Scriptures: John 2:13-22, John 4:1-26, Ephesians 2:14-18, Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9
Not only do the objects in the temple point to Jesus, in John 2 Jesus reveals that his body is the temple. When the religious leaders demanded a sign of Jesus’ authority he answered them, “’Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ 20 They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (John 2:19-21). Jesus was pointing the religious leaders to Zechariah 6, which we studied on Day 2, declaring that his authority comes from his identity as the Branch who rebuilds the temple. The temple built by the Branch would not be a physical building confined to Jerusalem, but one that branches out to fill the whole earth. How? Through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection on the third day, the foundation was laid for the third temple, the corporate Body of Christ where God’s presence dwells by his Spirit in us. For it is “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” that God’s temple is built (Zechariah 4:6).
Jesus revealed to the Samaritan woman at the well, “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Jesus’ purpose in coming was to make a way for us to come to the Father and worship him in the Spirit and in truth forever. The Samaritans were mad at the Jews because they insisted that God had to be worshipped at the temple in Jerusalem, which was true, while they worshipped on a mountain in Samaria. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21). By allowing the physical temple to be removed and replaced with Jesus’ body, God put an end to that hostility and made a way for all to enter his presence anywhere on earth.
In his body, Jesus not only put an end to the hostility between the Jews and Samaritans over the location of the temple, but also ended the division between Jews and Gentiles. Ephesians 2:14-18 tells us Jesus “has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the law and temple-based purity laws by shedding his blood to cleanse us from sin so we could have access to God’s presence by his Spirit within us, thus doing away with the need for the laws that formerly separated Jews from Gentiles. God had declared certain people and objects unclean in the law of Moses but revealed to Peter in Acts 10 that he has now made them clean by Jesus. It’s inner purity God wants.
In Amos 9:11, God promises to restore the fallen tabernacle of David. Up until the time the first temple was built by David’s son, Solomon, the people worshiped in the tabernacle of Moses. However, God says it’s the tabernacle of David he will restore because David established Levitical worship and wrote many of the Psalms used in worship. 1 Chronicles 16:4 tells us “He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel.” David’s highest priority was to minister to the Lord, to worship him in the Spirit and in truth. The tabernacle was a movable tent structure that centered around worship. The church is not a building, like a temple, but is made of movable tabernacles who carry God’s presence and worship both individually and corporately.
Psalm 69:9 points to the Son of David, Jesus, as one who declares, “zeal for your house consumes me.” Jesus cleansed the temple of corruption and taught us to pursue inner purity, hunger for God’s righteousness, pray with perseverance, and draw near in our hearts in worship. What does it mean to worship in truth? Jesus revealed the Father to us. When we worship Jesus, we worship the Father in truth. When we read what the Word says and respond in obedience, we worship God in truth. When we praise and give thanks to God for who he is in Scripture and who he is to us, we worship in truth.
How then do we worship in the Spirit? By yielding our lives to the Spirit and responding to each revelation he gives us with worship and obedience. When we wait on the Lord in worship and listen for his leading, then follow him, we worship in Spirit. We ask, “Lord, how can I honor you today?” If the Spirit tells us to lift our hands, we lift our hands. If he prompts us to kneel, we kneel. He may tell us to sing or to be quiet and listen to his voice. He may prompt us to give an offering or to be still and receive. He leads us to praise God, to intercede, to fulfill the priestly functions as we abide in Jesus, the Temple.
Revelation 1:6 declares that God has made us to be a kingdom of priests. This echoes God’s call to Israel in Exodus 19:6, “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God expands this call of priesthood to all believers because God’s temple is Jesus, and we are in him. Just as the priests had to tend to the fire on the altar so that it would never go out, we keep the fire of our love for God hot by spending time in prayer, meditation on scripture, and worship in the Holy Place of our hearts. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Just as the priests offered intercession for the people, we go before the Lord to intercede for others. The altar of incense was in front of the ark of the covenant above which God’s presence dwelled in the tabernacle of Moses and later the temple in Jerusalem. We see this altar in Revelation as a representation of intercession. “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne” (Revelation 8:3). The altar of incense had to be fueled by coals from the altar of sacrifice. When Aaron’s sons tried to use different coals, God struck them dead. This temple object points to and is fulfilled by Jesus because it is the sacrifice of Jesus that empowers our prayers and intercession.
In John 16:23-24 Jesus tells his disciples, “Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” We come before God to intercede for others and ask for what we need to carry out God’s will in Jesus’ name, on the authority of Jesus’ sacrifice. Our intercession is empowered by the intercession of Jesus who is in heaven, interceding for us. “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous” (1 John 2:1). Jesus is our High Priest who intercedes for us. When we abide in his Body, God’s temple, we also become priests who intercede. As a kingdom of priests, we minister to God through worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Response:
Today, I invite you to apply what we’ve learned to go deeper in worship of the Lord. Whenever I feel like I’m having a hard time hearing the Lord, I mentally progress through the tabernacle to draw near to God. This is not a formula you have to use, but when I feel stuck I have found that it unlocks my ability to hear and receive from the Lord. If you need to connect with him today, I encourage you to try it! Every step is found in scripture; I’m simply connecting the steps using the tabernacle structure as the way to the Father through Jesus.
As a priest in the body of Jesus, God’s Temple, visualize yourself progressing through the temple in worship, being led by the Spirit. Yield to the Spirit every step of the way and he will lead you.
- Enter his gates with thanksgiving for what God has done and praise God for who he is (Creator, Redeemer, Father, etc.), worshipping in truth.
- Pause at the altar to praise Jesus for his sacrifice to cleanse you with his blood. If needed, apply the blood by asking and receiving God’s forgiveness for any sin the Holy Spirit brings to mind. (Jesus said in John 16 that the sin of the world is unbelief, so repent of any areas of unbelief.) Ask Jesus to cleanse your conscience of all guilt and shame so you can enter God’s presence with joy.
- Go to the wash basin to be washed in the Living Water of any dirt that’s gotten on you by forgiving those who have offended you. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring people to mind you need to forgive.
- Now go into the Holy Place to the lampstand and invite Jesus, the Light, to illuminate you. Ask him to fill you with the oil of the sevenfold Spirit of God. Jesus promised we would receive if we ask!
- Enjoy communion with Jesus, the Bread of God’s Presence as you feast on his Word, asking the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind the scriptures you need to meditate upon today. (You can take the communion elements, but the word communion simply means connection and fellowship with Jesus, abiding in him as his words abide in you.)
- Bring your needs to Jesus who intercedes at the incense altar, asking God to meet your needs in Jesus’ name. Cast all your cares on him, believing that he cares for you. Then ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind anything he wants you to pray for.
- Offer worship before God’s throne as a fragrant offering. Worship can be singing a song the Holy Spirit brings to mind, speaking the psalms to God, or simply telling God why you love him. “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4-5).
- After you have presented your needs and worshipped God, be still before the Lord and wait for him to speak. I find it works best to simply ask, “Lord, what do you want me to know today?” When we wait, expecting God to speak, yielded in our spirit so that we will receive whatever he says without offense, he will tell us what he wants us to know. He may drop a word into your spirit like, “Peace,” or bring a picture to your mind. When he does, say, “Thank you, Lord. Show me more.” Then wait for more. Isaiah says that when we wait upon the Lord our strength is renewed.
