The Tabernacle in the Wilderness
It is clear from Scripture that God did not dwell on earth before the redemption of Israel out of Egypt. He visited Adam in paradise, and He appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He also revealed Himself to Moses in the desert and at the mount of God. But after the redemption from Egypt the Lord said to Moses, “Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:88And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)). This is really the first mention of a dwelling for God on earth.
The thought of dwelling in the midst of His people came first from God Himself, and this is in harmony with His own purposes of grace in redemption. We read that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:44According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)). In that past eternity God dwelt in the perfection of His own bliss, but in the fullness of His grace He purposed to surround Himself with a redeemed people who should be for His own joy and for the glory of His beloved Son. Gradually His purposes were unfolded in types and shadows, in His ways with Abel, Enoch, Noah and the patriarchs, and finally in the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt. Henceforth they were a redeemed people.
Having now chosen and redeemed a people for Himself, the Lord announces His desire to come and dwell among them. However, while His taking up His abode in the midst of Israel indicated the whole truth of redemption, it was but a shadow of the fulfillment of His entire counsels of grace in eternity. It was only an anticipation of the time when the tabernacle of God (the church, the holy city, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband) shall be with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people (Rev. 21).
The Temple of Solomon
The tabernacle was carried by the children of Israel into Canaan and was pitched in Shiloh. Here it was called “the tabernacle of the congregation” (1 Sam. 2:22), but also “the temple of the Lord” and “the house of the Lord” (1 Sam. 3:3,15). These latter names foreshadowed the house which would later be built in Jerusalem. While the children of Israel were pilgrims, God Himself dwelt in a tent, but when He had established the glory of the kingdom, a house was erected which in some measure should be the expression of His majesty.
As with the tabernacle, the plan of the temple was divinely communicated. Everything that Solomon did and made was in accordance with the instructions he had received. The site itself had been divinely chosen, as well as the design and manner of the building. Though entrusted to human hands to erect, the building was divine, for human thoughts and human conceptions must not intrude themselves into the things of God.
The Temple After the Return From Babylon
The temple of Solomon lasted until its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, and Ezekiel describes the departing of the glory of the Lord from it, even before it was consumed with fire by the Chaldeans. But then after seventy years, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia “to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah” (Ezra 1:22Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (Ezra 1:2)). This house took the place of that which Solomon had built. There were, however, important differences. No cloud or glory of the Lord filled this house, as in the case of the tabernacle and the first temple, and no fire descended from heaven to consume their sacrifices, as with Moses and with Solomon. It is this fact which makes the parallel between this remnant and the church so interesting. The position of this feeble remnant typifies ourselves. God accepted their sacrifices and dwelt in His house, but it was entirely a matter of faith based upon God’s Word. In the same way, the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of those gathered to His name is apprehended only by faith (Matt. 18). But the Lord regarded this as His house, and through the prophet Haggai He identified it with the one it succeeded. The house was but one in the divine mind, and hence God’s habitation equally with Solomon’s temple.
This house existed until the time of Herod the Great, who rebuilt it on a scale of surpassing grandeur and magnificence. It is a most noteworthy fact that, built as this temple was by an alien king, the Lord Himself recognized it as His Father’s house. Not until His rejection by His people did He abandon it. Then He pronounced the sentence, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:3838Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (Matthew 23:38)).
The Church — the House of God
We have traced the history of God’s house from Exodus until the close of the Mosaic dispensation. During the life of our Lord on the earth there were, however, premonitions of the coming change. Speaking to the Jews He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . . But,” the evangelist tells us, “He spake of the temple of His body” (John 2:19,2119Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19)
21But he spake of the temple of his body. (John 2:21)). He said to Peter, moreover, on his confessing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)). If we pass to the day of Pentecost, we see that God commenced then to dwell on earth in a new and a twofold way. The Holy Spirit came down according to the Lord’s word. The effect was that God made His temple by the Spirit in the individual believer (see 1 Cor. 6:19), and He made His habitation with believers collectively, as Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:2222In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)). The house of God, which is the church of the living God, was now formed.
In Acts 2 we have not only the building of God’s house, but also the mode of entrance into it. As to the building of the house, on the day of Pentecost the disciples were all with one accord in one place. The same divine power which had saved them through faith in the Lord Jesus brought them on this day together and put them silently in their appointed places on the one foundation-stone to form the habitation of God on the earth through the Spirit. Thus the building was raised. Others might come in, and would indeed be brought in, to form part of the house — “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (vs. 47) — but still the house of God was built. In this aspect the house of God is always looked upon as complete, although other believers are continually brought in to occupy their appointed places in the building.
The house of God having been built, we find the way very plainly indicated by which souls were to be brought into it. Two things must be done — they were to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They were not only to believe the testimony concerning His death, resurrection and present place at the right hand of God, but they must also be identified with Him in His death. Accepting death for themselves (through baptism), they would thereby, in figure, be dissociated from man and brought upon the ground of association with Christ’s death. Henceforth they would accept for themselves the place of being dead — dead with Christ — in this world. Since this death with Christ is Christian ground, and inasmuch as baptism is the divinely-appointed mode of entrance upon it, there is consequently no other way into the house of God on earth. It was therefore necessary that these Jews should repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Belief in Christ would be produced by the Spirit of God working through the testimony they had heard, while by baptism they would be publicly separated from the nation that had crucified the Lord Jesus. They would from that moment cease to be Jews, and be brought into the house of God.
The House As Built by Man
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul shows the responsibility of God’s workmen in the work entrusted to their care. He says, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (vss. 10-11). Two things will at once strike the reader in contrast with what has been considered previously. First, the Apostle speaks of himself as laying the foundation, and second, he speaks of himself and others as building upon it. This is a very different thing from that contained in the Lord’s words to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” It is this difference which explains the two aspects of the house of God. The work of Christ in building His church must of necessity be perfect. Himself being the foundation, every stone He lays upon it must be a living stone. But as this scripture in 1 Corinthians teaches, He also entrusts the work of building to His servants, and He holds them responsible for the character of their work. Paul can say, “I have laid the foundation,” as he was the first to proclaim the gospel in Corinth, and thus was the means of forming the assembly of God in that city. He had laid the foundation as a wise master-builder, and he warns others as to the manner in which they might build upon it.
The Final Aspect of the Church
The temple in this aspect includes all the saints of God of this dispensation, from the day of Pentecost until the Lord’s return, whereas the house or the habitation of God, as has been before explained, is regarded as complete at any given time. If we turn to Revelation 21 we shall find the same two aspects—the church as the bride of Christ and as the tabernacle (not here the temple) of God. “I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God” (vss. 23). The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and a new heaven and a new earth had come into existence, where righteousness could eternally dwell. The new creation had been consummated. The church as the bride, the Lamb’s wife, now descends upon the new earth, and in connection with this the proclamation is made, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.” On earth it had been His habitation through the Spirit, and now, completed as the temple, it has become His tabernacle for eternity, a special privilege, which the saints of other dispensations are not permitted to share. They surround the tabernacle, and God will bring them into the enjoyment of relationship with Himself and will be their God.
E. Dennett, adapted