A New Temple

The Hebrew month of Av begins Sunday night, July 7th, and Jews will mourn through the final nine day of The Three Weeks of grief that began with the Fast of Tammuz and end with Tisha b’Av—the day commemorating the destruction of the Jewish temples.

All public transportation will be silenced, all restaurants will remain closed in Jerusalem the evening of July 15th as the sun sets. The Hebrew day of great tragedies, Tisha b’Av, will begin at sundown. In remembrance of the destruction of both the First and Second Temple on the 9th of Av hundreds of years apart, tens of thousands of Jews will gather at the Western Wall to pray and petition the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Jewish hearts around the world will long in unison for the future Temple, the one to be established when the Messiah comes.

The Temple Mount

These next weeks, Jews look toward the Temple Mount with even more longing than normal. Israel has technically controlled the Temple Mount since the Six-Day War in 1967, but the Waqf, a Muslim council, manages the site. The Temple Mount is noticeably dominated by the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Israeli law is supposed to protect free access to the site, but the Israeli government enforces a ban on any non-Muslim prayer on the site in order to avoid Muslim riots.

East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount have been points of major contention in past efforts to negotiate a two-state agreement. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, and the Jews do not want to give up this location that is so precious to Judaism. The world would never expect the Muslims to hand over control of the Kaaba in Mecca in order to keep peace, but the Jews are not free to worship on their holiest site because they fear Muslim violence.

Tisha b’Av

Many disasters have befallen the Jews on the 9th of Av throughout history. According to Jewish tradition, this was the day that God told the Children of Israel they were prohibited from entering the Promised Land because of disbelief. They were forced to wander in the desert forty more years until that adult generation had died out. That tragic day was just the beginning…

On the 9th of Av in:

• 586 BC, Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonian captivity began;
• AD 70, the Second Temple, which stood during Christ’s ministry, was destroyed by the Romans precisely as Jesus predicted in Luke 19;
• AD 135, the famous Bar Kokhba revolt was squelched when Bethar, the last Jewish stronghold, fell to the Romans;
• AD 136, the Roman Emperor Hadrian established a heathen temple to Jupiter on the site of the Jewish Temple. Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city, and renamed the land as Palestina, to distance its Jewish heritage. The date when the Temple area was plowed under by the Romans was the 9th of Av.

The day has continued to be associated with grief for the Jewish people throughout history. For example, Pope Urban II declared the Crusades on the 9th of Av in 1242. According to the Alhambra Decree, the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 on this day (the same day that Columbus left on his westward route to the Indies). On the 9th of Av in 1942, the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were mass deported to the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland. Thus the 9th of Av, Tisha B’Av, has become a symbol of all the persecutions and misfortunes of the Jewish people, for the loss of their national independence and their sufferings in exile. Above all, it is a day of intense mourning for the destruction of the Temple.

A Day of Mourning… And Future Joy

Tisha b’Av is marked with sadness and fasting from food and drink. Observant Jews avoid bathing or washing clothes or enjoying entertainment like music or movies. On this day the Jews are reminded of their tragic history.

Yet, this day is also expressly linked with Israel’s glorious destiny. The Jews also look forward to the ultimate rebuilding of the Temple, to a time when Tisha b’Av will become a day of joy and gladness (as it was foretold in Zechariah 8:19).

We do know that the Temple will be rebuilt because Jesus, John, and Paul all make reference to it (Matt 24:15; Rev 11:1, 2; 2 Thess 2:4). We also know that a future Temple will be desecrated by the Coming World Leader when he sets himself up to be worshiped (2 Thess 2:3–4). It is possible this prophetic event will also take place on Tisha b’Av—and may happen in the not-too-distant future.

The Exile

In the past we have explored some of the great themes of the Bible. There are certain parts of life that are designed by God to give us insights into his nature. We are wired to grasp knowledge on an experiential level. When we get it we call it a "paradigm shift". You may have experienced this as the light bulb going off in one's head while standing in the shower or in the middle of a dream at night. Our brains are always searching on how to connect the dots of life. There is a reason Jesus taught in parables. We understand and "get" stories.



One of the great themes in God's revelation is the Exile. On a primal level it begins with the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. When Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden due to their original sin, this begins the Exile. By partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they desired to be "like God" deciding for themselves what was "good" and what was "evil". The problem of such knowledge is that without an omniscient point of view, one can never figure it out for himself or herself. The result is that all humanity is lost to discover the meaning of life on our own.



When I listen to unbelievers share what they think about God, they will invariably tell me that they don't believe because they feel that God does not exist. In other words, they feel separated, apart and on their own......which is, by definition, the Exile of the human soul. Sin separates us from God. And, we cannot get back to God on our own. But, this is where we have good news! God created a way of escape for everyone. To walk this path it requires faith in His son who desires that all should be saved. It is a journey that takes courage and understanding. One has to examine life to grasp it. But, God did not leave us without a map and a guide.



The map is the Bible. The Bible is the story of Paradise lost and Paradise re-gained. And, beginning with Adam and Eve and running thought out the stories of the Old and New Testaments is the theme of Exile and Restoration. Abraham had to become exiled to his own people when God "called" him to a place that God was going to show him. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and exiled from his family in order to later save them from starvation. And yet Joseph, second only to Pharaoh, knew that his body would be returned to Israel some day. In the book of Genesis 50: 25-26, we read:



"And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die; but God will visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Then Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, "God will visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."



The children of Israel were exiled into slavery for 400 years in Egypt until God sent them a deliverer named Moses to take them back to the promised land. In Exodus 13:19 we read that Moses took "the bones of Joseph" with them when they departed Egypt. How did Joseph know this before he died? It was revealed to him. These events are testimony to the truth of God's promises.

• The Role of the King
  

When the children of Israel asked God for a king, Samuel warned them that YHWH was their only king. But, they wanted to be like the nations around them and have their own king. In 1 Samuel 8 the people were told how all earthly kings become oppressive and behave. Even the behavior of David and Solomon would prove that point all to well. And, most of David's successors were weak or positively bad. God warned his people that in following an earthly king that they would be lead into exile from his presence. When the northern kingdom of Israel became a nation of Baal worshipers, and in spite of all the warnings delivered by God's prophets, the northern ten tribes were exiled into Assyria and lost forever. Even though Judah had some good kings, like Hezekiah and Josiah, who attempted to reform the temple worship in Jerusalem, eventually the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the remaining remnant of God's people were exiled into Babylon. Psalms 89 , one of the most majestic and haunting of the Psalms, sets forth the issue starkly. On one hand, God made all these great promises to David; and, on the other hand, it looks as though they have all come to nothing. This psalm lays both halves before God as though to say, "What are you going to do about it?" Out of this ambiguity comes a hope that one day there might be a true king, a new sort of king, a king who would set everything right. When he takes his throne, the poor (at last) would get justice; and, the creation itself would sing for joy. Psalm 72:1-4 says:

Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son! May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor!

This now becomes the the way God's ancient promises are to be fulfilled. There will be a new king, anointed with oil and with God's own Spirit. The Hebrew for "anointed one" is "Messiah"; the Greek is "Christ". He will be the one to put the world back into proper order. The echo we hear from within each individual's soul which cries out for justice in this world will be answered. However, the world as it now exists is distorted. It began in Eden. It is rectified by the righteousness of the Messiah. However, the final fulfillment of complete reconciliation will be when the bridegroom returns again. The book of Revelation was given to us as a promise of that fulfilment. But, the final proof of God is given by Holy Spirit.

• The role of the Temple

It is while the children of God were in Exile that they learned more of God's nature. Up until the Babylonian captivity the temple had been the center of the universe for the Jewish faith. It was taught that this was the one spot on the earth where heaven and earth intersected. When Solomon's temple was destroyed, the faith of the people had to change. When the so-called second temple was rebuilt, it could not hold a candle to its predecessor. According to the prophet Malichi even the priests who worked there treated it disdainfully. From the time of David, it was the function of the King to build (or re-build) the temple. In the centuries before Jesus, two men used temple restoration as a means to advance their royal claims, even though neither of them was descended from David.

Judas Maccabeas enjoyed great success in his revolt against the Hellenistic Syria in 164 B.C. He overthrew the tyrant, Antiochus, and restored the temple which had been desecrated in pagan worship to Zeus. That was enough to make his family royalty for about a century. When the Romans conquered Israel they gave to "Herod the Great" the title King of the Jews, even though Herod was not a Jew himself. Herod was at the time the most powerful warlord in the area from Idumea. His father was married to the daughter of a Arabian sheik. Under Jewish law, unless one was born of a Jewish mother, one could not be a Jew. Herod sought to gain favor with the local populace by expanding and rebuilding the temple. The irony was Herod, as a non-Jew, could not enter the temple which he had reconstructed. The point here is that the King took on the obligation to the temple. Perhaps it is the greatest irony that Jesus taught in the temple of the King who would have murdered him as an infant in Bethlehem. Jesus' words to this followers in Matthew 24 beginning in verse 1 was that the temple, which they so much admired, would not be left with one stone on top of another. This prophecy was most distressing to his disciples. They wanted to know when it would happen? In fact, in 70 A.D. when the Romans besieged the City of Jerusalem the temple was torched. It was reported that the heat caused the gold and precious metals to melt and run into the cracks of the building. Looters pried every stone apart to recover the gold. To this day the foundation of the west wall, the so called "Wailing Wall" is the only remnant of the temple mount that remains. Yet, when the true King emerges, he will not only establish justice in the world. He would also involve the proper reestablishment of the place where heaven and earth meet. The deep human longing for spirituality, for access to God, would be answered at last!

• The role of the Bible as Scripture

It was while in Exile in Babylon that the role of scripture took place. When one could no longer worship in the temple, the synagogue and the Torah became the new center of worship. The stories of the Torah (the first five books in the Old Testament) were edited into their final form highlighting the ancient stories of slavery and freedom, of exile and homecoming, of oppression and Passover. But, they did more. They set the pattern of conduct for the lives of those who had been rescued. When God frees you from slavery, this is how one must respond, not to earn God's favor (as though you could put God in your debt), but to express your gratitude, loyalty and determination to live by the covenant. This was the practice of the Jewish community from the Babylonian exile until the time of Jesus and beyond. These practices of the Torah are what give Jewish people their identity.

There is a problem however whenever one takes scripture and turns it into law. Legalism was a problem for religious people in the time of Jesus as it is for the church today. Jesus in John 5:39-40 tells the religious people of his day:

You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

The irony is that the author of the Word of God was not recognized by those who focused upon scripture. There are a lot of religious people today who search the scriptures to use them as weapons to justify legal positions and empower their causes and authority. The Bible is a map that shows us the Way. While it contains commandments, they all can be summed up as Love YHWH first with all of one's heart, soul, mind and strength; and, love your neighbor as yourself. And for the believer, God did not leave us alone. Acts 2:38 promises us that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to every believer who is born into the kingdom. God himself now tabernacles with his body, the church, to guide each believer on the Way. The begining of the end occured on the Cross of Calvary. The final end of the Exile is when the saints will gather before the throne to worship our Father in unity of spirit and in truth.

Eden, the Temple and the Church's Mission

One of the reasons I teach is that it forces to me to study. When I take the time to read and research, I find such treasures. A recent article to which I am in indebted was written by Gregory K. Beale and can be viewed here. In this article he shows how the Garden of Eden is really the first temple. It is the place in which God walked with man. Adam was the first priest. He was given a charge to "cultivate and keep" the garden. Those same words in Hebrew can mean to "serve and guard". Adam failed in his mission and God had to drive him out of the garden and place 2 cherubim at the entrance to then guard it. When the world turned so evil that God decided to destroy the world with a flood, Noah was given the same charge. The ark becomes a symbol of God's preservation. Again, when Noah came out of the ark and worshipped he and his sons failed to follow the charge that God had given them.

God then starts over with Abraham and makes his covenant with him in Genesis 12. Through Abraham's descendants, Israel establishes the tabernacle in the wilderness and later the temple in Jerusalem. The use of the cherubim on the mercy seat of the ark and on the veil in the temple that separates the Holy of Holies ties back to the creation story. Both the tabernacle and the temple foreshadow the culmination of God's design to reunite himself with mankind through his Messiah. Jesus becomes the epitome of the temple when he came and dwelt among us. Through his life, burial and resurrection he re-establishes the ability of God and man to once again dwell in union. While the "new" heaven and earth is something we look forward to in the future, the fact is that right now God dwells among his people through the power of the Holy Spirit by living in our hearts. When the church gathers it becomes God's temple, or as Paul says in I Cor. 3:16: " Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? "

Beale writes:

The temple was a symbol to Israel of the task God wanted them to carry
out; the same task that Adam (and likely Noah) should have carried out but
did not, Israel was to execute: to “multiply and fill the earth and subdue it”
(Gen 1:28) by expanding the local boundaries of the temple (where God’s
special revelatory presence was) to include the entire earth. That is, Israel
was to spread God’s presence throughout the entire earth. Interestingly, the
land of promise, the land of Israel, was repeatedly called the “Garden of
Eden” (cf. Gen 13:10; Isa 51:3; Joel 2:3; Ezek 36:35) partly perhaps because
Israel was to expand the limits of the temple and of their own land to the
ends of the earth in the same manner as should have Adam. That this was
Israel’s ultimate task is apparent from a number of OT passages prophesying
that God will finally cause the sacred precinct of Israel’s temple to
expand and first encompass Jerusalem (see Isa 4:4–6; 54:2–3, 11–12; Jer 3:16–
17; Zech 1:16–2:11), then the entire land of Israel (Ezek 37:25–28), and then
the whole earth (Dan 2:34–35, 44–45; cf. also Isa 54:2–3).
Similarly, as we have seen, God gave Israel the same commission as Adam
and Noah: e.g. to Isaac, the progenitor of Israel, is said, “I will greatly bless
you and greatly multiply you . . . your seed shall possess the gate of their
enemies” (Gen 22:17; cf. Gen 12:2–3; 17:2, 6, 8; 26:3–5, 24; 28:3; 35:11–12;
47:27; 48:3–4; on Noah’s commission, see Gen 9:1, 7). Interestingly, Gen 1:28
becomes both a commission and a promise to Isaac, Jacob, and Israel.
Israel, however, did not carry out this great mandate to spread the temple
of God’s presence over the whole earth. The contexts of Isa 42:6 and 49:6 say
that Israel should have spread the light of God’s presence throughout the
earth, but they did not. Exodus 19:6 says that Israel collectively was to be
to God “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” going out to the nations and
being mediators between God and the nations by bearing God’s light of revelation.
Instead of seeing the temple as a symbol of their task to expand
God’s presence to all nations, Israel wrongly viewed the temple to be symbolic
of their election as God’s only true people and that God’s presence was
to be restricted only to them as an ethnic nation. They believed the Gentiles
would experience God’s presence only through judgment.
So God sent them out of their land into exile, which Isaiah 45 compares
to the darkness and chaos of the first chaos before creation in Genesis 1 (cf.
Isa 45:18–19). So God starts the process of temple building all over again,
but this time he planned that the local-spiritual boundaries of all the past
temples of Eden and Israel would be expanded finally to circumscribe the boundaries of the entire earth.


The corollary to the church today is significant. When we become exclusivistic in our thinking that "we are the only ones" and that our goal is to preserve ourselves as "God's only true people" we betray the mission of the church to spread the light of the gospel unto world. Within the larger context, this is the same mission that God gave to Adam in the Garden of Eden. It is nothing new. Viewed in the context of history we see that the plan of God began with the Garden and will end in Paradise regained. Our purpose then is temple building; but, not with earth or stone. Instead, we are to build with "living stones". We exist to fill the earth with the message of the kingdom of God and bring every heart into submission.