Handbook:Temple
From Door43
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| Article Sources: | Easton's Bible Dictionary |
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A temple is a building where people worship their god.
The temple where the Israelites worshiped the Lord God Almighty was located in the city of Jerusalem. It had two main rooms and a courtyard around it. In the courtyard was the altar where sacrifices were made. The first room, called the Holy Place, contained a lampstand, a table with bread on it, and an altar of incense. The inner room, called the Holy of Holies, contained the Ark of the Covenant. The priests and Levites served at the temple, taking care of it, singing and making music to praise the Lord, and helping the people with their sacrifices.
History of the Temple:
1. The first temple - Solomon's. When the Israelites left Egypt and were moving from place to place in the wilderness, God gave them instructions for setting up a tabernacle, a sort of movable temple, as the place for worshiping Him. After they had conquered the land of Caanan and they had kings ruling over them, King David wanted to build a real temple for the worship of God. But God told him that his son Solomon was the one to build it (1 Chronicles 22:2-10). The building of the temple is described in (1 Kings 5-9). It was a very beautiful building, and brought much praise to the Lord. Both the tabernacle and the temple had the same basic floor plan (seen above). The temple that Solomon built was destroyed by the Babylonians when they conquered Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:8-17).
2. The second temple. When the time came for the exile of the Israelites in Babylon to end, God motivated Cyrus, the King of Persia who was the new ruler in Babylon, to have the temple rebuilt (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). So the Jews returned from the exile in Babylon and built a new temple. See the book of Ezra.
3. The third temple - Herod's. The temple that was in Jerusalem at the time of Christ was a new one built by King Herod. The second temple had become old and in need of repair, and King Herod had a new one built. It was huge and very beautiful, but Jesus himself said that it would soon be destroyed (Luke 21:6). This happened about 40 years later, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.
4. There has not been a temple in Jerusalem since that time, but many Bible students think that another will be built before the end of the world comes. (See, for example, Daniel 11:31 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4.)
The temple of God Today:
The Bible teaches that believing Christians are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Also, the church is referred to as the temple of God (Ephesians 2:19-22).
A Temple in Heaven:
The Bible refers to a temple in heaven in the book of Revelation, see for example Revelation 11:19. However, in the eternal city, the New Jerusalem, there will be no temple, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus) are its temple (Revelation 21:22).
