KC Tsai—Toronto, Canada

Editor's note: In part one, we discovered that God first chose Shiloh as the dwelling place in which He established His name, where the Israelites would gather to worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord. This centralized organization would ensure that the faith could be preserved and passed down, unadulterated, to the next generations. However, because Israel became spiritually corrupt, God forsook Shiloh—a situation which prefigured the departure of the Holy Spirit from the apostolic church. In this concluding part, we see how, despite man’s failings, God’s desire to dwell among men will be fulfilled.

ENTER JERUSALEM

Since the time of Eli’s death, when the ark of covenant was captured by the Philistines and God departed from the tabernacle in Shiloh, Israel no longer had a center of faith in which to worship God (1 Sam 4:1, 18; Ps 78:60–61; Jer 7:12–15). But because of David’s faithfulness, God would once again have a dwelling place among His people: Jerusalem would become the city of the great King (Mt 5:35).

It was here that Solomon built the temple of God, according to his father’s instructions. When the temple was completed, the priests carried the ark of God from the stronghold of Zion into the new structure. It was then that the glorious light of God filled the temple, such that the priests who were consecrated to serve the Lord could not continue ministering.

In that moment, the Holy Spirit moved Solomon to recall God’s promise to David:

“Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.” (2 Chr 6:5–6)

After Shiloh, the temple at Jerusalem became the choice of God. And God promised to fulfill Solomon’s request, made during the temple’s dedication, to hear the prayers made in this place:

“Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.” (2 Chr 7:15–16)

It was in Jerusalem that God taught the people and led them in their faith, where He enabled them to serve and draw near to Him. This city became the center of worship, where the people would come to observe the three main festivals every year. And no matter where they may be, the people would face Jerusalem during their prayers, believing that God would hear them when they pray in this manner (2 Chr 6:20–21, 34–35; Dan 6:10; Ps 5:7).

God established Jerusalem for the sake of David, a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22; 1 Kgs 15:4). But the majority of the kings who came after David did not abide by the teachings of God. The faith of the people became insincere—outwardly, they would worship at the temple, but inwardly they had idols in their hearts (Jer 7:8–11). When Israel was later divided into the northern and southern kingdoms, in 930 BC, the nation of Judah still had Jerusalem. But on the eve of Judah’s capture by the Babylonians, God pronounced this warning through Jeremiah:

“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.  And now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. (Jer 7:12–14).

God had decided to depart, once again, from His dwelling place among men—the physical temple at Jerusalem.

Teaching 5: The Need to Understand God

In the Bible, we see how God’s chosen people had God’s favor, but failed to keep it. He gave up Shiloh and Jerusalem, and also departed from the apostolic church established through the early (autumn) rain of the Holy Spirit. Through these events, God is teaching His church today to understand His heart, to know this gracious, loving God who abides by His covenant. We know what He esteems and what He abhors, as well as the consequences of men not abiding by the covenant. From the failure of the elect, we learn that it is imperative for us to abide daily by the new covenant, established by the Lord Jesus’ blood, into which we have entered. Only through pursuing a life of faith pleasing to God will we be able to enjoy His enduring love and grace.

SCATTERED AMONG THE LANDS

Before the Israelites entered the promised land, God reiterated the instructions that the people should follow. This was to remind them that they were the people of God, and if they obey His commands and abide by His laws in the promised land, they would be blessed; otherwise, they would be cursed (Deut 27:9–28:68). The ultimate punishment for disobedience would be exile among the peoples of the earth (Deut 28:64).

As the Israelites achieved victory after victory and claimed the land of Canaan for themselves, the idea of being scattered among the nations must have seemed a distant threat. But as time wore on, and the faithfulness of the people waxed and waned, that threat became more of a distinct possibility. In the final days before Judah fell to the Babylonians, Prophet Jeremiah repeatedly warned of the ensuing punishment (Jer 15:4; 24:9; 29:18; 34:17). But even he was unprepared for the horrors he witnessed when the prophecy came to pass. As the armies of Babylon massacred and looted Jerusalem, tore down the city wall, burned the temple, and captured the people, Jeremiah understood that Babylon was merely God’s tool. It was God who personally tore down His city and His temple (Lam 2:1–8).

“I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.” (Jer 24:9)

This was the beginning of the diaspora of the Jews—the result of forsaking the covenant they made in the land of Moab (Deut 28:36–37). But no one could have predicted that, through this, God was actually paving the way of salvation for all nations.

Since the Jews were removed from their homeland, they were no longer able to make their journey of “ascension” to Jerusalem for worship. But in exile, the Jews began to pray towards the city of the great King. The first Jewish synagogue was established in about the 2nd century BC, followed by synagogues throughout Gentile lands. They were like oases in the desert, where the Jews could congregate to sing hymns and pray towards Jerusalem, thus bringing to pass the supplication of Solomon (2 Chr 6:36–39).

Teaching 6: The Church in the Hearts of Men

Today we serve God in spirit and in truth; we no longer need to face Jerusalem in prayer. In retrospect, when the elect lost their footing (Rom 11:11), it did not deplete the glory of God, or hinder His salvation grace. In fact, God often brings forth His higher will amid the failures of men. Through the rebellion, exile and diaspora of the elect, God brought His dwelling place, in which He has chosen to establish His name, out of Jerusalem.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (Jn 4:21–23)

God’s dwelling place among men is no longer the physical temple in Jerusalem, nor is it of the world. Rather, God has chosen to establish His name and His dwelling place in the hearts of men.

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. (1 Cor 6:19–20)

THE INTER-TESTAMENTAL YEARS

In this ever-changing world, God is silently preparing a path for the gospel to reach all nations. Prior to His sending of Paul and other workers to testify of God’s grace to the Gentile nations, God planted Jewish synagogues wherever the Jews settled. These synagogues became evangelism strongholds for His servants. He also prepared a common language—Greek, which was the lingua franca throughout the Alexandrian and Roman empires—so that they would not encounter a language barrier when preaching. At the same time, Gentile believers were learning to observe the Sabbath and principles of God through the recitation of the Scriptures in the Jewish synagogues throughout the land (Acts 15:19–21).

When the Holy Spirit sent Barnabas and Paul from Antioch, their path had already been prepared. They entered the synagogues in the Gentile lands to share and discuss the gospel of the kingdom of God. When they were rejected by the Jews, they would turn to the Gentiles, and expound the truth in their shared language—Greek.

UNFATHOMABLE GRACE

If we look to the beginning of the Israelite faith—the calling of Abraham—we can see just how unfathomable God’s wisdom and grace are. God promised Abraham, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3b). This very promise was quoted by Peter to the Jews—the physical descendants of Abraham—to testify of Jesus (Acts 3:25). It was also later quoted by Paul to the Gentile believers—the spiritual descendants of Abraham—to affirm the truth of justification by faith (Gal 3:8–9).

During the stretch of history encompassing the physical descendants of Abraham and the spiritual descendants of Abraham, countless mistakes have been committed by the elect of God. The Old Testament Israelites disobeyed God and committed idolatry; the New Testament Jews nailed Christ to the cross; the apostolic church abandoned the teachings of the kingdom of God. Yet, God’s promise to Abraham at the beginning was, and is, fulfilled.

Throughout the Old Testament, God repeated the promise that all nations would be blessed, proclaiming it to Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets (Gen 26:2–4; 28:14; Deut 32:43; Isa 2:2–3; 56:6–7; Mic 4:1–2). But judging by the spiritual state of God’s people, the fulfillment of these prophecies seemed far from possible. Who could have known that the events which revealed the darkest hearts of men—the betrayal and crucifixion of the innocent Christ—would bring about the hope of their redemption through the shedding of blood?  Up until the church was established by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, this mystery of how the blessing of God would come to all nations was hidden in God, but now the unsearchable wisdom and riches of God are manifested to man through the church (Eph 3:8–9).

When one views the works of God from this broad perspective, it invariably causes one to tremble in awe. Not only did He proclaim, well in advance, that all nations would be blessed through Abraham—through Abraham’s descendants—He was able to fulfill this prophecy through the failure of His chosen people! The path of salvation is plotted inextricably throughout the complex history of humankind.

THE TEMPLE OF GOD

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph 2:19–22)

God chose not to dwell in the physical temple, built by man’s hand, because the people within it did not serve Him single-mindedly. During that time, the Jewish people came to worship at the temple in the name of God, but in their daily lives they stole, murdered, committed adultery, swore falsely, burned incense to Baal, and walked after other gods (Jer 7:9–10). Eventually, God allowed the Babylonians to destroy the temple of Solomon in 586 BC. The second temple, the rebuilding of which was led by Zerubbabel, was also destroyed—burned by the Romans in AD 70.

The Lord Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews did not understand, saying, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (Jn 2:19–21). The Bible states that Jesus was actually speaking about the temple of His body.

The physical temples were destroyed by the Babylonians and the Romans, yet the Lord Jesus said it was the Jews who “destroyed this temple.” Indeed, although the temple was destroyed physically by foreign invaders, spiritually, the temple was destroyed by the Jews through their unfaithfulness and their breaking of the covenant. But God is able to accomplish His even more beautiful will through the failures of man. Through the destruction of the physical temple, He established the spiritual temple, which is His body, the saved true church. This is the dwelling place where He truly wants to establish His name.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor 3:16–17)

You are this temple! When believers who serve God in one accord gather to worship Him, they embody the temple of God. The spirit of God dwells within the church of God, He fills her with the Holy Spirit, and personally guides her forward. The Holy Spirit also shepherds the saints within the church, guides divine work, punishes wrongdoings (Acts 5:1–11), sends forth workers (Acts 13:1–4), and even alters their work plans (Acts 16:6–10). The church which is filled and personally led by the Holy Spirit is the biblical true church—the dwelling place of God, where He will place His name for ever.