The Temple and the Church's Mission

The Temple Dilemma

Most Christians would agree that there are difficult parts of the Bible, the book of Revelation being among the most enigmatic. "The only thing stranger than the beasts in Revelation are their interpretations by biblical commentators," my former pastor has remarked. But in Chapter 21 we stumble upon an often-overlooked dilemma. We read of the new heavens and the new earth, and then of the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Revelation 21:1-2. The holy city is then described in great detail. However, the new heavens and the new earth are not described. "Why does John not see a full panorama of the new heavens and earth? Why does he not see the many forests, rivers, mountains, streams, valleys and the many other features of a fertile worldwide new creation? (23)." John only seems to see the holy city. And to the sure surprise of the Jewish Christians of that day, this is a temple-less city: "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." Revelation 21:22.

Thus begins The Temple and the Church's Mission, with this Temple Dilemma. To solve the dilemma is to unravel it, and its unraveling requires journeying through the whole of the Scriptures. Professor G.K. Beale guides us from the beginning to the end of the Bible with an eye to temple theme throughout. We'll see that all of the Bible (and the world) revolves around the temple - its symbolism, its purpose, its inhabitants and its fulfillment. The insights he gives us along the way unlock large swaths both the Old and New Testaments, enliven the heart and ultimately lead us to praise God for His temple construction, which we both take part in and are:

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

You are God's field, God's building. 1 Corinthians 3:10

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The Temple Theme

Before Beale begins the survey of temple theme in Genesis, he lays down the foundation-stones of the symbolism and purpose of the temple. If we conceive of the temple as a localized, Israel-only structure we must drop that assumption right at the outset. Beale points to a few passages that blow miniscule thoughts of the temple out of the water. Consider Psalm 78:69 - "He built His sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which He founded forever." There is apparently some equation between the temple (or sanctuary) and the heavens and the earth! God "stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in," Isaiah 40:22, and has "[placed in the sky] a tent for the sun," Psalm 19:5.

We also learn that the earthly tabernacle in the Old Covenant was patterned after the heavenly one.

Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle ... so you shall make it. ... You shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30).

The New Testament confirms this:

There are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They 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 to you on the mountain.' ... Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself. Hebrews 8:5, 9:24.

Beal treats the temple furniture, the cloud of incense and the precious metals both in the temple and on the high priest's robes, demonstrating what each represents. Here are the fruits of his exegetical labors:

• the three-tiered structure of the temple (outer court, inner court, holy of holies) is symbolic of the earth, the heavens (sky), and Heaven, where God dwells. In short, the temple is the microcosm of the heavens and the earth (31).
• The high priest's clothing is also symbolic of the heavens and the earth, as it was patterned after the temple. The high priest was placed there to guard and keep the temple from uncleanness. (More on this later.)

What should we do with this information? If we're good students of redemptive history, we know that all of God's works build and point toward a final end or purpose. Beale urges us to continue reading: "As we will see more fully later, this understanding of the temple as a small model of the entire cosmos is part of a larger perspective in which the temple pointed forward to a huge worldwide sanctuary in which God's presence would dwell in every part of the cosmos (48)." If you ponder this "larger perspective" in light of the 1 Peter and 1 Corinthians passages earlier in this review you may be able to discern where we're going.

Garden and Temple?

But before we go forward, we must go backward. All the way to the Garden of Eden. Special revelation is organic in nature, so if the temple theme is present in Revelation, it must have some beginning at the Beginning. Indeed, "the Garden of Eden was the first archetypal temple in which the first man worshipped God (66)." Here are just a few of the similarities between the Garden and the Temple, which serve to show that the Garden was in fact the first Temple:

The Garden as the first place of God's unique presence In Genesis 3:8, we read that God "walked in the garden in the wind of the day." The same verb translated walked is used to describe God's presence in the temple.

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. Leviticus 26:12

Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you ... Deuteronomy 23:14

The Garden as the place of the First Priest Genesis 2:15 says that Adam was placed in the Garden to "work and keep it". The same verbs for work and keep are applied to the priests in the later iterations of the Temple:

They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. Numbers 3:8

And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. Numbers 18:5

The Garden as the place of the first guarding Cherubim Genesis 3:24 gives us the first post-fall job desription of the Cherubim - it was given a flaming sword and placed "at the east of the Garden of Eden ... to guard the way to the tree of life."

Consider these passages from 1 Kings 6 and Ezekiel 44:14 that illustrate that the cherubim figure was worked into the Temple curtainry and walling:

Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. ... He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 1 Kings 6:29,32-35

We'll also note here that the rest of 1 Kings 6 describes Solomon's temple "with botanical and arboreal imagery that gave it a garden-like appearance (71)". This imagery includes gourds and open flowers, palm trees and open flowers, pomegranates, lily designs, and lily blossoms.

Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it. Ezekiel 44:14

Ezekiel's view of the Garden as Mountaintop and Sanctuary "Israel's Temple was on Mount Zion", and "the prophet Ezekiel portrays Eden as being on a mountain (73)."

You will bring them in and plant them on Your own Mountain, the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. Exodus 15:17

You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. Ezekiel 28:14

Ezekiel also portrays the Garden as a Sanctuary:

By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries. Ezekiel 28:18a.

• It should be noted that the sanctuaries which are in view were probably on the "mountain of God".

What beauty in this intertwining of the Garden and Temple in the Scriptures!

Scriptural Insights

Most of the passages we've looked at are in the Old Testament. And again, if we're good students of redemptive history we'll know the same Garden-Temple identity persists through the New. And the theme is not imperceptible, but shows itself in a myriad of places. There are many more passages to delve into than the ones we've discussed. Isaiah has a lot to say about the expansion of the temple, and its eventual equation with the new heavens and the new earth (54:2-3, 51:2-3, 49:19-22, 65:17-18). I have found my personal study of the Scriptures to come alive now that the garden and temple theme has been uncovered. For our purposes one such passage will suffice.

Our ending point is Romans 8:19-22. With our study thus far informing us, we can see an eschatological illustration of the earth happily submitting to the regency of redeemed man under Jesus Christ:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

We learn that the earth has been longing to be ruled by the children of God. This current corruption-servitude of the earth was a consequence of God's judgement on man. It is man's fault. But freedom for the earth is to be found not in its automony, but in being guarded and kept by sinless man. Man who has been ushered back into the Garden, through the fiery veil of sword-judgement. "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, against the One who stands next to Me," prophesies Zechariah (13:6). Jesus our Shepherd has undergone this judgement for us. And He has won eternal garden-life for us and offers it freely: "To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God," Revelation 2:7b. Man will eat of that fruit in that day, and begin his duty of keeping and guarding the garden-earth. And if the Garden is synonymous with the Temple, which is our thesis, this will be a priestly service to God.