Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? I Corinthians 3:16 NKJV
According to Jewish history, the tabernacle, also known as the Tent of the Congregation, was the portable earthly dwelling place of Yahweh used by the children of Israel from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instructed at Mount Sinai to construct and transport the tabernacle with the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness and their subsequent conquest of the Promised Land.
After 440 years, Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem superseded it as the dwelling-place of God. That temple suffered several onslaughts from external aggression including one by Shoshenq I, Pharaoh of Egypt a few decades after it was built, Senacherib King of Assyria in 700 BCE and was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, when they sacked the city.
In 538 BCE, after the fall of the Babylonian Empire the year before, a second temple construction was started. The history of this second one is long but it was the same temple that Jesus worshipped in his day – Herod’s Temple. (See more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem?wprov=sfla1).
The Tabernacle and/or Temple held a special place in Jewish history and religion – the temple was the center of Jewish worship with sacrifice playing an important, even crucial, role within ancient Judaism; it was the site of several events in the life of Jesus; the Herodian Temple was again the centre of Israelite life. It was not only the focus of religious ritual but also the repository of the Holy Scriptures and other national literature and the meeting place of the Sanhedrin, the highest court of Jewish law during the Roman period. These importance were a carryover of the reverence ascribed to the tabernacle of Moses and a direct reflection of the instructions of the Jewish God.
A temple is an edifice or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity or deities, any place regarded as holding a religious presence, a house of worship, among other definitions.
Two things are common with the Jewish tabernacle or temple: (1). They must be built following the strict specifications of God (Exodus 159) so also is the use of it(Exodus 28:43). (2). Usually, a temple is dedicated to the deity it is to serve. This, also, was the case with the Jewish tabernacle or temple (Exodus 29:43-44; 1 Kings 8 & 2 Chronicles 2:4). Whenever a building is dedicated to a deity, it is believed that the deity takes up residence in that building – making it his/it’s temple. This is so with our God. There are many scriptures to buttress the points above but the goal is not to drawn you with many scriptures.
Today’s meditation, tells us that I AM THE TEMPLE OF GOD and the dwelling place of His Spirit. How so? What changed? Let me show with scriptures what changed.
God decided long ago He will no longer dwell in human temples according to Acts 7:48 – 49: “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? (See also Acts 17:24).
He had earlier proclaimed His intention to “pour out His Spirit upon all flesh” in Joel 2:28-29 which He fulfilled in the day of Penticost (Acts 2:1-4, 16-18). For that to happen, the old temple needed to be decommissioned. This was what happened when the veil that separated the holy of holies from the outer court in the temple (made by hands) was torn from top to bottom. This happened just as Christ was cruxified (Matthew 27:51,Mark 15;38, Like 23:35).
Today, God dwells in th hearts of godly men who have welcomed Him into their hearts by welcoming Jesus Christ His son (Revelations 3:20). As a living temple of God, the rules that applies to temple must apply to us; i.e, we must be dedicated to Him before He can dwell in us. This is what we do at new birth when we invite Jesus into our hearts or surrender our lives to Him following which we must present our bodies to Him (Romans 12:1).
The next rule is the rule of use. We must use the body (temple of God) strictly as He commands. “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (I Corinthians 3:17).
I Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
By TCP Whyte. The Bible Teacher.
Whyteworld Veritas Project 