship, then, means that a person possesses citizenship in two countries. Now, generally speaking, since a person can only be in one place at any given time, the person resides most of the time in one of those two countries, perhaps visiting the other country on occasion. In most cases, the person had one citizenship conferred at birth, but went on later to earn a second citizenship from a different country.

In some cases, the two countries involved have many similarities.  The citizens of each may speak the same language.  The forms of government may be similar.  In other cases, the similarities may be few. Often, people of Earth escape from one country of citizenship to seek asylum/refuge in another.  They do this because of persecution, famine or other adverse living conditions in the "home country".

All living Christians have dual citizenship.  Their first "country" is planet Earth; their second, and more true, citizenship is in a "country" they have yet to visit: Heaven.  Although Christians possess citizenship in Heaven, they walk by faith to embrace it while dwelling physically in a realm that walks by sight.  Heaven is a place the Christian eagerly anticipates, even longs for, because he/she believes what the Bible declares about it.

The other day I was reading a blog by a college classmate of mine who has for decades taught Bible in a Christian school.  He was describing the most precious and wonderful moment of his teaching career.  The lesson was about Heaven and that most splendid moment was the one where, without prompt, his students got so psyched about their heavenly country they began to cheer boisterously. You'll be blessed to read about it later.2 

The writer of Hebrews uses the concept of "sanctuary" to illustrate the Christian's dual citizenship. He does this because God did it first.  Warren Wiersbe did a masterful job of describing these beautiful parallels; so, be advised I will be borrowing heavily from his commentary in my meditations here and in posts to follow on this topic.2

The heavenly sanctuary, aka the throne room of God, and the various meeting places of the Hebrew people are two powerful evidences of the Christian's dual citizenship.  When God gave the "specs" for creating the earthly places of worship, He mimicked his own heavenly sanctuary.  Let's look at some of those specs today, and we'll continue with our investigation of these "buildings" tomorrow, lest I get too long-winded here.

1.  Inferiority vs. Superiority
The old covenant "sanctuaries" were (as has been mentioned in this blog) first a series of fancy, portable tents (Tabernacles), and then later Temple buildings in the city of Jerusalem.  When the Hebrews were nomadic and for a time after they settled into the Promised Land, a Tabernacle was erected by the Levitical priests (or under their direction).  See Exodus 35-40. Years later, King Solomon was approved by God to direct the construction of the first Temple in Jerusalem, according to plans God gave to his father, King David.  That Temple was destroyed when Babylon conquered the Hebrew people around 586 B.C.  Nehemiah, Ezra and their contemporaries began to rebuild that structure around 515 B.C., and it stood until the time of the Herods, when that structure was significantly remodeled, greatly enhancing its splendor.  This grandiose temple stood for less than 100 years, because it was razed when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Ok, history lesson over.  The point is that these structures were inferior because, although they were copies of God's heavenly sanctuary, they were made by humans (Heb. 8:2, 9:11).  At times, the glory of God filled the earthly structures.  But, He did not make them His permanent residence.  These physical structures were limited by time and space, neither of which limits our limitless God.
Still.....type.  Here is a graphic of the major components of the earthly Tabernacle and Temple:3

The earthly structures were "types", representations of the heavenly. We are told this in Hebrews 8:5 and 9:23-24.  Each of the furnishings in the picture above was specified by God, and imbued with its own special meanings. The heavenly temple is clearly referred to several times in the book of Revelation.  For instance, in Revelation 8:3, we see the golden altar of incense and also God's throne.  In Revelation 11:19, the apostle John refers to God's ark of the covenant within His heavenly temple.  I won't digress and go into more of these Revelation ... er, revelations, at this point.

We'll examine the various components of the sanctuaries in the next post.


Sources:

1    https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=define:+citizenship

2    https://zockollkids.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/probably-my-favorite-memory-in-the-ministry/

3    http://www.jesuswalk.com/moses/images/tabernacle-flow-of-worship-2293x1251x300.jpg

Sketch and Shadow

When I was a child I would see in magazines this exercise:  the reader would be asked to copy a drawing presented there in the magazine.  If he or she could take a pencil and accurately reproduce the drawing, so that the rendition closely resembled the original, the reader/imitator was supposedly had artistic ability. (And, could purchase an art course, lol!)  I was a dismal failure at such tasks, because I possess not one iota of visual art talent!  My sketches did not bear more than a shadow of resemblance to the original!

In Hebrews 8:1-7 (ESV), our main text for this morning, we are reminded of a similar relationship between the Temple of God in the third heaven and the earthly Temple(s) here on earth.

1Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2a minister in the holy places, in the true tent^a that the Lord set up, not man. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6But as it is, Christ^b has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

First, a clarification:
What is this term "third heaven" I mentioned just now?  Paul referred to the dwelling place of God as the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2.  Our earthly atmosphere is the first heaven.  The universe beyond the earth's atmosphere is the second heaven.  What Christians generally refer to as "Heaven", and the "heaven" mentioned in verse 1 here, is the "third heaven".

Verse 1 reminds us that, when Jesus ascended to Heaven, He ultimately sat down at the right hand of God the Father, referred to here as the Majesty, where He began to carry on as our High Priest.  But, do we have a scriptural record of that occurring?

And, what's all this about tents?  Verse 2 refers to "the true tent", and goes on to remind the Hebrews of how Moses was given the "specs" (as builders say) for the first "temple" when he was spending all that time on Mt. Sinai with God.  You can find this in the book of Exodus, ch. 24-31.  The first "temple" was actually a grandiose tent, which the Hebrews called the Tabernacle.  (All of the Hebrews lived in tents in those days, as they were vagabonding it across the desert on a regular basis.)  The Tabernacle was the first place that the people of God met together WITH their God, as His presence, the Shekinah Glory, came down to meet with them, filling the tent (Tabernacle). However, the true tent, "the original", is now and evermore in Heaven.  Later on, when the people were established in the Promised Land, a more permanent structure was built by King Solomon, a Temple based on "specs" given by God to Solomon's father, King David.  In both the Tabernacle and the Temple, the structures were built to God's exact specifications.

The writer, in Hebrews 6-13, spends a great deal of time examining the importance of the heavenly "tent", the Tabernacle and so forth.  We'll look at this theme in more depth as we move on through this amazing book of the Bible.  But, this morning, let's hone in on this point.

It was not until our Melchizedekan high priest, Jesus, finished His work on earth and presented Himself before God the Father in Heaven that mankind was finally granted access to the Heavenly Tabernacle.

I just went and read Revelation 5 again, end-to-end.  It depicts Jesus Christ presenting Himself, immediately after His ascension, before His Father's throne, having been found worthy to take the scroll and break its seals.  Look at verses 5-10 (The Message)

One of the Elders said, “Don’t weep. Look—the Lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David’s Tree, has conquered. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals.”

6-10 So I looked, and there, surrounded by Throne, Animals, and Elders, was a Lamb, slaughtered but standing tall. Seven horns he had, and seven eyes, the Seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth. He came to the One Seated on the Throne and took the scroll from his right hand. The moment he took the scroll, the Four Animals and Twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. Each had a harp and each had a bowl, a gold bowl filled with incense, the prayers of God’s holy people. And they sang a new song:

Worthy! Take the scroll, open its seals.

Slain! Paying in blood you bought men and women,

Bought them back from all over the earth,

Bought them back for God!

Then, you made them a Kingdom, Priests for our God,

Priest-Kings to rule over the Earth

We can rejoice in this, Christians!  We can exclaim with the writer of Hebrews (6:19-20) that we have this "hope", this steadfast expectation, as an anchor for our souls:  a certainty which reaches behind the separating curtain in the heavenly Temple's Holy of Holies, where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since He became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

And, as our forerunner, He opened the way with the payment of His blood, to redeem us, to buy us back - - Believers of every tribe and from every nation - - not only giving us an eternity in Heaven with Him, but also making us into a Kingdom of priest-kings, who are empowered to walk in spiritual victory here as mortals, yet who will one day rule over the Earth.

I really cannot even grasp that with my finite mind.  Paul stated that our understanding of such things in this earthly plane is like looking into a cloudy mirror.  But, in that day, when we leave this mortal life, we will "know even as we are known".  The original Greek of that verse, 1 Corinthians 13:12 puts it like this:  "I will know fully, as also I have been fully known."

No more "sketch and shadow" in that glorious day!  Hallelujah and amen!

Nearest and Dearest (Advent: Day 9)

I had to laugh at the POTUS-elect the other day.  He visited Ohio and spoke to employees of the Carrier Company, the folks who make heat pumps, and such.  During the course of his speech he said something like, "I have a secret to share with you. Don't tell anybody now!  My new secretary of defense is going to be..."  What makes this laughable is that, of course, when you tell several hundred people a "secret", with press present, it's not going to remain a secret very long!  That's not the way most of us operate. If we have precious news to share, we share it with our "nearest and dearest" first.

We live on the side of history after the first advent (coming) of Jesus to Earth.  So, it is a bit of a stretch for Christians to know what it was like for the Jews to look for, long for, their Messiah, except as we Christians can do in regards to Jesus' second advent, still in the future.  (I wrote about this in my last post.)

Two of the most intriguing people in the Bible are found in Luke 2.  One of the best things about Luke was his attention to detail.  None of the other gospel writers could compare to him in that respect.  Both of these "minor" characters were fervently looking for Messiah as "the first Christmas" approached.

Our story begins in verse 22, when Mary and Joseph are found taking the baby Jesus to the Temple in order to fulfill the requirements of the Law for newborn boys.  There, they encounter Simeon (who will be the subject of a future post) and Anna, our heroine for today.

36There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. 37She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38At that moment, she came up to them and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

According to Luke 2:36-38, Anna lost her husband to death, after only 7 years of marriage. She never remarried.  Anna was OLD.  Most Jewish women marry in their mid-teens. Assuming she married at 15 and became a widow at 22, she would have been 106 years old at the time Jesus was brought to the Temple for the first time.  106!! That is "ancient", even by today's standards!  For whatever the reason, she lived in the Temple, most likely performing some sort of tasks assigned to older widows.1

Anna's close proximity to the Temple, however, is not what earned her the title of "prophetess".  (As I mentioned in yesterday's post, she is the only woman given that title in the New Testament.)  Being "in church" a lot is not what makes a person a Christian either...Verse 37 tells us that she spent much time in fasting and in prayer.  When a person spends that much time seeking God, communing with Him, they are more likely to receive revelations from Him.  That's not to say she EARNED the gift of prophecy, because it is a gift from God, given at His discretion.  But, she exercised her gift with tremendous zeal.

And, the "proof is in the pudding", as the saying goes.  Anna walked up and immediately recognized who Jesus was.  If we assumed that she knew Mary and Joseph we would very likely be drawing a false conclusion.  The Scriptures do not say she knew them, after all.  Whom she DID know was Jesus, even though she had never met him!  Her reaction to meeting Jesus "in the flesh" was to praise God aloud, to thank Him and to tell everyone around her about Him.

Do you "get" that Anna knew, even more surely than Mary and Joseph did, who Jesus truly was?

Don't you think that Anna must have been one of God's "nearest and dearest"?  Even though she is given a mere 3 verses in the Bible, what a wonderful testimony those verses contain!  In his classic commentary on the book of Luke, Alfred Plummer said that Anna was the first in a long line of prophetic disciples who would speak about Jesus to all who were fervently looking for the redemption of Israel.2

In Jesus, Anna glimpsed the future, a future as bright as the promises of God!

Sources:

1    http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/mary-simeon-or-anna-who-first-recognized-jesus-as-messiah/

2   Alfred Plummer, Luke, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1905), p. 71.

A Christian Temple

www.ChristianForums.com

If you are like me you have customarily viewed a temple as being a building in which something or someone other than Jesus Christ is worshipped.  The most common association is with the historical Jewish temple, although one no longer exists.  When traditional Jews gather together for worship, they meet in a building called a synagogue.  Then, there's the Yaarab Temple, which is the gathering place for Shriners, the highest order of Masonic worship.  Again, not Jesus Christ.  Then, around the world there are temples to other false gods of Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, etc.

So, why is the title of this post, "A Christian Temple".  Christians don't worship in temples....do they?

My family attends church in a lovely building.  It does not resemble a traditional church, which has earned it the nickname in the community "the ski lodge".  Is that our "temple"?  Not hardly. Architecture does not define the Christian temple.  Take a look at what does.

17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:17-22 (NET)

Try to realize how controversial these statements would have been to Jews of Paul's day, people who had been trained from birth to conceptualize the Temple as a sacred stick-n-stone building, a holy building, a physical place where the presence of God dwelled.  You might as well tell a Catholic today that the Vatican has been moved to the bottom of the ocean and is now called Atlantis.  It was unheard of, a sort of heresy!

But, the point that Paul was trying to make is that the Christian temple is not a physical building at all.  So, what IS it?

1.  The Christian Temple is wherever the Holy Spirit of God resides.
Now, don't be confused.  God's spirit is omnipresent, which is to say He is "everywhere, all at once". But, being present is not the same as "dwelling".  Example:  you may attend a business meeting. You are THERE; you are present.  But, that meeting place is not your home.
The home of God's Holy Spirit is ever "under construction", because there are always "additions" being built (vs. 22).
God's Holy Spirit's home is in the heart of every believer in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  As more and more people become part of God's family by accepting Christ, God's "home" expands and grows.

2.  Temple Features
What is this temple like?
a.  Its cornerstone, the stone that holds the hold building together, is Jesus Christ.  Without Him, God's Spirit is absent.
b.  It's firm and sure foundation are the holy scriptures, those eyewitness accounts, both Old and New Testaments, from the prophets and apostles.  Any claim to represent God that is divorced from the written Word of God is heresy.
c.  It's building blocks, holy stones, if you will, are WE, God's children...Jesus' disciples.  This makes us members of God's home, God's household (vs. 19).  HE has built us into His home.  And, it is in us He dwells.  Our very bodies are His Temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

This means that our citizenship is not here.  If you are Jesus Christ's own beloved, His own dear child, it doesn't matter where your physical body resides.  Your citizenship is not in America or Canada or Ireland or Dubai or in any other earthly geographical locale.  You are a "stranger and alien" in this sin-scarred world, on this battleground.  Your spiritual country's capital is in Heaven, in another dimension of "reality" altogether.

"I have found a desire within myself, that no experience in this world can satisfy;

the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
C.S. Lewis

I was reading this morning about the extreme opposition currently raging against a faith-based enterprise in Williamston, KY.  Some of you readers may have visited it - - the Creation Museum, soon to be the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter.  If you have time, read this piece:

https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2016/05/11/secularists-want-to-hurt-kentucky/?utm_source=facebook-aig&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebook-aig

But, if you don't, let me briefly summarize to say that this organization has had to fight Satanic opposition to its "creation", every step of the way!  I was just amazed at the degree of vitriol.  Then again, maybe not.  We reside in a "foreign land"....

Do you see it?  The Temple?  Look at the picture at the top of this blog.  There's one visual representation. I could have chosen many.  No one picture can capture the beauty of the Body of Christ, the Bride ... the Temple!

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, thank you for making your home in me and corporately in all of Your true children.  Please continue to "build us", to make us more holy, a Temple suitable for Your presence. In Jesus' name, amen.

Me, The Temple

Good morning,

Today's text is 1 Corinthians 3:16-23.

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.

18 Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about mere mortals! For everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

{This passage is very similar to the better known 1 Cor. 6:19, in which Paul practically says the same thing.}

Why do you think that Paul compared believers to God's Temple?  Believe me, this was a revolutionary analogy to those baby Christians.  You see, in Jewish worship, the Temple was considered the holiest of all structures, because it contained a section called The Holy of Holies.  It was in this small room, which had very limited access, that the Spirit of God came down to commune with the priest selected by lot to enter the area.  The Ark of the Covenant resided in this place.  Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, learned of his son's conception, while he was performing his "once-in-a-lifetime" duties in that place.

There were all sorts of rules and safeguards for this supernatural area.  For instance, the priest selected to enter there attached a special set of bells to the hem of his robe so that those outside could listen for the sound as he moved around inside, performing his duties.  If they no longer heard the bells, they pulled him out via a cord, a "lifeline" attached to his leg, assuming he was dead from having come into the most holy presence of God. Talk about being "slain in the spirit"!  This was deadly serious stuff.

I would really like to study the Temple/Tabernacle more.  If any of you out there have a book recommendation, please share it with me.

At any rate, the Christians were certainly not welcome any longer at the existing Temple in Jerusalem.  To be blunt, the ruling Jews who controlled the Temple were out to exterminate them.  Yet, these Christians, many of them former Jews, wanted to honor their Lord by continuing to keep the Jewish feasts, some of which required them to go to the Temple as part of God's command to their forefathers.  This is just one example of "stuff" the early Christians had to work through.

In our text for today, Paul is reminding the believers that each of them is God's Temple - - - that when Christ died, the veil in Jerusalem's Temple was supernaturally split down the middle, from top to bottom, a truly miraculous feat, since the veil was scores of feet tall and weighed hundreds of pounds.  This veil being torn, however, was God's visual sign that everything had changed.  With Jesus finishing His work on the cross, access to God had been blown wide open.  No longer did people have to go find Him in a "most holy place" of a building.  After Jesus' resurrection, the Holy
Spirit came upon Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13).  This is why Paul declared that each individual Christian, and the whole Body of Christ collectively, are the Temple of God, of the Holy Spirit!

What a tremendous honor and responsibility!  In his commentary, Matthew Henry points out that, as a result, we need to treat ourselves as the holy vessels that we are, by the grace of God.  And, if we don't, we are deceiving ourselves as to the true state of our relationship with God.

"He is deceived who deems himself the temple of the Holy Ghost, yet is unconcerned about personal holiness, or the peace and purity of the church."  

For many Christians, this is an area of struggle, in one of the two areas.  Many sinful practices harm one's physical body.  The "big deal" about that is this:  if our bodies/minds are weak, then we decommission ourselves in the great cosmic battle in which we are engaged.  (And, be sure, you don't have a choice about whether you are in the battle or not.  If you are a Christian, you are.)  If we are physically weak, we are less potent a weapon for Jesus Christ.  The other emphasis is this:  we need to treat our Christian brothers and sisters as "temples of the Holy Spirit" in order to maintain peace and purity in the Church.  Holiness...it's not a raging fad, unfortunately.

I want to be sure you get this, though:  this type of reverence and holiness for your own temple and also the people of God is not a legalistic holiness.  It is rather a holiness that springs from a heart of devoted love. Paul emphasizes this in verses 21-23.  "Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."  So often, we sin against our bodies because we are trying to feel some emotional void in our lives, an emptiness that only God can fill.  Yet, we choose some substance or some other person to use for our own self-gratification.  So often, we yield to our flesh and its detrimental longings, longings that hurt us or others in the end.  This includes prideful preening within the Church, which leads to the types of envyings and divisions that Paul was exhorting the Corinthians to avoid.

The key to holy living is, at its foundation, (not diminishing strategies like addiction counseling, mental health interventions, liberation from demonic oppressions/possessions, etc.,) focusing fanatically, daily, on the loving One who totally poured Himself out utterly, for each of us, His dear children.  When we clearly see all that He has done for us, how can our response be anything other than our outpouring of love, in return?

Holy Spirit, I am in awe that You reside in my spirit.  And, I don't totally understand that.  But, I take You at Your word that what the holy, inspired scriptures say is true.  I thank You for condescending to me, to transform me into Your Temple.  Oh, how I long to walk more worthy of Your amazing love and grace.  Help me, Holy Spirit!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:
http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/3-16.htm