The Temple in the Nation’s Life

GOLDEN TEXT: “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”—Psalm 95:6

BOTH the tabernacle in the wilderness and later the temple were symbols of God’s presence in the midst of Israel. In the most holy of both structures the ark of the covenant reposed, and symbolized God’s presence in these holy places. To the natural-minded Israelites, who lacked faith in the unseen things of God even at the best of times, these outward symbols of his presence no doubt proved to be a great aid in their worship. But even more important, God designed them to be typical of his spiritual temple made up of Jesus and his church.

David was a man of prayer, one who reverenced his God, who evidently spent much time in meditating upon the glories of his character. While the words of the Golden Text are an inspired call to the saints of this Gospel age to worship God in prayer, they doubtless also expressed the true sentiments of David’s own heart. Prayer is an essential element of the Christian’s life, and while no set rule has been laid down by the Lord as to how we should pray, it seems most fitting that on all appropriate occasions we “bow down,” and “kneel before the Lord our Maker.”

With typical Israel the temple was considered the proper place of prayer, but Jesus taught that for his followers the attitude of heart and mind, was more important than the place, that now God is seeking those who worship him “in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23,24) To worship God in truth means to worship him understandingly and in keeping with his plans and purposes. And to be acceptable, this must be done sincerely from the heart—“in spirit.”

EZRA 3:10-13—There was great rejoicing among the returned exiles, who had been away from Judea and in Babylon for seventy years, when the foundations of the new temple were laid. The feelings of emotion were mixed. The “ancient” men, those who remembered the temple which Solomon had built, which had been destroyed when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, wept when they realized that a new temple was to be built. It was a weeping for joy as they contemplated the sins of Israel which had led to the destruction of their temple, and of the mercy of the Lord in restoring them again to their own land and permitting them to build a new temple.

PSALM 84:1, 2—“How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord.” These are beautiful and forceful expressions from the heart of one who was crying out for the living God. But their sincerity and genuineness are best understood in the light of a simple comparison which David makes later in the Psalm. He writes, “I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”—Psalm 84:10

The test of our professions of love for the Lord and his cause is the degree of sacrifice we are willing to make; and deeds, not words, are the only real proof of this. We say that we love the Lord, that we want to serve him, and enjoy fellowship with him. But how are we showing that love? Is it merely a love that we are glad to talk about before the brethren, but fail to demonstrate by self-sacrificing devotion in the service of the Lord?

EZEKIEL 11:16—Here the Lord asks the prophet to assure the Israelites that although they would be scattered throughout all nations, to the faithful among them he would be “as a little sanctuary.” The typical sanctuary was a symbol of God’s presence with Israel, and he wanted them to know that although they would be scattered and their temple destroyed, he would not withdraw his favor from them entirely. And how true this has been! While throughout the dispersion the Israelites suffered as despised and hated people in every nation, they were not entirely cast off from God, for he had promised to remember them and restore them to their own land.

EZEKIEL 37:26-28—This portion of our lesson carries us over into the millennial age, following the final restoration of Israel to the land which he gave to their fathers. We are told that then God will make a covenant with them. This evidently is a reference to the “new covenant” promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Just as there was a tabernacle arrangement associated with the old covenant made at Sinai, so in connection with the new covenant there will also be a sanctuary and a tabernacle.

We are not to suppose, however, that the tabernacle of the next age will be of a material character. No, the meeting place between God and Israel and the entire world of mankind will then be Christ and the church in glory. “The tabernacle of God will be with men,” the Revelator tells us, and through this tabernacle God will dwell with the people.—Rev. 21:3

Then “the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore” Ezekiel 16:61 indicates that the “heathen” shall be joined with Israel in that new covenant. And when that covenant is fully made all mankind will be worshipers of the true God, not in a sanctuary made with hands, but in spirit and in truth.

QUESTIONS:

What is the preferable manner of prayer, and what does it mean to worship God in spirit and in truth?

What is the only genuine proof of our professions of love for the Lord?

In what sense was God a “little sanctuary” to the Israelites during their dispersion?

When will all nations be worshipers of the true God?

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