Yet there are three other temples. Three temples more important than the rest. One is the template -- the blueprint -- for all those that come after. If we don't understand it, we cannot truly understand any other. One does not look or feel like a temple. It is dark and seems hopeless. And yet it is this temple that gives us all hope. The final temple is full of light. It is a future temple. It is the temple as it was always meant to be. These are the three forgotten temples.
I want to say that much of what I talk about here comes from The Bible Project Podcast. I have always loved their videos. Recently I realized that they do a podcast to talk about all the scripture and thoughts that go into making one of those videos. This post and those that come from it are all informed by their look at the Tree of Life.
The Garden Temple
The very first temple in the Bible shows up on the very first pages of the Bible. On first reading you may not realize it. You have no concept of a Biblical temple. Yet when you get to the creation of the tabernacle in the desert and the temple in Jerusalem, you should be reminded of the garden from the very first pages of the Bible.
I want to pause here and say that the first three chapters of Genesis are rich with templates for many things to come. As a literature device this part of the Bible sets up the themes of the rest of scripture. As holy book, this sets up the concepts that God wants us to the understand. If we neglect to see all the things that God is doing here, then we will miss the heart of God. Genesis gives not only an understanding of temples, but also things like the Sabbath.
Eden, and the garden in it, is the first temple. It is the first place that God meets with humans. Every temple that comes after is yet another attempt of people to make a dwelling place for God.
We read in Genesis 2 that God made the heavens and the earth. We also find out that God made a special place on the earth called Eden and in Eden God made a garden. I want to stop here to point out something that I never realized. Eden is not the garden. Eden is the special place. The garden is in Eden. It is the the garden of Eden like it is the living room of your house. One belongs inside the other. This is important, because it sets up the three part structure of a temple.
If you look at Exodus you will find the creation of the tabernacle. The outermost part of the tabernacle was called the outer courts. Anyone could enter here. This is where most of the sacrifices were done. This was the place that the average person met with God. Inside the outer courts was the Holy Place. This was the place for priests to conduct rituals to honor God. Inside that was the Holy of Hollies -- the most holy place. It was here that God dwelt. The Arc of the Covenant was His throne. Only the high priest could enter here. Once a year the high priest would enter the Holy of Hollies and sprinkle blood from a lamb to make atonement for the sins of the whole nation. This was called the Day of Atonement.
If we read Genesis with this in mind (and Jews would have done this) we begin to see the first temple. The world then is the outer courts. Eden becomes the Holy Place. And the garden in Eden becomes the Holy of Hollies. This is important because God places the first humans not just in Eden, but in the garden. Adam and Eve become the first high priests. Humanity was always supposed to be in the presence of God. Now comes the good part. At the center of the garden God placed the Tree of Life. This the throne of God in the garden. It is the Arc of the Covenant. Now the passage also mentions another tree, but that is a topic for next time.
From Eden flows a river that feeds the earth. This is important for two reasons. First, it sets up water as an important theme for scripture. This idea of water bringing life is something that gets referred to over and over in scripture. Second, for water to flow out, it must mean that it starts at a high place. Therefore what we have in the center of the garden is a tree on a hill next to water.
Intermediate Temples
We all know what happens next. Adam and Eve mess up. We all like to think that we would do better, We wouldn't. But that is, again, a topic for next time. The important piece is that for much of the rest of scripture we have examples of trees, mountains, and water. Often they come in pairs. Noah makes a sacrifice to God after the flood. Here we have the wood of the Arc (a tree which brings life), the alter is made on mount Ararat, and all this happens after great waters have flooded the earth.
Abraham makes a sacrifice on mountain. This is the same mountain on which Solomon builds the temple. The wood for the sacrifice is carried by Issac (the assumed sacrifice) on his back. Yet that wood is not the only tree. There is also a ram caught in a bush (or tree). This sacrificial animal has a crown of thorns. God is previous.
Weather it was Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, all previous sacrifices were an attempt to restore the relationship between God and His people. Yet every time the people failed.
God gives Israel the law on a mountain. The same mountain where Moses saw a tree that burned, but was not consumed. It is because of that encounter with a tree that all of Israel is freed from slavery. It is because of that second encounter on a mountain that all of Israel comes to know their God.
I could go on, but I want you to see that what we read in Genesis 2 becomes the template for everything to come. Eden, and the garden in it, is the first temple. It is the first place that God meets with humans. Every temple that comes after is yet another attempt of people to make a dwelling place for God. These meetings are never what they were in Eden, but every time we are hopeful that they might be.
The Broken Temple
Our second temple is an odd one. I said above that this is a temple that looks and feels nothing like a temple. The only way that this temple is seen as such is the history of temples. I am of course talking about the cross of Jesus. This temple does what none of the previous temples could do. It restores humanity to the state of the garden.
Weather it was Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, all previous sacrifices were an attempt to restore the relationship between God and His people. Yet every time the people failed. They failed in the same way that Adam and Eve failed. Exactly how they failed is a subject for next time. What is important for this post is that Jesus succeeds in exactly the place that Adam failed. What looks on the outside like a failure for humanity and for God, is actually the most beautiful act of love. And all this happened in the most unlikely temple.
If you look at the passion of Christ you find a few things. First, John makes it a point to say that Jesus carried the cross on his back. We are supposed to remember Abraham and Issac. Second, every gospel tells us that Jesus was crucified at the place of the skull. Though the exact spot is not known, what is known is that this was a hill (far away). Third, we are told that Jesus was given a crown of thorns. Here again we remember Abraham.
This does not look like any temple that we have seen previously. We are specifically told that this happened outside the city. From everything we know of temples, the sacrifice was supposed to happen inside the courtyard. The blood of the sacrificial lamb was supposed to be sprinkled on the Arc of the Covenant which is in the Holy of Hollies. Yet, the body of that sacrifice was to be burned outside the courtyard. This is an idea picked up by the author of Hebrews. He even links it to a future city. More on that later.
God in one act declares himself king of the world and restores humanity to the garden. That is the previous nature of God.
I want you to track with me, because this is the best part. We know that trees represent the Arc of the Covenant. We know that the Arc is the throne of God. We know that to atone for the sins of the nation the blood of a sacrifice must be sprinkled on the Arc. We know that Jesus is God. Now watch how God is previous.
Jesus, being God, is crowned with thorns (a reminder of Abraham). He is given the title "King of the Jews." He is marched before the people and taken to a temple. We know it is a temple because it is on a hill. On that hill God takes his throne -- the cross. This is Jesus' coronation. But it is more than that. If the cross is God's throne then the Arc of the Covenant is outside the city. The dwelling place of God is no longer secluded from the people. We know this is the Arc, because the blood of Jesus is sprinkled on it for the sins of the world. When Jesus dies we are told that the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Hollies is torn.
The Holy of Hollies has moved. No longer are we separate from God. We like Adam and Eve dwell in the Holy of Hollies. No longer do we need a high priest to make atonement for our sins. We have the great high priest. God in one act declares himself king of the world and restores humanity to the garden. That is the previous nature of God.
The Temple of the Lamb
Our final temple is talked about in Revelation. At the end of John's vision, he sees the city of Jerusalem come down out of the sky. With it comes the dwelling place of God. God dwells among His people. At the center of this city we find a familiar sight. We see a river and a tree. This is not just any tree. It is the tree of life. The garden from Eden is now the center of the new city of God. There is no temple, because God is now the temple of the people. The glory of YHWH is all people need for light and there is never any night.
This is the ultimate temple. This is creation as it was intended. God and humanity in perfect unison. The people of God worship Him for eternity. This is the temple that everyone in the Bible was seeking. This is the temple that Abraham, Issac, and Jacob wanted. This is the temple that Solomon sought to create. This is the temple that the garden would have become.
When I think of these three temples I am overcome by the greatness of God. Sometimes I think we feel like God is hiding from us. We feel abandoned. Yet these temples remind us that God is previous. God is not hiding. Perhaps we are simply looking in the wrong place. This study of the temples has taught me that to truly understand God, I must look at what He has done in the past. It is in the work of God in my past that I will find His plan for my future.
May you marvel at the forgotten temples. May you see that God is previous. May you learn of the work of God in your past. And may God dwell among His people forever.
Amen.
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