The Temple of Eternal Israel
The martyr, Stephen (Acts 7:48-50), unwavering in his testimony of Jesus Christ, reminded those who were fixing to stone him to death that God did not live in a house built of human hands. In passionate language he told his persecutors of God’s true dwelling place. He let them know that the Most High does not live in houses made by men and quoted from the Prophet Isaiah, telling them:
Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
Has not my hand made all these things?
With his dying breath, Stephen tried to show his accusers that Almighty God was too great to be confined to a structure of wood and stone, however wondrous it might be.
Stephen knew that God had made his presence known in the physical temples and the tabernacle of Israel over the centuries. But now he understood a truth of great significance, one that caused men to gnash their teeth in anger and stone him. Through faith in Christ Jesus, Stephen had come to realize that God’s desire was to dwell in the hearts of men and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those who believed in Jesus had made this reality. Stephen grasped that the tabernacle and temples of the past had given way to a great revelation of truth. He understood that the physical structures were but a type and shadow of the reality that found fulfillment in Christ Jesus. There would never again be any need for a physical structure to foreshadow the revelation of Christ. Jesus had come and now dwelt in the hearts of men.
Stephen was hardly alone in his revelation. The early Church left us clear record of its deep insight into this matter. Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were God’s temple (1 Cor. 2:16-17) with God’s Spirit living in them. He told them that if anyone destroys that temple, God will destroy him and emphasized that they were that temple. We are that temple today if Christ Jesus lives in us. God has a temple more real than any ever built by human hands. It is built with living stones and Jesus is the chief corner stone whom the builders rejected.
Thus we have no need to look forward to any other temple. Yet some still do not like to hear that God will not make His dwelling place in an edifice constructed by human hands. After all, scripture speaks clearly and in great detail of a temple that some claim has never been built and that is of great importance to God’s people, Israel. Was Stephen wrong? Did Paul lead us astray? Inconceivable! Then what about the description of the temple we find in Ezekiel, beginning with chapter 40?
This magnificent structure, described in meticulous detail, is, quite simply, not one that is built by human hands. Nor is it even a physical structure in any sense commonly understood. By the grace of God, the believer who seeks divine wisdom in searching out the passages relevant to Ezekiel’s temple will find passages deep in metaphor and symbol. Once this is grasped, the connection between the temple of living stones portrayed by Stephen and Paul becomes apparent.
Consider certain passages of scripture, beginning with Ezekiel 43:04-07, by which we know that God Himself, who does not dwell in buildings made of stone, will dwell in this temple forever and forever and forever:
The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile my holy name …
Ezekiel prophesies of a dwelling place that Israel will no more defile. The structures of ancient Israel were defiled many times in various ways. The Messiah had not yet come and man, burdened with a sin nature, brought defilement with him. We are cautioned not to defile the temple of the living God by Paul who told us that we are to flee from unrighteousness because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, the believer is cleansed of all unrighteousness by the power of the blood of Jesus.
The Throne of God
In the passage in Ezekiel, the Lord refers to the place of his throne. Where is God’s throne but in the human heart? This is where God wants to take up residency for all eternity. He is not about to limit himself to man-made projects of sticks and stones. Ezekiel makes it clear that residency in this temple is eternal. No earthly stone work, however sound, lasts forever. The Temple described by Ezekiel does last forever.
The Kingdom of God is within, the King dwells within, and the throne of God is within. Heaven is His throne as the prophet Isaiah tells us.
The River of Life
A stream flows from the temple portrayed in Ezekiel and becomes a great river, too great to pass over. This river has a most unusual characteristic, unlike any river ever seen on earth. This river has healing power. It is living water, a River of Life described in Ezekiel 47:01-12. This scarcely suggests visible temple architecture. It does represent the Kingdom that comes without observation, the Kingdom preached by Jesus.
What a strange sight this would be to the natural eye! A river flows from a temple and becomes so great that no man can pass over it! Yet that is what we have. But when we consider the greatness of God, the unfathomable height and breadth and depth of him, and understand that we can never place God in our understanding — that he will not fit — then perhaps we can glimpse why we cannot pass over this great River.
This same Jesus is the River of Life. All may come and drink freely of this water. All may be healed. There is a River of Life that flows from the throne of God.
Jesus is the architect and builder of this temple. It is no coincidence that he was a carpenter by natural trade; he is still in the construction business. He identified this temple not built by hands when He identified himself as the most significant stone of this majestic building when he revealed (Luke 20:17-18) that he is the stone the builders rejected, the very capstone of this great structure.
Completion of the Temple Approaches
So what temple did Ezekiel see? He saw a temple not built by human hands. He saw a temple that has been under construction for the last two thousand years as God has been fashioning living stones into the building blocks of this majestic structure. This temple is nearing completion. Jesus said that the gospel of the Kingdom and his righteousness will be preached in all of the world and that then the end will come. Soon the last stone will be fitted into place. Soon the Temple will be complete.
But what about the throne within this temple? We are told that Jesus would sit upon the throne of David. Is this the throne from which Christ rules today? Let us examine this matter further.
The Throne of David
Speaking of the Messiah, Isaiah prophesied:
Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:10-11)
Jesus is identified as the Shepherd of Israel. He told us clearly that He came only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. He is the great Pastor of this flock, the Good Shepherd. He is the One who seeks out the lamb that has gone astray. Israel has no other shepherd. Today Jesus comforts his flock by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is also the King of Israel. Kingdoms have but one King and Jesus is our King. King Jesus. What music to our ears! We see mention of our eternal King in Isaiah (44:6):
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Redeemer of Israel. By the blood of the Lamb of God, Israel receives its redemption. Besides Jesus, there is no God, as Isaiah clearly tells us.
Jesus spoke plainly of His Kingdom. Pontius Pilate inquired as to the Kingship of the Lord Jesus and Jesus told him, “My kingdom is not of this world….” My Kingdom! Jesus identified the Kingdom as belonging to Him. He is the King of Israel. This same Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was crucified with a sign mockingly but truly proclaiming Him King of the Jews.
JESUS! Both King and Shepherd of Israel! One Kingdom and one King.
The prophet Ezekiel (34:23-24) also speaks of one shepherd, a prince, who would rule over Israel. The writings of Ezekiel are replete with metaphor and symbol, not unlike the book of Revelation. Ezekiel refers to the one shepherd of Israel as follows:
And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
Ezekiel calls this shepherd David. Who is this servant David of whom the prophet speaks? Is this the beloved King of ancient Israel, David the son of Jesse, who established an earthly Kingdom so many centuries ago? Or is this David but a type and shadow of the David of whom Ezekiel speaks? Should we examine only the apparent surface meaning and look no deeper, or can we recognize the beautiful symbol and metaphor in which scripture is written and respect the poetry of the Master? Hopefully we can clearly see the typology involved here. Let us recall that the author of Hebrews reminds us that the law casts a shadow of good things to come and is not the very image of those things.
Plainly speaking, the term David refers directly to Jesus. It was the Holy Spirit upon David that enabled him to slay the bear, the lion, and Goliath. It was the Spirit of the living Christ that made David ancient Israel’s greatest King. Everything of value accomplished by David was done by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. His obedience to the Spirit of God is what made David a man after God’s own heart. So when we talk about a future rule of David, we are talking about one who rules in the Spirit of David, the Spirit that made David beloved of God. It is the Christ, the very Spirit of Jesus, that made David a righteous ruler. So when scripture speaks of David ruling in the Kingdom, it is talking of a reign by the Spirit that made David the great King he was. It is talking about the King of Israel, the Lord Jesus.
Pertaining to this matter, we find, in the book of Samuel II, the following passage which is of critical importance to our understanding: The prophet Samuel spoke of one who would be of the House of David and who would have a kingdom that would last forever. Obviously no earthly kingdom lasts forever. Yet Samuel prophesied of David (2 Sam 7:12-13):
When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
And again the prophet said (2 Sam 7:16):
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.
Now the earthly kingdom over which David reigned was eventually split and finally destroyed. It was not an eternal kingdom. But the new nation, the Israel of God, purchased by the blood of Jesus of the lineage of David, is an everlasting Kingdom. Its throne is established forever. Samuel told David that the one who would occupy this eternal throne would be of his lineage. By this we know that it cannot be David himself, the ancient king of Israel, who sits on the everlasting throne foretold by the prophets. We must look for another and we find that other in the person of Jesus Christ himself! Considering such matters, we can better see that mention of David by Ezekiel (chapters 34 and 37) is typological reference to Jesus.
Isaiah told us that the Messiah would sit upon the throne of David as ruler in an everlasting Kingdom which would ever increase (Isaiah 9:6-7).
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
The angel Gabriel confirmed that it was Jesus who would sit on the throne of David in a Kingdom without end (Luke 1:32-33):
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
In his first sermon in Acts, Peter makes it abundantly clear that Christ was raised up to sit on the throne of David at his Resurrection and Ascension (Acts 2:29-35):
Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
It is while David was in the grave, as Peter emphasized above, that Christ was exalted to the throne of David, the everlasting throne. Jesus ascended to the throne while David was still asleep. The everlasting Kingdom began with the Resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The Kingdom came without observation. It came in men’s hearts. We pray today for this kingdom to come and should realize it still comes in men’s hearts. We pray that men will receive the Holy Spirit of Grace and be partakers of this great and everlasting Kingdom. We do not await a future kingdom. The Christian will not see death. We will simply shuffle off this mortal coil and enter into greater glory with our fellow believers. Death has been overcome through Christ Jesus. Today we enjoy the Kingdom of God. We enjoy the fruits of His Victory!
The Kingdom Described
Paul told us that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the everlasting Kingdom. The Prince of Peace rules from the throne of David in our regenerate hearts. We do not await another Prince, another Kingdom, or another Covenant. The Everlasting Covenant has been given and the administrator of that Covenant, the Holy Spirit, dwells within our hearts. The Kingdom of God is within and the throne of that Kingdom, the Throne of David, is within.
Jesus Ministers Through Parables
In Christ Jesus, we are Kings and Priests. It is our honor to investigate the questions we have explored together. What a great privilege we have in meditating on His parables! In reading scripture, we hopefully become aware that the same God who gave us the writings of the Old Testament also spoke to us on the shores of Galilee. And He so very often spoke in parable. But if we have wondered why God sometimes uses deep symbol, we are not alone. His early disciples had the same question. They came to him and asked why he spoke to the crowd in parable. He told them that it was given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but made it clear it was not given to everyone. Hardness of heart can block the message so often given in metaphor and parable.
This shows us something important about the teaching method of our God. He frequently speaks in parable. We should not be surprised to find the Old Testament overflowing with parable, metaphor, type, and shadow. In truth, it is rich in parable. It is erroneous teaching that we should always adapt the literal meaning of a passage unless we know beyond any doubt a metaphor is implied. All too often, literal is used in the sense of surface meaning. What we should have in all instances is the mind of God on a matter, the teaching of the Holy Spirit, not a man-made rule for interpreting scripture.
Jesus, Our Teacher
Jesus promised to teach us and to lead us into all truth. We should not rely on man-made methods when we have such a great promise made to us, but should instead prayerfully seek understanding from God as we study scripture and meditate. If we have the mind of Christ on any subject, then we have the true and literal meaning. Good news! Believers are given the mind of Christ!
Some are a bit shy about seeking God as their teacher, just as the children of Israel in Moses’ day were hesitant to approach the quaking mountain in fear of God. Yet in Christ we have a God of pure Love who seeks nothing but our well being. If we ask a fish of our Father, will He give us a serpent? No. But if we ask anything from a regenerate heart, such as understanding what he means in certain passages of scripture, he hears us. And if he hears us, he performs what we ask as we know from 1 John. He wants our understanding to be enlightened. And surely His teachings will always in be accord with the true word that has preceded it.