The significance of temple and tabernacle cannot be understated. The theme runs right through the biblical story. It describes the place(s) where God dwells with his people. In The Temple and the Tabernacle: a Study of God's Dwelling places from Genesis to Revelation, J. Daniel Hays traces the theme of God's presence with His people from Creation ('God's garden temple') to the New Heaven and New Earth of Revelation 21-22 (where God dwells with his people on earth as it is in heaven).

Hays walks us through this material chronologically (though he saves Ezekiel's prophetic temple vision in Ezekiel 40-48 until his discussion of the eschatology in his 'New Testament' chapter). Hays notes God's presence with (or absence from) His people throughout the biblical narrative. The Garden of Eden in Genesis 1-2 describes a 'garden Temple' where God dwells with his people. When Adam and Eve's sin cause them to be evicted from the garden, they fell cut off from God.

Between humanity's eviction from the garden and the building of the tabernacle, God does sometimes meet with his people and promise to dwell with them (i.e. his Covenant with Abraham, meeting Moses at the burning bush and Israel at Sinai); however the tabernacle becomes a portable dwelling for God's presence, so that God would be with his people all along the wilderness way. Hays describes the physical features of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant that dominate the latter half of Exodus. He describes the architecture, design and significance of each item or tabernacle feature. The Israelite's gave generously and willfully to construct the tabernacle and when it was finished, God's presence fills the tabernacle(59).

Hays chapter on Solomon's temple describes a different dynamic entirely. He eschews a shallow surface reading of the Solomon story that treats him as a mostly good king who loses his way toward the end of his life. There are troubling aspects of Solomon's life all along and Hays points out where this is evident in the construction of the Temple.

This is evident when reading the construction of Solomon's temple against the backdrop of the construction of the tabernacle as described in Exodus. Exodus had described the role of God in the construction of the tabernacle (68). Conversely, 1 Kings emphasizes the directives of Solomon and his craftsmen from Tyre rather than God's role (73). In constructing the tabernacle, the Israelites gave freely and participated willingly in the construction; but Solomon conscripts 30,000 Israelites into slavery, plus 150,000 other workers whose ethnicity is not specified (77-78). In the Exodus, much is made of God's selection and Spirit's infilling of Bezalel son of Uri, and the appointment of Oholiab son of Ahisamak and other skilled workers (79-80); yet Solomon appoints a foreigner, Huram of Tyre, based on his reputation (constructing other temples?)(81). These differences are startling. Furthermore, Hays points out other differences between Solomon and his fore-bearers which show his drift (use of 'the cedars of Lebanon' as building material, reference to Canaanite months, possible Canaanite influence in the depiction of the temple Cherubim, etc). God's presence fills the temple, but God's endorsement of Solomon is merely conditional and tentative (101).

Solomon's temple is the last structure that God's glory fills. The rest of the book of Kings tells the story of this temple's downfall and destruction. Ezekiel describes the departure of God's presence from the temple (Ezekiel 8-11) before the Babylonian destruction. Ezra and Haggai describes the rebuilding of the temple, but God does not take up residence there (130-31). Nor does God indwell Herod's temple. The renewal of God's presence with his people comes with Jesus who 'tabernacles with his people' (John 1:14) and ultimately the eschatological vision of Revelation's closing chapters.Hays conclusion points us towards the implication of his study on the Temple/tabernacle for our worship and our focus on God's indwelling presence.

Hays has done a wonderful job laying out the history of temple and tabernacle and their theological significance. With glossy pages, charts, photographs and diagrams, this book is beautiful as well as informative. It is nice that a book about the temple and tabernacle has a pleasing aesthetic (though a hardcover might have been nice).

Hays offers a d literary sensitive reading of the tabernacle/temple narratives and clearly keeps abreast of scholarly discussions; however he does occasionally reference other interpretations (scholarly or otherwise) opaquely. For example, he acknowledges that the ancient tabernacle points forward to Christ but faults "various writers and speakers" who "simply let their imaginations run free and look for any kind of similarity between even the smallest details of the tabernacle and Christ"(61). He gives examples of some writers pointing to a fanciful and spiritual significance of the tabernacle tent pegs (61-62), but he leaves us guessing as to which writers or speakers interpretation he is referencing. This book is not without footnotes, but here is one place where they are sorely lacking.

Of course not every reader will want to track down these arguments (I may be odd that way). Hays has done the church a tremendous service in helping us recapture the significance of temple and tabernacle: God's dwelling place with his people. I give this book an enthusiastic four stars.

Note: I received this book from Baker Books in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

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Summary: An exploration of God's dwelling places as described throughout the Bible from Eden to tabernacle, to the first and second temples, the question of Ezekiel's temple, and the temple in John's Revelation.

For many of us, reading the details of the layout and construction of the tabernacle, or the descriptions of the building of Solomon's temple was "fly over" country. In addition, it all seems from another time, foreign to our own experiences of worship. This book was a refreshing beam of light on material I've neglected, that in fact is quite important to the story of not only Jewish, but Christian faith. It brought alive the significance of 'tabernacle' and 'temple' as dwelling places where God encounters and relates to his people and also the physical construction, and layout of the successive structures in Israel's history where they hoped to encounter the living God. Not only that, the clear verbal description is accompanied by lavish illustrations printed on high quality paper, making this book a delight to handle, to look at, and to read.

Hays begins with an overview, looking at the Hebrew and Greek words used for tabernacle and temple, and noting how these all have in common the idea of a dwelling place, whether a movable tent or a royal palace. He surveys the successive places that served this role in scripture beginning with the garden temple of Genesis, following John Walton and others, noting the themes of the tree of life, a river flowing from the garden and gold and precious stones, that will turn up in later accounts. He then turns to the ark and tabernacle of the exodus, considering each object and its significance, and the overall layout of the tabernacle, emphasizing as it does the holiness of God.

Hays brings out as well as any I've read the ambivalence of the accounts of the temple of Solomon. He contrasts this with the tabernacle construction, noting that the tabernacle, in all its detail was built according to God's command. Neither the temple itself, nor its construction details were commanded. Instead of voluntary and enthusiastic work by Jewish craftsmen, foreigners and conscript labor build Solomon's temple. And while God initially shows favor upon Solomon, as Solomon disobeys God in multiplying wives, chariots, and gods, God turns from him. A sorry story indeed, for it ends in the sacking and destruction of this temple and the loss of the ark.

He then considers the post-exilic temple, and particularly Herod's reconstruction of that temple. Great attention is focused on the latter, and Hays helped us see not only that this was indeed an incredible sight for the disciples of Jesus, but also for anyone in the Roman empire, as the greatest of the four temples Herod built, and one of the greatest construction feats of the Roman empire. He includes diagrams showing the locations where various incidents in the gospels and Acts occur. Yet in 70 AD, this structure was razed, with only portions of the foundations, notably the Western (Wailing) Wall remaining.

Yet the truth was that God never visibly showed his presence in this temple. God's dwelling among his people was fulfilled in Christ, whose death opens the way to relationship with the Holy God, symbolized in the rent curtain in the temple. In the heavenly city of Revelation 22, there is no temple, for God and the Lamb are the temple. And the truth is the church, the people of God are a temple, a dwelling place for the Spirit of God upon earth. Thus, Hays does not think in terms of a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel's temple, but rather sees this fulfilled in the New Jerusalem.

I thought this book was a great example of biblical theology written in service of the people of God. It is rooted in careful scholarship, yet in writing and illustration helps any thoughtful lay person grasp the wonderful truth of how it can be that a holy God dwells with his people, and how Christ fulfills what the tabernacle foreshadowed nearly a millenium and a half earlier. The careful reader will be rewarded with an enriched understanding of one of the great themes that literally runs from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, and taking it to heart will find themselves worshiping the Holy God, who incredibly has chosen to dwell with such as us!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ( )

The Temple and the Tabernacle takes us through the history of Scripture, describing Eden as the first place where God's presented His glory. Hays also devotes a chapter exclusively to the study of the original languages and the words used to describe "temple" and "tabernacle". Hardly a page goes by without a picture of an artifact, map, quote, or other extra feature. I loved just skimming through the pages and seeing all the pictures. Definitely a highlight of this book. Using frequent and consistent Scripture passages and verses, Hays describes the first tabernacle's structure and features, reminding us that God then filled the tabernacle with His glory.

Hays is careful to caution us against imaginative and prophetic interpretations of Scripture. I so appreciate Hays for this, as today's culture of Christians tends to interpret Scripture based on individual experience or opinion, rather than Christ and the Scriptures.

"Solomon's Temple" was the most eye-opening chapter for me, in that it described the circumstances of Solomon's life and actions. While many of us tend to remember Solomon for his temple and for his wisdom (things that did indeed occur), few remember that his life was not one marked by obedience to God. In fact, there is little in Scripture, if one studies carefully, that condones anything that Solomon does. I always thought of Solomon as a king who started out well and ended badly, but in reality, he didn't really start out well at all. But you'll have to read the book to get more details. ;) While God's presence once again fills the new temple, corrupt worship becomes the norm and Solomon's kingdom crumbles. Hays describes the departure of God's glory from the temple in the following chapter.

The history of the second temple is then chronicled. Despite political turmoil, Ezra and Haggai encourage the people to rebuild the destroyed temple, and as history passes, this temple becomes known as Herod's Temple. However, this temple is not one that is filled with God's glory, but rather consumed with man's corruption, and until the Son of Man Himself walks through it's doors and overturns those who bought and sold there, there is no record of God's glory entering this building.

Hays concludes the book with a description of the temple during the New Testament era and during Jesus' life on earth. He discusses the presence of God and Jesus as the true Temple, along with the heavenly tabernacle and earthly temple. The final chapter sums up the book's descriptions and discussions by stating that we today live corum deo--living in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. Our worship here is only a shadow of what is to be in heaven. Yet those shadows are here to remind us what we are waiting for.

There was an aspect of this book that I didn't care for, however. In detailing the history of Scripture, events, places, and people, Hays frequently uses words such as "possibly", "maybe", "likely", and "perhaps" when detailing things that could have happened, but for which we have no documentation. While I was grateful for the extra details, I thought that the repeated use of such words and the frequent statements of probability took away from the credibility of Scripture or the author's words. I would have prefered just to read the history which we know for sure did take place, rather than gathering extra details and speculating on them when the chapter closed. But that is personal preference, and it may not bother another reader at all.

Besides the point I mentioned, this is a great resource on the temple and tabernacle, and it gives a wonderful glimpse into how history causes Scripture to come alive. A good book to make you think about the glory of God and how we as believers are called to live out His glory in our own lives while we wait for the final glory of the holy city, the new Jerusalem.