What is in the Temple?

 Zerubbabel's Temple Dedication

There was something missing from all the temples in Jerusalem after Solomon's temple was destroyed; the indwelling presence of God. What good is a temple without God's presence? It became a place of sacrificing animals and rituals, but also a place of prayer.

Ezra 6:16  And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,

Ezra 6:17  And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
Ezra 6:18  And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.

 Compare this to the dedication of Solomon's temple.

 

2 Chr 7:5  And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

2 Chr 7:6  And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

 

2 Chr 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Zerubbabel's temple was smaller and did not have the Ark of the Covenant which was the place of the presence of God's Spirit. The Ark was destroyed or missing and according to Ezekiel the presence of God had left the Ark and the temple, before it was destroyed by the Chaldean's because of the idolatry of God's people.

 

Ezek 10:18  Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.
Ezek 10:19  And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD'S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

Ezek 11:23  And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

 

The glory of God went to the place where Jesus would ascend up into the clouds. This is the very place where Jesus would return again according to Zechariah's prophecy.

 

Zec 14:4  And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

What purpose is a temple without the presence of God? It became a place of rituals. Animals were killed to cover the sins of the people. They kept a Sabbath and the feasts, these were outward rituals.  I can imagine that there are churches and synagogues today that are just places of rituals; religion without the presence of God's spirit. How could they bring the presence of God back to the temple? Jesus answered this question when he was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.

 

John 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Seek the truth in the rituals, read the scriptures, they are where God speaks to us. He also inhabits our worship and praise. The spirit of God no longer dwells in a box, God has left the Ark here on earth. He is not in a temple made by hands, he is in his creation, but more importantly he now is in the temples of our bodies through the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ by faith, we receive his grace. When he departed from our presence, he sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to be the presence of God in the temples of our bodies. The Spirit loves the Word of God and praise to God He also helps us to pray in the will of God in words or in groanings not understood. Yes the presence of God has returned, not to a house made with hands, but in the temple of your body, if you are in Christ Jesus. We meet together, this is church. We together are the church and the presence of God.

Jesus cleanses the temple

  

John 2:13  And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
John 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
John 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
John 2:16  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
John 2:17  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

 

Psa 69:9  For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

 

Yes, he was zealous for the house of the LORD and his presence. All the selling and business as usual was going on in the court of the Gentiles. This is where the Gentiles came to pray and to seek God for they were not allowed inside the temple. I have mentioned before that so much of what the world sees of the church is the merchandising. It seems to be that the pleas for money and the selling of books, with distorted messages, is what the inquiring seekers see. The gospel came to us without charge and should be given to the world without charge. Business as usual with all the things in the way of worship was the way it was then and it upset the Lord. Soon the reproaches of the religious leaders would fall on him and he would suffer on the cross and shed his blood for our sins. If we knew that our time was short, would we be seeking to worship and pray to him without distractions?

 

Mat 21:13  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Isa 56:1  Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
Isa 56:2  Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isa 56:3  Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
Isa 56:4  For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
Isa 56:5  Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
Isa 56:6  Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Isa 56:7  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.Isa 56:8  The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

 

Two evidences that the Gentile was seeking the God of Israel were the keeping of the Sabbath, which was the the sign of the Covenant with Israel and they had to go to the temple, the court of the Gentiles. For the temple was the only place where God was to be in their presence. Also to be a Jew, they had to be circumcised in the flesh. After the cross we come to Jesus by faith and God comes into our circumcised, clean hearts, that he has made clean by his shed blood. The Gentiles were not required to be circumcised in the flesh, they were not told to keep a Saturday sabbath in the New Testament after Jesus was raised on the first day. Church was wherever two or more gathered together in his name. We are told to assemble ourselves together in a local assembly. We need to gather together for all the gifts of the Spirit to be ministered to the body of Christ.

 

Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.