Day 170

1 Kings 6:1-7:22, Acts 13:13-41, Psalms 75:1-10

I know we have touched on the importance of the temple before but we can’t underestimate how significant it is, especially in the way it relates to the Psalm that we have just finished reading. For the people at that time, this will be the presence of God. The ark of the covenant has always had that honour, (and in fact still will have) but the temple, just like the tent and the Tabernacle, are the home for the ark and therefore the home for God. We can see from the picture above (and check out this site for a much fuller picture of the sanctuary), how grand the place is and the amount of effort that Solomon put into it. The description from our readings also help us to see the scale of it.

In both the picture and the link above we just see the central building but the temple stretched to much more than this. Far more than we can compare with a church today. What we also struggle to appreciate is the affinity that the people had with it. We may be upset if the church was knocked down today, but it is a building and the church is actually the people. Where ever we meet,  the church goes beyond the confines of bricks and mortar. For the Jews though there was great distress when the temple was destroyed – twice.

Through our reading we will follow the destruction, rebuilding and desecration of the temple and in the fate of that one building we see reference made to God’s relationship with the whole of Israel. We have just finished Psalm 74 which is all about the first destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. The next time is at the hands of the Romans (70AD) and all that remains is the one wall – the wailing wall in Jerusalem today. It also helps us piece the New Testament together as reference to the destruction helps us to see that some of the books were written later than 70AD.

The people of Israel have been on the road for a long time and the Ark has been too. When David settled in Jerusalem there was suddenly a capital city, a home, and now we see that set in stone as the temple takes shape. Jews today still hold Jerusalem in that regard but we see Paul starting to take the Gospel all over the region and from there all over the world. As he went on these journeys, the presence of God went with him.

The temple will offer us an essential reference point for our continued  reading in the Old Testament but thanks to Paul and his journeys, and all who followed him, we know that the “name of the Lord is near” (Psalm 75:1). Christ is in our hearts and so the temple for us can never be destroyed.