“Bethel” The House of God, Solomon’s temple, the Restoration and the True Temple

EARLY SANCTUARIES

In Shechem “the Lord appeared unto Abraham . . . and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, Who appeared unto him.”1 Between Bethel and Hai he pitched his tent, ” and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.”2 Returning from the land of Egypt he came ” unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first.”3 Similarly Isaac, having come to Beer-sheba, “builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord.”4 When the covenant was renewed to Jacob, he too sought to sanctify the place where God had appeared to him : ” How dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And he called the name of that place Beth-el.”5 When he returned from his sojourn with Laban, it was to Beth-el that God sent him, instructing him to make an altar, and call the place El-beth­el, ” because there God appeared unto him.”6HE desire to worship and the desire for a place of worship are among the most deep-rooted instincts of the human race. Right from the earliest times, even in Patri­archal days, such feelings are clearly mani­fested. This is noticeably so in the cases where God revealed Himself to those who were strangers in a land not their own.

These early sanctuaries, nothing more than an altar of stones or a memorial pillar, repre­sent the expression of the desire to fix and localise the place where God might be found. The places themselves became in subsequent days centres of worship, the ” high places ” in which incense was burned and sacrifices were offered.

THE TABERNACLE

It was not until the giving of the Law from Sinai, however, that God gave instruction to His people concerning the erection and use of a sanctuary. To Moses God said, ” Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”7 This structure was named the Tabernacle of the Congregation, or the Tent of Meeting. It was both a meet­ing place and a dwelling. ” And there will I meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.”8 ” And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.”9 This sancti­fication of a place of meeting was conditional upon the obedience of the people. When they transgressed in the worship of the calf, God forsook them. ” I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people.”10 This forsaking was illustrated to the people by the action of Moses in taking the Tabernacle (a temporary tent) and pitch­ing it without the camp.11 It was only after the intercession of Moses that the Presence was restored and God consented once more to dwell among His people. The Tabernacle was built ” after the pattern which was showed thee in the mount,”12 and was sancti­fied by the covering cloud, ” and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.”13

In spite of the visible glory and the sancti­fying presence of God in their midst, the people were still idolaters at heart. Amos revealed that although they brought the appointed offerings to the Tabernacle, they carried with them their secret shrines and household gods which their own hands had made.14 Thus, in spite of their great privileges, and the ” Bethel ” in their midst, their carcases fell in the wilderness and they entered not into the promised land.

AFTER THE CONQUEST

When they entered into the land under Joshua, the Tabernacle was erected at Shiloh,15 and there the people brought their offerings and worshipped.16 The priesthood had become corrupt in the days of Eli, and because of the wickedness of his sons judg­ment was pronounced upon his house. Israel also had departed from God, and the Ark of God was taken in battle.17 The history passes over in silence the fate of the Tabernacle itself, but from the prophets we learn that some terrible catastrophe overtook the holy place at Shiloh, so that for ever after it became an example of the judgment of God upon the unfaithful.15

When the Ark was restored from the land of the Philistines and David had brought it home to Jerusalem, it was housed in a tent erected for the purpose in the city.19 David”s plan to build a house for the Lord was com­mended by Nathan the prophet, but the sub­sequent word from the Lord which the prophet was given to reveal to David, places the emphasis differently.20 A careful reading of the chapter will make it clear that it was not David who was building a house for God, but that God would build a house for David. In effect God said to David,

” Who are you to build Me a house? Have I not appointed for Myself a tent? Did I ever reprove Israel for not building Me a house of cedar? Have not I exalted you from shepherd to king, subdued your enemies, made you great, and given you rest?”

Although David’s motive was approved by God, his intended action was not. It was God who was building the house and it was not David, but David”s seed, of whom it was said ” I will be his father and he shall be My son ” through whom the house was to be established.

SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

In his charge to Solomon, David applied these words to his son and added the warn­ing that the prosperity promised was condi­tional on his obedience to the Lord his God.21 In his prayer at the dedication of the house, Solomon declared ” I have built an house of habitation for Thee, and a place for Thy dwelling for ever.”22 His prayer was heard, and God indicated His acceptance of the house. ” I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice.”23 The promise was conditional upon the faithfulness of king and people, as God further declared : ” But if ye turn away . . . then . . . this house, which I have sanctified for My name, will I cast out of My sight . . . And this house which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it.” 24

Within thirty-four years of the consecration of the house, it was spoiled by Shishak, king of Egypt. He ” took away the treasures of the House of the Lord, and the treasures of the king”s house; he took all : he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.”5 Depending on the character of the king who ruled, the house was either neglected and allowed to fall into decay, or it was restored and re-consecrated, until finally Nebuzar-adan ” burnt the house of the Lord, and the king”s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man”s house burnt he with fire.26 Thus the warning given to Solomon was literally fulfilled—the faithlessness of the nation brought about the destruction of the house.

THE RESTORATION

The proclamation of Cyrus and the sub­sequent return of a few of the captives re­sulted in the rebuilding of the house, but not according to its original splendour The mixed feelings with which the foundation was viewed is described to us in the book of Ezra.27 At the same time the prophet Haggai spoke of the glory to come in connection with this house : ” The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former saith the Lord of Hosts.”28 During the troublous times that followed the Persian period when the kings of the north and south fought each other on the battle ground of Israel, the house was desecrated by the notorious Antiochus Epiphanes and subsequently re­dedicated after the victories of the Macca­bees. The magnificent structure built by Herod the Great, which was begun in B.C.20 and completed in A.D.26, was regarded by the Jews as one and the same with the pre­vious structure, although nothing of the original fabric remained.

JESUS AND THE TEMPLE

It was to this house that the ” glory” came, seen by those who were ready to hear, but rejected by the nation as a whole. When his attention was drawn by the disciples to the magnificent stones and goodly gifts with which the house was adorned, Jesus replied, ” Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” And so it came to pass that not forty years later armies of Rome besieged the city, massacred and en-slaved the inhabitants, and burned and destroyed the Temple

Before this happened, however, they had attempted to destroy another temple, as Jesus had foretold. But the temple of his body was not to be destroyed; it was a house of God”s building, and was to be filled with glory. This figure is not limited to Jesus himself, as is abund­antly clear from the many New Testament allusions. Indeed, it had already been plainly declared by the prophet, as Stephen reminded his hearers, that ” the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”29 “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool,” God had declared, ” Where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest?” The question does not remain unanswered. ” To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a con­trite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”30

THE TRUE TEMPLE

As Jesus revealed to the woman at the well, the question of the location of the true temple was no longer of any consequence. From then on, worship was to be sanctified not by a house made with hands, but was to be offered ” in spirit and in truth ” through ” an high priest who is set on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”31 Consequently, those who thus worship become themselves a temple, a house of God, a Beth-el. ” Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? . . . the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”32 ” Ye are the temple of the living God : as God hath said,

“I will dwell in them, and walk in them and I will be their God, and they shall be My people . ” 33

There are still conditions attaching to this high privilege : “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”34 Those who comprise this house ” are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord . . . for an habitation of God . . .“35

The gracious promise ” to him that over­cometh ” is to be ” a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.”36 When John saw in vision the Holy City, New Jerusalem, he saw “no temple therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” 37 When that glad day dawns, there will be no need for a temple made with hands, for the dwelling place of God will be with men and in men who have been redeemed.

It remains but to notice the warning. The Tabernacle sanctified by the glory of God was nevertheless destroyed : the Temple of Solomon in which God condescended to be served was desecrated and burned with fire : the great and magnificent edifice of Herod fell before the Roman armies, the temple of the Holy Spirit seen in the first century eventually was given over to blaspheming apostasy. The reason in each case was the same—the faithlessness of the worshippers. Lest the like fate overtake us, let us heed the warning of the apostle :

” Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.”38

References

  1. Gen. 12:7.
  2. Gen. 12:8.
  3. Gen. 13:4.
  4. Gen. 26:25.
  5. Gen. 28:17, 19.
  6. Gen. 35:7.
  7. Exod. 25:8.
  8. Exod. 29:43.
  9. Exod. 29:45.
  10. Exod. 33:3.
  11. Ex 33:7.
  12. Exod. 25:40.
  13. Exod. 40:34.
  14. Amos 5:25.
  15. Josh. 18:1.
  16. I Sam. 1:3.
  17. I Sam. 4:11.
  18. Psa. 78 : 60 Jer. 7 : 12, 26 : 6.
  19. 2 Sam. 6:17.
  20. 2 Sam. 7:1-11.
  21. 1 Chr. 22:13.
  22. 2 Chr. 6.2.
  23. 2 Chr. 7: 12.
  24. 2 Chr. 7:20, 21.
  25.  2 Chr. 12:9.
  26. 2 Kings 25:9.
  27. Ezra 3:12, 13.
  28.  Hag. 2:9.
  29. Acts 7:48.                         ,
  30. Isa. 66:1, 2.
  31. Heb. 8:2.
  32. I Cor. 3:16, 17.
  33. 2 Cor. 6:16.
  34. Heb. 3:6.      ,
  35. Eph. 2:20, 22.
  36. Rev. 3:12.
  37. Rev. 21:22.
  38. Heb. 3:12, 14.